The flame in the four-sided lamp flickered gently.
The soft light penetrated through the thin lamp walls, casting shadows on the wall and creating a hazy halo.
A strange fragrance drifted in the air.
Mixed with it was Zhu Zi's soft panting as she lay with her eyes closed, biting her lips.
"How do you feel?"
"Very... tired..."
Zhu Zi replied weakly, looking as exhausted as if she had just run a marathon.
"That's the effect of this massage technique. It consumes a lot of energy, equivalent to running laps while lying down," Xia Zhi smiled and walked to the incense burner, replacing the calming incense with a restorative one.
"I'll help you relax a bit more, otherwise you might not be able to get out of bed tomorrow."
"Mmm..."
Zhu Zi responded lazily. She had sweated so much that even the towel underneath her was damp.
However, since she had taken a bath before the massage, there was no unpleasant smell. Instead, she carried a faint fragrance of Sumeru bath products.
A girl of this age truly had incredibly delicate skin.
When his fingers pressed and glided across it, it felt like touching the finest silk, slightly damp and smooth.
It was hard to say who was taking advantage of whom.
Xia Zhi gentled his technique and gave Zhu Zi another full-body massage.
The girl's voice gradually became lazy and comfortable.
"There, you shouldn't feel tired anymore, right?"
"It's amazing! I have energy again!"
"Go take a hot bath now. The weather's cold, and you've sweated so much. Be careful not to catch a cold."
"Okay!"
Zhu Zi blushed, put on her sleeping clothes that were placed aside, and got up, taking away the towel that was soaked with sweat.
"Thank you, boss!"
"I'm just doing what I'm paid for."
Zhu Zi pattered off to the bathroom in the back.
Xia Zhi rubbed his fingers, still seemingly feeling the wonderful texture of the young girl's skin.
He glanced at the incense burner and shook his head.
The restorative incense worked well, but it tended to put him in an energetic state, making his body feel a bit uncomfortable.
He cleaned up the small bed, washed his hands in the basin of clean water prepared nearby, then went to the door and called out, "Qiqi, you can come in now."
A moment later, Qiqi entered the back hall, and the temperature immediately dropped by a few degrees.
This was her first time experiencing a massage, and she stood there, unsure of what to do.
Xia Zhi took out another clean towel, laid it on the small bed, and said softly, "Lie down."
The bed was normal adult height, and Qiqi had to stand on her tiptoes to climb up with some effort.
Xia Zhi placed his hands on her shoulders, and through her sleeping clothes, he could feel her muscles were slightly stiff.
This was probably one of the drawbacks of being a zombie.
The massage was effective though, and after the muscle relaxation, Qiqi's shoulders became soft, although only temporarily.
"Qiqi, what's this flexibility exercise you mentioned?"
"It's a way to exercise the body that Mr. Baizhu taught me. You need to bend, twist your head, one-two-seven-seven, two-two-seven-seven, like that..."
"Do you have to do it every night?"
"Yes."
"Seems troublesome."
"It's okay. I don't need to sleep at night, so I have time. I can do it slowly."
"I'll think of a way to help you solve this problem."
"Thank you, boss."
Qiqi didn't doubt whether Xia Zhi could do it. Because of the previous case with the "Corpse Pearl," she had a special kind of feeling and trust in him.
Xia Zhi nodded and changed position to massage her legs.
Through her pajama pants, he felt the texture of bandages underneath.
He had noticed the bandages on Qiqi's right leg when he first met her, and he had never seen her remove them.
"Qiqi, these bandages are for...?"
"Because... there's a wound on my right leg."
"A wound?"
"Yes, it's scary-looking, so it needs to be wrapped up."
"Don't zombie wounds heal?"
"They do, but the wound on my right leg is different. It seems like I got it a very, very long time ago... I can't remember... It seems like it will never heal."
"..."
Xia Zhi paused.
"Has Dr. Baizhu looked at it?"
"Yes, Mr. Baizhu even prescribed several medicines for me, but none of them worked when I took them."
"I'd like to examine it, if that's okay? Though because I can't see clearly, I might need to touch it."
"That's okay."
Qiqi nodded slightly.
Xia Zhi slowly rolled up Qiqi's pant leg and unwrapped the clean bandages she had put on tonight, one circle at a time.
A deep, long, pale wound appeared before his eyes.
As Qiqi said, it was quite frightening to look at.
Xia Zhi reached out his finger, lightly touched it, and asked, "Does it hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt, it just looks scary."
Xia Zhi couldn't help but form a vague guess in his heart.
This wound probably existed when Qiqi was still alive. When she transformed into a zombie, her body was forever frozen at that moment, never to grow up; along with it, this wound was also frozen in time, never to heal.
Xia Zhi withdrew his finger and rewrapped the bandages.
"I'll think about it and see if I can help heal your wound."
"Mm, thank you, boss."
The earlier hint of romance and ambiguity stirred up by Zhu Zi's body had completely dissipated by now.
Xia Zhi set aside those thoughts and seriously helped Qiqi relax her whole body.
"How does it feel?"
"My body feels very soft now. It feels even better than doing exercises. Mr. Xia is amazing."
"It's nothing, those were just ordinary massage techniques. In the future, when I'm free, you can always ask me for a massage."
"Okay."
Qiqi got down from the small bed, very seriously paid her fee, and said a word of thanks.
Xia Zhi smiled and nodded. After Qiqi left, he tidied up things, washed his hands, and went to the door again: "Miss Chi Yu, it's your turn."
"Coming!"
Miss Chi Yu walked into the back hall. Having experienced his massage once before, she lay down on the bed with familiarity this time.
Her figure was even better than Zhu Zi's, like a fully ripened fruit.
"I want the same massage as Miss Ganyu! The 500 one!"
"Actually, the full-body massage like Zhu Zi had is better value for money. I recommend that more."
"That one costs 800, too expensive! I want to save some money for Hu Tao."
"Alright, but Miss Ganyu's price is 500 because it's a friendship price."
"Boss, last time you said you'd give me 500 too! You can't go back on your word!"
"That's not what I meant. Last time when you asked, we were just friends, so I said I could give you the friendship price. Now your status is different, you're an employee."
"So?"
"You can enjoy an even lower employee price."
"How much is the employee price?"
"300."
"! Then give me the 800 one today! Tomorrow I'll come back for the 300 one!"
And then, there was no more "and then."
If anything else needed to be said, it would be that Miss Chi Yu's figure was too perfect.
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