Chirp---chirp---
The cicadas chirped faintly in the thick fog.
Xiao Yunluo only felt a sudden heat rising in her chest and spreading to her cheeks, and her mind went blank.
The gently rocking water hit her belly, but she didn't react for a long time, coming to her senses only when those deep purple eyes staring at her, blinked.
Xiao Yunluo hastily covered her chest, bent down, and instinctively opened her mouth to scream. "Ah..."
However, seeing her reaction, Ye Anping narrowed his eyes, thinking that if she screamed, it would cause even greater trouble. He instantly weighed the pros and cons in his mind, and raising his right hand to the surface of the water, he pressed his thumb to his middle fingernail and snapped.
A drop of water quickly shot out toward Xiao Yunluo from his fingers.
Xiao Yunluo didn't even have time to react. As soon as she started to scream, the flying water droplet flew into her wide-open mouth and hit her tongue, then went down her throat, so she instinctively closed her mouth, took a breath, and started coughing.
"Ah... cough cough cough-cough cough--"
She coughed with tears streaming down her face. After a while, she raised her head and looked at Ye Anping, only to see him put his right index finger in front of his lips and shook his head slightly as if ordering her to keep quiet.
Xiao Yunluo slightly opened her mouth and stood there covering her chest, unable to react. She felt that Ye Anping was simply beyond reason!
He actually... actually...
He actually remained unperturbed in such a situation.
He had obviously seen both her and Li Longling, but he didn't even blush.
She had read in the books about those people who peeped on women bathing and changing clothes. If it were a gentleman who had accidentally seen it, he would definitely turn his back and apologize. And if a bastard deliberately looked at women bathing and changing clothes, his eyes and face would reveal some obscenity.
However, right now, Ye Anping's expression was calm and stable, as if... he was not interested in her body at all.
For some reason, Xiao Yunluo was not too disgusted but rather unhappy and angry.
---"Sister Xiao, what's wrong with you? Did you choke on the water?"
Li Longling's worried voice brought Xiao Yunluo back to her senses. She quickly squatted down and immersed herself in the water up to her neck.
The water had water and wood spiritual energy, which could block both physical sight and spiritual sense, and was just right for her to use as a covering garment.
She glanced at Ye Anping's expression again and hesitated before replying, "I accidentally tripped over a rock at the bottom of the pool. I'm fine."
"It's good you're all right, Sister Xiao. Be careful. I should have sent someone to fix it first and lay a layer of glazed tiles at the bottom."
"Well..."
Xiao Yunluo's eyes could not help but move down from Ye Anping's face, and when she caught a glimpse of his collarbone, she could not control her blushing. It suddenly occurred to her that Ye Anping was also naked now...
Now that Ye Anping had seen everything, could she ask him to show her something too? Previously, when they were building the foundation in the Hundred Lotus Sect, she felt that Ye Anping's body was very tempting, but at that time, he was still wearing pants.
And although there were pictures in her erotic books, even if the black and white ink could be instilled with energy, it couldn't compare to seeing it with your own eyes.
There was a metaphor in one of the books: The iron soldier follows your heart, and the golden cudgel comes as you wish. The jade pillar rises to the sky and supports the sea. It can be long or short, thick or thin, it can lengthen and shorten. It can stabilize the mountains and the sea but also disturb the heavens.
She was really, really curious.
Besides, Ye Anping was someone she liked, so what if she took a look?
If what Yun Xi said was true, she could become Ye Anping's cultivation partner, and she'd be able to see it every day.
Thinking about it, Xiao Yunluo felt that it was not too bad. She patted her cheeks and slowly moved toward Ye Anping.
?
---Why are you coming here?
Seeing the look on Xiao Yunluo's face, Ye Anping slightly narrowed his eyes, suspecting that she was harboring evil intentions. But now that Li Longling was by his side, he couldn't speak, so he could only frown and signal her not to come toward him, lest Li Longling found him out.
However, Xiao Yunluo now had no courage to look into Ye Anping's eyes. She lowered her head and walked to his right side, leaning against the rock. She then glared at Ye Anping, frowning.
---Why are you here?!
She tried to guilt trip Ye Anping with her eyes to gain the initiative.
After all, it was not okay for a man to see a woman's body, no matter what the situation was. Otherwise, why could men walk the streets with their chests bare while women couldn't?
Except for demonic cultivators, of course.
However, although Ye Anping saw through her momentum, he had no intention of playing this game, and his eyes remained deep and calm.
---I was here first.
Meanwhile, Li Longling seemed to feel a little insecure after Xiao Yunluo hadn't spoken for a long time, so she asked, "Sister Xiao, where are you?"
"Ah... here." Xiao Yunluo answered without thinking.
??
Ye Anping suddenly frowned and looked at her in disbelief, with strong dissatisfaction in his eyes, as if asking: Are you deliberately trying to trick me, or are you stupid?
At first, Xiao Yunluo didn't understand Ye Anping's look, nor did she react. But the next moment, she suddenly realized why he had such a scary look.
She saw Li Longling groping through the pool water with both hands and leaning toward her side.
"Ah..."
Xiao Yunluo immediately reached out to stop her, but she didn't know what to say and just stood there, dumbfounded.
"What's wrong?"
Li Longling asked, a little confused. At this time her hand touched Ye Anping's left shoulder, and she was startled.
"I'm sorry... Sister Xiao, let me lean on you a little. Being in the water is quite scary if you can't see."
"..."
Xiao Yunluo was speechless as she helplessly watched her touch Ye Anping's shoulder and lean on his right side.
Ye Anping's face turned dark.
If he had known that Xiao Yunluo was so stupid, he would have just let her scream and escape on his sword, facing the maids' scoldings. Now, he couldn't move even if he wanted to.
He had to reflect on this matter. It had been a long time since he had misjudged something, and he would definitely run right away next time. However, since the loss had already occurred, what he should do now was to minimize the damage and not let Li Longling know that he was there.
Li Longling leaned on Ye Anping's shoulder, not too much, but her sense of touch was very sensitive. After a moment of silence, she asked, "Sister Xiao, your shoulders are so strong, eh?"
Xiao Yunluo now had to try to salvage the situation. She quickly grabbed Ye Anping's shoulder and brought her face in front of him to prevent Li Longling from noticing that there was someone else between them. She replied, "Ah... yeah. They developed from the sword practice."
"Is that so..."
Li Longling pinched Ye Anping's arm gently, lowered her eyes, and joked. "It turns out that you are like this. When I heard your melodious voice, I thought you must be a relatively slim woman. I didn't expect you to have such a strong and graceful body..."
"..."
"Ah... I'm not saying this is not good. It's better if a girl has a stronger body, and your skin is quite smooth..."
"I usually add some potions when I am bathing, um..."
"As a kid, when I was taking a bath, my father would usually send a maid into the water with me so I wouldn't choke or something... Even after all these years, I still feel a little uncomfortable being surrounded by water, which is why I might seem a little weird to you, Sister Xiao."
"No, no, just lean on me... it's fine."
... ...
Like this, the two girls chatted about their daily life.
Ye Anping, who was squeezed between the two, had a dark look on his face. Finally, he simply closed his eyes again and prepared to continue condensing his energy. At the same time, he monitored their chat to prevent Xiao Yunluo, that stupid girl, from exposing his presence.
However, Xiao Yunluo's current posture made him a little uncomfortable.
To avoid exposing themselves, she wanted to talk with her mouth close to Li Longling, so now she was almost half pressed against his body, while a few strands of silky lavender hair floated on the water and gently tickled his neck.