Yan Zhen walked over, about to undress, only to find that Elder Great-Aunt, Dean Little Aunt, Mentor Aunt, and Mentor Wife were all staring at him intently. He suddenly felt an immense pressure.
“Uh, could you all not look at me like that? I’m about to take my clothes off.”
Seeing her lover’s awkward predicament, Mentor Yu Xuan covered her mouth and giggled softly.
Dean Little Aunt looked away with a huff.
“Who’s interested anyway, you little brat.”
Elder Great-Aunt chuckled warmly.
“We’re not looking, not looking. Hurry up and undress, Little Yan Zhen. Family Head Mother-in-Law can’t wait any longer.”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than Family Head Mother-in-Law, hiding behind the wooden partition, coughed sharply twice. The statement was far too ambiguous.
At that moment, she was soaking naked in the spring water, surrounded by so many watching eyes, already feeling deeply uncomfortable.
How could she tolerate hearing something like that?
“Sisters, why don’t you all step out first? Just leave Bailan to assist.”
Family Head Mother-in-Law issued her order to leave.
“Good luck, then. Call out if you need anything.”
“Bailan, keep an eye on that little scoundrel so he doesn’t peek at anything he shouldn’t.”
“Mother, don’t feel burdened. Yan Zhen, you too—relax.”
With that, the three women filed out beyond the bamboo curtain to wait. Inside the chamber now remained only Yan Zhen, Mentor Aunt, and Family Head Mother-in-Law.
Mentor Aunt—Shui Bailan—approached Yan Zhen and said gently,
“Little one, let me help you undress.”
Yan Zhen was taken aback by the favor.
“No need, Aunt. I can manage.”
“Stand still and don’t move.”
“…”
Faced with Shui Bailan’s firm tone, Yan Zhen had no choice but to comply. Soon, she had stripped him down to his long-trunked little elephant boxer shorts.
Shui Bailan glanced at the overly childish blue elephant pattern and felt her cheeks warm slightly. With an amused smile, she said,
“There you go. Get into the pool. Your mother-in-law is getting impatient.”
Yan Zhen’s mouth twitched. He could almost see “Shame +1, Rage +1” popping up like a game notification from behind the wooden board. He quickly stepped into the oval bath pool and moved to the center.
The wooden partition didn’t reach the bottom of the pool, leaving a gap about an inch high through which the spring water flowed freely between both sides.
Yan Zhen reached his hand through the opening in the board, raising both palms vertically. Immediately, he felt a pair of soft, jade-like hands gently press against his, palm to palm.
“Mother-in-Law, are we aligned?”
A soft “Mm” floated back from the other side.
“Begin circulating your energy.”
Yan Zhen closed his eyes and slowly released the Great Crimson Heaven Flame, channeling it along his arms into his palms.
His palms grew hot as scarlet flames surged forth, swiftly enveloped by Family Head Mother-in-Law’s Water Mystic Force on the other side and drawn into her body.
Meanwhile, Shui Bailan, standing outside the bath, formed the hand seals her niece had taught her. She activated the array formation, channeling the energy of the White Jade Spring into Yan Zhen’s body to replenish his Mystic Power.
The bath chamber filled with intense heat, so much so that even the three women waiting outside could feel it.
“They’ve begun.”
As the scarlet flames entered her body, Family Head Yu Lu felt her meridians burn like fire, furrowing her brow and paling her face. Yet when the flames passed through the meridians at her chest, a thread of pleasure emerged—tingling and itchy, like being nuzzled affectionately by a puppy held in one’s arms, even though she kept no pets.
A faint blush colored Family Head Yu Lu’s cheeks, and a soft, charming hum escaped her lips, drawing an odd expression from her sister-in-law.
It was the first time Shui Bailan had heard her make such an undignified sound, utterly at odds with her usual aloof and authoritative image as family head.
As more scarlet flames were refined, Shui Bailan noticed her hums growing more frequent, almost turning into moans, as if some man were ravishing her beautiful jade body.
And there was only one man here: the bare-chested youth sharing the bath pool with her sister-in-law.
Shui Bailan glanced down at her nephew-in-law, her thoughts drifting to her late brother.
Her brother had entered the Yu Family’s groom selection ceremony solely to secure her a place of refuge. By sheer luck, he had been chosen.
After marrying in, he rarely saw his wife, living in a separate courtyard. He was often summoned to contribute his bloodline, and once she successfully conceived Xuan’er, he was sent away on errands.
He returned only briefly when Xuan’er was born, catching just a glimpse of his daughter before having to leave again.
For the Yu Family’s heirs could only have a mother.
They called him a live-in son-in-law, but in truth, he was merely a bloodline provider, clinging to the Yu Family’s power without any real affection or bond. Paradoxically, she, his little sister, received more respect from his wife and the other Yu clansmen—even befriending the much higher-status Miss Yu Qing.
Shui Bailan had once felt deeply guilty, believing her brother had sacrificed himself for her current life of comfort. Yet he harbored no resentment, remaining ever optimistic.
They had come for the benefits the Yu Family promised—Mystic Pills, Mystic Artifacts, connections, and positions—and the family had delivered in full, leaving him no cause for complaint.
“The only downside is not seeing Xuan’er often.”
That was why Shui Bailan loved taking photos with her niece and imprinting them on jade slips to send to her brother far away, so he could see his sister and daughter whenever he wished.
Sadly, he never lived to see his daughter grown or meet his son-in-law.
This young man might just change the Yu Family from its roots, freeing it from its stubborn rejection of men.
—That said, his body temperature was rising higher and higher. So hot.
Shui Bailan frowned slightly and reinforced her Ice Mystic Force to protect herself. Suddenly, she noticed the White Jade Spring in the bath had clearly lightened, shifting from milk-white to the pallor of rice water rinsed twice.
—Could absorbing the White Jade Spring’s energy dilute the water?
“Right, I remember Yu Qing mentioning that White Jade Spring was originally called Turbid Spring. ‘Turbid’ refers to the essence of the earth. Once that essence is absorbed, the water naturally fades.”
—But in that case, wouldn’t her sister-in-law be… Never mind, the wooden board should block the view.
So thinking, Shui Bailan was astonished to see the wooden partition between Yan Zhen and her rapidly turning red.
Yan Zhen’s cultivation was still low, and sustaining the Great Crimson Heaven Flame for so long made control unsteady. Wisps of flame occasionally leaked out, igniting the mere Third-Tier spirit wood board.
It wasn’t even ignition so much as instant carbonization, followed by it crumbling into fragile fragments.
The black charcoal shards scattered into the bath, vanishing amid the churning water.
Her sister-in-law’s fragrant shoulders and jade neck emerging from the water, along with her pink, tightly shut face, instantly came into Shui Bailan’s view.
“…”
—No big deal. When the dual cultivation ends, she could just cover Yan Zhen’s eyes. Why not blindfold him with cloth from the start? Worried it would burn? Then why not consider the board might burn too?
Shui Bailan smiled wryly to herself, wondering whether to call the others in to ask about a spare board, when she saw her sister-in-law’s breathing grow heavy and ragged. Then, like one struck by an arrow, her waist arched, chin lifted, and a high-pitched moan burst from her lips.
Shui Bailan’s eyes widened. In the now extremely faint White Jade Spring, the thick milk-white hue reappeared.
