Dean Yu Qing and Grand Mentor Shui Bailan both gazed at Yan Zhen with complicated expressions.
“Are you cheating?” The little aunt was a bit sore about losing. “We said no Mystic artifacts. What’s that stone shield on your body?”
Shui Bailan pushed up her glasses and said dead seriously, “It looks like an auto-defense Mystic artifact—at least tier six. That’s against the rules, Yan Zhen!”
Elder Yu Yan said with a charming smile, “Little Yan Zhen wouldn’t do something like that. That must be the power of an extreme flame, right?”
“Great-aunt’s guess is spot on.” Yan Zhen flipped open his palm and made a grasping motion. Thick, muddy flames of searing heat spewed forth from his palm. “This is the Rootless Earth Spirit Fire, ranked tenth on the Extreme Flame List. It has incredibly strong defensive capabilities. At the moment, no one below the Mystic Ancestor Realm can harm me.”
“Tenth on the Extreme Flame List?” Dean Yu Qing gasped in shock. “Where did you get it?”
The corner of Yan Zhen’s mouth hooked up. “Of course I found it.”
The women all crowded closer, peering curiously at the muddy extreme flame, whose power rivaled that of a Mystic Saint expert. It felt far gentler than they’d imagined, lacking the wild frenzy of the Wind-Thunder Crystal Fire.
“No wonder you rocketed straight to the Nine-Star Mystic King Realm.” Shui Bailan spoke in realization. “So you refined this.”
“Anyway, I didn’t break any rules. I won this fair and square with my own strength.”
Yan Zhen didn’t breathe a word about the bet. He simply gave them a teasing look, as if to say, “Someone here’s a sore loser, but I won’t name names.”
Dean Yu Qing and Shui Bailan both bit their lips, clearly reluctant to accept it. Only Elder Yu Yan said happily, “According to the bet, we’re all supposed to give Little Yan Zhen a foot wash. It’s the perfect time for the bathing segment—why don’t we all bathe together? What do you think, Xiao Lu? Xuan’er?”
Bathe together? Did she mean just feet or a full soak? Yan Zhen was a little dazed.
Mentor Yu Xuan replied calmly, “As long as Mother agrees.”
The Family Head Yu Lu furrowed her brows slightly. “It’s not impossible. We just didn’t prepare any clothes for son-in-law Yan Zhen.”
“Have him go in wearing those little elephant boxer shorts,” Elder Yu Yan said with a laugh. “No objections, right, Xiao Qing? Bailan?”
Dean Yu Qing huffed in a tsundere fashion. “Whatever—as long as he keeps his distance from me once he’s in the water!”
Shui Bailan nodded a bit shyly too.
“With our clothes on, bathing together is fine.”
The script hadn’t detailed the Listening Rain Festival activities, so Yan Zhen was totally in the dark about festival customs. Who knew there was even a group bathing event?
The rooms on the second floor were interconnected. Though divided into ten separate chambers, there were really only two rooms: the left one belonging to the Family Head Yu Lu’s faction and the right to the elders of the main house.
Each side had an attached spacious bath. The bathing phase was all about the family soaking together in harmony—after all, the Yu Family, whether direct or branch members, had a deep love for scrupulous cleanliness. Co-bathing was their longstanding tradition.
The bath lay directly behind the Family Head Yu Lu’s room. From outside, it protruded like a bump, divided inside only by curtains on either side and a folding screen in the middle.
The women had Yan Zhen go in first to soak while they changed into the traditional Water Cicada Garments.
These were a specialty of the Yu Family for bathing: lightweight garments that helped absorb mystic qi from the water. They were precious cultivation aids and essential ritual items.
Yan Zhen scratched his head. Since they’d put it that way, there was no need for him to play coy. After all, it was time to collect some interest from his dean little aunt!
He circled around the screen and entered the bath. It was impressively spacious inside, with a circular wooden soaking pool in the center and shower facilities along the walls.
The key feature was the water in the pool, divided into two distinct colors: one side thick and milky white, bubbling furiously; the other crystal clear and still as a mirror.
The boundary between them was sharp.
“Is this the Turbid Spring and Clear Waterfall from the back mountain?”
Yan Zhen murmured to himself in realization. These two water veins were sacred treasures of the Yu Family, accessible only to the family head and the like under normal circumstances. Using them to reward the clan during the festival was a fine gesture.
One hot, one cold—they didn’t blend even when placed side by side. Yan Zhen clicked his tongue in wonder.
He stripped off the custom garments the Yu Family had prepared for him, leaving only his beloved long-trunked little elephant boxer shorts, then stepped into the pool and swam to the middle. Sure enough, one side was chillingly cold, the other scaldingly hot. The sensation was utterly novel.
As he swam back and forth, voices drifted in from the room.
“Big Sis really is the biggest—like melons. Then Second Sis, I suppose. After that it’s me… Huh? Xuan’er, when did you get so big?”
“L-Little Aunt, don’t stare. It’s embarrassing.”
“Hmph, things are different once you have a man. Secondary growth, even… What a blunder! At least Bailan’s at the bottom, so I’m not the smallest—wait, Bailan, did you secretly pop breast-enhancement pills? You look different from before.”
“What nonsense. I’ve just put on a little weight lately. I’m planning to slim down.”
“Hmm. How’d I end up the smallest?”
“Small has its charms, and big has its own. Besides, Xiao Qing, you’re not small.”
“That doesn’t make me happy coming from you, Big Sis. But why is Big Sis’s concave up top? It’s different from ours.”
“Aiya, Xiao Qing—don’t touch! That tickles.”
“No manners! Don’t be rude to your sister!”
“Why so serious? I was just joking with Big Sis… Huh, Second Sis, why’s your chest all wet?”
“It’s just sweat.”
“White sweat?”
“You saw wrong.”
“…”
“Enough chit-chat. Hurry and change—we don’t want to miss the hour.”
“Oh.”
Yan Zhen broke out in a cold sweat—not that he meant to eavesdrop, but his Divine Soul Realm made his hearing supernaturally sharp. The voices carried right to him.
What he hadn’t expected was for the family head mother-in-law’s lingering side effect to flare up again. Was it because her vital gate had been breached?
A couple more needle treatments would have cleared it up entirely. He had no idea how much impact breaking her vital gate would have.
As he pondered, the curtains on left and right were drawn back one after another. The beauties of the Yu Family walked in gracefully.
Each wore a thin, plain white Water Cicada Garment in the style of a long robe: deep V-neck, bell sleeves. They were loose and covered from top to bottom, revealing only delicate white hands and lovely feet.
The only suggestive spots were at the chest, where a hint of deep cleavage and sexy collarbones peeked out.
It was still well within Yan Zhen’s tolerance. He let out a big sigh of relief and admired their unique attire openly.
With their hair simply pinned up for the bath, their mature allure stood out even more, making Yan Zhen’s eyes light up.
They looked just like the holy goddesses from Western myths!
“What are you staring at? Never seen a beauty before?” Dean Yu Qing ribbed him verbally, though a smile played on her face. Clearly, Yan Zhen’s reaction pleased her. “No man’s ever seen us in Water Cicada Garments before. Consider yourself lucky!”
Shui Bailan smiled faintly. “No compliment for us, Yan Zhen?”
Yan Zhen scratched his cheek shyly and said honestly, “The mentors, little aunt, aunt, great-aunt, and mother-in-law are all very beautiful.”
