In a narrow bathroom, two bodies were stuck in close proximity.
The warm water coming from the shower head, raining down over Henrietta’s head, filled the space with a thin layer of steam. But just as the steam blurred their view, Henrietta’s mind was just as fogged.
’Eh... I... What am I...’
It was like her brain hit pause and skipped everything that led up to this moment.
"Hmm... The dirt isn’t falling off with just water alone," Xu Tao, who was the one holding the shower head, muttered in disbelief. "Looks like we need to scrub it away."
Although she missed what happened midway, she still understood that this current situation wasn’t good. She and Xu Tao were in the shower, both wearing nothing but a thin, wet towel around their bodies.
While Henrietta’s mind drifted into the pink zone, Xu Tao was getting puzzled.
Back when he cleansed his meridians and removed impurities from his bones, marrows, blood, and everything else—he just dipped in a river and rubbed all of the caked black "mud" off.
But this time, it wasn’t his body, but his disciple’s. He couldn’t just get rough with her without warning, nor did he think he should. As such, he decided on the only appropriate option.
He reached out gently, a wet towel in his hand—a separate one from what he was wearing, of course—and with a touch as light as a feather, gently tapped Henrietta’s skin.
Her body shivered as if lightning ran from her shoulder—where Xu Tao touched—down her spine and back up to the top of her head. She held her mouth, holding back her voice. She didn’t know if she’d let out a squeal or a moan otherwise, so keeping silent felt like the best choice.
"Oh, it’s finally rubbing off!" Xu Tao rejoiced, seeing the caked mud finally melt away.
He continued rubbing that one spot, as gently as possible, with utmost care. After all, if he made a mistake adjusting his strength, it’d be easy for his casual "rub" to peel off Henrietta’s skin. He’d rather not hurt his own disciple, if possible.
After the patches over Henrietta’s shoulders were gone, he moved toward her arms, to her hands and fingers, before moving to the other arm. Then, he moved to her front and started on her thigh, down to her calf, and to her feet.
As he continued, he was slowly getting used to the strength adjustment, allowing him to go a bit faster. He made sure not to miss a single point—which by then left only two specific spots untouched.
But his increasing pace was pushing a certain someone close to her limit, too.
At the Divine Heaven Immortal Stage, Xu Tao’s entire body constantly radiated Qi. As such, each of his touches felt like having a Yang Core from some thousand-year-old spirit beast pressed against her skin.
Henrietta’s body heated up the more—the longer—Xu Tao’s rough, gritty hands made contact with her skin. Now, her vision was already spinning, her head a mushed mess, her breathing short, steamy, and ragged, and her heartbeat pumping like a runner on steroids.
While Xu Tao was working on one of the last two places—her back—Henrietta suddenly moved.
She whispered in a feverish voice as she leaned her weight against Xu Tao’s body. Her gaze flickered, almost as if she wanted to say something, but hesitated.
Her hands moved, touching Xu Tao’s cheeks without turning around. Her palms felt scalding hot.
Xu Tao spent one glance at his disciple and thought, ’Fuck, I overdid it.’
It had been so long since he last made physical contact with someone that he forgot the effect someone with high cultivation could have on someone far below them. With this in mind, he quickly grabbed the hand that touched his cheek, sneakily getting a feel of her pulse, and frowned.
’As expected, she’s overflowing with Yang Qi right now.’
He had been too focused on controlling his strength to notice Henrietta’s change in state. A failure on his part—as a cultivator, and as her Master.
"Hang on, I’ll make you feel at ease quickly," Xu Tao whispered gently.
He then pulled her body tight against his, ensuring enough skin-to-skin contact, preparing to "repair" his mistake.
But he couldn’t just drag all the Yang Qi within her body out in a rush.
Doing that would cause the Yin Qi—activated by his Yang Qi—to freeze Henrietta’s internal organs instead, leading to an immediate and painful death.
As such, he needed to "suck" the Yang Qi he had unintentionally injected, slowly, while also calming the Yin Qi within her. A task that required precise and minute control—thus needing more skin contact, the points where Xu Tao could initiate the said process.
"Don’t worry," he whispered, lips coming close to Henrietta’s neck. "I won’t let my disciple suffer in pain."
But just as his lips were about to touch her skin—
"RITTA! YOUR HEARTBEAT’S GOING OVER 200! ARE YOU ALRI—!"
—a panicking intruder jumped into the bath, pushed the frosted glass door... then froze stiff, like she’d been petrified.
Xu Tao and Henrietta were facing the entrance, so to the intruder—Uriel’s eyes—their situation was clear.
There stood Henrietta—almost naked, face flushed red, panting softly, while not resisting in the slightest. Seemingly "entrusting" her body to the other one.
Behind her, a well-built, long haired man hugging her tightly from behind, while seemingly "kissing" her neck.
Uriel’s mind spun rapidly, analyzing the sight before her... and came to a swift conclusion barely a second later.
"Please enjoy, Milady, Master!"
She gave a snappy salute before running off, leaving the two behind.
Two pairs of eyes traced her fading figure for a few breaths... Then movement returned.
"R-Right...! Wait... Uriel...!"
Henrietta began to squirm, trying to chase her and clear the misunderstanding. However, due to having too much Yang Qi in her body, she could barely exert strength in her limbs.
"Stay still, or your body could explode."
And Xu Tao, who was focused on fixing his mistake, wasn’t helping her case either.
Having no choice, Henrietta had to wait out a few minutes until Xu Tao neutralized the damage he caused, allowing her to finally move freely.
However, by the time the two of them got out of the shower, dozens of maids were already in her room. Heads swung toward the pair—wearing nothing but wet towels around their bodies—eyes glowing with understanding, before quickly averting their gazes.
Almost as if to discreetly say: "We didn’t see anything."
"I-It’s... a misunderstanding."
Only one person was left embarrassed by all of it, falling to her knees, hands over her face, wishing she could disappear.