Bath

In the misty steam.

Lu Qiancha remained curled up in Shangguan Yunzhu’s arms for a good while before she came to her senses.

Her small face was buried in the hollow of that smooth neck, taking in deep, ragged breaths.

She pulled back a little and looked up.

Her azure eyes, thoroughly soaked by the steam, were now covered with a thin layer of mist, the rims of her eyes moist and red.

“B-bad… baddie!”

“Shangguan Yunzhu is a big baddie!”

She spat out the words through clenched teeth, her voice thick with a sob, yet soft and sticky.

Her gaze was fierce as she glared at Shangguan Yunzhu, but the teardrops lingering at the corners of her eyes and her flushed cheeks made the accusation utterly devoid of any threat.

Instead, it made Lu Qiancha seem as if she were throwing a cute tantrum.

“Alright, the foam is all rinsed off. You can go for a soak now~”

Shangguan Yunzhu gently smoothed away the last trace of slipperiness from Lu Qiancha’s fur.

“Hmph! As if I need you to tell me!”

Lu Qiancha puffed out her little cheeks, didn’t even look at her, and stepped straight into the warm bath.

She leaned against the side of the pool, closed her eyes, and settled in, adopting the aloof posture of “do not approach, and especially do not disturb my profound contemplation.”

During the bath, Lu Qiancha sat by the edge of the pool with her eyes closed, completely ignoring Shangguan Yunzhu.

Shangguan Yunzhu merely smiled, not minding the little wolf cub’s cold shoulder in the slightest.

She picked up a fine-toothed comb and began to wash Lu Qiancha’s long hair for her.

From untangling the knots to massaging and rinsing, she washed it with meticulous care, taking a full two cups of tea’s time.

Afterward, Shangguan Yunzhu also slipped lightly into the pool.

“Little—Qian—Cha—, let’s hug.”

A sweet, steamy voice rang out.

Shangguan Yunzhu giggled and opened her arms, wrapping the soft body that smelled of fresh vanilla into her embrace without a word of protest.

“I told you not to call me that name!… Let go!… Get away from me!”

Lu Qiancha instantly reacted like a wolf whose tail had been stepped on.

Her blue eyes flew wide open, and she pushed and shoved with all her might while shouting, “This pool is so narrow! Do we have to squeeze together like this?!”

“Yup~”

Shangguan Yunzhu tightened her arms, ignoring the feeble struggles, and winked playfully.

“It’s precisely because it’s so narrow that we can’t take a bath without hugging.”

Her tone was filled with the lazy satisfaction of having gotten her way.

“Hmph, if you want to soak that badly, then let me out, and you can soak all by yourself, can’t you?!”

Lu Qiancha was exasperated, her gaze instinctively sweeping over the… large mass of soft, warm jade so close to her, swaying slightly with the ripples of the water.

A strange feeling of… jealousy flickered through her heart.

“You’ll catch a cold if you wait outside, you know.”

Shangguan Yunzhu said with a smile.

“Hey! You’re at the peak of the Spirit Transformation realm, there’s no way you’d catch a cold!”

With that, Lu Qiancha decided to end this torture immediately.

She bent her knees, intending to stand up and let Shangguan Yunzhu soak alone.

“Wait a moment…”

The arms holding her waist suddenly tightened.

A mischievous glint flashed in Shangguan Yunzhu’s eyes.

“How about you count to ten with me? I’ll let you go after we’re done.”

Her tone was as gentle as if she were coaxing a small child.

“…D-damn… you—!”

Lu Qiancha, her struggles proving futile, gnashed her small baby teeth fiercely, squeezing the words out from between them.

“…Then count to ten!”

‘Hmph, I’ll just treat it as if I’m indulging a child.’

Lu Qiancha couldn’t help but glance at Shangguan Yunzhu, her blue eyes filled with disdainful pride.

This person was so childish; her heart swelled with the pride of ‘I’m still the more mature one.’

“One~~~ two~~~ three~~~”

Shangguan Yunzhu began to count slowly.

“…Little Qiancha should join in too!” she suddenly dragged out her words, looking at the completely bewildered wolf cub in her arms.

“Huh?! I… I have to count too?!”

Lu Qiancha’s brain short-circuited.

“If we don’t count together,” Shangguan Yunzhu’s smile was like that of a little fox that had just stolen a fish, “the timer… will stop, you know~~~”

“Tch… you childish ghost!”

Lu Qiancha gritted her teeth and spat under her breath, having no choice but to bear the humiliation and follow along.

“One! Two! Three! Four!”

Shangguan Yunzhu: “Five~ six~ seven~”

Lu Qiancha: “Eight, nine, ten! Al—right—! Let me go!”

The moment the word “ten” left her lips, she shot out of the warm embrace like an arrow from a bow, leaping out of the water with a splash.

She fled in a panic from that steamy world that had thrown her heart into turmoil.

The two of them walked to the changing area.

Just as Shangguan Yunzhu picked up a cotton towel, intending to dry the sopping wet little thing’s hair—

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The fluffy head and that fluffy tail began to shake violently and vengefully from side to side.

Crystal-clear water droplets rained down on Shangguan Yunzhu’s head like a violent storm.

Caught completely off guard, Shangguan Yunzhu was instantly drenched, a complete and utter drowned rat.

Shangguan Yunzhu helplessly blinked the water from her eyelashes and looked at the little ball of blue fur that, after shaking itself dry, was now looking triumphant, its blue eyes gleaming with the light of “vengeance has been served.”

‘She really is just a little child.’

Shangguan Yunzhu let out a helpless, soft laugh.

“Hmph.”

Lu Qiancha turned her head away, not looking at Shangguan Yunzhu.

With a jolt of her spiritual energy, she shook the remaining water from her body.

Then, with paws and spiritual sense working in tandem—pulling on sleeves, tying sashes, kicking her legs in… she finally managed to get herself dressed in a disheveled manner and rushed out of the side room without a second glance.

In the main bedroom.

Shangguan Yunzhu looked at the little wolf cub who was hugging her knees, sitting far away with her back to her, and asked, trying to hold back a laugh, “Was the bath… comfortable tonight?”

“Hmph, it was not.”

Lu Qiancha snorted out a refusal to answer through her nose, turning her face to the wall, every single fluff of fur on her body screaming “I’m angry!”

“Heh, your tail is much more honest than you are.”

Shangguan Yunzhu’s fingertip pointed vaguely in a certain direction as she said slowly, her tone filled with an all-knowing amusement.

“?!”

Lu Qiancha shot her head down.

And saw that damned, fluffy tail, wagging uncontrollably, joyfully slapping against the soft bedding.

“Trai—tor—!!”

Lu Qiancha was mortified.

Her little face flushed bright red.

Without a second thought, she pounced, grabbing that “disappointing” ball of fluff in her arms, opened her small mouth fiercely—

Awooo—oo!

And bit down!

“Waah—! It hurts… it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!”

A sharp pain shot straight to the top of her head.

She instantly let go, tears of grievance flying from the corners of her eyes, the pair of large blue ears on top of her head trembling from the pain.

A suppressed, low, breathy laugh reached her ears.

Lu Qiancha shot her head up.

And met Shangguan Yunzhu’s gaze, who was pressing her lips together, her shoulders trembling slightly, her eyes curved in a crescent as she tried desperately not to laugh out loud.

“Pfft… ahem, ahem…”

That sight of her stifling her laughter completely set Lu Qiancha off.

She pointed at Shangguan Yunzhu, her voice thick with a nasal tone and the humiliation of being betrayed by her own tail, and accused her in a fit of shame and anger, “What are you laughing at! It’s—it’s all your fault!”

“Wuu… you big baddie!”

Lu Qiancha’s voice was soft and aggrieved, where was even a sliver of her senior brother’s dignity?

“Little Qiancha, please don’t cry, okay? I apologize to you.”

Shangguan Yunzhu straightened her expression, completely suppressing her laughter, and then moved close to Lu Qiancha, speaking in a soft voice.