As time resumed its flow, Lu Li fainted in the bath as Gong Shangyu had planned earlier.
The crisis that Gong Shangyu and Gu Qingying had been facing was also temporarily resolved with Lu Li’s loss of consciousness.
However, after overcoming the biggest danger, a more tangible and, frankly, far more embarrassing problem remained for the two sisters.
Namely—how were they to fish the unconscious, soaking wet, and almost completely naked Lu Li out of the bath, get him dressed, and carry him back to his bedchamber?
As this thought occurred to both Gu Qingying and Gong Shangyu, they exchanged awkward glances for a moment, each catching the unnatural flush and evasive look in the other’s eyes.
Gong Shangyu cleared her throat lightly, trying to appear calm before her Junior Sister, yet her gaze kept drifting uncontrollably to the hazy figure in the water—especially the bath towel that was only loosely wrapped around Lu Li’s waist, now nearly translucent after getting soaked through.
Gong Shangyu felt her cheeks burning, and even her throat was beginning to feel dry.
Gu Qingying’s ears were completely red.
She stared fixedly at the far end of the water, unable to look directly at the alluring view beneath the surface that belonged to Lu Li, yet her peripheral vision seemed irresistibly drawn, as if by a magnet, to sneak glimpses through the thin barrier, searching for hidden secrets.
She even unconsciously swallowed.
That strange, silent atmosphere simmered and spread amidst the steaming mist of the Zhou Kingdom, laced with an indescribable awkwardness and a certain secretive excitement.
In the end, it was Gong Shangyu who couldn’t hold back first.
She took a deep breath, as if heading to the execution ground, steeling herself with a resolve of “if I don’t go to hell, who will,” mingled with a barely disguised hint of excitement.
Rolling up her sleeves, she prepared to wade into the water without hesitation:
“Sigh… What are we hesitating for? Watch me!”
“Hiss… Let me carry Master out!”
As soon as she finished, her eyes seemed to flash with a green light, and there was even a suspicious glimmer at the corner of her lips.
She stretched out her “wicked little hands” toward Lu Li in the bath, reaching for his arm—and the nearly transparent towel at his waist.
“Ah… No way!”
Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Gu Qingying suddenly lunged from behind when she realized Gong Shangyu’s intent.
She threw her arms tightly around Gong Shangyu’s waist, refusing to let her Senior Sister approach Lu Li.
“Gong Shangyu! Don’t even think about it! I absolutely forbid you to touch Master! And I won’t let you, with your filthy hands, sully him!”
Gu Qingying’s voice was shrill and sharp with agitation and embarrassment, and in the depths of her purple eyes, a fierce flame of possessiveness burned.
Gong Shangyu staggered from her Junior Sister’s grip, irritably trying to pry her hands off.
“Hey! You jealous little vinegar jar, what’s wrong with you now? If you won’t let me touch Master, how are we supposed to get him out? Are you going to leave him in the water to catch a chill? Or do you want to do it yourself?”
“I…”
Gu Qingying was at a loss for words.
She wanted to, but just imagining what it would be like to touch Master’s bare skin made her heart race so fast it could explode, her hands and feet turned weak and shaky, and she didn’t dare step forward at all.
“See! You don’t dare either!”
Gong Shangyu rolled her eyes and shrugged.
“So, what now? Are we supposed to just stare at each other here and wait for Master to wake up and dress himself?”
Gu Qingying bit her lip hard, torn between desire and restraint.
On one hand, she couldn’t stand the thought of Gong Shangyu, that sly fox, laying a finger on Master.
But on the other, she truly didn’t have the courage to handle Master herself.
In the end, reason barely triumphed over jealousy and shyness.
Gu Qingying forced herself, word by word, to squeeze out a reluctant compromise through gritted teeth.
“Then… fine! You… you do it!”
But she immediately raised her eyebrows and snapped at her Senior Sister, eyes full of warning:
“But I’ll be watching you the whole time! Supervising! If your hand dares to wander even a bit, if you linger on Master for longer than necessary, or if you look somewhere you shouldn’t…”
“I… I’ll fight you for real!”
She even raised her little fist in a show of threat, though it looked anything but intimidating.
Gong Shangyu couldn’t help but snicker at her Junior Sister’s ridiculous mix of timidity and ferocity, so brimming with jealousy, but she couldn’t be bothered to argue anymore.
“Sigh… Fine, fine, whatever you say!”
“Miss Gu, supervise to your heart’s content!”
Amidst the warm, steamy air of the Warm Pavilion at Duanqing Peak, a thoroughly bizarre scene began to unfold.
Gong Shangyu, face burning, carefully avoided Lu Li’s “critical” areas, struggling to lift the unconscious Lu Li out of the warm pool.
She moved as quickly and professionally as possible, but her trembling fingertips and wandering eyes betrayed the turmoil beneath her calm.
Gu Qingying, meanwhile, played the watchdog, following closely at her side, her purple eyes wide and unblinking, glaring at every one of Gong Shangyu’s fingers as if she might transform into a wolf at any second.
Whenever Gong Shangyu’s little hands seemed about to touch any sensitive spot, or whenever her gaze lingered on Lu Li a moment too long, Gu Qingying would immediately let out a dissatisfied “Hmph?!” or shoot a withering glare her way.
“Hey! Hands! Where are you putting your hands?!”
“Eyes! Watch where you’re looking! Don’t sneak glances!”
“Stop dawdling! Hurry up!”
So, with Gu Qingying supervising intensely and chattering nonstop, Gong Shangyu finally managed, sweating buckets, to haul Lu Li out of the Warm Pavilion’s bath with no mishaps—barely—and hurriedly wrapped him in a dry robe.
Then, the two of them, one lifting the shoulders and the other the feet, awkwardly and with the utmost care, managed to drag the still-unconscious Lu Li back to his bedroom and settle him properly onto the bed.
When it was all done, both girls knelt beside the bed, panting, cheeks flushed, not knowing whether it was from exertion or embarrassment.
They exchanged glances, and each saw in the other’s eyes a sense of relief—and an unspoken bond born from guarding a secret together, though neither would admit it.
Gong Shangyu wiped the sweat from her brow, glanced at her peacefully sleeping Master on the bed, then at Gu Qingying, still glaring at her warily, and could only shake her head helplessly.
What a mess this is…
Once Lu Li was safely settled in bed, Gong Shangyu took a deep breath, produced a small Qinghua Porcelain Bottle from her robes, opened the stopper, and held it gently under Lu Li’s nose.
A refreshing medicinal fragrance immediately filled the air.
As soon as she opened the porcelain bottle, Lu Li’s eyelashes fluttered a few times, and a low breath escaped his throat. Soon, he slowly opened his eyes.
Lu Li felt as though his head was clouded in thick fog, his memory and thoughts fragmented and unclear.
He vaguely remembered planning to go to the Warm Pavilion to bathe, and seemed to recall scrubbing his eldest disciple’s back in the bath?
Then… nothing.
His mind went blank and he lost consciousness.
“Ah! Master? You’re awake?”
Gong Shangyu’s concerned voice sounded by his side.
Lu Li rubbed his still-aching forehead, propped himself up to a sitting position, and looked around in confusion, realizing he was already back in his bedroom.
“What happened? Why am I here?”
His gaze swept over Gong Shangyu at his bedside and Gu Qingying, standing further off with her head bowed, and his confusion only deepened.
Gong Shangyu shot Gu Qingying a sharp look—your turn.
Gu Qingying, receiving the signal, clenched her hands inside her sleeves, her face quickly composing itself into the perfect mix of guilt, unease, and lingering fear.
She bit her lip as if making a huge decision, then suddenly dashed to Lu Li’s bedside.
Before Lu Li could react, she threw herself into his arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, pressing her burning cheek to his chest, and cried out in a tearful, self-reproachful voice, “I’m sorry, Master! Forgive me! It’s all my fault!”
“This disciple was foolish! I deserve punishment!”
Lu Li was startled by the sudden hug and his disciple’s barrage of apologies, his body stiffening slightly.
He reflexively wanted to push her away, but stopped when he heard the trembling confession.
“Uh, Qingying? Let’s talk this out—what exactly happened?”
Lu Li racked his brain in confusion, only grasping some fragmented memories of the Warm Pavilion and the Steaming Mist within.
Gu Qingying only hugged him tighter at this, as if afraid she would be punished if she let go, her muffled voice rising from his chest:
“Disciple… Disciple saw how hard Master worked refining pills, covered in smoke and dust…”
“So I wanted… I wanted to heat up the bath in the Warm Pavilion a little more, so Master could have a comfortable soak and relax…”
Following the script Gong Shangyu had given her, Gu Qingying continued her remorseful act with a tearful voice, “But… but I was too clumsy and couldn’t control the fire well, so I accidentally made the Warm Pavilion like a giant steam basket!”
“The steam became so thick and hot! In the end… in the end, both Master and I fainted in the steam!”
Gu Qingying looked up, forcing tears to shimmer in her purple eyes, her reddened lids making her look pitiful to the extreme.
“When I woke up, I found both myself and Master unconscious in the Warm Pavilion—I was so scared! Fortunately, Junior Brother happened to pass by and found us, and together we brought Master back to his room…”
“It was my failure! I nearly caused a disaster! Please, Master, punish me severely!”