A Shared Bath

By the time they circled back from the banyan tree to the Village Chief's house, the misty rain had gradually stopped. The roads in Huaishui Village were muddy, rocky, and uneven. Every step into a puddle splashed water everywhere.

It was dark, and occasionally someone in the group would cry out in misfortune from "hitting the jackpot."

Although their clothes were already soaked, they could at least be dried slightly by body heat. But when the splashed water clung to their calves, it brought a bone-chilling cold, making them shiver involuntarily.

As they passed the base of the tree where the bundle of "cotton swabs" lay, Miao Yue consciously unfastened her Soul-Locking Chain and led the group toward the Village Chief's house. She didn't forget that she still had to exorcise them later to remove the banyan tree's assimilation effect.

Returning to the Village Chief's house, everyone was exhausted and freezing, wishing for nothing more than to take a hot bath immediately and crawl under warm blankets to chase away the cold.

But the work was not yet done; they couldn't sleep.

The ferret spat out the little girl from its mouth. Qi Gu slid down from its thick fur, his steps slightly unsteady before being caught by Lin Hanzhi from behind.

Lin Hanzhi wrapped one arm around his waist and placed his other hand on his shoulder, his voice somewhat raspy. "Take a hot bath and change your clothes first."

This time Qi Gu didn't object; he truly felt he couldn't take it anymore.

With so many people wanting to bathe, the hot water was clearly insufficient. After some discussion, they decided to bathe in pairs to save water.

Pubu Gesang immediately pulled Mu Xingchen. "Let's bathe together."

He didn't want to bathe with the dog boss, and as for Qi Gu, the dog boss would definitely cling to him.

Mu Xingchen had no objection.

The Village Chief's house had two bathrooms on the upper and lower floors, both with hot water. Qi Gu and Lin Hanzhi took the lower floor, while the younger ones went upstairs.

The phone camera was casually tossed onto the table, pointing at a group of semi-finished water corpses that had stopped struggling, their faces utterly blank.

The rising steam made their vision blurry. Men bathing together wasn't anything overly intimate; after all, in the North, there were many universities with public bathhouses where hundreds of naked men of all skin tones crowded together.

No one had ever skipped a bath out of embarrassment.

But when the bathing partner was Lin Hanzhi, Qi Gu always felt something was strange and unusual.

The two entered the bathroom. Lin Hanzhi turned on the shower to adjust the water temperature, while Qi Gu turned his back to him, slowly undressing.

The t-shirt clinging to his body was uncomfortable; Qi Gu took it off first, followed by his soaked pants. Qi Gu's fingers, flushed pink from the heat, paused at the waistband of his underwear, the rushing sound of water making him feel restless.

While Qi Gu was still feeling awkward, Lin Hanzhi had already finished undressing.

Lin Hanzhi stood facing the bathroom mirror. The steam blurred Qi Gu's reflection, showing only a hazy, slender figure with fair skin, straight legs, and a narrow waist, looking extremely fit to be held in one's arms.

A dry heat easily welled up, rushing straight to his brain.

Qi Gu heard the water stop and instinctively looked over, only to see Lin Hanzhi's beautiful, lean muscles. It was the kind of physique he really liked; he had trained for a movie role before, but it only lasted a few months before disappearing due to lack of exercise after his contract was canceled.

"Your muscles are really nice." Qi Gu's admiring gaze swept over Lin Hanzhi's body. "Do you work out often?"

"Something like that," Lin Hanzhi replied, his breathing growing heavier under Qi Gu's unshielded gaze.

In fact, most of these muscles were forged in fierce battles, so while not overly bulky, they possessed explosive power.

Their eyes met, and the atmosphere became strange, thick, and tense like a drawn bowstring.

Qi Gu turned his face away. "Bathe quickly, we still have work to do afterward."

They shared the single shower head, trying to bathe quickly while intentionally keeping their distance, striving to avoid any physical contact as they finished up.

Afterward, one after another, they stepped out of the bathroom, turned around, discarded the wet towels, dried themselves off, and changed into fresh clothes.

The clothes this time were still Lin Hanzhi's.

They shared a bar of lemon-scented soap and wore clothes with the same mint fragrance, looking just like an intimate couple who didn't distinguish between mine and yours, wishing they could leave their mark on each other at all times.

"Are you done? If so, I'll open the door," Qi Gu urged.

He felt like he was burning up, his head spinning, desperately needing a gust of cold air to hit his face.

Lin Hanzhi let out a soft "mhm" from his throat, took a step ahead of Qi Gu, turned the doorknob, and walked out.

The warm and cold air instantly merged. Qi Gu followed him out, only to see Lin Hanzhi zipping up his long-sleeved jacket all the way to his throat as he walked.

This was a high-collared gray windbreaker, with a very cool and powerful design. A high-collar style like this would be a disaster for someone without a long neck, but Lin Hanzhi's neck was slender. Even with the zipper pulled to his throat, a section of fair skin was still exposed, with his damp black hair clinging to it, creating a powerful allure.

Qi Gu stared at the dripping ends of his hair for a few seconds, then said, "Your hair isn't dry yet; it's still dripping."

"Where?" Lin Hanzhi raised his eyes with a towel in hand, playing dumb.

"In the back."

Lin Hanzhi casually rubbed the back of his neck with the towel.

Seeing this, Qi Gu's blood pressure spiked in frustration. He stepped forward, snatched the towel from his hand, and vigorously rubbed the ends of his hair a few times, finally drying the annoying droplets that felt like they were dripping onto his own heart. "There."

Qi Gu stuffed the towel back into Lin Hanzhi's arms.