Mo Tianliao called Taishi back, knocked it hard twice against the ground to remove its ceramic shell, and forcibly turned it back into a wristband. “Huh?” Qingtong looked up at Mo Tianliao. “What simple method?”
“Cough. Er…” Mo Tianliao looked down at him. There was a bit of curiosity in those cold eyes, his beautifully shaped mouth was a little open, the tip of his softly pink tongue slightly visible. He could not resist slowly getting closer, suddenly he felt a little tickle in his left ear, he turned to look.
A fluffy tiger’s head was also drawing closer, staring at him with two huge tiger eyes, brimming with interest.
He had almost forgotten, da-shixiong was still there.
Seeing the big tiger trying to insert himself into the scene reminded Qingtong of something, he took out the little fox from his bracelet. When they had gotten off the ship, he had been afraid that the other disciples would see him, so he had stuffed the fox into the storage bracelet and almost forgot about him.
The fox, who had turned into a little ball, shook his fur, took two steps, and thump, immediately fell on the cushion. Because he had been curled up inside the bracelet for such a long time, his legs were numb. After pedalling his legs in the air for a while, he recovered. He turned into a youth and was instructed by Mo Tianliao to go outside and get the jade slips.
What Ding Zijin had left outside the door, was indeed the conference’s schedule.
The Three Sects Conference would not begin until three days later. In the meanwhile, they could enjoy Liuyun Sect’s scenery and get to know people. Once the conference started, there would be competitions to test their skills at fighting, crafting, alchemy, arrays and so on. This would last for ten days, after which there would be a magic duel. Those who had participated in the previous matches could also take a part in this, and there would be prizes for each competition, but the contents of those prizes were not in the information they had received. They would probably be announced once the conference started.
It was getting late, and the mountain wind was starting to cool.
In addition to the master bedroom, there were some rooms for the attendants to rest and sheds for the spiritual pets.
Qingtong stood up and yawned, he instructed Mo Tianliao to go and prepare a hot bath for him and Shuang Ren to kennel the spiritual pet, then he cheerfully entered the master bedroom.
Kennel the spiritual pet? The little fox blinked and looked at da-shixiong beside him. This one?
Mo Tianliao made one hand into a fist, put it on his lips and coughed gently. He packed up the cushions and quilts on the ground, and diligently went to warm the bath water.
Because this courtyard was intended for important guests, it was equipped with very nice things.
There was a bathtub made of white jade in the bathroom, it was quite spacious, enough to accommodate two people. Mo Tianliao quickly drew some water, then he put his hand inside it and stirred it, his fire qi immediately turned the whole bathtub of water steaming. After some thought, he went to the yard to pick some wisteria flowers, washed them and threw them in.
Mo Tianliao stood outside the screen, watching as the man on the other side of it undressed, he swallowed convulsively and, once he saw Qingtong get into the bathtub, put on a righteous expression and strode over. “I’ll wash your hair.”
Qingtong frowned slightly. Evil disciple, this excellency doesn’t have fur at the moment. It’s rude to come barging in like this! He looked at the bathtub, with the petals spread all over the water surface, he would not be able to clearly see anything below the neck, that was the only reason why he did not lose his temper.
Mo Tianliao looked at his cat’s expression and knew just what he was thinking. He pressed his lips together to contain his laughter, then dragged a high stool to sit by the bathtub. “Turn it white, ok? It’ll be easier to wash.”
“Talk less rubbish.” Qingtong raised his hand and tried to slap him, but Mo Tianliao easily caught his hand and slowly wiped it with a soft cloth towel. His pale arm draped over the white jade bathtub; it was hard to tell which was whiter.
“I haven’t given you a bath since you became human.” Mo Tianliao caressed along the gentle lines of his forearm into his upper arm.
Qingtong took his arm away and put it back in the water. Without him saying a word, his long black hair gradually turned white. This transformation technique was controlled by his soul, so by letting his hair become its original colour, it could ease the strain on it.
Mo Tianliao picked up the wooden ladle, scooped some water, poured it gently over the top of his head, wetting the snow-coloured hair, applied perfume, and rubbed it in slowly. Mo Tianliao used to bathe his kitten in the same way, he would take extreme care to protect his ears and eyes, so that Lord Kitty would not lose his temper. His gently massaging fingertips made him feel very good.
White fur was very easy to get dirty, and the kitten loved to be clean. When Mo Tianliao was not crafting, he gave him a bath almost every day. Lord Kitty was aggressive most of the time, but he had always been well-behaved while taking a bath, possibly because of Mo Tianliao’s skill.
Strong and slender fingers moved amid his silky hair, gently scratching his scalp. Qingtong narrowed his eyes in pleasure, he lay back in the bathtub, resting his head on its edge. The rim of this bathtub was very thick, it had an arc-shaped groove which was convenient for resting one’s head.
“Xiaozhao.” Mo Tianliao looked down at him and called out softly.
“Hmm?” Qingtong answered vaguely, he did not even berate his unfilial disciple over his way of addressing him.
“Who bathed you during these past 300 years?” Mo Tianliao picked up the wooden ladle to rinse his hair, carefully using one hand to protect his ears from the water. There were so many maids at Qingning Palace. Did those women help him bath during those years? At the thought of others touching this delicate skin, he wanted to take those maids and use them to feed his furnace.
“I bathed myself, of course. Who else would I let bathe me?” Qingtong raised his hand and pulled on Mo Tianliao’s chin.
Mo Tianliao kissed the wet fingertips and scrubbed his hair with a cloth towel. “Your body… Let me wash it too?”
“Hmm…” Qingtong was silent for a moment, as if he was considering it, then slapped him over the head.
In the end, Mo Tianliao was not granted the privilege of bathing the furless Mo Xiaozhao, he was kicked out of the bathroom by Master and could only helplessly wait outside.
“Tsk-tsk. How can I have such a useless Master?” The wristband flashed, Taishi’s voice sounding in his mind.
“Shut up.” Mo Tianliao turned around and went to make the bed. His cat liked to sleep in a soft place, although this white jade bed was covered with bedding, it was still a bit hard. Liuyun Sect was really stingy, would it have killed them to use more cushions?
This was really unfair to the people of Liuyun Sect. Generally, high-level cultivators did not need to sleep, they just required a putuan to rest and meditate on. Who would have thought that the Half-Immortal of Woyun Sect would need a soft bed to sleep on?
“He’s your cat anyway, and you’ve raised him as a demonic pet for so long, why not eat him now and also help him repair his soul as a bonus?” Taishi said and flew from his wrist. It turned into a big mouth and continued, “I say Master, could it be that you actually can’t get it up?”
When Qingtong came out, he saw Mo Tianliao burning something, he did not pay it any mind and kept walking while drying his hair.
The ground was covered with a woollen rug, Qingtong stepped barefoot on it, he was wearing a loose snow-coloured inner garment. Because there were still water droplets on his body, parts of the robe had become wet and stuck to his body, tantalizingly exposing some of his skin.
Mo Tianliao abandoned Taishi and walked over to carry the man to bed. “The ground is cold, why didn’t you wear shoes?” Sitting on the edge of the bed, he put the white feet on his lap, and wiped them carefully with a cloth towel, then he took the cloth towel in Qingtong’s hand and dried his hair.
Once it was half dry, Mo Tianliao put his hand in the snow-coloured hair and slowly trailed his fingers through it. He circulated fire qi through his palm, drying the long hair bit by bit.
Qingtong yawned, glanced at Mo Tianliao’s thighs with distaste, swatted his hand away, laid a towel on Mo Tianliao’s lap, then lay down and asked him to comb his hair.
Mo Tianliao paused, he could not help pursing his lips and chuckling gently. Since the last little misunderstanding, the two of them had gradually become as intimate as they were when they were younger. Master had begun to act shamelessly lazy like this, straightforwardly lying in his lap and asking him to comb his hair. He called Taishi back, turned it into a comb, and slowly combed the long glossy hair.
“Purr…” Qingtong narrowed his eyes, his throat letting out a pleased sound, and soon fell asleep.
Mo Tianliao tucked him into bed and took a bath himself. Just as he had gotten dressed, he suddenly frowned, someone had touched the barrier.
He walked outside briskly, only to see Shuang Ren crouching on top of the wall. When he saw Mo Tianliao coming, he immediately jumped down and bowed his head guiltily. “Second shixiong…”
“Planning to go out?” Asked Mo Tianliao, raising his hand to dry his hair. The barrier on this yard went both ways, no one could get in, but the people inside could also not go out.
“I want to walk around and look for my sister.” Shuang Ren’s lips pressed into a thin line; he had a feeling that his sister was here somewhere.
“No,” Mo Tianliao refused without even pausing to think about it. “There are barriers and arrays everywhere, and it is too dangerous at night.”
“As long as my sister is within five li of me, I can smell her scent,” Shuang Ren said stubbornly, looking at the barrier on the wall.
Mo Tianliao brows furrowed slightly, then smoothed once more. “It won’t be a problem. I’ll take care of it tomorrow.”
“Really?” Shuang Ren asked, staring at him with his fox-like eyes.
“You’ve waited for so long, what’s another night? Don’t cause trouble for Master.” Mo Tianliao raised his hand and rubbed the youth’s head. Seeing him nodding obediently, he turned and went back to the house.
When he got back to bed, he found that the man lying in it had his eyes open once again. He guessed it was to be expected, Half-Immortals had very sharp senses, the small movements in the yard would obviously not escape his notice.
Mo Tianliao climbed into bed and took him into his arms. “Sleep.”
Qingtong twisted, got out from his embrace, pushed him further away on the bed, rolled over, and went to sleep. Lord Kitty often disliked being held when first going to sleep. But maybe he had become accustomed to sharing a bed these past few days in the flying ship, because he never actually left Mo Tianliao.
Mo Tianliao did not bother him; he just wrapped a lock of snowy hair around his fingertips and played with it. When the man next to him fell asleep, he simply reached out and held him.
It was not that he did not want to touch Qingtong, that method of dual cultivation Taishi had mentioned, of course Mo Tianliao was one hundred percent willing to do it. It was just… Qingtong had refused to make a blood contract with him, he was unwilling to be treated as a servant. Such a proud guy, how could he be willing to be treated like that?
Many of the shape-shifted demonic pets belonging to demonic cultivators would be dragged into bed by their masters. Were they truly willing? Because they were bound by their blood contracts, they could not really resist. If he took him under the pretext of healing, what was the difference between him and those who used the blood contracts to force their demonic pets?
He had always been an amoral Demonic Lord, but when he had met his cat, he had suddenly grown a conscience. Mo Tianliao looked at the man in his arms. His pale face was buried in Mo Tianliao’s chest, he slept soundly. The lilac pendant hung on his chest, flickering.
Mo Tianliao frowned, if the Nine-Souls Crystal pendant was reacting, it either meant that Qingtong’s soul was unstable or that someone nearby was using a Soul Subjugating Horn.
“Mnnn…” Sure enough, Qingtong opened his eyes slightly and murmured, “My head hurts.”
Mo Tianliao leaned close and kissed the pale thin lips. The strength of the Soul Subjugating Horn was greatly reduced by the Nine-Souls Crystal, but Qingtong’s soul was too fragile, the slightest thing would hurt him. Sweet breath suffused the space between their lips, it felt addictive. Mo Tianliao could not help tightening one arm around that slender and supple body while his other hand slid irresistibly under the quilt and crept past the soft underclothes.
He’ll touch it once. Just once. Honestly!
Carpenter: I’ll touch it just once
Carpenter: I’ll touch it one last time
Carpenter: I’ll stop once I finish touching it this time
Unedited, please point out any mistakes
This extra chapter is thanks to Lady Titia. Thank you for the ko-fi