Chapter 110 Storm: Bathing [VIP]
"Our luck shouldn't be that bad."
Xiao Yun spoke casually, propped himself up and sat up, and found that not only was the carriage seriously damaged after the jump, but the two horses pulling the carriage fell directly to the ground, their necks twisted, foaming at the mouth, and half of their bodies corroded by the darkness into white bones.
"they……"
"Dead."
Yaris said calmly, "I'm asking Him for a carriage not just because I need a means of transportation, but also because the moment I enter the dark passage, I'll use my own dark attributes to activate the passage's dark power, working together internally and externally to break through the barrier of the mirror dimension. I need the horses pulling the carriage to shield us from the shockwaves generated by the collision of forces."
"So that's what happened."
Xiao Yun jumped out of the carriage, and Yaris followed him out.
"From now on we'll abandon the carriage and walk."
"no problem."
"Your legs are not convenient for you, I will carry you on my back."
"no."
Yaris decisively refused: "The Dark Tunnel isn't as dangerous as the Void, nor as absurd as the Mirror Dimension, but it's also a folded space. There's no clear concept of time here, and the distance we see isn't the actual distance. Furthermore, we can't predict whether we'll be waiting for friends or foes at the exit. You must conserve your strength to prevent any unforeseen events!"
"But your legs—"
"It's okay, I can use this."
The "this" in Yaris's mouth pointed to the nearly two-meter-long horizontal bar that fell to the ground after the carriage fell apart. Not far from the horizontal bar, there was a spare sword that was originally placed on the driver's seat of the carriage.
"The length of the crossbar is just right for a crutch. If there's an enemy at the exit, you can use this sword to defend yourself."
Yaris said briskly.
Xiao Yun didn't say anything else.
He picked up the spare sword and supported Yaris, who was holding the crossbar as a crutch, and put Yaris's right hand on his shoulder.
"Let's go."
In the boundless darkness, two people supported each other, taking one deep step and one shallow step towards an exit that seemed within reach but actually took an unknown amount of time to reach.
…
…
The night was deep, the pale moon was obscured by clouds, but the lights of the Guangming Palace were still bright, like the reflection of the stars in the sky on earth.
The court nobles, regardless of gender, indulged in the fragrant joy of the night, using the entanglement of bodies to temporarily forget all the anxieties and sorrows of the world.
Of course, not everyone who owned a room in the Guangming Palace was so obsessed with love that it bordered on pathological. At this moment, in the courtyard of a small palace building called Alice Palace, located in the southeast corner of the palace, a beautiful noblewoman was skillfully rejecting a suitor.
"I am moved by the Earl's persistence in love, but I want to sleep alone tonight."
"Why?"
The man unwillingly grabbed the woman's hand and said, "Is it that my sincerity cannot warm your cold heart? Or do you have a lover who is better than me?"
"……terribly sorry."
The woman slowly withdrew her hand. There was no explanation, and no need for explanation. Everything was self-explanatory.
"I should go back to my room and rest, and you should return to your wife as soon as possible."
"you--"
A raging fire burned in the man's heart, but he did not dare to get angry at the woman, not only because venting his anger at being rejected on a woman would be detrimental to his aristocratic manners, but also because the lady in front of him was the famous court socialite - Countess Sonya.
Nicknamed the "Love Witch", she snatched the title of the most beautiful woman in the court from Grand Duchess Anna, who was married into the Holy Family according to divine oracle, with her charming face and graceful figure as early as her teenage years. She became the object of pursuit of countless men and kept this title for more than 20 years.
It was generally agreed that until this generation of Holy Grand Duke resigned as high priest and gave birth to a pure-blood princess with his wife designated by the oracle, Lady Sonya's position as the most beautiful woman in the court was unshakable. Even her eight marriages and countless romantic affairs, which were repeatedly criticized by moralists, only made her charm more dazzling.
…
After sending the man away, Lady Sonya, whose heart was once again filled with emptiness, returned to her bedroom, dismissed the maid, took off her outer robe, and sat in front of the dressing table to remove her makeup.
Sudden--
The floor-length mirror with a golden geranium frame on the left side emitted a strange pale blue light, and then a hazy white, slightly human-shaped shadow emerged from the blue light.
(ah……)
Lady Sonia was so frightened that she fell off the chair and collapsed on the thick carpet in a mess. All kinds of weird, scary and dark rumors about the palace flooded into her mind at the same time!
(What is this! What have I encountered! Am I... am I...)
The figure in the mirror gradually became clearer. It was a young man covered in blood and holding a sharp sword.
As if it had just been stained with large patches of dried blood, Madam Sonya could only see the young man's slender and upright figure, his tailor-made clothes, and his jewel-like blue eyes!
The young man walked out of the darkness behind the mirror, stepped onto solid ground, glanced indifferently at the woman who was kneeling on the ground in fear, then looked away and looked around.
(……)
For some reason, after realizing that the fair and plump body in the gauze nightgown that walked out of the mirror had no interest at all, I felt a sense of intimacy.
, covered in blood, holding a sword, with a cold look in his eyes...but I was not afraid at all,
On the other side, after confirming that there was no danger at the exit of the passage, Xiao Yun returned to the place where he was still, saying, "It's very safe here. It's someone I don't know."
"She wasn't frightened, was she?"
"Looking at her...it seems, probably, she doesn't..."
Xiao Yun said this uncertainly, and looked into the glowing mirror.
"Hold my Yu!"
"Um."
A white, hazy figure walked out of the mirror again.
Her beautiful face, as pale and transparent as a fairy's, was completely bloodless, and her pure black eyes were filled with the emptiness and vagueness of exhaustion. Her long black hair, no longer carefully groomed, hung slightly messily in front of her chest, and her white long dress with gold and silver patterns was stained with spots of blood...
Lady Sonya stared blankly at the black-haired young man who emerged from the mirror. His name and appearance were exactly the same as those of the Holy Grand Duke who was now living in seclusion in Magha City. She felt like she was dreaming, and—
The black-haired young man's physical strength was obviously approaching its limit. As soon as he emerged from the mirror, he fell into the arms of the brown-haired young man covered in blood: "Brother, I... I..."
"Ma'am, do you mind if we use your room?"
Xiao Yun supported Yaris and asked politely.
"...Of course!"
Mrs. Sonya spoke without hesitation, and she felt unprecedented excitement as she gradually figured things out.
…
…
"How do you feel now?"
"Still very tired... but much more comfortable than before..."
Yaris, leaning in his brother's arms, ate half a bowl of egg custard and answered in a hoarse and weak voice.
He still looked exhausted.
"Take a hot bath, get a full body massage, change into soft and comfortable clothes, and get a good night's sleep. You should be able to recover for the most part, but..."
Xiao Yun raised his head and looked at Madam Sonya beside him.
After learning of their identities, this notorious court beauty and socialite showed a boldness and unrestrainedness that was inconsistent with the rumors. Not only did she give her bedroom to the two of them, she also asked the maids not to approach the bedroom tonight in the name of entertaining her secret lover, and she went to the kitchen herself to bring warm water and food for the two of them - considering Yaris's physical condition, she even asked the maid to make a bowl of egg custard.
Sensing Xiao Yun's gaze, Madam Sonya's expression brightened once more. "You want to take a shower, right? I'll tell the maid to prepare hot water right away. Of course, everything in Alice Palace isn't as spacious, comfortable, or luxurious as Silver Moon Palace or Little Love Palace... By the way, is it okay to only have two masseuses?"
“…”
Xiao Yun was speechless. "Why are you so enthusiastic? We traveled through the mirror and appeared in your room. Although we immediately revealed our identities, we still haven't explained the whole story to you. Therefore, we cannot rule out the possibility that we are creations of the demonic path, or that we lied to you..."
"You're right. You have unknown origins and may have lied to me from the beginning, but—"
Madam Sonya smiled slyly: "Don't you think today's situation is very exciting?"
"Stimulate?"
Xiao Yun was stunned.
Lady Sonya nodded.
"I've been hailed as the 'Love Witch' by the court. Over the past twenty years, I've had countless scandals with men, including eight ex-husbands. I may not understand magic, conspiracy, or politics, but I understand men!"
"When you looked at me, disheveled, with the eyes of someone inspecting something, when he walked out of the mirror with a look of weakness and exhaustion, when you hugged him with concern as he was about to faint... at that moment, I made up my mind - no matter whether you are of the Holy Family or not, no matter why you are here, I will help you! I will inject an unprecedented storm into my peaceful and boring life!"
"A peaceful and boring life?"
Sonya's words made Yaris look surprised, which was rare.
"Ma'am, you have eight ex-husbands and hundreds of rumored boyfriends. Your life is so colorful, and you still feel..."
"Perhaps because it's so easy to get, men's love seems so vulgar, boring and dull to me."
Lady Sonya said frankly, "My dream is to plunge into the storms of history and become a woman who leaves a glorious record in the history books, even if it means being a seductive concubine who destroyed an empire or a vicious woman who ruined a hero."
"……I see."
Xiao Yun probably understood what Mrs. Sonya was thinking.
(If you can’t leave a lasting legacy of good, then you’ll be infamous for eternity.)
"...Rather than becoming a demon concubine or a vicious woman, cursed for eternity, are you more afraid of being quickly forgotten after death?"
"--Yes."
Madam Sonya nodded sincerely. "For over twenty years, I never had the chance to experience real romance. Year after year, I wandered among men, playing boring love games. Until just now—the moment I saw you, my heart was pounding. The romance I've been waiting for has finally arrived! You are the romance I've been waiting for!"
Yaris also nodded to Xiao Yun: "Brother, I think we can trust her."
…
After a brief thought, Xiao Yun, worried about complications, rejected Mrs. Sonia's kindness in arranging a masseur.
Xiao Yun used the scissors in the bedroom to take off his coat, which had been soaked in blood and was dry and hard. He then put on the coat lent by Madam Sonia, and together with Madam Sonia, he helped the disabled Yaris into the bathroom of Alice Palace, which had a simple structure and only two areas: a steam room for washing body dirt and a lounge for enjoying a bath and massage.
Lady Sonya remained outside the bathroom.
Xiao Yun picked up the exhausted Yaris by the waist and walked into the steam area filled with white mist.
…
The thick steam from the steam area rushed over, soaking their clothes and hair.
Yaris, who felt his brother's body temperature more clearly than ever before, couldn't help but murmured: "Brother, put me down, I'm not a child who needs my parents' care..."
"Children can dress and undress themselves, can you?"
Xiao Yun said jokingly, placing Yaris on the stone bed half-soaked in warm water: "Let me help you take off your clothes first."
"Um."
Yaris did not refuse this time - most of his clothes were complicated in structure and required help from others to put on and take off on a daily basis, not to mention that he was now weak and lacked physical strength.
Xiao Yun was also not good at dealing with complicated and cumbersome clothes, but he was well aware of the principle of cutting the Gordian knot. When he encountered a part he didn't know how to deal with, he would simply cut it open or tear it off with scissors - after the bath, these damaged clothes would be burned and destroyed.
After a wild but not rough tearing and pulling, Yaris finally broke free from the constraints of his clothes, soaking his legs freely in the warm water, and letting out a comfortable sigh.
“So comfortable~”
"Of course it's comfortable," Xiao Yun said. "From the moment we entered the mirror dimension to the moment we arrived at Madam Sonya's room, even if we calculate it by real-world time, we haven't changed clothes or showered for five whole days."
"Judging from the way your wounds have healed, the time we've spent in the dark tunnel is equivalent to at least ten days in the real world."
Looking at the scabbed wounds on Xiao Yun's body, Yaris whispered.
The dark passage is a folded space with no clear time and definite space, although there is no cold or hot, cold or hot.
"When I discovered that the blood on your clothes wasn't just your enemies' blood, but also your own, my heart..."
"Don't think about these unhappy things."
Xiao Yun hugged Yaris and comforted him, "We have returned to the real world safely."
"Yes."
Yaris caressed his brother's bloodstained hair distressedly: "Can I help you wash your hair?"
"You will—"
"If you don't know how to do it, you can learn. I learn things very quickly."
Yaris said proudly, letting Xiao Yun rest his head on his legs so that most of his hair could be immersed in warm water, slowly dissolving the blood clots with the warm water, and using a spoon to scoop water little by little to wet and thoroughly wet the part close to the scalp.
After all the blood clots dissolved and dispersed with the water, Yaris picked up the crystal bottle beside him, poured out the paste with cleaning and decontamination effect, added water to knead it into rich foam, and then applied it to his brother's hair. His slender fingers rubbed his hair and massaged his scalp tirelessly.
"…How do you feel?"
"To be honest, it's a bit unexpected..."
Xiao Yun answered with narrowed eyes.
"Hmm? Did I do something wrong?"
"You did a great job. I didn't expect it... It's a little too comfortable... I want to sleep..."
"If you want to sleep, just close your eyes and take a nap."
"no……"
Xiao Yun shook his head firmly, and this action caused a large amount of foam to fall on Yaris.
"We're not out of danger yet, we can't let our guard down—Ah! You..."
"It's okay, I'll take a shower later..."
"but--"
"Don't you think this moment is particularly warm and romantic?"
Yaris said suddenly.
Xiao Yun was slightly stunned when he heard this.
Yaris went on talking to himself, "Children from common families chased and played freely in the fields, returning home sweaty and smelly, only to be forced into the bathroom by their angry parents. Even in the shower, however, the children were restless, playing with the water while bathing, making the ground wet..."
“…Is this the life you long for?”
"Yes."
Yaris said frankly: "A warm family and a happy life are the most precious and beautiful gifts that fate can give."
"But happiness and warmth..."
"I know, so I'm just expressing my feelings..."
Yaris sighed and used warm water to wash away the white foam on Xiao Yun's hair.
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