Chapter 17 In the bathtub:
"I know you don't like me, and it's bound to be awkward for close friends to do something like this."
As Shen Bingsi spoke, she hugged Rong Xie.
"Just think of it as being bitten by a dog. When you're walking on the street, you're bound to get bitten by a dog. You can't stop walking just because you're afraid of being bitten, right?"
As Shen Bingsi spoke, she reached her arm behind Rong Xie, her fingers threading through the straps of the binding garment, deftly and swiftly untying them.
Most of Rong Xie's multiple layers of clothing were purchased by Shen Bingsi, who knew their various structures and sizes better than Rong Xie himself.
Once the belt was loosened, the straps that bound the undergarment came undone, the trouser legs fell down, and the neckline of the top became loose and wide, no longer clinging tightly to the collarbone, but sliding down one shoulder.
Rong Xie remained frozen the entire time, his nose only inches away from Shen Bingsi's chest. With a slight raise of his eyebrows, he could see Shen Bingsi's straight neck and the bulging veins when he exerted himself. Rong Xie didn't know where to look and dared not move. When his waist loosened and the fabric of his clothes slipped off his body, he panicked and covered his front, pushing Shen Bingsi with one hand.
"Wait a minute... I... I still have something to say..." Rong Xie's voice was barely audible, and his hand on Shen Bing Si's body was weak and powerless. He didn't even dare to push her firmly. The muscles under his palm were too distinct, rising and falling with his breathing, and their presence was so strong that it seemed to burn his palm.
"No need to say anything, I know everything." It was nothing more than words of dislike and rejection, and Shen Bingsi didn't want to hear them a second time. Since he had already decided to do it, he would do it no matter what the cost, even if his best friend disliked him.
Shen Bingsi's shoulder pressed down to one side, and Rong Xie felt his knees suddenly bend, his feet leave the ground, and he lost his balance. He gasped in surprise and instinctively hugged Shen Bingsi's neck. Shen Bingsi lifted him horizontally into the air and carried him into the bathtub.
"No... Ugh!" Rong Xie hugged Shen Bing Si's neck tightly and closed his eyes. However, the next moment, his body was still immersed in hot water. Although the immersion was gentle, the sensation of being surrounded by hot water still made him very uncomfortable, as if his body was no longer under his control.
When he reached a sufficient depth in the water, Shen Bingsi released him. He fell into the hot water, choked on two mouthfuls of water, and was pulled out by Shen Bingsi's chest.
"Duh, can't you stand up?" He seemed to be laughing.
"I... my legs are weak..." Rong Xie tried to grab the edge of the wooden bucket, his ears burning up uncontrollably.
Shen Bingsi laughed again. Shen Bingsi's hateful laughter came from behind Rong Xie's ears. At some point, he also entered the bathtub and moved behind Rong Xie, with only a wet undergarment separating the two.
What difference is there between this and being completely naked? Rong Xie could feel his back, practically bare, pressed against Shen Bing Si's chest. It was hot, and the soft touch was terrifying. Further down, his limp lower back inevitably sank into Shen Bing Si's well-defined abdominal muscles.
After all that had happened and having clarified his own feelings, Rong Xie was actually prepared to half-heartedly agree, but putting it into practice was not so easy.
He instinctively wanted to escape. The sensory shock was too intense, something unimaginable in his mundane life of the past thirty-odd years. Shen Bingsi's body frightened him. He tried to stand up several times by gripping the edge of the wooden tub, but couldn't. Shen Bingsi gently pulled him up, and he sat back in his lap.
"...It's okay if you hate me, just don't see me." Shen Bingsi said to herself, pulling out a wet cloth from somewhere and covering Rong Xie's eyes. The hot, wet liquid flowed down Rong Xie's nose and cheeks.
This will only make the situation worse.
"Shen Bingsi, calm down, listen to me..." Rong Xie reached out to pull the wet cloth. Losing his sight made his senses more acute, and Shen Bingsi's physical presence was magnified a hundredfold, making it even more unbearable.
Soon, Rong Xie found out where the wet cloth came from.
That was the belt on his undershirt.
With his belt removed, Rong Xie's undergarments fell away, and he felt a chill on his upper body.
Rong Xie hurriedly pulled off the wet cloth, trying to retrieve his clothes, but saw that his undergarments were floating on the water like a withered lily, completely exposing his slender upper body, his skin, which rarely saw the sun, forming a stark contrast with Shen Bing Si's.
His hair also came apart completely in the struggle, with strands scattered everywhere. Some clung to his shoulders and neck, some floated in the water, and some went deep into the water, burrowing into the gaps between his skin.
Rong Xie felt a sudden "boom" as his cheeks and neck began to burn.
"No...no...I can't..."
Rong Xie shook his head and waded aimlessly with his hands.
Theoretically deciding to go along with something half-heartedly is completely different from actually doing it half-heartedly. Rong Xie now only hopes that something will suddenly happen to call Shen Bing Si away, or that the bathroom roof will simply collapse. Anyway, if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up...
What is he thinking? He could do it in "Offering the World to a Proud Hero," so why can't he do it this time? It doesn't make sense, it shouldn't be like this…
“Listen to me, Rong’er, don’t move around.” Rong Xie kept moving around, so Shen Bingsi had to grab his wrist and fold it against his chest in a grappling position. “If you keep rubbing against me, I’m going to come.”
"Come out? What come out? What come out?" Rong Xie was struck dumb, his mind went blank, and he really didn't dare to move, obediently sitting on Shen Bing Si's lap.
“Alright, from now on, listen to me,” Shen Bingsi’s hot breath kept getting into Rong Xie’s ear, “The most important thing about the dual cultivation method is…”
Rong Xie didn't hear a word he said. They had never been so close before. Even when they were playing in the pond as children, they had never felt each other's heat and outlines so clearly. He didn't know when Shen Bingsi's body had grown to the point that Rong Xie didn't recognize her.
Rong Xie's mind was filled with Shen Bingsi's hoarse complaint: "You keep rubbing against me, I'm about to come out."
Oh God, please save him.
Suddenly, everything went quiet, and Shen Bingsi fell silent.
Rong Xie listened carefully and could only hear the noise of his heart pounding and his pulse pounding against his diaphragm. Why did Shen Bing Si stop talking? Did she realize he was daydreaming?
In an instant, Rong Xie froze, like a frightened animal. Something had shattered his previous beliefs, and he could only stand there, trying to escape this predicament in this way.
Shen Bingsi remained silent, a silence made even more terrifying by his continued actions. Rong Xie would have preferred him to continue explaining or say something comforting, but he did not.
"Ugh..." Rong Xie trembled uncontrollably, weakly pushing away Shen Bing Si's arm that was stretched underwater. He couldn't bear the impact. It was as if time had stopped and his thinking had stopped. He desperately wanted to escape, to escape upwards, but his body was firmly imprisoned in Shen Bing Si's palm.
"No... I can't..." Rong Xie sobbed.
One of the defenses was completely breached, and Rong Xie collapsed in Shen Bing Si's arms, crying.
Shen Bingsi seemed to sigh.
For the next few hours, Rong Xie spent his time in a daze, feeling Shen Bingsi change the water, wash his body, wrap him in a dry bathrobe, and carry him back to the bedroom.
As soon as he got back to his bed, Rong Xie wrapped himself up in the quilt, like a piece of fresh meat in a steamed bun, which had to be wrapped up tightly so it wouldn't burst open.
Shen Bingsi seemed to have sat by the bed for a while.
Rong Xie quickly fell asleep, and when he woke up, there was no one by his bedside.
Perhaps because he had experienced too much excitement yesterday, he slept very soundly this time, without having any dreams. When he opened his eyes, the window paper was already white.
"Hmm, what time is it..." Rong Xie struggled to get out of bed, feeling a wave of soreness and weakness in his waist and abdomen, and almost lay back down.
"Um?"
He recalled fragments from last night, the details magnified infinitely, and his neck burned again.
Rong Xie, you're amazing.
Rong Xie secretly praised himself.
Dual cultivation is nothing more than this; it's not impossible to do it half-heartedly.
However, why didn't he feel an abundance of spiritual energy? He had heard from others that after successfully establishing one's foundation, there should be a continuous flow of spiritual energy in one's dantian and dantian, flowing smoothly through the meridians, and one's five senses and six perceptions should be significantly enhanced than before...
Why does he only feel soreness and fatigue in his lower back and abdomen, and his body seems weaker than before?
Later that day.
Shen Bingsi bought mutton soup noodles from an inner sect food stall, and Rong Xie served them out. Each of them had a bowl, and that was how they made do for lunch.
The two sat in the flower hall, eating around a small table. Three windows faced outwards, and the green trees had quietly grown into shady trees. The wind blew from the lake, bringing the fragrance of sunshine.
Upon seeing Shen Bingsi, Rong Xie felt awkward and didn't dare to look at him, let alone sit face to face. However, he was very hungry, and the aroma made him forget about everything else.
After Meimei finished her mutton soup with flatbread, Rong Xie felt his strength returning. He looked up, suddenly mustered a bit of courage, and blurted out, "Yesterday... was it considered a success?"
Shen Bingsi paused for a moment, then came to her senses and said, "It didn't work."
“…Ah, how could this be?” Rong Xie couldn’t believe it. They had gone to such lengths yesterday, and they still hadn’t succeeded?
“Hmm,” Shen Bingsi said slowly, seemingly lost in thought, “It’s really nothing. No one succeeds in learning a new cultivation method on their first try.”
"Is... that so?" Rong Xie noticed that Shen Bing Si's attitude was very serious, as if... they were really discussing an internal martial arts technique.
Rong Xie felt a little disappointed. Even though they were so close, he couldn't sense Shen Bing Si's feelings; it was as if they were very far apart.
“But you’ve done very well,” Shen Bingsi reached out and patted Rong Xie’s forearm across the small table. “Taking the first step means you’re very close to success.”
After saying that, Shen Bingsi stood up, cleared away the dishes, and went to the kitchen to wash them.
The afternoon sun was lovely.
Rong Xie, however, lacked the energy to go for a walk.
He came out of the flower hall and went straight back to his bedroom through a small door on the side of the corridor.
I lay there lazily for a while, but couldn't fall asleep. I couldn't help but replay the events that had happened in my mind.
Details came flooding back like snowflakes. Rong Xie thought of Shen Bingsi's arms tightly holding him, the soft laughter behind his ear, and that hoarse complaint. His heart trembled uncontrollably, and a tingling sensation spread from his chest to his whole body.
Among these sensory-impacting fragments of memory, there was one that was as subtle as a soft thorn embedded in one's breath, yet when noticed, it was painfully sharp. It was near the end when Rong Xie climaxed, and Shen Bingsi sighed behind him.
Why did Shen Bingsi sigh?
Why did you sigh at that moment? Was it because you thought he wasn't performing well?
Rong Xie tossed and turned for an hour, but not only did he not fall asleep, he also made himself more and more tired. His heart was pounding and his eyes were swollen. He got out of bed, went to the bronze mirror, and looked at himself. Sure enough, his eyes were red and swollen again, like a rabbit's.
After such a terrible night, Shen Bingsi probably won't suggest dual cultivation again. Yeah, who would want to cultivate with their best friend? They're both hard-boiled men, you have what I have too. Shen Bingsi must be in a difficult position when he reaches down.
With red eyes, Rong Xie stormed into the study, angrily opened the incomplete copy of the Turo Paradox, and began to read it in a self-destructive manner.
He's not going to cultivate anymore. He wants to use the little bit of ordinary life he has left to do things he likes.
After nightfall, only a single lamp illuminated the room.
Rong Xie's heart finally calmed down, and he read the words in the ancient book with focus and joy.
Suddenly, the study window made a loud "thump," as if something had hit it.
Rong Xie looked up in confusion and saw a dark figure clumsily trying to climb over the window frame, slipping down several times.
A smell of alcohol wafted on the wind.
"Yang, Yang spirit emerges from the crown of the head—thus it is no longer used!" Shen Bingsi mumbled incoherently, "Secretly circulating the Qi throughout the body! Not to be revealed in public!"
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He was cultivating very seriously. (Nodding)
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