Dinner was ice-cooked lamb.

This way of eating was taught by Ash, or rather, he mentioned that "lamb cooked with ice will taste better", and Felix worked on it for a few days and used ice magic to assist in the cooking. Compared with ordinary water boiling, it is indeed different in flavor, tender and fragrant without any smell of mutton. The mutton is so fresh that you almost want to eat it, and the lamb chops fall off the bone with a light bite.

Felix even asked if this was the taste. Actually, Ash, a social animal, had never eaten ice-cooked lamb, but how could the food that the Sanctuary Magician had spent several days researching not be delicious? Not to mention ice-cooked lamb, ice-cooked Lala fat was delicious.

Although the dinner was delicious, the atmosphere was quite silent. Everyone was quietly savoring the food, with only the occasional sound of the spoon hitting the bowl. In fact, chatting was not forbidden, but Ash felt that abstinence should be thorough, and took the initiative to cut off unnecessary verbal communication to avoid affecting their training mood.

Now Ash felt that he must have been tortured to the point of being mentally disabled by the Shadow Sword Curse, otherwise why would he take the initiative to shoot himself in the foot?

He quickly finished his dinner and took his plate to wash. Deda Rose said, "The bath is ready. You can use it anytime."

"good."

Ash responded, and when he finished washing the dishes and went to the bathhouse on the other side of the camp, he heard laughter coming from behind, and subconsciously quickened his pace. The bathhouse was filled with steam. Deda Rose would dig a bathhouse every time she built a camp. The water source was sometimes extracted from the air, and sometimes connected to groundwater. This bathhouse was obviously connected to groundwater, and the water quality was relatively clear.

Ash first rinsed himself briefly, then used his toes to test the water temperature in the tub. When he felt it was right, he put his calves in, slowly squatted down, and sat on the stone steps with his hands around his knees, with the water level staying just below his collarbone.

He looked at his blurry reflection on the water and laughed to himself: "It does look a bit like an unloved puppy..."

What Felix said did break his defense a bit.

It's not that he didn't know how bad his actions were, but he felt that he was a magician who could perform miracles. Couldn't miracles make up for all the regrets and cover up all the mistakes? It really couldn't. Felix only gave the simplest example and then beat his hypocritical face to pieces, piercing through all his hypocrisy, beating him until his skin was torn and his blood was dripping.

Ash couldn't even say a word of rebuttal, because Felix himself was the best example, she was a victim of love. He knew how much she hated her father, hated him so much that she joined the Four Pillars to rebel against her father, and no miracle could mend the gap between her and her father. Ash could certainly guarantee that he would not become a father like Duke Vosloda, but how could he guarantee that Sword Princess and the others would not become mothers full of resentment? He himself was even the source of their resentment.

Some things are missed once they are missed, and some things are wrong once they are wrong.

Even though the matter of the children was too far away from them, for now, without the "contraband" of Ash, their magic training efficiency increased tenfold, and their tactical coordination could even increase a hundredfold, making Ash almost feel that he was the calamity bestowed upon them by the virtual world.

Although Ash would not be so self-deprecating as to think that they would be better off without him, he had to admit that maintaining the current relationship of "more than teammates but less than lovers" would be beneficial to everyone.

He should even agree with it wholeheartedly. Now they no longer quarreled over emotional issues, but worked together to study magic and fully display their talents. Isn't this the magic team he has always dreamed of?

Ash thought so and did so. Otherwise, he would not have taken the initiative to add abstinence rules and banned daily chatting - he sincerely hoped that they could become better, instead of worrying about him.

Everyone has only one life, and he doesn't want to waste them, except Vichy.

Although Ash had no interest in being a spectator of the "End", he wanted to be their spectator. Watching the operators become stronger little by little was more interesting than himself becoming stronger.

But even though he had achieved the justice he wanted and paid a reasonable price, Ash was not happy at all.

"No one would want them to work together to improve, and also want them to like him/her wholeheartedly, right?" Ash mocked himself softly, "No way? No way? No one would be so wishful, right?"

"What can't you do?"

Ash was startled, and turned around to see Felix coming over with some clothes. He quickly sank into the water and said with a dark face, "Do you really have to come over when I'm taking a bath?"

"Then go get your change of clothes naked next time." Felix pouted: "As if I really want to."

She turned around and saw that Ash had retreated to the farthest corner of the bath. She couldn't help but chuckle, "Are you that scared?"

"Of course I'm afraid," Ash said faintly, "You were so aggressive today. I can't withstand your second attack."

Felix was a little surprised. He squatted by the pool and said, "Do you care so much about what I say?"

"What you said makes sense, and I can't refute it. Can I just pretend I didn't hear it?" Ash rolled his eyes and said, "Pay attention to yourself these few days. If any meal you cook is not tasty, I will use it as an excuse to scold you and let you know that the dignity of the audience is inviolable."

Felix blinked, "Actually, you don't have to care too much about what I say... You are different from my father, and your future children will not be like me."

“It’s hard to say.”

"Ah?" Felix was startled and his face turned red.

"I wouldn't be surprised if I had a daughter as rebellious as you." Ash muttered, "It would be more surprising if they gave birth to a daughter who wasn't rebellious..."

Except for Sword Lady whose rebellious period was suppressed by the heavy life, the rebellious periods of the others were more fierce than each other; the witch's rebellious period would end only after she killed the queen; the silver lantern's rebellious period would end only after she destroyed the world; as for Vichy, she was so powerful that Ash suspected that she had not yet gotten out of her rebellious period.

Felix looked at the distressed Ash, and a hint of tenderness unconsciously appeared between his eyebrows: "In fact, the fact that you care so much about your future child is better than many people. Even if you still fail to pass, everyone will forgive you."

"It's too late to comfort me now. I'm already covered in bruises from your attack." Ash said unhappily.

"So what are you going to do?" Felix asked tentatively, "Are you going to give up the trash can's promiscuity from now on?"

Ash thought for a moment and said, "I plan to maintain the status quo."

"If teammates are really more suitable for us than lovers, can I still stop them from becoming better?" He stretched his arms like a cat and said, "I don't know what life will be like, but at least I won't delay them now. Okay, I'm done, you get out now."

"Actually, I'm going to take a shower too," Felix walked to the other side with his back to him, "You change your clothes."

Ash left the bathtub and took a dry towel to dry himself. As soon as he started to change his clothes, he heard a rustling sound from behind. Just from the sound, he could imagine the scene of soft clothes sliding down smooth skin. Then there was a splash in the bathtub, and the blonde girl moaned like a kitten.

He didn't even dare to look back, and said, "Can't you wait for me to leave?"

"You're not going to watch it anyway." Felix chuckled and said, "If you don't leave, I'll tell Jian Ji and the others."

"You're so cruel." Ashusa shouted and ran away.

Felix was soaking in the same place where Ash was just now, his entire body and mouth submerged in the water, with gurgling bubbles floating on the surface.

"……fool."

…

…

Ash was walking through the camp and happened to meet Sonia who was heading back to her tent.

He was just about to suggest "turning lovers into teammates" when he saw Sonia pointing to the sky. Then she walked straight into her tent without paying any attention to Ash's reaction.

Ash looked at the sky, which was as dark and chaotic as ever. He couldn't understand what Sonia meant... Was she hinting that their future was bleak?

But nothing could better reflect her attitude than "refusing to talk." When Ash expressed his willingness to talk, she had no intention of responding and returned to her own private space.

Perhaps she had finally realized in the past few days that love was not a necessity at all, and that maintaining a polite relationship between teammates was easier for everyone. This way, Ash wouldn't have to worry about the Shura Field, and she wouldn't have to torture herself out of possessiveness... Isn't this good? A world where no one gets hurt was achieved... Everyone could get out of the quagmire, get back to the road and keep moving forward.

As Ash thought about it, he returned to his tent and took out the miracle bracelet. He had been catching up on the rebirth revenge drama "The Doorman's Younger Son" these days, but today, for some reason, he inexplicably wanted to watch a romance drama.

"You can cry secretly with your pillow in your arms, you can smoke and drink, but you can't go to her."

"In fact, we are not at fault, we just missed it."

Ash was bored and watched a romantic drama for more than three hours. Even when the screen went black, he was still in a daze. After a while, he turned on the music player and listened to those sad love songs on repeat while hugging a pillow.

It was almost time to go to bed. He turned off the light, covered his head with the quilt, and suddenly laughed to himself:

“I am actually a selfish person…”

After facing his inner pain calmly, Ash relaxed, calmed his restlessness, and fell asleep peacefully.

But at this moment, he heard a slight sound of wind, as if the tent curtain was blown up. But the tent was zippered, could it be that he didn't pull it tight?

Soon, Ash felt as if a big cat had crawled into the quilt. Just when he was startled and wanted to turn on the light, a figure suddenly jumped out from under the quilt, grabbed his hand tightly, and said in a low voice: "Don't turn on the light, don't talk loudly, otherwise you will be exposed!"

The hair exuding the fresh scent of shampoo fell on Ash's face, and the soft but extremely elastic body tightly adhered to Ash's contours. Ash was stunned when he heard it: "Sword Princess?"

"It's me."

There was no light in the darkness, and Ash could only feel her breath on his face. "Keep your voice down. I can only cut off the surveillance of the Gospel Spirits now, but if I make any noise or light, it will still attract their attention."

"But what are you doing here so late?"

"Don't you know? Didn't I just tell you I'd be coming over tonight?"

"How did you tell me?"

"I pointed upwards, which means I will come to find you at 12 o'clock after they fall asleep. I wonder if you didn't notice it." She said, "As for why I came so late..."

Ash only felt that he was being hugged tightly, his waist was tightly wrapped by legs, soft lips pecked him gently a few times, and then the slippery tongue took the initiative to invade his territory.

After a few minutes, only shallow panting sounds remained under the quilt. Sonia lay on top of him, bit his earlobe, and smiled softly, "Happy birthday, Ash."

Ash was stunned.

"My, my birthday?"

"I knew that today is not your real birthday." Sonia was not surprised: "But when I asked you about your birthday, you directly said today's birthday."

“April 10th, should this be a meaningful day for you?”

Ash stupidly asked back, "Today is April 10th?"

Sonia: "Yeah, what's wrong?"

Ash was silent for a while, then suddenly took a deep breath and hugged Sonia tightly, as if he wanted to hold her in his arms.

April 10th is indeed not his birthday.

It was the first day he traveled to the world of magicians.

He was caught by a blood-crazy hunter on the first day.

He was thrown into jail on the first day.

The first day was precarious.

That is the end of the old life and the beginning of a new life.

"It's already been a year." Ash murmured softly.

"We have known each other for a year." Sonia smiled and said, "A year ago, I was a young and beautiful female college student, and a year later, I was a fugitive in a foreign country."

"However, a year ago I was not even a magician, but a year later I have become a demigod standing at the top of magicians." She tapped Ash's nose: "Meeting you is both a blessing and a curse."

“When is your birthday?”

"You're asking now? It was already over before you came to Fanxing." Sonia said unhappily, "You know I'm a country girl. Birthday celebrations aren't popular in my small town. I'd just feel embarrassed if you celebrated for me."

"Then why do you want to celebrate for me?"

"Because I like you."

Ash blinked his eyes. Fortunately, there was no light at all, otherwise he would have been embarrassed. He quickly changed the subject: "But aren't you guys abstaining from sex now? You're doing this-"

"Don't worry, I can cut off Gospel's surveillance, and they won't find out."

"No, I mean, wouldn't it affect your state of mind if you touch me like this?"

"If we don't give up, my mood will become bad; if we all give up, then my mood will become good; if they give up but I can masturbate, then my mood will become very, very happy." She kissed Ash's cheek and said softly, "I actually regretted it a long time ago. It's too painful for me to give up. Otherwise, I wouldn't have figured out the method of "cutting off the prophecy" so quickly in the past few days."

Ash was stunned: "When did you regret it?"

“I regretted it on the first day.”

Isn't that equivalent to not quitting?!

"Ash, you've worked hard these past few days." Sonia's breath, as warm as orchid, gently blew on Ash's face. "You don't have to be patient any longer, but you should be more careful with your movements. It will be troublesome if you attract other people's attention..."

Ash took a deep breath, almost using all his strength to suppress the lust in his heart, pushed Sonia's shoulders away, and said seriously: "I have thought about it carefully. If a romantic relationship will hinder your development, then I would rather we stay as teammates. When we have completely solved all the threats and are no longer troubled by survival, then we will have time to continue our relationship-"

Sonia stretched out her finger and flicked Ash's forehead hard.

"Idiot." She said, "We work hard for happiness. Why should we sacrifice the good things we have now? Isn't this putting the cart before the horse?"

“But temporarily sacrificing the beauty of the present is for the sake of longer happiness in the future.”

"We are magicians, so why can't we grasp the beauty of the present and the happiness of the future?"

Ash was startled, but still shook his head: "No, you have worked so hard to build up the trust of the team. I appreciate your kindness, Sword Princess, but I don't want to destroy your hard-earned stability-"

Hiss.

Hiss.

Ash blinked his eyes. There was no light in the tent. He could only hear the sound of the person in front of him unzipping his pants. He realized at this time that he could hardly feel Sonia's pajamas or nightgown. There were two long elastic legs wrapped around his waist.

Sonia seemed to be wearing only a zip-up jacket, and now…

When Sonia held Ash in her arms, Ash hugged her waist very uncomfortably.

"I don't like celebrating birthdays, and I don't know how to choose birthday presents. There's no place to buy presents here." Sonia's voice was a little shy: "But it seems that you are quite satisfied with your birthday present, right?"

"You're using this to test the captain?" Ash said angrily, "I finally made up my mind to maintain a teammate relationship with you!"

"Leave this kind of determination to others." Sonia chuckled and said, "I just want to be your lover."

"Also, although I still insist on saving the most precious treasure for our wedding night, tonight is your birthday, and we have been abstinent for so long..." She said, "We can't just stop there and make the same mistakes again, right?"

"So, I think it's time for you to... move forward a little."