43: Bathing the bird

"Was that Sun Hao just now? Why would a Great Xia Spirit Guard be here?" Xu Yao asked, looking outside the door curiously.

Su Ze replied, "He is my bodyguard now, and he will often be around us from now on."

Xu Yao frowned, thinking to herself, "Doesn't this mean that he will see everything Su Ze and I do from now on?"

But then she blushed and shook her head, "What am I thinking? It's still too early..."

Xu Yao helped Su Ze get down from the infirmary bed. In truth, Su Ze's injuries were not severe, and he could walk perfectly fine on his own.

However, he wouldn't politely refuse Xu Yao's support, as being close to a beautiful girl felt quite pleasant.

Due to the incident, their classes for the day were completely finished.

Su Ze didn't even need to attend practical combat classes anymore; he had directly received a perfect score.

When the two returned to the bottom of the apartment building, Sun Hao walked out of the shadows again.

Su Ze couldn't help but remind him, "Brother Sun, I'm already home..."

Sun Hao nodded and said, "I know. Starting today, you and I are neighbors. What are you waiting for? Let's go upstairs."

He then took the lead and stepped onto the stairs. After exchanging a glance, Su Ze and Xu Yao followed him up.

Soon, Su Ze saw the other man stop on the same floor as him, standing in front of the door next to his home.

"I'll be living right next door to you from now on. If anything happens, remember to shout my name loudly, and I guarantee I'll arrive immediately."

Su Ze nodded helplessly, watching the other man struggle to open the door and walk inside using his one remaining injured arm.

Su Ze could only return to his own home. Knowing that someone was constantly watching him next door, even if it was for protection, made Su Ze feel uncomfortable all over.

"Forget it, I should take a shower first."

Su Ze had first picked up a strange smell from the teacher, and then he had bled so much; he had long felt uncomfortable all over.

He carefully avoided the wounds on his body and rinsed himself thoroughly with hot water.

While he was washing his hair with his eyes closed, he didn't notice a brilliant flash of light outside the bathroom.

When he walked out of the bathroom wearing only his underwear and wiping the water droplets from his head, he happened to see Feng Qingyi, who had been looking around, turn her head to look at him.

Su Ze was stunned for a moment and quickly shook open the towel in his hand and draped it over his body.

He didn't want to be misunderstood by her again.

"Why did you come out of the beast taming space? Let me state first, this wasn't intentional, I had no idea you were out."

Contrary to Su Ze's expectation, Feng Qingyi, who would blush at seeing animal reproduction diagrams on blackboards and in books, glanced at him with disdain.

"Why are you covering up? What's so interesting about a naked body?"

Su Ze was baffled. He really couldn't understand the thought process of a Demonic Beast.

"Forget it, let's not talk about that. Why did you come out?"

Feng Qingyi replied, "You actually summoned me out in such a dirty place today. I feel like my body is dirty, so I want to take a bath too!"

"A bath?" Su Ze suddenly recalled what Lin Xi had told him: for avian Demonic Beasts, helping them bathe could establish a good relationship.

Su Ze immediately became interested and said, "No problem, do you want me to help you?"

Feng Qingyi looked at him warily. Su Ze quickly explained, "Don't misunderstand. I meant you could transform into your Phoenix Bird form, and I'll help you clean your feathers."

But unexpectedly, upon hearing Su Ze ask her to revert to her original form, Feng Qingyi became even more wary: "Human, don't even think about it! You want me to revert to my beautiful true form? You definitely have ulterior motives!"

Su Ze now completely understood. Even though Feng Qingyi looked like a human girl, she was still fundamentally a bird.

She viewed herself and others through the mindset of a bird.

That's why she would think her true form was more attractive than her transformed human appearance.

However, she had only just hatched recently, and her awareness in this area wasn't mature yet; she could be taught slowly later on.

Finally, after Su Ze helped her adjust the water temperature and filled the bathtub, Feng Qingyi jumped right in, wearing her red dress.

Despite having the appearance of a beautiful human girl, she was playing in the water like a bird.

Su Ze found the sight quite amusing.

The only regret was that her red dress seemed to be transformed from feathers, so it was highly waterproof, just like feathers. It didn't get wet and cling to her body when exposed to water, which left Su Ze feeling a bit disappointed.

After leaving Feng Qingyi alone to play in the water, Su Ze walked out and pulled the bathroom door shut behind him.

Hearing the sound of the door closing, Feng Qingyi looked back, recalling how Su Ze had taken off his clothes earlier.

"It seems like humans take off their feathers when they bathe? Won't that make them dirty?"

After thinking for a moment, she snapped her fingers, and the red dress instantly vanished, leaving only her alluring body, white as milk, bathing in the water.

The feeling of her skin making direct contact with the water was incredibly comfortable for Feng Qingyi, like returning to the eggshell she hatched from.

She stopped splashing the water and quietly submerged herself, like a true human.

Su Ze heard the sudden silence from the bathroom and looked back in surprise, but the door he had just closed blocked his view.

He thought about it and decided not to push the door open and enter, choosing instead to wait outside patiently.

Feng Qingyi soaked for a long time, only reluctantly stepping out of the tub when the hot water had completely cooled down.

But having lost the function of her feathers, Feng Qingyi, stepping out of the tub, looked at the water droplets continuously streaming down her body and felt momentarily helpless.

Her first thought was to dry herself with fire, but then she remembered how Su Ze had wiped himself with a towel after bathing. Since she had already copied humans by taking off her feathers to bathe, why not follow through completely?

So, she copied him and picked up the towel Su Ze had prepared earlier, using it to wipe her clean body.

The sensation of the rough towel rubbing against her skin surprised her, but she didn't dislike it.

After thoroughly wiping herself in imitation, she copied Su Ze again, shaking out the towel, draping it over herself, and walking out.

The large towel felt like a bath towel on her small body. Fortunately, this meant Su Ze couldn't see more than he already had.

"Y-You... why did you come out like that?" Su Ze stammered, staring blankly at the scene before him.

Feng Qingyi replied, "Weren't you just like this a moment ago?"

"We are different. I am a man... a male. You need to pull the towel up first."

Feng Qingyi did as instructed, but she ended up pulling it up a little too high.

Su Ze could only tell her to lower it a bit more.

"What a hassle... I won't use this!"

Saying that, she tossed the towel away.

Su Ze quickly covered his eyes, muttering "See no evil," and then, peering through his wide-spread fingers, he saw that the moment she threw the towel away, Feng Qingyi had already changed back into her red dress.

"My feathers are still more comfortable!"

Su Ze lowered his hands, letting out a sigh of relief mixed with regret.

Looking at her still-damp hair, he recalled Lin Xi's teachings.

He picked up the discarded towel, took a step forward, and gathered a lock of her hair into his hand.

"H-Human, what are you doing now?"

Feng Qingyi remembered the scene where she was stroked earlier today—that was when she lost her composure the most.

But she didn't resist, allowing Su Ze to wipe her wet hair for her.

Seeing her quiet down with a blush on her face, Su Ze revealed a slight smile.

"Successfully manipulated again!"