“I’ll explain how it works”, Zhi Nan offered, leading them to the counter.

First he paid, then they stopped in front of the separate sides.

“After here is where you change”, he explained. “The bathhouse has various different baths, but generally, there are three areas. The baths for men, for women, and the mixed outside area.”

He pointed at the bundles everyone was carrying. “If you go into the separated areas, it’s fine to cover up with the towel, but for the mixed area, you have to wear the robe. You can imagine the mixed area as something like an open lake; nudity is not allowed there, but it’s fun for gatherings.”

“What, men and women are allowed to bathe together?”, Xu Yan exclaimed in surprise. As he wondered so, Xie Yi placed his towel on Xu Yan’s bundle and unravelled the robe.

It was bound to stick to your body a bit when wet, but it was made of a thicker material and coloured in black so that it wouldn’t become see-through. It would almost be like going into the water with clothes - which was something cultivators did often enough depending on their missions.

“I think it’s mainly female cultivators that use it, though”, Wei Lan quietly added. “We interact more with men.”

“Understandable”, Xu Yan nodded.

“Since we have a girl in the group, unless you mind, shall we go into the mixed area?”, Zhi Nan asked with a smile directed towards her. “We can still enjoy a while in the separate ones afterwards. The mixed area has more medical baths while the separate ones are more for relaxation, so it would be a good order.”

Wei Lan shyly nodded.

Xu Yan looked at the play and held back on retching. Basically, the guy wanted to see as much as he could of Wei Lan, but did not want to miss out on Xie Yi with only a towel.

“Let’s go in, then”, Xie Yi urged with shining eyes.

They parted and Xie Yi curiously walked into the open changing room.

It wasn’t fully open, but the cabinets did not have doors, meaning there wasn’t a full way to hide yourself.

“Xiao Yi, I’ll cover you while you change”, Xu Yan insisted in a monotone voice.

The youth shrugged and nodded, to Zhi Nan’s unhappiness.

Even then, as Zhi Nan waited in the mixed area already, he did not regret missing out on the sight too much.

For one, Wei Lan came out. She carefully stepped into the water - a few girls spoke to her to warn her about slipping and they shortly conversed in gentle voices - and walked over to him.

The robe stuck a bit tighter to her body, revealing her beautiful lines. 

On a total, the ratio of male to female was about twice as high men as it was women, not unexpectedly.

The women that were here were all in groups that kept a close eye on them, but taking a hot bath without a roof did give off a different feeling.

The door opened another time and an exhausted-looking Xu Yan came out, followed by Xie Yi.

Xie Yi did not like the feeling of the fabric. He felt it was itchy and uncomfortable and the thought of it clinging to his skin was worse.

Xu Yan had wrapped it tight around him but he kept on tugging and pulling, hoping to alleviate the discomfort.

After a helpless five minutes, Xu Yan gave up.

Xie Yi stepped out with his sleeves up his arms and his chest already being exposed a bit as he tugged around at his collar. He did not care to make his steps smaller, so his long legs kept on peeking out of the pantless robe.

“Please stop pulling it open even farther”, Xu Yan whined nervously. 

“This is uncomfortable”, Xie Yi complained in a quiet voice as he stepped into the water.

His eyebrows scrunched up unhappily, like a sad puppy.

It made you want to ask him what was wrong and get rid off whatever was bothering him. If it was the robe, even better.

The heat dyed his cheeks rosy and made his lips glisten.

Looking at the poisonous flower, Xu Yan felt a pain in his heart. It would be best if he got together with Master Li as soon as possible so that he did not have to worry about the other being led astray!

Looking around and seeing the hungry stares directed at his friend, Xu Yan was unhappy as well.

“Xiao Yi”, he grumbled and sat close to the other. “Act with me like usual.”

Wei Lan and Zhi Nan gave them confused glances but Xie Yi took the hint.

Usually, Xu Yan did reject him coming close when it wasn’t in their room, but since he said so, it was alright.

In a very habitual manner, he shifted his weight to lean a bit on Xu Yan as he often did when they were learning and also took the chance to let his head weigh completely against the other so that he could fully relax his neck muscles.

Xu Yan sighed mentally.

If he did not think of Xiao Yi as his own family, this would be troublesome. However, he had pretty much grown up the past years with Xiao Yi leaning on him whenever he was too lazy to keep his own weight and was used to it.

For anyone else, they would look like a couple.

The looks of interest turned to disdain but Xu Yan rolled his eyes at them.

Hunting a guy as a trophy was fine, but god beware there were feelings involved. As long as they thought Xie Yi was gay, they would lose interest. There were too many pretty girls out here for it to be worth the trouble.

“If you’re tired, you can also lean on me. You’re crushing your friend”, Zhi Nan teased with a very dishonest face.

Xie Yi curled up a bit as if he was scared of listening.

“Senior Brother, Brother Yi is not used to us yet”, Wei Lan softly said with a sad smile. “I imagine he would be uncomfortable doing that.”

Xie Yi made a tiny noise of assent. He couldn’t make it louder without his negative feelings seeping through but remembering QingQing, being quiet should be what he should be doing anyway.

Wei Lan began to talk with her sweet voice, explaining the uses of the medical bath they were inside.

Xie Yi let the water run through his fingers. It had a green sheen and the herbal scent was tickling his nose. He could even identify some of them.

Were the clothes white, they might have tinted green by being submerged over an extended period of time.

It felt different from the usual bath, not only because it was herbal.

It was different to sit here and relax under the open sky. The wind was running through his hair and tickling his neck while his body was covered by the hot water.

Dazed, the young man stopped listening and let all conversations flow into a constant noise in the background as he watched the small waves on the water.

Xu Yan felt the weight on his shoulder increase suspiciously and poked his friend to make sure the other was still awake.

Xie Yi yawned. “The water is making me tired…”

“There are cold baths in the men’s area”, Zhi Nan suggested. “They’re good for blood circulation and wake you right back up.”

“We have been in the medical bath for about fifteen minutes”, Wei Lan agreed. “We should go into colder baths now. Should we meet up at five?”

“Take your time, Junior Sister. We will wait outside for you if you wish to stay longer.”

“No, no”, she rejected with a shake of her head. “I won’t let you wait.”

“At five, then”, Xie Yi mumbled tiredly and stood up, wobbling towards the door. Xu Yan followed in a hurry, a bit worried that he would slip.

Xie Yi was happy to get rid of the robe and almost jumped into the cold bath with nothing but a towel around his slender hips.

Xu Yan glared at Zhi Nan from the back, following last to keep a watch on the situation as a whole.

For one reason or another, Xie Yi preferred the cold bath and leaned in until his face was covered up until his nose.

It felt more natural to be in cold water for him, who had been outside so often that he saw lakes and river more than he saw actual baths.

The hot bath outside was nice, but this was something he was used to.

Xu Yan’s teeth shivered as he stepped inside.

“God, this is cold”, he complained.

“It’s not bad compared to the lakes”, Zhi Nan commented with a haughty face as if Xu Yan was a wimp.

Feeling a bit protective, Xie Yi spoke up right after him. “It’s warm compared to ice springs. It’s comfortable.”

Zhi Nan’s face twitched. He could endure the lakes, but on a normal day, they were still considered cool.

Ice springs were rare, natural springs and the opposite of hot springs, as the name implied. They were cooled down due to the plants that grew in their surroundings and were generally considered medical baths due to their properties.

Let’s not mention they were rare; people had to be careful to not get frostbite. And yet, here was a little cultivator, talking about it relaxedly.

Xu Yan raised an eyebrow. Xie Yi couldn’t have possibly seen one before, let alone get used to its temperature. He did manage to make the lie sound believable with his tone, however.