Chi Muyao finally gathered the courage to look at Yu Yanshu and said, "Yu-shixiong, I'll take him to rest. I will tell you about the situation outside the mountain later." 

Who knew that Xi Huai would decline. "Say it now. After that, you don't have to go to him anymore. It would be troublesome otherwise."

"Ah?" Chi Muyao was slow to react due to being so embarrassed. 

"And if he has any questions, he can just ask me directly. You don't need to play messenger." 

Chi Muyao listened and described the situation he had just inquired about to Yu Yanshu. 

Yu Yanshu finished listening and asked with a heavy expression, “Does he also know about you?”

"En?" Chi Muyao was stunned.

"Oh, nothing." Yu Yanshu said, turning around and leaving. 

Xi Huai did not care at first, but that remark rubbed him the wrong way. After Yu Yanshu left, he held Chi Muyao's wrist and asked, "What does he know that I don't know?"

"He-he..." Chi Muyao panicked for an instant. His tail and clothes were unintentionally touched, making him nervous. 

“En?”

"Nothing much!"

"Chi Muyao!" Xi Huai gritted his teeth and bowed down slightly. He looked at him severely and asked, "Do you have any secrets I don't know with him?"

Chi Muyao fell into a panic. He even waved his hand and explained, "No, it's the one I hid from you..."

"Oh? You hid it from me, lying to me repeatedly. If I hadn't confirmed it on my own, you wouldn't even think about telling me until you died. You shared this secret with him?" 

"He discovered it himself, I didn't tell him!"

"You could've denied it! Why did you admit it to him? You were still so reluctant just now." 

"I didn't admit anything!"

“Then what's with his attitude?" Xi Huai's voice came from between gritted teeth. "Wow, water spiritual roots are sooo good. The perfect furnace, right? It's apparently the best spiritual root under heaven!"

Chi Muyao was in a panic. “No! No!"

“Because of the scene just now, your water element furnace is about to disappear, so you want to butter me up? You wouldn't even explain things to me if not to keep at least one of us around, right?" 

"I never wanted any furnace. In fact, I don't even need you!"

"Don't you dare not need me, I'll..." Xi Huai stewed in silence for a long time. Finally, he could only say, "stab you to death".

This 'stab' inexplicably made Chi Muyao's waist and knees hurt. 

Chi Muyao glanced up at Xi Huai quickly before looking around again. He noticed someone looking at them secretly. However, they were too far away to hear anything.

He left angrily with a wave of his sleeves. "You're so shameless!"

“Am I shameless or are you being excessive?” Xi Huai asked relentlessly from behind him.

Chi Muyao thought about Yu Yanshu's words as he walked. He suddenly understood why Yu Yanshu suddenly mentioned this secret.

If the two of them share a common secret, their relationship would also change.

Perhaps Yu Yanshu deliberately mentioned it just now, maybe with the intention of provoking his relationship with Xi Huai.

Chi Muyao was a little confused about why he would do such a thing. Could it be that...Yu Yanshu had feelings towards him...?

It shouldn't be, ah. There was no spark between him and Yu Yanshu. Their interactions were always polite. How could this be possible?

Yu Yanshu was a straight guy. He should like the female lead, right? 

However, Xi Huai was also supposed to be straight, even homophobic, but now he liked Chi Muyao.

If it was as he had guessed, not only had he become ‘Peer Gay’, Yu Yanshu showed aptitude to become a male green tea.

He quickly refuted this idea and felt that he was overthinking things. 

Yu Yanshu was the second male lead, ah. What bad thoughts could the forever pining, second male lead who made people's hearts ache, have?

He soon remembered what Mu Ren had said to him...

Did Yu Yanshu hear something from Su You that inspired such a change in him?

Chi Muyao carefully recalled the look in Yu Yanshu's eyes. He seemed to have no affections, only inquiry and...pleading. He sensed Yu Yanshu's unease, which seemed unrelated to the ambiguous atmosphere between him and Xi Huai.

Only Xi Huai, that living vinegar jar with a possessive streak a mile wide, would get jealous to this extent based on one remark.

Although Chi Muyao was a bit angry, he still brought Xi Huai to a building. "This was a temple before. The meditation rooms that are still habitable have all been taken. Here is the drum towerLooks like this.... It's a quiet place in the shade. Make do for a while." 

Xi Huai just glanced about casually. "Where are you staying?"

"In a meditation room. There's often spiritual beasts carcasses around, so no one stays with me."

The Nuan Yan Pavilion disciples were all very spoiled, so the processing after prey was caught was all done by Chi Muyao and Yi Qianxi. 

Yi Qianxi and Han Qingyuan shared a room normally. It wasn't convenient for such grisly things to be placed in a girl's residence, so they were here with him. 

Xi Huai nodded. “I'll go check it out.”  Chi Muyao knew that Xi Huai was as stubborn as a mule, so he could only take him there to avoid Xi Huai acting up again.

He arrived fairly early and lived in a relatively intact mediation room. At least there was a door.

After going in, it was apparent that Chi Muyao tidied up the place. There was even a small quilt on the bed. This quilt looked familiar to Xi Huai. After all, he saw it covering Chi Muyao during his nap in the Ninety-Nine Glazed Glass Pagoda.

Xi Huai walked in and sat down. He noted how the spirit beast caracasses were all placed in a tank, covered with a lid. There was no unpleasant smell in particular.

The room was reasonably clean and comfortable.

He immediately said, "I want to sleep here."

"But..I don't want to stay in the drum tower."

"Then you sleep here too."

Chi Muyao could think of a hundred reasons to say no. "After seeing us together today...the others are going to talk if we start living together…”

"Let them talk. Whoever says something you don't like, I'll kill them." 

"That's absurd!" 

Xi Huai did not want to argue with him, so he asked, "How can I take a bath?" 

"There is a creek here, a very clean one. However, you can only wipe down with a moist towel because we need to save water."

"Only wipe down?" Xi Huai was beyond disdainful. 

“En, you want to wash up? I'll get you some water.”

"I'm coming with you."

Their living conditions here were so harsh that there was no basin to use, so they simply carved out a dent in a rock. This 'basin' was heavier than water. 

Xi Huai couldn't bear to let Chi Muyao carry it, so he could only help him carry the basin back to the room.

Chi Muyao threw the towel to  Xi Huai. "Wipe yourself down with it. I'm going out."

"How?" 

"You can't even do this?"

"En, I only know the Simple Washing Technique."

Xi Huai said, straightforwardly taking off his enchanted vestment.

Xi Huai suddenly taking off his clothes caused Chi Muyao to panic. He didn't know if he should look. This body was so familiar to him at this point, but he still blushed whenever he saw it.

Xi Huai's muscles were filled with strength. Even a glance made him recall the temperature of his skin. 

Seeing that Xi Huai was waiting for him, Chi Muyao walked over and wiped Xi Huai down. "Like this."

"En."

"Here you are." he handed the towel over.

"I can't reach my back." 

"Oh..." Chi Muyao circled around to help Xi Huai wipe his back. His heart pounded uncontrollably again, like a crazy rabbit or an unrestrained beast.

After that, Xi Huai wiped himself and Chi Muyao went to make the bed. He thought to himself, if he lived with Xi Huai, things might become strange. Maybe he should go live in the drum tower.

The only thing was that Xi Huai might follow him over.

“Shall I fetch you another basin of water?” Xi Huai asked.

"En, okay." 

When Xi Huai returned with the water, Chi Muyao gave him a look, silently asking him to leave.

Xi Huai looked back at him with no intention of moving. He even asked proactively, "Do you want me to help you strip?"

Chi Muyao could only compromise. He took off his outer layer. Before he could start wiping his body, Xi Huai took the towel. "I'll help you."

After that, he was manipulated this way and that like an invalid who couldn't care for himself.

When that was done, Chi Muyao quickly put on his outer layer and put the stone basin by the bed to wash his feet.

Xi Huai stopped him and put his feet in. "You put your feet on my feet," he said. 

The creek water has always been very cold. During his time here, Chi Muyao could only wash his feet with cold water.

On the first day of Xi Huai's arrival, he finally experienced the benefits of his high body temperature. It wasn't so cold when he washed his feet with him.

Now that they were close, Xi Huai suddenly asked, "Have you considered that Su You may be lying."

His voice was so light and low that only someone close by could hear. Also, because of the content of the conversation, Chi Muyao forgot about how close they were. Xi Huai was breathing in his ear. 

Chi Muyao was very surprised. After thinking about it, he asked, "Why?" 

“With Su You's cultivation, as long as he reaches the Mountain Sealing Grand Array, he can destroy it even with his puppet body. Moreover, the cultivators outside might simply let him go in order to prevent him from destroying the Grand Array or waste energy reinforcing it. The Nascent Soul stage cultivators of the Nuan Yan Pavilion who had intentions of becoming the Sect Master might just let him out for everyone to fight in a bid for glory."

"In other words, he actually has the strength to go out, but he doesn't."

Xi Huai nodded and pointed to the floor. "Even if a ruined temple's purification mechanism is turned on, it cannot be so clean. Have you ever thought about that?"

"Is there...something else here?"

"En, that's right. Something that can attract Su You over. Even when the two of us left the pure land, he didn't take the opportunity to come over to steal back the bell, meaning he was busy then. Come to think of it, there has to be something in this place he's trying to get." 

Did a strange phenomenon in the sky mean treasure was near?

Sure enough, these two were both villains. They think more than other people. No one except these two thought this place contained treasure. 

Thinking about it carefully, in the novel, the protagonist would always stumble upon and take the treasures the villain has worked hard to obtain. That was the protagonist halo, and the reason the villain hated the protagonist.

Following Xi Huai's train of thought, Chi Muyao really felt that there might be some kind of divine artefact that had appeared in the pure land.

He couldn't help but get excited. Was Xi Zihe going to get his first golden finger?

While he was spacing out, Xi Huai lowered his head and touched his toes with his feet. After he dodged, Xi Huai came over again.

Xi Huai's skin was warm and his feet were slightly longer. Just looking at their feet, you could tell the difference in their body size.

It was just the most ordinary washing of feet, but it somehow became brimming with cozy warmth.