As the sun gradually set, the aroma of roasted meat that wafted through the Matai village dissipated bit by bit.
After finishing their dinner, the Matai people dispersed in twos and threes. Since there were no entertainment activities at night and they could go out hunting, some people went back to their houses directly to rest, while others remained around catching some rabbits.
Of course, they now had another task at hand, which was to collect stones and soil to pile up and hand over to the witch, hoping that one day he would make their village more better.
Tai Lie lifted some trees he had cut during the day and placed them by his feet. Following the requirements, he chopped them into sections. Knowing Lu Yu’s habit of burying tree roots back into the ground, he specifically piled the roots together.
The man behind the wooden house sat firmly on a stone pedestal, his wheat-colored skin gleaming. Every muscle on his body was perfect, with smooth lines that were not overly exaggerated, covered with a thin layer of sweat.
His expressionless yet sharply defined handsome face showed no extra emotions, only mechanically and precisely performing the task at hand.
After chopping down the twelfth tree, he was about to take down another one when he was suddenly interrupted by a voice.
“King, are you busy right now…”
Tai Lie raised his head and saw Lu Yu standing not far away.
Although it was getting dark, casting everything in shadows, his skin was glowing white, especially eye-catching.
Noticing the two other tribesmen chopping trees around him, Tai Lie subconsciously furrowed his brows but quickly returned to his emotionless state.
He discreetly withdrew his hand about to take the tree and said calmly, “Not busy.”
Lu Yu glanced around, looking somewhat awkward, “Um, can you come over for a moment? I want to tell you something.”
Tai Lie didn’t say anything, but stood up and walked over to him.
Lu Yu led him to a secluded spot with no one around.
“Um, King, I found a mountain spring. The water is very clean and cool. I was wondering if you’d like to go soak in it…” Lu Yu stuttered.
Tai Lie felt like he didn’t quite hear clearly, “What did you say?”
After a moment’s hesitation, seemingly making up his mind, Lu Yu said loudly, “King, let’s go take a bath together!”
Although Tai Lie had bathed in the river with his tribesmen before, for some reason, when this person said he wanted to bathe with him, he felt a strange and inexplicable feeling of uncertainty.
After a moment of silence, he nodded.
“Then let’s go now!” Lu Yu’s mouth curled up happily, patting his chest, “King, don’t worry, I’ve brought everything we need for bathing.”
Tai Lie didn’t know what else was needed for bathing, but he didn’t say anything more.
—
Under the tranquil moonlight, a mountain spring flowed down over uneven rocks, gathering into a small clear pool.
Lu Yu, fearing that he might lose his storage ring while bathing, took off his beast skin skirt and found a safe place to press it down with stones.
“King, I’m going down first.” After announcing, he jumped naked into the water.
Although feeling a bit embarrassed, he comforted himself with the thought that he’s just in a bathhouse like the bathhouses before in the modern world, so it wasn’t a big deal.
After all, they were all men.
Some good buddies even compared the sizes of their birds together.
What’s there to be ashamed of?
Lu Yu reassured himself in his mind.
Since the moment Tai Lie was about to undress, he had lowered his gaze. Seeing Lu Yu leaning against the rocks, already enjoying himself with his eyes closed, Tai Lie walked to the other side, untied his beast skin skirt, and slowly stepped into the pool.
Lu Yu secretly opened his eyes a little, peeking under the moonlight.
…This must be due to genetic differences!
In this era without underwear, growing up like this, he’s not afraid of shaking when running!
Lu Yu internally ridiculed, but when he raised his head and saw Tai Lie looking towards him, his heart skipped a beat.
He quickly found a topic, “Refreshing, isn’t it?”
Tai Lie glanced at his dripping upper body, closed his eyes, and responded nonchalantly.
Actually, he didn’t feel refreshed at all.
The spring water didn’t lower his body temperature at all; instead, it seemed to intensify it.
Seeing his somewhat indifferent reaction, Lu Yu thought that maybe he didn’t really like bathing, so he didn’t speak anymore.
He opened the game panel and was pleasantly surprised to find that the favorability progress bar was slowly increasing.
Bathing is great!
After bathing for a while, Lu Yu splashed water over himself, rubbed his body, and was about to move when he suddenly remembered that he forgot to bring his bathing equipment.
The so-called bathing equipment was actually a kind of loofah-like plant he found to make a bath towel, and another kind of bath bean that could cleanse the body, which he crushed and used as bath salts.
Lu Yu was about to get them when his gaze swept over Tai Lie, who was leaning with his eyes closed on the opposite side. He pursed his lips and mustered up the courage to ask, “King, do you want me to… scrub your back?”
Although scrubbing his back might not increase the favorability too much, every little bit helps.
Tai Lie opened his eyes.
Lu Yu began to boast, “I’m pretty good at this, I can scrub your back very comfortably!”
Tai Lie didn’t say anything.
Lu Yu took his silence as consent and stood up, walking towards the edge of the pool.
This pool had been here for who knows how long, with a layer of slippery moss growing on the rocks along the shore. In the dim light, the moss was hidden in the darkness.
Lu Yu stepped on the rocks and used his arms to climb onto the shore.
Before he could climb up, he suddenly felt his feet slip.
“Ah!” he exclaimed in surprise, lunging forward.
Hearing his cry, Tai Lie abruptly opened his eyes and saw him about to fall, subconsciously standing up to reach out and grab him.
But he was quite far from Lu Yu’s position, and before he could reach him, Lu Yu had already fallen.
And he fell in a way that was… indescribable.
His upper body was lying on the ground, while his thighs and below were still in the water. His perky buttocks were raised high, snow-white and round…
Tai Lie’s breath hitched.
A fierce heat surged suddenly in his lower abdomen.
Feeling the change in his lower body, Tai Lie’s mind was in turmoil.
He actually… felt aroused by Lu Yu.
Something that shouldn’t exist, arousal towards another man.
Struggling, Lu Yu got up, rubbing his sore belly.
Turning around to see Tai Lie’s figure hidden in the shadows, for some reason, he felt a bit intimidated by his presence…
Lu Yu forced a smile, “The stone is so slippery, King, be careful later. Oh, I’ll go get the back scrubber—”
“No need.” Tai Lie suddenly interrupted him coldly.
Without waiting for Lu Yu to speak again, he walked to the other side and went ashore, wrapping the beast skin skirt around his waist and leaving directly.
Seeing this, before Lu Yu could figure out what had happened, he hurriedly climbed out of the water, clumsily putting on the beast skin skirt and ring, then went to chase after him.
“King, what’s wrong?” Lu Yu asked anxiously.
The progress bar still had a long way to go.
Lu Yu reached out to pull him, but was stopped in his tracks by a cold voice.
“Stay away from me.”
Tai Lie didn’t look back, his voice cold and heavy, with a barely noticeable sense of repression.
Lu Yu stared blankly at his retreating figure.
Stay away from him?
Was he being rejected?
But didn’t they bathe well?
Why did he suddenly become even colder than when they first met?
He’s too fickle!
Even someone with a good temper like Lu Yu was a bit annoyed.
—
Shan Pu saw Tai Lie walking out from behind a tree and ran up to him, asking curiously, “King, where did you go? Why did you come out from there…”
Tai Lie raised an eyelid and glanced at him.
Shan Pu felt like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat and couldn’t speak.
It wasn’t until Tai Lie walked away that he reacted, shivering.
What’s wrong with King? Why does his expression look so terrifying, like he wants to eat someone…
Shan Pu turned his head and saw the witch coming out from the same place, hidden in the shadows.
“Witch, why did you come out from there too? Do you know what happened to King? His face looks terrible.”
Lu Yu, still nursing his sore belly, replied irritably, “I don’t know, maybe it’s that time of the month for him.”
Shan Pu: “Huh?”
Lu Yu raised his head to glare at him, “It’s so late, why aren’t you sleeping—hmm? What’s that?”