Tap!
Diana, clad in Golden Battle Armor, held Xi Nian in her arms as she landed lightly and precisely on her own balcony from a hundred meters up in the night sky. Since the balcony's floor-to-ceiling window had already been smashed open, Diana took a few more steps forward and entered the dark, wrecked living room.
With a casual toss, Diana hung the Golden Lasso back from the living room ceiling. The golden light emitted by the lasso served as temporary illumination indoors. Beneath that golden glow, the armor covering her tall figure was dazzling.
"What's with that outfit of yours?"
Xi Nian could not help taking a few more looks. Her current attire felt noble and stern, exactly like a goddess described in ancient Greek mythology.
Diana calmly glanced at Xi Nian and said bluntly, "You wore off with the battle suit I usually use outside, so I could only put on the spare Golden Eagle Battle Armor at home."
Well, that made perfect sense.
But Xi Nian's mind immediately went blank. Only then did he realize that he was still dressed as a girl, and every item he wore was close-fitting.
This time, he had truly humiliated himself! And he had been caught red-handed!
"How does it feel?" Diana gave Xi Nian a meaningful once-over, her expression somewhere between a smile and not a smile as she asked.
"How does what feel?" Xi Nian pretended not to understand. Tugging at his short skirt, he called out in slight panic, "Auntie, put me down already!"
Just as Diana set Xi Nian down from her arms, his body suddenly stiffened, as though all strength had been drained from him in an instant. The silver hair that had draped over his shoulders began shrinking back as if retracting, returning to its original length, while its silvery gleam faded back to black.
The pupils in his silver, divine eyes trembled slightly before swiftly returning to the dark brown of an ordinary human.
The extraordinary power peeled away from Xi Nian like the receding tide.
The weapons and armor he wore left as well—the Retro Longsword, Dark Gold Round Shield, Silver Bracelet, noble crown, skirt armor, and everything else all detached from his body on their own, linked together one by one and hung from the Golden Rope overhead.
Xi Nian instinctively looked toward the clock in the living room. It was nearly eleven at night.
"So the familiar ability had finally worn off. It lasted around four hours?" He let out a soft breath, lowered his head to inspect his clothes, and found himself back in the long shirt and casual pants he had worn before. Only, both shirt and pants were soaked through with sweat.
It was as if everything that had happened tonight had merely been a dream.
Yet when he raised his eyes and saw the armored figure standing beside him, as well as the golden light emanating from the Golden Rope overhead, it proved that everything had truly happened, just moments ago!
Diana, dressed in Golden Eagle Battle Armor, and Xi Nian, returned to being an ordinary person, met each other's eyes before quickly looking away.
Too many unexpected things had happened tonight, and those events had also exposed the secrets they had hidden from one another.
Thus, under a tangled mass of guilt, worry, fear, embarrassment, and other indescribable emotions, Diana and Xi Nian did not know how to begin. The living room fell into a tense, silent stalemate.
"You."
Diana was just about to say something.
At that very moment, Xi Nian waved his hand. As if he had found an excuse, he ran toward the bathroom like he was fleeing. "Um, I'm really dirty. I'm going to take a shower first!"
Diana was left standing alone in the living room. Pure moonlight streamed in through the window, making her seem somewhat lonely.
Click!
Xi Nian shut the bathroom door tightly, leaned his back against it, and let out a breath of relief.
If someone suddenly learned that their only relative was not human, an ordinary person probably would not be able to bear it, right?
Perhaps because he himself was reincarnated, Xi Nian did not feel much about it. Even if she was not human, that conviction in his heart had never wavered.
It was only that perhaps because she had seen him dressed as a girl, because he himself had done something wrong, and because of all the things he had concealed, Xi Nian suddenly did not know how to face Diana.
So Xi Nian chose to run away, temporarily.
After all, he was only a child.
Xi Nian comforted himself with that excuse. He stripped off all his dirty, damp clothes, turned on the hot water for the bathtub, and nearly collapsed into the fairly spacious tub.
Although his extraordinary power had completely left his body, the lingering aftermath of his struggle against Abomination, along with the fatigue and exhaustion accumulated in his body, remained.
As scalding hot water poured into the tub, damp heat and steam filled the ample bathroom. Xi Nian, soaking in the hot water, exhaled a breath of turbid air, and the tightly wound string in his heart finally loosened.
He picked up a wet towel and placed it over his faintly aching forehead. Closing his eyes, he leaned back and lay flat in the bathtub.
Just as Xi Nian emptied his mind and thoughts, a knock sounded at the bathroom door.
"You can just leave the change of clothes outside the door." Xi Nian did not open his eyes, remaining motionless in the bathtub.
No response came from behind the bathroom door. Then, in the next instant, the door suddenly opened with a click!
"You don't need to bring them in." As Xi Nian spoke, he glanced toward the door. That one look left him utterly stunned.
The one who opened the door and entered the bathroom was naturally his aunt.
But, but!
She was no longer wearing the Golden Eagle Battle Armor. One hand gathered up her soft, beautiful hair, while her other hand lightly held a white bath towel.
The towel draped from her chest down to her legs, covering something while seeming to cover nothing at all.
Amid the hazy, swirling steam.
At that instant, Xi Nian suddenly recalled a legend.
In Greek mythology, Athena had been bestowed every beautiful blessing by the gods—beauty, strength, wisdom, honesty!
The beauty before his eyes was perhaps something only the gods of legend could bestow and create.
No matter how many times he had seen it, Xi Nian was still dazed for a moment. Snapping back to his senses, he hurriedly used the towel on his forehead to cover his crotch.
"What's there to look at? You've seen it since you were little." Diana did not seem to know whether she was referring to herself or Xi Nian. She closed the door again and walked barefoot into the bathroom.
"Y-you, why did you come in?" Xi Nian stammered.
Diana did not answer. She merely walked gracefully up to the bathtub and said softly, "Turn around and make some room."
"O-okay!" Xi Nian almost instinctively hugged his legs and turned to sit in one corner of the bathtub.
Before he could understand the situation.
With a splash, the already full bathtub overflowed by the amount of half a person.
Before you continue