The Blessings Bestowed by the Gods

THUD!

Wearing a set of golden battle armor, Diana landed lightly and precisely on her own balcony from a hundred meters in the night sky, holding Xi Nian. Because the balcony sliding door had already been smashed through, Diana took a few more steps forward and entered the messy, dark living room.

Diana casually tossed her hand, and the golden lasso in her grip re-hooked itself onto the living room ceiling, its own radiance providing temporary indoor lighting. Under the golden glow, the golden armor draped over her tall figure was dazzling.

"What's with this outfit of yours?"

Xi Nian couldn't help but take a few extra looks, feeling that her current attire was noble and stern, no different from the goddess described in ancient Greek mythology.

Diana calmly glanced at Xi Nian and said bluntly, "The battle suit I usually wear when I'm out was taken by you, so I had to put on the spare Golden Eagle Battle Armor from home and go out."

Mm, that made sense.

But Xi Nian's mind went blank in an instant; he only then realized that he was still in a state of crossdressing, and everything he wore was form-fitting.

This time, he was truly mortified! And caught in the act, no less!

"How does it feel?" Diana also gave Xi Nian a meaningful once-over, asking with a hint of a smirk.

"How does what feel?" Xi Nian pretended not to understand, tugging at the short skirt while shouting in slight panic, "Aunt, put me down!"

Just as Diana set Xi Nian down from her arms, Xi Nian's body suddenly stiffened, feeling as if he had been hollowed out in an instant. The silver hair that had been draped over his shoulders began to shrink back, returning to its original length, and the naturally silver-glowing strands faded back to black.

The silver divine pupils in his eyes trembled slightly, then in a flash reverted to the dark brown of an ordinary human.

The supernatural receded from Xi Nian like a tide.

Also leaving were the weapons and armor he wore—the ancient longsword, the dark gold round shield, the silver bracelet, the noble crown, and the skirt-like battle armor—all autonomously peeling away from Xi Nian, strung up one by one by the golden rope above.

Xi Nian subconsciously looked at the living room pendulum clock; the time was nearly eleven o'clock at night.

"So the vassal ability finally wore off, lasting about four hours?" He let out a light breath, glanced down at his clothes, and found he was back in the long shirt and casual pants he'd worn earlier, except both top and pants were soaking wet, drenched in sweat.

As if everything that had happened tonight was just a dream.

But looking up at the armored figure standing beside him and the golden light radiating from the rope above, it all proved that everything had truly happened, just moments ago!

Diana in her Golden Eagle Battle Armor and Xi Nian, now back to normal, exchanged a glance, then quickly averted their eyes.

Too many upheavals had occurred tonight, and these upheavals had also revealed the secrets each had been hiding.

And so, whether from guilt, worry, fear, or embarrassment, caught in a tangle of complex and indescribable emotions, Diana and Xi Nian didn't know how to start speaking, plunging the living room into a stiff, silent standoff.

"You."

Diana was about to say something.

Just then, Xi Nian waved his hand, found an excuse, and fled toward the bathroom: "Uh, I'm really dirty, I'm going to take a shower first!"

Leaving Diana standing alone in the living room, the moonlight streaming in through the window made her look somewhat forlorn.

SLAM!

Shutting the bathroom door tightly, Xi Nian leaned his back against it and let out a relieved breath.

If someone suddenly learned that their only relative wasn't human, an ordinary person probably couldn't handle it, right?

Perhaps because he himself was a reincarnator, Xi Nian didn't find it all that strange. Even if she wasn't human, his inner understanding of her had never wavered.

Still, maybe it was because of being seen crossdressed, or his own wrongdoing, or the secrets he'd kept—various reasons made Xi Nian suddenly not know how to face Diana.

So, Xi Nian chose to run away, for now.

After all, he was just a kid.

Xi Nian comforted himself with that so-called excuse, stripped off all his dirty, wet clothes, turned on the hot water tap for the bathtub, and practically collapsed into the fairly spacious tub.

Though the supernatural power had completely left his body, the lingering force from his struggle with the Abomination, along with the accumulated fatigue and strain, remained.

As the scalding hot water filled the tub, steam rose thickly in the spacious bathroom. Soaking in the hot water, Xi Nian spat out a mouthful of stale air, and the taut string in his heart finally relaxed.

He picked up a wet towel, placed it on his throbbing forehead, closed his eyes, and lay back flat in the tub.

Just as Xi Nian was emptying his mind and thoughts, a knock came at the bathroom door.

"Just leave the change of clothes outside the door," Xi Nian said without opening his eyes, lying motionless in the tub.

No sound came from beyond the door, but the next moment, it suddenly clicked open!

"You don't need to bring it in specially," Xi Nian said as he glanced toward the door. But that one glance left him completely stunned.

The one who opened the door and entered the bathroom was, of course, his aunt.

But, but!

Now no longer wearing the Golden Eagle Battle Armor, she held her fluffy, beautiful hair up with one hand while the other lightly grasped a white towel.

The towel draped from her chest down past her legs, covering something, yet seeming to cover nothing at all.

In the hazy, misty steam.

At that moment, Xi Nian suddenly recalled a legend.

In Greek mythology, Athena was blessed by all the gods with every good gift—beauty, strength, wisdom, honesty!

The beauty before him now could perhaps only be bestowed and shaped by the legendary gods themselves.

Though he'd seen it countless times, Xi Nian was still stunned for a moment. Coming back to his senses, he quickly used the towel from his forehead to cover his crotch.

"What's there to see, after all these years?" Diana didn't know if she was talking about herself or Xi Nian. She closed the portal again and walked barefoot into the bathroom.

"You—how did you get in?" Xi Nian stammered.

Diana didn't answer. She simply walked gracefully to the front of the bathtub and said softly, "Turn around. Make some room."

"O-okay!" Almost instinctively, Xi Nian hugged his knees, turned around, and sat in one corner of the tub.

Before he could make sense of the situation—

With a splash, the already full bathtub overflowed, spilling out half a person's worth of water.