Xiao Wu... Let Me Apply Some to Your Back!

[Primary Soul Plant Insect Repellent Paste (Special Effect Type)]: 5 Wish Value.

Effect: After application, forms a faint aura barrier that effectively repels ordinary mosquitoes and low-tier Bloodthirsty Soul Mosquitoes.

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Xiao Yin "felt around" and pulled out a tiny wooden box. When he opened it, it revealed a translucent pale-green paste that gave off an extremely faint scent of grass and plants.

"Found it." Xiao Yin handed the wooden box to Xiao Wu. "Here, try this. It should work pretty well."

"Really? That's great!" Xiao Wu's eyes lit up. Without any suspicion, she happily accepted it.

She dipped a finger into the paste and carefully applied some to her mosquito-bitten arm.

A cool, soothing sensation spread instantly, and the intense itch immediately vanished!

Even the annoying buzzing of mosquitoes around them seemed to have grown much quieter!

"Wow! It's so cool! It really doesn't itch anymore! Xiao Yin, you're amazing—you have all sorts of good stuff!" Xiao Wu exclaimed in surprise.

"As long as it works."

Xiao Yin smiled. His gaze seemingly swept casually over Xiao Wu's smooth nape and shoulders as he said softly,

"Since the mosquitoes here can bite 'us,' they must be Bloodthirsty Soul Mosquitoes.

You can't reach places like your back yourself, so they're easier to bite.

How about... I help you apply some to your back?"

When he said that, his heartbeat quickened slightly, but his face retained an expression of pure concern and helpfulness, his eyes open and candid.

The mission required thirty seconds of contact. Her back was the most natural opening.

Xiao Wu's body stiffened slightly.

Let Xiao Yin apply it to her back?

Th-this... seemed a little too intimate, didn't it?

Although she had always regarded Xiao Yin as a companion of her "kind," he was still the opposite sex. A faint blush quietly spread across the girl's fair cheeks in the darkness.

"Huh? Th-this..."

Xiao Wu panicked a little and instinctively wanted to refuse.

But her back really was a little itchy, and Xiao Yin's gaze was so frank and natural that he seemed genuinely to be offering help out of kindness.

Thinking of how reliable he had been along the way, as well as the miraculous ointment from earlier, the embarrassment in Xiao Wu's heart was suppressed by an inexplicable trust.

She bit her lower lip and said in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, "Th-then... I'll trouble you..."

She turned slightly and swept her smooth black hair over her chest, revealing her fair, delicate nape and a small patch of pale shoulder and back.

In the dim light, that skin was like the finest mutton-fat jade, glowing with a lustrous sheen.

A few mischievous strands of hair draped down, adding a hazy allure.

Xiao Yin's breathing paused almost imperceptibly.

He steadied himself and dipped his finger into some of the cool ointment.

His fingertips trembled faintly as they gently touched the skin at the back of Xiao Wu's neck.

"Mmm..." Xiao Wu's body instantly tensed like a startled rabbit, and she let out a trembling little moan.

Those cool fingertips, carrying an unusual sensation, raised a layer of tiny goosebumps all over her body.

A feeling she had never experienced before rapidly spread from where he had touched her, and her heartbeat inexplicably sped up as well.

Xiao Yin could clearly feel the softness and warmth of the skin beneath his fingers, as well as the girl's sudden tension and slight shiver.

He forced himself to calm down and, following the mission's requirements, spread the ointment as gently and evenly as possible.

Starting from the back of her neck, he slowly followed the graceful line of her spine downward, applying it as far as her shoulder blades.

The ointment brought a lasting coolness, driving away the mosquitoes' harassment and seemingly soothing Xiao Wu's initial tension as well.

Her taut body gradually relaxed, and she even unconsciously leaned back slightly, as though responding to that pleasant coolness.

The tree hollow was utterly silent, filled only with the faint sounds of their breathing.

The air carried the extremely subtle herbal fragrance of the ointment, along with an almost imperceptible atmosphere of intimacy.

Xiao Yin focused on applying the ointment, his fingertips feeling the smooth softness of the girl's skin as time seemed to stretch on.

Just as Xiao Yin's fingertips paused beneath Xiao Wu's shoulder blade and completed the final stroke, the thirty seconds were reached exactly—

Outside the tree hollow, Tang San, who was standing guard, happened to hear a faint sound below and shifted his position along the branches.

His Purple Demon Eye instinctively swept across the inside of the tree hollow, intending to make sure it was safe.

His faintly purple gaze pierced the not-quite-dark tree hollow and precisely caught the extremely intimate scene deep within!

The Xiao Wu he treasured like a jewel, the Xiao Wu who had grown up with him since childhood, had her back to a young man. Her head was tilted slightly to one side, exposing a stretch of fair, vulnerable neck and smooth shoulders.

And Xiao Yin, whom they had known for less than a few days, was leaning in incredibly close. One of his hands... was actually resting intimately on Xiao Wu's back!

He was touching her again?!

Not only was Xiao Wu not resisting, her body was even tilted slightly, as though she were nestled against that person's chest?!

Moonlight outlined the silhouettes of the two, who were almost pressed together!

Boom—!!!

A violent surge of fury, betrayal, and territorial violation instantly shattered Tang San's reason!

He only felt blood rush straight to his head as his vision darkened in waves!

His fingers suddenly clenched. The leather waterskin he had just fetched to drink from burst open with a pop under the tremendous force!

Cool water splashed all over him, yet it could not extinguish the raging fire in his heart!

"What... are you doing?!"

Tang San's roar, suppressing boundless rage, exploded through the silent tree hollow like thunder!

The warm, intimate atmosphere inside was torn to pieces.

Xiao Wu spun around sharply like a startled rabbit, her face still carrying an unvanished flush and a trace of panic.

She instinctively stepped in front of Xiao Yin and said urgently, "Xiao San! What are you doing?! Xiao Yin was only helping me apply ointment! Mosquito-repellent ointment!"

She raised the small wooden box in her hand, eager to prove it.

Xiao Yin also quickly withdrew his hand and stood up. His expression remained calm as he looked at the figure outside the tree hollow, whose entire body radiated danger. Deep in his eyes, a trace of helplessness flashed.

He had not expected Tang San's reaction to be this intense.

But... so what?

The mission was complete anyway!

"Applying ointment?"

Tang San dropped from the branch and stood at the entrance of the tree hollow. Moonlight illuminated his face, twisted with rage.

"You need to get that close to apply ointment?!

You need... need to do that...?!"

He could not describe the scene he had just witnessed—Xiao Wu's slightly tilted back, Xiao Yin's hand on her back...

That image viciously stabbed at his fragile heart!

What ointment? He did not believe it at all!

He only believed the "intimacy" his own eyes had seen!

"Xiao San! You've gone too far!"

Xiao Wu was angry too. She had not expected Tang San to suspect her like this without distinguishing right from wrong.

"It was just ointment! Mosquitoes bit my back, and I couldn't reach it myself, so what's wrong with asking Xiao Yin to help apply some?

What filthy things are you thinking about?!"

The girl's grievance and anger made her voice rise.

"I'm filthy?!"

Tang San pointed at Xiao Yin, his voice trembling with agitation.

"What about him?! He's only been here a few days! What right does he have... what right does he have to...!"

A sense of betrayal nearly drove him mad, and fluctuations of Soul Power began to rise around him.

Seeing Tang San like this, Xiao Yin frowned slightly.

That mentality?

You really weren't cut out for this.