Morning Embarrassment

"Faster... faster... don't stop..."

Lin Yichen had ultimately been defeated beneath an overwhelming offensive and simply gave up resisting.

At last, silence fell, and the two drifted off to sleep.

Early in the morning, before dawn had broken, Hu Liena groggily opened her eyes and discovered that she was covered by Lin Yichen's clothes.

She herself had been placed on a patch of grass by the shore, while Lin Yichen sat beside her, watching.

The surroundings were silent. The other team members appeared not to have woken yet.

Lunar Jade Rabbit finally crawled out of the bushes, its fur a complete mess as it staggered along, panting heavily.

Its four legs were weak and trembling as it hopped toward Lin Yichen, then plunged headfirst into his arms.

It let out a few chirps, as though tearfully recounting its miserable ordeal.

Lin Yichen lowered his head and glanced at it, letting out a bitter laugh. He reached out, picked it up, and placed it on his shoulder.

"You worked hard."

He spoke softly, stroking its fur as well.

Lunar Jade Rabbit lay sprawled across his shoulder, its long ears drooping limply.

One night. A whole night!

Even Lin Yichen could barely take it, much less Lunar Jade Rabbit, which had done the fighting firsthand.

Well, there would be descendants upon descendants, without end.

He raised his head and looked at the sky. A pale sliver of dawn had just appeared.

The only people awake were him and Hu Liena.

Last night...

"Senior Sister was pretty proactive."

As he carefully recalled last night's stormy events, Lin Yichen could never have imagined it.

His first time in human form had actually been with Hu Liena.

Hu Liena's face instantly flushed crimson. As her mind cleared, she too remembered everything from last night.

The things she should not have said, the things she should not have done.

And it had all been capped off by Lin Yichen teasing her with, "Senior Sister was pretty proactive."

It had been far too rushed.

Hu Liena even wanted to do it again now that she was awake.

"Shut up!"

Hu Liena gave a sweet shout, but no matter how it sounded, her tone seemed seductive.

Looking down, she found that she was wearing Lin Yichen's jacket from last night.

Lin Yichen only had his undershirt on.

Only then did Hu Liena realize that Lin Yichen's jacket could barely cover anything.

Without the undershirt beneath it, the outfit was practically transparent.

So...

Her face turned red again...

"Bastard, where are my clothes?"

"They're wet. They haven't dried yet."

Lin Yichen swallowed, his heart skipping a beat.

In truth, neither of their clothes had dried. This set had been newly created using Lunar Jade Rabbit's clothing-transformation ability.

Unless someone inspected them closely, they would assume they were identical to the previous set.

Hu Liena stomped her foot indignantly, apparently dissatisfied with the situation.

"Then what am I supposed to do? My clothes are wet, and yours are so... so transparent..."

Lin Yichen lowered his head to look at his undershirt, then at Hu Liena, wrapped in his nearly transparent jacket.

Paired with Hu Liena's bright-red face, Lin Yichen could not help laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Hu Liena grabbed a handful of grass beside her and threw it at him.

Left with no choice, Lin Yichen took off his undershirt as well.

It was better for a grown man to go shirtless than a woman.

His broad chest and defined abs were exposed.

Hu Liena stared at him openly and could not help swallowing.

"Stop staring and hurry up and change."

After taking the undershirt, Hu Liena did not put it on immediately. Instead, she turned it over in her hands and examined it twice before raising her head to look at Lin Yichen.

"Aren't you afraid that if other people see me wearing your clothes, they'll misunderstand something?"

Lin Yichen tilted his head, his tone frivolous and teasing.

"Didn't they already misunderstand everything they could last night?"

Hu Liena froze, her face reddening several shades further, but she still stubbornly retorted.

"Last night was last night. Now is now."

"Turn around already!"

Lin Yichen finally could not hold back his laughter.

"Why should I turn around? Yesterday, I already saw everything I should have seen, and everything I shouldn't have seen too."

"Lin Yichen!"

Hu Liena raised her hand as if to hit him, scaring him into hurriedly turning his head away.

"Hurry up and change."

Her movements paused as she slipped on the undershirt.

A trace of Lin Yichen's lingering warmth and scent still remained on it.

What puzzled her slightly, however, was that this set of clothes looked very new.

As though it had just been made.

She took a careful sniff and confirmed that it did not carry her scent.

There was only the aura naturally emanating from Lin Yichen himself.

Her ears turned red again.

Meanwhile, Lunar Jade Rabbit had been casually tossed onto the ground by Lin Yichen. Lin Yichen stood shirtless in the morning breeze.

The two unclothed beings stared at each other.

Lunar Jade Rabbit chirped and chattered, seemingly mocking him.

After a moment, Lin Yichen suddenly heard the sound of clothing falling to the ground.

Hu Liena must have started changing into his clothes.

"Done."

He turned around. Hu Liena had already put on his undershirt. Its collar was somewhat loose, faintly revealing her collarbones and shoulders.

Sure enough, whoever wore this outfit looked good in it.

"Senior Sister, then what am I supposed to wear?"

Having finally shed some of her earlier embarrassment, Hu Liena could not help laughing.

"Go shirtless. You look so good anyway."

Lin Yichen: ...

When Lin Yichen, shirtless, and Hu Liena returned to camp one after the other, the others in the tents had gradually awakened as well.

Zhao Anyang and Sun Ting emerged from the same tent almost at the same time.

The two exchanged a glance. Sun Ting's face swiftly turned scarlet, while Zhao Anyang pretended to adjust his collar, only to keep tying it into knots.

"Captain... you..."

"You did it, and so did I. Don't ask anymore."

With things having been said that far, it would have been impolite for Zhao Anyang to ask further.

After all, he clearly remembered how Sun Ting had pounced on him last night.

Zhou Ming crawled out of another tent, rubbing his eyes. When he saw Lin Yichen shirtless, he froze.

"Captain, last night you..."

"Ah, the moon was lovely last night. I was moon-gazing with your Senior Sister."

Zhou Ming looked at him, then at Hu Liena behind him, whose clothes were obviously ill-fitting. In the end, he said nothing.

The other four reserve members merely cleared their throats and said nothing either.

Yan and Xie Yue had not slept all night. After taking cold baths, the two had returned to their tent to cultivate.

Seeing Lin Yichen and Hu Liena like this,

Yan finally opened his mouth, but said nothing.

He sighed inwardly.

Xie Yue, on the other hand, walked over to Lin Yichen and gave his shoulder a hard pat.

The meaning was obvious.

Hu Liena kept her head lowered throughout and did not say a word. The blush on her face had never faded.

Chrysanthemum Pass and Ghost Douluo returned along their "patrol" route in the morning light. Seeing that the camp was awake, they called everyone to pack up and set off.

"We'll reach Heaven Dou City by noon today. Old Ghost paid a visit to Heaven Dou Royal Academy last night, and they said the competition will be held at Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena."

Chrysanthemum Pass explained as he looked at everyone.

Before they boarded the carriage, Ghost Douluo walked over to Lin Yichen and said in a low voice, "That aura of yours—once we reach Heaven Dou City, keep it concealed. Don't use it unless necessary."

Lin Yichen nodded, already having an idea in mind.

Still, when Shui Bing'er, Dugu Yan, and Hu Liena met, just how lively would things become?

Then he suddenly thought of something amusing.

"Once we reach Heaven Dou City, I'll treat everyone to drinks!"