#followed by immediately mocking mos pronunciation

[tiger-balm]

Willy ""helping"" mo learn swedish (x)

[eggytranslations]

Volume 1, Chapter 8-Hot Spring

Content warning: some ableism, one line description of a penis

The distant horizon of the sky glimmered with the first light of dawn.

The hot spring was located at the peak of the mountain, so when the first ray of light appeared from the horizon, it fell on the hot spring.

Shen Qingxuan only felt that there was a force holding him up which allowed him to float in the water without sinking down.

The experience of soaking in the natural hot spring compared to the square inch space of a cramped wooden tub could not be mentioned in the same breath. As Shen Qingxuan soaked in the water, he felt so comfortable that he only wanted to sigh.

A moment later, Yi Mo untied his robes and stepped into the water as well.

Shen Qingxuan cracked open his eyes to watch the man, with his loosened long hair, wade through the rippling water towards him. He slowly neared and the sulfur smell that pervaded the air mingled with a crisp scent that was close enough to touch.

Shen Qingxuan went to speak, but suddenly realized he could not make a sound and since there was no brush and ink within reach, they could not even talk anymore.

After this long without meeting, they were finally face-to-face, yet they could not even talk. This thoroughly ruined Shen Qingxuan’s mood and his expression turned gloomy.

Yi Mo soaked in the water and watched him for a moment before finally raising his hand. His ice-cold fingers flashed with a faint green light which touched upon his throat.

While watching his actions, Shen Qingxuan only felt that his throat was drenched thoroughly with a chili sauce from inside-out. He could not say if it was a scorching heat or if it was a chilly wind before that overly sharp feeling made his tears overflow.

Yi Mo retracted his hand. Shen Qingxuan could only sense a sparkling goldeness near his eyes. The painful feeling, as if he was suffocating, made Shen Qingxuan press his throat and cough like his life depended on it.

First, he had silent, breathless coughs, and then from his throat came hoarse, abnormal sounds that gradually deepened and finally every cough made a sound that was like any other ordinary person’s.

He—had coughed out loud. Shen Qingxuan realized this and could not tell if he was surprised or happy. He was only aware of the trickles of stinging streams that winded and flowed down from the corner of his eyes, accompanied by the sound of coughing, one after another, echoing along the lonely mountain peak and above the curling mist of the hot spring.

As if he was going to cough up his lungs, Shen Qingxuan coughed so hard that both his eyes turned red. He almost drank the hot spring water multiple times while he was hunched over himself. His entire body weakly leaned on top of the jutting rocks, just gasping mouthful after mouthful of air.

Yi Mo leaned against the rocks opposite him with his arms casually draped beside him. He looked indifferently at Shen Qingxuan for a moment before he ultimately closed his eyes to rest, letting Shen Qingxuan keel over across from him to die and then live again.

After a stick of incense’s time, Shen Qingxuan finally stopped coughing. After he caught his breath, he covered his throat as he turned back to look, and what he saw was this scene—in the curling mist of the hot spring water, Yi Mo leaned on top of a protruding rock with his arms outstretched like the “大” character, eyes closed, head back, and expression relaxed, as if everything outside of himself had nothing to do with him.

Only that loose, long hair, floating on the surface of the water in front of him, would move minutely with the ripples once in a while.

Aside from this, it seemed as if he was just a statue, ice-cold, indifferent, and unmoved.

As Shen Qingxuan looked at him, he started to feel an indescribable heartache.

Because of this hard to explain heartache, Shen Qingxuan did not open his mouth even though he knew he had recovered his vocal abilities. He only stared at him without a blink.

Their distance was not far, but it was still a couple steps apart. The haze evaporated by the hot spring was like smoke and also like gauze, disappearing and appearing as it spread out between them. Behind it was Yi Mo’s face.

Shen Qingxuan knew he was being rude, but he could not turn his eyes away. He was thinking that it would be impossible to find a second person in this world who was this unparalleled in elegance and talent.

Just as he was observing, Yi Mo’s tightly closed eyelashes fluttered, and then his eyes opened. His pupils were both serene and deep, as still as a cold pond that was one thousand feet deep, without a trace of a ripple.

Yi Mo mildly asked him, “Why are you unhappy?”

Shen Qingxuan said to himself, How do you know I am unhappy?, but did not voice it, still looking at him before he replied after a while, “Of course I am happy.”

After his first time to speak in nearly 20 years, his voice carried some huskiness and soreness that was even unfamiliar to him. He had to listen hard, and then intently recall his childhood voice before he could be certain that this voice really came from him.

“I……” Shen Qingxuan tried speaking again and was startled by the sound that came from his own throat. After a moment, he admonished himself to speak more familiarly, so he slowly said, “I thought it would be another two months before you could return.”

“The task is complete, so I have returned.” Yi Mo said.

Shen Qingxuan let out an “Oh,” and bowed his head. He spoke again after mulling it over, “Not sure why, but I do not want to let people know that I can speak now……”

Yi Mo nodded his head to indicate that he understood.

“If they ask me how I recovered, I am not particularly good at lying either.” Shen Qingxuan weighed his words as he practiced his pronunciation while he replied, “So for now, I do not plan on explaining.”

A pause, then he added, “Have you retrieved your snake slough?”

Yi Mo gave an, “Uh-huh.”

“That’s good.” Shen Qingxuan replied.

Then he did not know what he should say after this and bowed his head in silence.

Yi Mo drew back his arm and soaked it in the water. He was also silent for a minute before opening his mouth to ask, “How did you get sick this time?”

Shen Qingxuan did not expect him to ask this and hesitated before he recounted the events in detail, omitting that fanciful dream part in the middle, of course. He merely passed the blame for the accident onto drinking wine until he became drunk, then falling asleep while bathing, and not knowing that the water had become cold. Thus, he fell ill.

As he spoke, even he thought this excuse was laughable. Shen Qingxuan woefully hung his head.

After Yi Mo heard everything, he raised his eyes to stare at him for a moment and then determined, “A sheltered girl in her room would also be like this.”

He said this vaguely, but Shen Qingxuan caught the mocking air in Yi Mo’s words and indignance was added to his expression. Yi Mo actually compared him to a delicate, little girl still stuck at home.

How dreadful that his own debate skills were not as polished as the other man’s skills. On top of that, he had just recently been able to open his mouth to speak. Against this serpent who had lived for a millennium, one was the heavens and the other was the ground, so he could only be bullied.

After thinking for a long time, Shen Qingxuan was only able to angrily retort, “Of course I cannot compare to your solid scales and thick shell.”

He implied that he lacked his thick skin which made him invincible against numerous poisons.

The two of them were fighting a battle of words while soaking in the water so they did not feel bored. The night gradually receded and the light became increasingly bright. A red sun rose majestically, shining on the two people in the water until their appearance became more distinct.

Shen Qingxuan’s speech became more proficient and fluent as he spoke, and when he livened up, he would also borrow the buoyancy of the water to scoot nearer to where Yi Mo was soaking. He wanted to be like before, when they would converse closely with each other.

As he neared him, he realized that the sun was shining brightly and made the water clear. Both of them were bare of any inch of clothing. In this clear water, everything under it appeared in minute detail.

Shen Qingxuan flushed red immediately. He felt ashamed of his body’s disability. Compared to Yi Mo’s lean body, his own body was more like a teenager who had not yet come of age. His thin arms and thin legs were truly unsightly. He quickly lowered his head and supported himself on the rocks as he retreated two steps with the current. This time, he was a mess of panicked limbs. His fingers slid on the rocks, which had been soaked by the spring water until they were incomparably slippery. Unable to catch himself, he lost his balance and suddenly fell into the water. The warm spring water submerged the top of his head at once.

Yi Mo saw him shifting back and forth repeatedly in the water and had guessed some of those thoughts already. Then he saw him accidentally sink and his struggles as he flopped around in the water, which he found funny internally. Yi Mo started to feel like teasing him, so he did not save him immediately. Anyway, he had never heard of anyone drowning in a hot spring.

Poor Shen Qingxuan only knew to reach out his hands and claw about wildly as he drowned in the water. Unfortunately, he had nothing to grab onto since the rocks were too slippery and his legs were weak as well. Moreover, he was worried about why Yi Mo had not lent a hand yet, and even opened his eyes underwater in his confusion.

However, what came into sight was a pair of athletic legs that were slender and powerful. The calf muscles appeared slightly flexed with clear curves.

Shen Qingxuan’s line of sight followed the calves all the way up to a dark cluster of hair, which rippled slightly like an aquatic plant, in between a strong pair of thighs. Among the hair, there nestled a resting penis. Because of the indistinct underwater light, even though it had not been erect, that thing still appeared exceptionally massive and defined.

Who knows how Shen Qingxuan got the strength, but he braced one hand on the rock wall, and lifted his body up from the water with a splash.

His face blushed red through and through while his heart beat like a drum.

It was unclear whether it was from choking or something else.

With one hand on the wall and one hand to wipe away the water on his face, Shen Qingxuan raised his eyes just to come face to face with a pair of eyes that had the shadow of a smile. At once his heart pounded almost uncontrollably, plus he had choked on a few mouthfuls of water, so he promptly lowered his head and coughed quietly, taking this moment to calm his heartbeat.

Only to hear Yi Mo’s cold and stark voice by his ear as he asked with considerable mockery, “Shen gongzi, is the taste of this hot spring water comparable to that vintage Mid-Autumn Festival wine of yours?”

Shen Qingxuan already knew now that this snake enjoyed teasing him. He asked innocently enough and as nothing more than genuine banter, however, his mind disappointed him by immediately remembering the cold bath from the Mid-Autumn Festival evening as well as the ice-cold body that tangled with him. And then the scene he just saw before his eyes.

From the corner of his eyes, his gaze subconsciously drifted under the water. Because of this farce, the two of them had already drawn quite close to each other without noticing it. In one quick glance, Shen Qingxuan caught an eyeful of that plumply shaped mushroom head and even the narrow slit in the middle.

Four words popped into his head: snakes are instinctively lewd.

In a split second, these four words wormed their way into his heart like a seductive insect and uncovered inexplicable intentions. At once, his desire intensified, approaching with force.

Shen Qingxuan clearly felt his heartbeat, which was slowing down, mess up its tempo yet again. It was like the chaos and irregularity of a torrential downpour pounding onto the rubble in the mountains. The sound was getting louder and louder with more and more urgency.

He was unable to resist and could only watch helplessly as his years of asceticism were all washed away.

“I……”

Just as Shen Qingxuan was about to speak, he suddenly came to his senses. He sucked in a mouthful of cold air and hurriedly turned his back, leaning onto the rocks around the water to hide his erect desire in the darker water. Then he made an excuse about feeling uncomfortable and needing to rest here for a moment. After he said this, he buried his head into the crook of his arms and quietly panted to suppress his surging desire.

Yi Mo did not move even once. His inscrutable gaze serenely appraised the thin body lying on the rocks. That body was pale and emaciated. As if it had suffered an immense scare, it was trembling with tiny shivers. The ripples of water around him spread out in waves as it followed the tremors of his body, and like an invisible thread, it guided Yi Mo’s eyes as he took in all the tiny movement, surging desire, and sudden panic.

Like a god overlooking all living things.

After a long silence, Shen Qingxuan finally lifted his head from the crook of his arms. Not daring to look at Yi Mo, he lowered his eyes and said in a soft voice, “Just send me back.”

Yi Mo did not respond for a long time.

While Shen Qingxuan was in a stunned state, he felt an abrupt chill on his shoulder. Yi Mo had somehow moved behind him, extended his ice-cold hand, and grasped his shoulder, forcing Shen Qingxuan to turn around face-to-face. Yet this seemed insufficient for him since he continued to press near.

In a wink, their cheeks were in close quarters. His breathing puffed onto his face, and Shen Qingxuan flushed red to his ears again.

“Shen gongzi.” Yi Mo’s voice was as cold as it was before and did not have any emotions expressed apart from that. It appeared as if he was discussing someone else’s business. He mildly said, “From time immemorial, humans and yao have had separate paths. You must think this through.”

Shen Qingxuan’s face flushed red then white.

Yi Mo did not wait for him to give any more of a response. Shen Qingxuan’s eyes blurred and then the sound of the wind began to whistle in his ears.

Between the blink of an eye, he had already returned to the mountain villa and lay on his own bed.

It was like he had been thrown back. The red flush on Shen Qingxuan’s face evaporated and was replaced with an ashen paleness.