Chapter 52: Hot
The sun set began at the edge of the horizon.
"Woah, this place is insane!" Kian muttered.
Jia nodded earnestly. "Truly insane."
The private bathing area was a steaming hot spring region surrounded by bamboo walls. Steam rose from the milky green water in lazy spirals, curling around smooth black stones that ringed the pool like sleeping turtles.
Kian couldn’t believe that he’d get to come here everyday from now on. He looked around, taking in the view.
Lanterns hung from the bamboo poles at each corner of the enclosure, their paper shades tinted amber and blush, casting everything in a warm glow.
Jia quickly got into her underclothes, which was a petticoat, and went to test the water with her foot. "Oh, it’s perfect."
Mia had already slipped out of her outer robe, folding it with the careful precision Kian had come to expect from her.
She wore a thin shift underneath, pale cream and nearly sheer where the steam clung to it.
When she bent to set the folded robe aside, the fabric pulled tight across the full curve of her hips, revealing her even more beautiful underpants.
A small tremble ran through her when she caught him staring, then, she rolled her eyes at him and mocked him with her tongue.
Kian caught the beauty mark beside her eye crinkling with a smile.
Then, his eyes naturally moved to the next person.
Feimei undressed with the unhurried grace of Feimei.
She wore nothing beneath her burgundy robe but a short sports bra and black trourser-panties.
"Ah, boring!" Kian complained.
Jia came beside him and gave him a smack on his side. Then, she said enviously: "My mom and sister have such big boobs. But mine are so flat."
"They are not flat."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it’s just small and nice. I like them."
Then, they both turned to look at Jiao Yin.
She fumbled with the ties of her tunic, her cheeks already pink from more than the steam.
"Oh, Jiao Yin’s figure is so nice," Mia said. "No wonder Kian picked you up."
Hers was the simplest undergarment—a sleeveless cotton wrap that crossed over her chest and tied at the side, the kind village girls wore in summer.
"Please don’t tease me," she said.
Kian looked at her. Indeed, she had a really nice figure. Big, shapely butt, nice curves. Fair and clear skin.
She kept her eyes on the ground, but her lips were pressed together in a tiny, secret smile.
"Come on!" Jia said.
She was the first to run and dive into the spring, soon followed by Mia and surprisingly, Feimei.
Then, Jiao Yin slowly entered the spring.
Kian stood by the bamboo wall, his new martial robe hanging loose from his shoulders, and for a long moment he simply took them in.
Four women in various stages of undress, each body a different dialect of beauty.
Kian’s robe hit the bamboo mat with a soft thump.
Unlike them, he only had a small underwear to hide him. Even that, could not hide him.
He walked to the edge of the spring and looked at Mia.
Mia saw him coming and her eyes went wide—she backpedaled through the milky water, already laughing before he touched her.
"Don’t—!"
He dove.
The water swallowed them both, warm and green and full of bubbles, and Kian’s arms closed around Mia’s waist just as she shrieked, the sound muffled into a gurgle.
Her shift floated up around her ribs, revealing her pale cream belly to him, and she kicked at him with bare legs while still laughing.
He placed a kiss on the belly, then pulled her underwater.
"No—mphh!!"
For a while, Jia and Feimei looked but didn’t see neither Kian nor Mia surface back.
Jiao Yin said worriedly: "Did they drown?"
Feimei shook her head: "They are kissing."
"Really?" Jia said, blinking.
Abruptly, Kian surfaced in a crash of foam, Mia gasping and pushing wet hair out of her eyes while clinging to his arms.
"You absolute beast," she sputtered, but her hands were already gripping his shoulders, her legs around his waist.
He pulled her closer.
She stopped resisting.
The others hadn’t noticed it yet, but underneath the water, her shift had completely ridden up.
Kian felt her shift float up between them and did nothing to stop it. His hands found the bare skin of her thighs beneath the water, and Mia’s breath hitched against his throat.
From the spring’s edge, Jia squinted through the steam with the focus of a hawk.
"Are you two doing something inappropriate in there?" She cupped water into her palms and flung it at them. "Mom is literally right here!"
Feimei didn’t even look up from where she was soaking against a smooth black stone, her arms spread along the rim. "No need to mind me. I know what you guys do anyway."
Jia hid her face half underwater.
She opened her mouth, closed it, then sank into the water until only her eyes and the top of her head remained visible, bubbles rising from where her nose should have been.
Mia burst out laughing against Kian’s shoulder, her whole body shaking.
Feimei leaned back and looked at Kian.
She asked: "Do you like my dauthers?"
"Clearly."
He rubbed his nose against Mia’s.
"I see. So, would you protect them from now on?"
"Isn’t that a given?"
Feimei smiled. "Kian, if you want, we can discuss my promise right now."
Kian’s eyes lit up. "Here?"
She pointed at a bamboo dressing room to the side. "Come, let’s talk about it there."
"Sure!"
Kian let go of Mia with a last squeeze under the water and waded toward the edge.
Mia made a face at his back, half annoyed and half something warmer, then splashed water in his direction with both palms. "Don’t take too long."
Feimei was already rising from her stone, water sluicing down the long line of her back. She didn’t look back to see if he was following—she simply walked toward the bamboo alcove, an elegant skip to her steps.
Kian climbed out and grabbed a drying cloth from the rack, tossing it over one shoulder, his underwear plastered to him in ways that left nothing to imagination.
"What promise are they going to discuss?" Mia asked curiously.
Jia blinked. "I don’t know. Probably something about our cultivation. Kian was saying he planned to help us cultivate."
Jiao Yin looked at the two with a pitying gaze. "Yeah."