Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Can't Hold Back!
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'Eh...?'
The moment Seol Cheon-seong's head touched his shoulder, Golden Immortal Lotus froze as if time itself had stopped.
'I could just shove her off...'
Seeing Seol Cheon-seong asleep so deeply that no one could carry her away without waking her, Golden Immortal Lotus couldn't turn his thoughts into action.
'...But if I do that, she'll wake up. No choice then. This body's heart is too soft for its own good.'
Golden Immortal Lotus carefully, oh so carefully settled down beside her so as not to wake Seol Cheon-seong.
'Is it the cold outside air? Her body's chilly.'
Feeling her cool body temperature against his skin, Golden Immortal Lotus extended his palm toward a nearby pile of branches.
Whoosh!
Flames ignited on the branches without him even touching them.
Thanks to that, a bit of warmth began to circulate in the cold cave.
'Ugh, so dry! Moist skin is the pride of a lotus! This feels just like raising a child. So much fussing around.'
Golden Immortal Lotus frowned as he felt his skin drying out from the fire.
'But that's odd.'
Golden Immortal Lotus looked down at Seol Cheon-seong's sleeping face leaning against him.
'The spot where she's touching me feels ticklish. ...Did this human not wash her hair or something? But even after a day, there's no bad smell...'
On the contrary, a sweet floral scent wafted from Seol Cheon-seong.
'She doesn't seem like someone who goes around unwashed...'
As he puzzled over this unfamiliar sensation he'd never felt before, something entered Golden Immortal Lotus's field of vision.
At the same time, his expression turned icy cold.
"Eek!"
Before he knew it, Seol Cheon-seong's drool had soaked his shoulder.
'That's why my shoulder was itching!'
"Human, wake up."
Clean-freak Golden Immortal Lotus was so shocked by his shoulder being drenched in her drool that he shook her without even standing up.
"Nooo... I haven't finished my dumplings yet. Just a bit more... "
Mistaking his shoulder for a dumpling in her sleep-talk, Seol Cheon-seong chomped down on it.
"Argh! Get off! Human! That's not a dumpling—it's this noble body's shoulder!"
Because Seol Cheon-seong had grown stronger from eating the flower seeds, Golden Immortal Lotus struggled to pry her off his bitten shoulder.
"Mmm... Where's my dumpling?"
"Dumpling my foot! Can't you see your teeth marks on this body's shoulder right now?"
Golden Immortal Lotus fumed at Seol Cheon-seong, who was still half-asleep with bleary eyes searching for dumplings.
"What? Was there a dog around here? Who bit you that hard?"
Seol Cheon-seong looked at him pitifully, as if he'd gone too far.
The more she did, the heavier the vein in the back of his head throbbed.
"Good thing you know you bit me mercilessly! You mangy mutt of a human!"
"Why turn a peacefully sleeping person into a dog?"
"You call biting this body's shoulder 'peaceful'?"
"Oh... Did I do that? No way the dumpling I ate in my dream was..."
Seol Cheon-seong slyly glanced at the teeth marks on Golden Immortal Lotus's shoulder.
His shoulder was about the same size as the dumplings from her dream.
"Yes, my shoulder. Go on, try playing innocent like you just did!"
"...Sorry, but the dumplings in my dream looked so tasty. I thought I was leaning against the cave wall alone, so I didn't realize I'd bitten you."
As she apologized, Seol Cheon-seong sensed something off and asked Golden Immortal Lotus.
"But why was your shoulder there anyway? Weren't you close to me, that's why I bit it?"
"...Enough! What's done is done, so this body will graciously forgive you with its magnanimous heart."
For some reason, Golden Immortal Lotus didn't want to admit he'd lent her his shoulder, so he smoothly changed the subject and headed toward the pond.
Intending to wash his drool-soaked outer robe, he took it off and frowned again.
'Even the inner layer's wet. How much drool did she produce?'
"Yeon-hwa, I don't think I'd do that, but no way... Is this my drool?"
"You don't want to believe it, but tough luck."
'Squeak!!'
The moment her suspicion was confirmed, Seol Cheon-seong wanted to crawl into a mouse hole and hide.
"Yeon-hwa, let me wash it for you as an apology. Here!"
Out of guilt, as she reached to wash his clothes instead, Golden Immortal Lotus swiftly protected his garments.
"What other atrocities are you planning? I can't trust you. Mangy mutt!"
'I haven't even escaped "human" status yet, and now I'm a dog human.'
Seol Cheon-seong despaired, convinced she'd be stuck under the dog human label forever.
"The clothes will dry if we hang them up, so wait a bit and we'll head back."
While Seol Cheon-seong berated herself for her mistake, Golden Immortal Lotus cleanly washed the outer robe and spread it out on a rock.
"Got it. Sorry again for biting your shoulder and drooling. No, I should go to the market and buy some herbs to treat the wound. Wait here!"
As Seol Cheon-seong tried to leave the cave for herbs, Golden Immortal Lotus grabbed her wrist.
"No need to worry. A wound like this doesn't even qualify as one for me."
"But what if it scars..."
At her worried look, Golden Immortal Lotus unhesitatingly bared the teeth marks on his shoulder.
Just as he'd healed the wound from Red Cloud's sword, he cupped the marks with his hand, and a golden light flared up, making the bite vanish like a ghost.
"There, all good?"
"What? How'd you do that?"
Seol Cheon-seong grabbed his hand as he tried to redress, double-checking the spot in disbelief at what she'd just seen.
"The wound's really gone? Did you use magic or something?"
"Don't dodge responsibility with nonsense you can't understand! Dog human, have you no shame? How dare you tug at a man's clothes without fear!"
"Man? More like a kid."
Unlike Golden Immortal Lotus, who hurriedly fixed his clothes, Seol Cheon-seong treated him fondly like an elder.
"Kid? You're the kid! You're only seven years old!"
Forgetting she'd taken the form of a seven-year-old, Seol Cheon-seong awkwardly continued at his retort.
"...Yeah, but looking at you, Yeon-hwa, you don't seem much older than me. Doesn't that make us both kids?"
"Have you forgotten? This body is a spirit beast! My appearance may be young, but I'm centuries older than you!"
Seol Cheon-seong gaped at the mention of centuries.
"Centuries older? Then you're totally a grandpa... No, more like an ancestor?"
"I have no desire to be your ancestor!!"
"Suit yourself!"
Ignoring his horrified reaction, Seol Cheon-seong fetched his damp clothes and dried them by the fire.
"Still, glad it's all better now. You have a nice ability."
"This body is a noble healing spirit beast, after all."
"For a healing spirit beast, haven't you crippled way too many martial world experts?"
As Seol Cheon-seong teased, Golden Immortal Lotus snorted and shot back.
"The power to save can also kill, as it always has."
'Huh? I think Daddy said something like that too...'
Recalling her conversation with Daddy about divine weapons, Seol Cheon-seong brought the now-dry clothes to Golden Immortal Lotus.
"Daddy said that divine weapon from the Tang Clan of Sichuan? It never met me. Maybe the power that protected me came from a different divine weapon?"
"Could be, but the only divine weapon with power close to a god's that even a spirit beast like me knew of was Dang Cho-dan."
"Dang Cho-dan..."
'So that's the name of that divine weapon.'
As expected, it was a name Seol Cheon-seong had never heard.
"No need to overthink it. The point is, you survived."
Agreeing that Golden Immortal Lotus had a point, Seol Cheon-seong nodded.
"Yeah, you're right! Alright, clothes are dry—let's head back."
"Hold on, my skin's rough from being too close to the fire. Just need to replenish some moisture..."
Golden Immortal Lotus washed his face in the clear pond water.
'Like watering a lotus flower?'
"Now let's go."
With his hair and face soaked, Golden Immortal Lotus headed for the cave exit as is.
"Wait, you'll catch a cold like that! I have a handkerchief... "
As Seol Cheon-seong searched for one, she stopped.
"Oh, right. I used the handkerchief to wrap Gwang-yu's wound. Oh well."
Seol Cheon-seong tugged her sleeve to wipe the water droplets from Golden Immortal Lotus's face.
With his hair and pale skin wet, Golden Immortal Lotus shone even brighter than usual.
"Really, now..."
Golden Immortal Lotus's beautiful golden eyes twisted for a moment as he watched her wipe his face with her sleeve.
"I can't hold back any longer."