Chapter 156: Something is Wrong, Something is Very Wrong

Thus, she could only suppress her impatience and continue, “Even though he said he found those pictures in the Book Pavilion and thought they were a novelty to show you…”

“But he clearly could have just told you such a thing existed, then told you the specific location so you could go verify it yourself when you had time, right?”

“Yet he brought them out directly, and he specifically chose the ones featuring a man and another man.”

“Is there a possibility… that he was actually testing you?”

“Testing me…?” Yun Huizhou was a bit dazed.

Qu Tingquan knew that Yun Huizhou likely understood now, but she wasn’t prepared to stop: “Testing your view on the matter, to see if you are particularly repulsed by it.”

“And why would he do such a thing? Brother Yun, you should be able to figure it out by now.”

After saying this, Qu Tingquan vanished in a flash, not wanting to stay a moment longer.

If Brother Yun still didn’t understand after this, then he was simply more obtuse than Hong Lan; calling him a blockhead wouldn’t even be an exaggeration.

On the South Island, Lian Li stood with his arms crossed, looking at a table full of food.

Today was the first day. Senior Uncle had pushed him hard during training and let him go quite late. As a result, he had sprinted all the way back, only to find that he was actually the first one home.

After having the servants bring the food, he had sat and waited until now, yet the other person still hadn’t returned.

Thinking about how he had trained all day on the East Island, getting covered in sweat and rushing back without even bathing or changing clothes there, only for this person to not be back yet…

At this thought, Lian Li felt a bit uneasy again. Could it be that his attempt to test Yun Huizhou with the Spring Palace pictures last night had been found out, so the man was planning to stay on the West Island to avoid him?

The moment this possibility occurred to him, Lian Li lost his appetite for the food in front of him.

Since he couldn’t eat for the moment, and he felt the sweat on his body was getting sticky, he stood up, took a set of comfortable clothes from the cabinet, and headed toward the bathhouse.

He had just settled into the warm water when he heard the sound of a door being pushed open outside.

Usually, the servants who delivered their meals would knock, and even if the door wasn’t closed, they would knock before entering.

Lian Li’s eyes darted around. He felt it was unlikely that the other Island Lords would suddenly come over at this time.

Thus, he tried calling out from the bathhouse, “Yun Huizhou? Is that you back?”

The person outside didn’t answer, but Lian Li heard footsteps approaching the bathhouse, only stopping once they reached the door.

“You’re bathing?”

Yun Huizhou’s voice drifted in.

“Yeah,” Lian Li said. “It’s a bit hot today, and I felt sticky.”

Yun Huizhou gave an “oh” and leaned against the doorframe. “I see the food on the table hasn’t been touched. You haven’t eaten?”

Lian Li instinctively wanted to say that he had returned late and rushed straight to the bathhouse to wash up.

But on second thought, he had clearly been waiting for him. He had waited so long without the man returning that he finally decided to spend the time bathing. Why shouldn’t he say so?

Whatever he did, he was going to say it out loud.

So, he adopted an indifferent tone and said, “Since you weren’t back, it didn’t feel right to eat first, so I waited for a long time. I happened to feel all sticky, so I took a bath while I was at it. If you hadn’t come back soon, I wouldn’t have cared about you after my bath; you would’ve just had to eat leftovers.”

When he spoke, he intentionally emphasized the words “long time.”

Yun Huizhou heard the deliberate tone and thought back to Qu Tingquan’s words. He found it somewhat amusing.

Suppressing his smile, he said, “Alright, then hurry up and wash. I’ll wait for you to come out.”

Just as he was about to step away, he heard Lian Li shout from inside, “Um… Yun Huizhou, can you help me bring my pants in? I think I forgot to take them.”

“Alright,” Yun Huizhou replied, then walked toward Lian Li’s side of the room.

He had just passed the screen when he saw a pair of long white pants on the floor not far from his feet.

He picked up the pants, shook them out, and found they were clean, so he carried them toward the bathhouse.

When Lian Li heard Yun Huizhou pushing open the bathhouse door, he shrank down further into the water.

Yun Huizhou carried Lian Li’s pants to the rack used for holding clothes. Lian Li thought he would leave after putting them down, but unexpectedly, Yun Huizhou suddenly turned his head.

This startled Lian Li, who had been about to stand up from the water, causing him to squat back down instantly.

Yun Huizhou saw his reaction: “…”

“There’s no need for such a big reaction,” Yun Huizhou said.

Lian Li: “Why did you suddenly turn around?”

Yun Huizhou: “I wanted to say, you didn’t forget to take your pants. You took them, but you accidentally dropped them on the floor near the screen.”

“Oh.” Lian Li shrank down until only the area above his nose was visible, his cheeks slightly flushed from the steam. “Maybe I was too eager to bathe and walked too fast, so I didn’t hold onto them. Just put them there and get out quickly.”

Yun Huizhou gave a hum of affirmation, turned around, and walked out of the bathhouse.

By the time Lian Li came out, fifteen minutes had passed.

He sat down at the table while drying his damp hair.

Yun Huizhou had already served the rice and pushed a bowl in front of Lian Li, saying, “The food seems a bit cold. Should I have someone reheat it?”

Lian Li picked up the bowl, shoveled a mouthful of rice into his mouth, and said, “The rice is still warm, it’s just right.”

After testing the temperature of the rice, he reached out with his chopsticks to put some food in his mouth. “It’s fine too, not completely cold. It’s hot out, so it’s fine to eat it like this. Don’t reheat it; if you do, who knows when we’ll actually get to eat.”

“Alright.” Yun Huizhou also sat down.

This meal felt very strange. Halfway through, Lian Li realized that Yun Huizhou had been staring at him the entire time while eating.

It made Lian Li’s skin crawl. He kept his head down, not daring to look at Yun Huizhou, but his mind wouldn’t stop racing.

Could it be that yesterday’s test really was noticed? Is that why Yun Huizhou came back so late today—to avoid eating with him? Or perhaps he had been agonizing on the West Island for a long time about whether to continue living on the South Island?

And then, after finally figuring it out and not wanting to sour the relationship, wanting to continue being fellow disciples, he came back.

But as soon as he returned, I said I forgot my pants and asked him to bring them into the bathhouse.

He couldn’t possibly think I did it on purpose, could he? Thinking I’m some kind of scheming gay man.

Lian Li felt he couldn’t let Yun Huizhou keep looking and overthinking like this. Otherwise, if he thought about it any longer, who knew what kind of image he would have in Yun Huizhou’s mind.

After swallowing the rice in his mouth, he looked up and bravely met Yun Huizhou’s gaze, speaking in his most normal tone: “Eat your food. Why do you keep looking at me? Does looking at me help your appetite?”

Yun Huizhou’s reaction was somewhat beyond Lian Li’s expectations. He didn’t stay silent or argue like usual; instead, he raised an eyebrow, a trace of a roguish smile appearing on his face.

He picked up a morsel of food with his chopsticks, placed it in his bowl, then picked up a small clump of white rice, put it in his mouth, and chewed slowly.

Throughout this process, his gaze never left Lian Li.

The hair all over Lian Li’s body stood on end. If humans could bristle like animals, his hair would probably be standing straight up and exploding outward.

Something was wrong! Something was very wrong with Yun Huizhou!