Right now, Ivy Shen was dying of embarrassment. She’d said that line hoping to distract them, then make up an excuse about being tired so they’d hurry up and send her off to bed.
But...
But can someone please tell her—what the heck was even happening right now?
At this moment, Ivy was half-squatting in the pool, awkwardly staring at all the gorgeous men around her. Yep, she was right in the center, and they’d literally formed a circle around her—like she was the special little red star at the heart of it all.
"Gulp." That sound was Ivy, unable to hold back. Come on, she wasn’t a saint, okay? Every single one of them was wearing soaking wet, low-cut white underclothes, messy hair dripping over their foreheads, those sharp, beautiful faces with a hint of wildness, and eyes deep as black crystal—seductive and dazzling. Their lips, perfect and slightly upturned, radiated a deadly charm. And the scariest part? There weren’t just one or two of these guys—there were six. Six drop-dead gorgeous men all lined up looking like they were ready to be devoured. Even a saint would lose it at this point!
"Ivy, are you okay?" Adrian Night was the first to notice something off and asked, seeing how flushed her face was. Was she burning up with fever?!
"What’s wrong, are you feeling sick? Let me check." Butterfly Rogue reached out to grab her hand, but Ivy dodged away. If he found out she was just blushing because her thoughts had gone totally off the rails, they’d all die laughing!
"I... I’m fine," she mumbled, head down, tracing patterns in the water to hide her panic. Internally, she cursed herself—"Ivy Shen, how can you be so shameless? Why are you thinking all these dirty things? Seriously, have you no decency!"
"How about this—we’ll infuse you with some true qi. Your period cramps always last at least three days, but if we send you qi, you’ll feel better." Butterfly Rogue jumped in; he’d wanted to infuse her with qi for ages since it was the fastest and safest way to help her.
"Agreed!"—everyone except Liam Willow chimed in at once. After tonight’s scare, none of them ever wanted to see her suffer like that again. They were genuinely, inexplicably terrified. Truly scared!
"Ah, no need, really, I’m fine now," Ivy protested. She knew they were worried, but she honestly felt okay. If they infused her with true qi, it’d drain a ton of their energy!
"Fine? So we’re supposed to wait until you’re actually in trouble? Prevention is the best cure, you know!" For the first time ever, Ethan Chu raised his voice at her. He’d always listened to Ivy without question—this was the first time he’d ever said no!
Ivy looked at him, surprised. This guy—he was an emperor, yet he insisted on joining their chaos. She really should find a way to send him back to run his kingdom. A ruler skipping out on his duties? That’s just begging to be the butt of every joke!
"Let’s all reveal our tails, coil them around our lower bodies, and then infuse Ivy with true qi," Adrian Night instructed. As soon as he finished, he was the first to flash his purple tail, followed by green, blue, red, yellow...
Off to the side, Liam Willow swished his orange tail and hung his head, feeling utterly useless. He couldn’t do martial arts, couldn’t help infuse her with qi—he just felt like dead weight...
"Fourth Brother, you support Ivy—she’s not strong enough right now." Adrian seemed to read his mind and looked over at the downcast Liam Willow.
Hearing that, Liam’s head shot up. "Me? I can help too?" he asked Adrian, stunned.
"Of course! Ivy’s so weak right now—even with her tail out, she might not last long. You stay by her side and hold her up so she doesn’t faint," Adrian explained with a smile, just as Ivy shot him a grateful look.
Seeing this, Adrian lowered his head and smiled brightly. He knew what she was thinking—whatever Ivy wanted, he’d help make it happen. She clearly didn’t want to see Liam feeling down, so he’d help him out. As long as she was happy, that was enough!
"Yeah, Fourth Brother, you’re super important!" Butterfly Rogue jumped in. Besides Ethan Chu, Liam was the one he treated best. No matter how much he teased him, this silly kid always looked out for everyone—cooking, folding blankets, you name it. It made the rest of them feel totally guilty.
"Agreed!" The other three nodded enthusiastically. Their encouragement instantly revived Liam Willow’s fighting spirit—he rushed to Ivy’s side, grabbed her shoulders, and declared, "Don’t worry, Ivy, I’ll hold onto you and never let go. Ever!"
"Mm!" Since she couldn’t stop them, Ivy decided to just enjoy it. Five of them coiled their tails around their lower bodies, closed their eyes, and started infusing her with true qi. In no time, the water temperature rose, the cold in Ivy’s belly faded, and the pain gradually disappeared...
"Ivy, your complexion..." Liam Willow couldn’t help speaking up. Wow, true qi worked wonders—her face, which had been pale as snow, was now turning rosy. Seeing that, Liam was overjoyed.
Eyes closed, Ivy soaked up their true qi, feeling instantly better. After a few minutes, she sensed it was enough, so she quietly used a bit of her own internal force. That subtle move made the guys snap their eyes open, hands instinctively pulling back in surprise.
"Weird, why can’t I send any more qi?" Butterfly Rogue frowned, confused. He looked at Ivy—and instantly lit up. "Ivy, your face is glowing!"
Everyone looked her way, and sure enough—her cheeks were rosy and healthy. Finally, they could breathe easy.
"Ivy, maybe we should try another round. I think if we give you a bit more, you’ll feel even better," Adrian Night suggested. The sudden stop had confused him, but seeing Ivy’s healthy glow, he didn’t question it further. Still, since true qi worked so well, why not use more? It could only help her.
"No need, I’m already fine! You guys gave me so much qi, I can barely handle it!" Ivy laughed. As she spoke, her golden tail slowly disappeared—talk about instant results!
There’s one thing about the serpent world Ivy still doesn’t get: why do pants vanish when legs turn into tails, but pop back out when the tail turns into legs again? Where do the pants even go?!
Nobody can solve this riddle—not Ivy, not anyone. It’s basically a law of nature here. Everyone’s gotten used to this magical disappearing pants routine. Sometimes Ivy wonders if she didn’t end up in the serpent world, but some kind of fantasy game universe!
"Ivy, what are you thinking about?" Liam Willow asked softly when she didn’t say anything.
"Oh, nothing. I just feel really comfy right now, wow—" Ivy didn’t want to dwell on unsolvable mysteries, so she stood up and stretched with a huge yawn. She lifted onto her toes, chest out, arms raised in a lazy stretch—and the guys’ blood pressure instantly spiked.
But the culprit hadn’t realized anything was wrong. "Brothers, I’m heading back to rest!" she called out. As Ivy walked to the pool’s edge, she noticed her short skirt was torn at the side, so she casually ripped it off, revealing the tight shorts underneath—designed just like a bikini bottom from the 21st century.
But to these country bumpkins, they’d never seen shorts like that before. Instantly, everyone gulped hard. Just as Ivy started climbing out of the pool, someone shouted, "Who’s bleeding?!"
Ivy spun around, and froze at the sight. Without thinking, she dove back into the pool, rushing over to them. "Whose blood is that—wait, Big Brother, you’re bleeding! Second Brother, you too?!" She glanced around—everyone’s nose was pouring blood. Ivy panicked, tore off her wet white shirt, and started wiping their noses. "What’s wrong, did you get overheated? Why are you all getting nosebleeds?"
"Pfft!" Butterfly Rogue couldn’t hold back and snorted, his nosebleed gushing even harder. Except for Liam Willow, whose bleeding was mild, the rest were practically having their own ‘moon letter’ nosebleeds. Liam quickly covered his nose with one hand and stuffed his robe against Butterfly Rogue’s face.
"Mmmph... Ivy... are you trying to kill us?!" Butterfly Rogue yelled, looking up at her.
Ivy blinked, finally noticing their wolfish stares. She frowned, looked down, and wondered, Huh? What’s wrong? She was wearing clothes, wasn’t she?!
"What... what are you even wearing?" Butterfly Rogue asked, clutching his bleeding nose and staring longingly at her top, which was held up by just two thin straps.
"Huh?" Ivy looked down and finally realized—everyone was staring at her bikini bra. Her figure was amazing, and in that blue bikini, her cleavage was super obvious, her back mostly bare, held up by just a single string. The scene was basically a crime of temptation!