Chapter 888: It’s been a while, Master [1]

Zhao Tian smiled and began untying the sash of his outer robes.

"Good evening, Master."

"Don’t ’good evening’ me." Yan Zijin immediately raised her hand, water dripping from her fingers.

"How many times have I told you not to barge in while I’m bathing, you shameless disciple?"

He continued removing his clothes without pause.

The outer robe slipped from his shoulders, followed by the inner layer, until he stood bare-chested at the spring’s edge.

His white hair caught the last light of evening as he stepped down into the water.

The warm spring closed around him. He exhaled softly in satisfaction and moved closer without any hesitation.

Yan Zijin’s eyes narrowed and she shifted slightly, creating a small distance between them, but the spring was not large enough for her to escape completely.

"I came to visit my Master," Zhao Tian said lightly, sinking deeper until the water reached his chest.

"Is that a crime?"

"Visiting does not mean invading my bath, There is a front door. Use it like a normal person."

Zhao Tian only chuckled and closed the remaining distance.

Before she could move farther away, his arm slid around her waist beneath the water and pulled her gently against his side.

Yan Zijin stiffened.

"You-!"

"You’re always bathing whenever I come," he murmured, resting his chin lightly near her shoulder.

"What am I supposed to do? Leave my poor Master alone in the spring?"

"Yes!" she snapped and water rippled around their bodies as she turned her head to glare at him.

"That is exactly what you are supposed to do!"

Zhao Tian’s gaze lowered and through the clear, steaming water the soft curves of her breasts were visible, rising and falling with her soft breathing.

He made no effort to hide where he was looking.

A slow smile spread across his face "...Master, they look beautiful as always."

Without hesitation, she reached up and pinched his cheek hard.

"Perverted disciple! Your eyes should be up here, not down there!"

"Ow, ow- Master, I was only complimenting you-"

"Complimenting?!" She gave his cheek one final sharp pull before releasing him. "You were ogling me like a complete degenerate!"

Zhao Tian rubbed the sore spot, laughing under his breath.

Even so, he did not loosen the arm around her waist.

If anything, he pulled her a little closer so that her side pressed fully against him beneath the water.

Yan Zijin turned her head toward him and the irritation in her eyes softened slightly "What happened in the Elven Star? Did you even manage to reach it?"

Zhao Tian nodded, "I did. I reached the Elven Star."

He began to recount what happened and how he even met the soul of the First Honoured One within the depths of the Citadel.

Yan Zijin’s eyes widened as she listened.

"...You met the soul of the First Honoured One?" she muttered in disbelief.

"So the elves truly did have a connection with her..."

After a pause, Yan Zijin narrowed her eyes at him again.

"How did you even enter the Elven Star in the first place? That place is sealed against outsiders. Even powerful cultivators can’t just walk in."

Zhao Tian’s lips curved into a faint chuckle.

"When I was still on my home star... Earth... I encountered an elf. We ended up becoming friends."

Yan Zijin stared at him "...An elf? On that middle star?"

"Mm." Zhao Tian nodded, clearly amused by her reaction.

"She was the reason I later gained a path into the Elven Star. Without that earlier connection, I never would have been allowed near it so easily."

Her gaze condensed slightly "...I see."

Zhao Tian shifted in the warm water and pulled Yan Zijin even closer.

His arm tightened around her waist, letting her bare back and side press fully against his chest as the steam continued to rise around them.

His free hand slipped beneath the water’s surface.

Fingers first brushed lightly across the soft plane of her stomach, tracing lazy circles over her belly.

Yan Zijin’s breath caught quietly, and she glanced down at the water where his hand rested over her abdomen.

Then his hand drifted higher.

Without any real hesitation, his palm rose and cupped the full weight of her left breast.

The soft, warm flesh filled his hand completely and he gave it a gentle squeeze, feeling the plush mound yield under his fingers.

Yan Zijin’s entire body tensed "Ngh-"

Her hand shot up and grabbed his wrist beneath the water, but her fingers simply held on as he continued to knead her breast.

"Master," Zhao Tian murmured near her ear, "you’re still so soft here."

He gave her breast another firm squeeze, brushing his thumb across the nipple that had already begun to stiffen under the warm water and his touch.

Yan Zijin turned her head slightly, trying to glare at him, "You darn disciple... Can’t you keep your hands to yourself for even one conversation?"

"You are always trying to molest me or grope my breasts like this."

"Can’t you do something else, like... washing my back or cleaning me like the usual?"

Zhao Tian smiled against the side of her neck.

He shifted his hold, now cupping both of her breasts from behind.

He lifted her breasts slightly, pressing them together before releasing them to settle back into his palms.

The soft flesh moved easily under the water while he rolled her red nipples between his thumbs and forefingers.

Yan Zijin’s head tilted back, resting against his shoulder.

"...Pervert," she whispered.

Zhao Tian pressed a slow kiss to the damp skin just below her ear "Your perverted disciple."

One of his hands stayed on her breast, continuing the gentle kneading, while the other slid lower again.

His fingers traced the soft curve of her waist, then the plane of her stomach, before dipping further beneath the water.

The warm spring swirled around his hand as it slid lower, brushing the sensitive skin just above the junction of her thighs.

Yan Zijin’s thighs shifted slightly under the water.

"Tian..."

Before his fingers could go any lower, her hand shot down and firmly grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

Her grip was tighter this time, unlike the half-hearted resistance from earlier when he was playing with her breasts.

"That area is restricted for you."

Zhao Tian paused. Instead of pulling away immediately, he leaned in and nuzzled against the side of her neck, "Why?"

Yan Zijin’s cheeks flushed deeper and she kept her hold on his wrist, refusing to let his hand wander any farther down.

"Because I said so," she muttered.

"Breasts are one thing. You’ve always been shameless about those. But that place... is different. I’m still your Master. There are limits, even with you."

Zhao Tian hummed against her neck and slowly withdrew his hand, resting it on her abdomen.