Chapter 890: It’s been a while, Master [3]

Zhao Tian stood at the edge of the hot spring with a towel wrapped loosely around his waist.

Water still clung to his skin and white hair.

In front of him, Yan Zijin had just stepped out of the spring.

She stood completely naked on the smooth stone with steam rising faintly from her damp body.

Her long hair clung to her back and shoulders in wet strands.

Droplets traced slow paths down the curves of her breasts, over her stomach, and along her thighs.

He picked up a second dry towel.

Without asking, he stepped closer and began wiping her down.

He started at her shoulders, drawing the soft fabric across her skin, absorbing the water.

From there he moved down her arms, then across her collarbones.

Yan Zijin remained still with her arms slightly away from her sides, allowing him to dry her.

When the towel reached her chest, Zhao Tian cupped one full breast through the towel and gave it a soft squeeze.

The soft flesh compressed under his hand.

He wiped slowly across the curve, then let the towel fall away so his bare palm could take its place.

His fingers sank into the warm, damp weight of her breast, kneading it once before his thumb brushed directly over the nipple.

He circled the sensitive nipple, teasing it until it stiffened under his touch, then gave it a light pinch.

Yan Zijin closed her eyes and let out a soft breath "I don’t even have the energy to scold you anymore... because you are going to just keep doing it anyway."

He only chuckled and continued wiping her.

Eventually he continued downward, drying her stomach and the sides of her waist.

When he reached her lower back, his palms settled on the full curves of her ass.

He squeezed them firmly, letting his fingers sink into the soft flesh, before lifting and separating the cheeks slightly.

Yan Zijin’s body tensed under the shameless groping "And now you are targeting my ass..."

Smiling, Zhao Tian wiped the remaining part of her body.

Once he finally released her, she stepped away and picked up the clean inner robe that had been left nearby.

She slipped her arms into the sleeves and tied the sash.

When she was dressed, she glanced back at him over her shoulder.

"...Come to my room. I’ll prepare tea for you."

Turning fully, Yan Zijin walked toward the stone path that led back to the main part of her mansion.

The hem of her robe swayed lightly with each step, and within a few moments she disappeared through the rear entrance, leaving Zhao Tian alone beside the steaming hot spring under the evening sky of the Jade Eclipse Sect.

---

Zhao Tian dried himself properly and put on a clean inner robe before following the path Yan Zijin took.

The corridors of her mansion were quiet in the evening, lit only by soft spirit lamps along the walls.

When he reached her private room, the door stood slightly open.

He stepped inside.

Yan Zijin was already sitting on the wide divan near the window.

On the wooden table before her was a simple tea set, and the steam was still rising gently from the freshly poured cups.

The earlier flush on her cheeks had mostly faded, leaving her expression calm and composed once more.

Zhao Tian walked over without a word and sat down beside her on the divan. The cushion shifted slightly under his weight.

Yan Zijin glanced at him from the corner of her eye, then reached out and nudged one of the cups closer to him.

"Drink it while it’s hot," she said quietly.

Zhao Tian picked up the cup.

The faint fragrance of the tea rose between them as the evening outside her window continued to deepen over the Jade Eclipse Sect.

Zhao Tian set his cup down and glanced toward the window, "...Do you know where the Sect Master is? I went by her quarters earlier. She wasn’t there."

Yan Zijin took a slow sip of her tea before answering.

"She might have gone to the palace. She’s still dealing with the aftermath of everything that happened... when you killed the Emperor."

"If she isn’t in her courtyard, that’s usually where she is."

Zhao Tian gave a small nod and reached for the teapot again, refilling both of their cups.

They finished the last of the tea in silence, and the cups sat empty on the low table.

Outside the window, the Jade Eclipse Sect had fully settled into night.

Zhao Tian leaned back against the divan and shifted closer until his weight settled lightly against Yan Zijin.

He rested his head near her shoulder, and after a brief pause, she lifted her arm and wrapped it around his shoulders, letting him lean into her more fully.

He turned his face toward her neck.

The tip of his nose brushed the soft skin just below her ear before he nuzzled in properly, breathing in the faint scent of the spring water that still clung to her.

A moment later he pressed a slow kiss there.

Yan Zijin tilted her head slightly, giving him better access even as a quiet sigh left her lips.

"...I wish you would be this affectionate with Rui Lian instead of me," she muttered.

Zhao Tian’s lips curved against her skin "You’re still fixed on marrying Sister Lian to me?"

As he spoke, his hand moved.

His fingers found the sash of her inner robe and loosened it easily.

He parted the front of the fabric without hurry, drawing the soft material open until it slipped off her shoulders and down her arms.

The robe fell open completely, leaving her bare from the waist up, and her breasts were fully exposed to the cool night air of the room.

Yan Zijin did not stop him.

She glanced down at her own exposed breasts for a moment, then looked back at him.

"Yes," she said quietly. "I still think you are the best man for her."

Zhao Tian’s gaze dropped openly to her bare breasts.

His thumb brushed once across the nipple "I just think... Sister Lian doesn’t see me that way."

Yan Zijin shook her head "No. In her mind, you fought a whole Paragon and saved her entire star and her clan. That kind of impression... I don’t think she views you as just a ’brother.’"

She paused, glancing down at his hand on her breast for a brief moment before continuing.

"I just think that since you keep calling her ’Sister Lian’ and treating her that way, she is also forcing herself to stay in that position. She matches the distance you set."

"If you stopped drawing that line so clearly... she might not stay on the other side of it."

Zhao Tian was quiet for a few seconds.

His thumb kept moving in small, absent circles over her nipple while he considered her words.

"...You really want me to pursue her," he murmured.

"I want her to be happy," Yan Zijin replied. "And I think you are the person she already looks at with more than simple gratitude or sibling affection."

"You’re just refusing to see it because it’s convenient for you to keep her at that distance."

She shifted slightly on the divan, which only pressed her breast more firmly into his hand.

Zhao Tian’s eyes lifted from her chest to her face and a thoughtful smile touched his lips.

"You’re very persistent about other people’s marriages, Master... how about yours?"

Yan Zijin rolled her eyes, "Marrying me is not easy for anyone. There are so many things."

"What things?" he asked.

"You’re a powerful cultivator, the Master of the Jade Eclipse Sect’s most promising disciple, respected, beautiful... most men would consider themselves fortunate."

Her gaze flickered as he let go of her breast "It’s not about cultivation level or appearance. There are complications."

"Responsibilities. Expectations... and from myself. Not every man is willing to accept all of that. And not every man would be suitable even if he were willing."

Zhao Tian leaned a little closer, "Hmm... but here is your shameless disciple with you like this."

A soft, frustrated breath escaped her lips "...That’s different. You’re an exception. A very troublesome one."

"I am a Wing master and your Master at that..."

Shrugging, he replied, "I married Velnorah in front of others, who is also a Wing Master."

With a shake of her head, she replied "Mine is... different. I..."

The movement made a few loose strands of her still-damp hair shift across her bare shoulder.

She hesitated for a moment, but then she exhaled quietly and continued, "I ran away from my home star. They were pressuring me into a marriage I did not want."

"The usual things powerful clans do when they decide a daughter’s future without asking her. I left everything behind and came here."

"They eventually found me on this star as well," Yan Zijin went on.

"But by then I was already under the Sect Master’s protection. They couldn’t force me back or push the marriage through without openly opposing her."

"And after I became a Wing Master here... the situation settled into something they could no longer easily touch."

She looked back at him "That is why it is different. Velnorah’s circumstances were not the same as mine. You just... destroyed her whole star."

"There are still people on my home star who consider that unfinished matter a problem. Marrying me would mean inheriting that problem as well."

Zhao Tian listened until she finished speaking.

He lifted his hand and gently tucked a loose strand of damp hair behind her ear.

His fingers stayed for a moment against the side of her face before falling away.

"I’m ready to inherit that problem," he said.

Yan Zijin’s lips parted, then closed again as her gaze quivered in surprise.

A complicated mix of emotions moved across her face and something warmer caressed her cheeks.

After a moment, she turned her eyes away from him, looking toward the window instead.

"You are just saying things... I think it’s time for you to leave. It’s already night."

As she spoke, she gathered the open edges of her robe.

She pulled the fabric over her bare breasts and tied the sash.

Zhao Tian watched her for a second longer. Then he gave a slow nod.

He stood up from the divan and he did not try to argue or push the subject further.

After one last glance at her, he turned and walked toward the door.

"Good night, Master."

"Mhm. Good night, you perverted disciple."