The Third Prince’s hand moved slowly over Mu Xueshi’s smooth skin and paused at his chest, gently pinching one nipple. Mu Xueshi shuddered and opened his eyes.
“Th-this…” Mu Xueshi blushed. “Are you helping me wash?”
The Third Prince said nothing. He bent closer and lightly sucked and licked at Mu Xueshi’s ear, making his whole body tremble.
Mu Xueshi sprang away as though shocked, lifting both arms and waving his hands frantically with an awkward smile.
“Xi… this… this won’t do. This isn’t right!”
The Third Prince’s gaze looked unusually deep in the darkness, and his lips curved with arrogant confidence.
“Why isn’t it right?”
Faced with that compelling stare, Mu Xueshi stammered, “It… it just isn’t right. I don’t know exactly why… mm…”
Before Mu Xueshi could finish, the Third Prince pulled him close and kissed along his pale, slender neck, leaving mark after mark.
“Wahaha…” Mu Xueshi suddenly burst into laughter, ruining the atmosphere entirely.
The Third Prince narrowed his eyes in displeasure.
Mu Xueshi did not notice. Instead, he put on a joking expression, trying to persuade both the Third Prince and himself to calm down.
“I remember now! We’re both men. That’s why this isn’t right!”
The Third Prince snorted. “Men throughout the world enjoy the pleasures of Longyang. What is wrong with you and me?”
Mu Xueshi did not understand the reference. Like a nervous mouse searching for a hiding place, he looked around for somewhere safe to retreat.
Mu Xueshi had already noticed his body reacting. Although inexperienced, he was familiar enough with what the reaction meant. His face burned with embarrassment, and he desperately hoped the Third Prince would not notice.
The Third Prince had noticed long ago and found Mu Xueshi’s flustered expression amusing.
While Mu Xueshi was still panicking, something suddenly clamped around his lower body beneath the water. His mouth fell open, and he reached down with a trembling hand. His fingers encountered something hard and unyielding that he could not pry away, like a crab’s claw.
“What’s going on?” Mu Xueshi cried to the Third Prince.
The Third Prince answered leisurely, “It is a water vine, a plant that grows in water. Whenever it touches something firm, it immediately clings to it. Usually these vines stay against the walls of the pool. I wonder why one has attached itself to you now.”
The word “firm” made even Mu Xueshi’s ears turn red, and his whole body seemed to flush. Miserably, he asked, “Why is there grass growing in your bath? Wh-what do I do? Can this thing hurt me?”
The Third Prince replied with a perfectly serious expression, “The leaves of the water vine produce droplets that are said to nourish the body, which is why servants brought them into the pool. But the vine also has a habit of wrapping tightly around whatever it catches until there is no space left. Its leaves are sharp as saw teeth. If it is not removed in time, it may injure a vital part.”
“Waaah…” Mu Xueshi was genuinely frightened and burst into tears. He stared helplessly at the vine clamped around him and did not even dare touch it.
The Third Prince had only been joking, but Mu Xueshi did not realize that at all. Because his lower body was underwater, he assumed the prince could not see what the vine had caught and therefore believed every warning was true.
Mu Xueshi cried until his throat grew dry, yet the Third Prince still showed no sign of helping. Then a sharp pain suddenly came from below, and panic overcame everything else. He shouted for help.
“Help me… I don’t want to become a… a eunuch…”
With his face tightly scrunched, Mu Xueshi clenched a fist near the affected area, too frightened even to touch it.