At some point, warmth suddenly surrounded Mu Xueshi. He looked down and found the Third Prince’s hand holding him intimately, moving with alternating pressure.
“What are you doing?” Mu Xueshi asked in alarm.
The Third Prince looked at him with a faint smile. “Helping you remove the water vine.”
Mu Xueshi felt as though electricity had run through his whole body. The Third Prince looked completely matter-of-fact, but remembering what the prince had just done made Mu Xueshi suspicious.
“Are you really removing the water vine? Why does it feel like it’s getting tighter?” Mu Xueshi asked blankly.
The Third Prince calmly replied, “Your body is getting harder, so my hand cannot remove the vine at once. I have to deal with you first. Only after you relax completely can I take off what is attached to you.”
Mu Xueshi’s face, which had only just begun to cool, turned red again. The meaning was obvious: he would have to reach release before he could be freed, which meant letting the Third Prince stimulate him. His ears burned, and he hurriedly stopped the prince’s hand.
“Don’t! That’s too embarrassing. Just tell me what to do and I’ll understand… hehe… I can do it myself.”
As soon as Mu Xueshi said this, the Third Prince withdrew his hand without hesitation.
Mu Xueshi immediately felt the absence of that warmth and hurriedly reached down himself. Just as he was about to move, however, something felt wrong. He looked at the Third Prince and found him staring directly at him with an amused smile.
“Don’t look at me. If you keep staring, I… I can’t do it…”
Mu Xueshi walked over, pushed the Third Prince around until his back faced him, then finally relaxed enough to try again.
In the blink of an eye, however, the Third Prince was standing in front of him again, his deep gaze fixed openly on Mu Xueshi’s face.
Mu Xueshi sighed heavily and shouted, “Turn around! Stop looking!”
The Third Prince said nothing and would not move no matter how Mu Xueshi pushed him. Finally, Mu Xueshi angrily tried to go somewhere more private, nearly fell, and only then remembered that his lower body was still restrained.
“Ah—!” Mu Xueshi shouted toward the sky, looking both tragic and miserable.
Eventually Mu Xueshi could no longer bear the discomfort. The warm bathwater did nothing to settle his body. He took a deep breath and finally compromised. “Um… maybe you should do it after all?”
To Mu Xueshi, having the Third Prince help was still less embarrassing than doing it himself while the prince watched. Boys in his old life sometimes made crude jokes about such things with each other, though no one had ever wanted to joke that way with him. He therefore convinced himself it did not have to mean much.
Caught between embarrassment and desperation, Mu Xueshi finally gave in. With the Third Prince’s help, his body eventually reached release. Seeing the cloudy traces disperse in the bathwater made Mu Xueshi’s face burn with mortification.
“Listen… don’t tell anyone about this… otherwise…”
“Otherwise what?”
Mu Xueshi clenched his fists and widened his eyes, trying to look fierce. He could not maintain it for even three seconds before deflating and muttering with his head lowered, “Otherwise I’ll be too embarrassed to face anyone…”
The Third Prince suddenly lifted the so-called water vine from the pool and held it in front of Mu Xueshi. At first Mu Xueshi thought the prince intended to embarrass him again and shrank away, but when he saw that nothing remained on the vine, he relaxed.
“What is it?” Mu Xueshi asked, blinking in confusion.
“Look carefully. What is this really?”
Mu Xueshi quickly snatched it over. At some point, the supposed water vine had turned into a green silk ribbon. It was light and almost weightless in his hand, completely unlike the hard object that had restrained him moments earlier.
“You—!!!” Mu Xueshi clenched the ribbon, bared his teeth at the Third Prince, and became so angry he could barely breathe.
By the time he looked again, the Third Prince had already vanished. Mu Xueshi hurried to the edge of the pool, grabbed his clothes, and dressed. Before leaving, he looked once more at the ribbon. Something about it felt strangely important and deeply connected to something else, yet he could not grasp what.
He had no patience now to wonder why the object had changed so strangely or what kind of suggestion those changes were meant to plant in his mind. He had only one thought: revenge. He had never expected someone as cold as the Third Prince to be so elaborate when teasing another person. With that thought, Mu Xueshi stamped heavily toward the prince’s sleeping chambers, his expression full of determination.