ICAY Chapter 76

Beauty Emerging from the Bath

Yun Dan still remembered that when she first met Xiao Yueqing, she had accidentally fallen into the bathing pool where he was washing.

At that time, she had seen a red plum blossom on his shoulder.

That thing should be what they call a tattoo, which couldn’t possibly be removed.

When Yan Ke goes to bathe, she could take a look to see if he has this thing on his shoulder, and that would prove it.

Yun Dan’s plan was good.

But how to implement it was still a problem.

First, she absolutely couldn’t let Yan Ke know, otherwise he would throw her out.

Second, she couldn’t let the people of Mingyue Manor catch her, or else that group would definitely cause a commotion, and she still couldn’t be discovered by Yan Ke.

After much deliberation, Yun Dan decided to wait until dark before taking action.

When the sky finally darkened, Yun Dan couldn’t help rubbing her hands together, thinking to herself that she was about to do something big.

Tsk tsk tsk, she really had never peeked at someone else bathing before.

Thinking about this scene, Yun Dan felt a bit embarrassed for a moment.

However, she still comforted herself that it was just to conduct an experiment, not because she was seduced by Yan Ke’s beauty.

She knew that Yan Ke would go to a specific place to soak in the hot springs, and no one else would go to that place except him.

After all, Yun Dan had stayed at Mingyue Manor for so long, she was familiar with the manor’s layout.

Taking advantage of no one paying attention, Yun Dan quietly snuck into the place where Yan Ke bathed.

Yun Dan groped her way along, hiding behind rockeries to avoid being seen, and finally arrived at her destination.

Sure enough, in the hot spring not far away, there was a man soaking with his back to her.

From the silhouette, it should be Yan Ke.

However, with him facing away like this, how could she see the front part of his shoulder?

You should know that Xiao Yueqing’s tattoo was on the front.

“What should I do? This person won’t turn around, he’s just soaking there. Won’t my trip be wasted?”

Just as Yun Dan was thinking about whether to leave first, she heard Yan Ke in the distance speak.

“Come in.”

Yun Dan looked around – it seemed she was the only person there, so was he calling her?

Had she already been discovered?

No way, was this person so amazing that he knew it was her without even looking?

Since she had already been discovered, Yun Dan could only step forward.

However, before she could speak, she heard Yan Ke say, “Help me get the towel.”

Yun Dan looked around and found the towel on a nearby rack, then took it to hand to Yan Ke.

But because standing was really inconvenient, Yun Dan could only squat down to hand it to Yan Ke.

But her hand was suddenly grabbed by Yan Ke.

“Who is it!”

Before Yun Dan could explain, she was yanked into the hot spring by Yan Ke.

Yun Dan’s fear of water instantly surged up, making her instinctively throw herself onto Yan Ke’s body, hugging him tightly and not letting go.

Only after being embraced by Yun Dan did Yan Ke realize that this person was actually Yun Dan.

In fact, not long ago, Yan Ke had already discovered that someone had come to where he was bathing.

At first, he thought it was a servant coming to deliver something, so he wanted them to hand him the towel.

But when that person approached, Yan Ke felt it wasn’t a servant, so he yanked the person into the water.

Who knew it would be Yun Dan.

Looking at Yun Dan in front of him, clinging to him tightly, Yan Ke could only sigh.

Thinking that this person must have fallen into the water and started to be afraid again.

He could only reach out and pat her back, comforting her, “It’s me, you haven’t fallen into a river.”

However, what he got in return was Yun Dan pounding his shoulder several times.

“Why didn’t you say anything and just pull me directly into the hot spring? You clearly know I’m most afraid of water, and you still pull this stunt on me. Are you trying to scare me to death?”

Yan Ke was quite helpless.

How should he answer?

But he had clearly just reacted reflexively.

Still, he explained a few sentences.

“I’m sorry, I thought it was someone trying to ambush me, but I didn’t expect it to be you. But what about you – why did you come to where I’m bathing? Did you come specifically to… see me?”

Yan Ke was giving Yun Dan quite a bit of face, using the word “see” instead of saying “peep.”

Although she really did come to peep, Yan Ke couldn’t know that.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t know how to face Yan Ke in the future.

“Cough, no, I just heard from people in the manor that there’s a place to soak in hot springs here, so I wanted to come take a look. I didn’t know you would be here too.”

Yan Ke didn’t pursue the matter further.

Because in his view, what Yun Dan came to do wasn’t important.

Most importantly, she wasn’t an assassin.

Noticing that Yun Dan’s emotions had stabilized, Yan Ke quickly let go of Yun Dan, letting her keep some distance from him.

Otherwise, even with his self-control, he might not avoid embarrassing himself.

Embarrassing himself would be one thing.

The key was, it would also scare Yun Dan.

Yan Ke took a deep breath, calming his restlessness, then said, “You didn’t know that usually only I come to soak in the hot springs at this time. Other people who want to soak don’t come to this place. But it’s understandable that you didn’t know. I’m almost done, wait for me to put on my clothes and then you can soak.”

Yun Dan hadn’t forgotten what her purpose in coming here was.

However, when Yun Dan looked at Yan Ke’s shoulder, she discovered there was no plum blossom tattoo on it.

Instead, there was an ugly scar, like a centipede.

On such a perfect person, this scar appeared somewhat out of place.

Seeing Yun Dan’s dazed expression, Yan Ke unconsciously chuckled.

“Traveling the jianghu, getting injured is normal. Even if my martial arts are superior, it doesn’t mean I won’t get hurt. This has been here for many years. Are you feeling sorry for me?”

Yun Dan shook her head, then nodded.

“I don’t know, I just feel that having such a scar on your body is quite painful to see.”

Noticing that Yan Ke was about to get up, Yun Dan very consciously turned her back.

When she heard the sound of clothes being put on behind her, Yun Dan rubbed her cheeks, wondering what on earth she was thinking.

However, another question also surged up.

Why doesn’t he have a tattoo on his shoulder?

This was ancient times, not modern times.

Even in modern times, removing a tattoo is very painful, and it doesn’t mean you can’t see any trace of it at all.

Could it really be that she got it wrong?

Yun Dan could only attribute everything to having made a mistake.

It seemed Yan Ke really wasn’t Xiao Yueqing after all.

However, after Yan Ke left, he unconsciously curled his lips into a smile.

“Although I don’t know what trick you’re playing, trying to confirm my identity with just a red plum blossom – you’re still too naive.”

Yun Dan had just gotten one thing wrong.

That was that the red plum wasn’t a tattoo, but was painted with waterproof pigment, specifically to cover this scar.

His fingertips lightly traced over the scar, and Yan Ke’s eyes held only a chill.

He deliberately kept this scar to remind himself never to forget what that woman had done to him.