Meeting the Other Party

The courtyard bathroom in Valoran featured a typical Western fantasy aesthetic. The walls were constructed from creamy white marble, and the floor was paved with bluestone slabs etched with anti-slip patterns. Several magic crystals embedded in the corners emitted a soft, warm yellow glow, illuminating the entire space and giving it a cozy, inviting feel.

In the very center sat a bathing pool, veiled in swirling steam.

Ye Chuan had stripped off his outer garments, leaving only a thin undershirt. He sat on a solid wooden stool by the edge of the pool, his back facing Elara.

"Heave-ho, heave-ho." The little girl stood on her tiptoes, gripping a soft woolen washcloth in her small hands. She carefully scrubbed his back with gentle strokes, occasionally asking in a soft voice,

"Teacher, is this pressure okay? Is it too light?"

"It's fine." Ye Chuan rested his hands on his knees, his eyes closed in enjoyment. The warm steam washing over his face helped dissipate the lingering fatigue from logging back in.

A soft rustle came from the bathroom entrance. Ye Chuan opened his eyes and caught sight of Aurora standing in the doorway.

She was dressed in a light red silk nightgown, her crimson hair draped loosely over her shoulders. Her cheeks bore an inexplicable flush, and her gaze darted around evasively, a stark contrast to her usual bold demeanor.

"Why did you follow us in here?" Ye Chuan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Aurora stiffened at the question. She subconsciously gripped the hem of her nightgown, stammering for a good while before finally squeezing out a reply.

"I... I was worried Elara might be clumsy and slip in the bathroom! The floor is wet and slippery, and she can be so careless..."

"Sister Aurora, I am not careless!" Elara immediately turned around to protest, accidentally dropping the washcloth from her hands in the process.

"I'm being very careful!"

"Who knows if you'll suddenly take a tumble? And hurry up and put your clothes on!"

"I'm going to take a bath too. Why should I wear clothes?"

"Because Teacher is a man!"

"Teacher is different! He likes big boobs!"

"You..."

Despite her words, Aurora unconsciously shuffled a couple of steps further into the room. She stole a quick glance at Ye Chuan before hurriedly looking away, her cheeks burning even redder.

Ye Chuan couldn't be bothered to expose her obvious little crush. He was just about to tell her to leave when his senses suddenly picked up on something.

A nearly imperceptible footstep sounded from the roof, as light as a cat treading on cotton. Had his spiritual sense not been so exceptionally sharp, he never would have noticed it.

"Someone is spying on us," Ye Chuan stated in a flat tone.

Aurora froze instantly, her head snapping up toward the ceiling. "What?"

Elara stopped what she was doing as well. She nervously clutched the washcloth and looked around.

"Spying? Where?"

Ye Chuan didn't waste time explaining. He simply raised a hand and made a grasping motion toward the roof. A surge of pale golden spiritual energy instantly pierced through the ceiling's stone slabs, acting like a massive, invisible hand that clamped down hard on something above.

With a loud crash, a chunk of the stone roof was forcefully ripped away. Amidst a shower of rubble and dust, a dark figure was violently yanked down, slamming heavily onto the bluestone floor with a muffled groan of pain.

The intruder was dressed in a tight-fitting black bodysuit, his face concealed by a black mask that left only a pair of terrified eyes exposed. He struggled to scramble to his feet, only to realize that his entire body was tightly bound by the pale golden spiritual energy. He couldn't so much as twitch a finger.

"Who are you?"

Ye Chuan stood up, walked over to the man, and stared down at him from above.

"How could this..." The masked man clearly hadn't expected to be discovered. Gritting his teeth, he clamped his mouth shut, stubbornly refusing to say another word.

"Playing tough, are we?" Ye Chuan scoffed. A soft white light bloomed at his fingertip, and with a gentle tap, he pressed it against the man's forehead.

It was a basic hypnosis spell, but it was more than enough to deal with a small fry like this.

As the white light flashed, the masked man's eyes instantly glazed over. His struggles ceased completely, and he went limp, looking as though his very soul had been siphoned away.

"Speak. Who do you work for?" Ye Chuan demanded.

"I... I work for Count Leon..." the masked man answered mechanically, his voice hoarse.

"Count Leon?" Ye Chuan furrowed his brows.

He hadn't been in Valoran for very long. Aside from rescuing the merchant Cohen, he hadn't interacted with anyone else, let alone a Count Leon. Why would a nobleman be targeting him?

"Why did he send you here?" Ye Chuan continued his interrogation.

"To... monitor your every move. To report back to him at all times..."

"Why is he monitoring us?" Ye Chuan's tone darkened. "I've never even met the man. Why is he keeping tabs on me?"

The masked man's vacant eyes flickered as if he were struggling to recall the information. After a few seconds, he spoke slowly,

"I don't know... The Count only ordered me to keep a close eye on you... especially the man carrying the greatsword. He said your strength is unfathomable, and that you might pose a threat to Valoran..."

Ye Chuan raised an eyebrow.

Setting aside the matter with Torres for now.

Could it have been Cohen? But Cohen seemed like nothing more than an ordinary, timid merchant. He wouldn't dare offend Count Leon, much less go out of his way to report to him.

Or perhaps Count Leon was connected to those disguised monsters and had somehow caught wind of Ye Chuan's true purpose?

"Teacher, why would Count Leon want to spy on us?" Elara asked softly, stepping closer to Ye Chuan.

Weren't they just here traveling?

Aurora had also dropped her previous shy demeanor. Her expression was grave as she stared at the masked man on the floor.

"Count Leon is the lord of Valoran. Why would he do something like this to us?"

Ye Chuan didn't answer. He crouched down and asked the intruder a few more questions, but the man didn't know much else. He was simply following orders to observe them; he was entirely clueless about the underlying reasons.

"It seems he really doesn't know anything else." Ye Chuan stood back up. With a flick of his finger, the spiritual energy binding the man instantly constricted.

"Ah—!" the masked man shrieked in agony. His body was crushed by what felt like invisible pincers, his bones groaning and creaking as if they were on the verge of shattering.

"Teacher, are you going to kill him?" Elara asked.

"No, just teaching him a lesson." After crushing the bones in the man's arm, Ye Chuan used his spiritual energy to hurl him straight out onto the street outside.

"Let him go back and deliver a message to Count Leon. Consider it a warning."

The bathroom fell quiet once more, the only sound being the faint hiss of rising steam.

Elara looked at Ye Chuan's tense expression and asked softly,

"Teacher, is this Count Leon a bad guy?"

"Who knows." Ye Chuan walked back to the bathing pool and sat down.

"But spying on us for no reason definitely means he's up to no good."

He had originally planned to gather more intelligence on the disguised monsters before confronting Count Leon, but it seemed his plans would have to change.

Since Count Leon already had his eyes on them, it was better to take the initiative and strike first rather than wait around passively.

"Looks like I'll have to pay this Count Leon a visit a bit earlier than expected," Ye Chuan said with a smile.

But for now, a good bath was the priority.

"Elara, come scrub my back," Ye Chuan instructed. "I'll head over and see this Count Leon when we're done."

"Understood!"