82 Another User

I was carrying Shenhe back to Mt. Aocang as we needed to report back to the old fossils. We would have done this yesterday, but both of us knew that I wasn't in the right state for any of that. When we landed back at Mt. Aocang, the Adepti and two Archons asked us what made us so late. Did these fuckers wait here a whole day without even realizing it? Even if I'm older than them, my sense of time isn't that broken.

"Wait, why are you even with Shenhe?" asked Cloud Retainer.

"We met while I was walking down the mountain yesterday and everything just worked well from there."

After that, I told them the details on what happened with the investigation. I decided to leave out the information about Khaenri'ah. I know that they don't want the others present at the moment to hear it, that's why I'll ask them when the three of us are alone. When I was about to near the part where I cried my heart out after learning of Lumine's relation with the Abyss, Shenhe covered my mouth.

"I think that's enough." she said, looking at me with those piercing yet dull eyes.

"Mhm…"

I'm thankful that no one pried any further. That was replaced by teasing though! Of course, the teasing didn't get through to the both of us. In my case, it was because I was already used to the teasing with my other lover's. In Shenhe's case, it was her red ropes holding any sort of emotion back. I wonder what's the limit of those ropes…

We left after that. Yes, both me and Shenhe. Cloud Retainer told me to "Take care of Shenhe. She is a dear child" and honestly, that sounded like she was giving her daughter's hand in marriage to me. Well, not that I really minded. Ah, another one joins the harem…

"With the amount of wives you have, you might be able to populate a city with your children." Shenhe said casually.

"Wha- Actually, yeah… That is true."

"We don't know, in actuality. After all, your number of wives is sti-"

"Ah! No need to say it anymore!" Ahh… why am I so vulnerable when it comes to her…

While we were walking down Mt. Aocang, I started some small talk with Shenhe. I was really shocked to learn that she was Chongyun's aunt… 'Hehe, I wonder how he'll react to this…'

I was thinking of all the scenarios with Chongyun reacting to me being his uncle when Shenhe suddenly stopped walking. I wonder why she stoppe-

"Do you want to take a bath together?" she said, the faintest tint of pink on her cheeks. Ah, extreme embarrassment comes through her rep ropes huh… Yeah, taking a bath wouldn't be too bad. I was bored and there wasn't really anything to do. I could just take commissions, but with my power, I would finish them in a blink of an eye.

"Sure, shall I teleport us back home?"

"No, I know a place."

Oh, Outdoor bathing? That's fine with me. I haven't done this since I got into Mondstadt after all. I agreed and we went a few ways away to a place where no one could see us. Huh, I didn't know there was a small body of water here. The sun was in view as well. I just hope that those old fossils don't find us…

I crouched down and dipped my hand in the water. It was rather warm, I wonder why that is…

"It's warm, isn't it? I found this place just a few months ago. When I tried looking for what the cause of the heat was, I saw some Pyro Slimes resting behind and under the stones."

Oh? I went to check the water again with my energy sight heightened and saw some small holes giving off Pyro energy. Damn, and they didn't move too if Shenhe found this a few months ago and it still had them. It reminds me of a certain manga I read with Titans inside walls… I could already hear the rumbling.

I stood up and didn't even bother drying off my hands. I took out two wooden baskets and two towels. I also took out whatever we were going to need while bathing.

"Mhm, this should be good. Now-" when I turned to look at Shenhe again, she was already removing her clothing. 'How the fuck do you even remove that body stocking? Actually, nevermind. This world is full of unexplainable things.'

I sighed and began stripping myself as well. When I was removing my braid, I saw that Shenhe was conflicted on whether she should remove the red ropes or not. I walked closer to her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, you don't have to remove it if you don't want to. And even if you do, I'll be sure to help you in keeping yourself in check."

Ah, I'm really glad that I still have my pants on. Otherwise, that would have been really embarrassing. Shenhe, on the other hand, hasn't even started removing her body stocking because of the red ropes. The only piece of clothing that she has removed was the cropped white-and-gray sleeveless qipao that was covering her breasts from view.

She nodded and decided to remove the ropes. Welp, here it comes. Just before she removed the ropes, I decided to teleport us to my Realm so that none of her malice gets noticed by old fossils. Shenhe was taken aback a bit, but she recognized the place and started undoing the ropes once more.

Once the rope was undone, I could feel the malice coming out of her intensify. Gah, this was way more than I expected, but there was a bright side. It was still a type of energy. Which meant one thing, I could absorb it by using either of my flames. However, I decided to just give her a fragment of Gluttony instead. If she could use Gluttony as her own, then she'll be the third person within this world to have this element. There's also the possibility that her malice will fuse with it to create something else.

I created a small ember and tried reversing its effects once more so that it won't hurt Shenhe. However, she rushed towards me before I could even begin the reversal process. She hugged me tightly and when I looked at her face, she looked… conflicted? Why? Her face kept changing expressions ranging from happiness, sadness, anger, and many more.

"It feels… weird. All of my suppressed emotions are being let out all at once and I don't know what to do. All I know is that I'm somehow comforted by your presence." she said as continued hugging me tightly. The malice… was getting weaker, but it's still a lot.

"Then let's stay like this for a bit. If you don't mind, I want to give you something."

"Oh? What is it?"

"An ember of Gluttony. This should keep your malice in check even without the red ropes and once it's fully become a part of you, you'll be able to use it as your own." I said as I tried making the reversal once more, but this time, I had an idea.

"Of course, it's from you after all."

As soon as she said that and when the reversal finished, I sealed her lips with mine. Her eyes widened and I could see her cheeks turning into a bright shade of red. Why did I do this? Well, this was my idea. I decided to just pass the ember to her this way to see her reaction.

After a few seconds, I backed my head away as our lips were still connected by a string of saliva.

"That should do it for the ember."

Shenhe released me from her embrace and checked herself out. She looked at me in awe as she probably saw how quick the ember was doing it's work. Not gonna lie, it's working way faster than I thought it would. I completely forgot that my power was stronger than it was when I "revived" Havria.

She gave me her thanks and I snapped my fingers again, bringing us back to the Pyro Slime Spring. Shenhe looked even more embarrassed now since her ropes had been removed, so I decided to turn around while she undressed. However, she said it was okay since I'll see her without any clothes while we bathe anyways. I mean, that's true, but I can't take her seriously when her face is as red as a tomato. I chuckled and just continued on removing my clothes.