Chapter 42

Lu Yu froze, “Go… to your room?”

Lu Yu had already vaguely realized his feelings, but just acknowledging them made him particularly embarrassed. Being alone in a room with another man, and then having that man massage him…

Does it feel like things are developing too quickly?

Compared to passionate emotional development, Lu Yu, who had no experience in this area, preferred to take things slowly. Relationships should naturally progress over time, right…

Xia Cao smiled slightly, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Lu Yu, “Witch, why is your face so red? Is it because the weather’s too hot? Or is something bothering you?”

Lu Yu suppressed his awkward emotions and awkwardly replied, “It might be because I did some work just now, my body’s more active, so my face easily turns red.”

Xia Cao nodded knowingly, “Ah, I see. That’s why you need Chief’s help even more. Witch, we’re all very concerned about your health. If you get sick or something happens, we’ll be very worried.”

Speaking of this, Xia Cao’s playful demeanor faded a bit, her expression becoming somewhat grim as she thought of yesterday’s events. She still felt a lingering fear.

Lu Yu understood what she was thinking and couldn’t help but sigh. It seemed like yesterday really scared them.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Yu turned away, pretending not to care, “Alright, I’ll go then…”

It’s just a massage, just a massage, Lu Yu told himself. After the massage, he’ll just hurry back to his own room.

Hearing him say that, Xia Cao showed a little smile again.

—

After dinner, while it was still not completely dark, Lu Yu took a shower and went to Tai Lie’s stone house early, ready to start and finish early.

Definitely not because of guilt and embarrassment, Lu Yu thought. It’s just that tonight, he not only had to arrange training for the Matai people, but also for the people in the valley. There were more people in the valley, so arranging their training was a bit more complicated and he needed to go to bed early.

Tai Lie was already waiting in the stone house.

The stone house was about three times the size of a normal wooden house. The first floor had a living room and four rooms, as well as a simple wooden staircase leading to the second floor, which had one large room, two small rooms, and a living room.

Chapter 42

The large room should be considered the master bedroom, specifically for the owner of the stone house, but Tai Lie didn’t live on the second floor. He chose to stay in the outermost room on the first floor, just in case something happened and he needed to act quickly.

There was only a wooden plank bed and a stone bowl filled with oil in the room. The oil wasn’t used for anything strange… it was a simple oil lamp made by Lu Yu. The oil was made from animal fat, and there was a thin straw inserted inside as a wick. When needed, lighting the straw would suffice. Although this type of oil lamp was simple to make, it didn’t burn for long. Fortunately, the Matai people believed in early to bed and early to rise, so they didn’t use it much.

Lu Yu felt a bit awkward, “Should we light the lamp? It would be better to have more light.”

Tai Lie remained composed, “It’s still early. How about we wait until it gets dark?”

Lu Yu glanced outside the window, realizing it was still quite bright. Lighting the lamp now would be a bit of a waste. He nodded slightly, “Alright.”

Tai Lie glanced at him, “I’ve washed my hands.”

Lu Yu scratched his chin awkwardly, “Oh, okay.”

Tai Lie remained silent, his gaze prompting Lu Yu to begin.

“So… should I lie down first? Or… how should I…” Lu Yu stammered.

“Lie down,” Tai Lie said.

Lu Yu pursed his lips, no longer hesitating, and quickly climbed onto the wooden plank bed, obediently lying down. He had deliberately changed into a longer, thicker animal hide skirt, so he hoped…

Tai Lie’s gaze moved slowly from the back of Lu Yu’s head, over his neck, beautiful collarbones, fair back, to the few small scars left by lion bites on his waist, pausing for a moment.

The wounds were much better than yesterday and no longer bleeding, but they were still quite noticeable.

Tai Lie furrowed his brow for a few seconds, “The wound on your waist…”

Hearing this, Lu Yu quickly turned his head, happily saying, “Maybe the healing effects of the red pill are a bit slow, but look, it’s scabbed over today, and it doesn’t hurt much anymore!” His natural healing ability certainly wouldn’t have healed him this quickly, so the red medicine was effective for him!

Tai Lie nodded, not looking at the wound again, shifting his gaze slightly to the right, stopping at a certain area.

Round, perky.

Even with a thick animal hide skirt covering it, he could still…

Thinking back to the night they bathed in the small lake, Tai Lie’s eyes darkened.

It was that night when he realized something was wrong with himself. Although this wrongness may have started long ago, it was the desire that arose that night that made him unable to avoid it.

Lu Yu noticed his change in expression, his ears turning red, “What are you looking at?”

He was wearing such thick clothing, he didn’t believe this man could see anything!

Lu Yu suddenly felt a chill in his heart. Could it be… that the Matai people had some kind of hidden skill of X-ray vision?

It didn’t seem impossible, considering how abnormal their physical qualities were…

Tai Lie withdrew his gaze, not wanting to lie to him, so he didn’t answer his question and instead said, “Let’s begin.”

It was about to start?!

Lu Yu didn’t let his mind wander anymore, quickly burying his head again and mumbling, “…Okay.”

The wooden bed was quite low, so Tai Lie moved a stone and sat on it majestically.

He first pressed on Lu Yu’s sides around the waist with his hands. “How about here? Does it hurt?”

Lu Yu shook his head, “No.”

Perhaps because of previous experience and mental preparation today, Lu Yu’s current attitude was relatively relaxed. He didn’t have the same skin-crawling feeling as last night when touched.

Tai Lie continued to press. When he pressed on the area below the spine and slightly above the buttocks, Lu Yu grunted softly.

Tai Lie frowned, “Here?”

Lu Yu nodded, “Mm-hmm.”

“Okay.”

When Tai Lie helped his tribesmen adjust their bones and massage their muscles before, he used a lot of force, as they wouldn’t feel pain. But facing Lu Yu, who was obviously more delicate, he reduced his strength even further. Despite this, when he applied pressure, Lu Yu almost cried out.

Lu Yu tightly closed his mouth, holding back the pain. He didn’t want to appear too weak in front of Tai Lie; it was just a little pain, and he could bear it.

Seeing his lack of reaction, Tai Lie thought the pressure was appropriate and continued to massage. Soon, tears welled up in Lu Yu’s eyes.

What was he thinking? He thought there might be some romantic atmosphere, but if he couldn’t hold back and cried out, it would become a crime scene!

After enduring the discomfort, Lu Yu felt a warmth in his waist and bones, and the tense muscles became much more relaxed.

So effective! Lu Yu was quite surprised. He thought Xia Cao was just creating an opportunity for them to spend time together, but he didn’t expect Tai Lie to be really skilled.

Tai Lie withdrew his hand and stood up, “Let’s stop here for today.”

Lu Yu sat up, touched his waist, and praised, “You’re amazing.”

Tai Lie didn’t think there was anything amazing about it, but if Lu Yu said so, then it was. He nodded, “Mm.”

The oil lamp in the room had been lit halfway through the massage.

Lu Yu glanced at Tai Lie’s handsome face, which became more distinct in the dim light, and stammered, “Um, if the massage is done, I’ll leave first. I have things to do tonight…”

Tai Lie didn’t say anything.

Lu Yu opened the door and walked out. When he turned to close it, he saw Tai Lie standing silently under the lamplight.

His black eyes were fixed on him without blinking.

Tai Lie didn’t say a word, but Lu Yu felt like he could read a lot from his eyes.

Love, protection, persistence, waiting…

Lu Yu closed the door.

Darkness enveloped him suddenly.

Lu Yu took a deep breath and turned back to his small wooden house, comfortably lying down on the bed.

Despite the turmoil in his mind, Lu Yu quickly entered the dream realm. He entered the control room, opened the combat training ground. Fortunately, the panel was intelligent enough, and he had saved yesterday’s settings, so he could easily select them with a keystroke tonight.

As for Tai Lie’s side, he had asked him today, and it turned out that the formation indeed required at least two hundred people to use, so he arranged for Tai Lie to engage in hand-to-hand combat instead.

Next was the skills training ground. With a large number of people in the valley, Lu Yu let each person choose their own skill. Each type of plant represented a different skill, so after choosing, they would hold up the plant for him to see, actually allowing the panel to scan their appearance.

Based on the plants displayed on the panel, Lu Yu assigned the skills. Four skills were chosen by the participants, with slightly more in the weapons category, which coincidentally matched Lu Yu’s expectations. Weapons were needed for hunting and would consume more resources.

After arranging everything, Lu Yu thought for a moment and opened the village upgrade page. During their time at the Beasts Plain, the Matai people and the valley people who stayed behind had not stopped collecting materials, so the basic materials were enough. However, several new materials had appeared.

[Sakura wood 0/30]

[Rose red stone 0/200]

[Sandalwood Roots 0/500]

These materials seemed to be a bit less common than the shellstone and submarine mud last time, but Lu Yu had never seen them before.

Let’s find them first. If it’s really not possible, they may have to go to the Beasts Plain again. Even if it’s not for upgrading materials, they still need to seize the opportunity to go, especially since they haven’t investigated the matter the old man mentioned last time.

With so many Matai people, they couldn’t just die without a clear reason; they had to avenge them.

The deeper he got in touch with the Matai people, the more Lu Yu realized how lovely they were. He had a lot of goodwill towards those Matai people who had already passed away.

Thinking of the Matai people, Lu Yu couldn’t help but think of Tai Lie again. He had lost focus several times while arranging tasks tonight.

He kept thinking about the last look Tai Lie gave him…

Lu Yu gritted his teeth.

Why not just agree?

He clearly had feelings for Tai Lie, obviously he wasn’t “straight” anymore, and also felt that this place was nice. Why be so hesitant? Just treat it as dating, and if it doesn’t work out, they can still part ways! Men should be straightforward!

The more Lu Yu thought about it, the more feasible it seemed!

Was dating Tai Lie considered cheesy romance?

A smile formed at the corner of Lu Yu’s mouth. Well, now there’s just one question left.

He heard that in relationships between men, there’s a distinction between top and bottom.

Hmm, I wonder if Tai Lie minds him being the top…