Chapter 45: Hu Baiyu! You shameless lion!
Yes.
That was the reason.
A very serious, responsible, noble reason.
The fact that his heart had already been beating wildly for far too long had nothing to do with it at all.
Lin Huahua, of course, knew nothing about the battle going on in the corner.
She was still soaking in the warm water, lost in thought, and enjoying the heat enough that her earlier sadness had almost fully been washed away.
In her mind, she was now scolding her father, making future plans, and also wondering whether the leaves and spices she picked would actually improve the meat or if she had simply gambled the evening meal on blind confidence.
The room was so dark and the air felt so warm that she gradually relaxed even more.
That was why she did not notice anything strange at first.
Time passed.
A fair amount of it too.
It was long enough for Hu Baiyu to suffer through ten thousand private lion disasters in the corner, for Lin Huahua to wash slowly and comfortably and long enough for the steam to turn the room even softer and hazier.
Then, all at once, Lin Huahua felt that something was off. She could not explain it at that moment. The room was still pitch black. And she had long forgotten about Hu Baiyu in the room because everywhere was completely quite.
Yet she felt like something was still wrong, she quickly felt the water and it was still warm
Hmm, nothing touched me so why do I feel this chill
Lin Huahua shivered as the thought crossed her mind, she was starting to feel scared and she slowly went into the water until she remembered Hu Baiyu was still there.
Lin Huahua quickly thought of calling out to him and her head turned sharply.
Her wet hair shifted over her shoulder as she looked into the darkness.
At first, she saw almost nothing.
Then she saw them.
A pair of sharp and shining bright eyes.
Lin Huahua stared and her own eyes widened so much that they nearly jumped off her face.
In that exact second, her little brain finally remembered something so obvious that she nearly wanted to scream at herself before she screamed at anyone else.
Beastmen had excellent eyesight.
Excellent!
Even in human form they could see far too much in darkness.
How had she forgotten that?
How had she underestimated him so completely?
Lin Huahua’s face exploded red.
Then she screamed.
"Hu Baiyu! You shameless lion!"
The scream burst out of the bath room so loudly that it nearly shook the hide curtain outside.
Hu Baiyu also jolted as if struck by thunder.
His whole body reacted before his thoughts could catch up. The white lion leaped up so quickly that he almost looked panicked, then turned and bolted from the room at once.
There was no dignity in that exit.
None at all.
A moment ago, he had been a silent protective guardian.
Now he looked more like a guilty giant cat that had been caught stealing fish.
He rushed out so fast that the hide curtain nearly wrapped around him on the way.
And right outside, Feng Yiren happened to be there holding the basket of leaves and watching the entrance with a casual face.
The fox lifted his red eyes just in time to see Hu Baiyu practically flee the bath room.
Feng Yiren paused with confusion.
But Hu Baiyu did not pause.
He rushed past him without a word, or glance, and disappeared into another room so quickly that his tail almost betrayed his panic on the way.
Feng Yiren stood there, staring after him.
Then he slowly looked toward the bath room.
Then back toward the room Hu Baiyu had escaped into.
Then his brows rose.
To be honest, Feng Yiren was not stupid.
Not even a little.
He had heard Lin Huahua’s scream.
He had seen Hu Baiyu flee like a criminal whose soul had just left his body.
There were only so many explanations for that.
And the moment the fox put those clues together, jealousy hit him right in the chest.
So the lion had been watching.
Watching his female bathe.
Feng Yiren’s fingers tightened around the basket.
His expression did not change much, but his eyes darkened a little, his ears tilted back.
This lion really had too much courage.
For one short, dangerous second, Feng Yiren actually wanted to go drag Hu Baiyu out by the neck and ask him exactly how much he had seen.
Then he thought of Lin Huahua.
And then he thought of how embarrassed she must be now.
That thought pushed the jealousy down just enough for him to stay still.
So Feng Yiren did not make trouble, he simply decided to sit down and wait for Lin Huahua to come out.
Inside the bath room, Lin Huahua was still standing in the tub with her heart beating wildly.
Her face was so hot that she felt she might start steaming more than the water itself.
That shameless lion!
She could not believe she had fallen for his soft, honest, innocent face that looked so pure and Worried for her.
And yet in the end, he had betrayed her and watched her the whole time with those ridiculously sharp beast eyes.
Lin Huahua lifted both hands and covered her face for a moment.
Then immediately uncovered it again because her face was already hot enough without trapping more heat inside.
How could she let this happen? This was too embarrassing.
And the worst part was that if she thought back carefully, the signs had been there.
Hu Baiyu really did hate leaving her alone, he was too protective and always wanted to stay near by.
But because he had looked so harmless, because he had looked like a large soft cloud with lion ears, Lin Huahua had actually let down her guard.
What a huge mistake.
Lin Huahua huffed in the bath and muttered under her breath, "Shameless. Truly shameless. All of them are shameless."
At first she was scolding only Hu Baiyu.
Then halfway through, she dragged in Feng Yiren too.
Then Mu Qingyi somehow got included just because he was also one of them.