Chapter 17

They had walked a while from the Red Pavilion with Bai Chen constantly complaining about this and that, but fortunately, there was no warning from the system about him being out of character.

‘Maybe the real Bai Chen in this world indeed didn’t swear, but he’s just a whiny guy like me,’ he concluded while stupidly admitting that he was whiny too.

He kept moving his lips as if his life depended on the voice that came out of them until finally, he couldn’t speak anymore because he felt his throat dry.

When they had just left the Red Pavilion, they had stopped by the market and bought some food, but Bai Chen just remembered that he had not drunk anything after finishing his meal. He was still lucky that he didn’t die from dehydration, but he needed water now.

“Did you bring water, gege?” Bai Chen continued his role-playing as he turned to Zhu Ge, who was walking beside him.

Zhu Ge turned to him as he replied, “Yes.” Before moving his hands to his waist and releasing a bottle of water from his waist. But when he shook the bottle, he didn’t hear any sound from it. “I think I drank all the water in it,” he said sheepishly.

Bai Chen was furious when he received the bashful response. He had already let his hopes be high when he heard the word ‘yes,’ but suddenly the perverted man threw his hopes to the bottom of the abyss.

.....

“But you don’t have to worry because we can always find water in this area.”

Bai Chen looked at Zhu Ge again after the taller man continued speaking. They were currently walking in the forest, and Bai Chen didn’t think that there was a tavern or anything like that in a location like this. And of course, there would be no convenience store in this world.

But, the man clad in red seemed confident in his words, so Bai Chen decided to reply, “Is there a tavern nearby?”

Even if Zhu Ge was just a human who worked as a prostitute, the man lived in this world longer than him, so Bai Chen assumed that the man would know something he didn’t know.

But, to his dismay, the black-haired man chuckled in response. “There are no taverns around here, ChenChen,” he replied verbally. “But, there’s a river nearby, and you can fill the bottle with water from there so you can solve your problem.”

Hearing the taller man’s casual reply, Bai Chen gasped, “I need to drink some water from the river? Don’t you think it’s very dirty?”

Even if Bai Chen didn’t come from a rich family in his previous life, he was already used to living in a clean and comfortable environment. He was very concerned about cleanliness and health, and that was why he was surprised by Zhu Ge’s calm answer.

“I think we should take a break from our role-play because I want to talk to you about something, Your Highness,” Zhu Ge replied as he stopped walking, causing the white-clothed man to stop walking as well. “I know you are a Prince, but you have to remember that the wise adapt themselves to circumstances, as water molds itself to the pitcher.”

Bai Chen did act as himself just now, but when he waited for the OOC warning from the system, he didn’t get any. Now he assumed that the real Bai Chen of this world also cared about cleanliness.

And Bai Chen tried to digest Zhu Ge’s words. Zhu Ge sounded clever with his words, but Bai Chen knew that the man was asking him to adapt.

They were in a dense forest, and Zhu Ge had said that they would arrive at the snow mountain after they passed through the forest. If he didn’t drink the water from the river, maybe he needed to eat the ice on the mountain to quench his thirst.

Knowing that the river was still the better choice, Bai Chen sighed as he decided, “Alright. Let’s go to the river so I can drink quickly.”

Zhu Ge smiled faintly before continuing to walk towards the river. Bai Chen didn’t know the location of the river, so he could only walk behind the taller man.

There were too many trees in the forest. Some of them looked foreign to Bai Chen’s eyes, but he was not a scientist who would be interested in researching those species, and he chose to fix his gaze on Zhu Ge’s back instead. Not because he was mesmerized by the sight, but because he didn’t want to get lost in the forest.

‘When I saw him last night, I didn’t pay much attention to him, but strangely, I was able to recognize him right away when we were in the Red Pavilion earlier. Is it because of his body?’

The image of a naked man behind his naked body appeared again in his head, and Bai Chen shook his head to erase the dirty image.

‘But wait. Ma Qiao said that it was only this morning that this man reported to him that I fainted last night, so it could be said that he had just returned to the Red Pavilion when I got there, right?’

Bai Chen had just realized the important thing, and he suddenly felt worried about the man. Raising his hand to grip the back of Zhu Ge’s sleeve, he forced the taller man to stop walking.

The man turned to him with a questioning expression on his face, and Bai Chen hesitated before finally asking, “You just came back from my palace, right? Don’t you feel tired because you have to walk back to my palace again?”

Bai Chen was a werewolf, and he didn’t even use his legs when he went to the Red Pavilion. Meanwhile, Zhu Ge was in a different situation. He was a human, and going back and forth from the werewolf empire to the human empire must be exhausting.

“Are you worried about me?” Zhu Ge asked back with a hint of amusement on his face, and Bai Chen reflectively pulled his head back as the raven-haired man suddenly brought his head close to him. “You don’t have to worry because I have tremendous stamina, Your Highness. I will prove it to you tonight.”