After the three youths left the hot-spring room, they headed back to Su Jin's room first.
In the changing room, An Mo had insisted that Su Jin leave half soaked with only a towel covering him. It wasn't until he reached his room that Su Jin found out why.
After asking him to take out a change of clothes from his storage bracelet, An Mo placed the towel he had brought from the changing room over Su Jin's head and began rubbing his hair dry.
"B-Big brother An Mo, I can do it myself."
Su Jin managed to say, but his voice was slightly muffled from An Mo using the edge of the towel to wipe his face.
"Nonsense! As a fa-cough-cough… I mean, as an older brother, can't I help my little brother with such a simple matter?"
Upon hearing An Mo's tongue slip, Su Jin's already red face turned even redder. Now with solid evidence, he had confirmed that An Mo was truly treating him like a son.
However, judging by An Mo's current actions, it seemed as if he wanted to reverse time to when Su Jin was a baby and was unable to take care of himself.
After being subdued by An Mo's twisted logic, Su Jin was forced to stand in his room as he was dried off. An Mo even went as far as helping him put on his clothes.
By the end of this bizarre situation, Su Jin was tucked into bed by An Mo. His face that was left poking out of the blanket was so red he looked like a ripe tomato, especially with his chubby cheeks.
"Even though you've eaten a healing medicinal pill, it still best to get a bit of sleep to rest your exhausted soul."
"Mhm."
Su Jin nodded obediently, still feeling a bit shy.
Even though he wanted to be pampered, An Mo's series of actions went far beyond just pampering him.
But with that said, Su Jin did not dislike it.
As for why that was the case, it was because he suddenly realized that besides the maids within his Clan, this was the first time someone had care for him so thoroughly. His father had always been busy with training his older brother so he had only ever interact with him during that time, and as for his mother, after being born he had always been taken care of by a wet nurse and the Clans maids, while she helped his father handled the Clans affairs on the financial side. But this was how it had been for his older brother was well, so Su Jin didn't feel anything was wrong. Plus, he could visit his mother at any time.
However, it would be better if he hadn't known what it was like for someone who considered him to be family to take care of him, because he belatedly found out how much he had missed growing up.
Ever since he had turn eight he had requested all his maids to be dismissed from his courtyard, as he wanted to study Artifact Refinement in secret. So, he had gotten used to pushing himself to the point of exhaustion without anyone reprimanding him.
But now he had someone who would scold him if he didn't take care of himself and even tuck him in when he was about to sleep.
Given all of that, how could Su Jin come to dislike An Mo's care? Rather, he wished it would continue for the foreseeable future.
Su Jin closed his eyes and turned on his side to hide the tears that were about to fall.
Xai Lin, who had been watching the two youths' interaction, couldn't help but reveal a small smile. But upon catching a glimpse of Su Jin's tears, she pondered the reason he had given as to why he wanted to follow them.
'Perhaps after growing up under the radiance of his older brother and admiring him to such an extent, he wanted someone to acknowledge his efforts and admire him in that same way.'
Suddenly, Xai Lin seemed to realized something and she quickly looked at An Mo who was patting Su Jin's hair. He was smiling with his expression no different from usual, but after a closer look, she keenly detected that the look in his eyes as he gazed down at Su Jin no longer had that deliberate overexaggerated affection, but rather his gazed carried a look of pity and heartache.
Xai Lin paused, then after a moment of thought, she released a long sigh. She suddenly realized that even though her Dao Companion might act childish at times, he was by no means foolish. In fact, he was incredibly intelligent.
And this did not even mention those eyes of his that allowed him to see things most people can't even fathom.
Xai Lin even suspected that An Mo might have sensed the change in her body and soul after he had saved Su Jin. Coupled this with the fact that she had mentioned worrying about saving someone from a tragedy, he might have even deduced the reason she had to steal treasures, and now why they had to visit the Dark Moon Continent.
If that was the case, it could explain why An Mo had so readily accepted Su Jin. Aside from her own attitude, he must have sensed Su Jin's loneliness and felt sorry for him.
However, Xai Lin couldn't help but feel that there was something more to An Mo's actions. The degree of pity he was showing Su Jin was a bit much. It was as much as hers, making it almost seemed as if he had also read the novel Heavenly Illusions and knew of Su Jin's tragic fate.
Thinking of this, Xai Lin's eyes narrowed slightly and the gaze she cast at An Mo's golden eyes became one of scrutiny.
'Since those eyes could even see that my soul has been reincarnated—what else could they see?'
An Mo seemed to sensed something and turned to look at Xai Lin, only to lock eyes with her and see the scrutiny she was casting at him.
An Mo pause slightly before giving Xai Lin a bashful smile. He knew he had let his guard down and reveal his true thoughts toward Su Jin for a split second just now, so his cute, and incredibly smart Xai-xai must have caught him red-handed.
Knowing that Xai Lin might be angry with him for this, An Mo abandon Su Jin and hurried over to Xai Lin.
"Xai-xai…"
An Mo whispered softly while looking down at Xai Lin with a nervous expression—his body that was between a youth and an adult was hunched over slightly in a submissive posture.
Xai Lin looked at An Mo's nervous expression and his cowering demeanor, and the bit of annoyance that stemmed from him seeing through her and remaining silent, which hadn't yet had time to form, was completely snuffed out.
Rasing her hands, Xai Lin cupped An Mo's cheeks and leaned forward to peck the corner of his lips. She then leaned back and rubbed her thumbs across the freckles on his cheeks while saying softly.
"Let's head back to change."
She had left the changing room only wearing a single piece of robe, while An Mo was only in a towel.
Once again, Xai Lin made up her mind to visit a clothing store the moment they reach the Dark Moon Continent.
An Mo's emotions calmed down due to Xai Lin's kiss, and hearing her words, he nodded while letting out a 'Mn' sound.
Seeing that An Mo was no longer nervous, Xai Lin smiled sweetly before grasping his hand. The two then left Su Jin's room and closed the door behind them, before heading to their room on the fourth-floor hand-in-hand.
The two did not openly discuss the underlying secrets the two of them had, but they silently, and tacitly agreed to support each other regardless of whether the other party reveal those secrets or not—and just like now, they would support each other hand-in-hand in the future.