Chapter 43: The Bathhouse Ultimatum

After enduring the perilous confrontation with the High-tier Witch Violette and the subsequent base interrogation, Xia Yue, Lin Wan, and Yu Niannian still harbored deep suspicions regarding the many mysteries surrounding Jin, as well as the outrageous “first aid” incident.

However, a far more potent emotion now overshadowed their desire for answers. It was a profound sense of relief, coupled with the lingering fear of having almost lost her, and an almost primal possessiveness—a fierce reluctance to ever let her out of their sight again.

Observing Jin’s pitiable state—her face pale as a sheet, her words incoherent, and her demeanor suggesting she wished to dig a hole and disappear—the three women exchanged a knowing glance.

Lin Wan was the first to break the suffocating “interrogation” atmosphere. She dropped her teasing expression; though a mischievous smile still played on her lips, her tone softened considerably.

“Alright, alright, look how terrified you are,” she said. “This time… considering you acted out of desperation to save someone, we’ll let that matter go for now.”

Xia Yue nodded slightly as well, her cool, clear voice carrying a hint of imperceptible helplessness. “Let bygones be bygones,” she stated. “But don’t let it happen again.”

Her concise words effectively drew a temporary close to the “first aid commotion.”

Yu Niannian immediately clung happily to Jin’s arm. “That’s wonderful!” she exclaimed. “I knew Big Sister didn’t mean to!”

Upon hearing this, Jin heaved a mighty sigh of relief, as if she had just received a pardon. Her legs nearly buckled beneath her. The sheer joy of surviving the ordeal almost made her weep.

However, before she could fully relax, Lin Wan’s tone shifted abruptly. She placed her hands on her hips, adopting the posture of a “main wife” (?) lecturing a “concubine” (??), and lightly tapped Jin’s nose with her finger.

“But! Little Jin-Jin, you listen carefully to me!” she declared, her voice brimming with emphasis. “That trouble, Huo Hualan, you personally brought her back! With her temper, she’ll definitely not be done with you once she wakes up! You’ll have to figure out how to solve this mess yourself; we won’t be helping you!”

Xia Yue added blandly from the side, her gaze meaningfully sweeping across the small single room. “We hope similar incidents don’t happen again,” she stated. “This room has limited space.”

Yu Niannian nodded vigorously, chiming in with a serious little face. “Mhm, mhm! Big Sister has enough with the three of us!” she asserted. “You can’t bring anyone else back! Otherwise, there won’t be enough room in the room!”

‘Just three people… is enough? Can’t bring anyone else back? No room?’

‘What kind of talk was this?! When did she ever “bring” people back?! Didn’t they all come knocking on her door themselves?! And Huo Hualan, that was an accident! A massive, cosmic accident!’

A wave of inexplicable grievance and protest welled up in Jin’s heart. She couldn’t help but mumble her defense softly, her voice as thin as a mosquito’s buzz, still carrying a tremor from her recent fright.

“How… how can you blame me for this…” she whispered. “It wasn’t me who invited them… it was you… you all insisted…”

“Hmm—?”

Before she could finish, three drawn-out, distinctly threatening hums sounded simultaneously.

Xia Yue’s gaze instantly chilled.

Lin Wan narrowed her eyes, and the dangerous “try saying that again” smile reappeared on her face.

Yu Niannian puffed out her cheeks, staring at Jin with an accusing look that clearly said, “Big Sister, how could you say that?”

The powerful “tyranny” pressed down on her like a tangible force, instantly snuffing out Jin’s faint spark of rebellion in its cradle.

“I’m wrong, I’m wrong!” Jin instantly cowered, sincerely clasping her hands together in a gesture of surrender, her voice tinged with a whimper.

“I swear! I’ll be absolutely obedient from now on! I definitely won’t provoke anyone! And… and I’ll try my best not to let anyone provoke me! This room… this room is enough with you three! It can’t fit anyone else! I promise!”

Witnessing her cowering appearance, as she hurriedly pledged loyalty and seemed ready to swear to the heavens, satisfied expressions finally appeared on the three women’s faces.

Lin Wan reached out and ruffled Jin’s hair, making her already messy locks even more disheveled. “That’s more like it~” she said with a grin. “Good that you’re sensible!”

Xia Yue nodded slightly, taking it as an acceptance of Jin’s “guarantee.”

Yu Niannian, meanwhile, beamed once more, happily shaking Jin’s arm. “So Big Sister,” she chirped, “can we take a bath together now? Weren’t you going to take a bath just now?”

Jin: “…”

The vows she had just made still echoed in her ears. Faced with three pairs of expectant—or rather, undeniable—eyes, she could only nod tearfully.

‘Freedom? Solitude?’

‘What are those? Can they be eaten?’

From that moment on, her supposed vacation officially transformed into a communal life filled with “surprises”—or rather, shocks—spent alongside her three “guardians.”

As for the proposition of “no room in the room,” Jin silently wept in her heart. She had a dreadful feeling that one day, this ‘flag’ might be realized in a way she couldn’t possibly imagine…

****

Upon hearing Yu Niannian’s innocent suggestion of “Let’s all just bathe together,” Lin Wan and Xia Yue, who had been subtly at odds just moments before, found their expressions simultaneously freezing.

Both simultaneously recalled their extremely awkward previous experience in the school bathroom. The three of them had been in one room, yet due to issues with space and the showerhead, none had truly “bathed together.”

That cramped space, that eerie silence, those unplaceable gazes… it was simply unbearable to recall!

Lin Wan’s mouth twitched, and she immediately rejected the idea. “No, no, no! That tiny bathroom is terribly cramped; it’s hard to even turn around!” she protested. “Four people? We’d have to pile on top of each other!”

Although Xia Yue remained silent, her slightly furrowed brow and a fleeting hint of embarrassment in her eyes clearly expressed her resistance to reliving that old nightmare.

Jin, meanwhile, shook her head like a rattle-drum, tightly clasping her hands over her chest—though there wasn’t much to protect, being only in her underwear. Her face was plastered with an expression that screamed, “Please let me off!”

Bathing with just one person already made her scalp tingle; four together? In such a small space? How was that any different from a public execution?!

For a moment, the question of “who would bathe with Jin” seemed to fall into a stalemate once more. Lin Wan watched intently, Xia Yue applied silent pressure, and Yu Niannian blinked her big eyes, looking from one to the other.

Just as Jin thought they were about to embark on a new round of “contention,” perhaps even re-enacting an outrageous scene like the “stroller drift,” Lin Wan’s eyes lit up. She suddenly clapped her hands, and a brilliant smile of sudden realization bloomed on her face.

“I’ve got it!” she exclaimed. “Why do we have to squeeze into this tiny, broken shower room?”

She excitedly pointed in a certain direction outside the base window. “I remember there’s a pretty big public bathhouse over in the base’s living quarters, isn’t there?” she asked. “It even has hot springs and massage pools! I heard it was built to mimic those high-end bath centers outside! Couldn’t we just go there instead?!”

The suggestion made everyone pause in surprise.

‘A public bathhouse? With hot springs?’

Yu Niannian was the first to cheer. “Yay, yay! That sounds like so much fun! We can soak in hot springs! Big Sister, let’s all go together!”

Xia Yue pondered for a moment. A public bathhouse was spacious enough to accommodate four people without feeling crowded or awkward, and its clear functional divisions indeed made it far more reasonable than squeezing into a tiny shower room.

She glanced at Jin, who was still in a state of high alert, then at the enthusiastic Lin Wan and Yu Niannian, and finally nodded slightly. “Alright,” she agreed.

“Yay! Unanimously approved!” Lin Wan happily announced. Without another word, she pulled Jin’s hand, who was still in a daze.

“Let’s go, let’s go! Little Jin-Jin, don’t dawdle! I’ll take you to experience our organization’s benefits!”

“Wait, wait!” Jin tried to struggle. “I… I haven’t put on my clothes yet!”

“Why bother putting them on? You’ll just take them off at the bathhouse anyway!” Lin Wan declared righteously. Her other hand was already rummaging through the dirty clothes Jin had casually tossed on the floor.

“These are filthy, don’t keep them! Big Sister will buy you new ones later!”

Xia Yue had already turned to contact the logistics department, arranging for bathhouse access and the clearing of the area. As an inspector and important member, temporarily closing off a section was certainly within her capabilities.

Yu Niannian, meanwhile, like a happy little bird, had already started rummaging through her toiletries and cute pajamas, preparing to change into them later.

Jin was half-dragged, half-pulled by Lin Wan, watching the three magical girls—who had quickly reached a consensus and were now efficiently executing their “bathhouse team-building” plan—her heart filled with a profound sense of absurdity.

Her imagined personal freedom vacation, less than half an hour in, had transformed into a “team-building activity” where she was escorted by three formidable figures to a public bathhouse?

‘Wasn’t something wrong with this development?!’

However, protest was futile. Under the “tyranny” of the three magical girls, her feeble resistance couldn’t even make a ripple.

Thus, under the curious and envious gazes of many base staff members, Jin was “escorted” by Xia Yue, Lin Wan, and Yu Niannian, her face utterly devoid of hope, towards the reportedly luxurious public bathhouse.

Her inner thoughts screamed:

‘I just wanted to take a quiet bath by myself!’

‘Why did taking a bath have to turn into a group activity?!’

‘And that Huo Hualan! Please don’t recover too quickly! And please, please don’t come looking for me!’

But on the surface, she could only manage a stiff, submissive smile, silently weeping in her heart, accepting this inevitably turbulent, “fiery” bathhouse journey.