Lianhua made her way through the bushes, towards the hot springs. She had been dreading this all day and now the time had finally come. As she drew nearer she couldn’t help but send up a prayer to the gods in hope that the man wasn’t there. If he wasn’t there then she would sure as hell turn tail and run like her life depended on it – which it did.

Unfortunately for her, she had no such luck. As she stepped into the clearing there he was all laid back at the edge of the water, long hair sitting high in a bun at the top of his head.

“I see you finally decided to show up.” He said as he twisted his towards her, his green eyes gleaming.

“It’s not like I had any other choice.” She said as she scowled at him.

“Hmm,” he placed a hand on his chin as if thinking. “You’re right, you didn’t.”

“What do you want with me?” he didn’t answer her he just gave her a smile as his eyes seemed to darken.

“Come.” He said firmly as he outstretched his arm towards her.

Lianhua’s mind and body were at odds with each other. Her mind was telling her to run and get the hell away from this man but her body was singing a whole other tune. She was wary of the man but in some ways she was drawn to him. So when her body moved forward without her consent her mind rebelled. Timidly she went to sit down beside him.

“Remove your garments.” He said unflinchingly.

“Excuse me?!” she said, her voice raising an octave as she leaned away from him. “I don’t even know your name and you expect me to undress in front of you?”

“Oh. Please pardon my rudeness, you can call me Xuelang.” He smiled at her showing off his pearly white teeth. “And as for your state of undress it’s not like I haven’t seen it all before.” He was still smiling, his eyes twinkling in amusement.

Lianhua was furious. She had one mind to slap him across his perfectly sculpted cheekbone. Her hand itched wanting to do it. Oh, so now both of you are deciding to cooperate, she thought to herself cynically.

“It doesn’t matter, I still will not undress.” She folded her hands across her chest to stop them doing something she knew she would regret.

“It’s either you undress yourself or I’ll do it for you.” Lianhua snapped her head around to look at him, her eyes wide in shock.

“You wouldn’t dare.” She said threateningly.

“Try me.” He replied with his own threat. His smile was completely gone and when Lianhua saw the seriousness in his eyes she scrambled away from him.

She turned her back to him her face flushing in anger as the situation dawned on her. If she didn’t start undressing now he sure as hell would do it for her. Her mind was still mulling over the thought when she heard him speak.

“Time is of the essence Lianhua.”

“Alright fine, I’ll do it.” She snapped over her shoulder. “Just give me a minute.” It was taking all her willpower to not use her ability to control the water and just drown him.

Mustering up some courage she quickly took her robes off, the thin material grazing over her shoulders as it fell to the ground. Quickly she turned around and dove into the water, hoping he didn’t see anything. When she resurfaced she was a ways off from where he sat and she was contented to stay where she was.

She lifted her gaze to look at his face and she realized he was laughing at her. Without a word he lifted his hand and beckoned for her to come to him. Unwillingly her body moved closer to him and without a second thought she placed her hand into his, all the while cursing her traitorous body.

He had a firm grip on her hand, the callouses of his hand pressing into her own. She squealed when he, without warning, tugged her to him, her back meeting his sprawling chest. She felt indisputably small against him. For a moment both of them said nothing. He placed a hand against her waist and her back muscles went rigid. She didn’t dare move.

“Why so tense?” he asked, his breath fanning her ear. “Relax.” He commanded but her body tensed up more. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He said softly as his hands moved up to her shoulders.

She hadn’t had time to put her hair up in a bun so it was the only thing shielding her body from his prying eyes. Sighing she tried to forget his presence – which was quite hard to do since he was so close – and enjoy the soothing warm water. She wiggled around as she tried to get comfortable between his legs.

“Stop doing that.” She heard him grit out.

“But you told me to relax.” She said innocently.

“Not like that, just stay still.” His voice came out short as if he was holding his breath. Finally finding a comfortable position she stopped moving around and warily eased into his chest.

“Better?” she asked.

“Much, thank you.” She heard him let out an audible sigh. She hadn’t noticed it before but his body was extremely hot.

“Hey, are you okay?” she turned her chin up to look at him. He had towered over her when they were both standing yesterday and sitting down now he was still greatly taller than her.

“Why do you ask?” he said staring into her eyes.

“Your body, it’s really hot.”

“Oh that, don’t mind it, it’s a family thing.” He shrugged as he looked away from her.

“What do you mean by that?” she enquired.

“Don’t worry about that either.” He said, switching his gaze back to her. “So tell me Lianhua, why is it that a beautiful woman such as yourself is travelling all alone?” he was trying to change the subject she realized.

Rotating away from him she drew her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She was still wary of him but she didn’t see any harm in telling him why she was alone.

“I’m going through my rite of passage.” She mumbled, her mouth barely above the water but somehow he heard her. She didn’t know what kind of spirit he was but she guessed he was either a fox or a tiger or some other feline for only they had heightened senses.

“Your rite of passage? How old are you?” he asked turning her body around to face his.

“I turned nineteen last month.” She wiped away at some water that had gotten in her eyes. “How about you?”

“Forty-two. I went through my rite of passage long time ago.” He smiled down at her. “So now I don’t have any fear of aging.” She couldn’t help but smile with him then remembered the situation she as in and quickly froze it.

“That’s one of the perks of being away from home.” She mumbled. A feeling of sadness passed through her and when she looked up at Xuelang she could see it in his face that he had noticed her change in behavior. She quickly tried to move the topic away from her.

“So what was it like on your rite of passage?”

“Honestly?” she nodded her head at him expectantly. “For the first few months I was like a newborn pup.” She laughed at his reference. “I’m serious, I was so scared I almost went running back home. But when I thought about the beating I would get from my father I kindly toughed it out.”

Lianhua couldn’t stop laughing even if she wanted to and for the rest of the night that was all she did as he told her about his journey through his right of passage.