But then Henry Clark said, “If you just swallow it whole like that, you lose the point of reading history. I’ll just take my time with the book when it arrives… I see you still have an empty room here, so I’ll stay for a while… Hmm, sorry to bother you.”

“???” You can even answer so quickly now?

Brian Carter was both pleasantly surprised and puzzled.

Based on what he knew about her, she shouldn’t be so proactive about sharing a place with a man. He’d thought he’d have to talk her into it with great effort—what’s going on? Was it that line about “if you’re looking, you should look for the Creator God” taking effect? Or is it just that your bro is so devastatingly handsome?

A mischievous glint flashed in Henry Clark’s eyes. Finally, you can’t guess what I’m thinking for once, can you?

This time, I can finally guess you… Are you scheming to keep me here? Planning how to coax me?

What’s there to coax about? So what if I stay here? It’s just next door, not the same room. How is this any different from staying in adjacent rooms at an inn? It’s all just a matter of the heart.

Besides, I’m not afraid of you. You’re not the one who can tear people in half. If you dare try anything, I’ll beat you to a pulp.

She said leisurely, “What’s with that look? Cultivators are supposed to be above such things as men and women. If it weren’t for some sleazy father god pulling strings behind the scenes, I, Henry Clark, would have the breeze as my companion and the bright moon as my mate. Now we’re just neighbors, each pursuing our own path, open and aboveboard—what’s there to mind?”

With that, she walked straight into the guest bedroom.

Brian Carter called after her, “There aren’t any quilts in there.”

But he saw Henry Clark sitting cross-legged on the bare bed, eyes closed in meditation, saying nothing more.

Brian Carter dazedly returned to his own room, washed up quickly, and flopped onto his bed.

His mind kept circling around the fact that a stunning beauty was now living next door… That kind of restless excitement was hard to put into words.

Fine, you’re open and aboveboard, I’ll be the sleazy one, okay?

How long has it even been, and I already can’t guess what she’s thinking? Is it that I’m not skilled enough, my ideas not complete, or is a woman’s heart truly unfathomable—a male author can never fully grasp it?

Brian Carter tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep again.

This was the first time in Brian Carter’s life he’d ever “lived together” with a woman—and the woman was the heroine he’d written himself.

Chapter 13: This Is Life

The next morning, as dawn was just breaking, Brian Carter, who hadn’t slept well, woke up early, groggily got up, washed up, and went to the bathroom.

There’s no way you can go to the bathroom without playing on your phone…

Usually, this was the time to chat nonsense with the “Fighting in the Same Room” group, but Brian Carter hadn’t opened the group chat these past two days. On leave… If he opened the group, he’d just get urged to update—what’s the fun in that?

But the leave was only for yesterday; today he had to update.

After hesitating a bit, he simply opened his phone’s document app, synced the draft he’d written last night, and continued writing on his phone, hoping to post it first thing in the morning and be done with it.

As a writer in his rising phase, hoping for good results, he even wanted to get some words in while on the toilet.

The big-name authors have it so easy—they just leave a “no update tonight” and go off to play games…

Brian Carter thought about himself—he hadn’t played games in two or three years. The others talked about Genshin Impact, Naraka: Bladepoint, even Honor of Kings, but he hadn’t played any of them. His memories were still stuck on World of Warcraft and DOTA…

It’s not that he didn’t have time to play a round or two, but he was afraid that once he got hooked, it would take up too much time and energy.

Brian Carter was still pretty self-disciplined. Actually, David Bolton was even more so. Brian Carter would at least watch DOTA matches and complain about why they didn’t BAN Magnus, while David Bolton would just use his spare moments to hop between livestreams to check out the girls. Yet David Bolton had quietly left the scene, and Brian Carter didn’t know how much this so-called self-discipline really meant.

He sat on the toilet for a full half hour, until his poop was dry, and finally finished the chapter and hit publish.

Satisfied, Brian Carter cleaned up, washed his hands, and even smoothed his hair. Hmm, even more handsome today—wonder if Henry Clark will be smitten when she sees me?

But as soon as he opened the bathroom door, he saw Henry Clark standing outside, staring at him with a seemingly calm look, but her eyes clearly held embarrassment and annoyance, her face slightly flushed.

Brian Carter asked curiously, “What are you doing standing here?”

Henry Clark: “……”

The two stared at each other for a long while before Brian Carter suddenly realized, “You need to use the bathroom?”

Promise me, immortals aren’t supposed to poop, okay?

How could a mighty ascendant still need this? Oh, right, her body is only at the Qi Refining stage… Looking closely, there’s even some discharge at the corner of her eye… Oh, and she ate beef noodles last night, so she needs to digest…

Uh…

Unable to stand his gaze any longer, Henry Clark squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth: “Aren’t you going to move?”

“Um…” Brian Carter said cautiously, “There’s only my towel and toothbrush in there.”

Henry Clark, holding back her urgent needs, legs pressed together awkwardly, managed to ask, “What is a toothbrush?”

“That.” Brian Carter pointed to the cup and toothbrush on the sink, mimed brushing his teeth. “It’s for cleaning your mouth, like how you used willow twigs dipped in salt—uh, maybe you haven’t tried it in thousands of years.”

“You want me to put in my mouth something you’ve had in yours?” The furious Henry Clark grabbed Brian Carter by the collar.

“Whoa—” Brian Carter was sent flying into the living room sofa, a bit annoyed himself. “I was just reminding you that those are ones I’ve used. I’ll buy you new ones. Why are you so grumpy in the morning?”