33. I’ll Teach You to Bathe

  After Edgar's backside disappeared from the line of sight, Justin immediately turned his body around and latched onto Jones: "Dr. Jones, when exactly did His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince arrive in Gass planet? Why didn’t you tell me about such important matter?"

  Edgar had been struck by lightning continuously, and Justin hadn't had time to care about these things. Nevertheless, he remembered about them now.

  He actually hadn’t known that His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince had come to his planet. How could it be?!

  There were so many people on the scene, and Jones was absolutely the most shocked one. He had just examined Edgar the day before, and he was sure that Edgar’s magic core had truly been shattered. Then today Edgar had went through thirty-six lightnings, and after getting struck for several rounds, the scales on his body had changed, his fallen beast had actually awakened the bloodline, and he had even become a human!

  This was unscientific!

  However, even though Jones thought it was unscientific, but he did not show any of it. He blinked and put away all his astonishment before he faced Justin: "I also don't know when His Imperial Highness came to Gass planet. He only came to me two or three days ago.”
“Why didn’t I know that His Imperial Highness came two or three days ago?” Justin asked again. The degree of recognition of Edgar’s face was so high. It was impossible that he could arrive quietly, ah!

  The Imperial crown prince was still single and also powerful . . . . Every day at home he saw his own sub-beastman son stare obsessively at the crown prince’s poster as his beastman son watch the crown prince’s video to learn some fighting skills. Even if Justin couldn’t recognize the emperor, it was impossible if he couldn't recognize the crown prince.

  "When His Imperial Highness arrived, because he was about to awaken the bloodline, he could only stay in his beast form. So everyone regarded him as a fallen beast." Jones explained with a smile. "Didn’t Jeress and his men bring back a fallen beast and a sub-beastman from the forest a few days ago? It was His Imperial Highness and the sub-beastman who was protected by His Imperial Highness just now."

  Although Gass planet was a planet, but its population could not even compare with that of a district of the capital star. Justin was very familiar with everything here, and he also knew everything that happened here. He knew Major Jeress, and he also knew that Jeress and his men had brought back a sub-beastman from the forest.

  At that time, even when he had heard of it, he had thought that handing over such trivial matter to Jones to deal with was good enough. He hadn’t expected it to be nowhere near a trivial matter, ah. It was clearly a monumentally major event!

  Indeed, since the beginning of history, the crown prince was the highest ranked person who had ever come to Gass planet! He wanted to apply for having multiple public spaceships come to Gass planet one trip a year, so he was going to rely on the crown prince for this undetermined matter!

  No, now he was not satisfied with one trip a year. He should ask for multiple public spaceships to come twice a year. That’s better!

  "So it’s like that . . . . Oh, by the way, His Imperial Highness was struck by lightning just now, *cough, cough*, did you take a video of the awakening of the bloodline? You must upload it to the official website of our Gass planet! Hahaha, His Imperial Highness awakened the bloodline in our Gass planet. Later on, there will certainly be a lot of strong people coming to our Gass planet to cultivate!" Justin suddenly turned towards the secretary behind him.

  "It was videoed. I also found the full version of the video copied from people who came here early. As long as the editing is done, it can be posted on the official website for publicity!" The secretary immediately answered. He was as excited as Justin.

  After they uploaded the video to their official website, was there any possibility that the capital star over there would connect Gass planet's internet to the star network in order to watch the video?

  With only an intra-planet internet, one could not go to the star network to read the latest news or shop online, and all kinds of news of the capital star also lagged behind. It was really inconvenient.

  No wonder many people now sent their children to remote planets to guard their children against internet addiction . . . .

  "Let’s make some preparations now. If all goes well, then we can find His Imperial Highness and ask for instructions about this matter." Justin said. The crown prince was scorched from head to foot; Justin reckoned that the prince would spend a lot of time resting and recovering. At that time, he would come find His Imperial Highness and ask for instructions.

  Justin left, but there were still many people staying there such as Jeress and his men.

  They more or less heard the conversation between Jones and Justin, and now they were totally horrified.

  "That fallen beast is actually the crown prince! Isn't he just a fallen beast?" Jeca's voice was a little unsteady.

  "From start to finish, he has never said that he was a fallen beast. We only assumed so." Jeress replied. His face was expressionless, but inside, he was already driven mad.

  He had thought that the fallen beast was the sub-beastman’s father, and he had even run to the fallen beast to tell him that he would take great care of the sub-beastman . . . . And in the end? The snake beastman was the crown prince, ah! After being struck by lightning just now, the crown prince had also kissed the sub-beastman!

  He would surely get beaten up for fighting over a sub-beastman with the crown prince!

  "It turns out that he’s not a fallen beast at all. So many things finally make sense now. When we first met him, his suppression power was so strong. Which fallen beast can achieve it?" Another man from Jeress’ team spoke.

  "Yeah, the crown prince is truly worthy of being a crown prince. At that time, he didn’t even touch us. So many men, and he just suppressed us all. I was speechless!"

  These people had been talking about the crown prince while sighing with much regret. They admired the crown prince endlessly. As for the cute little sub-beastman . . . . Wasn’t it just like breaking up? They were used to it!

  It was at this time that they were suddenly surrounded by their comrade-in-arms.

  "Jeress, I heard that you’ve been keeping company with His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince. How did that come about?"

  "Jeca, is His Imperial Highness very powerful?"

  "Jeress, is that the sub-beastman His Imperial Highness has chosen as partner? Will we have a crown princess?"

  "Do you know how exactly His Imperial Highness awakened the bloodline?"……

  Jeress:

  On this side, countless people were gathering. On the other side, Justin was leading people for urgent editing of the video of His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince awakening the bloodline. He was also directing them personally: "His Imperial Highness was receiving such heavy injuries here. This is the focus, so you must magnify it. Let people know what His Imperial Highness has paid in order to be stronger!"

  "The heroic disposition of His Imperial Highness protecting the sub-beastman must be preserved as well!"

  "Right, focus on the final moment! The scene of His Imperial Highness kissing the sub-beastman was very touching; I even wanted to cry watching it. The music must be poignant to match it!"……

  "Rest assured, sir, I promise to complete the task!" The person in charge of the editing was full of excitement. His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince was his idol. Before, he had only been able to ogle the crown prince’s photo from out of date news. Now that he could actually edit the video for the crown prince personally, he was so excited to the point of being dazed!

  Seeing that his subordinates had already started to get busy, and finding out that the crown prince had entered the house and said that he wanted to rest and no one was allowed to go in, Justin felt like taking advantage of the idle moment to handle some official business.

  However, he simply couldn't calm down to deal with various kinds of things right now . . . .

  "By the way, has the news from the capital star arrived? Show it to me." Justin suddenly asked.

  "Sir, it has just arrived! There seems to be some major events happened in the capital star. The news this time was particularly numerous." Justin’s secretary promptly answered. Then he decompressed all kinds of news sent from the capital star on the computer.

  The news decompressed, and the first one to appear was "His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince Became a Fallen Beast and Bullied and Humiliated a Sub-beastman."

  "What the hell?! When did His Imperial Highness become a fallen beast? I’ve just seen with my own eyes him awakening the bloodline!" Justin exclaimed. Saying that the crown prince had bullied and humiliated a sub-beastman was actually a little too sinister when he had only taken advantage of an unconscious little sub-beastman to stealthily kiss said little sub-beastman . . . . At that time, Justin had even specifically taken a photo of the scene to show his sub-beastman son, so his son would stop his wishful thinking of entering the crown prince’s household.

  "The news here is all related to the crown prince. It also said that the crown prince has attacked many people after becoming a fallen beast . . ." The secretary read the news on the computer and was speechless.

  “The fastest spaceship from the capital star needs more than ten days to reach us here. The crown prince supposedly bullied and humiliated a sub-beastman in the capital star a few days ago, and then yesterday he came to us here to awaken the bloodline?” Justin abruptly stood up. "This is a frame-up. Someone wants to frame His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince! We must inform His Imperial Highness about this situation as soon as possible and then help him to clarify!"

  Picking up the computer, Justin moved his fat body and ran out at once: "Aircraft! The aircraft!"

  The people outside were all worried about Edgar’s condition. After carrying the little sub-beastman to return to the house where they lived, the first thing Edgar did was sealing off the whole house. After that, he began to examine the little sub-beastman’s condition.

  The final strike of the heavenly tribulation had been very powerful and almost struck him to death. But after it had finished, an immense spiritual power had entered his body. The spiritual power had made him recover from his injured condition in a flash, made him possess the beast core again so he could become a human once more, and also made the little sub-beastman restore his body to peak condition.

  The little sub-beastman was fully recovered now, and there was no problem at all. Seeing that he had not woken up yet . . . it seemed like he had fallen asleep.

  Edgar withdrew the spiritual power that had been used to examine the little sub-beastman’s physical condition and cautiously called: "Shu Shu, Shu Shu."

  The little sub-beastman’s name sounded really pleasant . . . . Having been calling it so many times in his heart, and having thought it was a name that couldn't be called out for a lifetime, Edgar felt his heart warming up. He couldn't help but want to kiss the sub-beastman in front of him one more time.

  Speaking of which, the little sub-beastman’s clothes had long been destroyed by the lightning strike. Although the little sub-beastman was wrapped in a piece of clothing now, but he was naked inside . . . . Edgar couldn’t help but think of that time when he had seen the little sub-beastman’s body, and straightaway, his own body inevitably reacted.

  His own self was totally a beast! After circulating the spiritual power to make himself clear-headed, Edgar opened his eyes again and then saw that the little sub-beastman on the bed had already woken up.

  When Shu Shu woke up, he found that he had returned to the residence that Jones had prepared for him.

  The lightning tribulation was finally done? He didn't need to suffer anymore? Shu Shu confirmed this one point and suddenly felt that the room that had made him uncomfortable before was very cozy now. Afterwards, he realized that there was also a stranger in the room in addition to himself.

  It was a very handsome man indeed!

  Shu Shu had been with many owners, and most of them were women. Naturally, they all liked handsome guys, but their esthetic perception differed from each other.

  Even so, Shu Shu believed that if this man was seen by those owners of his, for sure they all would think that this person was a handsome guy!

  This man was very good-looking. He had a pair of long legs and perfect body proportions. The outlines of his face were European or American, but his hair and his eyes were black. Those deep eyes suddenly opened, and when they looked at him, there was even a feeling that he was deeply loved . . . .

  Stop! The description of the content of a romance novel had better not come out. They were both men; how could one big, handsome guy fall in love with him?

  The crucial point now was . . . who the heck was this person, ah? What about his disciple?

  Shu Shu sat up and looked under the bed, hoping he might see his disciple that had become a child at the bedside, but there was nothing there . . . .

  "Hello, my name is Shu Shu. What’s your name?" Shu Shu used the language of the Beastman Empire he barely learned to ask.

  "Shu Shu, I’m Big Snake." The big, handsome guy smiled at Shu Shu.

  "!!!" Big Snake? This handsome guy was his own disciple, that snake? Shu Shu stared incredulously at the man in front of him. After studying the man properly for a while, he had to admit that it should be the truth.

  The smell of the man before his eyes was the same as that of his disciple.

  How could this be?! Why could his disciple become so tall while his own height was so short? Just because his prototype was very small while his disciple's prototype was very big?

  This was not fair!

  Shu Shu felt extremely depressed, but unfortunately, he couldn’t do anything about it. Looking at his disciple, he could only grit his teeth resentfully. At the same time, he at last understood why this man’s appearance looked so good.

  It hinged on him, ah! Daemons were basically good-looking. He had helped this man to become a daemon, so this man naturally looked good.

  Thinking of this, Shu Shu was somewhat proud of himself: "Big Snake, it turns out to be you, ah! Did you pass through the tribulation well?"

  Passing through the tribulation referred to the matter of being struck by lightning before, right? Edgar nodded.

  "Not bad, not bad. But this time you also made a mistake, you know?" Shu Shu said while looking at Edgar: "Going through the tribulation is a thing that you do by yourself. Why on earth would you pull me into it? Causing me to get struck by lightning again . . . . When I went through my own tribulation, I didn’t even get struck so many times and so violently!" The more he spoke, the more he felt wronged. Since the disciple in front of him was not snake-shaped anymore, he became fearless . . . .

  Outrage gave birth to courage. Shu Shu, whose teeth had already been itching, suddenly bit the hand of the disciple standing at the bedside.

  The little sub-beastman unexpectedly sucked on his fingers . . . . Edgar’s heart shook, and he almost forgot to interpret what the little sub-beastman had said.

  Of course, he, in the end, still caught on to what the little sub-beastman had said . . . . What the little sub-beastman meant was that if only he had gone through the lightning strike by himself, then he would have been fine? So . . . his action of carrying the little sub-beastman to "flee" at that time had actually implicated the little sub-beastman?

  "I'm sorry." Edgar was very remorseful. The little sub-beastman had lost several layers of skin at that time; it surely had been very painful . . . . Which other sub-beastman suffered such pain?

  "It doesn't matter. I also didn't explain clearly about this matter at the beginning." Shu Shu opened his mouth to speak and released his disciple's hand, which simply couldn't be bitten. He felt a little sorry for his own teeth.

  He was really brain-dead. In normal times, he did not sharpen or grow his teeth long, and he had actually thought to rely on them to bite the body of a mythical animal . . . .

  Shu Shu was depressed for a second and then became happy again—he had actually accepted a mythical animal as a disciple; it’s really so impressive, so wonderful!

  Edgar felt it was a pity that the little sub-beastman didn't bite his hand anymore and then asked, "How did I become like this?"

  "You cultivate to become a human, ah! Later, you’ll be the same as those people outside!" Shu Shu answered and gave praise simultaneously: "Disciple, you’re really awesome. You’ve just become a human, yet you can speak so smoothly. You’re just like me!"

  "It's all because of your good teaching." Edgar admitted, readily accepting Shu Shu’s viewpoint.

  "Of course . . . . Right, as your master, I haven't conferred a name on you . . ." Shu Shu very much wanted to play the master role but then found out that he was too awkward to make it work. He stopped playing and, looking up at that handsome face, said: "I’ll give you a name, OK? What’s a good name for you? Shé Shé? Shé Shè?"

  Being a name giver and having to choose a name were really a pain. Shu Shu wondered if there was a name generator software in this place . . . . He was very much at a loss.

  "My name is Edgar," Edgar suddenly said.

  "Ah?" Shu Shu was a little perplexed.

  "My name is Edgar." Edgar repeated once more.

  "Edgar? This is a foreign name, right? What do you mean, ah . . . . But everyone here uses this kind of name, so using such name is fine . . ." Shu Shu kept repeating the name and decided to let his disciple be called by a name he had chosen himself. "Then your name is Edgar, OK! Edgar, let's bathe!"

  The body was full of dirty things, and Shu Shu was extremely uncomfortable. He was itching to take a shower, and naturally, if he wanted to wash, his disciple also wanted to wash.

  Such a handsome guy yet wearing such an explosive hairstyle!

  "You wash first." Edgar quickly said.

  "No need, no need. Let’s wash together. I’ll teach you to bathe." Shu Shu said. Although his disciple looked very big, but he had just become a human. Surely there were many things he had not learned to use and activities he had not learned to do. Shu Shu would definitely help him.

  Teaching to bathe?! Edgar was stupefied, and the body reaction that had been pressed down before arose again.

  "Let's go!" Shu Shu dragged the man into the bathroom. Then, with a rustle, he directly pulled off the clothes draped over his shoulders.

  The clothes fell from his body along with some blood scabs, exposing his naked body and fair skin, which looked very attractive.

  Edgar was staring straight ahead, and unfortunately, Shu Shu from the start didn’t obstruct the view and even reached out to pull the clothes encircling his disciple’s waist.

  Leaping up in a flash, Edgar ran away without looking back.

  If he continue to stay in the bathroom, he certainly wouldn’t be able to control himself from doing some irreversible things!

  He and the little sub-beastman were not married yet, so he shouldn't take advantage of the little sub-beastman.

  "Is he shy?" Looking at the backside of his disciple, Shu Shu was a bit puzzled, but he did not give chase.

  He was feeling very uncomfortable now. Since his disciple had run away, he would just take a shower first.

  Thinking that way, Shu Shu started to take a shower. He sang a song while washing.

  Passing through the lightning tribulation was really amazing. Before, he had been dying, but after passing through the entire lightning tribulation, he had recovered completely. Not only recovering, his body was also much better. His skin had become better as well; from head to toe, he actually couldn’t find any pores.

  If his former owners saw his current skin, they would definitely be jealous to death!

  Needless to say, they would definitely envied him even more now that he could eat anything without getting fat, hahaha!

  Taking out a few chestnuts from his food pouches, Shu Shu nibbled on them while taking a shower. At the same time, he was also pondering over having to find a job soon and earn a lot of money to buy some food to put into the food pouches. Oh, that’s right, his disciple had to go to work! This guy was so big, and his strength was also great. At that time, he might earn even more money than he did.

  Shu Shu, thinking of various kinds of delicious foods he had eaten before, swallowed the saliva in his mouth and scrubbed himself thoroughly one more time.

  Shu Shu loved to be clean and also liked to bathe. After washing himself squeaky clean, his mood had also improved. Now he was ready to go out and call his disciple to come and wash up.

  But when Shu Shu came outside, he found that his disciple had actually washed himself and had even changed into the nightwear Shu Shu had bought before.

  That nightwear was so big he had even thought of using it as a quilt to cover himself. But now . . . worn by his disciple, it was, to his surprise, conspicuously too small!

  Shu Shu frowned while taking a few glances at his disciple; there was some disequilibrium in his heart. However, every time he was unhappy, he could never keep it up for long. Looking at his disciple who had grown to be very handsome, he couldn't help but smile: "Disciple, you’re really awesome! You’re handsome, not to mention smart. You don’t even need to be taught to use the bathroom."

  Hearing these words, Edgar was naturally a bit embarrassed. Up until now, this little sub-beastman still believed that he was just a snake. Should he explain about this?

  He was mulling over how he was going to explain it when he suddenly heard Justin’s voice from the outside: "Your Imperial Highness the Crown Prince! Your Imperial Highness! Something major happened!"

  Edgar had sealed the house. He knew that someone like Justin knew how to read a person’s expression, and he was sure that Justin would not come and disturb him at this time just for some trivial matters. Yet Justin was coming now . . . .

  He was afraid that, as Justin had said, there was really something major happened.

  "Whose name is Your Imperial Highness?" Shu Shu also heard Justin's words, but his face looked blank.

  Edgar heard the misgivings in the little sub-beastman voice and was even more embarrassed, but he still stood up quickly and opened the door.

  Damned if he did, damned if he didn't. Some matters, the little sub-beastman would know sooner or later.

  Edgar barely opened the door, and Justin, who was sweating profusely, already ran inside and quickly placed a computer in front of Edgar: "Your Imperial Highness, there was an unfortunate incident at the capital star. Someone has framed you!"

  Edgar, having heard what had been said, frowned and instantly thought of the matter of himself being plotted against six months ago.

  Before, he had become a fallen beast, suffering injuries and trapped in the forest. Even if he had wanted to wrest control of authority, he had been unable to do anything. He had had no other choice but to put his hope on his emperor father and empress mother. However, it was different now.

  If someone in the capital star was framing him . . . . Were those people who had tampered with his mech and who wanted to make him lose his life the same group of people?

  After taking the computer, Edgar looked up.

  Shu Shu had used Chinese to talk with Edgar, but now these people used the language of the Beastman Empire to talk. Shu Shu absolutely didn’t understand what was being spoken. He was bewildered, but at the same time, he secretly admired his disciple even more.

  His disciple was really amazing, ah. Several days of effort, and he had already learned so many words . . . .

  Moving closer to Edgar’s side, Shu Shu looked towards the computer. As a result, he discovered that he was completely unable to make sense of what he was looking at . . . . He totally didn’t recognize those letters. Why did his disciple seem to be able to understand what he was reading? Why were these people so respectful and courteous towards his apprentice?

  Shu Shu faintly felt that something was wrong. At this moment, he suddenly saw his disciple open a video, in which a snake was chasing after a sub-beastman.

  "Ah! This snake looks like you!" Shu Shu said. "But there are still some differences. The scales under your heads look different!" He explained, pointing at the scales on the snake’s body.

  When Edgar saw the snake in the video, he thought that the other person looked too much like himself. He himself could even get confused; no wonder so many people misrecognized that snake . . . .

  Under these circumstances, there was a part he was slightly unclear about though. The little sub-beastman actually made out the distinguishing marks on him and that snake and even noticed the difference on the tiny scales . . . . Edgar’s heart was sweet and happy; this feeling of being taken seriously was really great.

  Of course, the most important thing now was not this. Rather, Edgar had to think of a way to settle the matter in the capital star where some people were framing him.

  This news would undoubtedly put great pressure on his parents. Moreover, all of this was a matter of three days ago. In the past three days, his parents had probably encountered things he could easily imagine without thinking too much.

  Letting go of the computer and getting up, Edgar then told Justin: "Open up the military communication channel immediately. I want to contact the Imperial family over there."

  He was still alive. He had not become a fallen beast. He had even awakened the bloodline. As a matter of fact, he wanted to take a look at what those people behind the scenes could still proclaim!

  TL’s notes:

  皇后 (huáng hòu) = empress; imperial consort

  太子妃 (tài zǐ fēi) = crown prince imperial concubine = the principal wife of the crown prince = crown princess

  Since there’s no female in beastman world, I’d just use empress and crown princess to refer to the emperor or the crown prince’s male partner.

  Shé Shé = 蛇蛇 = snake snake

  Shé Shè = 佘赦 = surname She; to pardon (a convict)

  Shu Shu’s naming skill sucks（￣□￣；）

  起名废 (qǐ míng fèi) = to name; to christen; to take a name | to abolish; to abandon; to abrogate; to discard; to depose; to oust; crippled; abandoned; waste

  I don’t know how to translate it. Based on context, I translate it as “name giver”. Anyone can help?

  伸头一刀缩头也是一刀 literally means to stretch head a knife, to pull back head also a knife. I guess it's the same as "damned if you do, damned if you don't".