Qin Yan wandered down the halls of the second courtyard, embroidered purple robes trailing in his wake. 

Finally, he plopped down next to his massive eggplant in the garden for the first time after weeks. There were those giant lobed leaves and multiple murky blossoms, green and black-spotted. But was he going to grow any fruits or not?

Yes, eggplant is a fruit. By botanical definition, is it a berry. Yet some still consider it a vegetable. All in all, it was a very messy naming situation and thinking about it too long was likely a pointless brain-fodder exercise.

Instead, Qin Yan focused his mind, trying to move his plant vines without touching them. The vines twitched and rolled in the air energetically. He could also merge himself back with his plant like a clone created from excess energy, and as long as he was close enough, he could control both himself and his original plant body. He was the ‘brain’ of the process, and the eggplant the 'body', so it wouldn’t make any movements besides regular growth without him. Hm...

Eventually, Qin Yan lounged on top of the soil, soaking up the sparse rays of sunlight that filtered through the overcast sky. He watched a firebird circle slowly above. This one was trying awfully hard to attract a mate, its breast flashing neon orange and yellow, but at some point in his daydreaming, he felt a coolness on his hand.

Song Heqing was standing over him and watering, looking as focused as always. Qin Yan gave a soft, sleepy groan; Cloudy days always made him more lethargic.

Nevertheless, lazily, he lifted a finger and made a single vine crawl into Song Heqing's sleeve to tickle him.

Song Heqing seemed to expect it. 

“You...” he had a look of faint shyness and asked, “why are you always teasing me?”

Qin Yan gave a faint smile. He didn’t know why he persisted at teasing him either. It was probably something like endearment. When people go through rough times together, a camaraderie grows. With such caring inner thoughts, the words that came out of Qin Yan's mouth were; 

“It’s really boring to be stuck here. You came and watered me every day, so you were the closest target.”

Song Heqing suddenly had a tepid expression. “I see. Going on a killing spree isn’t enough to relieve boredom?”

"...I don't intend to. Lord Wangzi’s demonic energy made it worse. I can’t always seem to think before acting. But, Lord Wangzi seems to have a method to control this, otherwise he should be even crazier than I am. Um...do you know anything?”

Despite all his efforts, Qin Yan didn't even notice that his way of speaking was toneless and blunt, as though discussing a minor problem he had with gardening, as though the aphids were eating his tomatoes and he didn’t know what to do about it.

“Why are you asking me?" Song Heqing frowned. "It doesn’t sound like you care.”

“Because, if I give up completely...I won’t be myself anymore.”

After a moment of silence, Song Heqing lowered his gaze, and his mouth may have twisted.

“I don't know much about demons, but he doesn’t have a true remedy. Lord Wangzi takes a drug called ‘Tranquility’ that makes him calmer, then indulges in debauchery as a distraction. The drug is sometimes used by cultivators with a high chance of Qi deviation, but Lord Wangzi has a dependency on them. Some demonic cultivators can keep a handle on their inner devil, but it gets out of their control if they aren't cautious. They become erratic, paranoid, and illogical. That’s the consequence of demonic cultivation.”

“Oh...”

“If Lord Wangzi has to take a heavy dosage to keep his sanity, then you’re a demon, after all, that method won’t work for you.”

When he said it, Song Heqing sounded a bit sad. Then he silently dug around the garden, pulling out a few lingering weeds that Qin Yan hadn’t yet smothered, biding his time. Qin Yan rolled over to idly to stare up at the clouds until his eyes went out of focus, each cloud becoming a blurry blob of sky soup.

Song Heqing eventually paused, then lowered his tone to the point it was near inaudible.

“There is one possible way you could find a solution...it's to leave here. Outside, there is much more vegetation and wildlife,” he twisted his eyebrows in effort, seeming to try very hard to come up with elegant words, “there are mountains that poke the clouds with winter snow, mystical beasts more beautiful than the things here. A master on the healing arts might know how to help you, and you certainly won’t be bored. We could-”

Qin Yan glanced at him. “Are you trying to court me?”

**Humiliation +28—

*Frustration +14—

Now Song Heqing was wide eyed, his mouth slightly open, until his face flushed, perhaps redder than ever before. He couldn't help it, when he looked at the face of Qin Yan that had become sort of devilishly handsome after a few days...the watering can in his hand shook, and some water spilled out.

“N-NO! Why would I…with a senseless demon?!”

Qin Yan just shrugged. A few servants were walking by in the distance, so Song Heqing couldn't continue the matter, either, but looked too flustered to do so anyways.

It's not that Qin Yan didn't want to escape, but he currently found no method to make his main plant body crawl out of the soil and walk...so the method Song Heqing suggested wasn't feasible. Once he got too far from his main body -considering that his humanoid body became weaker with distance- he probably wouldn't be able to keep up his form and POOF into useless plant matter. But since his introvert genes told him not to directly throw water over Song Heqing's suggestion, he diverted the subject like this...and to think it was this easy. Well, Song Heqing was a bit too young and sensitive! How could he get offended over a silly remark like 'Are you courting me'? 

After a bit Song Heqing finished pouring water, and by the end of it his embarrassment had transitioned back to introspection.

Qin Yan, on the other hand, was secretly excited. He had been waiting for this moment.

“I don’t know what’ll happen these days. Want to know something?”

Stiffening, Song Heqing nodded. The demon better not say something nonsensical again. 

“Your parent’s heirloom sword is in the treasury.”

“My what?! ...how do you know that?”

“I’ve been everywhere these past days. You can find it on the back third row, second shelf. The sword is black, and the family name ‘Song’ is engraved on the scabbard. When you pick it up, it should only recognize you as its master, and I could tell from just looking that it's an ancient weapon. You could use it to escape in the future.”

It was silent for a moment. Then, Song Heqing’s eyes were turning red.

“That was my father’s sword. So they’re really dead...they were still fighting when I lost consciousness, but…or else...they won’t give up the sword…”

He got all choked up. 

In fact, Qin Yan didn’t really remember all the minor details about the parents, just the sword waiting in the treasury as an epic level protagonist weapon, allowing him to jump in combat ability two-fold to infinity. He never would have noticed it if the scabbard hadn't been engraved with the family name 'Song', but this sword would be with Song Heqing through thick and thin, cutting off the heads of countless evil entities. 

Song Heqing’s eyes were all watery at the moment, it was such a fragile expression. 

Oh no. Qin Yan quickly averted his eyes and mumbled, “Sorry.”

Song Heqing also seemed to be made awkward from his own tears and rubbed his eyes furiously. Now on top of the previous awkwardness, there was another awkward quiet that kept persisting awkwardly, and the awkwardness in itself was awkward, seeming to twist Qin Yan's insides. What to do, he doesn't know how to comfort others! 

Qin Yan decided to stare into the clouds more and desperately think of something else.

He wondered if it was too early for the protagonist to learn that information about the sword, but System S hadn’t described any penalty for giving away plot, so nothing was stopping him from doing so. He didn’t want Song Heqing to receive whatever fate here that he did in the novel, so a few nudges in the right direction might help. Song Heqing is clever, so it’s a matter of giving him the tools he needs to succeed then watching him come up with the rest.

It’s not like he was close to reaching a new reincarnation, anyway, so he had nothing to lose.

Currently, he was at:

                                                                                                   *A   n g    e   r* 7,937/1,000,000

                                                                                                   *Humil iation* 9,889/1,000,000

                                                                                                   *Frustration* 12,732/1,000,000

Ignore the 'justify' format...ignore it...

Honestly, for how long he’d pestered Song Heqing for, these were paltry amounts. The anger was particularly low because at some point Song Heqing didn’t really get mad at him anymore. Qin Yan gained the most points by killing, especially from cultivators who were confident in their skills, gaining quite a few during their final throes. Surprisingly, not too much. Perhaps they died too fast to think about how angry and aggrieved they were, or death wasn't simply divided into one emotion and more like a messy knot of rampant sensations.

A banner suddenly flashed across Qin Yan’s mind.

SPECIAL MISSION—

Wait what? There wasn’t supposed to be anything but points.

__

*Bonus Mission* Tickle-attack Song Heqing in human form—

__

__

“…” Now? Qin Yan was dumbfounded. "What??"

The banner repeatedly flashed. 

"Ah! I get it already!"  Why his human form? ...how much a bonus would it be?

Currently, Song Heqing hadn’t been doing much but standing around in deep thought after hearing Qin Yan’s words. Maybe he was still quietly grieving for his parents or devising a way to make use of his heirloom sword. Sure, it was serious stuff, but it left him wide open for an attack.

On pure curiosity alone, Qin Yan, the adult, decided to prey upon Song Heqing whose tears only recently dried. 

“Don’t be gloomy,” he said, and he lifted his fingers and attacked the boy’s tender areas, under the neck, arms, and stomach.

It didn't take long before hateful laughter slipped from Song Heqing's lips and he squirmed away for freedom. He looked prepared to murder Qin Yan.

*Frustration +4—

When Qin Yan stopped tickling Song Heqing he realized that he’d accidentally shifted the little protagonist’s collar. There was a thin chest, and Qin Yan could see how he was immature stallion material by already having a decent set of muscles.

Song Heqing slapped a hand against his face and shoved him aside.

“What’s wrong with you doing these things out of nowhere? You have no decency.”

As a final retaliation, he threw the watering container at Qin Yan’s face and stormed off.

…

Qin Yan caught it with surprise; Song Heqing is really at a sensitive age. What was the big difference between a plant tickling and when he did it now? And what bonus? The points he got were just as low as usual.  

He scared off Song Heqing again with nothing to show for it. Maybe the system is bugged…