Song Heqing thought he'd grabbed Qin Yan under the arms, preventing him from moving, but somehow he squirmed out of his grasp like an eel. Qin Yan nimbly slipped off the bed, somersaulted along the floor, and reached the door within a second.

Song Heqing was somewhat stunned as the front door began to slide open, but rapidly lifted a hand and controlled the water in a nearby tea pot to freeze the door frame shut.

Qin Yan looked startled, and there were splotches of muddy browns in his hair indicating that the spirit from earlier really did cause damage. It was clear that the recent events caused him to slip into a less than logical state. Song Heqing didn't want to delay purifying out the demonic Qi and stood up to catch him. 

Qin Yan was currently huddled in the corner of the room.

When Song Heqing came over to pick him up, Qin Yan ducked out of his reach. 

It was almost harder because Qin Yan was so small. Not to mention Song Heqing certainly couldn't bear to pull his hair by mistake and hurt him. He tried to catch him using a bit more strength, but Qin Yan's speed was superhuman. Eggplant-beasts apparently had innate abilities. 

There was a back and forth as Song Heqing repeatedly tried to get a grip on Qin Yan.

"Qin Yan! I'm trying to help!"

Qin paused, and finally Song Heqing grabbed him around the belly. He directly lifted him onto the bed and brought his hand towards his stomach. Who could have guessed that Qin Yan would go rigid and shrivel his body up?

“Have I scared you?” Song Heqing felt a strange pang of guilt. “It won’t hurt.”

His hand reached towards Qin Yan’s stomach again, trying to pry off the arms wrapped over it protectively.

“You may not touch!” Qin Yan struggled as though horrible, unmentionable things were going to happen to him. 

Even Song Heqing had to pause with a troubled expression. His hand hovered in the air just a moment, so Qin Yan managed to squirm his way back into a half curled position under the blanket like mollusk retreating into its shell.

"..." The battle continued.

Song Heqing frowned, then finally firmed his heart. He dragged Qin Yan out and flipped him on his back, then pulled the guarding arms and legs away.

Qin Yan switched into a vicious fight-mode.

He snagged onto Song Heqing’s intruding hand and sunk his right into the space between Song Heqing’s thumb and pointer finger. Probably because Qin Yan was a predatory eggplant by nature, his teeth weren't like a humans, they were serrated and suited for tearing things apart. If he was not in a child's form Song Heqing could have easily lost part of his hand, but fortunately he just gained a bite mark as Qin Yan gnawed on his hand ferociously. 

The very corner of Song Heqing’s mouth twitched, his lips drawn into a thin line. Before all this Qin Yan had been incredibly peaceful, so this behavior was completely unexpected. But it was still sort of adorable, so Song Heqing just let him bite as he placed his other hand over his stomach.

“It won’t take long.”

He closed his eyes and began to infuse his water Qi. He removed the evil spirit's demonic Qi as necessary.

Everything was scattered and hectic in Qin Yan’s spiritual core, as though something had stirred a fire, blowing up ashes and sparks that sent hot coal embers flying about. The damage was minimized because Song Heqing arrived quickly, but Song Heqing turned rigid, all the more solemn about the incident. With great care, he sifted through a few more times, combing through every inch to make sure it was clear.

In the end he was an amateur at this kind of healing, just a little more adept because he was familiar with Qin Yan. He disliked owing so many debts to Su Zemin, but he had no choice but to bring him over for inspection.

…but what to do about Qin Yan biting his hand?

Song Heqing figured he might as well rub his belly more, and gently moved his hand back and forth. 

“Don’t be afraid. I have to change clothes, then we should go visit Master Su.”

Qin Yan loosened his bite on Song Heqing’s hand, his eyelashes fluttering with slight confusion. Song Heqing’s Qi had always been cool and refreshing, the sort that could keep one alive in a desert. Water element practitioners usually had this affinity, and it was a sister element to Qin Yan’s wood-root. To have Qi applied directly to his stomach was the same as having an ice pack laid over it.

In short, the belly-rubs were super effective.

“Mn…” It was not long before he held Song Heqing’s wrist, unconsciously imploring him to continue.

Song Heqing sucked in a breath. The situation was like a kitten allowing its belly to be pet. In this case, an eggplant.

Finally, after a few more rounds of gentle kneading, Qin Yan fully removed his teeth from Song Heqing’s hand.

Qin Yan flinched when he saw red spots of blood on the skin and a row of red marks, realizing what he’d done. Song Heqing cared so much, yet what did he do but bite his hand like a wild animal?  It was shameful. Qin Yan rubbed his face until he realized his eyes were full of tears. He just felt sad after regaining all of his memories, in a way he didn't feel when he was an apathetic demon. He wasn't exactly certain of the source of his sadness...if it was from what he'd done or about what happened to him, or maybe just dissatisfaction with himself in general. 

He said in a wobbling voice, “I’m sorry to bother you. Sorry about your hand. I don’t know why I do these things...” and thought, “Maybe System S was right. I’m really worthless.”

Song Heqing sensed what Qin Yan was thinking¹Remember he can read his moods/some thoughts of QY because of Starlight on Obsidian. It doesn't mean he knows every single thing QY thinks., then spoke icily.

“Of course thats' not true," Song Heqing paused. "So that evil spirit is called System S? ...what an tasteless name.”

"Yeah. I remember everything," said Qin Yan, wiping at his eyes. 

Song Heqing went silent, but tilted his head down with concern as he heard quiet sniffling and saw two big green eyes sparkling with tears. He just hugged Qin Yan...it didn't take too long for Qin Yan to calm down. Good or bad, it was best to have the memories, otherwise he'd be stuck in a limbo of terrifying ignorance. 

"I don't think it's your fault," said Song Heqing. "And don't let the past keep you from moving forward. I used to be that way...and I've always regretted it."

Qin Yan would really need a few nights of introspection to get everything put together in his head, but he nodded. Song Heqing rubbed along Qin Yan's head with encouragement.

"So, now that you've remembered...I have to ask you something," he said. "Did you live another life before you were an eggplant at Phoenix Demonic Sect?"

Qin Yan was stunned...this world was a place where souls could exist as long as there was a suitable vessel and transfer to other objects, so it wasn't crazy that Song Heqing would ask him this. Furthermore, Qin Yan actually had no reason to show loyalty to System S and keep his transmigration a secret. It would be a cheat in itself if he can talk about it…

“I did. I died, but ended up in that demon eggplant the next time I was conscious."

No alarms went off. Nothing told him he was OOC. 

Song Heqing wasn't surprised to learn this, either. "When Master Su first inspected your soul, he said that the demonic taint on it was very odd, as though your soul wasn't originally suited for such a fate."

"Oh..."

It was also strange how much intelligence Qin Yan had when Song Heqing interacted with him at Phoenix Demonic Sect. Qin Yan was supposed to be three years old as an eggplant, and Song Heqing had done nothing besides muttering around him in the garden, but somehow Qin Yan knew how to speak fluently and seemed to have an understanding on other cultural matters. Most of all was that he possessed a sense of morality, which would be impossible if Qin Yan's only exposure to the world was Phoenix Demonic Sect.

Song Heqing's eyes suddenly turned sharper. “This whole situation is suspicious. There should be no reason for an evil spirit to target your soul. Do you know anything about that...System S?”

“Well...”

“Any idea you have, you must tell me.”

Qin Yan sucked in a breath. "I met System S when I first reincarnated. It told me that I was given a chance to have another life, and in return I needed to...make people angry, unhappy? This time it seemed displeased that I wasn't doing what it told me to do." 

Song Heqing scoffed, and really wanted to obliterate System S out of existence.

"Don’t listen to what it says. That spirit was malicious, so whatever it said for you to do, the end result can’t be good. Think about it, causing other people to suffer doesn't help with anything."

“I don't know…he said there was a Goddess who wanted that, and…”

Song Heqing was incredulous as he replied, “Do you mean a celestial immortal²Immortals are like the opposites of demons, also a stage that can be reached by truly accomplishing one's Dao(path), and reaching the final stage of cultivation, immortal ascension.? They can get what they want with their own powers. Why did that scum say the immortal needed your help?”

Qin Yan was struggling with this question, as well. He was used to reading stories with arbitrary systems, so he hadn’t questioned it, but maybe this time something was seriously wrong. He thought back to what System S originally told him on their first meeting, and found that it was an incoherent mess that involved revenge for harem women who were treated unfairly? …but women could also give him anger points?

Qin Yan thought that Song Heqing had a point. What did filling up all the anger bars actually accomplish?

System S never mentioned what would happen if he didn’t do it. Only that he’d get a ‘better’ body if he filled the bars. Which, if the first body was a demon, then he didn't want another one like that. Sounds like another bogus pyramid scheme.

"System S saying that it has to do with an immortal could be a lie to get you to obey,” said Song Heqing, twisting his brows. “The situation is still unclear, but I suspect that this evil spirit purposefully set you up for failure.”

Who knows what unsavory things the two scums 'Goddess' and 'System S' wanted Qin Yan to do!

Qin Yan’s brain was whirling. Boy, it has been a long day.

“I…think you could be right.”

What was the most confusing, however, was the interface, which seemed to keep tabs on his anger points and also give other random facts at times. Ah, but he realized that when he killed the harem member, Lin Hui'an, the system interface called it a 'penalty' and added to the anger points³refer to ch. 'smol once more'! So the system interface and what System S told him to do were in direct conflict...

Song Heqing pet along Qin Yan’s head again.

“We will figure it out, but not right now. You look exhausted. First, let’s go visit my Master’s Pavilion and have you get a Demonic Warding Jade, which will keep that vile spirit away from you.”

"O-okay."

There was this sweet feeling welling up in Qin Yan's heart. He was not very good at expressing himself, but he buried his face in Song Heqing’s slightly wet shirt and said,

“Thank you for helping me...I like you.”

When Qin Yan cautiously looked upwards, he saw a bright smile on Song Heqing’s face, inspiring as a breach of sunlight through clouds.

“I like you too…” Song Heqing hummed with affection, “…it will get better, I promise.”

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***Congratulations***

Dao companion SONG HEQING has been deeply moved…

                                 Buff: Undying Affection— applied…

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Qin Yan thought that the system is truly an incomprehensible phenomenon.