Qin Yan woke up in a bad mood. The only thing in sight was Song Heqing’s arm and a sliver of pillow he saw through a gap in the blanket. It was inevitable that he’d have a few bad dreams about his time at Phoenix Demonic Sect, but what he did and how he acted during that time was disturbing. It was like viewing another person, and his dreams didn't allow him the power to speak or move how he wanted.

Was it…okay to pretend like everything he did back then wasn’t his fault? Was it all right to keep living like this…

Qin Yan was suddenly distracted by fingers inching along under his chin and sides.

“Huh? What…?”

This, this is tickling! Qin Yan didn't think it was possible for him to feel such a sensation while he was a plant. Little did he know that Song Heqing was specifically using a bit of spiritual energy to make sure he felt it...

Qin Yan rolled over under the covers, aiming to escape onto the floor, but Song Heqing’s hand grabbed him and tickled more. First Song Heqing rubs his belly without permission, now he's tickling, taking every advantage of the fact Qin Yan had no strength to resist! It must be revenge for all those times Qin Yan had tickled the young protagonist…

Qin Yan made a strained, small sound before he couldn’t hold his laughter in any longer.

“Ahahaha…S-song Heqing…!”

In a moment, Song Heqing stopped tickling and lifted the bed cover.

“Good afternoon,” he said calmly.

Qin Yan slept a long time. It was actually 1 P.M.

“Want to go to the garden today?” asked Song Heqing. “I can teach you Qi refining, there is plenty of spiritual energy on this mountain.”

And so Qin Yan came out from under the covers, purple hair curling everywhere.

“Okay.”

After readying, Song Heqing flew off with Qin Yan. The garden was only a little way down the mountain where the climate was warmer, and with more rain.

They landed on a stone path, vast garden plots on each side.

Sect servants and outer disciples tended moonstone Peak’s vegetable and magic herb garden. Many cultivators were vegetarians and finicky eaters, so it was planted with spinach, celery, broccoli, bok choy, spring onion, winter and bitter melon, green beans, and eggplant. It goes without saying that the sunlight, soil, and temperature of the eggplant row was maintained to perfection, which was why it wasn’t just for plain amusement that Song Heqing specifically brought Qin Yan to the garden to practice cultivation.

A few servants who stared at Qin Yan were given a warning glare by Song Heqing.

On the other hand, Qin Yan stared at the garden, felt the warm sunlight on his head, and thought that this was exactly what he’d been missing since he woke up! Good ol’ photosynthesis, like what plants ought to do¹Long, long ago, there was a poll about what SH would feed eggplant. He found him a 'nice, sunny spot to photosynthesize'.

“Okay, Qin Yan…” said Song Heqing, noticing Qin Yan was already half distracted. “Pick a spot, then, close your eyes and feel the spiritual energy dense within the air around you. Focus on circulating it, absorbing it, and integrating it into your core and meridians. This should come naturally.”

Qin Yan, after all, had done Qi refinement a lot when he was a demon, but now it was with spiritual energy which was remarkably tamer than demonic energy.

“Oh…”

The garden was overflowing with plants and leaves, so Qin Yan glanced around the rows until he finally saw a patch of open soil.

It happened to be within the eggplant row!

A single spot was open, so perhaps that eggplant died somehow or another. Qin Yan trotted over to that spot, sat down, and closed his eyes immediately. Of course, he didn’t know what all the nearby sect members were thinking;

‘So that’s why elder brother Song pulled an eggplant out of the garden the other day…to make a spot for his little plant-beast…’

Qin Yan found that it was easy to close his eyes and relax his mind, slowly drawing the energy from the outside world into himself and shaping it into what fit his core.  

Starlight on Obsidian was placed in front of Qin Yan.

“Remember to always take it with you, wherever you go,” reminded Song Heqing. “It hosts your soul, so you can never be too far away from it.”

Qin Yan grunted in acknowledgement, but it was clear that Song Heqing wouldn’t be able to get his attention. He, too, sat down on the garden’s stone path in lotus position² Cross-legged, common meditation pose., and began to cultivate.

Many people thought this was out of character for brother Song, but no one was going to say anything…

…

Qin Yan eventually opened his eyes, feeling that the sunlight was beginning to fade below the horizon with many shades of pretty oranges and yellows. He felt one-hundred times better than yesterday.

“But it’s been hours. Is Song Heqing still around?” he slowly moved his gaze over the garden.

Song Heqing was standing a little distance off on the path. His ochre robes and hair were gently moving in the breeze, and he returned Qin Yan’s gaze with a faint smile, as though he had been watching over him in silence all along.

Yet, because of their link between Starlight on Obsidian, Qin Yan could understand it all fully.

In these moments beneath the setting sun, the two of them were sharing the same happiness. Qin Yan’s heart felt a strange warmth begin to surge. He go not help but go over to Song Heqing on the path right away.

“Qin Yan,” said Song Heqing. “I thought of a place you might like to go. It won’t do anything to benefit your cultivation, but…”

“But?”

“I wondered if you remember that promise…”

Qin Yan thought a moment. “About being your Dao companion, going on adventures? I do.”

Song Heqing blushed slightly, but just said, “Let’s go.”

He picked Qin Yan up and they started to fly down the mountain. In fact, inside Song Heqing's chest seemed to be a mix of nervousness, shyness, and happiness. Upon sensing this, it took a few moments for Qin Yan to connect the dots in his head.

Dao companion + both of them saying they ‘like’ each other + undying affection buff.

Qin Yan is not dense as a rock.

Song Heqing…probably isn’t doing everything he is for him out of gratitude alone? Was asking about that promise Song Heqing’s roundabout way of checking if he still wanted to be his Dao companion?

In the original novel, Qin Yan didn’t recall that Song Heqing ever shared a bed with a male, but that didn’t mean everything. For one, there are many people that are confused about their sexuality. And as far as stallion protagonists and harems go, it certainly couldn’t be said that the previous novel Song Heqing cared all that much about his partners. Maybe, the truth was that novel Song Heqing was suffering from many invisible problems*…so he never actually found someone he truly cared about?

Well, Qin Yan was open minded about these matters. Although he couldn’t pinpoint his feelings Song Heqing yet, right now, he was just happy to spend time with him.

Hm, but since Song Heqing invited him to go somewhere just for fun…it’s like a first date? Although people in this world don't really know much about 'dating' terminology, that's essentially what it is, right?

Qin Yan seemed to have reached an epiphany…

“Adorable."

Song Heqing shot his gaze down to Qin Yan, one eyebrow raised. “What is?”

“You.”

Song Heqing hadn’t expected this response. He quickly looked away.

“W-what are you saying out of nowhere? I’m not. Look, we’re here now.”

They landed in a forest near the base of Eagle Sect mountains. Several kinds of grasses and flowers grew, and a few purple birds with spotted heads flew away as they stepped over the ground. Qin Yan silently judged the area. It wasn’t too fancy, but he liked the atmosphere of the place. He would give ‘first date location’ a 7.5/10 rating.

Song Heqing brought him to a grassy patch, then said, “Hunker down, then we wait.”

Qin Yan suddenly felt excited. “What are we waiting for?” his eyes went big as he sat down in the grass.

“It’s nothing dangerous.”

It was easy for Qin Yan to hide when he was so short and small, and he even thought his purple hair would look like a shadow. This was his naturally gifted eggplant camouflage³No, it isn't. Purple hair doesn't blend in, don't let QY fool you..

Song Heqing went behind the trunk of a tree. He lifted his hand and twitched a finger, and some sap flew from the tree trunk, then some water from the ground, both of which gathered into a puddle not far from Qin Yan.

They waited, until there was faint noise.

Flomp—

It was the odd gait of some animal against the ground. Trotting…or jumping?

Flomp flomp— flomp flomp—

Showing through the trees was brown, fluffy fur that matched the surrounding pine needles, dirt, and rock. What emerged was a giant rabbit, pink nose twitching. In its mouth was half of an eaten lizard, dripping with blood and one leg hanging limply.

Qin Yan gaped.

The rabbit was the size of a sheep, and he couldn’t fathom how much of that was fur…also, it was a carnivorous rabbit! To a plant like himself anything carnivorous was as good as harmless. Wonderful.

It hopped over to the puddle Song Heqing created, spitting out its lizard prey and lapping up the sap-water dry in a matter of moments, then it started nibbling the lizard again. Qin Yan had not expected Song Heqing to show him such a cute monstrosity. He would have to give ‘first date originality’ a 9/10 rating.

Qin Yan glanced over at Song Heqing, mouth still gaping, and Song Heqing raised his eyebrows meaningfully before making a small sign with his finger that he should approach the rabbit.

“It’s okay to approach it?!”

Song Heqing nodded, so Qin Yan inched closer to the rabbit.

The rabbit seemed to be curious about him as well. Every white whisker on its pink-brown muzzle twitched. It sniffed Qin Yan once then went back to eating its lizard with loud gnawing sounds.

Qin Yan, emboldened, and went over to the rabbit and pet its fur. It was fluffy and soft with a scent of blood. I-is this…animal therapy? He hugged it, but his arms were too short to reach very far around its body.

Song Heqing was currently trying to paint a picture in his memory of Qin Yan hugging a giant rabbit.

Qin Yan tried to communicate with the rabbit by stretching out his consciousness.

“Hello?”

“Oh…little plant spirit. So you’re the one ruffling my fur.”

It speaks! 

The rabbit continued, “They say plant spirits are a sign of a healthy forest. Your presence is welcome.”

Qin Yan was about to ask who ‘they’ was, but Song Heqing stepped out and the rabbit twitched its ears before hopping away.

Song Heqing said, “I heard you talking in your sleep about some ‘Bunny Cultivation’, so I thought you might like it. This rabbit is a spiritual beast of this forest, it must be several hundred years old to be that size. It’s called a belly-nipper rabbit, because it likes to eat the organs of its prey first.”

Qin Yan could see that Song Heqing was proud of his idea to show him the rabbit. However, it has absolutely nothing to do with Grandmaster of Bunny Cultivation TV animation! ‘First date relevance’ would have to be 4/10…but Qin Yan was too softhearted to point out any of the flaw’s in Song Heqing’s thinking.

He beamed up at him. “I like it.”

Song Heqing saw that earnest smile, then Qin Yan’s vision blurred as he was lifted into his arms without warning. Also without warning, Song Heqing planted a kiss on his forehead.

Qin Yan boggled his eyes at him. His heart was thumping wildly in his chest like flustered butterflies.

Kissing without consent, ‘first date courtesy’, 1/10.

Finally, Song Heqing’s expression also gained a hint of red. Qin Yan was too endearing, so he just acted without thinking…he settled on changing the topic at lightning speed.

“Um, there’s one more place we can go today.”

“Where?”

The topic switch was effective! Qin Yan was immediately curious after the carnivorous rabbit (which he actually enjoyed a lot despite his ‘first date’ ratings). After all, this was a fantasy world of epic proportions, so even a typical stay-at-home like himself would be dying of curiosity at every chance.

“A hot spring is located a way up the mountain of Moonstone peak. It has a few beneficial properties, as the water comes from an area dense with spiritual energy.”

H-hot spring?

What?! Any bathing scene in a xianxia novel is bound to boost Qi intake or heal wounds, magical properties such as that, yada yada. But these springs were also nefarious for scenes of sexual tension, fan service, and the occasional sex scene. Usually several paragraphs would be written about how flawless the protagonist’s chest and figure was, that X and X was shaped perfectly to the point that any lady would swoon.

Qin Yan was baffled. To think that Song Heqing would prefer to go with an eggplant child where none of that would occur…

“Shall we go?” Song Heqing asked.