“Disciple Wen….I need your advice.”

Wen Zhihao was taken aback. He was on his way back from the morning school run, and Lin Yijun literally intercepted him mid-air: Wen Zhihao on the flying cart, Lin Yijun on his sword. Wen Zhihao wasn’t even back at the Sect yet.

Lin Yijun’s face had a cold expression, and his shoulders were tense.

Wen Zhihao sighed in his heart. “En, sit in the cart.”

Lin Yijun jumped in lightly. Wen Zhihao took the flying cart directly down, landing on the forest floor below. Then, Wen Zhihao shifted over and sat down in the cart too, facing Lin Yijun.

They were in the shade, dappled with sunlight, surrounded by sounds of the wind in the leaves and the animals and birds. Wen Zhihao waited for Lin Yijun to begin.

Lin Yijun uncharacteristically fiddled with his hands. “Disciple Wen...How did...you establish your Dao companionship with your shidi?”

He didn’t want to be here, but after seeing Disciple Wen and Disciple Sun strolling through the cat garden emitting the pink fragrance of love, Lin Yijun couldn’t stand it any longer.

Wen Zhihao blinked. Ah?

Lin Yijun looked up from his hands, nervousness in his eyes. “It can be seen that you have a good relationship with your Sun-shidi.”

“Oh. Yes. That is true.” Wen Zhihao stalled. How did he start dating Sun Fuyu? Hadn’t it all been on Sun Fuyu’s side??? In fact, because Sun Fuyu took the initiative, there were no dog-blooded romance plots.

“Senior Lin, speaking humbly, I’m not sure I can help you,” Wen Zhihao finally said. “To build a good relationship, you must care for the other person in a way that is meaningful to them. Sun-shidi and I spent time together. We exchanged gifts.”

“Just like that?” Lin Yijun tangled his fingers together again. Hadn’t he done both of those things?

Wen Zhihao sheepishly smiled. “Hm, in our case, just like that. And then Sun Fuyu asked for a kiss and...that was that.”

Lin Yijun brooded. If he asked Zhou Sheng for a kiss, wasn’t that asking for a blade in his face?

“Tell me the gifts you’ve exchanged.”

Wen Zhihao’s eyebrows rose slightly. His eyes grew soft as he recalled the past. “In that case...first, I gave Sun Fuyu a meat bun…”

 

---

 

“Sun Fuyu.”

Sun Fuyu’s hand reached for his sword first before he registered the voice. His frown remained as he turned around. “Senior Zhou Sheng.”

Sun Fuyu had left the Sect not long ago to complete a short mission by himself. The area he needed to investigate was just a little ahead, and yet he had been intercepted by Zhou Sheng. For a moment, he wondered suspiciously whether Zhou Sheng had something to do with the rumoured ghosts of the mission.

Zhou Sheng stepped out of the shadows. “Your advice is requested.”

Sun Fuyu’s posture eased. “Senior Zhou Sheng, speak freely.”

“Your relationship with Wen Zhihao is...enviably good—”

Sun Fuyu’s posture tightened again. Was Zhou Sheng challenging him???!

“—As such…” Zhou Sheng grimaced. “Do you have any advice on how to begin a companionship?”

Sun Fuyu’s eyes narrowed slightly. “With who?”

Zhou Sheng looked down slightly at the bristling Sun Fuyu. “Not your Wen-ge, don’t worry.”

Sun Fuyu relaxed again. He raised his eyes and said innocently, “Senior Zhou Sheng must be speaking about Senior Lin Yijun, yes? Don’t be scared, I think Senior Lin likes you. He’s always chasing you.”

It was Zhou Sheng’s turn to bristle. “Who said it was Lin Yijun?”

Sun Fuyu tilted his head. “Is it not? Well, Senior Lin will be sad if you acquired a different partner.”

Zhou Sheng narrowed his eyes. “Does Wen Zhihao know you’re like this?”

Sun Fuyu’s hand rested on his sword once more. “Of course he does! And he likes me the most.”

Zhou Sheng snorted. “No, we’re not talking about this. We’re talking about how you were able to make Wen Zhihao like you. How did he agree to date you?”

Sun Fuyu smiled smugly. “Wen-ge gave me a token of affection. Then I gave him a token of affection.”

Zhou Sheng’s eyes looked down. “Those matching cat jade pendants?”

“No, before that we exchanged spatial rings.” Sun Fuyu raised his hand. “Look, this spatial ring is from Wen-ge. And Wen-ge has a spatial ring from me!”

Zhou Sheng’s eyes narrowed in contemplation. “What else?”

Sun Fuyu was more than happy to boast about all the gifts he and Wen-ge have exchanged. And he hoped it’ll help Zhou Sheng too so that he could stop bothering Wen-ge and go and act sticky with Senior Lin instead!

 

---

 

After Sun Fuyu finished talking with Zhou Sheng, he swiftly completed his mission and flew home, just in time for Wen-ge’s daily afternoon nap at the cats’ garden.

“Back so soon? Xiao Yu has gotten really strong,” Wen Zhihao praised.

Sun Fuyu smiled softly. “En, wanted to return to Wen-ge.” He snuggled up to Wen-ge, placing his arms protectively around his lover.

“Napping today?”

“Mm, want to lie here with Wen-ge.”

“That’s good.” Wen Zhihao idly caressed Sun Fuyu’s long black hair. “Senior Lin spoke to me earlier today.”

Sun Fuyu’s arms tightened around Wen-ge. “Ah? Senior Zhou also spoke to me.”

Wen Zhihao lazily closed his eyes. “Hm, let’s wish them the best…”

 

---

 

“Zhou Sheng—”

“Lin Yijun—”

They say enemies meet on a narrow path. Night had fallen and the forest around them was dim—though that wasn’t a problem for the two Nascent Soul cultivators.

A look of relief came over Lin Yijun’s face.

“Zhou Sheng, I was looking for you.”

“I wanted to repay you for your gift,” Zhou Sheng replied.

Lin Yijun paused in surprise. “You do?”

Zhou Sheng took out a palm-sized round ball. Looking closely, there were many tiny little holes. “I found this. As long as you hold it for a while, the treasure’s scent will linger on you, making cats more attracted to you.”

Lin Yijun: “...”

“Thank you,” Lin Yijun said, graciously accepting the scented ball. He’ll...test it out secretly later. He placed the gift in his spatial ring and took out his own prepared gift.

“In fact, Zhou Sheng, I found something else that you might like.” He held out the spatial pendant shaped into a curled-up cat.

Zhou Sheng’s heart gave a thump. A cat spatial pendant? It seemed very similar to the gifts of love that Sun Fuyu and Wen Zhihao had exchanged.

“Zhou Sheng…” Lin Yijun’s heart began to thump rapidly in his chest.

Zhou Sheng’s heart also went thump thump as the air grew ambiguous. His breath slowed, as though not wanting that slight sound to interrupt Lin Yijun’s next words.

“I...I like—”

A token in Lin Yijun’s pocket gave a loud “RING!”

Lin Yijun almost jumped out of his skin. He fumbled for the token inside his sleeve pocket and pulled it out. The token was a flat hexagonal shape, and words had appeared on it. It was a meeting request from his parents. Even though there were no words to mark it urgent, he knew that they didn’t like to be kept waiting.

Annoyance burst in Lin Yijun’s chest. “Zhou Sheng, I have to inconvenience you and leave first.”

Zhou Sheng exhaled, relieved, but also a sense of loss in his chest. “Then I will not keep you.”

“Yes…” Lin Yijun found it hard to look away from Zhou Sheng, but he had to. Farewelling him, Lin Yijun stood on his sword and flew away.

He couldn’t help but look back. But by then, Zhou Sheng had disappeared from view.

 

 

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Flip some tables together? 🤭