After saying goodbye to the brothers Zhang Yi and Zhang Lin, He Qing returned home. He saw Duan Chenhui by the lotus pond, feeding the koi fish. He walked over and looked down at the fish with their mouths wide open, eagerly waiting for food.

“These koi sure eat a lot,” He Qing said, grabbing a handful of feed from Duan Chenhui and scattering it into the water. The fish started fighting over the food once again.

“How are you feeling today?” Duan Chenhui asked, looking up at him.

“It was pretty interesting,” He Qing replied, thinking of the two brothers. “Zhang Yi and Zhang Lin truly are a pair of loving brothers.”

Duan Chenhui chuckled and tossed the rest of the feed into the pond. “Were you teasing them? Aren’t you afraid they’ll get back at you?”

He Qing casually touched the prayer beads he wore and said confidently, “Well, isn’t it because I have you, General, covering for me?”

Duan Chenhui stood up, pinching He Qing’s chin, turning his face from side to side. “Borrowing the power of the tiger, are you?”

“General, you’re hurting me!” He Qing pleaded softly, “I won’t dare do it again.”

Duan Chenhui let him go with a smile; he hadn’t even used any force, and He Qing’s chin was just fine. He turned and headed back into the house.

“I can cover for you as long as I’m around.”

“…Thank you, General.”

He Qing jogged after him, and they ate lunch together. Afterward, he was summoned to the pavilion for a game of Go.

Halfway through the game, He Qing couldn’t help but praise, “General, your Go skills are truly impressive. I’m in complete awe!”

“You’re flattering me,” Duan Chenhui replied, not swayed by He Qing’s sweet talk, and proceeded to obliterate He Qing’s pieces on the board.

He Qing put down his piece, twirling his prayer beads. “General, your killing intent is quite strong. Maybe you should try copying the Heart Sutra.”

Duan Chenhui threw his Go pieces back into the box, smiling as he looked at him. “You listen to wooden fish chants and copy the Heart Sutra—what’s next?”

He Qing pointed at the lotus pond. “If there was a waterfall, I could sit beneath it and meditate.”

“Hmm, you’d definitely get a nice cold shower.”

“…I was being serious.”

Their eyes met, and He Qing glared at him.

Duan Chenhui laughed and changed the subject. “Why are your Go skills so bad?”

“Not like you ever go easy on me!” He Qing complained. “I never played Go before. No one ever played with me.”

Duan Chenhui thought He Qing was referring to his time in the White Tower. “Well, you can practice more from now on.”

“Yeah,” He Qing nodded, feeling like he’d spent enough time with Duan Chenhui today. Checking the time, he said, “I should head back to school.”

“Go ahead,” Duan Chenhui waved him off.

He Qing happily dropped his pieces and ran off, but after leaving the house, he quickly turned in the opposite direction from the school.

He Qing asked the AI of his hovercar, “Eleven, you really won’t tattle on me to the General?”

“My first loyalty is to my master.”

“Good,” He Qing leaned back in his seat, nodding. He took out a large white egg from his storage. He didn’t know what kind of egg it was, but there was a strange red array pattern on it. He had seen this kind of array in ancient texts—it was called the “Infinite Rebirth Array.”

This meant that cultivators existed in this world too. They were probably like him, accidentally transported here.

He wasn’t sure if the other person was a demonic cultivator or a Daoist cultivator, but finding them might be his way back to the cultivation world.

When He Qing arrived at District Four on Capital Star, he parked the car by the roadside and changed his appearance. This time, he took on a very ordinary, forgettable face. He sprayed himself with the classic Alpha cedarwood cologne, got out of the car, put it away, and picked up a fruit basket. The basket was covered with a towel, hiding a round object beneath it.

He walked for half an hour until he reached Xingchen Street in District Five.

He Qing glanced around. It was a bustling food street, crowded with people. Hiding in plain sight, he thought, this must be it.

He looked at the house numbers along the street and finally found number 28, a small antique shop with no customers.

He entered the shop and asked the shopkeeper, “Do you have all kinds of antiques here?”

The shopkeeper squinted at him. “What are you looking for?”

“Something like a dinosaur egg,” He Qing smiled, hinting at something more.

The shopkeeper’s eyes lit up. He looked at He Qing seriously and noticed the basket he was carrying. “We don’t have any dinosaur egg fossils, but we do have some other eggs. Please, come inside.”

He Qing took a step back, shaking his head with a smile. “That’s a shame. Goodbye.” He turned and started to leave.

The shopkeeper squinted and rushed after him. “Wait, my friend, we really do have—” His words suddenly stopped, and he turned back to the shop in a hurry.

He Qing looked ahead and saw Duan Chenhui. Keeping his gaze straight ahead, He Qing kept walking, getting closer to Duan Chenhui. As they were about to pass each other, Duan Chenhui suddenly reached out and grabbed his basket.

He Qing reacted instantly, and the two of them exchanged about a dozen moves before Duan Chenhui snatched the basket away.

He Qing retreated ten steps quickly. “General, what’s the meaning of this?”

“How dare you harbor a Zerg egg,” Duan Chenhui narrowed his eyes and rushed forward. His speed was incredible—within the blink of an eye, he was in front of He Qing.

“I don’t know what a Zerg egg is!” He Qing reacted just as quickly, retreating fast. They darted through the crowd, causing people to scream in panic.

“Zerg?”

“Are there really Zerg here?!!”

He Qing took the opportunity to duck into a small alley, but Duan Chenhui’s mental energy was locked onto him like a chain, impossible to shake. He Qing frowned. This wasn’t going to work—Duan Chenhui’s mental energy was like an unbreakable tether. No matter how far he ran, he couldn’t escape it.

He Qing stopped and saw a crow perched above him. He smiled, having come up with an idea.

—

Duan Chenhui frowned at the alley in front of him. He could no longer sense the presence of the star thief—it was as if the person had vanished into a wormhole.

Duan Chenhui moved forward slowly, stopping where the person had disappeared. He looked up and saw a mango tree, its branches heavy with golden fruit.

He looked down and noticed a few leaves and some feathers on the ground.

Picking up one of the feathers, he examined it. It was a crow’s feather.

Duan Chenhui frowned, puzzled. Yang Fan and the others ran up behind him. “General, what happened?”

“He got away,” Duan Chenhui said, tossing the feather aside. “How’s the situation at the house?”

“We rounded everyone up, thanks to that mysterious letter,” Yang Fan replied, glancing at the basket Duan Chenhui was holding. “Is that the Zerg egg?”

“Maybe.” Duan Chenhui frowned, pulling off the towel covering it.

Everyone froze in shock. “It’s a rock???” Inside the basket was a perfectly round, translucent green stone.

Duan Chenhui touched it. “I don’t know what kind of mineral this is, but it’s definitely not a Zerg egg.” He had a hunch all along. From the moment they received that letter, everything had been too coincidental, too easy.

Yang Fan frowned. “This complicates things.” He thought for a moment before continuing, “The star thief group got the Zerg egg from an underground auction, but the egg was stolen during the transaction. The star thieves chased after a civilian ship, which is how we captured them. Now, we don’t know who has the egg.”

“What’s the plan, General?” another subordinate asked. “The star thieves said that egg belonged to a Zerg King.”

Duan Chenhui furrowed his brows and headed back. “Issue a warrant for that man. Search the area for any suspicious individuals. And follow up on the origin of that letter.”

“Yes, sir.” Yang Fan nodded, exchanging glances with the others. What in the world was a Zerg King? It was the first time they’d ever heard of a Zerg having a king…

—

Elsewhere, a crow struggled in the sky, shaking off a ring from its feathers. The ring tumbled through the air and splashed into a pond below.

Ripples spread across the water, and a moment later, He Qing climbed out of the pond.

He Qing made a hand sign to clean himself up and glanced around. It turned out to be the pond in the school’s botanical garden.

“Who would’ve thought I’d end up back at school,” He Qing muttered to himself, slipping the spatial ring back onto his finger.

Luckily, he’d prepared a few contingency plans. First, he’d sent a letter to Duan Chenhui using a paper talisman clone, then swapped the egg for a spirit stone. Finally, he’d scouted out the antique shop, and sure enough, Duan Chenhui and his team had shown up.

Now that the spirit stone had fallen into Duan Chenhui’s hands, if they detected the energy within it, they’d definitely start investigating. Everything was falling into place.

However, the question of what to do with the Zerg egg was still tricky. Judging by the General’s reaction, he seemed to have a deep-seated hatred for the Zerg…

But this Zerg egg still had its uses, and it was quite unique.

He Qing frowned, feeling a bit troubled. As he walked and thought, he suddenly saw someone ahead. When he got closer, he realized it was Zhang Yi. Zhang Yi was holding a knife and fiercely cutting into a large watermelon, as if he were beheading an enemy.

“Zhang Yi, are you stealing watermelons?” He Qing tilted his head and looked at the sign stuck in the ground, which shouted in bold text: No stealing the crops!!

Zhang Yi stood up with the watermelon in his hands and shot He Qing a glance. “Idiot, this is a traditional ‘stealing crops activity.’ If I can steal it, that means I win.” He glanced around, saw no one was watching, and bolted with the watermelon.

He Qing looked down and counted—there were three more watermelons on the ground. He hesitated for a moment, then walked over…

—

That evening, He Qing returned home carrying a basket. In the garden, he saw Duan Chenhui’s car, and Duan Chenhui stepped out, holding a basket of his own.

“…” Duan Chenhui glanced at He Qing’s basket.

“…” He Qing glanced back at Duan Chenhui’s basket. It looked so familiar, and the towel covering it looked familiar too…

Duan Chenhui raised an eyebrow and spoke first. “What are you carrying?”

He Qing, completely composed, jogged over and lifted his basket, dramatically pulling off the towel. “It’s a watermelon! I picked it from the garden. Perfect for quenching thirst and staying cool.”

“The garden?” Duan Chenhui was almost startled by his words. He examined the contents carefully, finally confirming it was indeed a watermelon and relaxing.

“It’s from the botanical garden at school,” He Qing explained with a smile. “I found all sorts of good things in there.”

“I see,” Duan Chenhui wiped his forehead, suppressing the sudden fright he’d gotten today. All because of that suspect with the Zerg egg. He wasn’t sure if the person was really a star thief, but they were definitely not simple.

“Did you also buy a watermelon, General?” He Qing asked, pretending not to know as he peeked at Duan Chenhui’s basket.

Duan Chenhui smiled and pulled off the towel. “It’s a mineral.”

“How beautiful,” He Qing said, walking over to touch it. It sparkled like a spirit stone—he wondered if such things existed in this universe.

Duan Chenhui glanced at him. He Qing seemed particularly fond of things that glowed. “But this one isn’t for you. Let’s head inside.”

They both entered the house, and He Qing placed the watermelon and the stone side by side on the coffee table. “They look quite similar—both green and very fresh.”

“Well then, let’s eat it,” Duan Chenhui said with a laugh.

“Okay,” He Qing ran into the kitchen and came back with a knife.

Duan Chenhui looked at the sharp blade and raised an eyebrow. He stood up and took it from He Qing, who suddenly grabbed his hand. “General, have mercy with the blade!”

“What’s the matter?” Duan Chenhui asked, confused.

“Just split it in two, that’s all,” He Qing said, pulling two small spoons from behind his back. “I saw Zhang Yi and his brother eat it this way.”

“…Alright.” Duan Chenhui suspected that He Qing’s watermelon theft was influenced by that Alpha, Zhang Yi. He narrowed his eyes and swiftly sliced the watermelon in half, pushing both halves toward He Qing. “You eat.”

“You’re not eating, General?”

Duan Chenhui shook his head, put down the knife, and picked up the stone. “I have some things to take care of.”

He Qing hugged the watermelon, watching Duan Chenhui as he climbed the stairs. From his back and the way he walked, Duan Chenhui seemed just the same as always.

It was the first time He Qing had fought Duan Chenhui, and he had to admit the General was quite formidable, but He Qing hadn’t dared fight him for too long.

He thought for a moment, then took a bite of watermelon. Suddenly, the excitement seemed to fade a little.

After finishing his half, He Qing put Duan Chenhui’s share in the fridge. Then he went to his room, took out a compass, and infused it with spiritual energy. The needle on the compass spun wildly.

He Qing tapped the compass, sighing. There was no way to track his true body. He couldn’t sense it either—it was probably too far away.

He lay down on the bed, hugging the compass and comforting himself. “Maybe it’s just not the right time yet.”