Duan Chenhui watched as Tai Bai and Qing Long left, then looked down at He Qing. He couldn’t resist pressing on the lotus seed through the handkerchief. Despite looking soft, the lotus seed was surprisingly hard.

He pressed it again, and this time, He Qing woke up. “General, what are you doing?”

Duan Chenhui calmly withdrew his fingers. “Just seeing if you were awake.” He conjured a bowl of clear water. “Here, wash off the alcohol.”

He Qing, still suspicious that Duan Chenhui just wanted to poke at him, was feeling a bit dizzy and couldn’t fly. Staring at Duan Chenhui, he said, “Carry me up.”

Duan Chenhui chuckled and picked him up, placing him in the bowl. He Qing immediately drank a sip of the water and swam around. “The Hundred Flowers Wine is a bit sweet but also a bit spicy.”

“It’s still alcohol,” Duan Chenhui thought to himself, deciding not to let He Qing drink again in the future.

He took the jade bowl and headed to the study to practice calligraphy. He Qing poked his head out. “When I get hands and feet, I want to practice calligraphy too.”

“Alright,” Duan Chenhui replied, then asked, “What color lotus are you?”

He Qing sank into the water, thought for a moment, and said, “I think I’m a rainbow-colored one. The peacock told me that rainbow colors are beautiful. I hope I’m colorful.”

“…” Duan Chenhui was pretty sure He Qing would be white. “Whatever color you are, you’ll look good.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

As Duan Chenhui practiced calligraphy, he shared all sorts of strange tales with He Qing, who listened with great interest.

He Qing started living a carefree, heavenly life in the celestial realm. Soon, the news of Duan Chenhui raising a lotus spread throughout the heavens. Many people wanted to see this miraculous lotus, but Duan Chenhui turned them all away.

He took He Qing on a tour around the celestial realm, until the day of the Peach Banquet arrived.

He Qing jumped up excitedly. “I want to go too!”

Duan Chenhui, having changed into new clothes, shook his head. “You stay here.”

“Why?” He Qing didn’t understand.

“There are too many people at the Peach Banquet. I’ll bring a peach back for you,” Duan Chenhui was worried about taking He Qing out, especially since all kinds of people would be there, including spies from the demon realm.

“Really? I can’t go?” He Qing was a bit upset.

“I’ll be back soon,” Duan Chenhui comforted him.

“Fine,” He Qing grumbled and jumped into the Spirit Pool, sulking and ignoring him.

Duan Chenhui looked down at him and, feeling the need to make up for it, said, “When I come back, how about I take you to see the Buddhist realm?”

He Qing’s eyes lit up. He hadn’t been there before. He poked his head out of the water and swam in a circle. “Okay! If you don’t keep your promise, you’re a dog’s tail grass!”

Why dog’s tail grass? Duan Chenhui couldn’t help but laugh. “See you tonight.”

“Mhm, mhm.” He Qing waved at him, watching Duan Chenhui fly off on a cloud. He then swam over to a leaf, lying on it with a sigh, acting like an old man.

“The General really isn’t coming back,” He Qing lay on the leaf, floating along with the water. After napping for a while, he woke up to find himself near the edge of the waterfall. He looked down. The Spirit Pool flowed straight down, seemingly passing through the Ninth Heaven.

He hopped on the leaf, transforming it into a small boat. “Let’s set off!” As long as he returned before the General, it should be fine.

He Qing sat on the little boat, and with a “whoosh,” the boat shot out of the waterfall, plummeting straight down.

— 

On the other side, Duan Chenhui was dealing with the Celestial Emperor. The old emperor held his hand and said, “It’s fortunate we had your help this time. Otherwise, that great demon would have invaded the heavens. Will that demon resurrect?”

“No, he won’t,” Duan Chenhui responded absentmindedly, wondering what He Qing was doing. Was he too bored?

The Celestial Emperor chuckled. “That’s good, that’s good.”

The Queen Mother of the West smiled and said, “The peach orchard has produced a great harvest this time. We should celebrate well today.”

“Mm…” Duan Chenhui had just nodded when suddenly, there was a loud “boom.”

Everyone, including the Celestial Emperor, was startled. “What happened?”

A celestial soldier rushed over to report. “Your Majesty! The barrier of the Ninth Heaven has been breached!”

“??” Everyone was shocked. “That’s the Ninth Heaven! Has the enemy arrived?!”

The Celestial Emperor frowned. “Investigate!”

“Let me use my divine sense to check,” Tai Bai said, sipping his Hundred Flowers Wine and fanning himself. Just as he finished speaking, another loud “boom” sounded, and something crashed outside the Peach Banquet.

The crowd was even more shocked. “The enemy broke in that quickly?”

“Wait, why did it fall from the Ninth Heaven?”

Duan Chenhui’s eye twitched as he had a bad feeling. A celestial soldier came running, holding a stone. “Your Majesty, it’s him!”

The Celestial Emperor looked down, startled. “Where did this unruly stone come from?”

Everyone looked over and saw the stone suddenly crack into four pieces, and out of it jumped a stone monkey… no, a lotus seed!

He Qing crawled out with difficulty, looking around and noticing everyone staring at him. He had only fallen down the waterfall, so how did he end up here? He glanced around and suddenly spotted his savior.

“General! General! Where is this place?! I took a nap, and when I woke up, I was here!” He Qing used his strength and rushed over.

Duan Chenhui’s lips twitched slightly as he caught He Qing with his spiritual power. Everyone turned their gaze to Duan Chenhui.

Duan Chenhui smiled and said, “Apologies, this is the lotus I’ve been raising… He got lost.”

The Celestial Emperor finally remembered hearing that Duan Chenhui had been raising a celestial lotus. He chuckled, “As expected of the General… even his lotus isn’t ordinary.”

This must not be an ordinary celestial lotus!

Everyone looked complicated: Help! A single lotus seed broke through their barrier! Is the celestial realm’s barrier as weak as paper?

Tai Bai laughed and walked over. “Aww, what a cute lotus, so white and plump. How could it have any bad intentions?”

The Queen Mother of the West looked at them with a smile but said nothing.

The Celestial Emperor chuckled as well, unable to punish He Qing. To show his magnanimity, he made a grand gesture. “Let it be, today is a day of celebration. Everyone, take your seats. Bring out the peaches.” He didn’t want to say anything more and turned to sit in his place.

Everyone, both curious and amused, took their seats.

Duan Chenhui sighed, patted He Qing, and went to his seat.

He Qing hid inside his armor, but after a moment, he poked his head out again. He looked around and saw that some of the celestial beings had strange appearances, like dragon heads, horns, and animal ears. It looked a bit like his Ten Thousand Demons Valley!

Those people glanced at him, and he stared right back.

After a while, a celestial servant brought in plates of peaches. Each person was given one.

He Qing looked down at the peach in front of Duan Chenhui. It smelled so fragrant… He couldn’t help but jump down.

Just as Duan Chenhui picked up the peach, pretending to eat it, he asked, “How did you end up here?”

He Qing rolled around on the plate and, in his hunger, decided to be an honest child. “I came down from the waterfall. Along the way, I don’t know what I hit, and then I got stuck in a rock. I have a bit of a headache.”

Those eavesdropping: What the heck! You hit our barrier! What’s a little headache compared to that?!! And that wasn’t just any ordinary rock!

Hearing this, Duan Chenhui immediately felt concerned. He put down the peach and picked He Qing up to check. “Are you hurt?”

Everyone stared at Duan Chenhui: General! It’s our barrier that’s damaged!

He Qing rubbed against the peach, looking very greedy. “I need to recover. Can I just have one bite? A small bite.” He had never eaten a celestial peach before! He wondered if it tasted good.

After examining him and finding no injuries, Duan Chenhui handed him the entire peach. “You can eat it.”

“All for me?”

“Mm,” Duan Chenhui generously offered.

“Thank you, General!” He Qing turned and took a huge bite, eating half the peach in one go. No one knew how he did it, considering the peach was three to four times larger than him!

After finishing half, He Qing pushed the remaining half toward Duan Chenhui. “I’m full.”

Duan Chenhui smiled, noticing small teeth marks on the peach. Even though He Qing was in the form of a lotus seed, it seemed like he had been nibbling. Duan Chenhui pretended to be serious. “There are bite marks. You need to finish it.”

“??!” He Qing looked back at the peach. “Those aren’t my bite marks!”

Tai Bai laughed. “There are plenty of peaches. Pick another one.”

The Celestial Emperor, feeling a bit pained, still told the servant, “Go ahead.”

“Yes.” The celestial servant quickly fetched another peach and brought it to Duan Chenhui.

Seeing two peaches, He Qing finally relaxed and finished off his leftover peach. Holding the peach pit, he said, “I’ll take this back to the Wan—”

“Ahem, take it back to the Outer Heaven to plant,” Duan Chenhui interrupted, stopping him from mentioning the Ten Thousand Demons Valley.

“Sure, but it’s hard to grow,” someone immediately chimed in. “I’ve tried, but it didn’t work.”

“I tried too. Seems like it requires a special fate and opportunity,” someone else agreed, and soon, the conversation turned to discussing celestial gardening. The atmosphere finally returned to normal.

Qing Long shook his head. He had heard from Duan Chenhui about where He Qing came from, though the truth was that it was just a home for little demons.

He Qing, seeing that no one objected, was happy. He sniffed the peach pit and said, “I’m sure I can grow it big.”

“Take your time,” Duan Chenhui said, picking up his own peach. He didn’t eat it, instead storing it away. Then, he poured himself a cup of wine.

Tai Bai laughed. “He Qing, you still rely on the General to take care of you, yet you talk about growing something. How shameless.”

He Qing puffed up in anger and ignored him, hiding inside Duan Chenhui’s armor with the peach pit. Duan Chenhui felt a bit uncomfortable but didn’t take him out.

“Tai Bai, stop teasing him,” Duan Chenhui said, taking a sip of wine.

Tai Bai, still teasing, said, “Since you’re a lotus seed, you’ll definitely like the Bodhisattva’s lotus pond. I’ll take you to see it one day?”

He Qing’s interest was piqued, and he stuck his head out. “Are there koi fish?”

“There are,” Tai Bai stroked his chin. “Plenty of them. We’ll find the prettiest one.”

“Deal!” He Qing agreed, feeling a bit wronged. “There’s no one in the Spirit Pool.”

Everyone around them internally screamed: You have the whole Spirit Pool to yourself! What more do you want?!

Tai Bai, satisfied with stirring up some resentment, happily drank his wine before sneaking away.

On the way back, Tai Bai took out another peach to tempt He Qing. “Come on, call me brother.”

He Qing looked at the peach, then at him. “Brother Bai!”

“…” Tai Bai looked up at Duan Chenhui. He suddenly felt like he had been tricked. Didn’t He Qing hate him before?

Duan Chenhui smiled. “He Qing, accept your uncle’s gift.” In fact, Tai Bai really was a distant relative.

“Alright, thank you, uncle!” He Qing changed his address again.

Tai Bai was speechless.

Qing Long walked over, teasing him. “I told you to be careful of karmic backlash. You’re a grown man.” He also took out a peach. “Here’s a gift for you. I hope you sprout soon.”

He Qing thanked him, happy to hold a peach in each arm. “Can I eat them all?”

“You can,” Duan Chenhui paused, then reminded him, “But you already ate one today. Finish digesting that before eating another.”

“Mhm, mhm.” He Qing snuggled between the two large peaches, looking like he was the one about to be eaten.

Tai Bai unfolded his fan and laughed. “When you sprout, I’ll give you a special gift and compose a poem for you.”

“What kind of gift?”

“A secret.”

He Qing still felt that Tai Bai liked to tease him.

Duan Chenhui nodded at them. “Thank you. If you need anything, just let me know.”

“Only if there’s really something,” Qing Long laughed, accepting the favor.

After bidding farewell to them, Duan Chenhui returned. Once back, He Qing spent his days circling around the three peaches, even throwing them into the Spirit Pool for a bath. It seemed he was always ready to eat them, not realizing that he was probably the most delicious thing of all…

Duan Chenhui also worried that someone might want to catch He Qing and eat him.

The three peaches kept He Qing occupied for a long time, while Duan Chenhui handled some affairs.

One day, Duan Chenhui went to the Spirit Pool and found He Qing sunbathing on a lotus leaf with the three peaches arranged around him.

Duan Chenhui glanced at him. He Qing had grown a bit, now the size of a regular egg, but there was still no sign of sprouting. Instead, it seemed like he had just swelled up from soaking in water…

Duan Chenhui waved his hand, and the lotus leaf, along with He Qing, floated over. He picked up He Qing to inspect him. The surface of the lotus seed was smooth and glossy. The soaking was just an illusion.

“When are you going to sprout?”

He Qing woke up groggily and rubbed against Duan Chenhui’s finger. “I don’t know either. Maybe I’m still waiting for the right opportunity.”

Duan Chenhui sighed. There was nothing he could do. For cultivators, opportunities were crucial. All he could do was keep feeding He Qing, supplementing him with nutrients and spiritual energy.