This chapter is sponsored by ViridisKitsune! Thank you, my dear~❤️ 

Chapter 25- Part 1

“H-hello?” Xia Chen crouched before the reddening trumpet flower, deliberately softening and slowing his already childish voice, instantly increasing its sweetness.

He had always been dissatisfied with his babyish voice and eagerly awaited puberty. Now, he realized being a child had its advantages. If someone was on the other side, a child’s voice might lower their guard.

“No response. Is it in the middle of nowhere?” After waiting a moment with no reaction from the flower, Xia Chen didn’t dare be careless and communicated mentally with Xia Tongban.

[I don’t know.]

Xia Chen thought for a moment, leaned closer, and asked again, “Is anyone there?”

After a long while, just as Xia Chen was about to give up and put the trumpet flower away, he suddenly heard a clear, slightly hoarse boy’s voice, “Who are you?”

“Jackpot!” Xia Chen excitedly told Xia Tongban, “A child is much easier to fool than an adult.”

It would be even better if he could find out where the child was. If he was far away, they could be online friends. If he was nearby, he might be able to get the flower, even if he had to buy it.

Xia Tongban obviously didn’t expect Xia Chen to have such luck and didn’t forget to temper his excitement: [Don’t underestimate children. Although the flower won’t wither naturally after binding, if it’s damaged intentionally, your trumpet flower will be useless too.]

Xia Tongban’s words reminded Xia Chen to first reassure the child on the other side of the flower. Afraid the boy might grow impatient, he lay down in front of the trumpet flower and said in a childish voice, “I’m a little flower spirit.”

He figured if he said he was human, the boy wouldn’t believe him anyway. He hoped the child on the other side had some imagination and wouldn’t immediately pluck this talking little flower spirit.

However, the response was completely unexpected, as a cold voice replied, “This is Baocheng Temple in the Imperial Capital.”

Xia Chen: “……”

While he was glad to know where the “message in a bottle” had drifted, this luck was ridiculous. What kind of spirit would choose to manifest in a temple?

“I-I listened to the monks chanting sutras, and one day, after listening for a long time, I could suddenly speak,” Xia Chen began to fabricate wildly. At least the child hadn’t immediately turned him in and was talking to him, which meant there was room for negotiation.

In a small courtyard, a youth sat casually among the flowers, staring intently at the only white camellia in the yard. Not long ago, this flower had been blood-red, but it had turned pure white right before his eyes.

Then, a little liar, claiming to be a flower spirit, was trying to fool him with a soft, milky voice.

The youth’s previous aura of hostility had disappeared without a trace. With a hint of a smile, he said to the white camellia, “This is the back mountain of Baocheng Temple. The monks’ chanting doesn’t reach here.”

The little flower spirit was silent for a while. When he spoke again, his voice was tinged with tears, “I’m a good spirit. Please don’t catch me.”

The youth’s smile widened. Scared to tears with just a little intimidation—what a timid thing, yet daring to lie to him. All the flowers in his courtyard had been transplanted from outside. This little flower spirit didn’t even know where it was, so it must have just gained spiritual awareness not long ago.

If he hadn’t been about to destroy this camellia, the little flower spirit would have continued hiding. This time around, he’d encountered something quite interesting.

“How can you prove you’re a good spirit?” The youth asked with a smile, finding amusement in teasing the little flower spirit. Though it couldn’t take human form, just hearing that milky voice made him want to bully it and make it cry even more pitifully.

However, he was unaware that his little flower spirit was indeed teary-eyed, but not because of his bullying.

“Are kids these days all so difficult?” Xia Chen complained to Xia Tongban while washing his eyes with clean water, his voice choked. Don’t misunderstand—he wasn’t genuinely upset. It had been too long since he’d acted, and his skills had grown rusty. Afraid the child would detect the insincerity in his crying, he had resorted to using onion for a more convincing performance.

[His voice doesn’t sound doubtful. Why is he asking you like this?]

Xia Tongban was a career-oriented system, not an emotional one. Although it was almost indistinguishable from a human in intelligence, it still had difficulty interpreting and processing human emotions at times.

“He’s just playing with me,” Xia Chen replied, intrigued by the challenge. Having raised three children and once been a 20-year-old adult, he was used to teasing kids, not the other way around.

“Watch this, Tongban. I’ll show you how to tease a kid,” Xia Chen said with a mischievous grin. He lay down in front of the trumpet flower and immediately switched to his sweetest, most childish voice, “I’m not a bad spirit. I don’t eat people. Big brother, please don’t catch me, sob sob…”

As he spoke, Xia Chen even rubbed his eyes with his fists for added effect.

If Xia Tongban had a face, it would have shown a dumbfounded expression. Is this necessary? You keep calling him a kid, but how is your behavior any more mature? 

Xia Chen was already deeply engrossed in the joy of matching wits with this precocious child. Not waiting for Xia Tongban’s response, he heard a light chuckle from the trumpet flower and couldn’t help but perk up. This kid’s voice was unusually pleasant.

“What kind of flower spirit are you?” The child didn’t dwell on the question of whether he was good or evil, instead asking about Xia Chen’s true form.

I’m a human! Xia Chen thought, puffing out his cheeks. He didn’t know what kind of flower the trumpet flower had randomly bound to. Logically, it should also be a trumpet flower, right?

Not knowing didn’t matter. Xia Chen immediately threw the question back, “I don’t know either. I can’t see myself. Big brother, do you know what kind of flower I am?”

“You can look at the flowers next to you. You’re the same type.”

Xia Chen: “……”

This was frustrating. There was only one trumpet flower next to him, and he didn’t know what flowers were beside the one connected to his.

Xia Chen felt he should let Tongban chat with this kid. He was running out of things to say.

In the small courtyard, the youth raised an eyebrow in surprise when he heard no reply for a long time. He gently laughed, realizing his little flower spirit could only speak but not see. He shouldn’t bully it too much, or he might scare away this interesting little thing.

Soon, Xia Chen heard a voice from the trumpet flower again, “I’m sorry, I can’t see, so I can’t tell you what kind of flower you are.”

Xia Chen was stunned. So the child was blind? He immediately felt a deep sense of regret for trying to tease a blind child.

“It’s okay. I-I’ve heard many stories from other flowers. I’ll tell them to you later. I think I might be a trumpet flower,” Xia Chen said, full of compassion. He didn’t notice the inconsistency in his words, nor did he deliberately soften his voice to sound younger. But his naturally childish voice still made him sound soft and gentle.

The youth covered his mouth, almost doubling over with laughter. He traced the outline of the white camellia with his finger, his voice full of amusement, “Then shall I call you Little Trumpet?”

Xia Chen’s round face immediately formed a grimace. He might as well be called Little Horn. In comparison, Yuanbao was a much better nickname.

“Don’t you think I should have a name?” Xia Chen wrinkled his face as he negotiated with the child. “There are so many trumpet flowers in the world. They could all be called Little Trumpet.”

“What do you want to be called?” the youth asked.

Xia Chen pondered for a moment. He already had two names. Did he need to come up with an online name now? He couldn’t think of a suitable one on the spot.

“How about Yuanbao?” Xia Chen suggested tentatively. “I heard from a Tongban Grass that Yuanbao is very valuable.”

In the small courtyard, Zheliu watched from afar as his young master laughed so hard his whole body shook among the flowers. He wanted to approach but didn’t dare, his heart full of worry. His young master hated it when people disobeyed his words. If he wanted to be alone, Zheliu couldn’t go near. But the young master hadn’t laughed like this in a long time. Even when he did laugh, it was usually enough to send chills down one’s spine. This demeanor was truly alarming.

Among the flowers, the youth stifled his laughter and said, “Alright, Yuanbao is good.”

He truly hadn’t expected that by choosing to recuperate at Baocheng Temple to avoid the messy affairs at home, he would have such a strange encounter—picking up a silly camellia spirit called Yuanbao.

In the system space, Xia Chen heard the faint laughter coming from the trumpet flower. Knowing the kid was laughing at his name, his cheeks reddened slightly. It wasn’t a big deal, he thought. They would never meet anyway. Being called Yuanbao a few times was just like humoring a child.

Thinking this way, Xia Chen scratched his warm face and asked softly, “Then what should I call you?”

The child seemed to be in a good mood, his voice still carrying a hint of laughter, “Zijian. My name is Zijian. Yuanbao can also keep calling me big brother.”

Xia Chen pouted. It wasn’t certain who was older. He had only called him that a couple of times to humor him. Having lived two lifetimes, how could he call this little brat “big brother”?

Though he thought this, Zijian was, after all, a blind child. Xia Chen kept his retorts to himself and politely called out, “Zijian”, to show his goodwill.

Having chatted to this extent, it was clear that little Zijian wouldn’t hand him over to the monks for disposal. Xia Chen began to probe for more information, “Zijian, what are you doing in the temple?”

“Recovering from an illness. My half-brother pushed me into a lake, and my father told people I had gone mad, so he sent me to the temple to recover.”

Zijian’s voice was very calm. He wasn’t lying, just not telling the naive little flower spirit that he had also pulled his half-brother down, nearly suffocating him in the mud at the bottom. If he hadn’t wanted to leave him alive to suffer in the terrible future ahead, he would have drowned him right then and there.

“How could your father do that!” Xia Chen immediately thought of his garbage father from his previous life, suddenly feeling a strong sense of empathy. When his step-brother had thrown hot soup on his face and told him to get out, his father had protected his brother, saying he was young and that Xia Chen, as the older brother, should be more understanding.

“Don’t be sad,” Xia Chen awkwardly consoled him, projecting his own experiences. When he was a teenager in his previous life, he had indeed been hurt by his father’s attitude. “Family like that isn’t worth your sadness. You need to take good care of yourself. The worse off you are, the happier they’ll be, so you must be good to yourself.”

Zijian raised an eyebrow in surprise. In his previous life, he had carried too many burdens, and by the time he understood, it was too late. He hadn’t expected the silly little flower spirit to have such insight. Could this be what they called “great wisdom seems folly”?

But that wasn’t quite right. How could a little flower spirit, no matter how clever, know about such human affairs? Unless it also had parents and siblings? But that was too ridiculous.

Zijian’s smile faded, and he looked at the white camellia before him with a hint of scrutiny. It seemed his little flower spirit had quite a few secrets.

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Translator’s Notes:

Hello guys, I’m back! Sorry for the short hiatus. IRL happened and I just can’t find time to translate. 

Today’s release (1/3). There’s more~

Just a heads-up: meeting the goal on my Ko-Fi Support means I’ll translate the entire next chapter of the selected novel, regardless of its length. However, since Chapter 25 is exceptionally long, I’m posting it in parts. This approach reflects how I translated it and makes it easier for me to manage.

As both the translator and editor, I’ve done my best to translate, review and refine the text, even dedicating another extra day for another round of proofreading. Nevertheless, some errors may still slip through. If you spot any mistakes, please leave a comment below, and I’ll make the necessary corrections when I have the time. Thank you~

Chapter 25 word count: 7,086 😢 That’s why this chapter took too long to release.