The boys ahead noticed someone had fallen behind and looked back at Long Ye.

“Long Ye, how did you fall so far behind? Don’t tell me you’re really planning to go up Jiutian Peak to find treasures?”

The first to speak was Long Ye’s cousin, Long Ming.

Both Long Ming and Long Ye had poor aptitudes, working hard at cultivation but making limited progress. Despite practicing diligently from the age of five, Long Ming had only reached the third level of Qi Refinement and had already given up. He planned to learn business from the family’s shop in hopes of securing a better life.

Long Ye was slightly better, having reached the fifth level of Qi Refinement, but still lagged behind other talented youths his age.

In their younger years, the two had encouraged each other, but since Long Ye’s cultivation surpassed his cousin’s, their friendship had soured.

Predictably, Long Ming’s words sparked others to chime in.

“Jiutian Peak is full of powerful elders, Long Ye, you must be dreaming!”

“Don’t even think about it. We’re not born with great talents. Ambition without ability only leads to trouble. If you go to Jiutian Peak and offend one of the powerful elders there, you won’t even know how you died.”

“Yeah, just keep up with us and focus on gathering herbs.”

Long Ye glanced at Long Ming. Distracted by the extra thing hidden in his clothes, he felt none of the usual frustration. Casually, he replied, “I didn’t sleep well last night, I’m just tired.”

He yawned theatrically, pretending to be exhausted. “I’ll take a look around the nearby hills and then head back for some rest.”

The area was full of mountains, big and small. Long Ye’s gaze fell on a nearby bamboo grove where he used to dig for bamboo shoots. Although it wasn’t the season for bamboo shoots, there were still wild vegetables and chickens to be found, which could make for a nice meal.

“Really? Well, be careful and don’t do anything risky. Even though your father’s gone, we still care about you!” Long Ming added.

Shi Qian: Wow!

That’s some serious “green tea” behavior.

Who would genuinely care for you and casually mention your dead father in front of everyone? True comfort would be in private, from close friends or elders. And that first comment—it sounded like he was leading everyone to think Long Ye was delusional.

Shi Qian, driven by curiosity, perked up his ears, listening with full attention.

Hearing his father brought up again, Long Ye coldly glared at Long Ming and said, “I didn’t know you cared so much about my father. Maybe you should join him?”

Shi Qian nearly burst out laughing.

Translation:”Why don’t you go die too?”

Savage. So satisfying to hear.

Long Ming’s face flushed red, and he stammered, “Long Ye, I’m only worried about you.”

Even the group of simple-minded boys found his words odd. Since when do grown man talk like that?

“Alright, alright, let’s not argue. We’ve got herbs to find.”

“Long Ming, stop bringing up Long Ye’s sore spot! Are you dumb or something?”

The group pulled Long Ming away, knowing that while Long Ye had a good temper, crossing his bottom line could lead to trouble. Long Ye had never lost a fight since childhood. More importantly, Long Ming’s father had recently been promoted, making him more valuable to befriend.

Long Ye parted ways with the group, heading deep into the mountains.

By a mountain stream, with only the sound of water around him, Long Ye finally reached into his clothes to grab the little creature hiding inside.

Startled, Shi Qian instinctively shrank further into the folds of Long Ye’s clothes, his tiny paws clinging to the fabric. Unfortunately, one paw slipped through a patch in Long Ye’s worn clothing, directly pressing against his abdominal muscles.

Shi Qian: …Damn.

How could this young boy have more abs than me? And not just one—a whole bunch!

Wait… where did I reach to touch those abs?

A patch?

Shi Qian: ???

Long Aotian wearing patched-up clothes?

Shi Qian began to doubt his assumptions—maybe he had misjudged this boy after all. But the map still showed overlapping red dots, leaving Shi Qian disheartened.

This must be the Long Aotian from the beginner village, weak and poor as expected.

Long Ye felt a slight tickle but ignored it. After a moment, he carefully pulled the fluffy little creature from his clothes—it had resigned itself to being caught.

It was soft, small, light, and warm, much like a newborn chick. As their eyes met, Long Ye realized it was a… rather peculiar little animal. Its expression even seemed somewhat melancholic.

It looked like a mouse, but not quite.

Long Ye poked its tail with his other hand.

Compared to its round, chubby body, the tail was particularly large and fluffy—more like a fox’s. It could barely serve as a blanket, but on a summer day, it would work.

“The tail doesn’t look like a mouse’s,” Long Ye remarked as he examined the creature. “What are you, and why did you hide in my clothes?”

Shi Qian retracted his tail, clutching it protectively. He gazed up at Long Ye and responded with a soft squeak, “Chirp.”

A chinchilla.

The two stared at each other in silence.

Shi Qian blinked, let go of his tail, and scratched his head, wondering, How am I going to communicate with him?

Shi Qian pondered for a moment, considering the various ways a spiritual beast like himself could communicate.

There were three approaches: the best option was to make Long Aotian his servant; the second-best option was to form an equal contract as companions; and the worst option was to become Long Aotian’s servant.

Shi Qian immediately dismissed the third option.

He could accept the first or second options, but given Long Aotian’s pride, he decided to discard the first option and pursue the second.

But, this was Long Aotian. Shi Qian couldn’t be too forceful.

Stretching out his small, scratched paw—injured from all the digging—Shi Qian presented his bloody paw to test Long Aotian’s kindness.

People might be poor, but if they were kind, that was what mattered!

Besides, Long Aotian was a potential rising star—raising him could be like playing a nurturing game.

“You’re hurt?” Long Ye said softly. Hearing the creature’s gentle cries and seeing the tiny paw no bigger than his fingertip, he carefully lifted it to examine.

“It’s just a minor injury. Let me clean it and apply some medicine to stop the bleeding and pain.”

After explaining, Long Ye gently lifted Shi Qian from under his belly, cradling him in his hand.

Shi Qian felt that this position was a bit strange.

He flailed his paws a couple of times and realized he was like a turtle flipped on its back.

Shi Qian gave up moving, because waving his paws around only made him look more like a turtle.

Earlier, that turtle brother was forced to flee with Shi Qian on its back, legs paddling frantically.

Suddenly, Shi Qian saw the water surface approaching.

The creek water was crystal clear, revealing the strange stones, aquatic plants, swimming fish, and small crabs crawling along the bottom.

Long Ye’s hand tilted, and the little creature leaned over. His right paw was dipped into the stream, gently washed by the flowing water as his body swayed.

Then Long Ye switched sides, continuing to rinse the little paws with care.

From his gentle movements, it was clear that Long Ye was being very cautious, not daring to touch Shi Qian’s paws directly, his actions soft and careful.

Shi Qian gave this service a high rating.

Next, Long Ye found some herbs, ground them into a paste, and asked Shi Qian to stretch out his little paw for the medicine.

The white fur on his paws turned green from the herb, but the pain-relieving properties of the ointment soon took effect, and the pain subsided.

Shi Qian examined his paws and looked up at his new “brother” with a chirp: “Chirp chirp!”

It doesn’t hurt anymore.

Realizing the language barrier, Shi Qian raised a paw and nodded toward Long Ye in affirmation.

Seeing this, Long Ye forgot his earlier frustration and smiled, saying, “As long as it works.”

He gave Shi Qian a couple of pats before placing him on a nearby branch.

“You can go now. In the future, remember not to approach people so easily. Not everyone is good. But if you’re ever hurt, you can find me here; I’m often in this area.”

Even as he let Shi Qian go, Long Ye still kindly offered advice, proving he was a genuinely good person.

But this wasn’t what Shi Qian wanted. He was here to cling to Long Aotian. Only by successfully latching onto him could Shi Qian continue living as a treasure-hunting mouse.

“Chirp chirp!”

Shi Qian raised his paw in protest, then jumped right back into Long Ye’s clothes.

Long Ye felt the warmth of the small creature near his stomach and was stunned.

Had he… been adopted?

This little one seemed to give Long Ye a sense of familiarity, as if they were kindred spirits. But Long Ye was sure this was their first meeting.

The little guy’s cultivation seems to be higher than his, but not very much.

Strange.

Friendly, intelligent, and with some cultivation—this had to be a spirit beast. Likely a mouse-type, though Long Ye wasn’t sure of the exact species.

Long Ye pondered for a moment and, through his clothes, poked at the little furball. “Hey, little furball, what are you doing? I can’t afford to keep you.”

Hearing this, Shi Qian pulled out a handful of nuts from his storage ring.

Well, just one.

It wasn’t stinginess; his small paws could only hold one at a time.

Holding the single, pine nut that was full of spiritual energy, Shi Qian poked his head out from the edge of Long Ye’s clothes and generously stuffed it into Long Ye’s hand.

“Squeak Squeak!”

It’s okay, see how little I eat.

Shi Qian pushed the pine nut into Long Ye’s hand with such determination that it made Long Ye misunderstand.

Holding the nut, Long Ye looked at the little creature and asked, “Are you trying to say that you drought your own food?”

Shi Qian: …

Jumping out again, Shi Qian stood in Long Ye’s hand and looked up at him.

Seeing the genuine look on Long Ye’s face, Shi Qian gritted his teeth and nodded, “Chirp chirp.”

Yes, I come with my own provisions.

Though they won’t last forever.

But Shi Qian thought, surely Long Ye wouldn’t let such an adorable chinchilla starve, right?

He really didn’t eat much, just a few bites of Long Ye’s rations at most.

Thinking of his minimal appetite, Shi Qian became confident again, continuing to bribe Long Ye with pine nuts.

Seeing the little one painstakingly dig out more pine nuts, Long Ye sternly interrupted, “You can understand me, right? Don’t ever show your storage space in front of people again. In the human world, storage spaces are highly valuable treasures. Without enough strength, others will try to take it from you.”

This little furball was surely a spirit beast cub, freshly out of the den.

Too naive, with no sense of caution.

Who knows how its beast parents taught it. Long Ye couldn’t help but sigh internally, feeling a little worried.

But what could you expect? This was just a young cub, still being fed milk by its mom. It was only natural to be innocent. Even the mother probably didn’t know much about such matters.

Facing the almost fatherly tone of advice, the little furball obediently nodded.

It was intentional on Shi Qian’s part. Right now, Long Ye was obviously in his weaker phase—likely dealing with numerous adversities and lacking allies. The classic situation of being impoverished, orphaned, rejected by a fiancée, and not yet strong enough to defend against others.

At times like this, a cute, seemingly mysterious spirit beast showing up was the perfect helper for Long Ye’s rise.

With his plan set, Shi Qian dashed around and jumped onto Long Ye’s head, preparing to claim Long Aotian’s fortune as his own “treasure-seeking ability.”

How could he make the act more convincing?

Rituals were crucial.

Shi Qian performed a series of chinchilla punches on Long Ye’s head, then perched there for three seconds before hopping down to his hand, striking a heroic pose with his paw.

“Chirp!” Let’s go find your treasure!

Long Ye scooped up the excited little one and tucked him into his clothes.

It was time to find something, after all. He couldn’t waste this trip.

He was low on resources and had no way to contribute to the clan. His cultivation was weak, and he couldn’t take on missions. Everything was scarce.

Now, with an extra companion to feed, the weight on his shoulders felt heavier. Yet, the sense of companionship wasn’t so bad.

Long Ye never expected that a spirit beast would choose him. Spirit beasts were typically the prized possessions of noble families or sect disciples.

Even though this one seemed weak and small, it was still a spirit beast.

Perhaps… his path to cultivation still had hope.

Having never met his mother and with a father who had vanished, Long Ye dreamed that perhaps his parents were still alive, just in different places. If he grew stronger and traveled the world, he might see them again.

As they walked, Long Ye noticed the scenery around him change. It seemed he had accidentally stumbled into a mysterious place.

Behind him was the familiar bamboo forest, but ahead, towering ancient trees stood tall. Beyond the trees, the air was thick with the scent of ginseng, lingering in the air.

There’s treasure here!

Long Ye’s eyes lit up.

Shi Qian’s eyes also lit up.

What luck?! The “Long Aotian” rule never fails. The rest of his days were secured.

Perched at the edge of Long Ye’s clothes, Shi Qian Squeaked excitedly.

“Squeak Squeak!”

Long Aotian, from now on, you’re my new brother!

No one will separate us. I’ll stay by your side forever.