Shi Qian emerged from inside the clothes and once again ended up atop Long Ye’s head. This time, Long Ye initiated the move.

Clearly, Aotian’s sharp mind had figured out the key. Even though it was all part of Shi Qian’s plan, his goal had been perfectly achieved.

Long Ye, with Shi Qian the chinchilla atop his head, followed the scent ahead, gripping a sharp herb sickle in his hand.

Shi Qian could only detect the scent of spiritual ginseng, not the usual “treasure” scent, meaning there was no danger. He was quite relieved.

Perhaps it was their eagerness, but after what felt like only a few steps, they reached a large spiritual ginseng plant with bright red fruit, lush green leaves, and overflowing spiritual energy.

There was no guardian beast in sight around the ginseng.

Long Ye cautiously inspected the surroundings to confirm there was no danger. Then, placing Shi Qian aside, he patted him gently for comfort before beginning to dig up the ginseng. Since digging required him to lower his head, Shi Qian would fall off if he stayed on top.

After digging for a while, the boy, already weak and sweating, rolled up his sleeves, revealing the muscles on his arms.

Shi Qian glanced at his own little paws, feeling a hint of unjustified competitiveness rise inside him. But remembering how much effort working out took, and thinking of the equally muscular Brother Mouse, Shi Qian confidently gave up.

Fluffy creatures should be round and soft!

Still, I wonder where Brother Mouse is now? Is he doing well?

With his carefree personality and strength, Brother Mouse is probably living quite comfortably, Shi Qian mused. He could still picture that young, strong male mouse, quite the robust figure. His mom must be living happily too.

As Shi Qian let his thoughts wander, something suddenly appeared in front of him.

Focusing his attention, Shi Qian saw that Long Ye had handed him a sweetgrass root.

The root was plump and white, taken from the most tender part. It was so large that Shi Qian had to hug it with both paws to nibble on it.

“Try it, it tastes pretty good,” Long Ye said, offering the sweetgrass root to the little spirit beast.

He had tasted it himself earlier and found it delicious. Growing near the spiritual ginseng, the root contained plenty of spiritual energy—by far the best spiritual plant Long Ye had ever eaten, given his impoverished background.

Remembering the spiritual pine nuts the little spirit beast had given him, Long Ye fished them out of his pocket, cracked them open, and placed them on a leaf in front of Shi Qian.

Holding the sweetgrass root, Shi Qian reveled in the feeling of being treated like he was on a picnic. It made him quite happy.

Who would have thought Aotian was so thoughtful and considerate in his novice days? He’s got the makings of a great caretaker!

“Squeak.”

Shi Qian, showing his gratitude, bent down, picked up a cracked pine nut, and politely offered it to Long Ye.

The adorable fluffy ball, looking round and white, bent down to offer the nut, making it look like it could roll forward with the slightest movement. Gripping the pine nut with its little paws, the sweet act of feeding was almost too much to handle.

Long Ye couldn’t resist. He temporarily forgot about the ginseng and squatted down in front of the little spirit beast, lifting Shi Qian to make it easier for the little guy to reach his mouth.

Playfully, he opened his mouth wide, pretending to accept the pine nut.

Shi Qian, generous as always, threw the pine nut into his mouth, then used spiritual energy to gather up the rest and shove them all into Long Ye’s mouth.

Savage—he didn’t leave a single one for himself.

Long Ye had no idea that Shi Qian had a whole stash of pine nuts in his personal space. To him, the gesture was touching. He saw the little beast giving all the nuts and felt moved.

Patting the little spirit beast on the head, Long Ye asked, “Little guy, do you have a name?”

Shi Qian wanted to respond, but he couldn’t exactly go around squeaking “squeak” or “chirp” as a name, could he?

Long Ye assumed the silence meant the little beast didn’t have a name, as it was still very small—likely recently born.

He began suggesting names: “Little White, Tiny, Little Snowball, Snowball, Fluffy…”

Shi Qian sighed, “Squeak?”

Bro, could you be any less creative?

Raising a paw, Shi Qian traced the character “Qian” (千) on Long Ye’s palm.

Thank goodness that the character for “Qian” hasn’t changed much over time.

“Qian?”

“Alright, Little Qian, nice to meet you,” Long Ye said, resisting the urge to pet the spirit beast’s head again.

He had just petted it, though, and hadn’t washed his hands. Some dirt from the digging had stuck to Shi Qian’s fur. Long Ye had noticed that this little spirit beast seemed to care about cleanliness—after all, white fur was difficult to keep this pristine.

Long Ye stared at the little beast’s head.

Shi Qian shook his head and squeaked, “Squeak.”

You should call me Brother Qian.

Tilting his head, Shi Qian pondered how to trick Long Ao Tian into calling him “brother,” still unaware that his cute image had been slightly ruined by the dirt on his fur.

The cultivation world seemed to use traditional script, and since Shi Qian didn’t know how to write the characters for “brother,” he gave up the idea of making him say it for now.

“ If not Little Qian, how about Qian Qian? A-Qian? Qian?”

Unaware of Shi Qian’s desire to be addressed as “Brother,” Long Ye ultimately decided on calling him “Little Qian,” reasoning that it suited his small size.

Shi Qian: …

One day, I’ll get Brother Mouse to come here and show you what’s up.

After naming the little spirit beast, Long Ye happily continued digging up the spiritual ginseng. The ginseng had many roots, and he wanted to preserve as much of the root system as possible to retain its potency, so the digging took extra care and attention.

Meanwhile, Shi Qian gnawed at the sweetgrass root. At first, he found it quite sweet and tasty.

Then, he realized that his head had been dirtied by Long Ye’s sneaky hand.

Rushing over to the ginseng plant, Shi Qian angrily squeaked, “Squeak, squeak!”

Darn you, Aotian! Giving me grass to eat and messing up my fur!

Before coming to the cultivation world, Shi Qian had already seen how Long Ye’s life would unfold.

The spiritual ginseng they were digging up marked a significant turning point in Long Ye’s life. This very ginseng would trigger the classic “Breaking Off The Engagement” trope.

Long Ye, confused, asked the little beast, “What’s wrong?”

Shi Qian pointed a tiny paw at the ginseng that was almost fully dug up.

Being too small to convey much, Long Ye crouched down again, this time resisting the urge to pet Shi Qian’s head, though the latter protected his head just in case.

Long Ye sighed, explaining, “This ginseng isn’t for you today. It’s for an injured elder. But next time, I promise the best thing we find will go to you, alright? I swear.”

Shi Qian straightened his fur and looked at Long Ye with pity. “Squeak.”

You won’t even be able to give it away.

Your fiancée is already with the young master of a prominent family in the city, and she’s about to come to your home to break off the engagement. You’re so insignificant that you won’t even get to see her face.

Soon, you’ll learn that your father was murdered by your own family members. After they catch you trying to see your fiancée, you’ll be beaten half to death. Only after escaping and growing stronger will you return to exact revenge, marking the start of your wandering path to greatness.

At that moment, Long Ye thought he saw something complex in the little spirit beast’s eyes, but he couldn’t understand it. He just assumed the little creature was unhappy.

Little Qian had given him all the pine nuts, yet he couldn’t offer the ginseng in return. And the ginseng was something the little spirit beast had helped him find!

Wiping his hands clean and using a cleansing spell, Long Ye scratched under Shi Qian’s chin and asked with a smile, “Why so quiet? Are you Angry?”

Shi Qian instinctively shook his head, rubbing it against Long Ye’s hand.

Getting his chin scratched felt amazing. The sensation left him blissfully dazed.

Having never experienced this kind of pampering, Shi Qian was lulled into a content, fuzzy state.

Taking advantage of Shi Qian’s happiness, Long Ye petted all the spots cats usually liked to be touched.

So soft and squishy—like holding a tiny, fluffy rice dumpling.

It even made cute little squeaky noises.

So adorable! Taking him outside would definitely have all the female cultivators fighting over him.

Eventually, Shi Qian realized he was squeaking in an unmanly way and pushed Long Ye’s hand away with a tiny paw.

“Squeak,” Shi Qian pointed again toward the spiritual ginseng.

Aotian, it’s time to focus on the big task at hand.