On He Qing’s side, they finally made it home without much trouble, and Duan Chenhui at last got to taste the watermelon he’d been craving.

Taking a bite of the watermelon, Duan Chenhui smiled. “Very sweet.” Unfortunately, the one Qiao Yi got wasn’t ripe.

“As expected, it’s yellow-hearted,” He Qing said, scooping a bite with a small spoon. “Delicious.”

Duan Chenhui watched him from the sofa. “You’ve never had this before?”

“Nope.” He Qing smiled and took another bite. In his ancient world, they truly didn’t have watermelon, but in this one, they could cultivate all sorts of fruits.

“If you want more in the future, just buy some.” Duan Chenhui assumed He Qing didn’t have pocket money.

“Sure.” He Qing finished the watermelon and headed upstairs. To repay his generous benefactor, Duan Chenhui, he decided to spend the night copying the Heart Sutra.

The next morning, He Qing came downstairs and saw Duan Chenhui, as usual, watching the morning news. He sat down next to him, pulling out some papers and a little beetle-shaped recorder. “General, here’s the Muyu recording and the Heart Sutra I promised. You can listen and copy them when you have time.”

Duan Chenhui took it and glanced over. “You’ve worked hard.” He Qing’s calligraphy was elegant and neat—truly pleasing to the eye.

“Not hard at all. There’s a whole bunch more.” He Qing pulled out a half-meter stack of paper from his space with a thud, shaking the coffee table.

Duan Chenhui twitched. “Why so much?”

“Because I wrote it with a brush, and the characters are bigger. You can also use it to practice your calligraphy while copying.” He Qing smiled brightly, having selected a quiet sutra and some immortal cultivation techniques especially for Duan Chenhui.

He had an epiphany last night: cultivating immortality goes against the natural order. But maybe, just maybe, after writing the Heart Sutra a million or a billion times, Duan Chenhui would experience a miracle!

Duan Chenhui’s mouth twitched. He had just casually mentioned it, not expecting He Qing to take it so seriously. Since his student days, he’d disliked copying texts.

“Alright, I’ll copy when I have time.” Duan Chenhui rubbed his sleeve. He had to honor his own words, after all.

“Good luck, General.” He Qing even cheered him on.

“Mm.” Duan Chenhui looked at him. Even after staying up all night copying sutras, He Qing still looked radiant, like a lotus blooming brightly in his pond. Maybe He Qing would be even happier after writing the Heart Sutra ten thousand times.

Duan Chenhui pondered for a moment. Maybe he should get a robot to cheat?

At that moment, a warning broadcasted on the TV: “Here is the latest wanted criminal. Citizens are advised to stay away and report if they see the suspect, who is suspected of harboring Zerg eggs.”

Duan Chenhui turned to He Qing. “Be careful when you go out.”

“Uh…” He Qing stared at the TV in shock. Wasn’t that wanted criminal…his alias?!

He Qing’s mood was complicated. He was now wanted nationwide. The Omega He Qing was married, Mr. He was being pursued, and He Xingdao, suspected of harboring Zerg eggs, was wanted. If Duan Chenhui found out all these people were him, would he lock him in a cell out of a sense of justice?

He Qing clasped his hands together, silently reciting the Heart Sutra. He couldn’t sit still anymore. “General, I’m off to my internship.”

“It’s still early,” Duan Chenhui noted, glancing at the time.

“I want to go in early and finish early,” He Qing said, fiddling with his prayer beads.

Seeing He Qing suddenly so diligent, Duan Chenhui nodded. “Alright, then go early and come back early.”

“Goodbye, General.” Feeling a bit guilty, He Qing saluted him with one hand and quickly left. Outside, he looked up at the blue sky and white clouds.

Since things had already come to this…he might as well let it be.

–

At home, Duan Chenhui carefully looked over He Qing’s Heart Sutra. He recognized every word, but strung together, they didn’t quite make sense. It was more or less what he had imagined the Heart Sutra to be, something he could memorize by rote.

After memorizing it, Duan Chenhui still hadn’t seen He Qing return, but he did receive a message. After reading it, he decided to go find He Qing.

Ten minutes later, Duan Chenhui arrived at the zoo and asked the manager, “Where’s He Qing?”

“He’s in the small yard up ahead, feeding the panda cubs. I’ll take you to him,” the manager replied, clearly impressed by He Qing, not just for his looks but because he was Duan Chenhui’s Omega.

“Thank you.” Duan Chenhui nodded.

The manager led him through several small courtyards, and when they arrived at a bamboo grove, he called out, “He Qing, the General is here to see you.”

Duan Chenhui looked over. Several black-and-white-clad figures wearing black-and-white headgear all turned to look at him at the same time, resembling bank robbers about to pull off a heist.

“…” Duan Chenhui glanced at them and turned to leave.

“General! General! I’m here!” One of the suspected robbers ran toward him, looking even scarier in his wrinkled black-and-white outfit.

Duan Chenhui stopped, turning to command, “Stay where you are.”

He Qing took off the headgear, looking pitiful. “This is a panda suit. We wear it when feeding and releasing the cubs to keep them from mistaking humans for their family.”

In Duan Chenhui’s mind, panda suits were supposed to be fluffy, not resembling bank robbers. He pressed his slightly aching forehead, walked over, and pinched He Qing’s face to clear out the jumbled thoughts in his head.

“General?” He Qing was confused.

Duan Chenhui let go. “This outfit is quite visually striking.”

“I think it’s cute,” He Qing chuckled. “Did you come for something, General?”

“We’ve finished preparations and are taking the students for their internship,” Duan Chenhui said. In fact, he could’ve just sent a message about this, but he ended up coming in person. “I’ll be back in a month.”

“Got it, General. Take care,” He Qing nodded.

“Mm. See you in a month.” Duan Chenhui gave him another glance, realizing there was nothing more to say, so he turned and left. After walking a short distance, he suddenly heard footsteps behind him. Turning, he saw He Qing catching up.

“General, I almost forgot. This is a Ping An lotus root.” He Qing took out a small jade carving tied with a red string from his space.

“Thank you.” Duan Chenhui accepted it, examining the jade. It was a pale pink, almost like real lotus root.

“General should wear it to nourish it,” He Qing smiled. The Ping An lotus root contained his merit energy, which would transfer his karma back to Duan Chenhui, and he had also engraved a life-saving array inside it.

“Nourish?” Duan Chenhui found the choice of words amusing. “Will the little lotus root grow into a big one?”

He Qing froze, almost thinking he’d been found out. He closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and solemnly said, “If you pray sincerely, perhaps you’ll harvest a man-sized lotus root one day…”

Duan Chenhui laughed. “A thousand-year lotus root must be quite tasty.”

“…A million, maybe?” He Qing’s eyes widened in shock. The General really was a terrifying man who wanted to eat lotus root!

Duan Chenhui hung the jade lotus root around his neck and smiled. “Then we’ll make soup.”

“…I think the black cell might be better. That’d definitely be a demon, maybe even poisonous…” He Qing imagined himself being tossed into a pot and silently shook his head. The black cell was way more appealing.

“If it’s a demon, we could consider the black cell. Then slowly stew it,” Duan Chenhui teased, checking the time. “I’m off.”

“Mm-hmm… Goodbye, General.” He Qing waved stiffly. Was that really something a person would say? Slowly stew it? Even though his whole body was, in fact, edible… and a top-notch tonic.

After seeing Duan Chenhui off, He Qing wandered back, dazed, holding a milk bottle and spacing out.

The instructor asked him, “The General’s leaving?”

“Yeah.” He Qing snapped out of it, handing the panda bottle over. Amitabha, he couldn’t think about it anymore. The General was just joking, right?

After feeding the panda cubs, he finished his shift and thought of visiting the Zhang brothers next door, only to overhear them whispering about him in a corner.

Zhang Lin was lecturing, “If he asks you out at midnight again, will you go?”

Zhang Yi: “Of course not! He’s an Omega. If he’s sneaking out in the middle of the night, it’s definitely for an affair! I just wanted to steal a melon…”

Zhang Lin: “As long as you know. It’s not the General I’m scared of. It’s you falling into a ditch—”

“What affair?” He Qing interrupted, patting them on the shoulder.

The two of them jumped, their faces turning white as Zhang Yi exclaimed, “Crap, you scared me to death.”

Zhang Lin frowned, his face darkening. “Do you walk without making a sound?”

Zhang Yi stared at him. They were well-known figures, yet they hadn’t even noticed when He Qing sneaked up behind them!

“I’m light-footed,” He Qing smiled, squinting his eyes. “I came to invite you back to school.”

Zhang Yi crossed his arms, looking irritated. “We’re not going back today.”

“What a shame. I’ll invite you again tomorrow.” He Qing waved at them and walked off. After taking about ten steps, he turned back and asked, “Are you sure you’re not going back to school?”

“Nope,” Zhang Lin answered this time, grabbing Zhang Yi and turning to leave.

He Qing failed to recruit them and returned on his own. That afternoon, he had a flower arrangement class. After finishing his arrangement, he took a picture and sent it to Duan Chenhui: “Does it look nice, General?”

After a while, Duan Chenhui replied, ever the straight-laced one: “It looks nice.”

He Qing calculated the time. Duan Chenhui was probably on the ship now. “You must be busy, General. Talk to you later.”

After that, He Qing closed the screen and placed a wooden fish in front of the vase, closing his eyes to recite the Heart Sutra.

The next day, he went to invite the Zhang brothers to school again, only to be refused by Zhang Lin once more. Undeterred, he persisted and went every day to invite them.

Half a month later, Zhang Lin finally seemed to give in and accepted his invitation.

That day, everyone witnessed the strange sight of He Qing walking into school with the Zhang brothers.

Forum user 校森晚整*理園網 posted: “Doesn’t Zhang Lin usually prefer being a lone wolf with just his brother?”

“…No idea, I’m taking a closer look…”

“Maybe he likes being pestered? I heard He Qing invited him every day.”

“OMG! The General just left for a mission!”

“!!! Forget I said anything.”

But by then, rumors had already spread like wildfire. People whispered all sorts of things about He Qing behind his back, some even accusing him of being shameless and promiscuous!

He Qing, a fan of forum gossip, naturally caught wind of it. He sighed. He was definitely doomed now. Once General Duan found out, he’d surely lock him in a cell.

Zhang Yi, who was quite concerned about the rumors, suggested, “Maybe we should explain?”

They were innocent after all! He was even scared that He Qing might drag them into trouble.

He Qing handed him a third of a watermelon. “Calm down. The more you explain, the worse it gets. We’re just like the brothers from Peach Garden Oath.”

“Huh?” Zhang Yi had a feeling he was being taken advantage of.

Zhang Lin, much calmer, took a bite of watermelon. “No need to explain.”

Zhang Yi, gnawing on his watermelon, stared at them. Bro! Weren’t you the one who said we shouldn’t get too close to He Qing in the first place?!

After finishing the watermelon, Zhang Yi wiped his mouth and, upon returning home, confronted Zhang Lin.

Zhang Lin, frying vegetables, gave him a disgusted look. “Because he’s so damn persistent.”

Zhang Yi thought about it, then glanced at their family sitting outside. “I guess we’re all in the same boat.” They were also fallen aristocrats, except they still had their parents.

It really was like the Peach Garden Oath after all. Zhang Yi wiped his face and accepted his fate.

Zhang Lin tapped the iron pot with his spoon. “Stop daydreaming and wash these veggies too.”

“Oh.”

---

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