As He Qing helped them rescue their beloved plants, holding the flashlight, he suggested, “I think growing exotic plants might be more long-lived.”

“You don’t understand! Original Bluestar plants are more challenging! There’s no sense of achievement in growing exotic plants!” someone passionately retorted.

“Yeah, exactly!” The others immediately echoed, their eyes gleaming with enthusiasm.

He Qing thought for a moment. If one had spiritual power, it would indeed make growing Bluestar plants easier, so he agreed, “You’re right.”

“Hehe, I suggest you write your graduation thesis on rice cultivation!”

Everyone turned to look at Shi Lei: Holy crap, Shi Lei is ruthless! That’s way too hard!

He Qing shook his head, declining, “I still think carnivorous plants are cute.”

“…”

Now everyone fell into silence. He Qing, you’re nothing like the rumors!

“Ahem, we should hurry up!” Shi Lei broke the awkward silence.

“Yeah, let’s get moving!” The group snapped back to reality, pretending they hadn’t heard anything.

He Qing smiled and helped his classmates secure the plants. Like them, he ended up soaked and covered in mud. He looked down at himself and said, “I’m going to wash up.”

“Let’s all go back and clean up! I still have two watermelons left! I’ll treat you all tonight!” Shi Lei, full of energy, waved for everyone to head back.

He Qing silently clasped his hands together in prayer. So the last two watermelons were in Shi Lei’s hands. That meant it was a tie between him and the mentor. The mentor stole one, but then compensated for it, which seemed fair.

Following behind the group, He Qing quietly slipped away. He cast a quick spell to clean himself and ran over to the carnivorous lantern tree. Looking up, he heard the roar of thunder overhead.

Wiping away the water on his forehead, He Qing bent down and took out a small number of spiritual stones, setting up an array around the lantern tree.

Sun Tu glanced at him and grumbled, [Wasteful.]

“Let’s hope it works out.” He Qing walked over, touched the tree’s trunk, and channeled some spiritual energy into it. Then, he stepped back to observe. Before long, a bolt of lightning struck down, hitting the lantern tree directly, scorching some of its flowers at the top.

The second bolt followed shortly after, but at that moment, a transparent shield rose in the sky.

He Qing felt relieved. It seemed the school had realized something was off with this lightning tribulation cloud. The lantern tree, having absorbed the spiritual stones, was now vibrant and full of life again.

“He Qing.” A voice suddenly called out from behind him.

Startled, He Qing turned to see Duan Chenhui walking over, holding an umbrella. He was still in his military uniform, seemingly having rushed here.

“General, why are you here?”

“I heard you were here, so I came to pick you up,” Duan Chenhui said as he approached, holding the umbrella over He Qing to shield him from the rain. “The thunderstorms lately have been dangerous. Let’s go back.”

“…It’s indeed quite dangerous. I helped my classmates secure the plants.” He Qing glanced at Duan Chenhui, suddenly unsure if he really just happened to be passing by.

Duan Chenhui smiled, noticing He Qing’s clean clothes. “So you must have been in charge of holding the flashlight.”

“…” He Qing remained calm. “That’s right.”

“Let’s go then.” Duan Chenhui took a look at the lantern tree before turning to lead the way.

He Qing sighed, quietly leaving his nascent soul behind to watch over the lantern tree. Then he followed Duan Chenhui, got into the car, and headed back home. After taking a bath, the butler carefully brought out some snacks.

He Qing sat down and looked at the transparent yellow snack. “Osmanthus cake?”

“Yes, it’s a new product from Tianhai Restaurant. Give it a try.” Duan Chenhui had also just finished bathing. He sat down and picked up a remote. “Do you want to watch a movie?”

He Qing poked the cake with his fork. “Immortal fantasy.”

“Hmm?”

“Ahem… Sci-fi works too.” He Qing laughed and took a bite of the cake.

Duan Chenhui pressed a button, and the lights around them dimmed as a large screen rose. He handed He Qing a helmet. “It’s holographic.”

Curious, He Qing took the helmet and put it on. It was his first time watching a holographic movie, and once he put it on, he realized it was like watching the movie through a camera’s perspective. The film started quickly, and after a while, He Qing realized it was about time travel. He wasn’t sure if Duan Chenhui chose it on purpose or by accident.

As he watched intently, he suddenly heard Duan Chenhui’s voice. “Even though we now have faster-than-light travel, we’re still within this universe. Recently, the research institute has been exploring new possibilities.”

He Qing’s heart skipped a beat. “Are you trying to travel beyond this universe to other worlds?” How is that different from cultivators? Even without artifacts, they could use high-tech methods to cross dimensions. He suddenly felt an unexpected sense of crisis.

“But we don’t know if there’s anything beyond our universe. So far, we haven’t reached its edges,” Duan Chenhui added.

“I don’t know either. Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t…” He Qing rubbed the Buddhist beads on his chest, trying to calm down.

Duan Chenhui smiled. “If the experiment succeeds, even if a criminal escapes to the ends of the universe, they won’t be able to get away.”

“…” He Qing’s hand, which was fidgeting with the beads, paused. He had a sneaking suspicion Duan Chenhui was hinting at something. But he remained composed. “Criminals don’t have access to that kind of technology.”

“True,” Duan Chenhui said, and then fell silent.

He Qing quietly took off the helmet and stared at Duan Chenhui for a while. If he were to run away, would Duan Chenhui really chase him all the way to the cultivation world?

He quickly shook his head and stood up. That wouldn’t happen. The general wasn’t that kind of person. He glanced at Duan Chenhui again, touched his chest, and quietly returned to his room.

When he opened the door to his room, the lightning clouds overhead were gradually dispersing. After a while, his nascent soul returned—but it had something on its back.

He Qing grabbed his nascent soul and pulled down the small sapling clinging to it, which let out a soft whimper.

Holding up the sapling, He Qing asked, “Why did you follow me?” The lantern tree had left behind a huge hole, and by tomorrow, it would definitely become the school’s top headline.

The lantern tree clung to him with its tentacle-like roots and leaves, as if it was refusing to let go.

“Can’t you take human form?” As soon as He Qing asked, the lantern tree rapidly grew, almost filling the entire room and nearly knocking off the ceiling of the general’s mansion.

He Qing pushed aside the vines blocking his view and thought for a moment. Apparently, it couldn’t transform into a human form.

Sun Tu spoke up. [It’s probably because there’s not enough spiritual energy here. Its human form might be like a baby. It’s likely hungry.]

“Can you shrink a bit?” He Qing took out a flower pot. “Come on, get in here.”

The lantern tree wiggled its limbs, slowly shrinking. Just then, there was a knock on the door from outside. “He Qing, are you in your room?”

He Qing looked at the lantern tree and whispered, “Hurry up.” Then he called out to Duan Chenhui, “Yes, I suddenly felt a little unwell, so I came upstairs.”

“How are you now?”

“Nothing serious anymore.”

“I’ll call the doctor to check on you.”

He Qing quickly shoved the lantern tree into the bathroom, hastily tidying up the room before running to open the door. “I’m fine now, let’s go finish the movie.”

“Alright.” Duan Chenhui glanced inside the room, but suddenly noticed a lot of shadows moving in the bathroom glass—tentacles wriggling. Duan Chenhui paused, silent for a moment. Was this a tentacle monster? Or was He Qing a tentacle monster…

He Qing quickly shut the door and smiled at Duan Chenhui. “Where were we in the movie, General?”

“We hadn’t finished it yet. We can rewatch it.” Duan Chenhui remained calm and led him downstairs, though his steps felt a bit heavy. “But it’s getting late. After we finish, let’s get some sleep.”

“Yes.” He Qing breathed a sigh of relief as they went downstairs. They pretended to enjoy the movie, and afterward, He Qing rushed back to his room to deal with the newly awakened lantern tree, trying to coax it into the flower pot.

However, the tree refused, pointing towards the outside.

He Qing looked at it. “You want to go back?”

The lantern tree wiggled its branches and nodded.

Sun Tu cursed. [What a troublemaker. Why don’t you stew it? It’d probably be very nutritious.]

He Qing thought Sun Tu’s comment was way too dark. He took out some spiritual stones to feed the lantern tree instead.

Meanwhile, Duan Chenhui had returned to his room. Sitting at his desk, he pondered for a moment before opening his screen to contact Qiao Yi.

Duan Chenhui: [Is there a chance that a new species could exist in this universe?]

Qiao Yi: [Of course it’s possible, but I hope none appear. Every time they do, it’s a huge hassle, and there’s a good chance it’ll lead to war.]

Duan Chenhui nodded: [You’re right, I might be overthinking it.]

Qiao Yi curiously asked: [What are you overthinking?]

[Nothing. Goodnight.] Duan Chenhui closed the terminal. Thinking back to that shadow, it was possible He Qing was just keeping something strange as a pet. Surely He Qing wasn’t actually a tentacle monster…

Duan Chenhui suddenly felt a headache coming on. It must be another side effect of the amnesia.