After He Qing returned, he went to ask Zhang Yi and the others, only to be roasted by all of them.

Shi Lei: “Who was the one who invited me to join the team in the first place?”

Zhang Yi, like a copy-paste machine: “Who was the one who invited me to join the team in the first place?”

Shi Lei: “Young people rise and fight! If love doesn’t work, we’ll focus on our careers!”

He Qing: “…I was always in a marriage of convenience.”

Everyone: “?!?!?!”

Zhang Lin: “I told you all, but you didn’t believe me.”

Chu Yan: “You’re still a thousand ranks away. What’s the difference at this point?”

He Qing thought about it and found Chu Yan’s words made sense: “Classmate Chu is right. I’ll just climb another thousand ranks.”

The people on the school’s StarNet quickly noticed the little dark horse who had disappeared for a long time was suddenly active again, and they all rushed to watch, only to find that his skills had leveled up once more.

“Whoa! Did he just rocket up?!”

“Has he been training like crazy in real life lately?”

“Looks like it. What a terrifying man…”

Duan Chenhui also noticed He Qing’s achievements on StarNet. He made a call to the dean: “Keep a spot open for a mysterious contestant in that friendly competition.”

The dean laughed and said, “I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but it seems like things are patched up for now?”

“We never fought in the first place,” Duan Chenhui retorted.

The dean rolled his eyes in his office: “Got it, I’ll take care of it. You just don’t want people to know it’s He Qing, right?”

“Don’t make it too obvious,” Duan Chenhui added.

“Fine, fine,” the dean agreed readily. “But are you really not going back to your post? The king has sent me countless private messages.”

“I’ll see how things go.” Duan Chenhui hung up the phone.

The dean also hung up and looked up at the king standing in front of him: “Your Majesty, you heard him. It’s not that I didn’t try.”

The Beta King paced back and forth, looking so distressed it seemed he’d lost his appetite: “Those aliens are thrilled that Duan Chenhui was forced to resign. Some even claimed they’d try to recruit him! How infuriating.”

The dean stroked his chin with a smile: “Well, there’s nothing we can do. Now, if Duan Chenhui makes a request, you’ll have to agree.”

The king took a few more steps and then stared at the dean: “A mysterious contestant is nothing. I’m more worried the Zerg might make a comeback.”

“Not that soon,” the dean said as he sipped his tea. “Even if they do, you could just reinstate him on the spot. I’m sure General Duan would accept.”

The king glared at him, looking pained: “We’d have to offer some serious perks…”

The dean smiled and stood up to see him out: “That’s unavoidable. Please, Your Majesty, you should head back now. I have to teach a class.”

“Okay, I’ll come back when I have time,” the king said as he walked out and got into his car, only to realize that the dean didn’t have any classes at all! He had been kicked out!

—

He Qing stayed at the Duan residence for a while and found that every hiding place he tried was quickly discovered by Duan Chenhui. He started packing his things, ready to leave: “General, I have to go to class.”

“And where are you staying now?” Duan Chenhui asked a rather critical question.

He Qing, quick on his feet, blurted out: “At my deskmate’s house.”

Duan Chenhui gave him a knowing smile: “Alright, I’ll have someone drop you off. I’ll take care of that lotus seed for you for now.”

“No need, I can take care of the lotus seed myself,” He Qing immediately replied.

Duan Chenhui picked up his fish tank: “No need to be polite with me.”

He Qing reached out to grab it back but suddenly saw the dark energy surrounding Duan Chenhui. He quickly retracted his hand: “Alright, General, I’ll let you keep it safe for now.” He stared at the dark energy around Duan Chenhui—it was a manifestation of his inner demons.

He dared not act recklessly.

“Fine. I’ll have someone send you over,” Duan Chenhui agreed, though he still held onto the lotus seed.

“Thank you for the trouble, General,” He Qing said, glancing at his lotus seed. It had become a hostage, and he didn’t dare defy Duan Chenhui now.

Duan Chenhui nodded and had someone come to pick up He Qing.

He Qing reluctantly watched as his “true form” was driven away. When he arrived at Chu Yan’s house, he was already feeling troubled.

Chu Yan didn’t let him in: “Do you think my house is suitable for you?”

“It seems pretty suitable.” He Qing looked up at the rusty iron gate and the five little heads peeking from behind it.

“Get lost,” Chu Yan slammed the door in his face, leaving He Qing standing outside.

He Qing rubbed his prayer beads. Amitabha, if I’m not welcome here, I’ll find somewhere else to go. He turned and headed to Sun Tu’s place.

Sun Tu was leisurely enjoying barbecue at his villa: “Want some?” he offered.

He Qing looked at the grilled fish: “Big fish eat little fish.”

“Seems normal enough.” Sun Tu looked at him for a moment before finally realizing something: “Where’s your lotus seed?”

“It’s with the General,” He Qing replied. Though he wasn’t eating the barbecue, he drank some water and soon sensed that his true form was being watered by Duan Chenhui… And Duan Chenhui was even examining it up close.

He’d never felt this before, but apparently, this connection was quite strong.

Sun Tu couldn’t help but laugh: “You seem to forget that you can sense everything happening to your true form.”

“When it was in the Holy Grail, I couldn’t feel anything.” He Qing sighed, relieved when Duan Chenhui finally set it down after examining it for a while.

Sun Tu continued eating his barbecue: “I secretly checked out the research lab. That place Black Shark found definitely has spiritual stones. I sent people to see if there are any left.”

“They’re probably relics from seniors who ventured into the secret realm before,” He Qing mused, thinking that he’d only gotten herbs and no spiritual stones.

Sun Tu turned to him: “If I find the spiritual stones, you can trade them for pills. I want a Yuan Ying Pill. You have those, right?”

“Sure.” He Qing did indeed have Yuan Ying Pills, so they agreed to a fair exchange.

He Qing stayed at Sun Tu’s place, but Duan Chenhui often came by for “diplomatic reasons.” However, every time, Sun Tu refused to meet him.

“He’s here again,” Sun Tu sighed when the robot reported Duan Chenhui’s arrival. “Why don’t you just go back with him?”

He Qing paused: “We’re divorced. It wouldn’t be proper.”

“And staying at my place is proper? Plus, you’ve got money now,” Sun Tu stood up and ushered him out. He turned to Duan Chenhui at the door: “He said he wants to buy a villa. Go show him around.”

He Qing was about to protest, but Duan Chenhui simply said, “I know where to find a good one.”

He Qing smiled weakly and glanced at Sun Tu, who had just sold him out. Sun Tu closed the door, leaving He Qing to sigh about how the world had fallen apart. He didn’t even have a place to stay anymore.

After some back and forth, the villa Duan Chenhui chose was just one street away from the General’s mansion!

He Qing stood by the window and could see Duan Chenhui’s place from there. Clearly, Duan had planned this all along. He turned to the general, who was chatting with customer service: “General, do you really think this place is good?”

“I think it’s perfect,” Duan Chenhui walked over. “Not satisfied? I have another place next door.”

The place next door was even closer. He Qing, reluctant to push further, decided not to say no. He feared Duan would completely darken if he did: “Alright, this place will do.” He twirled his prayer beads, resigned to his fate.

Duan Chenhui seemed satisfied as well and nodded, telling customer service: “This one, full payment.”

“Thank you for your patronage. Please swipe your card,” the customer service representative said, holding out a card-swiping device.

He Qing pulled out his card and made the payment. Only then did he remember that Duan Chenhui’s gold cards were still with him. He glanced at the human representative and quietly tucked the card back into his pocket, deciding to return the gold cards to Duan later.

This villa came fully furnished, but He Qing still bought some daily necessities online and planned to cook a meal to celebrate the purchase. Naturally, Duan Chenhui stayed for dinner.

“You know how to cook? Need help?” Duan Chenhui asked as he walked into the kitchen and saw He Qing throwing vegetables and meat into one pot, seemingly attempting a hot pot.

“No need, you’re a guest,” He Qing cautiously added a pinch of salt. “This is hot pot, it’ll be ready soon.” Hot pot seemed doable enough for him.

“Hmm…” Duan Chenhui looked at the eighteen different seasonings He Qing was using and nodded, thinking He Qing was still the king of dark cuisine.

Soon, the hot pot was ready. Duan Chenhui, catching a whiff of the sweet, spicy, and sour aroma, mentally prepared himself before picking up his chopsticks.

He Qing sat down and looked at the broth: “…I think I might have mixed a few different hot pot bases.”

“No problem, it looks very colorful,” Duan Chenhui said as he carefully ate a piece of vegetable, silently swallowing it. How did the vegetable manage to taste sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty all at once?

He Qing, seeing that Duan Chenhui looked normal, took a bite of the vegetable himself. His expression changed: “I think… we should order takeout.”

Duan Chenhui set down his chopsticks and agreed: “You’re right.”

He Qing sighed, and in the end, they ate takeout. After dinner, he saw Duan Chenhui to the door: “Goodnight, General.”

“Goodnight,” Duan Chenhui nodded, crossing the street back to his mansion.

He Qing glanced at the gates of the General’s mansion from this angle. It felt different somehow. He closed the door, went upstairs to the third floor, and looked out again. Although Duan Chenhui had drawn the curtains, there was light inside, and he could vaguely see Duan moving around.

He Qing watched for a while, then pulled his own curtains shut.

But how was he going to deal with Duan Chenhui’s inner demons? It seemed like a real headache.

—

Duan Chenhui, after finishing his book, opened the curtains to take a look. He saw that He Qing had closed his curtains as well, but the room on that side was dark. He had no idea what He Qing was doing.

Maybe meditating.

After a moment, he turned back and watered the lotus seed. It had already grown half its original size, which meant it really could sprout.

Curious, Duan Chenhui picked it up and twirled it in his hand. It looked white and plump, somewhat cute. He suddenly wondered what it would grow into.