To Raise A Soul

Although both men ended up staying up the whole night, there were apparent differences when comparing their states the next morning. One appeared full of energy, with rosy cheeks and shining eyes, while the other"s eyes were bloodshot and his complexion was pale.

Qiu Feiqian looked at one, then at the other, and finally gave Yin Yan a look which clearly expressed her sentiment of "Just one night of restraint, but you"ve already become like this". She patted Yin Yan"s shoulder in understanding then left with Yin Hexiang.

"Tang Jia asked me to play basketball. Ge, Yu Ge, I"m heading off first."

Yin Le left soon after his parents. He was afraid that if he stayed and watched the interactions of this pair of husbands, he would end up eating so much dog food that he"d dream about it.

Bang. The door shut. Yu Zhen turned to look at Yin Yan.

Still standing at the entrance hall, Yin Yan calmly fished out a pill and ate it. He then picked up Yu Zhen"s scarf and wrapped it around Yu Zhen, covering his eyes in the process.  

Yu Zhen: "???"

“Let"s go to the apartment.”

Once again, Yu Zhen stood in the kitchen with a heap of ingredients, knife in hand. He then decisively put the sharp tool down and strode to the living room. He asked, "Yin Yan, what"s really going on with you? Is there something wro- "

Rays of sunlight filtered in through the French windows, covering the carpet, the sofa and the sleeping Yin Yan in a warm glow. 

Yu Zhen looked at Yin Yan"s face, noting that it somehow maintained that same lack of expression even in his sleep. He trod lightly over and crouched down.

Yin Yan is very handsome, there is no doubt about that. Yu Zhen purposely squinted, trying to blur the features of the face in front of him.

This remnant soul inside "Yin Yan" – what would his real appearance be like?

Would it look better than this? Or would it look ordinary?

He"ll definitely have dark eyes and hair. And he"s definitely pale. But the shape of his eyes might be straighter. His lips would always be pursed, and the corners would rarely rise upwards.

As a cultivator, his hair should be long and straight…

Unconsciously, his hand reached out to touch Yin Yan"s face. Just as his fingertips were about to make contact, a white form appeared and clung onto his arm.

“Meow ~” 

The white kitten raised its head and cried softly at him.

Yu Zhen immediately snapped out of his dazed state and brought the kitten into his embrace. Gently petting it, his lips curved up and he whispered, "Why have you come out? Hungry?"

Xu Wu swung its tail, stood up and sniffed Yu Zhen.

"So silly."

Yu Zhen patted its head. He glanced at Yin Yan once more before standing up with Xu Wu in his arms. With light steps, he headed upstairs. 

From within a rather empty wardrobe, Yu Zhen managed to locate a thick blanket. He looked to Xu Wu and was about to tell the kitten to jump on the blanket so he could carry them both back downstairs when it walked up to Yu Zhen. The kitten rubbed its body along his leg once then clawed itself up his pants and continued maneuvering upwards until it reached Yu Zhen"s head. Then, it made itself comfortable and laid down in the bed of hair. 

Yu Zhen had stiffened, not daring to move lest the little thing accidentally fell. While knowing it was futile, he looked up. True enough, he was not able to see the kitten from this angle. But Yu Zhen felt the cat"s tail tickling him on his nape. He laughed, "You sure know how to choose places."

Despite his words, Yu Zhen made no move to shift the kitten off its perch. He moved downstairs with a kitten on his head and a blanket in his arms.

He covered Yin Yan with the blanket and adjusted a cushion to the side a little, so it wouldn"t cause Yin Yan discomfort while he slept. He looked on with satisfaction at his work and then reached up to remove Xu Wu from his head. After squeezing the cat"s tail, he headed back into the kitchen. 

Yu Zhen did some washing, chopping, frying, and stewing. 

A pot of soup bubbled away and emitted steam. Xu Wu paced back and forth on the countertop and, from time to time, stole some food.

"Your original form is a paG.o.da. Is it really okay to eat these?" Yu Zhen asked.

Xu Wu looked up at him, meowed, and pounced onto Yu Zhen"s body, his tail swishing against Yu Zhen"s hair again.

"Looks like there"s no problem," he chuckled. He decided to fry up a plate of little fish for the kitten.

When the dishes were served, Yin Yan was still asleep. After a moment of hesitation, he stepped forward to wake him up. 

Since his position hadn"t changed at all, Yin Yan was apparently the kind that slept completely still . Yu Zhen first observed him with an admiring look before reaching out a hand. 

When Yin Yan"s closed eyes suddenly opened, he was met with a view of Yu Zhen. After a stunned moment, he immediately reached for Yu Zhen"s outstretched hand. Despite no change in his facial expression, his eyes betrayed an anxious yet dazed feeling.   

“Did I disturb you?”

Yu Zhen let him hold his hand and, with a smile, he said, “Come on, it"s time to eat.”

With perfect timing, Xu Wu jumped down, landed on Yin Yan"s stomach, and then meowed at him. 

The previous emotion in Yin Yan"s eyes was quickly restrained and calmness appeared in its place. Nodding, Yin Yan let go of Yu Zhen"s hand and sat up. Raising a hand to his own forehead, he asked, "How long did I sleep?"

"Only three or four hours. If you"re still sleepy, eat first then go to the bed to sleep."

Yin Yan quietly looked up at him for a few seconds before looking away. Supporting Xu Wu in his arms, he headed to the dining table.

Yu Zhen watched his departing back and placed a hand over his own stomach with curiosity.

Strange. Why is it starting to feel weird again? Didn"t he say eating the boundary of attraction would make things better?

"It"s only a temporary remedy. You have not completely recovered."

That was the answer Yu Zhen received after their dinner. Afterward, Yin Yan held his hand and circulated power to him without a word.  

Yu Zhen felt that the hand being held was very warm. It was a comfortable warmth which Yu Zhen couldn"t help but indulge in. 

The warmth continued to grow until it reached its peak and began to gradually subside. Yin Yan released his grasp and asked, "Are you still cold?"

Yu Zhen clenched his hands, shook his head and replied, "Not anymore. Is my tendency to feel cold almost better?"

"Right now, you"re strengthening your immortal soul[1] but the process is not yet complete. In the future, if your soul suffers an attack, the cold will return to your body." 

Yin Yan explained and gestured for Yu Zhen to sit opposite him. He took out an antique book and continued, "With the current strength of your immortal soul, you can try to absorb qi into your body. But this world"s spiritual energy is lacking and impure. The normal method of absorbing qi will not be useful, so I found this."

The ancient book appeared to be written in Seal Script[2], but there were slight differences that Yu Zhen was unfamiliar with. 

"This text is from the cultivation world. It can"t be read with the naked eye. Close your eyes. Draw out some merits and channel them to the book."

Yu Zhen did as instructed. Hand on the book, he recalled the method taught by Yin Yan yesterday and forced out a small amount of merit that glowed dimly.

In the darkness behind his shut eyes, a semi-transparent book suddenly appeared. He held his breath and had to suppress his surprise. He "watched" as the book slowly materialized, bit by bit. The words on the cover gradually appeared. 

"《Scripture of Floriculture*》"

The words appeared in the familiar simplified Chinese script. He couldn"t resist reading out the t.i.tle. A wisp of a cool breeze brushed across his face. The book in front of him lit up and floated towards him. On reflex, Yu Zhen opened his eyes and saw the appearance of the manual in his hand was vastly different from before.

The originally simple and unadorned brown book cover had become a soft sheepskin cover. The size had also changed and it now looked like an ordinary leather notebook.

"You like growing flowers, so we"ll use floral cultivation to enter the Way[3]. The spiritual energy of this world is too spa.r.s.e and will be hard to absorb. But the seven emotions* can change and opportunity is everywhere. Heavenly law is not picky about how people enter the Way. If you can"t absorb qi, you can acc.u.mulate merits."

Using floral cultivation to enter the Way?

Yu Zhen didn"t quite understand but, somehow, he felt an attraction to the book. He picked up the book and gently opened it. 

After turning over the cover, the scent of paper from modern times wafted up. A page displayed large words written with a brush in a vertical direction[4]: Part One: The Pistil*

A light fragrance of ink dispersed through the air. Yu Zhen reached out to touch the words. The characters appeared to have warmth and life. Upon contact, they seemed to fade into the page, becoming indistinct before turning into another row of words: As a woman, experiencing the seven hardships in life is a must.

Seven hardships in life? Isn"t that a Buddhist teaching? For cultivators… shouldn"t this be following Taoism?

"As I said before, the Way does not distinguish between the method used."

Yin Yan seemed to see through the question in his mind. Finished with his explanation, he turned and said, "Let"s go."

Unable to follow his train of thought, Yu Zhen blankly asked, "Go where?"

“To buy tools for growing flowers.”

The low-key, black car parked outside a plant nursery in B City. Yin Yan spent a large sum of money to buy a complete set of well-used tools from a veteran flower gardener. As he handed the items to Yu Zhen, he said, "Use these. The new is lesser than the old. This is one of the basics for pursuing the Way."

Yu Zhen looked at the set of tools that held an earthy scent. He picked up the hand pruners and lightly touched the scars left from years of use. Looking at Yin Yan, he let out a smile and replied, "Thank you."

Rather than new tools, he preferred these old ones. 

It"s a shame my tools are probably decayed and lost, never to be found again, since they got buried underneath the ruins.

Yin Yan looked at his face which carried a gentle smile. Distracted, he said, "You"ve become fond of smiling."

"Really?" Yu Zhen touched his face and his smile became even more brilliant. "It"s probably because my mood has been better these past couple of days."

He"d gained some confidence and, when speaking, he no longer worried about stuttering. He could face others normally instead of timidly hiding away.

The effects of working on repairing his soul were beginning to show. 

Yin Yan looked away and walked to the car. Pulling open the door, he said, "Get on. We"re going to the next stop."

An hour later, the car stopped at the base of a lesser-known hill on the outskirts of B City. Yin Yan took out a bag of candies and pa.s.sed it to Yu Zhen, saying, "Go. Find residents of this mountain and use this to exchange for some seeds."

 "Seeds?" Yu Zhen lowered his head to look at the bag candies in his arms which looked to be expensive and imported. Dazed, he asked, "Are any seeds okay?"

"Any is fine. The seeds will be used as a medium for future cultivation. There"s no restriction on the type."

Yu Zhen nodded, appearing to understand, but not truly understanding. Holding the candies, he headed to a nearby village.

Despite living at the foot of the mountain, the villagers were very smart. They weren"t intimidated by the exquisite looking clothes Yu Zhen wore and, although Yu Zhen looked kind-hearted and not at all like a swindler, everyone remained guarded with him. Most didn"t even finish listening to his request before waving a hand and asking him to leave. 

Helpless, Yu Zhen glanced back at Yin Yan who watched him from underneath a tree by the village entrance. Determined, he pulled down his scarf and, changing tactics, went to look for children or elderly folks.

Finally, an attempt was successful. By playing with some children and making the elderly happy, he managed to exchange a small bag of seeds. It contained mostly vegetable seeds, but there was a small portion of cereal grains and flower seeds too. 

"Thank you, Granny. That"s enough, that"s enough. It"s really enough."

Yu Zhen stopped the granny who wanted to stuff more seeds in the bag for him. Supporting the old woman to her house, he expressed his thanks. Observing the dim, cold and cheerless house, Yu Zhen felt hesitatingly curious, but decided to ask, "Granny, do you live alone? Where are your children?" 

"None left. They"re all gone."

The old granny sat on a wooden chair in the central room of her traditional house. Her clouded eyes roamed around her sunless home. Her tone was calm but it brought a sense of bleak melancholy from having seen much of the world.

"I moved into this village after I got married at the age of sixteen and gave birth to five children. The oldest was gone when he was born. The fortune-teller said he reincarnated into the wrong fetus, so he returned to the underworld to be reborn again."

"My second was a daughter. She was plump and loved to cry. She didn"t do as she was told and played in the water. When she was pulled out, her stomach was this far out. I cried by the sh.o.r.e for so long, I almost went blind from my tears…"

"The third was a good child, but would never grow fat. When there was a famine, a fuss was made about getting food for me. So the child left, and never returned."

"The fourth became a soldier. He was alive and well when we sent him off on the train. What returned to us was a uniform. I couldn"t cry anymore. I couldn"t cry anymore."

"The fifth.. the fifth got married and went off somewhere into the city. There are many cars in the city, and so she died suddenly. She left behind a grandson, but I don"t know where her man went with the child. They can"t be found anymore."

"Later, my old man also left and this house became empty. I"m the only one left."

As the old woman spoke, her gaze ventured up to the sunlight that crept up by the threshold of her home but no further. There were no tears in her eyes nor any sadness. She even let out a smile. Raising her hands to a teapot and a teacup, she said to Yu Zhen, "Child, drink some water. Come, drink. It"s been quite a while since someone has listened to me talk. Every month, someone sends me oil and rice, and now a young fellow such as yourself has brought me candy. The days are good."

Yu Zhen took the water offered by the old woman. With reddened eyes, he smiled at the old woman and drained the cup in one gulp. He sighed, "Yeah, the days are good."

The old woman who had understood everything didn"t need sympathy or consolation. The only thing Yu Zhen could do was to quietly listen.

Yu Zhen entered the village with the candies in high spirits, but left with a lowered head and slumped shoulders.

Yin Yan looked at him and asked, "Want to go home?"

Yu Zhen nodded, but then changed his mind and quickly shook his head. As if he thought of something, he stuffed the bag of seeds into Yin Yan"s arms and ran back towards the village.

Yin Yan touched the two wet drops on the cloth sack then followed with large strides to keep up with Yu Zhen.

Returning to the place where the children were gathered to play, Yu Zhen looked for the child who had previously taken the initiative to speak with him. Then he asked, "Is there a lake near the village? Or any places with water?"

"Yes! On the west side, there"s a pond. But you"d better not go! Grandpa says there"s a ghost! It eats people!"

"Thank you. I catch ghosts, so I"m not afraid of them."

Yu Zhen tousled the child"s hair and headed towards the west side of the village.

As he walked further west, the number of houses decreased. Eventually, there wasn"t a single house in sight. 

The path underfoot became covered in withered gra.s.s. It was obvious that no one usually came to the small pond.

Kah.

The sound of a branch breaking coming from behind him made Yu Zhen jump. He turned around in a panic.

"It"s me," Yin Yan walked to his side. Looking at the pond in front of him, he asked, "Why did you come here?"

Yu Zhen exhaled his shocked breath and looked to the pond before speaking. "I"m trying to find a person, no, I"m trying to find a ghost."

“There are no ghosts here,” Yin Yan a.s.serted.

Yu Zhen was stunned by the words. Unwilling to give up, he took a step forward and looked at the surroundings of the pond.

"Your body has an incomplete soul and your fate is linked with mine. Seeing ghosts is the most basic ability. So, if there really was a ghost here, you would have seen it as you approached," Yin Yan explained. He held Yu Zhen"s shoulders, stopping his search. He added, "Only a small number of ghosts can escape the grasp of the underworld"s emissary. Most people immediately reincarnate after their deaths. Yu Zhen, what are you thinking of doing?"

Yu Zhen turned to look at him, but before any words were spoken, a sigh was let out.

At a village shop, Yu Zhen and Yin Yan bought some fruit, rice, and noodles. Then, they carried the goods to the old granny"s home.

After refusing for half a day, the old granny was finally persuaded by Yu Zhen to keep the goods. She requested that the two men stay for dinner, but Yu Zhen used the excuse that they had people waiting on them to refuse her invitation. Then he left with Yin Yan.

After leaving, Yin Yan commented, "Her destiny is peculiar. A fate of no sons or daughters. But her predestined lifespan is nearing its end."

Yu Zhen didn"t expect to hear such an a.s.sessment. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out for a while before he turned to look at the old, run-down house. He asked, "Then… Is there a way of letting the old lady pa.s.s more comfortably?"

"Yes." Yin Yan nodded. He looked down into Yu Zhen"s eyes then continued, "Before her death, you can help her to see her children and husband who have already pa.s.sed on. But this has a price."

Yu Zhen"s eyes brightened and he asked, “What"s the price?”

"Share some merits that you have acc.u.mulated with her. After sharing merits, she will be able to see those she has been missing. But you"ll lose half of your cultivation and, once again, you"ll suffer from the cold."

The excitement on Yu Zhen"s face slowly faded away, and his eyebrows scrunched up.

Yin Yan looked at him quietly and asked, “Do you want to share it?”

Yu Zhen clenched his warm hands. He pursed his lips and looked up at Yin Yan. Nodding with conviction, he replied, "Yes! Teach me how to do it. I"m not afraid of the cold. Don"t I have you? If I lose merits, don"t I just have to collect more?"

Although he"s so afraid of ghosts…

Yin Yan sighed inwardly and took Yu Zhen"s hand into his own.

Yu Zhen buried some cereal grains which were infused with golden light in front of the granny"s home. He took a step backward, then ran to Yin Yan"s side, grasping Yin Yan"s hand. With a somewhat silly smile aimed at Yin Yan, he said, "Let"s go home. It"s getting dark."

Looking at Yu Zhen"s smiling eyes, Yin Yan gently squeezed his hand and replied with a quiet "En". With a bag of seeds in one hand, he led Yu Zhen to the car parked at the village entrance.

When they returned home, hand-in-hand, they found their path blocked by boxes and bags that filled the living room.

"Xiao Zhen is back. Quick, come here. Try this down jacket. See if it fits!"

Qiu Feiqian stood in the midst of the shopping bags and packages with rosy cheeks and a white, mid-length jacket in her hands. 

Yu Zhen swallowed his saliva. His gaze swept over the pile of clothes haphazardly piled up on the coffee table. The clothes still had their tags. Tentatively, he asked, "Mom, these are…?"

"Clothes for you and Xiao Yan. They"re all the latest styles. I went to the mall after the routine company meeting today. The styles in H Province"s malls are a little limited – there aren"t as many as we have here. Quickly, come try some. See if you like them. If you don"t like them, Mom will exchange for a new batch for you tomorrow!"

a batch?

Yu Zhen hurriedly shook his head and replied, "No need. No need. These are enough. It"s almost spring. If there are too many winter clothes, I won"t be able to wear them all."

To him, each person only needed a few sets of clothes that could be washed. The mountains of clothes stacked in the living room were too great of a challenge to his previously pauper self.

Qiu Feiqian frowned at his words and put down the jacket. Thinking for a moment, she said, “That"s true. This winter is almost over…”

“En. En. It"s almost over,” Yu Zhen nodded wildly.

"It"s about time to sort out spring clothes. As expected, I"ll have to take a trip to the mall!" Qiu Feiqian exclaimed. She picked out a light tan colored sweater and continued, "Xiao Zhen, hurry over! I think this sweater really suits you. Come and try it!"

Yu Zhen: “…”

“Go on,” Yin Yan nudged him. “When you"ve earned money, you can send a gift in return. You shouldn"t decline the kindness of elders.”

Do you think money is easy to earn?

Helpless, Yu Zhen glanced at Yin Yan and reluctantly released his warm hand. Summoning his courage, he walked towards Qiu Feiqian. 

Yu Zhen was tossed around from side-to-side and had changed into at least eight sets of clothing. Within that period of time, Yin Le was also caught. He was made to open the packages and arrange the boxes.

It wasn"t until dinner was on the table that everyone was released. The eyes of the two unfortunate victims met. In that instant, a sense of revolutionary brotherhood rose between them.

Yin Le walked to Yu Zhen"s side. Face full of sympathy, he patted Yu Zhen"s shoulder and said, "Mom – she doesn"t feel strongly about many things. But, she does like to buy things… It"ll be okay once you get used to it."

After they finished dinner, Yu Zhen took the initiative to pull Yin Yan to their bedroom to escape the sea of clothes in the living room. 

"Rest. You haven"t slept for a whole day and night," Yin Yan said. Pointing to the bathroom, he added, "Go wash up first."

With a portion of his merits gone, Yu Zhen had already begun to feel tired earlier. He yawned, nodded, and headed to the bathroom before closing the door.

Despite hearing the sound of running water, Yin Yan remained next to the door for a few moments. Then he took a step back, and another step, and many more steps until he arrived at the sofa by the window furthest away. Sitting down, he called, "Xu Wu."

The white kitten appeared and obediently sat down in front of him.

Yin Yan reached out and touched its forehead. As he touched the kitten, a golden light flashed. Comfortable, Xu Wu squinted its eyes and twitched its ears. 

"Follow him and protect him well," Yin Yan quietly commanded then removed his hand.

Xu Wu opened its eyes, stood up and shook out its fur. It nodded and vanished into the air.

Yu Zhen was really sleepy. As soon as he got out of the shower, he toppled into bed and promptly fell asleep.

Yin Yan stood up from his seat by the window and went to the bedside. Bending down, he touched a hand to Yu Zhen"s hair and some power flowed through his hand. Yu Zhen"s half-dried hair quickly became full-dry, soft and fluffy once again.  

“Good night,” He whispered. Then he covered Yu Zhen up with the blanket and went into the bathroom.

At midnight, Yin Yan sat on the sofa with his eyes closed as he rested. He opened his eyes to look at the curled up and trembling form underneath the quilt. He silently sighed and headed for the bed. He lifted the blanket and slipped himself in. 

Perceiving a heat source, Yu Zhen immediately turned over in a sleepy daze. He stretched out his arms and legs and clung to Yin Yan.  

Yin Yan remained motionless, but Yu Zhen swatted him on the stomach.

“Don"t fuss.”

Yin Yan caught the hand in his. With his other hand, he took out a pill and fed it to Yu Zhen. Then, he wrapped Yu Zhen in his arms and gently patted Yu Zhen"s back, once again closing his eyes. 

After a dreamless night, Yu Zhen woke up in a pleasing warmth. With eyes still closed, he instinctively moved his hand on the warm chest in front of him. The leg lying on top of that warm body also moved around, up and down, shifting around restlessly.  

"We should get up for breakfast."

A slightly hoa.r.s.e voice spoke from above Yu Zhen"s head. It was both familiar and unfamiliar. 

Yu Zhen"s eyes snapped open. He stared for a few seconds at the pajamas he had his hands on and then slowly retreated his arms and legs from Yin Yan. Raising his head, he looked at Yin Yan"s incomparably calm expression.

"Um…Morning."

Yu Zhen attempted to break the awkward atmosphere.

Yin Yan quietly looked at him then lifted the quilt and got up. Next, he pulled the blanket all the way up and completely covered Yu Zhen.

Bang.

Yu Zhen pulled down the cover and peeked out. Somewhat annoyed, he sat up and rubbed his face.

No wonder I felt so warm in my sleep…Yin Yan must be angry now. The place where my leg went was quite inappropriate.

At breakfast, Qiu Feiqian once again began to secretly observe. She glanced at Yin Yan. His complexion is normal and his eyes are bright. It looks like his sleep was quite good. She then glanced at Yu Zhen. His cheeks are rosy and he"s full of energy. He"s even eating deep-fried snacks. He"s not restricting his diet.

Looks like it"s not done yet.

"Ai," she sighed. 

"Why are you sighing so early in the morning?" The look Yin Hexiang gave his wife was full of confusion and questions. He came to his own conclusion and couldn"t help but sigh as well. He said, "Enough of your worries. It"s just a small issue with the project. Later, get someone to go to the hospital and express our sympathy for the injured worker. It"s almost Chinese New Year*. We might as well stop working for a month and fully reorganize things. Give the workers a higher bonus and let them have a nice Chinese New Year."

Originally, Qiu Feiqian had put that issue out of mind. Once reminded, she sighed again. No longer eating her breakfast, she said, "Hexiang, do you think someone is messing with us behind our backs? How can there be such coincidences? It"s just the one construction site, but there have been three accidents this past month. Although they"re not too serious, if more of this continues to happen, how will our employees have the heart to keep working? I almost want to believe those rumors floating around. They think the site is haunted and has some ancient tomb beneath it."

"What ancient tomb? Before we started the work there, we had someone investigate all that. There"s nothing underneath. Don"t worry too much. It"s just some unlucky coincidences," Yin Hexiang placated. Beneath the table, he patted her leg, reminding her that their children were still there.

Qiu Feiqian stopped talking about that gloomy topic and picked up a ladle.

“What happened at the construction site?” Yin Yan asked.

Yin Le, who had been listening for some time, also joined in when he heard Yin Yan pick the topic back up.  “Yeah, what happened at the construction site? Was there something wrong with the megamall developed at the start of the year?”

Me-megamall?

Yu Zhen stopped nibbling on the fried snacks as his little heart received a shock.

He hadn"t asked about what kind of business the Yin family ran. It turns out to be really big?

"It"s not that one. It"s the themed shop[5] that started construction at the end of last year," Qiu Feiqian replied. Thinking that her eldest son was about to join the head office, there was no need to hide the truth. She explained, "It"s that low value, triangular piece of land in West City*. The one between the school and the gymnasium… Your dad found a designer and you could say that he"s made good use of the land. The idea was that if we can"t build houses, we might as well build a themed shop. It would also benefit the students. However, now that the work has started after getting everything approved and arranged, there are frequent problems."

"That piece of land was purchased without too much thought. At the time, colleagues had said that this piece of land was not any good – nothing could be successfully built on it. I heard that the government had originally planned to build the gym next to the school but, for some reason, they decided to abandon that piece of land and built it one plot over. After neglecting it for ten years, they finally decided to sell it."

Qiu Feiqian looked to Yin Hexiang and said, "There are probably a lot of people waiting for a  spectacle to unfold. The position of the land is quite good, but its shape is a bit odd and the size is rather awkward since it"s neither big nor small… And now there are problems."

"It"s alright. It"s just coincidences. I"ll get someone to have a look at it." Yin Hexiang patted her shoulders. Unexpectedly, his mood was fine.

Yin Yan glanced at Yu Zhen and said to Qiu Feiqian, "I"ll visit the worker at the hospital."

Yin Hexiang and Qiu Feiqian looked at him in surprise.

"Think of it as a warm-up before joining the head office after Chinese New Year." Yin Yan poured a gla.s.s of soy milk for Yu Zhen, then added, "And I"ll also show Yu Zhen around B City while I"m out."

The car stopped below the apartment again. Puzzled, Yu Zhen asked, "Weren"t we going to visit the worker? Why are we here?"

"We"ll go in the afternoon." Yin Yan removed his seat belt, indicating Yu Zhen should also get out of the vehicle.

This time, the two didn"t bring any ingredients with them. After entering their home, Yin Yan immediately walked to the Heaven and Earth Flower Pot beside the window. He called out, "Xu Wu."

The white kitten appeared. He dove into the Heaven and Earth Flower Pot.

"Xiao Wu!" Shocked, Yu Zhen rushed to reach the pot.

"It"s alright." Yin Yan stretched out a hand, stopping him. 

The Heaven and Earth Flower Pot was bound with Yu Zhen"s consciousness so he was able to look within the artifact.  After Xu Wu dove in, he immediately ran and jumped around in excitement. He also dug at the earth. 

"What is it doing?" Yu Zhen asked.

Is Xu Wu treating the Sacred Soil as cat litter? It wants to use the toilet?  

"Setting up a connection with the flower pot. This way, in the future, even when you are away, Xu Wu can check up on anything going on inside the pot," Yin Yan explained. He lightly waved his hand and Xu Wu stopped his actions and leaped out of the pot. It landed in the center of Yin Yan"s palm and squatted down.

Yin Yan took out a collar made of fine silver threads and fitted it on Xu Wu. Then, he fastened on an oddly shaped gem and held the kitten out to Yu Zhen. 

Yu Zhen took it into his hands and reflexively scratched the cat"s head. 

"At noon, we"ll eat out. You have some free time in the morning." Yin Yan gave him another pill before heading upstairs.

Only a kitten and a person were left in the living room. Yu Zhen faced Xu Wu and couldn"t resist rubbing its head. He stroked it again. Then pat it some more. Finally, he happily kissed it and said, "Xiao Wu, I"ll teach you to raise seeds, okay?"

Xu Wu was stunned by the kiss. It turned its head to look at the stairs and let out a shaky "meow~" before jumping out of Yu Zhen"s arms.

Yu Zhen took out one of the containers that they had bought yesterday and the carved wooden box with lotus seeds. With some reverence, he touched the box admiringly, then flipped the lid open. Finally, he added warm water to the container and set the seeds in it to let them soak.

The scent of lotus flowers permeated the air. Yu Zhen poked at the submerged lotus seeds. Remembering the Boundless Water, he itched to test it out. After getting it from Xu Wu, he added one drop to the warm water.  

A ripple shook through the water. The lotus seeds, seeming to receive a shock to their system, abruptly rolled over and began to sprout. Slender shoots reached and pierced the water surface, then transformed into circular lotus leaves. 

The fragrance of lotus flowers thickened. Yu Zhen stared stupefied at the newly grown leaves and then switched to stare at the dark green bottle in his hand. He hurriedly had Xu Wu put away the Boundless Water.

This is too dramatic… This isn"t just "improving" the growth of plants! This is a magical growth serum!

The growth of the lotus seeds was completely beyond his expectations. Yu Zhen quickly brought out a ceramic pot and began to fill it with soil. But it needs to be planted in soil for two weeks. At this stage, it"s definitely too late to simply transplant it. After a moment"s hesitation, he went to ask for the Boundless Water from Xu Wu again.   

Just a drop. One drop.

He carefully added the drop of Boundless Water into a separate bucket of water and handed the capped bottle back to Xu Wu. He stirred the water in the bucket with his hand then continued to add soil to the pot.

Next, he inserted each of the five germinated seeds into the soil, one-by-one. He poured the diluted Boundless Water in to let the roots soak, then, he moved the ceramic pot into the Heaven and Earth Flower Pot.

That concluded the first phase of growing the flowers. All that was left was to diligently water them.

Dusting off his hands, Yu Zhen stood up and looked at the seemingly empty Heaven and Earth Flower Pot and remembered the sack of seeds he"d obtained yesterday. After he got the bag from Xu Wu, he sat at the coffee table, sorting out the different seeds.

Although the seeds would be used as mediums, there was such a large quant.i.ty that some of the seeds might not be used at all. Recalling there were several kinds of flower seeds, he picked them out first and separated them according to their type.

Narcissus bulbs, lily, Chinese rose, rose, Chinese peony, chrysanthemum… The villagers gave him flowers and plants which were easy to take care of and easy to differentiate. However, there were a few odd seeds that Yu Zhen was unsure of. 

With his thumb and forefinger, he picked up a tiny thing which looked like a withered root and appeared a little rotten. Frowning, it took him a long time to finally guess what it was.

"Orchid seeds?" He carefully pinched the little thing. He half-laughed, half-cried, "How did it rot to this state? How long has it been left like this?"

Orchids were already difficult to grow from seeds. Even if healthy seeds went through the additional complicated process involving the use of fungi, they might not survive to maturity. The rotten seeds which had become nearly unrecognizable held almost no hope of growing.

"Most likely, one of the kids picked it up in the mountains," he whispered.

He raised a hand, preparing to throw the seed into the trash bin. However, as he saw his own shadow, he lowered his hand. Rolling the seed around in his hand, he stood up.

Let"s give it a try.

I"m missing parts of my soul, but I can struggle to live. Maybe this type of seed can also live. After all, I have so many magical treasures.

The seed was rotten, so simply planting it in soil wasn"t possible. Yu Zhen ran the remaining diluted Boundless Water over the seed. He then planted it in some Sacred Soil and placed it in a corner of the Heaven and Earth Flower Pot.

"So…we"ll have to see what fate has in store for you. Good luck."

He patted the Sacred Soil as if he was coaxing a child. Standing up, he stretched and looked at the city through the window. Squinting, he basked in the sun comfortably. Thinking out loud, he said, "Valentine"s Day is almost here, might as well plant some roses."

After he finished speaking, he smiled, shook his head, and smacked his forehead.

Roses have a long growth period, and they stop growing in the summer and winter[6]. There won"t be any results for two or three years. What nonsense am I speaking?

Yin Yan paused on his way downstairs. Looking at the man standing in front of the windows he called out, "Yu Zhen."

Yu Zhen immediately turned his head. His body was bathed in sunlight and his face still held a trace of a smile. At first glance, the baby fat on his face seemed to have reduced slightly.

"What"s wrong?" Yu Zhen asked. He stepped forward, leaving the brilliant sunshine behind. 

Yin Yan looked away and walked over to the sofa to pick up his coat. "It"s time to head out for lunch."

The roast duck in B City was a must-try. Yin Yan, who had inherited the original"s memories, somewhat cared about this information. As a result, he booked seats for two so he could bring Yu Zhen to try the food.

There were only a handful of shops in B City which made good roast duck. Only one or two shops made top quality roast duck. In his memories, the original Yin Yan only regularly visited one roast duck restaurant. Yin Yan was still coming to grasps with living in this world so, naturally, he brought Yu Zhen to a place which the original owner often visited. 

At that type of place, the chances of meeting someone familiar were quite high.

“Yin Yan!”

A tall and st.u.r.dy man stood up from his window seat which offered the best street view. He waved towards Yin Yan who had just been welcomed in by the waiting staff. He called out, "Over here, over here! I was going to visit you at your home tomorrow. I didn"t expect to run into you here."

Yin Yan paused in his step. He flipped through his memory for the ident.i.ty of that man. Holding Yu Zhen"s hand, he stepped forward and replied, "Bu Chen, what a coincidence."

The man addressed as Bu Chen stood up and personally pulled out a seat for Yin Yan. He asked for additional bowls and chopsticks from the waiting staff and said, "Who would say it wasn"t? I was out of the country for a while. I only heard that you had an accident when I got back. How could you not let your friend know when something big like this happened? I couldn"t get through to your phone either. If the Tang family"s young kid didn"t bring it up yesterday, I wouldn"t have even known you"re back in B City."

"My phone broke. The number also needed to be changed so I haven"t been contactable with it lately," Yin Yan casually explained. He didn"t immediately sit down, instead, he drew Yu Zhen closer and introduced him to Bu Chen, "My husband, Yu Zhen. Yu Zhen, this is my friend from childhood, Bu Chen."

Childhood friend? In other words, someone very familiar with the original owner?

Yu Zhen immediately became very alert. He politely greeted, "h.e.l.lo."

Bu Chen was surprised. His eyes landed on Yin Yan"s hand which rested on Yu Zhen"s shoulder. He raised a hand in greeting and winked at Yin Yan.

It"s normal for brothers to bring their partner to a meeting, but that"s such an official introduction. Even using the word "husband"*. Is it for real? Considering the past with Han Ya…What kind of att.i.tude am I supposed to take with this Yu Zhen?

"We"ve already gotten a marriage certificate. The wedding will be in a year. At that time, you"ll have to act as my best man." Yin Yan moved his hand with the ring, letting the other man see more clearly.

Already signed the marriage certificate?!

Bu Chen had a silly and comical expression on his face. He scrambled to return his thoughts to reality. He wiped his hand on his clothes and gave Yu Zhen an almost simple and straightforward smile. "So you"re my sister-in-law, no, brother-in-law. h.e.l.lo, h.e.l.lo. I"m Bu Chen. In the future, come join us often. Bu Lian, why are you still sitting? Come and greet your Yan Ge and Yu Ge."

Bu Lian, who had, in fact, remained sitting the whole time, rolled her eyes. She put down her phone and greeted in a lifeless tone, "h.e.l.lo, Yan Ge. h.e.l.lo, Yu Ge. Xiao Mei* has now paid her respects."

"Why are you acting half dead? Stand straight!" Bu Chen thundered at her. Telling Yu Zhen and Yin Yan to sit, he continued, "My sister"s cat died a few days ago. Now, she"s got a mourning face every day. Don"t be offended."

"Ge! Why did you mention it again!" Bu Lian exploded. She sat back down and buried her head in her arms and began to cry.

Yu Zhen was alarmed. Wh-why did she suddenly cry? 

Yin Yan"s eyes swept over Bu Lian. He leaned over and helped Yu Zhen take off his scarf. While doing so, he waved a hand before Yu Zhen"s eyes and whispered, "It"s a cat demon."

The air fluctuated slightly and the scarf blocked his sight for a moment. When the scarf was removed, a semi-transparent black cat appeared beside Bu Lian. There was a faint trace of black and sinister qi on the cat.

It noticed Yu Zhen"s gaze and raised its head. It stared at Yu Zhen with pupils which were red like blood.

Translator(s): Epsea
Editor(s): Miiya
Proofer(s): Avalie

Oooo. I"m liking this new brother-sister duo. The fluff in this chapter was great!

Question: are there enough footnotes for "terms of address" (ge/mei/ma/xiao)? Comment below if it"s an issue. 

Also, if you go to TRAS"s main project page then click on the "characters" link, you"ll get a section for terms of address. There"s also a section which gives the meanings of some characters" names. Tbh, I made that section because Yin Le"s name is too good so I needed to share it :D. Go check it out~~

Miiya:

This chapter was great! In size, and in content! I wonder if there"ll be a white cat vs black cat showdown!