Binding Successful

Lin Yan didn't stand on ceremony. He jumped straight onto the stone bench beneath the corridor and sat down.

Qian Renxue glanced at him but said nothing, simply turning and heading over to the Herb Garden.

Before long, she returned carrying two white jade plates.

One plate held a dozen or so golden fruits, each about the size of a thumb. Shallow rings marked their surfaces, making them look like little dates.

The other plate held several pale green fruits. They were round and smooth, their skins covered in a thin sheen of moisture, as if they had just been pulled from a spring.

She set both jade plates on the stone table and spoke calmly.

"There's usually only this sort of thing in the Villa. Help yourself for now."

Lin Yan lowered his head and took a look.

He could tell from the Soul Power fluctuations alone that neither of these was ordinary.

The golden fruits in particular gave off a steady warmth that he could feel just from their scent.

"And this is 'only this sort of thing'?"

Lin Yan grumbled inwardly.

"The Qian Family really does have deep pockets."

Still, he didn't waste time talking. He reached out with a paw, hooked one of the golden fruits over, and took a bite.

As soon as the skin broke, the juice burst out.

It wasn't sickeningly sweet.

Nor was it sour.

The flavor was just right.

There wasn't much flesh, but it was firm. It quickly melted as he chewed, and a warm current slid down his throat into his stomach, soon spreading through his limbs and bones.

His meridians, which had still felt a little hollow, warmed up considerably.

Even the fatigue from last night's journey eased somewhat.

Lin Yan's eyes lit up.

"This stuff's good."

"It turns into Soul Power as soon as it hits your tongue, and it even has a bit of a body-tempering effect."

"It's way better than that little bit of milk and meat puree in the East Side Courtyard."

At that thought, he stopped pretending. He quickly finished the golden fruit, even giving the pit a careful look. Only after confirming it couldn't be chewed did he reluctantly set it down.

Qian Renxue had been watching him from across the table the whole time.

Seeing him like this, the faintest trace of a smile flickered in her eyes.

"Does it suit your taste?"

"Definitely. It's perfect."

Lin Yan answered without hesitation.

"Good fruit is good fruit, no matter whose garden it came from."

Qian Renxue didn't respond to that. She simply nudged the other jade plate toward him.

"Try this one too."

Naturally, Lin Yan didn't refuse.

He hooked over one of the pale green fruits and took a small bite.

Unlike the golden fruit, this one crumbled as soon as it touched his mouth.

It wasn't particularly sweet.

Instead, it carried a faint fragrance, like a tender leaf freshly plucked beside a cold spring.

The juice spread over his tongue, but rather than sinking down, it quickly became a cool sensation that burrowed straight into his mindscape.

The pressure in Lin Yan's head, brought on by using Moon Mark Time Slow, eased almost at once.

His spirit and mental power also steadied.

"This one's good too."

"One replenishes Soul Power, and the other nourishes the mind."

"You really know how to live."

He praised her casually while eating.

Qian Renxue's expression didn't change at those words.

But, for some reason, she felt a little relieved.

There had always been plenty of people watching her, ever since she was young.

Some were in awe of her.

Some were wary of her.

And some were scheming against her.

But there were almost none like Lin Yan, who would eat what she gave him, praise it as he went, and do so with such unashamed confidence.

For some reason, watching the satisfied White Cat munch on fruit made her feel that giving him the plates had been worth it.

"You're pretty easy to take care of."

She spoke coolly.

Lin Yan looked up at her, his tail swaying.

"That depends on who's taking care of me."

"If you feed me this sort of thing every day, I'll be even easier to take care of."

Qian Renxue: "..."

She suddenly understood a little why this cat always managed to gently dispel the subtle tension between them whenever they spoke.

It was because he always spoke so naturally.

His words sounded casual, yet somehow made it hard to respond coldly.

Lin Yan, meanwhile, wasn't thinking about any of that.

Right now, there was only one thought in his mind—

The Qian Family's Secret Courtyard was a wonderful place.

There were herbs in the Herb Garden.

The fruit was edible.

The Soul Power was pure.

And the hot spring was steaming nearby.

If it weren't for all the cats waiting for him back at the East Side Courtyard, he would have wanted to settle down here on the spot.

At that thought, he couldn't help looking around again.

The more he looked, the more pleased he was.

The more he felt that such a huge place was going to waste with only Qian Renxue living here.

"If I moved Charcoal Ball and the others here..."

"Forget it. If I really brought them over, the Pope's Palace would be the first to object."

"Besides, this place belongs to the Qian Family, not to me."

While his thoughts were running wild, the system's notification suddenly rang out.

[ Ding! The host has reached the required acceptance level with the fateful Node character "Qian Renxue." ]

[ Binding in progress... ]

[ Ding! Successful binding with fateful Node character "Qian Renxue." ]

[ Ding! Qian Renxue's route stage rewards have been granted retroactively: First Meeting Gift Pack, Escape Together Gift Pack, and Secret Journey Together Gift Pack. ]

[ Ding! Qian Renxue successfully fed the host medicinal fruit. Reward: one First Interaction Gift Pack. ]

Lin Yan nearly dropped the fruit pit in his mouth.

Here it was!

Finally!

[ Ding! Successful binding with fateful Node character "Qian Renxue." ]

Lin Yan's eyes lit up at once.

Well, now.

This trip really hadn't been in vain.

Not only had he gotten connected with her, he'd also received the gift packs he'd missed.

And they were coming in a whole string.

He nearly jumped right off the stone bench.

Fortunately, he managed to hold himself back at the last second.

After all, Qian Renxue was still sitting across from him.

It wouldn't look much like normal cat behavior if he suddenly got excited and started bouncing around.

Even so, his pale golden eyes curved involuntarily, and the tip of his tail tapped lightly against the bench.

Seeing how suddenly happy he looked, Qian Renxue's brows twitched.

"What is it?"

"Is the fruit really that good?"

Lin Yan immediately came back to himself and composed his expression.

"Yeah. It's pretty tasty."

After a moment's thought, he added,

"Better than I expected."

That was true, too.

It was just that the speaker and listener clearly understood it differently.

Qian Renxue thought he was talking about the fruit.

Lin Yan was already counting the gift packs in his head.

The First Meeting Gift Pack.

The Escape Together Gift Pack.

The Secret Journey Together Gift Pack.

And the First Interaction Gift Pack.

Four of them!

If he opened all of those, there was no way they could be bad.

At that thought, he nearly forgot to eat the second fruit.

Fortunately, he still had some sense. He forcibly dragged his attention away from the system interface, put on as calm an expression as he could, and lowered his head to keep munching.

Qian Renxue watched him for a couple of breaths but didn't ask anything else.

Still, she found him a little odd.

This cat's feelings were sometimes easy to read.

A plate of fruit was enough to make him this happy.

But at other times, he was unfathomable.

So unfathomable that she had no idea what he was thinking.

With that in mind, Qian Renxue stopped talking about the fruit and returned to their earlier topic.

"If you still want to know about what happened in the Black Marsh yesterday, I can tell you."

Lin Yan's ears twitched, and he looked up.

"Tell me about it?"

Qian Renxue didn't hide anything. She gave him a brief explanation.

She had been following a lead recently, suspecting that someone in Heaven Dou City was secretly in contact with Evil Soul Masters. The trail had eventually pointed to an abandoned hideout near the Black Marsh.

She had followed the clues all the way there.

Who knew she wouldn't find the person she was looking for, but would instead alert the creatures in the Black Marsh?

After that, things had gone just as Lin Yan had seen.

Lin Yan nodded when he finished listening.

"I see."

"Well, at least the trip wasn't a complete waste. Now you know you shouldn't go near the Black Marsh again without good reason."

Qian Renxue glanced at him.

"What about you?"

"Were you just out for a walk?"

Lin Yan thought about it and didn't go into too much detail.

"More or less."

"Things have been too quiet in the East Side Courtyard lately. I was getting bored, so I wanted to see what it was like outside Spirit City."

"And maybe find something useful, and test what I can do now."

Seven parts true, three parts withheld.

But after listening, Qian Renxue didn't press him further.

She had hidden plenty herself earlier.

Now that Lin Yan was keeping some things to himself, she could understand.

"What are you planning to do next?"

she asked.

Lin Yan had been munching on fruit, but his movements slowed slightly at the question.

A plan?

Of course he had a plan.

The gift pack had to be opened.

He had to keep pursuing the Qian Renxue route.

He couldn't really leave the East Side Courtyard unattended, either.

More importantly, he had to find a way to gradually tie all these threads together.

But right now, there was another, more practical problem.

At that thought, Lin Yan looked around.

The courtyard was huge.

The Herb Garden was neatly laid out.

There was a large empty plot beside the hot spring.

Farther back, there was also a training platform and several empty rooms.

And most importantly—

There was no one else here.

From the moment he arrived until now, he hadn't seen a single extra person in this place besides Qian Renxue herself.

At that thought, a very natural question suddenly popped into Lin Yan's mind.

"Qinghe."

"Hmm?"

"Do you live here all by yourself?"

Qian Renxue nodded.

"Mm-hm."

"I don't need anyone else coming in here on a regular basis."

Lin Yan glanced deeper into the courtyard.

"Then who takes care of the Herb Garden? Who looks after the hot spring? Who patrols the formation? If someone suddenly shows up, do you go out to greet them yourself?"

At that, Qian Renxue froze for a moment.

Then she furrowed her brow slightly.

Clearly, she had never really looked at it from that angle before.

Or rather, she was used to doing all these things herself.

She hadn't thought there was anything wrong with that.

But when Lin Yan put it that way, she realized that... he might actually have a point.

Seeing that she wasn't saying anything, Lin Yan continued in an unhurried tone:

"Leaving everything else aside, this place is huge. You can't do everything yourself, can you?"

"And if someone you trust ever comes to see you, you'll need someone who can show them the way, keep watch, and pass along messages."

"You can't go open the door yourself every single time."

He paused there.

Then, quite casually, he delivered his final line.

"Have you ever thought about getting a few cats?"