A faint flush spread uncontrollably across Wenren Li’s face.
He lifted his gaze to meet Chen Yixin’s eyes—and asked, completely out of place,
“What is your name?”
“I am… Rong Zhi. You may call me A-Rong.”
For some reason, Chen Yixin’s cheeks also warmed.
He could sense the weight behind that question, the seriousness of it—
And yet, he still did not give his true name.
Instead, he offered a name far more intimate.
“You are… A-Hua?”
The moment Chen Yixin asked, he was already certain.
Yet the disillusionment in his expression was almost impossible to hide.
The person before him was not unpleasant to look at—no, in fact, he was exceedingly handsome—
But he was nothing like the small sapling he had imagined, no more than a tiny transformed spirit.
Wenren Li fell silent.
He neither confirmed nor denied it.
But to Chen Yixin—
Silence was as good as admission.
Toward a complete stranger, he would have been wary to the extreme.
But this—
This was the little sapling that had stayed by his side, that had shared hardship with him.
He trusted it.
Too tired to struggle any longer, Chen Yixin simply collapsed against Wenren Li.
His expression softened into something genuinely pitiful.
“A-Hua… my legs hurt. And I’m hungry…”
After reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, he had long since practiced bigu—abstaining from food.
Yet in this strange place, not only had his cultivation been reduced to nothing—
Even his body had reverted to that of a mortal, one that needed food and sleep.
Wenren Li was utterly defenseless against such a Chen Yixin.
The sapling was him.
Whatever his spirit body had experienced, his human form felt it all the same.
He let Chen Yixin lean on him quietly for a while—
Then gently adjusted the limbs wrapped around him, one by one, before rising and stepping out of the wooden hut to prepare food.
Chen Yixin, for his part, was not entirely taking advantage.
His physique was also suppressed in this place—
Only through such contact could he faintly perceive anything at all.
“A-Hua…” he called softly, lips curling slightly.
“To think you’re a tree-demon… and a male ghost at that…”
With that, he sprawled across the bed in an utterly unrestrained posture.
Before long, Wenren Li returned with a bowl of snake stew.
The very same giant python that had chased Chen Yixin before—
Now reduced to food.
Not even its skin or sinews had been wasted.
After eating his fill and getting enough rest, Chen Yixin quickly grew bored of staying inside.
When Wenren Li came in to retrieve something, Chen Yixin hopped over on one leg and latched onto him, arms looping around his neck as he hung from him.
“I don’t want to stay inside alone. Whatever you do—take me with you.”
Wenren Li remained completely unmoved.
Chen Yixin’s eyes flickered. Then he lifted his hands, cupping Wenren Li’s face—and even gave it a couple of teasing squeezes.
“A-Hua… alright?”
Those two words—
A-Hua—
Held a strange power over Wenren Li.
A blush bloomed again across his face.
Though he still said nothing, that familiar helplessness returned—
The same helplessness the little sapling once had toward Chen Yixin.
With a slight bend of his body, Wenren Li lifted him into his arms—
Fearing Chen Yixin might do something even more outrageous.
Chen Yixin’s smile widened brilliantly.
So the sapling’s weakness…
Was also this ghost’s weakness.
Afraid of being touched.
Afraid of being kissed.
Wenren Li carried him outside, placing him on the only stool there. Then he fetched a wooden stump from beside the flower field to use as a seat for himself.
Only then did he resume working—
Handling the python’s skin.
He was crafting an inner armor for Chen Yixin.
The beasts in this place were abnormally ferocious.
A cultivator’s usual techniques were useless here.
Only the most primitive methods remained—
Defense.
And hunting.
This time, Chen Yixin did not chatter endlessly.
He simply watched Wenren Li, unblinking, as he worked.
A strange smile lingered on his lips the entire time.
Whenever Wenren Li glanced up—
That smile would only grow brighter.
Time seemed nonexistent in this place.
Chen Yixin sat there until hunger stirred once more—
Only then did Wenren Li finally finish the inner armor.
He rose and walked over.
Chen Yixin immediately lifted his arms, waiting to be carried.
Wenren Li paused—
Then silently complied, carrying him back into the hut.
He retrieved the inner armor and handed it over.
“Wear it.”
“Alright.”
Chen Yixin undid his outer robe and put it on without hesitation.
Wenren Li watched in silence.
His gaze lingered on the wounds carved across Chen Yixin’s body by wind blades.
He went in and out several times, placing food, medicinal herbs, and a new crutch beside the bed.
Only then did he speak again.
“Do not leave the valley. Wait for me to return.”
Chen Yixin looked at him.
He wanted to follow—but in his current condition, weak and injured, he would only be a burden.
So he nodded.
“Come back early.”
Wenren Li was gone for what, in the outside world, would have been four days.
When he returned, he carried prey in his hands—
And a medicine basket on his back.
The moment he drew near, Chen Yixin caught the thick scent of blood and frowned slightly.
Yet Wenren Li also frowned.
Setting down his things, he walked straight toward him.
He crouched slowly.
Before Chen Yixin could react—
Wenren Li’s expression darkened as he plucked the small flower from between Chen Yixin’s lips.
“You are not allowed to do this again.”
Chen Yixin had held his flower in his mouth—
How could he then touch the flowers of other plants?
Even if those plants had no consciousness.
Chen Yixin blinked, confused—but still nodded obediently.
With Wenren Li back, Chen Yixin had no intention of using the crutch.
He leaned into his arms again, poking lightly at his chest.
“When will you return to your true form? If I hold your flower in my mouth, then I won’t—”
Before he could finish—
He was lifted.
And swiftly placed onto the bed.
Wenren Li vanished just as quickly.
“This flower… could it be some special place…?”
Chen Yixin finally realized something was off.
Recalling the sapling’s reactions—
Recalling Wenren Li’s just now—
He fell backward onto the bed, yanking the fur blanket over his face.
“I’m done for… I’m done for…”
He muttered, hands clawing restlessly beneath the fur.
He had only meant to tease a little sapling—
So how the hell had it turned into something this… inappropriate?
Wenren Li stood outside for a long while, cheeks still flushed, before returning to tend to the herbs.
When he re-entered the room—
Chen Yixin had already composed himself completely.
No trace remained of his realization.
And he no longer asked to see the flower again.
Chen Yixin spent two full months recovering.
Once healed, he followed Wenren Li into the forest—
Only to return injured again.
Wenren Li treated his wounds, gathered herbs, and prepared medicinal baths.
He was tempering Chen Yixin’s body.
Another half a year passed.
Only then did Chen Yixin finally manage to kill a ferocious beast on his own—
One that contained a black crystal.
He dug out a finger-sized black crystal from the beast’s sea of consciousness.
Glancing back, he spotted Wenren Li standing at a distance—
And ran toward him at full speed.
“Here. It’s for you.”
Chen Yixin placed the black crystal into Wenren Li’s palm.
His face, still faintly smeared with blood, lifted into a dazzling smile.
For a fleeting moment, Wenren Li lost focus.
He quietly put the black crystal away into a cloth pouch, then reached out and took Chen Yixin’s hand, leading him back toward their secluded valley.
Chen Yixin glanced at their clasped hands.
His eyes flickered lightly.
Then he quickened his pace, keeping in step with Wenren Li.
“A-Hua… have you ever thought about how to leave this place?”
It was the first time Chen Yixin had asked this question.
Wenren Li turned his head to look at him—
But did not answer.
He continued leading him back into the valley.
Yet instead of heading toward the wooden hut, he brought him to the very center of the sea of flowers.
“If you wish to leave… I can send you away at any time.”
As he spoke—
The black crystal Chen Yixin had given him earlier flew out, slicing lightly through the void.
A faint, wavering passage appeared.
Chen Yixin stepped forward—
But instead of entering, he grabbed the black crystal back into his hand.
“Did you forget, A-Hua?”
“This was a gift for you—not something for you to use to send me away.”
The moment he finished speaking, he flung off Wenren Li’s hand and stormed back toward the hut, visibly irritated.
Wenren Li turned, slightly startled.
He looked at his hand—
Then at the wooden door that had just been slammed shut.
A rare trace of confusion surfaced in his expression.
Moments later—
The door creaked open again.
Chen Yixin stood there, face dark, calling out:
“Time to sleep!”
Inside the hut, a smaller wooden bed had been added.
Wenren Li slept there.
Meanwhile, from the moment he arrived, Chen Yixin had claimed the larger bed for himself.
Wenren Li did not understand—
But he still followed Chen Yixin’s words and returned to rest.
He had only just closed his eyes to meditate—
When he heard rustling.
Chen Yixin had gotten up.
And was now heading toward him.
“A-Hua… I had a nightmare. I’m sleeping with you.”
Without waiting for a response, he squeezed in beside Wenren Li and climbed onto the bed.
Wenren Li turned slightly, making space for him.
He gently steadied Chen Yixin by the shoulder, keeping him from falling.
They lay there quietly.
Chen Yixin had things he wanted to say—
But even he had not sorted out his own thoughts.
Much less knew how to voice them.
“Sleep,” Wenren Li said softly.
He gave Chen Yixin’s shoulder a light pat.
Paused—
Then continued patting, gently and steadily.
Chen Yixin pressed his lips together.
Then shifted closer, nestling into Wenren Li’s arms.
After a long silence, he finally muttered—
“I’m not leaving.”
Even if he did leave—
He would drag his A-Hua along with him.
“Alright,” Wenren Li replied softly.
His movements grew more natural as he continued patting Chen Yixin’s shoulder.
He had seen mortals soothe others to sleep this way.
Chen Yixin was satisfied with that answer.
He no longer lay stiffly.
Turning onto his side, he lightly wrapped his arms around Wenren Li—
Yet still added, somewhat stubbornly,
“The bed’s too small.”
Too small—
That was the only reason he had to hold him while sleeping.
Wenren Li said nothing.
But he did not push him away.
From that night on—
Chen Yixin climbed into his bed again and again over the following nights.
Eventually—
Their sleeping place shifted back to the larger bed.
This time, Chen Yixin no longer bothered with excuses.
As soon as Wenren Li lay down—
He would roll straight into his arms.
Futile Devices Scans 
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