Since that night's kitchen chase, Xiao Qi had kept an eye on that elusive rabbit spirit. He casually tucked those few low-quality spirit stones under his bed, not giving them much thought, yet often recalled those lively red eyes and its comical, somewhat reluctant expression when it threw the stones.
Over the next few days, he didn't return to the kitchen at midnight—partly fearing another encounter, and partly because his last trip ended empty-handed, diminishing his motivation for late-night adventures.
During the day, he continued helping in the kitchen, practicing fire control and wok tossing. His fine mastery of spiritual power grew increasingly proficient, and the dishes he stir-fried were so flawless that even Steward Li couldn't find fault, occasionally rewarding him with a few pieces of dried meat.
One morning, just as dawn was breaking, Xiao Qi, as usual, was the first to arrive at the kitchen to start the fire and cook porridge. As he pushed open the familiar wooden door, his gaze was drawn to something beside the threshold. It wasn't the usual kitchen clutter, but a lush green plant with three leaves cradling a pale blue flower. The roots were still damp with soil, clearly freshly picked. A faint herbal fragrance, mingled with a weak pulse of spiritual energy, lingered around the plant.
"Dew-Gathering Herb?" Xiao Qi recognized it at a glance—it was the same low-grade spiritual herb they had gathered days earlier at Qinglan Mountain. But this Dew-Gathering Herb was of exceptional quality: the leaves were plump, and the pale blue flower brimmed with spiritual energy, far surpassing those they had collected that day.
Who would leave this at the kitchen door? Puzzled, Xiao Qi crouched down and carefully picked up the Dew-Gathering Herb. Just then, from the corner of his eye, he glimpsed a white figure dart past the kitchen window, quickly disappearing around the corner of the courtyard wall. It was that rabbit spirit! Xiao Qi understood instantly. This fine-quality Dew-Gathering Herb was left by it! Was it compensation for the Jade Ginseng root it had stolen and nibbled that night? Or did it feel those shabby stones weren't enough 'toll payment,' so it specifically added this 'reparation'?
At this thought, Xiao Qi couldn't help but smile inwardly. This rabbit spirit actually adhered to 'jianghu principles'—stealing something, yet knowing to compensate with something better. Although a Dew-Gathering Herb might not match the value of that Jade Ginseng root (the ginseng was older and richer in spiritual energy), this gesture was particularly amusing.
He carefully stored the Dew-Gathering Herb. This spiritual herb indeed offered slight benefits to his current cultivation—whether used to aid practice or handed to the sect in exchange for a few contribution points, both were decent options. But what concerned him more was the intelligence the rabbit spirit displayed and that unique 'principle.'
From then on, Xiao Qi's attitude toward the rabbit spirit quietly shifted. He no longer saw it as a 'thief' to guard against, but rather as a mischievous yet sensible neighbor. He began consciously leaving some ordinary fruits and vegetables in a kitchen corner—devoid of spiritual energy but fresh and juicy, like a few crisp cabbage leaves, a small carrot piece, or some wild berries. He didn't deliberately wait; each day before leaving, he would quietly place them in that fixed spot near the window.
For the first few days, the food remained untouched. Xiao Qi wasn't discouraged and continued replacing it daily. He guessed the rabbit spirit might still be observing or remained wary of him. Then, one morning four or five days later, when he returned to the kitchen, he found yesterday's bright red berries gone, leaving only a few cleanly gnawed pits in their place. Xiao Qi's lips involuntarily curled upward. It had come.
Thus, a silent, peculiar tacit understanding formed between the boy and the rabbit. Xiao Qi would leave a little 'gift' each day, and the rabbit spirit would quietly visit in the deep of night, enjoying this 'home-cooked meal' devoid of spiritual energy. It seemed to know its limits—never taking too much, never touching other spiritual items in the kitchen, as if aware those were 'public' property not to be lightly tampered with.
Occasionally, after late-night cultivation, when Xiao Qi passed near the kitchen, he would vaguely glimpse a white figure perched on the windowsill, leisurely munching on the carrot he'd left under the moonlight, its long ears twitching slightly in the lunar glow. Whenever Xiao Qi tried to approach closer, it would alertly prick up its ears, then 'swish' away, leaving behind half an unfinished carrot on the windowsill.
Xiao Qi didn't insist, simply feeling this was fine. Within Qingxu Temple, his aptitude was low, his friends few; the steady eldest senior brother, the erratic second senior brother, and the strict third senior sister weren't particularly close to him. Instead, this elusive rabbit spirit, with its slight cunning yet seemingly grateful nature, offered him a light and pure companionship.
Sometimes, while leaving food, he would softly murmur a few words to the empty corner—about cultivation bottlenecks encountered that day, how 'brutally inhumane' senior sister's training was, or simply chat about the weather. He knew the rabbit spirit likely didn't understand, but this seemed to become an outlet for relieving stress.
As for that rabbit spirit, aside from occasionally leaving some shiny but useless stones (apparently its collecting hobby) as 'return gifts,' it never again stole from the kitchen. It and Xiao Qi—one in the open, one in the shadows—built a subtle, harmonious connection through this simple routine.
This Dew-Gathering Herb's 'reparation' not only dissolved the initial awkwardness but also opened a quiet, interesting cross-species friendship. In these cultivation years, such droplets of warmth and amusement, like faint stars in the night sky—though not dazzling—were enough to illuminate a measure of solitude in the solitary boy's heart.