It took a whole week for Zhan Cheng to feel somewhat normal again. At this time, he was finally able to visit some of the other towns in the vicinity to stock up on a few more supplies even though he felt completely drained after each visit.

Looking at everything that he had gathered, Zhan Cheng nodded to himself with satisfaction. This wasn’t bad. There were some dried fruits, two types of grain, even some dried meat. All things that could be stored for a long time but would still add a bit of variety to Gongliang Ye’s meals.

He would have loved to bring him something fresh but that wouldn’t be convenient. It needed to be something the witch could store. Otherwise, he’d be hard-pressed to use it up immediately which would interfere with his life too much. He didn’t want that.

Zhan Cheng packed up a few things that he was sure he would be able to carry even in his current state and then set everything down, going to bed for yet another night. He had trouble falling asleep at first, his thoughts constantly on how his meeting with Gongliang Ye would turn out.

What would the witch say when they saw each other again? Would he … maybe give him a smile? Come to think of it, he didn’t think that he had ever seen him smile even though he had been there twice and had even spent a night at his place and shared three meals with him. Gongliang Ye probably wasn’t the type to smile much.

Zhan Cheng’s thoughts drifted further and further away and finally, he fell asleep after all, the exhaustion after another day of preparations overwhelming him.

The next morning, he got up as soon as he woke up, rushing to freshen up and put on his best clothes before he grabbed the bundle he had packed yesterday. Then, he carried it into the forest, making his way over to the witch’s house again.

At this time, Gongliang Ye had already gotten up and was inside, going about his days as usual. This witch, he probably hadn’t thought of the man that he had helped just two weeks ago even once.

Zhan Cheng stood in front of the small staircase, looking up at the door on top, unsure what to do despite having thought about this moment for a long time last night. Should he knock and then hand the things over to him? But what if Gongliang Ye rejected it? That wouldn’t do. Then maybe he should just put it down where he was and wait for the witch to discover it himself? It seemed to be wrong though. In any case, with how suspicious Gongliang Ye seemed, he might think that somebody was trying to poison him or something.

While Zhan Cheng was still agonizing over this, the witch inside the hut had already realized that somebody was outside. He waited for a moment, thinking that another patient was hesitating over when to come in or not but the person still hadn’t left after several minutes but also didn’t come inside.

He sighed and walked out from behind his counter where he had been preparing some herbs, and opened the door. He wanted to tell the person his opinion but stopped when he saw just who it was. "What are you doing here? You wouldn’t have gotten yourself infested with another ghost, would you?" He looked him over but couldn’t see any kind of sign that there was something unnatural going on with him.

Zhan Cheng straightened up, his ears turning red. "That … No. Just …" He hugged the bundle in his arms a little tighter and then finally just walked up and stuffed it into Gongliang Ye’s arms. "I brought this over for you." He hastily took a step back, afraid that the witch would hand it back to him and refuse.

In fact, he was of half a mind to turn around and just run away. He probably would’ve done that but it would’ve felt impolite and might imply that he was afraid of him which he definitely wasn’t. In fact, looking at him, he felt …

Zhan Cheng glanced up and then looked away again, his ears reddening further. Over the last few days, he had thought back to how the witch had looked at the time he was banishing the ghost every now and then. He had usually pressed the thought down and tried not to focus on it but it was an image he couldn’t get out of his mind.

If he had told anyone about it, they probably would’ve said that Gongliang Ye had put a spell on him but he was sure that that wasn’t it. He just … he had just looked a little too closely. Sometimes, this kind of thing happened whether the other person was a witch or not.

But that was his own problem to deal with. He knew that it was something that he shouldn’t put on Gongliang Ye’s shoulders to deal with as well. His life here was hard enough as it was.

Gongliang Ye watched him closely, taking in how the man was evading his gaze and his ears had reddened. Well, it was pretty obvious that Zhan Cheng was embarrassed. As for why … he didn’t dare guess. It might just be that the thing he had brought over was the reason for that. At least he hoped that it was.

He looked down and carefully opened the bundle, taking a look at what was inside. He actually couldn’t say that he was surprised. "I believe I told you that I don’t need anything."

Zhan Cheng lowered his head even further. If a person said no, and you went ahead regardless, how much respect did that show? Probably not much. And still, he had refused to do the respectful thing and just gone ahead.

"I’m sorry. I just … You’ve really done me a big favor. And I … Even if you say that you don’t need it, I want to make up for it at least a little bit. Please accept it. If you don’t want to accept it for yourself, then just do something else with it." He glanced up and then looked away again, feeling a bit uncomfortable when he looked into the witch’s eyes.

Gongliang Ye’s gaze was a thing of its own. It couldn’t compare to the way any human had ever looked at him. He couldn’t even describe it. But those eyes … they seemed to have seen way too much. There was a hint of disdain for the world in there, but also knowledge much deeper than he could even imagine it. Just from those eyes alone, it was clear that he wasn’t human.

Gongliang Ye didn’t answer immediately. He didn’t like doing people favors. And he did indeed feel just like what he had told Zhan Cheng the other time: That as a witch, it was his duty to help humans if they were haunted by somebody or something from the spirit realm.

That didn’t mean that he necessarily had to forgo some kind of pay. That was the way he wanted to deal with things but if it was a genuine gift out of somebody being grateful, he would be lacking in decorum if he just rudely told them off. Also, he couldn’t deny that it would be nice to have something more to eat. He was able to get quite a few things from the forest but that naturally couldn’t compare to the things that could be gotten in the towns.

He hesitated for a moment longer and then just closed the bag again, and looked at Zhan Cheng. "Well, it’s almost time for breakfast. Why don’t you come in?" With that, he just went inside and left the door open, putting the things down on the table before he started to put them away.

Zhan Cheng stood in front of the door, unable to believe what was happening. Then, his expression lit up and he followed him inside, conscientiously closing the door behind him. "If there’s any other way I can help you … just say so. I’m not … well, not that talented but maybe there’s something simple that I could do for you." He went over to the table and awkwardly stood a few steps behind Gongliang Ye, hoping that he would have anything to do for him. If it was something difficult, he also wouldn’t mind. At the very least, that would give him an excuse to come back here.

Realizing the kind of thought he had just had, he shook his head at himself and then faced the ground, hoping that it wouldn’t be too obvious. He really needed to work on this.

Gongliang Ye glanced over his shoulder, his eyes narrowing a little. "I think you’ve already shown your gratitude with this. There’s no reason to make more out of it than it is. In any case, dealing with that ghost was something I should do. I said that before and I will repeat it for you as often as you need to hear it. Don’t make more out of it than it is."

Zhan Cheng nodded but his expression said that he would still continue.

Gongliang Ye wondered if he should say something but in the end, he just finished putting the provisions away and then started to make a simple meal. When he had finished, there was a smell in the room that he hadn’t smelled in a long time. Always eating plain rice … while it wasn’t bad, it couldn’t be called good either. If he could, then he would also prefer having at least some kind of variety every now and then.

Looking at it this way, what this Zhan Cheng had done wasn’t too bad even though it really wouldn’t have been necessary. Feeling better about the gesture, Gongliang Ye waved for him to sit.