After taking Shin to a place he deemed appropriate to him recover his life force, and staying close to assist him in the process, he escorts him back to Guyun, when it's already dark outside. He and Shin haven't revealed each others' "everyday identities" yet but now Garan knows where the other lives. He doesn't get inside Shin's house nor approaches, he just accompanies him there and watches until the other steps inside, before turning around and walk away.

He heads to a shrouded spot and takes off his mask. The moment he does that, his outfit changes to his everyday clothes and his tails become invisible again.
With a sigh, he steps back into the dark street while fixing his hair in a bun.
He heads to the centre of the city, where the market happens, even if.now.all the stands are closed, and retrieves his "backpack basket" where he puts his products to carry them. He was at the market when the crisis begun and had to swiftly sneak away from the crowd in order to go to help, without being recognized or noticed. He finds it really important to keep his nature hidden from the other citizens.

After eating with Jingyuan and spending some time together, he returns to the palace to check if HaiTien woke up and how he is doing.
He expects to find him in WooPil's residence, so that's where he heads first.

Now that the situation with Skylar is over and with a happy ending, that didn't cause any catastrophes, he can return to his normal life to.
Of course he continues to frequent the lessons at the Palace and being a very diligent and effective student. Probably one of the best of his year

Occasionally he also makes sure to leave some gifts for WooPil. He doesn't give them directly to him, wanting to keep their interactions as minimal as possible, as a way to protect his appa from his past life.
He goes to leave a basket with delicious foods WonPil used fo love, coming from both himself and TiHao, to the servants in WooPil's residence.

Naturally, from the outside, it's not clear who HaoLin is making those gifts for. Could be anyone inside that residence, even… Chan!!

As he notices HaiTien walking nearby, he puts down his book and goes after him. Despite feeling quite confused and awkward by the kiss, he wants to understand the situation better.
«You, stop.»

They continue their investigation, following the tracks WooPil left outside the town. Since it all happens at a short time, it's not even difficult, there are still footprints in the snow.

The footprints lead to the closest wood, where a second set of footprints add to the mix. And then a few more, too, but different ones. «Undead.»
Continuing to follow the trail, that now is a confused mess but that all leads to the same direction, they reach something pretty peculiar: a portal, but somewhat "smeared" through trees and other plants, like stuck in the vegetation and looking more like a barrier than a traditional portal.

They decide to return home instead of suicidally jump into an unknown portal in two. As they are back to the Palace, they also come across the rescue team who brought Chan and the others back.
They hastily discuss the situation and, unsurprisingly, Chan insists that he must go through that portal. There is no way they could stop him from going, all they could do is join him, so that he won't risk to end up alone in a terribly dangerous situation.

Xingqiu takes them back to the location of the portal through teleportation and even before they could think of a plan, Chan runs through.