He was roaring inside, but in the end, he still gritted his teeth and didn’t let go.
While dragging the person toward the shore, he craned his neck to look at his face.
Luckily, his luck wasn’t so bad this time— it wasn’t some ghost he was hauling up, but an old acquaintance.
Qu Yanning let out a breath of relief, wrapped his arms around Zhao Dongqi’s waist, and dragged him backward, muttering as he lectured, “You really have a weird temper, but fine, why did you jump into the sea for no reason?”
The wind and waves at the seaside grew even stronger.
Zhao Dongqi refused to budge, and Qu Yanning struggled even more to drag him in the water.
After a long tussle, he barely managed to drag him a bit closer to the shore.
At least now, with the water only waist-deep, breathing wasn’t as hard.
The inky blue seawater surged toward the shore in wave after wave.
That strange singing started up again, and beneath the surface, half-transparent tentacles floated silently, creeping toward the two of them.
Qu Yanning caught his breath, then hugged the man and dragged him further toward the shore.
The person in his arms was stiff as a corpse, showing no signs of life.
After dragging him for so long, Qu Yanning started to wonder if he’d scared him off for good, even though he’d just seen him and talked to him earlier that night.
“Don’t tell me you’re sleepwalking?” Qu Yanning grumbled, struggling to drag the man ashore.
But Zhao Dongqi’s body seemed unusually heavy, and with the waves pulling back, it felt like someone was secretly dragging him from below.
In the icy seawater, Qu Yanning was sweating buckets from the effort.
Under the surface, the tentacles had already wrapped silently around Zhao Dongqi’s ankle.
One of them floated along with the waves, reaching out toward Qu Yanning—
Suddenly, Qu Yanning’s chest felt hot.
He glanced down at the Jin Nang hanging from his neck, not noticing the tentacle beneath the water that suddenly recoiled.
In the hotel, Xie Qi, who had been sleeping, suddenly opened his eyes.
The spot beside him was already cold.
He frowned in frustration, and with a flash of light, disappeared from the room.
Zhao Dongqi’s body seemed to get lighter.
Qu Yanning kept dragging him, panting, while the wind and waves above the inky blue sea grew even fiercer.
A huge wave crashed over, and Qu Yanning lost his footing and fell into the water.
He choked on a mouthful of seawater, spat it out, and coughed twice.
But then, to his horror, he saw Zhao Dongqi’s body being dragged deeper by the waves.
He instinctively reached out to grab him, only to find himself being pulled further into the sea as well.
This force was too strong— it couldn’t be just the natural waves.
Only then did he realize something was wrong and began to look around nervously.
Whatever was in the sea seemed to be hiding.
The surface churned as several thick tentacles slapped the water, while countless others writhed below.
A tentacle was wrapped around Zhao Dongqi’s leg, clearly trying to drag him deeper.
“!!!” Qu Yanning couldn’t help but curse, nearly falling back into the water from fright.
Zhao Dongqi stared blankly ahead, completely unaware, as the tentacle yanked hard, dragging both Zhao Dongqi and Qu Yanning deeper into the sea.
The water was already up to their necks.
Qu Yanning gritted his teeth, refusing to let go out of pure instinct.
He glanced anxiously toward the shore, but no rescuers were in sight.
The tentacles seemed wary of something.
They circled around Qu Yanning but didn’t dare touch him again, only tugging relentlessly at Zhao Dongqi.
Qu Yanning swallowed several mouthfuls of water; his feet were barely touching the sand.
If no one came soon, he figured he and Zhao Dongqi would really end up buried at sea.
“Meow—!”
An angry cat’s howl shattered the silence.
Xie Qi’s body expanded in an instant, sprinting across the water, and slammed his sharp claws down hard—
A huge splash erupted, and a muffled roar came from beneath the waves.
The force dragging Zhao Dongqi suddenly let go, and with the rebound, Qu Yanning and Zhao Dongqi both sank downward.
Xie Qi roared angrily twice, scooped Qu Yanning up with his paw and gently placed him on his back, then grabbed the unconscious Zhao Dongqi and tossed him directly onto the beach.
With a thud, Zhao Dongqi crashed onto the sand; even Qu Yanning winced at the sound.
Soaked from head to toe, Qu Yanning had swallowed several mouthfuls of salty seawater.
His eyes were red from coughing as he lay dazed on the big cat’s back, nervously clutching a small tuft of fur, afraid he might fall if he wasn’t careful.
Xie Qi carried him to the shore, turned around, and gently picked him up, rubbing his head against Qu Yanning’s neck just like before.
Only now, his body was so much larger that with one enthusiastic nudge, he knocked Qu Yanning right off his feet.
Qu Yanning landed on the ground, hesitantly looking at him. “Good… good boy?”
Xie Qi flicked his tail, leaving a faint mark on the sand, but gently bumped his forehead against Qu Yanning’s.
A damp nose rubbed against his face.
Qu Yanning stared at the little cat, now the size of a tiger.
His heart was shocked and complicated, but when he met those bright golden cat eyes, he couldn’t help but rub the cat’s head just like before, then scratch his chin.
“Thank you.”
Xie Qi purred twice, stuck out his tongue, and hugged Qu Yanning’s neck, burying his face against him for a cuddle.
After cleaning off the sand, Xie Qi didn’t seem to mind.
A soft rumble came from his throat as he squatted down, gathering Qu Yanning in his embrace.
The big cat’s body was warm.
Qu Yanning glanced at the dark distance, grumbling, “Good thing you were here. If we’d waited for Chu Zhou to bring help—”
Xie Qi let out a low meow, a bit displeased, and cut him off, pinning him down with a paw and licking his neck hard.
Only when Qu Yanning was covered in his scent did he let go.
Faint voices and lights could be heard in the distance.
Xie Qi twitched his ears, stood up, and rubbed against Qu Yanning, meowing softly.
Qu Yanning heard the noise too, patted his ear, and said, “You go first.”
Ears pinned back, paw pads flexing, Xie Qi walked over to the still-unconscious Zhao Dongqi and gave him a few hard swats before quickly removing the Barrier Concealment Spell and leaving.
Qu Yanning: “…”
Chu Zhou rushed over with the rescue team.
The hotel staff had been inefficient, and it took several tries to get the rescue team together and run to the shore.
Qu Yanning staggered to his feet and waved to them.
……
Zhao Dongqi groggily opened his eyes, feeling like his bones were about to fall apart.
He groaned in discomfort, tried to move his legs, but found he couldn’t budge.
“???” He struggled to lift the blanket and was relieved to see his legs were still intact.
On the next bed, Qu Yanning said, “You’re awake? We almost died in the sea last night.”
Zhao Dongqi looked at him, exclaiming, “Why is it you again?”
Qu Yanning took a bite of an apple. “What about me? If it wasn’t for me, you’d have been eaten by a monster.”
Zhao Dongqi shook his head. Fuzzy fragments flashed through his mind. He stammered, “Was there really a monster?”
Qu Yanning squinted at him. “I’m teasing you. You went sleepwalking and swam into the sea, got stung by a poisonous jellyfish, and started hallucinating.”
Zhao Dongqi: “…”
He rubbed his aching head. “Thanks, I guess.”
Qu Yanning kept munching on his apple.
He hadn’t really gotten hurt yesterday— just a bit chilled.
But since the incident was so serious, and the hotel rescue hadn’t been timely, the management was afraid of being held responsible.
They carefully asked him to stay in the hospital for two more days for observation, and even arranged full checkups for both of them.
Qu Yanning knew the truth, but he couldn’t really blame the hotel.
Who could’ve guessed there’d be a monster lurking in the sea?
Maybe the hotel legends about the Sea Demon weren’t just rumors after all.
Qu Yanning finished his apple, and Chu Zhou came in with the cat.
As soon as Xie Qi saw Qu Yanning, his eyes lit up and he happily jumped off the ground, running to the bedside.
Qu Yanning looked at the petite cat with mixed feelings.
Although Second Master Xie had said the good boy wasn’t an ordinary cat, he’d only thought it meant the cat was extra clever.
He’d never imagined it was this extraordinary.
Xie Qi stood up, paws on the edge of the bed, but since he was small, he couldn’t quite reach Qu Yanning.
He could only look up with hopeful eyes, waiting for Qu Yanning to pick him up.
But after a long while, the person who used to scoop him up and shower him with kisses at first sight didn’t move.
Xie Qi sadly folded his ears back, let go of the bed, and squatted at the bedside.
He knew his true identity would be hard for ordinary people to accept, and had always been cautious about hiding it.
But when the person you care about doesn’t accept you, even he couldn’t help but feel hurt.
Chu Zhou had no idea what was going through the minds of the person and the cat.
He picked out an apple from the fruit basket and started peeling it. “The hotel management came to see me. They said if there’s any compensation we want, they can discuss it, but they hope we won’t spread word about this incident.”
“Huh?” Qu Yanning snapped out of his daze. “I’m fine. Once I’m discharged, that’ll be it.”
Then he noticed the little lump by the bed.
Naturally, he bent down and picked up the cat, rubbing foreheads with him. “Why are you squatting down there?”
Xie Qi perked up one ear, eyes wide as he looked at Qu Yanning, pretending not to care, but his bright eyes gave him away.
Xie Qi even saw his tiny reflection in those clear pupils.
The little bit of disappointment instantly melted away.
He meowed softly, raised his head, and rubbed his face against Qu Yanning.
Qu Yanning accepted it gladly, kissing the furry head several times—nothing had changed.
Even after seeing his terrifying side, it was still just like before.
Later, the hotel management came again.
There were three of them: one in charge and two subordinates, who placed a fruit basket on the table.
The leader, a middle-aged man, spoke to Qu Yanning with great care.
Zhao Dongqi’s side was fine.
He’d nearly caused trouble for others by being reckless, but since he was reasonable, the hotel was lucky he didn’t make a fuss.
It was Qu Yanning who had really solved the hotel’s big problem.
“It’s alright, I wasn’t hurt. Once my checkups are done, I can be discharged. No need to worry.”
“This time, our rescue was delayed. Thanks to Mr. Qu, our hotel avoided more trouble. We’re truly grateful— if you have any requests, we can accommodate them.”
Qu Yanning stroked the cat for a while, then said, “If you really want to thank me, donate some money to charity.”
He honestly didn’t need any compensation from the hotel.
The manager was stunned, then sincerely said, “Mr. Qu, you’re a good person. You’ll be rewarded for this.”
Qu Yanning smiled, playing with the cat’s soft paw. “It’s easy to be generous with someone else’s money.”
The manager nodded, didn’t insist, and pulled a card from his pocket. “This is our hotel’s Jin Card. From now on, your stays are free. Please accept it—it’s just a token from us.”
Qu Yanning hesitated, then accepted it. “Thank you.”
They exchanged a few more pleasantries, and the manager soon left without lingering.
As soon as the hotel staff left, a whole group of people— men, women, old, young, five in all— came straight to Zhao Dongqi’s bed.
“My dear grandson!” The old lady, eyes red, threw herself onto Zhao Dongqi.
Zhao Dongqi patted her back, face scrunched up. “Grandma, please don’t cry. If you keep crying, I’ll start crying too.”
The others chimed in, finally calming the old lady, who wiped her tears and carefully held Zhao Dongqi’s hand, asking what happened.
Zhao Dongqi had to explain everything.
He’d gone surfing at night, got stung by a jellyfish and poisoned without knowing, fell asleep and started sleepwalking into the sea.
He scratched his head and pointed at Qu Yanning’s bed. “If it wasn’t for him, you’d be collecting my body today.”
“Nonsense!” The middle-aged man, who’d been stern-faced the whole time, scolded him, then turned to thank Qu Yanning seriously.
With six people and twelve eyes staring at him, Qu Yanning felt a lot of pressure and even stopped petting the cat, awkwardly waving his hands. “It’s nothing, really. Just did what anyone would do.”
The family thanked him over and over.
Qu Yanning firmly refused any gifts, so they finally gave up, exchanged contact info, and left with Zhao Dongqi, saying they were taking him to a big hospital for a checkup.
As Zhao Dongqi was wheeled away, the middle-aged woman beside him asked, “That boy’s name is Qu Yanning?”
“Yeah,” Zhao Dongqi replied. “Why?”
The woman shook her head. “Maybe I’m thinking too much. The Qu Family’s kid we met before seemed to have the same name.”
“Now that you mention it, he does look a bit like Wei Feng Qing,” the old lady added, remembering a bit.
A younger woman said, “How could it be such a coincidence? And the Qu Family is in Shen City— how could they find someone here?”
Her reasoning made sense. The Zhao Family and Qu Family weren’t exactly close, so they just chatted idly and quickly left.
……