Of course, there was a nearby budget hotel where Zhang Ren could stay, but Qu Yanning, being tactful, never mentioned it and just let things be.
The three of them analyzed Flower Luo’s situation. The most likely scenario was that Flower Luo’s soul was trapped inside the game, and some foreign soul had taken over her body.
“Let’s try to probe once Flower Luo logs in again,” Chu Zhou suggested.
Qu Yanning agreed. For now, there was no other effective method but to try to understand Flower Luo’s condition as much as possible.
Xie Qi sat quietly nearby, wagging his tail gently upon hearing their conversation.
Unlike before, he didn’t lazily curl up on Qu Yanning’s lap but sat upright on the sofa, chin raised slightly, his pointed furry ears perked on top of his head.
After finishing the serious talk, Chu Zhou suddenly said, “Has the cat gotten bigger?”
“Really?” Qu Yanning was surprised and took a close look at Xie Qi.
Xie Qi twitched his ears and sat straighter.
Zhang Ren glanced at the unusually solemn Xie Qi today, feeling a complicated mix of emotions.
“Seems like he’s grown a bit,” Qu Yanning said, pinching Xie Qi’s paw and comparing the paw pad size to before—it was indeed a little bigger.
Qu Yanning had been taking good care of him, and the cat had gained quite a bit of weight recently, becoming round and plump.
But today, the cat looked slimmer, his body stretched with the smooth, powerful lines of a full-grown cat.
Qu Yanning stroked his soft belly fur and petted his head with a smile. “Congrats, you’ve finally grown up.”
Xie Qi instinctively rubbed against Qu Yanning’s palm but suddenly stiffened, pushing his hand away with a serious expression and letting out a high-cold meow.
Qu Yanning didn’t understand Xie Qi’s strong desire to maintain his image. When Xie Qi pushed him away, Qu Yanning just smiled and petted him again. Xie Qi pushed again, and Qu Yanning petted once more…
Xie Qi: …
He resigned himself to keeping a straight face and letting Qu Yanning pet him while secretly planning to find some time to go back home.
******
In the evening, Chu Zhou and Zhang Ren went out on a date, leaving Qu Yanning and the cat alone at home.
Xie Qi had been holding his cold demeanor all day and still sat stiffly on the sofa. The TV was playing a cheesy idol drama, and he watched absentmindedly, his tail flicking behind him.
Qu Yanning logged into the game, staring at Flower Luo’s gray name, waiting for her to come online.
After a moment of silent thought, Xie Qi jumped down from the sofa and transformed into his large cat form, bumping his head against the dazed Qu Yanning.
Qu Yanning reached out and stroked him.
Xie Qi meowed softly twice, then walked to the balcony, flicked his tail, and looked back at Qu Yanning.
“Going out?” Qu Yanning squatted down to pet him and asked softly.
Xie Qi gently bumped foreheads and meowed again.
Qu Yanning asked when he would return.
Xie Qi shook his head and finally nuzzled him before leaping out the balcony.
“Come back early,” Qu Yanning waved at him. Xie Qi responded with a low murmur and ran off into the distance.
With the cat gone, Qu Yanning was left completely alone. The TV kept blaring with the male and female leads shouting at each other, as if competing over who had the louder voice.
Qu Yanning lowered the volume but didn’t turn it off.
He went to the bedroom and pulled out the book Xie Qi had given him. It contained basic introductions and some little stories.
Qu Yanning read through it from start to finish, feeling that Flower Luo’s situation looked like a case of Seizing.
But the book only briefly mentioned it, without any solutions.
Qu Yanning frowned and thought that no matter what, he first needed to find a way to confirm if Flower Luo’s soul was really trapped inside the game.
If they could find her, things might get easier later.
The guild channel kept popping up with notifications of friends coming online, but Flower Luo remained offline.
Qu Yanning stared at the gray name for a while before suddenly having an idea. He sent a private message to Flower Luo.
He quietly said to [Green Grasslands]: Are you there?
Qu Yanning nervously waited, unsure if his guess was correct.
After a moment, the computer chimed. Qu Yanning’s eyes widened slightly.
[Green Grasslands] quietly said: I’m here. Have you come to save me?
Qu Yanning hesitated before replying cautiously: Are you Qin Xiaomeng?
Qin Xiaomeng was Flower Luo’s real name, which she had told him during their meet-up.
The other side seemed very excited and confirmed yes, then sent him a long message.
Qu Yanning read it and finally understood.
Qin Xiaomeng was indeed trapped in the game. The soul inside her body now was her game character, Green Grasslands.
Qin Xiaomeng explained that she had just logged in as usual to do the Yin-Yang Two Realms Miracle Quest.
That day, her luck was particularly good; she only died once and came out of the Yin-Yang Two Realms.
Following the Miracle Quest guide, she confronted the Soul Collector and gathered the required items.
However, at the last step— when Yuan Mingya (NPC) was supposed to sever Yang Ning’s (NPC) Yang Qi— it wasn’t the Yang Qi of the NPC that got cut, but her own.
Qin Xiaomeng sent multiple crying and fearful emojis, saying the Soul Collector smiled at her at that moment.
She was terrified and stunned. By the time she reacted, she had already entered the game.
Green Grasslands took over her body, controlling her to grind dungeons and roam the wild.
Qin Xiaomeng had lost count of how many times she died. The only thing she remembered was the despair and pain of death.
Each time she hoped not to wake up again, but Green Grasslands never let her have that wish.
Qin Xiaomeng told Qu Yanning that no one could see her, only him. “Please save me, I can’t take it anymore.”
Qu Yanning’s fingers trembled as he typed back seriously, “Hold on a little longer. I will find a way to rescue you.”
Qin Xiaomeng agreed and sent a string of crying and thankful emojis.
Suddenly, the computer pinged again. Flower Luo’s name lit up. Qu Yanning suddenly realized something and silently prayed that Green Grasslands wouldn’t see the chat history.
The computer chimed again. It was Flower Luo sending a message.
[Green Grasslands] quietly said: Ah, you found me.
[Green Grasslands] quietly said: I knew you were someone special.
[Green Grasslands] quietly said: Will you save her?
Qu Yanning hesitated over his reply, feeling exposed too quickly and unsure how to respond.
Flower Luo kept sending messages.
[Green Grasslands] quietly said: Didn’t we have a good time last time?
[Green Grasslands] quietly said: Why save her?
[Green Grasslands] quietly said: Don’t you want to be friends with me?
Qu Yanning watched Flower Luo spam the chat and suddenly his panic calmed down. He chose his words carefully and replied.
He quietly said to [Green Grasslands]: This is Qin Xiaomeng’s body. It’s wrong to occupy someone else’s body so casually.
Flower Luo replied: But she agreed. She accepted the Soul Collector’s request.
Qu Yanning: …
He fell silent for a moment. For now, Flower Luo’s attitude wasn’t hostile. Maybe there was still hope for rescue.
He sent another message to Flower Luo, suggesting they meet for dinner this weekend.
Flower Luo sent back several smiling emojis and joked: Are you planning to send someone to catch me?
Qu Yanning said no, just to have dinner and talk.
Flower Luo hesitated a while before replying. She said fine, she’d come. After all, no one could force her to leave if she didn’t want to.
Qu Yanning finally relaxed and logged out of the game. He searched online for soul exchange and Seizing but only found novels and messy information.
He closed the computer and messaged Xie Qi on WeChat.
Having to trouble Xie Qi again made Qu Yanning feel awkward, but besides him, no one else understood these matters.
Zhao Dongqi might have some knowledge, but he was unreliable. When it came to life-and-death matters, Qu Yanning instinctively trusted Xie Qi.
Xie Qi had just arrived home.
His body was growing faster than expected. At this rate, his adulthood would come soon. Just in case, he returned home briefly.
He landed and transformed back into human form, greeting Xie Jingting, who was reading a newspaper in the living room. “Father.”
Xie Jingting put down the paper and said, “Why are you back all of a sudden?”
Xie Qi said he had something important.
Xie Jingting nodded, his cold handsome face revealing no extra emotion. “Your mother is making a cake. Sit down first.”
Xie Qi sat opposite him. The kitchen faintly smelled sweet, and two young cat meows could be heard occasionally.
Xie Qi looked toward the kitchen as a round orange kitten happily ran out, nibbling on a piece of small cake.