Chapter 179: Departure

Chapter 179 Departure

Liang Xu visibly stiffened.

He furrowed his brows. "What are you talking about?"

Shi Lv took a deep breath. "What I'm about to say might sound completely insane, like something out of a madman’s rant, but it's all true—I’m not crazy, and you absolutely have to believe me!"

Liang Xu patted him, afraid his boyfriend might pass out. "Take your time."

And so, in the dim yellow light of the bedside lamp, he explained everything to Liang Xu in detail.

Half-asleep, 66 heard a piercing alarm.

"Warning! Severe plot deviation detected! Warning! Severe plot deviation detected!"

Blood-red text flashed glaringly on the screen as a cold electronic voice echoed in its ears. Rubbing its bleary eyes, 66 drowsily got up and turned off the alarm.

Slumped over his shoulder, oozing sleep-deprived grumpiness, it grumbled, "Alright, alright, fine. So the plot's deviating—it's already been deviating forever. How much worse can it get? Dramatic much? Lemme check this nonsense—"

"Pfft—!"

Good thing systems don’t drool, or 66 would have choked to death on its own spit.

It shot up in fury, barreling straight for Shi Lv. "Host! You’ve crossed a line—ack!"

Shi Lv had already explained most of the situation—from his sudden death, binding with the system, getting dumped into this ABO universe, taking over some trash’s body, to how 60 points would allow him to return. Just as he was speaking, he caught a blur of movement in his peripheral vision and immediately reached out, snatching 66 mid-air.

Like catching a billiard ball.

66: "!!!"

It saw red.

"Ah, sorry," Shi Lv loosened his grip, apologizing. "Didn’t know it was you—thought you were a bug."

66: "?!?!"

It hunched, winding up like a spring, and swore it would give this clueless host a knuckle sandwich!

But just as it was about to strike, another hand reached through the air.

Liang Xu gestured vaguely in the empty space, gingerly brushing the air as if afraid of damaging some Ming dynasty vase. "Is this 66?"

Only Shi Lv could see 66—Liang Xu couldn’t. But since Shi Lv had mimed grabbing and releasing something while chatting with empty space, it could only mean he was interacting with the legendary mini system.

Shi Lv: "Yeah, that’s it. Right here."

He pointed to his palm.

Liang Xu leaned in, placing his fingers lightly over Shi Lv’s hand, light as a butterfly’s touch. "Hello?"

His fingertips met cool, smooth metal.

66: "..."

All its anger fizzled out.

Liang Xu’s touch was tender, and 66 could feel the warmth radiating from his fingertips. His appearance—gentle, beautiful, and refined—paired with his polite greeting, made 66, a closet aesthetics snob who had rarely received such treatment from previous hosts, snap upright, screen blushing. "H-Hi… you too."

Shi Lv held it up: "66 is greeting you, it says 'you too'."

With a little guest suddenly at home, Liang Xu instinctively thought of his own orange cat, and his first reaction was to offer food: "Can you eat? Would you like some cake and milk? Hmm, we also have cola and sunflower seeds at home."

66: "...No need." It said primly, "I don’t like sweets."

Shi Lv couldn’t help but laugh but still relayed the message: "It says it doesn’t like sweets. Why don’t you ask if it wants to try your Bordeaux wine?"

66: "!"

Liang Xu's expression softened with amusement: "Alright, esteemed little guest, would you like to try some Bordeaux wine?"

66 politely declined: "No, no, thank you, sir. I can’t drink wine."

If given the chance, 66 would much prefer Shi Lv’s cola.

Growing shy, it hugged its host’s arm and retreated into the mental realm.

Shi Lv soothed the irritable mini system: "It’s fine, it’s already gone back. Seems like it doesn’t need to eat."

Then he muttered, "You actually believe me? I thought you’d think I’ve gone crazy."

Talking to empty air, grabbing and holding nothing—if it were anyone else, they’d have sent Shi Lv to a mental hospital by now.

Liang Xu pinched the bridge of his nose: "It does sound very bizarre, but it’s not entirely unbelievable. And if this were transmigration, some things start to make sense."

Back when he first signed the contract with Shi Lv, Liang Xu had investigated him. The young man had maxed out eighteen credit cards on luxury items far beyond his means. At the same time, his school absences could fill a spreadsheet, nearly getting him expelled. His 99+ connections on BlueBlue only confirmed this image.

According to the investigation, Shi Lv was flashy, hypocritical, and obsessed with vanity. Despite his prestigious background, his academic record was a mess. If not for pheromone compatibility, he wouldn’t have had a chance to enter New Leaf Group.

But Shi Lv was nothing like that.

He wasn’t flashy or hypocritical—he was a natural luminary. Liang Xu had more than once felt grateful that their pheromones matched, allowing him to meet Shi Lv.

Otherwise, he’d probably still be alone, instead of entwined in embrace under warm blankets with his boyfriend.

Liang Xu had also wondered about Shi Lv's complete personality change but couldn’t figure it out. He could only vaguely attribute it to the young man maturing and tempering his old ways. But a playboy’s reformation isn’t that easy. If this were transmigration, though, it would all make sense.

Shi Lv eyed him suspiciously: "You really believe me? Just like that? You don’t think I’m delusional?"

"I touched it." Given current technology, completely invisible materials don’t exist yet.

Liang Xu sighed: "Besides, whether it’s real or not, I’ll find out soon enough, won’t I?"

Shi Lv muttered, "That depends on 66's approval."

Shi Lv did have a plan. In a few days, Elder Ye would come to pick him up. He’d need to stay at the old residence until the engagement banquet, finalizing ceremony details and practicing etiquette before being paraded before the crowd.

To avoid implicating Liang Xu while sabotaging the banquet, Shi Lv could quietly disappear under Elder Ye’s nose after returning to the old residence.

That way, Elder Ye would only suspect someone in the estate and comb the place without implicating outsiders.

He recalled 66's terms: scoring 60 points meant going home. Now that he’d hit 60 early with no possibility of reaching 70, petitioning 66 for repatriation seemed fair.

As for Liang Xu—while gossiping about previous hosts, Shi Lv had learned that 66 once sent a host and their partner back together.

During Jiang Xun's lifetime.

Since several hosts had voluntarily forfeited their chance to return, 66 had openings remaining.

Shi Lv tapped on 66, feeling guilty: "It's okay, right?"

Earlier, when he blurted out about the gland surgery documents in his anxiety, he forgot to discuss it with the system first.

66 rolled over in the mindscape: "Hmph!"

—How dare he ask for a favor after messing up the mission like this? It had never seen such a shameless host!

Shi Lv: "66?"

66 rolled over again: "Hah!"

Shameless! Shameless!

Shi Lv picked up the sulking system again: "66, is it really not possible?"

66 was about to scoff, but the next second, the fingers holding it flipped, and the system felt the world spin as it was handed over to someone else.

Liang Xu held it, his fingertips traced across the screen as if petting a cat.

He cupped the invisible system: "Sorry, Shi Lv’s request might be a bit unreasonable. If it’s particularly difficult, you can say so. Going back is, of course, the best solution, but if it’s not possible, we have other ways to handle it."

Shi Lv rubbed his nose.

He felt like Liang Xu was his parent, and he was a schoolkid who had bullied another child, now being led out to apologize and resolve the issue.

66 quietly crouched in Liang Xu’s palm and whispered: "Well, it’s not entirely impossible."

It had spare capacity anyway, and keeping them wouldn’t be of much use.

"But... I have a condition... You must complete the remaining plotlines!"

Shi Lv immediately agreed: "No problem!"

Since everything was out in the open now, it was just a matter of delivering lines and playing roles. Behind closed doors, they could say whatever they wanted.

Liang Xu couldn’t see the screen, so Shi Lv printed out the key lines on A4 paper for him. Liang Xu took it, hesitating before finally offering an awkward comment: "These lines... are quite interesting."

And so, 66 spent two days alone on the balcony.

It watched its progress bar jump erratically, like it was possessed—one moment showing "Pheromone deprivation" at 60%, the next "Revenge" at 50%. It scratched its head in confusion.

...What on earth was the host doing?

Fortunately, the score broke past 65, heading toward 68. Shi Lv was on track to become the second-highest-scoring host in history.

It thought resignedly: "Well, it’s not a total loss."

The days passed, and soon it was the eve of the engagement banquet. Qiao Si drove up and pulled up to the New Leaf Group building, demanding Shi Lv come out.

According to the plan, Shi Lv would leave before the banquet. Liang Xu still had some unfinished business in this world, and the system’s identity was randomly generated—it could be anywhere. So, Shi Lv wrote down all his past-life identity details, phone number, even his university and dorm number, and pressed them into Liang Xu’s hands: "You have to come find me, don’t forget."

Liang Xu tucked them carefully into his shirt pocket: "I will."

They shared one last long kiss. Shi Lv waved and turned to go downstairs. Liang Xu stood by the picture window, parting the curtain to watch him get into the black car. Then the engine started, the car merged into the stream of traffic, and finally became a speck in the distance before vanishing completely.

Their next meeting would be in another world.

Elder Ye sat in his wheelchair as usual, apparently pleased with Shi Lv’s obedience. After the meal, the old man sharply corrected a few of Shi Lv’s dining manners before ordering: "The elite from Haicheng and Nancheng will all be at the engagement banquet. Learn proper bowing and handshake etiquette—don’t shame me."

Shi Lv wiped his hands unhurriedly, couldn’t be bothered with him.

Elder Ye declared, "Starting tomorrow, you will stay at the old residence. Don’t go wandering around. Without my permission, you are not to take a single step outside."

Shi Lv replied, "Don’t worry, I won’t budge."

Elder Ye nodded in satisfaction.

He was placed in a bedroom on the third floor of the old residence. As the banquet approached, security got beefed up, with more guards on night duty and cameras watching every move.

That evening, Shi Lv drew the curtains. The camera was pointed directly at his balcony, and the bedroom remained dead quiet—not even a single insect flew in.

But by the next day, the room was empty.

No servant knew his whereabouts, and no camera caught him on tape.

The newly recognized young master of the Ye family had disappeared without a trace, like he was never there.