Chapter 333: Talk

Chapter 333 The Talk

The cheetah froze in shock.

For any animal, the tail is off-limits.

But after glancing at the grilled chicken in the guide's hand, it hesitated for a moment before reluctantly lifted its tail, offering the tip to the guide.

Lu Liu grabbed it gleefully.

He pinched the tail tip, wrapped it around his wrist, and stroked it back and forth, leaving the cheetah tensed up. Yet the guide remained oblivious, even asking in confusion, "Huh, are you getting worked up?"

Lu Liu then returned the tail to it, giving the cheetah’s rump a playful swat in the process.

To hand over its tail, the cheetah had assumed a low crouch, rear in the air, placing the base of its tail right beside Lu Liu's hand—easy to reach with a simple lift.

"!!!"

The cheetah bolted three yards back.

It peeked back over its shoulder, eyeing Lu Liu warily, only to see the guide tilting his head and patting his thigh.

The iceberg beauty asked, "Can you lie here and let me pet your head?"

If there was one spot on the cheetah that was most fun to scritch, it was undoubtedly its oversized feline head.

"?"

The cheetah stared at him, tilting its head in confusion.

—W-wait, lie where?

Lu Liu replied calmly, "Here, on my thigh."

This was something he had learned from the system and his third host, Bai Yu. Bai Yu loved placing the Duke’s kitten on his lap, stroking its head and chin—a position both owner and cat found enjoyable.

"!!!"

The cheetah's mind was blown.

What? A lap pillow?! Seriously?!

It began staring blankly at the guide's thigh.

The guide was lean and lanky, the type who rarely exercised, yet his thighs retained just the right amount of softness, snugly tucked into the tailored trousers of the White Tower. Further down, his calves disappeared into silver-white boots, the contours just as appealing.

Lu Liu urged, "Come here."

"..."

The cheetah shuffled closer, one wary step at a time, until it finally closed its eyes and, like a soldier facing execution, presented its big feline head.

It rested on the guide's thigh.

Lu Liu cradled the cheetah's jaw, the soft fur brushing past his fingertips, and mentally purred in delight.

The guide began gently moving his hands.

His fingers worked its jaw like a pro masseur. At first stiff, the cheetah gradually relaxed, its eyes narrowing, its tail swishing lazily behind it. It even nudged its head closer, begging for more pets.

As a result, both the human and the cheetah were quite satisfied after the interaction.

After giving it another roasted chicken, the cheetah was full and content, while Lu Liu's movie was ending—young lovers sharing a kiss under the moonlight as a melancholy serenade softly played.

Lu Liu picked up the cheetah's head from his lap and placed it on the sofa. The cheetah opened its eyes and lashed its tail in annoyance.

*"Meow?"*

Lu Liu: "I have to go. Your person is about to wake up."

The cheetah raised a paw and caught Lu Liu's hem with its claws: "Meow meow?"

—*Will you come back tomorrow? I still want fried chicken.*

The cheetah's golden-brown eyes stared unblinkingly at Lu Liu, who easily understood its meaning: "Can't say about tomorrow. We'll see."

There was no scheduled plot with Qi Yi the next day—Lu Liu had another plotline to pursue.

—He was supposed to go on a date with Ji Xiuyun.

Ji Xiuyun was a smooth operator. In the original story, he took the initiative to ask Lu Liu out, sweet-talked the guide senseless, inadvertently revealing much about Qi Yi's imprisonment. Later, using a night of passion as cover, he boldly infiltrated the White Tower, mapping out its passages and defenses.

This was a crucial plot point in the original story. Without it, Qi Yi wouldn’t have escaped successfully.

Unfortunately, as the strategist of the Dark Sentinels and the brains of the protagonist team, Ji Xiuyun suddenly completely dropped the ball.

Ji Xiuyun’s profile in the Optical Brain remained silent, as if it had died. Lu Liu waited half the day but received no date invitation from him.

Lu Liu was seriously pissed.

—What kind of crappy NPC doesn’t follow the script at all?

Left with no choice, he messaged Ji Xiuyun himself: "Hey."

Faced with an NPC who refused to stick to the plot, Lu Liu couldn't be bothered to be polite.

Ji Xiuyun was in a meeting, discussing rescue plans for Qi Yi. Since his attempt to seduce the guide had failed, he had to adjust the strategy.

During a discussion break, he picked up his tea to wet his throat.

His Optical Brain suddenly vibrated.

Ji Xiuyun absentmindedly swiped to open it—the sender was none other than Lu Liu.

"Hey."

"You there?"

Ji Xiuyun spit out his tea in shock.

He raised a hand to pause the meeting and replied within a second: "Honorable Lord Lu Liu, I am here. What can I do for you?" Then he lifted his teacup again, taking a calming sip.

On the other end, Lu Liu was fuming now.

An instant reply! That meant Ji Xiuyun had nothing else to do! So why wasn’t he following the script?

"Date. Tomorrow."

"Pfft—"

Ji Xiuyun broke into violent coughing.

He pushed the teacup away, took the tissue handed by his colleague, and hastily wiped his mouth: "Lu Liu, what do you mean?"

Lu Liu said nothing.

"I said, go on a date with me tomorrow. 6 p.m., rooftop of the New Night Restaurant. I'll be waiting for you there."

In the original plot, Ji Xiuyun had chosen the New Night Restaurant because its rooftop was a great stargazing spot favored by many couples.

"..."

Ji Xiuyun: "Apologies, Lu Liu. May I ask—that restaurant is quite far. Why did you choose that location?"

The guide's persona was arrogant, and Lu Liu particularly despised those who didn't follow the script: "Because I felt like it. Is that a problem?"

Ji Xiuyun lowered his gaze, his fingers pausing their rhythmic tapping on the table: "...No problem."

Lu Liu's avatar went dark.

Ji Xiuyun silently stared at the darkened avatar for a long while.

What Lu Liu didn't know was that in the original story, Ji Xiuyun had chosen the New Night Restaurant because it was their meeting spot. The owner of the New Night Restaurant was a Dark Sentinel, making it a safe place to get information without the White Tower's surveillance.

But the real question was: how did the guide know about this place? And why did he choose it?

Was Lu Liu truly as harmless as he appeared?

Regardless of his thoughts, at 6 p.m., Ji Xiuyun arrived punctually at the New Night Restaurant.

Wearing an impeccable suit and holding a bouquet of red roses, he flashed a smile the moment the guide stepped out of the aircraft and extended his hand: "Thank you for your favor, Lu Liu. Would you let me hold your hand?"

Lu Liu: "No need."

He wanted nothing to do with anything beyond the script.

Lu Liu walked past Ji Xiuyun and headed straight upstairs.

The two took their seats on the terrace.

Lu Liu waited quietly for Ji Xiuyun to bring up the matter.

But Ji Xiuyun kept making small talk—"The weather is lovely today," "The stars are beautiful"—danced around the subject entirely.

As time ticked by without any of the key highlighted dialogue being spoken, Lu Liu grew increasingly impatient. He slammed down his fork abruptly: "The White Tower's ventilation and drainage system has a unique design."

Ji Xiuyun froze in place.

—They had assessed it before: the only way to escape the heavily guarded White Tower was through the air vents.

In the original story, Ji Xiuyun had lied, claiming he majored in plumbing in college and was fascinated by the White Tower's drainage system, thus getting information from the guide.

Lu Liu looked up: "Mr. Ji, what was your university major?"

With Ji Xiuyun refusing to speak up, Lu Liu had to take the initiative.

The guide controlled the conversation, leaving Ji Xiuyun completely thrown and too flustered to lie: "Uh... stellar physics?"

"..."

The system was beyond furious.

How could this NPC go so far off script? His lines were practically spoon-fed to him, yet he still managed to stray off script?

Lu Liu drew a deep breath and simply skipped all of Ji Xiuyun's lines: "The ventilation systems in the White Tower are interconnected, like an elevator shaft. You can climb in through the vents. There's a maintenance access on the first floor—remove the metal panel, and you can enter the drainage system from there. The drainage system connects directly to the city's central pipelines."

Lu Liu looked up to meet Ji Xiuyun's. "Clear enough for you?"

The polite, practiced smile on Ji Xiuyun's lips vanished, replaced by an unprecedented seriousness. "Lord Lu Liu, are you suggesting..."

Lu Liu could tell he was about to say something off-script again, so he cut him off and made the first move. "Follow me."

Ji Xiuyun had no choice but to follow obediently.

They left the restaurant in silence, boarded the aircraft in silence, and piloted it in silence until it landed in front of the White Tower.

Before parting, Lu Liu glanced at him. "Bring your roses."

Ji Xiuyun cradled the bouquet, an incredulous thought surfacing in his mind.

He seemed to understand what the Guide intended to do.

The White Tower was heavily guarded. Even late at night, multiple Sentinel teams patrolled below. Spotting Lu Liu and Ji Xiuyun from afar, the guards immediately trained a spotlight on them and surrounded them.

Lu Liu said, "It's me."

He jerked his chin toward Ji Xiuyun. "He's with me."

Ji Xiuyun smiled, holding the blood-red roses.

As an SS-rank Guide and a senior officer of the White Tower, the guards took one look at Lu Liu and immediately let them pass without even screening Ji Xiuyun.

They entered the White Tower one after the other.

Lu Liu scanned his fingerprint and led Ji Xiuyun upward, arriving at the high-level floors off-limits to Sentinels.

The elevator chimed open. Ji Xiuyun lowered his head, hiding behind the roses, and whispered to the Guide, "Won't there be trouble bringing me in like this?"

Lu Liu replied, "No. High-ranking Guides often bring different Sentinels back for the night."

It was an open secret by now.

As they passed a certain spot, Lu Liu pointed it out to Ji Xiuyun. "Each elevator bank has a ventilation duct entrance nearby. This is what it looks like—remember it. Qi Yi's cell is at the far end of the 23rd floor, roughly fifty meters from the nearest elevator. Later, I'll show you the evacuation diagram."

At this point, the roses between them became a prop for concealment. From the overhead surveillance, it just looked like an intimate couple flirting.

Ji Xiuyun was speechless.

Tonight's events had completely upended his expectations. In his script, he was the hunter, and Lu Liu was the prey—after all, how could a Guide under the White Tower's protection outsmart a seasoned Sentinel? But now, the situation had completely reversed.

Lu Liu had become the player calling the shots, and he was merely a pawn.

Author's Note:

66: "Can't carry this team, just can't."