Chapter 335: Name

After petting the leopard for a while, Lu Liu adjusted the pillow and nestled lazily into the sofa to start watching a movie.

The leopard, dissatisfied that he had moved his hand away, nuzzled its big, heavy head against his shoulder.

Lu Liu complained, "Your head is so heavy."

He lightly nudged the leopard away, trying to push it aside. The leopard, confused, flopped onto the sofa with his push, ending up sprawled on its back with its belly exposed—soft and white.

It curled its front paws and tilted its head. "Mrrow?"

—Want to rub my belly?

Lu Liu: "!"

The Guide couldn’t resist. His hand immediately went straight for an enthusiastic belly rub.

The leopard lay obediently on its back, letting him do as he pleased, like an oversized plush toy.

Lu Liu buried his face in its belly and took a deep breath.

"Mmm, you..."

He wanted to address the leopard, but after some thought, he realized that in the original text, the leopard was simply called "leopard." Qi Yi was a no-nonsense type who wouldn’t give his Spirit a name.

The leopard had no name, and calling it "leopard" felt too distant. So Lu Liu skipped naming it outright and pointed at its fluffy belly instead. "Can I lie here?"

The leopard glanced at its belly, then at the Guide, and gave a dignified nod.

Thus, Lu Liu began watching the movie with his head pillowed on the leopard’s belly.

He cut the fried chicken into pieces, feeding himself one bite and the leopard another, occasionally reaching up to pet its head. Amid the leopard’s rumbling purrs, he watched an entire teen angst movie.

About two hours later, the movie’s end credits started playing. Lu Liu tore his attention away from the screen to focus entirely on petting the leopard.

As the screen darkened, so did the leopard’s eyes.

The movie was over—which meant the Guide was about to leave.

The leopard jumped off the sofa and clamped down on the hem of Lu Liu’s pants.

Lu Liu gave a light tug but couldn’t pull free.

The Guide tapped its head, his tone slightly fondly exasperated. "I have to go. Don’t want me to leave?"

The leopard shook its head vigorously.

It had spent too long in the Sentinel's Spirit Sea. Qi Yi rarely let it out, and the Spirit Sea was still and vast. For ages, the leopard’s only playmate had been its own tail.

It had gotten used to the loneliness—until the Guide started sharing roasted chicken.

Now, everything was different.

It loved the Guide’s treats, but it also loved his company.

The screen that lit up like clockwork every day for two hours, the sounds of laughter and drama from the movies, the relaxed Guide on the sofa, the aroma of food in the air.

And the Guide’s cola that it could paw at.

Now, in the remaining 22 hours of the day, it lived for those two precious hours.

So, at the end of those two hours, they grew especially reluctant to part.

Lu Liu yanked his pant leg free: "But your master is about to wake up. I have to go."

In the real world, he was still pressing foreheads with Qi Yi. What if Qi Yi woke up early and chomped his nose clean off?

"..."

The cheetah drew its claws back in, nuzzled against Lu Liu, then leaped back onto the sofa, curling into a dejected little ball with its tail drooping, swaying listlessly—utterly dejected and down in the dumps.

It was the picture of misery.

Lu Liu: "..."

His heart melted on the spot.

The guide asked hesitantly: "What if I got you some toys and snacks?"

Lu Liu had noticed that two of the cola cups he left behind were flattened—likely the cheetah's doing.

The cheetah lifted its head slightly, its golden-brown eyes peeking out from beneath its tail, sneaking a look at him.

At this point, Lu Liu had to oblige.

None of his previous hosts had ever owned a big cat, but many had raised small ones. He recalled Bai Yu and Shi Lv's cat-raising routines—mainly Shi Lv's, since Bai Yu's "kitten" wasn't an ordinary one—then sized everything up proportionally, whipping up a bunch of items in the sentinel's Spirit Sea.

First, a floor-standing feather toy with a spring base and a half-meter-long feather on top, strong enough for the cheetah to leap at again and again.

Next, an enormous cat tree, originally designed with traditional mortise-and-tenon woodwork, but considering the cheetah's weight, Lu Liu wisely reinforced it with a steel rod inside.

Lastly, a plush, cozy replica cat bed where the cheetah could curl up comfortably.

After finishing all this, Lu Liu looked at the big cat and saw its beautiful eyes shining with delight.

"There we go." Lu Liu clapped his hands. "For now, try them out."

If not, before Tuesday's plot arrived, the guide could still make adjustments.

The big cat began joyfully leaping up and down the cat tree.

Pleased, Lu Liu nodded, shut off the movie equipment, and was about to leave when he noticed the cheetah had suddenly stopped, quietly staring at a spot on the cat bed.

Lu Liu walked over, crouched behind the cheetah, and patted its head gently. "What's wrong?"

The cheetah lifted a paw, pointed at a spot, tilted its head, and let out a questioning meow: "Meow?"

Lu Liu looked down—it was a blank nameplate area.

The cat bed's prototype was from Shi Lv's lifetime, one Liang Xu had bought for their household kitten.

Liang Xu, always spoiling his partner, only bought the priciest, not necessarily the most practical. The custom cat bed he ordered was simple but fancy, with intricate Baroque-style relief carvings around a brass nameplate embedded in the base, resembling an ancient noble's ceremonial item. Owners could send their cat's name to be laser-engraved on it.

Since the cheetah had no name, the nameplate remained empty.

But even without seeing the original, the big cat had keenly sensed that something was supposed to be there.

It tapped the blank spot with its paw, tilting its head: "Meow?"

What was this for? Why was it empty?

"..."

Lu Liu cursed Qi Yi a million times in his head.

He thought, what kind of jerk doesn't even give their own Spirit a name? This is straight-up cheetah abuse. Now that the cheetah was asking, what was Lu Liu supposed to do? He couldn't just write "Qi Yi" on the cat bed's ID tag.

If he did that, even if he died, Qi Yi would probably haunt him from the grave.

So, Lu Liu patted the cheetah's head and said, "How about I give you a name?"

The cheetah sat obediently: "Meow."

Okay.

Lu Liu wracked his brains: "Caesar, how about Caesar?"

His first impression of Qi Yi's Spirit in the original text was that of an iron-fisted, ruthless Emperor on the battlefield.

The mighty Emperor let out a happy "meow" and wagged its tail.

It didn't understand the meaning, but it liked it.

So, Lu Liu carefully carved the name "Caesar" onto the cat bed.

The moment he finished, he was tackled by a flying leap.

Lu Liu: "Caesar!"

He thought, seriously? A sneak attack right after getting a name? Did this silly leopard not realize that in a Sentinel's Spirit Sea, Lu Liu could handle him like a kitten?

But the next second, Caesar's enthusiastic tongue licked his face.

It! Started! Licking! Lu! Liu's! Face!

Lu Liu: "..."

Pushing away the overly excited Spirit with one hand, the Guide sighed. "Alright, alright, I'll come play with you tomorrow. That's enough for today."

He turned into a streak of white light and faded from the Spirit Sea.

The big cat watched the direction he disappeared in: "Meow," "Meow," "Meow-ow."

—Okay, goodbye, come back tomorrow.

Over the next few days, Lu Liu arrived punctually.

He decked it out with more things in the Sentinel's Spirit Sea, like a sandpit and a swimming pool for the cheetah to splash in.

He even played with Caesar using a cat teaser and frisbee—though it made no sense why a cheetah enjoyed what was typically a dog's game, but since Caesar liked it, Lu Liu humored him.

The days flew by, and Monday arrived.

That day, Lu Liu didn't watch a movie but gave Caesar two solid hours of pets.

When he left, he gave one last reluctant pat to the big cat's head and said, "Gotta bounce."

Caesar, as usual, meowed three times and curled up in his cat bed.

—Okay, goodbye, come back tomorrow.

*

The next day, Valentine's Day came right on schedule.

Even the usually stern White Tower was imbued with a livelier atmosphere, with Sentinels and Guides appearing in pairs all over. Many were seen embracing and kissing in unexpected spots—stairwells, break rooms, or corners of public areas.

Even more Sentinels and Guides had gone out celebrating, leaving the White Tower unusually empty.

To outsiders, it seemed that Lu Liu, the SS-level Guide, had taken up with a new Sentinel favorite and left the White Tower early for a date.

Downtown, a grand lantern festival was underway, with decorative lights lining every street and alley and crowds bustling about. Lu Liu met Ji Xiuyun at the agreed-upon spot.

Ji Xiuyun held an enormous bouquet of roses, and Lu Liu stood beside him, surreptitiously eyeing the base of the flowers. "Is there tranquilizer hidden in there?"

In the original text, Ji Xiuyun had indeed drugged Lu Liu with tranquilizers.

Ji Xiuyun wiped away a bead of sweat from his brow. "No, no, of course not."

With the Guide being so inscrutable, Ji Xiuyun wouldn’t dream of dosing Lu Liu now, even with ten times the courage.

The two walked down the long street, where Lu Liu ran into several familiar Guides along the way. Most Guides enjoyed such occasions, while Sentinels had it worse—their acute senses made them naturally averse to noise, and the lantern festival was deafeningly loud to them.

Still, most gritted their teeth and toughed it out for the sake of their Guides' soothing presence.

Ji Xiuyun wasn’t struggling too.

The chaotic environment easily stirred up his Spirit Sea. As a Dark Sentinel, he had never received a Guide’s soothing before. In the original text, despite Lu Liu’s quirky, arrogant nature, he had at least helped a little. Now, there was nothing.

Beads of cold sweat slid down the Sentinel’s face before he subtly wiped them away.

After the two played their parts and walked the entire length of the street, Lu Liu checked the time. "Let’s head back to the White Tower."

The latter half of the night was when things would get serious.

Carrying the roses, Ji Xiuyun smoothly got past security and entered the Guide’s bedroom with Lu Liu. Then, he retrieved fingerprint and iris collection tools from the bouquet. "Sir, your cooperation."

Lu Liu nodded in silent consent.

He cooperatively provided his fingerprints and iris scans, then watched as Ji Xiuyun prepared to leave.

Just as Ji Xiuyun was about to step out the door, Lu Liu suddenly spoke. "Let me give you a round of psychic treatment."

While collecting the fingerprints, Lu Liu had gone over every step in the group chat, confident that every plot point had been followed without major deviations. It was only after Xie Shu’s reminder that he realized—he was supposed to offer Ji Xiuyun a spiritual cleansing.

A Sentinel’s combat effectiveness was closely tied to the stability of their Spirit Sea. Forcing an outburst when unstable could lead to permanent madness.

Ji Xiuyun was the team’s second-in-command. He couldn’t afford to falter.

Tonight was a crucial plot point, and Lu Liu wouldn’t tolerate any mistakes.

Ji Xiuyun froze again.

An SS-level Guide’s treatment was worth a fortune.

A Guide’s cleansing wasn’t without cost—after digesting a Sentinel’s negative emotions, they too would be left exhausted for a while. If pushed beyond their limits, Guides could also lose themselves and turn mad. That was why many refused to provide soothing unless compensated handsomely.

Lu Liu: "I just don’t want any issues with this operation."

He stepped closer to the Sentinel. "Let your Spirit out."

"..."

The white fox timidly emerged again, offering its tail. Lu Liu lowered his gaze and grasped it, completing the mental grooming almost in the blink of an eye—before the fox could even bristle.

To many guides, this would seem impossible. But to Lu Liu, mental grooming was nothing more than sorting out scrambled code, clearing junk cache, and tweaking internal frameworks. It was an instinct carved into his high-dimensional system, and he had no trouble with it at all.

Ji Xiuyun let out a quiet breath.

Some chronic pains seemed to fade from his body, his muscles relaxing into newfound lightness. With one last glance at the still indifferent guide, Ji Xiuyun turned and made for the prison.

Author's Note:

Later, when Lu Liu and Qi Yi got into it—

Lu Liu: "Caesar, choose: me or Qi Yi!"

Caesar came bounding over: "Meow meow!"

—You, of course! Who’d pick Qi Yi?

Qi Yi: "..."

There was no room for him in this household.

Lu Liu turned to Qi Yi’s subordinates: "And you? Me or Qi Yi?"

Qi Yi’s men looked away shiftily: "...You."

—Sticking with the boss is great and all, but the Captain's husband can heal Spirit Sea Collapse!

Qi Yi: "..."

Great. Even the supposed Dark Sentinels had no room for him now.