Chapter Seven: The Game of Crossing Boundaries

"Why are you threatening me just for a nighttime chat? I don't care—give me the 300 taels of silver first!" Qin Xiaomo's heart skipped at that word, certain nothing good would follow. She quickly stretched out her hand for the money; escape with it at the first chance was surely the wisest course.

"Do you know about the Celestial Wheel?" Qian Mubai abruptly changed the subject, his face grave.

"What about it?" Qin Xiaomo was curious. She had designed that scenario herself—how could something go wrong?

"The Celestial Wheel... has disappeared!" Qian Mubai frowned.

"How could that be? Without it, won't the world descend into chaos?" Qin Xiaomo recalled the game writer's intentions: the Celestial Wheel functioned like Earth's ozone layer, invisible and intangible, appearing as a glowing blue disc only above the Skymaster Tower in Celestial City. Its disappearance could only mean a mechanical failure, or worse... that the spirit stone was damaged.

A mechanical fault was manageable; but if the spirit stone was broken, that was trouble. Replacement stones were guarded by four divine beasts, and only someone at the Ninth Heaven rank could hope to subdue the beasts and obtain a new stone. "Is it the mechanism, or the spirit stone that's broken?"

Qian Mubai suddenly felt justified in sparing her—she even knew about the spirit stones and mechanisms. Perhaps she really was the one he was waiting for. "What else do you know?"

"I know plenty, but it depends how much you're willing to pay!" Qin Xiaomo caught on. He was after confidential information; why not turn this into a lucrative deal?

"Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?" Qian Mubai narrowed his eyes.

"You want information, I want money. We each get what we need—why resort to violence? No need for killing and fighting all the time; after all, I am a girl." Qin Xiaomo feigned frailty, pressing her hand to her forehead.

"Then take off your veil. Let us both show our true faces. Otherwise, how can I trust someone I've never seen?"

"I didn’t put on makeup today. Let’s meet in daylight tomorrow." Qin Xiaomo clutched her veil tighter.

"Right now!" As Qian Mubai spoke, he reached out to snatch it.

"No—" Before the word was fully spoken, as his hand brushed the veil, a blinding white light flashed before her eyes.

"Qin Xiaomo! Qin Xiaomo! Wake up! Director Yan needs you to fix the game data at once." Ji Dou was shaking her relentlessly. Qin Xiaomo, confused, finally opened her eyes and looked around—home! Had it all been a dream? Every blade of grass, every tree was vividly clear, and she could even recall the scent on Qian Mubai's robes.

"You woke up just in time. You wouldn't respond no matter how I called! The moment I launched the game, you woke up. Hiding some secret, aren't you?" Ji Dou grinned mischievously.

"What happened to me?"

"Stop dawdling—get up and fix the data for Director Yan, he needs it urgently. When I logged into your beginner account, I couldn't find your database. You have to do it yourself." Still in pajamas, Ji Dou dragged Qin Xiaomo up.

Qin Xiaomo scrambled to the computer, sent off the data, and was about to shut it down when her mind suddenly buzzed—her new player location was inside Qian Mubai's room! Her hand trembled as she logged in again. In-game, her avatar, veiled in white, stood by the wall. She searched for Qian Mubai—he was still there, an NPC, pacing his routine territory, muttering, "How can I trust someone I've never seen?" or "Right now!"

A chill prickled Qin Xiaomo's scalp—the very last words Qian Mubai had said before she woke up! Breathless, she muttered to herself, "So I wasn’t dreaming... I was inside the game..."

Ji Dou, alarmed, nudged her. "Xiaomo, what's wrong? Are you feeling okay?"

Qin Xiaomo stared at her, eyes wide. Ji Dou recoiled a step. "It's late, and you look terrifying with that expression."

"Doudou, I have something to tell you—something beyond your wildest imagination!" Still shaken, Qin Xiaomo barely finished before Ji Dou hurried to the kitchen to get her a glass of water.

"Ji Doudou, I think I just traveled into the game..." Qin Xiaomo said gravely, clutching Ji Dou's hand, her gaze earnest.

Ji Dou stared at her blankly for a long moment, then reached out to feel her forehead, mumbling, "Go to bed. Tomorrow I’ll call in sick for you; you need to see a doctor."

"I'm not sick! It's true. I even saw Qian Mubai—just now. He was about to pull off my veil, this very veil! My game character is still wearing it. And now Qian Mubai keeps repeating the exact words he said to me before I woke up! See for yourself!" Qin Xiaomo pulled her over to the computer, pointing at her avatar.

Ji Dou still looked skeptical.

"I know it's hard to believe, but..." Qin Xiaomo suddenly remembered the Celestial Wheel. She turned to Ji Dou, "Doudou, is the Celestial Wheel broken?"

"No, and even if it were, I could fix it," Ji Dou replied, propping her chin on her hand, regarding Qin Xiaomo as if she were crazy.

"That can't be..." Qin Xiaomo quickly opened the game’s backend, and sure enough, Celestial City’s data was corrupted and inaccessible. Multiple refreshes yielded the same result. Ji Dou came over to check, but her own backend showed everything was normal.

In the silence of the night, long past 1 a.m., with only the insects chirping outside, Ji Dou and Qin Xiaomo exchanged a glance, an inexplicable chill creeping over them.

"How did you enter the game?" Ji Dou finally broke the silence.

"So you believe me?" Qin Xiaomo asked, barely containing her excitement.

"Not quite, but two things seem off. First, those two lines Qian Mubai said weren't in his dialogue set. If the AI had auto-generated them, there would have to be a triggering event, but you said you logged off right after opening the start screen—so no actions could have prompted new dialogue. Second, your current avatar never had a veil, not from the start." Ji Dou forced herself to remain calm, but both girls shrieked and dove under Qin Xiaomo's blanket, shivering.

"What do we do now?" Qin Xiaomo whispered.

"How exactly did you get transported?"

"I don't know. I just launched the game, got sleepy, and went to bed." Qin Xiaomo scratched her head, thinking hard.

"No mysterious flash of light? No lightning strike? You didn’t trip and fall into a painting or anything?" Ji Dou listed every cliché she could recall from TV dramas.

Qin Xiaomo shot her a scornful look. "You sure know your time-travel tropes! Can you sing 'Love's Offering' too?"

Ji Dou threw off the blanket and took a few deep breaths. "Tonight, I’m sleeping here with you. Let’s see if you get pulled in again."

Qin Xiaomo hugged her, eyes shining with gratitude.

"Honestly, I just want to see if there’s any freaky light or if you get zapped or something," Ji Dou grinned, baring her teeth. Qin Xiaomo reached for her slipper, ready to swat her.