A flash of light flickered in Qiqi's eyes. "You've seen him?"
The beautiful woman nodded. "I just went to that mental hospital."
Qiqi asked urgently, "How is he now?"
The beautiful woman shook her head. "Not good. He's been injected with some drug and is bedridden. But he really likes you—even in his coma, he's calling your name. You're called 'Qiqi,' right?"
Qiqi froze. In an instant, it was as if a lightning bolt struck her heart, illuminating the chaotic haze within her mind.
He likes me? He likes me? Rong Yi actually likes me.
Her mind went blank. Golden, shimmering stars seemed to dance before her eyes, yet there was nothing there. Her ears rang, as if a deafening sound echoed beside her, yet she heard nothing.
She was utterly, completely stunned.
Watching the girl's dazed expression, as if her soul had suddenly left her body, the fox beauty sighed. "Tsk, tsk, don't tell me you're just now figuring this out?"
Qiqi lifted her eyes, glanced at the beauty, and froze for a moment longer before snapping back to reality. Her face flushed bright red.
"You, you're lying..."
She bit her lip, her cheeks rosy, and buried her head beneath her knees.
After a moment, she felt her posture was like protesting too much, so she awkwardly raised her head, her eyes shimmering. "You, you can really help me save him?"
The fox beauty nodded. "Though I'm a spirit, a spirit's promise isn't easily broken. How about this—I help you save him, and you get him to awaken the jade pendant for me. Deal?"
Qiqi thought it over, then nodded in agreement. "Deal."
Gu Qiqi struck a deal with the red-clad fox—the red fox would help her rescue Rong Yi, and Qiqi would help persuade Rong Yi to awaken the Moon's Guidance.
The red-clad beauty sat on the bed. "Since we've made a deal, we're partners now. Let's get to know each other—my Chinese name is Mei Xue, and my English name is Michelle. Little girl, what's your full name?"
Such a stylish fox.
Qiqi obediently nodded. "Sister Mei Xue, I'm Gu Qiqi. I don't have an English name yet. What method are you planning to use to save Rong Yi?"
"Watch me."
Mei Xue jumped off the bed, walked to the opposite wall, and traced a large circle in the air with her slender, vermilion-nailed index finger, murmuring incantations over it. Soon, the wall began to change—the white surface first trembled, then twisted, like ripples spreading across still water. Gradually, an image appeared within those ripples: Rong Yi's form emerged, and she could see the entire scene in his hospital room, as well as faint sounds from outside the door... It was like a QQ video call.
"Rong Yi!" Qiqi urgently jumped off the bed and pressed herself against the wall.
A white hospital room, a white bed, white sheets... Rong Yi lay amidst a sea of white, his black hair flowing like water, his brows slightly furrowed, eyes closed in slumber.
Beside him stood a hospital IV stand, with a bottle of fluid hanging upside down. Faintly visible was a needle inserted into the back of Rong Yi's right hand, the fluid dripping drop by drop through a transparent tube into his body.
Mei Xue said, "I've scouted the ward a few times. The doctors there keep giving him IV drips. I think those drugs are what caused his coma."