Chapter 21
District 2.
“Sheng Hao, I want to go out and play…”
Little Shan Lan lay on the windowsill, looking outside. His fluffy tail drooped behind him, and the cat ears on his head hung listlessly.
Seeing him like this, Sheng Hao’s face was full of heartache.
“I can take you out,” he compromised. “But it’s still under lockdown outside. You’re not allowed to run around, understand?”
Ever since arriving at Yaojin’s Royal Sanatorium, Little Shan Lan had been constantly thinking about that caregiver big brother he met on the spaceship.
Sheng Hao had even prepared to apply to transfer that caregiver, Ye, to their ward.
Who would have thought that after waiting and waiting, just when Ye Yumeng’s profile was finally uploaded to the Medical Planet’s official site, they found the application button greyed out.
Only after asking did they learn that the caregiver had already been snapped up—and by someone with higher authority than them…
Sheng Hao hadn’t expected this at all.
Wasn’t that caregiver from the Xihe Federation? How could someone who had just joined become so sought-after?
Sheng Hao was stunned, but had no other solution.
Little Shan Lan had been upset for days before finally being coaxed into a better mood. Now he was thinking about going out to play again.
Hearing Sheng Hao agree, he immediately cheered.
“Yay! I want to go sunbathe!”
Seeing the child finally smile, Sheng Hao let out a small sigh of relief. He informed the medical staff, then picked the child up and headed outside.
They lived in District 2, the closest to the core inpatient ward, so the lockdown there was also quite strict.
“Is the symposium still not over? How long will this lockdown last?”
Along the way, Sheng Hao overheard several people discussing.
It was said that the Royal Sanatorium had gone into lockdown because several highly influential medical experts were holding a symposium here.
To ensure their safety, the sanatorium had implemented these restrictions.
They also heard that once the symposium ended, these experts would randomly select some patients for consultation.
Sheng Hao had already registered Little Shan Lan, hoping the young prince would be lucky enough to be chosen—perhaps then there would be hope for recovery…
The weather today was excellent, bright and sunny.
As soon as they arrived at the park, Little Shan Lan struggled to get down.
A yellow-and-white butterfly caught his attention. He chased after it, soon turning into a small cat, hopping and darting across the grass.
After all, he was still a child—even with a weak body, he loved to play.
Sheng Hao silently kept track of time. Once Little Shan Lan exceeded his daily limit of physical activity, he would stop him.
Chasing the butterfly, Little Shan Lan gradually approached a flowerbed.
At that moment, a hover car passed along the road outside the wall. The little cat hopped back, but his gaze followed the vehicle through the railing.
At a certain moment, his eyes lit up.
“Your Highness!”
By the time Sheng Hao realized something was wrong, it was too late.
The little cat shot out like an arrow, squeezing through the gaps in the railing and chasing after the hover car.
“Your Highness! Come back!”
Sheng Hao shouted as he ran after him, but just as he climbed over the wall, he was stopped by a patrol robot…
The little cat ran on, completely forgetting the promise he made before leaving the ward. His eyes were fixed only on that figure he had longed to see.
But his physical condition simply couldn’t sustain such speed.
Before long, he began to slow down.
Watching the hover car grow farther away, Little Shan Lan became anxious.
Would he miss him again this time?
His breathing grew heavy. He panted, slowing further, his steps becoming weak.
Fortunately, in the distance, he saw the hover car slow down and drive into a compound.
There was still hope!
But before he could catch up, a patrol robot spotted him.
“Alert! Alert! Suspicious target detected—”
“Cease movement immediately and await inspection by security personnel!”
The robot quickly approached.
The little cat bared his teeth at it, unwilling to be captured, but the gap between them was too great.
Just as the net launched from the robot was about to ensnare him, his body suddenly vanished.
When he reappeared, Little Shan Lan had already passed through the wall and entered the core inpatient ward’s compound.
He blinked in confusion. At that moment, a familiar voice came from a nearby flowerbed.
“Is there anything I should pay attention to when planting Green Jade Bamboo?”
It’s that pretty big brother!
The little cat’s eyes lit up. Forgetting everything else, he rushed toward the voice.
Soon, he burst through a cluster of flowers.
Seeing the figure he had been thinking about for days, the little cat let out a meow and leapt straight at Ye Yumeng.
But Ye Yumeng caught sight of a shadow rushing toward him and instinctively dodged to the side.
The little cat, who had struggled so hard to get here, missed completely. After landing, he let out a pitiful meow, then collapsed, his limbs going limp.
“Shanshan?”
Ye Yumeng seemed to remember seeing this little cat on the spaceship.
Hearing his call, Little Shan Lan struggled to lift his head to respond, but his throat, parched from running, couldn’t produce a sound.
Anxious and frustrated, tears began to well up in his eyes.
At that moment, he felt those gentle hands pick him up again, wrapping him in a reassuring warmth.
“Meow…” he cried weakly.
“You’re a patient from the sanatorium, right?”
Ye Yumeng already knew that people in the Yaojin Empire all had spirit-beast bloodlines, so animals in the Royal Sanatorium were most likely transformed humans.
Looking at the familiar calico cat, his eyes were full of pity.
The cat lay limply in his palm, breathing rapidly, its heart racing—clearly not in a good state.
Fortunately, Ye Yumeng currently had ample spiritual energy. He immediately cast the Minor Rejuvenation Technique on the little calico.
The Little Shan Lan who had just felt like he was about to die instantly narrowed his eyes in comfort.
This feeling—he hadn’t remembered wrong!
It really was this big brother!
Recovering a bit, the little cat let out soft mewling sounds, rubbing his fluffy head against Ye Yumeng’s palm, acting spoiled.
So cute!
Even Shi Yichun, who had just finished transplanting the Green Jade Bamboo, couldn’t help but stare.
Unfortunately, this peaceful scene didn’t last long.
Soon, swift, orderly footsteps approached. A team of armed human guards and patrol robots appeared, surrounding them with a tense, oppressive atmosphere.
Shi Yichun frowned, and Ye Yumeng grew nervous.
They exchanged a glance but didn’t act rashly, obediently staying in place under the guards’ command.
The human guards surrounded them, watching with vigilance.
Shi Yichun raised his hands to show he was harmless and asked, “What’s going on? We’re the sanatorium’s gardener and caregiver—we’re working…”
“Intruder detected!”
The patrol robot issued an alert, locking onto the small cat in Ye Yumeng’s hands.
But before Ye Yumeng could explain, it suddenly paused, as if receiving new information.
A red light scanned over Little Shan Lan.
“Match confirmed!”
“Correction! Intruder in core inpatient ward identified as missing patient from District 2. Alert lifted!”
Hearing this, the guards lowered their weapons.
However, they didn’t leave immediately. They reviewed surveillance footage and questioned Ye Yumeng and Shi Yichun, completing a report before ending the inspection.
Then they saluted and departed, leaving only one patrol robot to handle the aftermath.
“Caregiver Ye Yumeng, hello. Please hand over this patient to me. I will escort him safely back to District 2,” the robot said politely.
“Meow…”
Little Shan Lan resisted, shaking his head, though it made him dizzy. Instead, he clung tightly to Ye Yumeng’s wrist with his small paws.
He remembered not to extend his claws—just his soft paw pads pressed against Ye Yumeng’s skin, warm and gentle.
Feeling his heart soften, Ye Yumeng stroked the cat’s head and asked the robot, “Can I go with you to send him back?”
The robot agreed.
Ye Yumeng looked at Shi Yichun, who had already placed the potted Green Jade Bamboo onto the hover car.
“I’ll take you there,” Shi Yichun offered.
Unexpectedly, this usually taciturn gardener volunteered to accompany them.
Ye Yumeng smiled and accepted.
“Meow—”
At that moment, Little Shan Lan also remembered Sheng Hao. Seeing that Ye Yumeng was going to send him back, he stopped resisting and obediently let himself be carried into the car.
Ye Yumeng held the little cat in his arms, pulling open his clothes to shield him from the wind.
The patrol robot followed their vehicle the whole way.
Very soon, the gate of District 2 came into view. Sheng Hao, frantic with worry, stood at the entrance, craning his neck to look out.
When he saw the approaching vehicle, he tried to run forward to greet them, but was stopped by a robot.
“Hello, we meet again.”
Ye Yumeng had a deep impression of this blue-haired cool guy. He quickly realized that this little calico must be the blue-haired boy he had been holding that day.
Sheng Hao also looked at Ye Yumeng in surprise, clearly not expecting that the one who brought the young prince back would be him.
So that was why His Highness had chased out recklessly?
Just how much did he like this caregiver Ye!
On the way back, the exhausted Little Shan Lan had already fallen asleep in Ye Yumeng’s arms. Now, sensing Sheng Hao’s familiar presence, he did not resist being taken.
“Meow…”
In his sleep, the little cat rubbed his head against Sheng Hao’s fingers. The adorable gesture made it impossible to scold him.
Sheng Hao sighed, his gaze softening.
“Shanshan is exhausted. He just needs a good rest—after a sleep, he should be fine,” Ye Yumeng said.
Sheng Hao was still worried. Although he had been stopped and couldn’t chase after him earlier, he knew the young prince had far exceeded his daily exercise limit today.
Still, he felt sincerely grateful to Ye Yumeng.
“Thank you, Caregiver Ye. Why don’t we exchange contact information?” Sheng Hao said quickly.
This was an opportunity the young prince had fought so hard for—he couldn’t let it slip away again!
“Shanshan really likes you. We originally planned to apply to transfer you to our ward, but unfortunately, our clearance level isn’t high enough…”
Sheng Hao added, “Just now, he probably ran out because he saw you.”
Ye Yumeng hadn’t expected that at all.
Patients could request specific caregivers, but they had to queue based on clearance level?
He had been transferred to the top-floor ward of the core inpatient building, with the director personally overseeing care—so that meant Little Rabbit’s status must be extremely high.
Ye Yumeng fell into thought. Seeing Sheng Hao still waiting for his answer, he nodded.
“Sure.”
He reached out and gently stroked the little cat’s head. “When I have time, I’ll come visit him. Make sure Shanshan doesn’t run around like that again—it’s dangerous.”
“I will. Thank you, Caregiver Ye!”
The two exchanged contact information.
Soon after, urged by the patrol robot, Ye Yumeng left.
Sheng Hao stood there watching him go. Only after Ye Yumeng got into the car did he quickly carry Little Shan Lan back inside for a check-up.
“You knew them before?” Shi Yichun asked in the car.
“Yeah, we met once on the spaceship to Yaojin,” Ye Yumeng nodded. “I didn’t expect the little cat to still remember me…”
As he spoke, he paused.
Could it be that Shanshan sensed his Minor Rejuvenation Technique—that’s why he was so determined to run out and find him?
At that moment, the hover car had already arrived in front of the core inpatient building.
Without Ye Yumeng saying anything, Shi Yichun helped carry the two flowerpots into the elevator.
“You remembered what I told you about planting, right?” he asked again.
“I did,” Ye Yumeng nodded.
“Good.”
Shi Yichun said, “I’ll give you some fertilizer later. If you don’t understand anything, contact me anytime.”
“Alright, thank you!”
Shi Yichun waved his hand and said goodbye.
But to Ye Yumeng’s surprise, he didn’t leave the elevator—instead, he headed to the fifth floor.
Only then did Ye Yumeng realize that Shi Yichun had just accompanied him into the core inpatient building, which meant he had clearance… Could it be that this gardener also worked part-time as a caregiver?
“Please present identification and state your destination floor.”
Ye Yumeng quickly snapped out of his thoughts.
“Top floor.”
Once the elevator stabilized, he held the door open and called a robot caregiver over to help move the flowerpots.
Looking at the two thriving spirit plants, Ye Yumeng couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction. Now all that was left was to place them in the ward.
These two plants were in excellent condition, releasing far more spiritual energy than the scallion seedling in his dorm.
Placed in the ward, they might even help Little Rabbit’s recovery.
He directed the robot toward the ward—but halfway there, a loud bang suddenly came from that direction, followed by the sound of shattering glass.
Startled, Ye Yumeng saw that the ward window had exploded, glass shards scattered everywhere.
What happened?
Forgetting about the spirit plants, he hurried forward, dragging his injured leg as fast as he could.
The beeping of machines was sharp and urgent, and a faint smell of blood drifted out through the broken window.
Ye Yumeng quickly passed the identity check. As the automatic door slid open, the first thing he saw was Mo Yin kneeling halfway on the ground.
The silver-haired young man’s face was flushed, veins bulging on his forehead, as if he were enduring immense pain.
Director Lei Qi looked even worse—collapsed in a corner, his face and body covered in cuts from shattered glass. More terrifyingly, his hands had transformed into two trailing vines.
“What happened to you?”
But the ones more shocked were Lei Qi and Mo Yin.
They stared at Ye Yumeng, who had rushed in as if nothing was wrong, momentarily forgetting their pain as their eyes widened in disbelief.
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