While Ya Ya and Li Mo were secretly vying for each other's affections, Cat Mom slowly emerged from the kitchen carrying a small plate on her head.
Her cat, with a plate balanced on its head, walked steadily and familiarly out of the kitchen to the table. With a light leap, it lowered its head and slid a plate of cookies onto the table, then meowed at Yin Xiu and wagged its tail.
"Try it! Mom's cookies are so delicious!" Ya Ya stared at Yin Xiu excitedly, eager to share what she thought was the best.
"It's really delicious." Li Mo nodded in agreement and reached out to take it, but Ya Ya ruthlessly slapped his hand away.
"Brother, you eat first!"
"I know!" Li Mo said matter-of-factly, then reached for a small cookie and held it to Yin Xiu's lips. "Boyfriend, eat."
Seeing this, Ya Ya quickly picked up a small cookie and held it to Yin Xiu's mouth, saying, "I'll feed my brother!"
Two small cookies were handed to Yin Xiu, who was at a loss and began to struggle.
When he couldn't eat two cookies in one bite, Yin Xiu decided to eat the cookies he had taken.
"You can eat them yourselves." He pushed the two small cakes aside, took one for himself, and put it in his mouth.
It's sweet and crispy, a bit like the dessert cookie that Yin Xiu couldn't get when he was a child at the orphanage. Because he couldn't get it back then, Yin Xiu doesn't know what it tastes like now, but it must be the same as this, very sweet and delicious.
"Do you like it?" Ya Ya stared at Yin Xiu expectantly with bright eyes.
"I like it." Yin Xiu nodded.
"Mom's cookies are the best in the world!" Ya Ya shouted excitedly, then stuffed a cookie into her mouth.
Li Mo savored it carefully and liked it very much.
The mother cat proudly swished her tail and squatted by the table watching them eat.
After finishing the cookies, Ya Ya and Li Mo went to the grass by the door to pick flowers, saying that they wanted to find the most beautiful flower for Yin Xiu this time. So the two of them plunged into the grass, leaving Yin Xiu standing at the door waiting for them to finish their competition.
The mother cat slowly walked over and squatted down next to Yin Xiu.
Yin Xiu looked down at her, "I remember you have a human form, right? Is it convenient for you to always take care of Ya Ya in the form of a cat?"
The cat mother shook her head, then glanced in Ya Ya's direction, turned and walked into the house. On the side that couldn't be seen from the outside, under Yin Xiu's gaze, she transformed into the appearance of a woman.
The woman was emaciated, her bones clearly visible beneath her sallow skin. Perhaps she hadn't rested well after childbirth, as her thin body was slender with only her belly hanging down. Combined with her sunken eye sockets and dry, yellow hair, she looked quite frightening.
"I transformed in front of her once before, and Ya Ya was so scared that she cried. Perhaps the ugly human form was not even as good as a cat's appearance. Ya Ya likes cats, so I have been taking care of her in the form of a cat, and I've gotten used to it." The woman's sunken eyes were filled with despair. This was how she looked before her transformation, so she has remained the same to this day and cannot change it.
"How did you get here? Players shouldn't be able to enter here. What happened outside?" The woman, like Ya Ya, noticed the strangeness of Yin Xiu's arrival.
Yin Xiu then told Cat Mom about the current situation outside, and gave her the rest of the instructions, "Although I like Ya Ya very much, the other space is very dangerous. Ya Ya can't go there, and you're here waiting for her. I can't take her to such a dangerous place."
As he spoke, he took out the prop coin from his pocket and handed it to the woman, saying, "I'll keep this with you for now. I'll come back to collect it when I return safely. Take good care of Ya Ya."
Ya Ya is different from the others who are going; she has family here, and she cannot take the risk.
Yin Xiu didn't want Ya Ya to go to a dangerous place. Before heading to that space, he needed to settle Ya Ya down, come to see her, and at the same time say goodbye.
"You're more considerate than I thought." Cat Mom reached out and took the item coin. "Almost no player would willingly give their items to someone else."
"Ya Ya isn't a prop, of course I'll consider her situation." Yin Xiu turned his head and looked at the little red figure hopping around in the flower bushes. "I hope she can stay happy here."
"The conflicts outside are none of her business. She can just play here carefree and wait for me to come back to see her."
Following Yin Xiu's gaze, the cat mother looked outside and said, "Be careful, but with that person by your side, there shouldn't be anything to worry about."
"I actually hope you succeed, because we monsters have lived for too long. Ya Ya has just woken up from her slumber. She hasn't experienced the pain of a long life yet, but she will sooner or later." Cat Mom's deep gaze fell on Li Mo. "When the gods die, we believers who have struggled for so long will also disappear."
"At that time, we will be liberated."
Yin Xiu nodded. "He also longed for death, to be with me when I was about to die of old age. Perhaps his longing was the same as yours."
The mother cat slowly lowered her head, her voice mournful, "I understand. That's why when there were conflicts in the village before, I supported killing him. I also had my own selfish reasons for not wanting to become a monster. We wanted to eliminate it before it was fully formed, before it developed consciousness, and before it became dependent on the world."
"But he failed. The loneliness he experienced in the seal afterward, and the players he summoned, were all due to our incompetence."
"The people of Hai Village used to become extremely selfish in the face of death, and so did I, but after I truly gained immortality, I understood the suffering of the monsters."
Yin Xiu casually ended the conversation, "That's all in the past. Li Mo now has a human form and a name. He's fine with me. He doesn't care about the past anymore, and you don't need to live in the past either."
The mother cat stared intently at Yin Xiu for a long time before finally sighing softly, "Be careful. You must protect yourself. Since he has given you his whole heart, he cannot live without you."
"I know." Yin Xiu was also very clear in his heart that everything around him now depended on him.
The future of the dungeon depends on him; the future survival of the monsters depends on him; and the fate of Li Mo also depends on him.
Whether it will be a win-win situation that everyone desires, or a devastating defeat after a desperate gamble, all will be decided this time.
After finally picking out the flowers from the grass, Ya Ya happily ran towards Yin Xiu with the little flowers in her hand, and Li Mo quickly turned around and followed.
Two people he really liked were walking towards him with his favorite things, and nothing could warm his heart more than that.
Even if it's just for this moment, he will strive to face everything that follows.