At this moment, the two kidnappers were in a panic.
They were brothers, surnamed Meng, butchers by trade—though they also handled shady business on the side. Backed by an underground assassin organization, they took on jobs for money.
Ruthless and vicious, the Meng brothers had earned a reputation in the underworld.
In broad daylight, they had transported their target to a forest near a rural estate, planning to move her inside after nightfall.
The woman had already been stuffed into a sack—along with her cat.
But now, the sack was intact. The opening was still tightly sealed.
And yet—the person inside was gone.
"Where is she?!" Meng Er broke out in a cold sweat.
Even the usually composed Meng Da felt his pupils contract, a chill running down his spine. "The sack hasn't been tampered with. I sealed it myself. No one could've opened it… so where did she go?"
The brothers exchanged a glance, both drenched in fear.
At the same time, Zheng Qian was equally stunned.
She had arranged for her fifth brother to barge into Wanshou Tower and had also notified her eldest brother's servant to pick her up later that afternoon.
She had prepared for the worst.
When the kidnappers struck, they knocked out the driver and Hongluan immediately. They threw her cat into the sack first, then bound her hands and feet before tossing her in as well.
The cat shrieked fiercely.
Zheng Qian tried to calm it, but it kept struggling—bumping into her, even biting at the ropes around her wrists.
When the carriage stopped, Zheng Qian knew something was wrong.
She had to hide in her space.
The cat couldn't come with her—but it was agile and could escape. Besides, the kidnappers were targeting her, not the cat.
Everything had been calculated.
She slipped into her space in an instant.
At that exact moment, the cat was gnawing at the rope on her wrist—and the entrance to her space was located in her right palm, where a chip should have been.
Both her space and personal terminal were originally implanted chips.
After transmigrating, they had followed her—but the original Zheng Qian's body had no such implants.
So when she entered the space—
The cat was right at the entrance.
Living beings weren't supposed to enter. She hadn't avoided it.
But when she opened her eyes—
There was someone else inside.
Not just someone.
A man.
The man stood there, completely naked, long black hair cascading down his back. He silently surveyed the surroundings, shock flickering in his eyes—along with a hint of realization.
Zheng Qian stared at him.
He looked back at her but said nothing—until he raised his hand slightly and suddenly realized his state of undress.
Embarrassment hit him instantly.
He turned around at once and crouched down, wishing he could disappear into the ground.
His thick hair fell, covering his back.
Only then did Zheng Qian snap out of it.
"Y-you are…" she stammered.
She quickly spotted her cat nearby and rushed over to pick it up. It was still breathing faintly—but had completely passed out.
"You are Prince Rui, Xiao Zhan," Zheng Qian said, setting the cat down gently before removing her outer robe and handing it to him. "Put this on first. I'll find you proper clothes later."
Despite the shock—and the awkwardness—her heart skipped when she recognized him.
The original host's lingering feelings still affected her.
Just how much had she liked him?
Xiao Zhan took the robe.
It was a woman's outer garment, loose and long. Zheng Qian herself was tall, so it fit him reasonably well—though his calves were still exposed.
He wrapped it around himself silently and sat cross-legged on the ground, still somewhat disheveled.
Zheng Qian crouched down in front of him—and reached out to pinch his cheek.
Xiao Zhan: "…"
"How strange," she said. "No one is supposed to enter my space. How did you get in?"
"Space?" Xiao Zhan lifted his eyes slightly. His gaze carried a cool sharpness—eerily similar to Empress Dowager Qi's—as it fell on her face.
Inside, Zheng Qian's thoughts were in turmoil, but her expression remained calm—only her speech quickened slightly.
Xiao Zhan, who had been by her side for nearly four months in the form of a cat, noticed the subtle shift immediately.
Seeing her nervous, he relaxed instead, his demeanor becoming more casual.
"Yes, this is my space," Zheng Qian said. "But how did you—"
"I am that cat," Xiao Zhan said slowly.
Zheng Qian: !!!
"Five months ago, while returning to the capital for official duty, I encountered Xiongnu spies and inexplicably fell into a coma. When I regained awareness, my body was still unconscious—but I had become a newborn stray cat."
Zheng Qian nodded. "So your soul transmigrated—just like me."
Xiao Zhan looked at her, his gaze bright and intense.
For a moment, she felt an uncanny resemblance to someone from her past—a commanding figure she knew too well. The feeling was unsettling.
She didn't want that.
She had finally gotten a handsome man into her space—she did not want him reminding her of that person.
"…You picked me up," Xiao Zhan continued. "Thank you."
Zheng Qian: "…"
As a devoted cat lover, she felt a little wronged.
All she had wanted was a pure, ordinary cat—not one housing a human soul.
No wonder the cat had seemed so intelligent.
It was a human soul—a literal "spirit cat."
Zheng Qian sat there in silence for a long while.
Xiao Zhan noticed her disappointment. "I also want to return to my original body. I have no choice."
Then he changed the subject. "Where are we now?"
"I don't know yet," she replied.
At last, she understood why the cat could enter her space.
Living humans couldn't—but Xiao Zhan's soul and the cat's body were not entirely "alive" in the usual sense.
They were like mismatched parts forced together.
Inside the space, even a soul had physical form—something Zheng Qian had never encountered before.
It left her feeling uncertain.
"Don't be afraid," Xiao Zhan said. "As a cat, I can go anywhere. Let me out—I'll find help."
Zheng Qian's eyes lit up.
The cat weighed barely six jin. Agile, sharp-eared, and keen-eyed—it could slip into places unnoticed and gather information.
Wasn't this… a powerful new asset?
If she brought it back into the space, they could even communicate.
Her mood instantly improved.
"No. Let's not act rashly yet," she said. "Let me listen to what's happening outside."
She activated the amplifier in her space.
Through the static, she heard the voices of the Meng brothers.
They were terrified.
"Should we run, brother?" Meng Er asked.
Zheng Qian turned off the device. "The kidnappers are still there. We'll wait a bit longer."
She sat across from Xiao Zhan—and reached out to touch his face again.
His skin felt slightly cool.
Xiao Zhan caught her hand. "You—"
A faint flush spread across his face.
Zheng Qian found it amusing.
He didn't seem like that person from her past anymore.
"Just curious," she said. "So this is what a soul looks like inside the space. I've had this for over ten years—this is my first time seeing something like this."
"Space…" Xiao Zhan looked around. "What exactly is this place?"
Zheng Qian stood up. "Come, I'll show you around. Oh—and I have surgical gowns, including men's. You can change into one."
She walked off with growing enthusiasm.
Xiao Zhan followed—and when he saw the pharmacy inside, his eyes widened.
At last, he understood—
how Zheng Qian could seemingly conjure things out of thin air.