Invasion [Guide/Sentinel] Section 29

It is... too much.

Deep in the ocean, the half-human, half-whale spirit beast closed its eyes, covering its mouth tightly with both hands, letting its body sink into the abyss. Its tail fin, stripped to the bone, trembled uncontrollably amidst the rising clouds of fine bubbles.

On the seabed, the forest-like giant kelp and corals reached out one after another, soothingly catching him and carrying him into the more hidden depths to hide.

Just a moment ago, he had killed an enemy and strangled an innocent, suffering life with his own hands. He had left that luxurious room a bloody mess. Even now, he carried a steaming aura of slaughter and a blood-stained heart. Yet, in this short span of time, his entire body had gone soft.

"I really should kill this Guide."

But there was no longer any murderous intent in his tone; the cadence was so soft it was almost shameful to hear. If he hadn't clamped his hand over his mouth, those tentacles would have captured the words, and they would have licked their lips, declaring this consciousness to be sweet.

She was too much. She unraveled his headscarf, took off his socks, and writhed, slithering in from every corner to wrap around him.

Ni Ji felt a sense of humiliation. A soldier who had not yet left the battlefield had been swept away mid-stride, stripped of his armor and weapons in mere moments, transformed from a savage beast of war into a fish plated and ready for the table.

But his spirit beast—the creature that had always been his loyal partner—had become uncharacteristically spineless. It not only emitted sounds of comfortable whale-song but even attempted to break free from his control, swimming toward the surface to fawn over the very entities that were tormenting his physical body.

It truly... was too comfortable.

Being touched by those strange, moist things, he felt his inexplicably taut spirit beginning to slacken. His entire spirit beast felt as if it were being submerged in a pool of warm seawater. The string in his mind that had been pulled tight for so long finally relaxed; the pain that had been gnawing at his bone marrow day and night began to subside, and the filth that had accumulated in chunks on the seabed began to dissolve.

Is this what a Guide is? Are all Guides such creatures? No wonder everyone longs to have one.

Ni Ji had rarely interacted with Guides. He disliked the idea of those weak, powerless strangers touching his mental landscape. Back at the Sentinel Academy, during his only counseling session, the Guide in charge had been so terrified by the vast, unfathomable ocean of his mental landscape that she had fainted, nearly causing an accident. Ever since then, he had avoided contact with Guides.

In the Northern Territory, there were even fewer Guides willing to go to such a bitter and freezing land. Even if the sentinels at the border outposts were on the verge of madness, they could only be sent all the way back to the capital for treatment. Only if they survived the journey to the capital could they pay the exorbitant fees for the counseling rooms to have their mental landscapes combed through, clearing away the dark emotions that had piled up.

In truth, most low-level sentinels could not afford the high cost of the counseling rooms and could only watch helplessly as they spiraled toward loss of control, turning into monsters. Not to mention ever obtaining a lifelong, exclusive Guide.

All along, like all the brothers under his command, Ni Ji had relied on the Guide pheromones distributed by the Empire to barely suppress his mental power surges. He had never entered a counseling room or received treatment from a true Guide.

Are all Guides like this?

Ni Ji gritted his teeth, struggling to endure. A tentacle was stroking his head, ruffling his hair, repeatedly infiltrating his mind with a consciousness:

[Hey, you can relax a little.]
[No need to force it, don't push yourself so hard.]
[You look so tired. It looks so hard.]

These were not clear sentences, but rather fragmented consciousnesses transmitted from the tips of the spirit beast. They kneaded his hair, feeding him a bit, then infiltrating a little more. It was simple, childish thought, bypassing his conscious brain.

Yet, they were born with the ability to read hearts, keenly and purely capturing the bitterness and exhaustion hidden deep within. Like an innocent child holding a lollipop, trying to comfort a powerful, battered killer.

*No, I can't. I don't deserve this.* Ni Ji responded quietly in his heart.

[Hey, you really can. You should rest.] As if hearing his inner thoughts, the voice replied quickly.
[Did he speak?]
[I'm sure I heard it this time.]
[A bit bitter, like that thing called coffee.]
[My god, it’s a person.]
[A sentinel? A whale? The one we touched before?]

The tentacles seemed startled, their pointed tips rising in unison.

Ni Ji closed his eyes. He couldn't keep up the act anymore. He had been defeated by this Guide once again. For the second time, he had been defeated—thoroughly and humiliatingly.

He reached out and tore the startled tentacles from his body. He retrieved his headscarf and socks; his body was still a little weak, and it took some effort to put them back on. Dressed in silence, he wiped away the traces left on the floor without a word, pursing his lips and crawling forward, head down, as if no one were watching.

*To hell with it, let it be. If I’m not afraid of death, why be afraid of losing face? Anyway, it’s not the first time in front of her.*

The tentacles were startled by the sentinel who had suddenly come back to life. Many of their tiny minds couldn't process the shift, and they retreated to the sides in a daze, clearing a path for the big fish that was marching forward in silence.

Lin Yuan, similarly overwhelmed by the sudden influx of emotions from the tentacles, stood up with a start.

There was someone in the ventilation duct above—a sentinel with an injured spirit beast. And someone she knew.

Lin Yuan looked up at the ceiling. The tentacles seemed to have done something extraordinary. Because she had been distracted talking to Jiang Yangshuo, she hadn't properly kept them in check. They seemed to have done something rather impolite.

Jiang Yangshuo’s face darkened as he watched Lin Yuan suddenly stand up, a surge of indignant humiliation rising in his heart. In this floral-scented corner where they were alone, at the very moment he was finally opening his heart, she had actually been distracted, standing up to look at the ceiling.

*She truly has no room for me in her heart,* Jiang Yangshuo thought bitterly. *The heartbreak after the breakup, the tossing and turning at night—it seems she hasn't felt any of it. Only I am the one unable to sleep, thinking of her every single day.*