Invasion - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Cao Yunyun coaxed the twins into the bedroom, put on her makeup, and changed into her formal dress.

When she came down from the second floor, she saw that Lin Yuan was still sitting by the window in her original state, looking like she was daydreaming.

She looked like a docile and quiet guide, at most just a bit more fond of spacing out.

But in Cao Yunyun’s heart, she had a faint feeling that it was just one of her disguises, a shell, to make her barely look like a creature who could abide by the “rules” here on the surface.

Who among the people living in this world didn’t have a shell, but the only difference was whether they had the courage to break out of it. Cao Yunyun thought to herself.

“Where did you get this dress? It doesn’t seem to fit right,” Cao Yunyun asked.

Lin Yuan usually wore the white dress that was issued by the academy. Today, probably because she had come from home, she had found a black dress from somewhere.

She was curled up by the window, and the smoky black hem of the dress made her limbs look slender, and her skin as white as porcelain.

But it was too sharp, too cold. It wasn't like the dress a guide should wear.

“I don't know, I found it at home. It's probably my mother’s,” Lin Yuan replied.

See, this girl knew that she had to wear a formal dress to the evening banquet.

For her, as long as she could put a dress on, it was enough.

As for whether the dress fit, or whether it could bring out the gentle temperament of a guide, she didn't care at all.

“It’s a little too big, let me adjust it for you.” Cao Yunyun sighed and brought over a sewing kit to take in the waist and hem of Lin Yuan’s dress.

“Your mother seems to have been a sentinel?” Cao Yunyun said as she bent over and bit off the thread. She knew a little bit about Lin Yuan’s background.

“Mm,” Lin Yuan said as she gently smoothed the hem of her skirt. “She was very tall, and ran very fast. She was a powerful person.”

I dreamed about her a few days ago, Yunyun.

The dress was adjusted. Cao Yunyun took Lin Yuan’s hand and turned her around.

A raven-black coat, a smoky gray slip dress, a gradient skirt. It was simple, without any other adornments. Only the waistline was dotted with a string of downward-extending rhinestones.

Lin Yuan was already a cold person by nature, and the dress made her seem like a being that had not been corrupted by the world, something from the nine hells that was about to leave the world and become immortal.

Cao Yunyun was dazzled by her appearance. She vaguely thought that even if she was a guide, she was still incredibly beautiful like that.

She quickly shook her head and dismissed the thought.

No, no, that was inappropriate.

She reached out to redo Lin Yuan’s hair, and then picked up her makeup box.

Lin Yuan held her wrist to refuse.

“Putting on makeup is also for your own enjoyment,” Cao Yunyun said, finding it very funny. “At banquets like this, even the male guides, and even sentinels will dress up nicely.”

“If it’s for my own enjoyment, I have to want to, first,” Lin Yuan said as she shook her head. She didn’t like the feeling of having things pasted on her face, and her tentacles liked it even less.

The tentacles raised their heads one after another, and opened their large and small suckers to show that they didn't like it.

Cao Yunyun took out a lipstick and coaxed her, “At least put on some lipstick, it’s made by me, with added beeswax and rose essential oil. It’s very fragrant, and it’s a little sweet.”

Lin Yuan licked her lips when she heard the word sweet, and agreed.

The two girls dressed themselves up and walked out, lifting their skirts.

They were a little short on time, and they almost started running.

Cao Yunyun’s garden was very beautiful, with many layers of branches and flowers. Champagne-colored roses bloomed all over the garden in this season.

The two girls ran while holding hands through the flowers that were covered in the evening dew, feeling the cold and smooth sensation of each other’s skin.

A snow goose followed the two as they flew out. That was Cao Yunyun's mental body.

The pure white bird flew over the tall and short flowers, chirped once, and its small body soared into the clouds, circling the sky from afar.

Cao Yunyun wondered why this bird had rarely spread its wings and flown so high these past few years.

She saw Lin Yuan, who was walking ahead, turn around to look at her. She was stepping on the smoky-colored skirt, and her mental bodies could be seen vaguely moving around in the shadows under the flowers.

In the hazy night, those colored lips were slightly curved up, as if she was about to smile.

Cao Yunyun had almost never seen Lin Yuan smile after knowing her for so many years.

She was about to leave this place and go live the life she wanted.

That thought suddenly flashed in Cao Yunyun’s heart, making her feel a strange sense of fear and reluctance.

...

In the rest room of the count’s manor, the sentinels were busy ironing their clothes, fixing their hair, and some were putting on foundation while looking at the mirror.

They wouldn’t be too exaggerated with their makeup. They would just apply a little powder, draw their eyebrows, and dye their lips with a little color. That was the norm.

A luxurious and extravagant banquet that would shock everyone was about to be held here that night, and many nobles, high-ranking officials, and even members of the royal family would be in attendance.

The security of the banquet was especially important. As sentinels from the capital’s public security bureau, they had to be prepared.

The capital of the empire was protected by the holy light of the White Tower, and no terrifying pollutants would ever get close.

Living here, an honorable appearance and handsome looks were better at winning favor with people than fighting skills were. That was something that the sentinels could show off.

Even though they were only in charge of security patrols at the banquet, no one wanted to lose face in a place where so many important people were gathered.

Dressing up was very important, everyone believed so.

What if a noble saw them? Their lives might be different.

“Brother Ni, can I fix you up?” The sentinel who spoke was named Song Yuansi. He was a junior from the Sentinel Academy who had been taught by Ni Ji back then.

Ni Ji was sitting on a chair, crossing his long legs. He reached out and grabbed his wrist, shaking his head.

Song Yuansi looked around.

Everyone else was busy dressing up, and no one was paying attention to them.

“I'll just tidy you up a little, senior.” He whispered to persuade him. “Look, everyone is like this.”

He knew that since Ni Ji had returned here a few days ago, everyone had been very cold towards him. It wasn't that everyone had forgotten about Ni Ji because he had been gone for so long. It was because the principal’s attitude towards Ni Ji was still ambiguous.

But he, Song Yuansi, had never forgotten that when he had just entered the Sentinel Academy, he was a crybaby who was always being bullied.

Back then, it was Ni Ji, who had already gained a reputation, who had reached out and stopped the bullies. He had pulled him out of the abyss of being bullied.

He lowered his voice and said, “Teacher, he likes us like this.”

Ni Ji held his wrist tightly, stared at him for a long time, and slowly released his hand.

Song Yuansi was very happy. He was very skilled, and his aesthetic sense was on point. He was very good at this kind of thing.

It was also because of this skill that he had been brought here by Cao Junmin, who had been the principal back then, and was now the Chief of the Public Security Bureau.

To dress himself up, put on makeup.

He knew that for a sentinel like Ni Ji, who had come from the battlefield, it was something that he would find humiliating.

But what could he do? If you wanted to live in this capital, in this place where luxury was shamefully wasted, with flowers and good wine being used in vain, if you wanted to stay here and live, you had to obey the rules of this place.

You had to bow your back, put things on your face, and turn yourself into a decoration for the noble masters at their banquets.

He was very happy that Ni Ji was listening to him.

If he was a bit softer, then his forever senior would be able to live a little bit better.

He knew that his senior had probably encountered very bad things over the years.

What kind of sad experiences could make someone who used to be so cheerful and sunny become so silent?

He combed Ni Ji’s bangs upward, giving him a refreshing hairstyle, and his sideburns looked sharp. He also covered his face with a thin layer of skin-tone correcting foundation.

Ni Ji leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes, letting him do whatever he wanted. It was only when he took out the lip gloss and wanted to apply it to Ni Ji's lips.

That was when Ni Ji opened his eyes, shook his head, and reached out to stop him.

Ni Ji removed the barber’s cape, and when he stood up, all the eyes in the rest room were drawn to him.

He was already very tall, and even among the group of sentinels, he still stood out like a crane among chickens. When he stood up, his thin and straight figure exuded something that the sentinels here didn’t have.

Whether it was the way he walked, stood, or the way he looked at you.

He was more steady, sharper, and had a hint of the blood that had been dyed on the battlefield. It seemed as if it had seeped into his bones.

Before, they only thought that he was fierce, but now that Song Yuansi had fixed him up, his sharpness had been softened. His exquisite eyebrows were suddenly noticed by everyone.

It turned out that this famously fierce Blade of the Empire had such a handsome face.

That combination of beauty and power stood up, fastened his uniform buttons, put on his black gloves, strapped on his gun, and walked out with his long legs.

Cao Junmin was giving instructions to Tan Shu and several others about their tasks that night.

Of course, as the chief of the public security bureau, he didn't actually need to arrange the specific details.

He had many capable confidantes, and everything just needed to be instructed and a few words of guidance to show his authority at the most critical places.

Cao Junmin had a standard when choosing people. The most important condition for every sentinel that he promoted was that they had to be handsome and good looking.

Whether they were male or female.

He knew that if you wanted to mingle in that decadent upper-class world, you had to make sure that everything was to the taste of those people.

This was one of his skills, and it was also one of the secrets to how he had risen all the way from being the principal of the academy to his current position.

Just then, he saw Ni Ji walking in.

Everyone there couldn’t help but look at that handsome sentinel.

His rare beauty and silent temperament, his wide shoulders and narrow waist, his long legs, and the way he walked with the stride of a soldier made him stand out.

He walked up to Cao Junmin’s desk and bowed his head to call him teacher.

Cao Junmin was sitting there, looking up at him.

When he saw Ni Ji’s carefully styled hair and his refined features, he smiled.

He had taught sentinels for so many years, and the one in front of him was the most talented genius.

Back then, he had been so dazzling, like the sun, and it was impossible to hide his light.

He was just too arrogant, aloof, untamed, and disobedient.

Cao Junmin remembered that back then, many people had wanted to meet Ni Ji when he brought back the single combat championship in the Sentinel Academy Tournament so many times.

Cao Junmin wanted Ni Ji to dress up, tidy up, and attend the banquets with him, the high-end banquets that ordinary people would sharpen their heads to get into.

But Ni Ji always refused to cooperate.

Every time, it was like he would lose his life just from having to comb his hair or change his clothes.

That disobedient student would always disappear at critical moments, disregarding all his face, and no matter how he punished him, it was useless.

Finally, they had completely fallen out because of some intolerable matters.

He actually liked Ni Ji.

Ni Ji was a good blade. He was fierce and powerful, and he was very useful during critical times.

But what he wanted was a blade, a dog, and not a young man who was always going against him.

No matter how unyielding he was back then, what was the point? Cao Junmin thought to himself.

Who hadn’t been young, and who hadn’t been arrogant? But who could live in this world with a clean conscience?

No one.

So, when he saw Ni Ji, like everyone else, obediently dress up and stand in front of him with his head bowed, he felt comfortable from the bottom of his heart, as if every pore on his body had been soothed.

He had always been a tolerant elder towards a child who was sensible and talented.

Therefore, he specially stood up from behind his desk, walked to Ni Ji’s side, reached out and patted his shoulder, revealing a kind smile.

“Xiao Ji has been back for a few days now. Tonight at the count’s manor, you and Tan Shu will both stay by my side.”

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