Invasion - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Too…much.

In the deep sea, the half-human, half-orca mental body closed its eyes, covered its mouth tightly with both hands, and let its entire body sink into the depths.

The tail fin, with its exposed bones, trembled uncontrollably in the rising bubbles.

At the bottom of the sea, the forest-like seaweed and corals all reached out, soothingly catching him, taking him to a more hidden place in the depths.

Just now, he had killed an enemy, and he had also personally ended the life of an innocent person who had been suffering.

He had turned that luxurious room into a bloody mess.

He was still covered in murderous intent, and his heart was stained with blood.

But at this moment, his entire body had gone soft.

I should really kill this Guide.

But there was no longer any killing intent in his tone. His voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.

If he had not tightly covered his mouth, and if that sentence had been captured by those tentacles, they would have even licked their lips and said that his consciousness was so sweet.

She had gone too far. She had removed his headscarf, taken off his socks, and was now crawling and wrapping herself around him from every corner.

Ni Ji felt a surge of humiliation. A soldier who had not yet left the battlefield was dragged away midway, his armor and weapons easily taken away. He, who had been a beast of the battlefield, had now been turned into a fish plated and served on the table.

But his mental body, the being that had been his loyal companion at all times, had now become abnormally spineless.

Not only did it make a sound of comfort, it had even attempted to break away from his control, swim to the surface, and submit to those guys who were now tormenting his physical body.

It really…was too comfortable.

Being touched by those strange, wet things, he actually felt that his tense nerves had loosened up.

His entire mental body was like it was soaked in a warm sea.

The long-strained string in his mind had loosened up. The pain that had been gnawing at his bones was alleviating, and the dirt that had been accumulating in blocks at the bottom of the sea had started to melt away.

This was what a Guide was?

Were Guides all creatures like that?

No wonder everyone wanted a Guide.

Ni Ji rarely came into contact with Guides. He didn't like those weak and powerless strangers coming into contact with his mental landscape. Back when he was at the Sentinel Academy, in the only counseling class, the Guide responsible for him had fainted and almost had an accident because she had been scared by the boundless deep sea of his mental landscape.

From then on, he had not come into contact with any Guides again.

And after he went to the northern region, no Guides were willing to go to such a harsh and bitter place.

Even when the sentinels in the border outposts were close to going berserk, they could only be sent back to the capital for treatment. If they managed to reach the capital alive, then they could go to those expensive guidance rooms and receive treatment from a Guide over and over to eliminate the darkness that had accumulated in their mental landscapes.

In reality, most low-level sentinels simply could not afford the expensive fees to enter the guidance rooms, and they could only watch themselves spiraling toward losing control and becoming monsters.

Let alone being allocated an exclusive Guide to spend the rest of their lives with.

For a long time, just like all of his subordinates, Ni Ji had relied on the Guide supplements distributed by the empire to barely suppress the riots of his mental strength.

He had never entered a guidance room, nor received treatment from a real Guide.

Were all Guides like this?

Ni Ji gritted his teeth and endured.

A tentacle had been stroking his head, tousling his hair, repeatedly transmitting an idea,

【Hey, you can relax a little.】

【No need, to, force, yourself, don’t push yourself so hard.】

【You look very tired. Like you’ve been working too hard.】

They were not clear words, but fragmented ideas that were transmitted by the outermost end of the mental body.

They were rubbing his head, sometimes feeding him a little bit, and sometimes infiltrating a little bit.

It was the naive and simple thoughts of a mental body, unprocessed by the physical brain of the owner.

But they were naturally able to understand the human heart. They keenly and purely captured the deeply hidden pain and exhaustion.

Like a young child whose heart had yet to be corrupted, they held a lollipop in their hand, trying to comfort a tortured, powerful assassin.

No, I can’t. I don’t have the right to. Ni Ji replied in his heart.

【Hey, you really can. You should rest,】 that voice replied as if it had heard his thoughts.

【Did he just speak?】

【This time, I’m certain I heard it.】

【It’s a little bitter, like that thing called coffee.】

【My god, this is a person.】

【A Sentinel? A whale? That one we touched before?】

As if they had suddenly been frightened, the tentacles raised their tips.

Ni Ji closed his eyes for a moment. He couldn’t pretend anymore.

He had been defeated by this Guide again.

The second time, and it was a complete and utter defeat.

He reached out and pulled the startled tentacles off of his body, found his headscarf and socks, his body feeling a little soft, and put them back on after struggling a little bit.

After getting dressed, he silently cleaned up the traces he had left on the floor, pursed his lips, and crawled forward as if there was no one else around him.

It didn’t matter anymore, since he was broken, might as well just throw it all away. He wasn’t even afraid of death, what did he have to lose face about.

Anyways, this wasn't the first time this happened in front of that person.

The tentacles were scared by the sentinel who had suddenly come back to life.

Many of the little brains couldn’t react, and they moved aside, stunned, making way for the big fish that was crawling forward without a sound.

Lin Yuan was also submerged in the sudden outpour of emotions from the tentacles and cried out as she stood up.

There was a person hidden in the ventilation duct above her head, a sentinel whose mental body was injured.

Someone she even knew.

Lin Yuan looked up at the ceiling.

The tentacles seemed to have done something terrible.

Because she had been talking to Jiang Yangshuo, she was distracted and didn’t watch over them carefully.

And they seemed to have done something that was not polite.

Jiang Yangshuo’s face darkened when he looked at Lin Yuan, who had suddenly stood up. A feeling of humiliation and anger welled up in his heart.

In this corner by the lakeside, surrounded by a flowery fragrance, and where they were alone, where he was expressing his heartfelt words to her, she was actually distracted. She suddenly stood up and looked up at the ceiling.

Perhaps she really didn't have me in her heart. Jiang Yangshuo thought with some heartache.

He hadn’t seen a trace of the sadness and grief from when they had broken up, or her difficulties with sleep.

It was only him, who had sleepless nights and had been thinking about her every day.

When he heard that Lin Yuan had applied to the border, a feeling of secret joy had welled up in his heart.

No matter how cold and arrogant she seemed, his Guide’s heart still cared about him.

After their breakup, she was still sad, upset, and jealous. She even did something so foolish as to go to such a dangerous place just to avoid him.

Jiang Yangshuo had laughed secretly many times at night. He couldn’t share that kind of secret joy, which was slightly pathetic, with anyone else.

He also felt a little bit guilty because he knew that a Guide whose engagement had been called off might face criticism in this circle, and her life might be difficult.

He thought of having a good talk with Lin Yuan tonight, where they would calmly lay out everything. He even wanted to tell Lin Yuan that he and that woman were nothing. If Lin Yuan felt so wronged, and her life was so difficult, they could also get back together.

Although their engagement was over, they could still get back together, as long as he was willing.

After all, Lin Yuan was all alone. Other than him, she had no one else.

But he now knew that Lin Yuan didn’t have a heart.

Self-pity, jealousy, heartache, none of them would ever appear in her.

Just like that day, when he was seen holding the hand of another Guide, she, who was his partner, did not show a trace of hesitation or reluctance. She simply looked at him coldly for a moment, and, with a disgusted look, she took off their engagement ring, and threw it into the sewer without looking back.

Decisively, and calmly. Without any hesitation, without even a single word of questioning or accusation.

As if she was desperate, relieved to finally rid herself of something disgusting.

Had she really let go of him? In such a short period of time? She was even absent-minded while talking to him.

Jiang Yangshuo suddenly felt a pain in his heart. A tingling sensation of sadness made him faintly realize that something irreversible had happened.

Even if she had cursed at him, hit him, it would have been better than her coldness and calm, than her distraction. She was almost treating him like a complete stranger.

He grabbed Lin Yuan’s wrist and said through gritted teeth, word by word, “Lin Yuan, do you even have a heart?”

That wrist was so thin, and so white. As a sentinel, if he held it in his hand, it was like he could break it with a single force. It would be impossible to escape his grip.

On a dark night filled with the aroma of alcohol, it was very easy for a sentinel to do something to a Guide right in front of him.

Lin Yuan stood in the shadows and looked up at him. She was dressed in a black outfit, with cold eyes, and behind her was the pond where water lilies were blooming, and the air was filled with a flowery fragrance.

She looked completely different from that girl in a white dress who had been bathed in sunlight amidst a sea of flowers when he had first met her.

Jiang Yangshuo felt that this might be the real Lin Yuan, strange and mysterious, captivating and intimidating.

Some unknown, strange things moved under that smoke-like dress.

In the dim and hazy night, they crawled and gathered in the indiscernible shadows.

They surged unhappily and fixed their cold gazes on Jiang Yangshuo.

They were Lin Yuan’s unique mental bodies.

Jiang Yangshuo’s heart was trembling, and his hands that were gripping Lin Yuan’s wrist started to sweat without him realizing it.

He had never told anyone that he had always been a bit afraid of Lin Yuan.

It was a secret he never dared to admit.

For a sentinel to be afraid of his matched partner was extremely embarrassing.

He didn’t dare to tell other people, not even Lin Yuan. Every time Lin Yuan had given him mental guidance, he was so scared that his legs had felt weak.

Lin Yuan. She had a huge and terrifying mental body. They had known each other for so many years, yet they had not been able to get a glimpse of her mental body’s full picture.

Every time, those huge entities would seem like terrifying monsters that had appeared at his door. They would impatiently open his door, and stretch in a tentacle, easily sweeping away all of the dirt in his mental landscape.

The rough, powerful, and highly effective mental guidance would be over in a blink of an eye. The Guide’s mental body would then leave coldly, leaving the sentinel who was trembling in fear behind alone.

They had only had mental guidance of the most superficial kind, for therapeutic purposes. They had never communicated any further.

The problem wasn’t his.

On days when Lin Yuan was on duty in the guidance room, the number of sentinels who came for help would always be very small.

Those sentinels, who had no choice but to come and receive treatment from Lin Yuan, would come out looking pale and listless.

When they were asked about it, they would simply shake their heads blankly,

“She was too strong. I couldn't even get a good look at her mental body before everything was over.”

“It’s hard to put into words. A very impressive experience.”

“Her mental guidance was very efficient, just like the legends. My mental landscape is all clear now. There isn’t a bit of darkness left. But she was too strong. My legs turned to jelly.”

“Next time, I should go look for another Guide, even if it takes a few more treatments. She was too scary.”

It wasn’t his problem, Jiang Yangshuo thought. No sentinel would like such a strong partner.

He had simply made a small mistake and was bewitched by a soft woman.

That gentle girl looked at him with admiration, and she seemed completely engrossed with him.

Her mental body was a white rabbit, docile and delicate, cuddling by his side, making him lose his control for a moment.

It was just a single mistake, Xiao Yuan.

Lin Yuan pulled her arm back from Jiang Yangshuo’s loose grip.

In that instant where their skin touched, she could almost read all of Jiang Yangshuo's thoughts and emotions.

She suddenly felt that it was pointless. It was as if she had finally exhaled a sigh and been freed.

“You seem to have remembered wrong,” Lin Yuan said as she rubbed the reddened skin of her wrist. “I’m not the one who did something wrong. I’m not the one who should be blamed.”

“Although many people said that it was me, that I hadn't done my best, they blamed me, pitied me. But I think they are the ones who are wrong, I did nothing wrong.”

She lifted the smoke-like black skirt, stood up, and left, leaving behind these faint words in the chilly night.

Jiang Yangshuo opened his mouth, wanting to call her again, but his throat seemed to be blocked. He couldn't make a sound.

Those shadowy things left with Lin Yuan, transmitting their disgust and disdain.

Jiang Yangshuo felt as if he had, at this moment, lost a huge, valuable treasure.

Something he should have treasured.

Now, it was perhaps gone forever.

Tan Shu was awakened by the chaotic sounds of footsteps. He returned to his senses from the chaotic dream.

He saw that Ni Ji, just as he had been before he fell asleep, was fully dressed, his black gloves off to the side, and he was washing his hands in the sink.

“That’s strange, why did I fall asleep?” He shook his head in a daze. “How long was I asleep for. It seems very noisy outside.”

“A while.” Ni Ji dried his hands, put his gloves back on, and gave him a small smile. “It seems like something happened outside. I was about to wake you.”

Tan Shu knew that after taking the drugs that the teacher gave him, his physical condition was far from before, and it was common for him to fall asleep in broad daylight.

But he felt that something was different about Ni Ji at this moment.

He seemed to be a little bit more relaxed.

Yes, relaxed. Ni Ji, since coming back, had been like a bow stretched to its limits. At any given moment, he gave off a gloomy feeling.

And now, he had actually smiled at him.

His face and hair had a moist water vapor, like he had just washed up. His hair had been combed again, and a few strands fell down loosely onto his forehead. His eyes had also softened, and there was a faint redness on his cheeks.

He couldn't have encountered something good, right? Tan Shu wondered suspiciously.

The piercing sound of the alarm rang out at that time. A group of the Count’s personal guards ran out into the corridor in a hurry.

Cao Junmin, his clothes disheveled, pushed the door open, poked his head out, and asked with a frown, “What happened?”

Tan Shu was a little nervous. Of course, he couldn’t tell him that he had just fallen asleep, so he knew nothing.

He was simply unsure of whether Ni Ji would use this opportunity to trip him up.

“They said that a murder happened somewhere, but when I just asked a passing sentinel, he refused to tell me,” Ni Ji came over from behind him at that time to explain. “We were just going out to inquire about it when you woke up, Teacher.”

The word, “we,” included Tan Shu, and it gently covered up the fact that he had slacked off during his duty.

Tan Shu looked at Ni Ji gratefully.

This person was really different. He had become so slick and sophisticated.

The Countess came out of the room and gave Cao Junmin an accusing look. She walked away quickly as she tidied up her hair.

Cao Junmin took Tan Shu and Ni Ji to the hall. All along the way, there were sentinels running around anxiously.

Tan Shu stopped a subordinate from the Public Security Bureau to ask about the situation.

The sentinel’s face was pale. “It’s not good, sir. The Count, Lord James, was assassinated in his bedroom. It just happened.”

“What did you say?!” Cao Junmin said, astonished and furious, as he grabbed the sentinel by the collar.

“It’s, it’s true, sir. They said that the scene was horrific, he was mutilated beyond recognition.” The sentinel swallowed. “The Imperial Guard from the White Tower just happened to be here, and he sealed off the scene. Right now, he has ordered us all to gather in the hall. No one is allowed to leave. Even the people in our bureau are on the suspects list.”

Cao Junmin let go of the flustered sentinel.

He stood there, his face dark, alternating between pale and livid. This news was like a thunderbolt out of the blue.

The reason he had climbed up so quickly was due to the Count’s connections, which the Countess had given him access to.

For this, he had endured humiliation and been subservient for so many years, licking the boots of this couple, secretly and openly doing countless things for them.

Who would have thought that overnight, the big tree providing shade would collapse.

All his hard work and effort had been in vain.

No, this wasn't the time to be thinking about that. The immediate issue needed to be resolved.

Cao Junmin gave Tan Shu and Ni Ji a gloomy look, his gaze resting on Ni Ji for a moment.

But then he smiled again. He was still that elegant principal who was unperturbed in the face of a crisis.

“Someone will ask us later. If they ask us where we were just now, what do you think we should say, Xiao Ji?”

“You were taking a nap in the rest room, Teacher. Tan Shu and I were with you all the time. We didn’t leave even for a single step,” Ni Ji replied.

“Very good. All three of us were together,” Cao Junmin said with a smile, as he patted Ni Ji’s shoulder. “You've improved, Xiao Ji, this is very good.”

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