Invasion - Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Ni Ji stood in the dim alley, looking at the pointed roof in the depths of the courtyard.

At first, he would rack his brains to find excuses for himself.

For example, he just wanted to see if Lin Yuan's injury was okay, to see if the Golden Tree they had secretly brought back would cause her any trouble.

Later, after coming here many times, it gradually became a habit.

After a busy day, when he was tired, whenever he had some free time, he would unconsciously come here and stay for a while.

After returning to the capital, Ni Ji had actually prepared several plans to deal with any questioning, after all, he had returned without waiting for his teammates. But these plans, in the end, weren't needed.

Adjutant Ji Xuan of the Royal Guard didn't seem to mind his returning alone, he even helped cover for him.

After the contaminated zone collapsed, many people entered to search, only to find a withered, fallen tree. The fallen branches, shattered into ashes at the slightest touch, couldn't be taken away at all, not even a single golden leaf could be obtained.

The mission the Queen had given, to bring back a branch of the Golden Tree, was a complete failure.

"You were able to open the door and survive in that chaos, it’s already not easy," Ji Xuan had said after returning.

"Although it’s a pity that you couldn’t complete Her Majesty’s mission, the collapse of the Golden Tree Contaminated Zone has returned a large amount of land, a town from four hundred years ago has reappeared in the world, bringing a great deal of supplies and wealth to the empire and its people, and you’ve made the greatest contribution in this, Commander Luther and I will report this to Her Majesty."

Because of Ji Xuan's report, Ni Ji had been very busy these days. He officially became an officer of the Royal Guard.

It was said that even Her Majesty had personally praised him in front of Commander Luther of the Royal Guard.

Praising him for his bravery, for risking his own life to open the door for others, a role model for young sentinels.

Ni Ji’s teacher, Cao Junmin, had been dismissed from his position, completely withdrawing from the empire’s center of power. But Ni Ji's position, instead of being demoted, was promoted. The newly appointed Minister of Military Affairs even awarded him a combat medal with the Queen’s portrait on it.

Those classmates and colleagues who had once been cold and distant suddenly became enthusiastic, as if the coldness and distance when he first returned had never existed, as if they were still the brothers from their school days, their arms around each other’s shoulders.

He also received many more invitations, attending various banquets and parties every day, holding a wine glass, dressed impeccably, meeting all sorts of people who wanted to get acquainted with him, and also those he wanted to get acquainted with.

In this small world around the White Tower, every night there were banquets and songs, fragrant clothes and beautiful hair, endless food and drinks.

As if life was peaceful and prosperous, as if the most important things in life were socializing and banquets. As if there were no soldiers risking their lives for two imperial coins in the world, no children who had to go to war at the age of ten.

As if warriors didn't have to fight for scraps from the ruins with their flesh and blood, as if there weren't countless starving people around the outposts.

As if there were no contaminated zones or ferocious Deviants in the wilderness, as if humans were still the masters of the world, enjoying a comfortable, prosperous, and abundant life.

Ni Ji sometimes felt like he was living in an absurd dream, his feet on sticky mud, stumbling at every step, unable to break free, unable to find solid ground.

Every day, after the fake noise and superficial glamour ended, when he calmed down, he only felt an increasing emptiness in his heart.

Although it didn't start snowing in the capital until very late, it seemed like a colder city than the icy northern border.

Here, he had no place he truly wanted to be, no home that could bring him a little warmth.

He would always habitually think of that Guide, think of the hug she gave him, the warmth of her hand on his face, the peaceful sleep he had by her side.

Every time he had some free time, his feet would unconsciously bring him here.

Sometimes he also knew it wasn't very good, a little pathetic and ridiculous, this kind of behavior completely unspeakable.

Fortunately, he was a powerful sentinel, with strong perception, he could leave before anyone approached.

Hopefully no one would discover his strange, private behavior.

He came here, not really wanting to do anything, nor wanting to get anything more, just wanting to occasionally watch from afar.

He had seen quite a few visitors come. Once, he even saw a sentinel kneeling on one knee outside the gate, kissing Lin Yuan’s hand.

He had felt a little sad at the time.

She was of course worthy of being surrounded by countless sentinels.

She was, after all, the best Guide in the world.

Perhaps in the future, he would see her walking hand in hand with another sentinel, coming and going together, while he would still be like this, just occasionally coming here to stand for a while.

…

"I thought you should have been able to sense it," the gardener with the silver mask in the courtyard said. "I've seen the strength of your mental power, they're very strong, stronger than mine, they even intimidated me at one point."

Lin Yuan, holding a warm teacup, swallowed the pastry in her mouth. The tentacles extended, and as expected, found the little fish. He was standing alone, for some reason, in a dark alley not far away.

"But randomly exploring the world, sensing other people's emotions, is impolite, isn’t it?" Lin Yuan, her legs curled up, sat on the sofa inside, by the window, "Since I was little, the teachers at the academy, and everyone around us, said so."

Lin Yuan told Xun Hua her understanding, "Everyone said that randomly sensing the surroundings is very impolite, not something a proper Guide should do, so I’ve always tried to restrain them, unless it’s during battles, I try not to let them run around.”

After she finished speaking, several soft tentacles landed on the windowsill, tapping their tips, expressing both agreement and dissatisfaction with Lin Yuan’s words.

【Yes, very annoying, they never let us go out and play.】

【They always say we’re being impolite.】

【It’s our nature to play, yet they keep us locked up.】

【Yeah, we even get criticized for just touching a fish.】

Xun Hua stopped tending to the flowers. “How could this be, four hundred years later, Guides are restricted to such an extent?”

Lin Yuan and the tentacles clung to the windowsill together. “Wasn’t it like this before?”

“Sensing is a Guide’s nature, Guides in the past took pride in their powerful perception abilities,” Xun Hua, standing in the moonlight, said, “Sentinels have sharp hearing, and Guides have powerful perception, only by working together can we detect enemies approaching from afar, if you restrict a Guide's perception on a daily basis, wouldn’t that be troublesome during battles?”

“Then wouldn’t it be considered impolite back then?”

“It’s a Guide’s instinct, a natural combat talent, how could it be impolite? Sentinels can also hear very faint sounds from far away. Who would blame a hawk for flying too high, or a hound for having too keen a sense of smell?” Xun Hua said.

“Sentinels, if they don’t want to be discovered by Guides, should train their barriers, and when Guides sense the world, they wouldn’t deliberately pry into other people’s lives.”

This was the first time Lin Yuan had heard this. Hearing it, she felt a sense of liberation, as if she had been freed from her shackles. It was a pity that in her time, this way of thinking had already been lost, no longer accepted by the public.

Xun Hua reached out, his finger touching the rose he had just planted. The branches gently swayed against his white-gloved fingers, the leaves rustling, as if emitting a sense of joy.

A few raindrops fell on the rose leaves.

"Is it raining?" Lin Yuan looked up at the sky, where the moon was covered by dark clouds.

…

Raining?

Ni Ji looked up. The moon in the sky was covered by dark clouds, and a few cold raindrops fell on his face.

I should go back, he told himself, tonight was very cold, the ground in the alley seemed to be covered with a thin layer of frost.

He had just lifted his black military boots when he saw a small tentacle emerge from the cold stone bricks by his feet.

The sentinel's pupils constricted, and his entire body froze.

That tentacle skillfully wrapped around his leg, its tip hooking his little finger, pulling it.

Ni Ji felt like that tentacle hadn't wrapped around his finger, but his heart.

It wrapped around that fragile organ, tugging it.

In the dark, empty alley, the sentinel’s entire face flushed red.

He was a little grateful that Lin Yuan hadn’t come out herself, only sending the tentacle he was familiar with to secretly pull him.

If Lin Yuan had walked out of the courtyard and come to the alley herself at this time, he would probably have run away in shame.

The tentacle pulled hard, and gently brushed the back of his hand reassuringly.

The sentinel could only take a difficult step, following it out of the dark alley, to the locked gate.

The tentacle pulling on his finger tickled his palm and slipped into the crack in the door.

The sentinel, so at ease at those banquets of nobles and dignitaries, stood there by the gate for a long time. Only when the rain became heavier, the raindrops soaking his hair, did he finally grit his teeth and press the doorbell.

A gardener, wearing a silver half-mask, holding an umbrella, opened the door.

The gardener glanced at the sentinel outside, tilted his umbrella forward slightly, and simply said, "Come in, if you’re here."

The sentinel’s ears turned slightly red, and he finally stepped into this courtyard, a courtyard he had come to many times, but had never entered before.

Lin Yuan sat by the window in the living room, waiting for him, waving to him. Not overly enthusiastic, nor distant.

As if they had just gotten off that bus, not a long time apart.

The maid in the house brought over a cup of hot tea, smiling.

Ni Ji took out a small box of chocolates from his backpack and placed it on the coffee table by the window as a gift.

The box was exquisite, its edges a little worn, as if it had been carried with him for a long time.

Lin Yuan, curious, opened the box. Pagoda-shaped chocolates, wrapped in beautiful tinfoil, filled the entire box.

She broke one off and put it in her mouth. The sweet outer shell melted, a hint of alcohol wafting on her tongue.

Lin Yuan’s eyes lit up, the smooth sweetness paired with the rich aroma of alcohol, it was liquor-filled chocolate.

How could it be so perfectly to her liking?

She quickly ate a second one.

"Do you have the habit of carrying candies with you?" Lin Yuan asked the sentinel sitting across from her.

This was a good habit, praiseworthy.

The sentinel sitting on the sofa smiled slightly.

He had seemed a little flustered when he first came in, as if he had been caught, but now, that awkwardness had disappeared.

Lin Yuan ate her chocolates with the hot tea Xiao Suo had made, quickly finishing half the box, circling the rest with her hand, not at all intending to share.

"Are you hungry?" Fortunately, she still remembered to ask her guest.

Ni Ji wanted to say he was fine, it wasn’t necessary to trouble her.

But he sat there, cold raindrops hitting the leaves outside the window, a warm teacup in his hand.

The girl across from him, nestled in the soft sofa, happily eating half a box of candy.

Ni Ji suddenly felt hungry.

He had been busy all day, hadn't eaten much, he had only had a little wine on an empty stomach during dinner.

Fortunately, in this place, he didn't even have to say it out loud, the Guide sitting across from him always knew his condition.

"Xiao Suo, make a bowl of noodles for our guest, beef-flavored, with a fried egg, and add some mushrooms," Lin Yuan asked the maid, "Do we have any mushrooms at home?"

She even knew his preferences. She had entered his mental landscape, seen many of the memories hidden in his heart.

A steaming bowl of noodles was quickly brought over, and Ni Ji stood up to thank her.

"Oh, you’re welcome," the little maid said happily, leaving sideways with the plate.

The rain outside was getting heavier. Cold rain threads formed lines, clattering against the ground, flowing. Several small wild animals emerged from the ground, hiding under the trees, in the small shelters built with wooden boards by the gardener.

Ni Ji sat by the window, holding the bowl, eating the delicious noodles, his head lowered. The rich beef broth and the fried egg with its runny yolk, it was his favorite food from his time in the northern border.

The hot noodle soup warmed his cold, tired body.

Ni Ji, with his head lowered, kept eating.

Ever since he had been wrongly accused and brought to the capital, he hadn't had much of an appetite.

It seemed like it had been a long time since he had felt this physical hunger, this craving for warm food.

The sound of boiling water came from the kitchen.

Lin Yuan sat on the sofa across from him, casually reading a book while eating chocolates, she didn’t even bother moving her fingers, letting the tentacles come out from time to time to turn the pages for her.

"This chocolate is delicious," Lin Yuan, her eyes on the book, peeled the tinfoil wrapping. "Next time you come, buy me another box."

"Next time?" The sentinel across from her looked up, steam blurring his face, he seemed a little dazed.

"Mm, buy me some next time," Lin Yuan looked up from the book, "you’ll come again next time, right?"

Her tone very matter-of-fact.

Lin Yuan saw the sentinel lower his eyelashes, an emotion flickering in his eyes.

This time, she didn’t even need the tentacles’ help, Lin Yuan could feel his joy.

He was this happy just because of a single invitation from her.

If she had known, she really should have invited him over sooner.

So many friends had come, why had she forgotten him?

Every time she was with him, she had also been happy. She had experienced many things with him, felt more emotions than ever before.

Even in her dreams at night, this sentinel's face would often appear.

Why had she avoided him?

---

Ni Ji finished dinner.

It was raining outside, and they sat by the window, chatting for a while about the No. 77 Contaminated Zone, about the No. 5 Contaminated Zone they had experienced together, and the unnamed contaminated zone on the airship.

They hadn't known each other for long, but counting them, they had already been through quite a few battles together.

Lin Yuan asked Ni Ji if there were any contaminated zones represented by eyes.

"There are many contaminated zones represented by eye totems," Ni Ji thought for a moment and said, "The last time, the contaminated zone your airship strayed into, the key to open the door was the Pillar’s eye."

"But if you’re talking about an unseen eye, I do remember a place, next time..." he repeated the word "next time," as if it was a beautiful word, "...when I come visit again, I'll bring the relevant information for you to see."

When Ni Ji said goodbye and was about to leave, Lin Yuan walked him to the door.

Each holding an umbrella, they walked through the rain-soaked courtyard.

"See you next time," Lin Yuan said to him, standing at the door.

The sentinel, standing in the rain, holding his umbrella handle, maintaining a polite distance, softly said goodbye, "See you next time."

【Little fish seems very happy today.】

【I tasted it, sweet and delightful.】

【Big Fish was also very happy.】

【He was even singing.】

【Whimpering all the way, I can still hear it.】

【Come and play again, if you like it so much.】

【He probably likes being touched by me, next time I’m going to hook his hand again.】

After Ni Ji left, Xun Hua asked Lin Yuan, "I thought you two were very close comrades, I didn't expect that he wouldn’t even dare to enter the door.”

"Sentinels and Guides can’t be very close, right?" Lin Yuan asked strangely. "I don’t want another engagement.”

Xun Hua, holding his umbrella in the rain, stopped, and looked at her in disbelief.

"I’m talking about comrades, colleagues, partners who fight and work together, who said that sentinels and Guides can only be husband and wife?" Xun Hua’s tone was very surprised. "Guides are powerful warriors, just like sentinels, not just tools for giving birth."

Lin Yuan blinked. Weren't they?

In her world, everyone thought so, Guides were gentle and considerate, able to take care of the home and soothe sentinels' emotions. They should be kept safe, cherished in the White Tower, attending banquets, enjoying family life, acting as beautiful flower vases that added to the prosperity.

This was the consensus of this world, everyone repeatedly said so, and everyone always thought that this was the right thing to do.

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