Invasion - Chapter 77
Chapter 77
Guo Suo woke up in the early morning, rubbed her sleepy eyes, and was about to go to the kitchen when she noticed the lights were on, and faint sounds were coming from inside.
She was shocked. Had a thief broken into the house?
It was impossible for miss to be in the kitchen, whenever she entered the kitchen, it was a disaster.
The tentacles had no eyes and loved to cause trouble. They would break something, then sneak a bite of this, turning the kitchen into a disaster zone in minutes.
Mr. Gardener, other than drinking water, didn’t eat, and never entered the kitchen.
Before Miss came back, when she had been living alone in this courtyard, petty thieves would often sneak in, most of whom she had quietly scared away.
Since miss came back, especially after Mr. Gardener arrived, no thief had ever entered the house again.
How dare they, there was actually a thief?!
Guo Suo, her eyes narrowed dangerously, summoned her courage, and pushed the door open.
And she met Ni Ji's gaze, the sentinel standing by the stove, wearing her pink apron, cracking eggs.
The two looked at each other blankly for a long time.
"Ah… thi- this… you," Xiao Suo gestured frantically, her eyes wide. "Y- y- you stayed at our place last night?"
Yesterday, she had thought that this sentinel who came home with miss was very scary.
He looked very fierce when drawing his saber. He had stepped on her leg, flipped over her head, and pinned down Mr. Gardener in one move.
Mr. Gardener was already very scary, so this sentinel must be an even more powerful warrior.
As powerful as the sentinels who had entered the contaminated zone and captured her back then, making the little crab a little scared.
But now, this sentinel stood in her kitchen, wearing her pink apron, holding a bowl and chopsticks in his hand, looking at her with a surprised look, his hair a little messy.
He didn’t seem so scary anymore.
He had clearly left yesterday, hadn’t he? When did he come back?
Guo Suo looked around, she found Miss curled up asleep on the sofa in the living room, covered with a thick blanket.
Had these two done something she didn’t know about last night?
Last night, Ni Ji was supposed to leave after the channeling session.
But the capital at night was too cold, and this room too warm.
The two chatted in their respective sofas for a while.
The living room was very spacious, only a small reading lamp was on. The warm, yellow light dispelled the darkness in this small area, surrounding the two incomplete people in warmth.
They didn't talk about the upcoming dangerous journey, but some insignificant things.
Ni Ji talked about life at the northern outpost, and some of the people there. Lin Yuan mentioned a little about the disaster that happened to her family when she was little, and her mother.
Both were wrapped in a thick blanket, the blankets thick and warm, and the air filled with a faint rose fragrance.
Lin Yuan, as usual, wasn't very expressive, and not talkative either, but she was a good listener.
Under the lamplight, her amber eyes sparkled, her head, leaning on the armrest of the sofa, full of interest.
It was Ni Ji who smiled several times.
It had been many years. Since becoming a Sentinel captain, since shouldering responsibilities, he seemed to have rarely smiled like this.
He still remembered that many people used to say he looked very good when he smiled.
He wanted to look good in front of Lin Yuan.
These little thoughts were too silly. It must be because of that song that inexplicably appeared in the night.
Ni Ji knew that he should leave, it was already very late, sleeping here wasn't appropriate, it wasn't polite either.
But Lin Yuan’s fair hand reached out from under the blanket, across the space between the sofa armrests, and touched his hair — when he had mentioned fulfilling his comrade’s dying wish, buying candy and sending it to the orphanage.
Her action was very natural, her palm warm, as if she knew this was something he couldn’t get over.
And the determination to leave dissolved.
Amidst the soft sounds of their conversation, drowsiness unknowingly crept over him. Ni Ji vaguely saw Lin Yuan yawning and closing her eyes.
So he also unknowingly fell asleep again.
When he opened his eyes this time, the sky had already turned a pale white.
Lin Yuan, curled up in her blanket, was sleeping on the sofa next to him.
In this quiet early morning, so close to her, the sentinel’s sharp hearing allowed him to clearly hear every soft breath from the girl, the rhythmic beating of her heart.
The Guide wrapped in the blanket, her skin smooth, so fair she seemed to glow, a strand of her seaweed-like black hair trailing outside the blanket.
An arm extended from the blanket, hanging over the edge of the sofa. Ni Ji’s gaze followed her arm downwards, to those slightly curled, fair fingers.
He thought of what those fingers had done last night, and looked away.
Silently leaving at this time didn't seem very appropriate. He stood up, tidied himself up, thinking he should at least prepare breakfast for the guide who had stayed up late to give him mental guidance.
His body was very relaxed, his mindscape, having undergone efficient channeling, a clear blue.
The kitchen, fully equipped with abundant ingredients, almost made the sentinel want to hum a tune.
That nameless tune that had been playing in his mind all night.
A love-struck princess' song for the moon in her heart.
Lin Yuan, having slept too late last night, couldn't wake up in the morning, her head listlessly drooping on the dining table.
Someone placed breakfast in front of her, a freshly made crème brûlée and freshly baked French toast with red bean paste, and a small plate of red apples cut into rabbit shapes.
The sweet aroma awakened Lin Yuan’s appetite, and she instantly perked up.
The pudding, a blend of the rich aroma of milk and eggs, smooth and delicate, topped with a layer of golden caramel, crunching in her mouth, the finishing touch.
The French toast, soft on the inside, sweet and crispy on the outside, and with one bite, the warm red bean paste slowly flowed out.
Finally, a few slices of refreshing sweet apple.
The perfect breakfast for a sweet tooth.
Lin Yuan quickly finished her breakfast, licking the syrup from the spoon, and only then realized it was Ni Ji who had made it.
The sentinel's own breakfast was very simple, just a boiled egg and toast.
But he had placed a large bowl of cleaned, shucked oysters in front of Guo Suo, also with a plate of cute rabbit apples.
Guo Suo, holding a knife and fork, her cheeks puffed out, her eyes shining, was already too busy eating to talk to Lin Yuan.
Even Xun Hua's golden water cup had been washed and filled with mineral water.
Xun Hua, entering the dining room, saw the water cup in front of his seat, and paused slightly.
"You’ve only been to our home once, right?" He sat down, picking up his cup, taking a sip. "Such sharp observation skills, I almost thought you were the Guide.”
Guo Suo really wanted to voice her opinion at this time.
This house was so big, there was definitely room for more people, since they already had a maid and a gardener, they could of course also have a chef, she desperately tried to hint this to Miss with her eyes.
Unfortunately, miss was a wooden log, and Mr. Gardener was also a wooden log, not a single one understood her hint.
After breakfast, Lin Yuan and Ni Ji asked Xun Hua to guide and teach them the combat techniques they had never learned before, those coordination techniques between Guides and sentinels from hundreds of years ago.
These two had a surprisingly similar enthusiasm for improving their combat abilities.
"The common coordination method at that time was for the Guide to control the field, and for the Sentinel to engage in close combat," Xun Hua said.
For easier understanding, he brought the two to the game room on the second floor and turned on several screens.
A small character in the game started running, and different screens lit up at the same time, showing the scene from different perspectives.
"Just like a multi-screen game," Xun Hua pointed at the moving screens. "The Guide is outside, connected to the sentinels’ senses. This allows for better observation of the battlefield from various angles, to spot danger. At the same time, information can be synchronously transmitted to the sentinels."
"So, the more sentinels coordinating, the better?" Lin Yuan spotted a problem.
Xun Hua looked at Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan usually seemed a bit cold and indifferent, as if she didn’t care about anything, but every time it came to combat, she had a natural sharpness.
If she hadn't been born in this era, but a few hundred years ago, she would have been a famous warrior.
"You're right," Xun Hua said. "The more sentinels a Guide can coordinate with, the better. Compared to verbal commands, transmitting information through thought is instantaneous, it’s a highly effective way for teams to fight, at that time, multiple sentinels paired with one Guide was the optimal combination, and most team captains were mature and powerful Guides.”
"But Her Majesty, she seemed to just want me to choose a dedicated sentinel," Lin Yuan said.
"Her Majesty’s opinion is correct," Xun Hua explained. "On the battlefield, a Guide’s responsibilities are heavy, not only controlling the field, interfering with and attacking enemies, but also constantly observing the sentinels’ conditions, adjusting their emotions, reducing their sensitivity, and even directly controlling the sentinels in times of crisis."
"These things aren't just about having strong mental power, they require a lot of coordination and training. Almost everyone starts with one-on-one paired training.”
Lin Yuan understood. "So that's it."
Precise team operations, not just individual efforts, were indeed an area she wasn’t familiar with.
"Speaking of which," Xun Hua thought of something. "It seems like Her Majesty is very familiar with the coordination methods between Sentinels and Guides, she knows the term ‘dedicated sentinel,’ and seems to know about starting with one-on-one pairings.”
Lin Yuan, her finger on her chin, said her impression of the Queen, "Mm, Her Majesty is a very gentle person, she’s very good to me."
Xun Hua then asked her, "Why do you think she's very good to you?"
Why?
Lin Yuan thought for a long time, and found that she couldn’t answer this question.
Objectively speaking, she had only met Her Majesty once.
Her Majesty had assigned her the task of going to the contaminated zone and had assigned her a dedicated sentinel.
That was all, there hadn’t been any reward or medal for solving the Golden Tree Contaminated Zone, not even any information or equipment for the new mission.
Thinking about it this way, she hadn't actually been particularly good to her.
Why did she have such a deep impression of Her Majesty being very kind and good to her?
Ni Ji interjected at this time, "The Land of No Eyes is an incredibly dangerous place, especially since, under Her Majesty’s orders, we need to go deep inside to find the Nether Stone, the level of danger is no less than that of the Golden Tree."
The atmosphere froze.
The three fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts.
"No matter what, I feel that Her Majesty, is perhaps a very powerful Guide," Xun Hua finally said.
"Her mental control over people, has reached a level of subtle influence, so seamless that even a Guide like you can’t detect it."
…
Lin Yuan and Ni Ji, having had their eyes opened to a new world by Xun Hua, began days of combat training.
When Roy came to visit, he saw a courtyard so messy it was an eyesore.
"Where did you find this gardener? He’s terrible, you should change to another one," Roy complained as he walked through the courtyard, stepping on fallen branches and tangled weeds, finally nodding slightly when he saw the rose bushes by the window, full of flowers.
"Only these few flowers look decent."
As soon as he sat down, he asked Lin Yuan about her feelings about being summoned by the Queen, "So, how was it? Was Her Majesty incredibly gentle, wise, and wonderful?"
Lin Yuan affirmed, “She’s very beautiful, and also very powerful."
Roy was delighted, as if just hearing the Queen’s name could make him happy for a long time.
A moment later, he turned worried, "I heard that Her Majesty is sending you to the Land of No Eyes, why would she send you there? That's an incredibly dangerous place."
Lin Yuan then asked him, "Roy, did my mother ever go to the Land of No Eyes?"
"Your mother? Senior Lin?" Roy thought carefully for a moment and shook his head. "I don’t remember, I was just a new clerk back then, I didn’t know which places they went to."
"Our Special Research Department is directly under Her Majesty, I only know that most of the places these powerful sentinels went to were missions assigned by Her Majesty,” he thought for a moment and added, “Yes, we have information on the Land of No Eyes in our archives, I'll send it to you after I organize it.”
Lin Yuan made a sound of affirmation and didn’t say anything more.
Her small, fair face, as always, was expressionless.
But the more Roy thought about it, the more worried he became. He anxiously rubbed his hands. "Although Her Majesty must have her reasons, I shouldn’t question her, but I really don't understand, why would Her Majesty send a Guide like you to a contaminated zone?"
"Guides are so rare, the number of Guides in the empire is decreasing every year."
Ni Ji walked back to his dorm, his steps fast, his body relaxed.
Although he had been very busy every day, these past few days were probably the most pleasant he had had since returning to the capital.
As he went up the stairs, he ran into the little girl delivering coal briquettes again.
Her grandfather wasn’t there today. The six or seven-year-old girl, alone, couldn’t carry the entire box of honeycomb briquettes, and could only carry them upstairs a few at a time.
She had made many trips, her cheeks and nose covered with black coal dust, sweat streaming down her face, making her look very dirty.
Ni Ji casually helped her carry the entire box of briquettes upstairs.
"Which floor?" Ni Ji asked her.
"E- eighth… eighth floor… thank you, big brother," the little girl followed him upstairs.
She was very small and thin, with slender limbs and dry, yellow hair. It was hard to tell if she was six or seven, in any case, she was a child who shouldn't be doing such heavy work at her age.
"Where’s your grandfather?"
"Grandpa is sick, he can’t get out of bed," the little girl spoke clearly, with a maturity beyond her years, "There’s no one else in my family, just grandpa and me, I’ll take good care of grandpa."
Ni Ji glanced back at her. There were too many hardships in this world, almost every ordinary person's life was incredibly difficult.
"Sentinel big brother," the girl called out to Ni Ji halfway up the stairs.
Ni Ji, carrying the black coal box with one hand, turned to look at the little girl who barely reached his knees.
"Sentinel big brother, I want to ask you something. After the age of seven, can ordinary people still differentiate into Sentinels or Guides?"
"Most of the time, they can’t," Ni Ji answered her.
The sentinels and Guides in the empire were all differentiated from ordinary people, most children would complete this transformation before the age of seven.
After that age, they basically lost the possibility of differentiating into a sentinel or a Guide.
"So, after I turn seven, no one will come and check whether I’ve differentiated, I’ll just live a normal life, right?" The girl asked, her small, dirty face tilted up.
Ni Ji raised an eyebrow slightly. "Are you afraid of becoming a sentinel?"
The little girl lowered her head, rubbing the corner of her clothes, "I- I’m afraid of becoming a Guide, I heard that once you differentiate into a Guide, you have to live in the White Tower, and you can’t leave until you become an adult, then… there’ll be no one to take care of Grandpa."
"It’s very rare to differentiate into a Guide," Ni Ji comforted her. "Every year, very few Guides differentiate from ordinary people, it’s not easy to encounter, you don’t have to worry too much.”
The little girl softly acknowledged, her head lowered, following behind him as she carried the coal briquettes upstairs.
Check out the novel I'm currently working on, written by the same author, Mr. Lizard Outside the Window.
Just read the synopsis👀 looks promising
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