Invasion - Chapter 93

Chapter 93

Ni Ji watched Lin Yuan rummaging through the items in the backpack.

At first, the atmosphere was very relaxed. She looked through this, looked through that.

Until she found a keychain with a photo inside. She held it, looked at it for a while, then suddenly, her face turned deathly pale, her eyes unfocused, and she stood up shakily.

Ni Ji quickly reached out to support her.

Lin Yuan’s face was pale, her pupils constricted, some intense event was happening in her mind, impacting her mindscape, the pain so severe she could barely stand.

When Ni Ji held her, she gripped his arm, her fingers digging into his flesh.

"Ni Ji..."

She called his name and told him that she remembered everything.

She tightly clutched the small keychain, telling him it was a relic of her mother’s.

In the depths of her dark eyes, chaotic vortexes swirled, pain filling them.

This was the first time Ni Ji had seen Lin Yuan like this. He didn't know what was happening, and could only hold her.

Lin Yuan collapsed, drenched in cold sweat, into his arms.

The surrounding Deviants raised their heads one by one, letting out low growls of warning.

They had no eyes and relied entirely on scent to identify others.

Just now, the moment Lin Yuan collapsed, they felt the deity supporting this entire Land of No Eyes suddenly disappear.

A human girl, with an unfamiliar scent, appeared by the bonfire.

Their god was gone, and a girl with an unfamiliar scent had suddenly appeared in the depths of their territory.

This made them feel uneasy, panicked, and their moods turned violent.

In the dark underground world, the bonfire illuminated a small area.

Around the fire, low, eerie growls came from the boundless darkness. From the floors above and below, the sound of monsters running gradually came.

Shadows in the darkness gathered, more and more, surrounding the two humans by the bonfire.

The monsters growled and roared, their claws scratching the ground, making sharp sounds.

As if, the next moment, they would pounce, tearing apart and devouring this unfamiliar Guide who had suddenly appeared, making them feel fear.

Ni Ji put one arm around Lin Yuan, and drew his long blade with the other.

The blade was blood red, scarlet droplets sliding along its tip, falling onto the flickering firelight.

The sentinel shook the long blade, flinging away the blood droplets, the wide blade held horizontally before them.

He rarely stained his blade with blood before a battle began. But at this moment, one arm holding Lin Yuan, his other hand had already drawn his bright red blade.

The bonfire flickered, and occasionally, the sound of crackling sparks.

The sentinel stood by the blazing fire, his face cold as ice, a blood-stained blade in his hand, confronting the monsters stirring in the darkness.

Behind him, in the void, a giant whale silently emerged.

Perhaps intimidated by this sentinel's fierce aura, or perhaps vaguely remembering that they seemed to have eaten something he had given them before,

The Deviants growled softly, cautiously approaching, slowly shrinking the encirclement, not attacking immediately.

Lin Yuan, leaning against Ni Ji’s arm, saw the cold sweat on her forehead dripping to the ground. The firelight flickered before her eyes, her vision blurry, her body convulsing in pain.

It was like she had woken up from a very long nightmare, just escaped from a terrifying mental invasion, finally regained consciousness.

Her mindscape had been severely damaged, her mind flooded with countless memory fragments, making her thoughts a mess.

For a moment, she couldn’t figure out what was happening, or even where she was.

But she could sense danger.

Violent and ferocious emotions from all directions, aggressive killing intent targeted at her, approaching.

Large in number, powerful, it was very dangerous.

But she couldn't move, the firelight flickering before her eyes, like the terrifying fire from her childhood.

Lin Yuan heard the sound of her own heartbeat, as if she was back then, weak and powerless, just a child, standing in the ice and snow, watching that fire.

Alone, unable to do anything.

But something seemed different now, a familiar body close to hers.

Her memories were a mess, and she couldn’t remember many things, but she knew that the person leaning against her was a companion.

Ni Ji.

Thinking of his name, her heart seemed to calm down a little.

With him there, no matter how difficult things were, it wouldn't be so bad.

They could always rely on each other, in their most vulnerable moments, staying by each other's side, letting the weaker one rest against the other's shoulder.

The arm supporting her was very firm, very strong, his warm body heat transmitting through their clothes.

Lin Yuan leaned her aching head against the sentinel’s shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist.

She closed her eyes, letting herself rest against his shoulder for a few seconds, then slowly opened them.

Her eyes were as dark as ink, a faint light burning in their depths.

The moment those eyes opened, the low growls around them disappeared.

The numerous Deviants froze in the darkness, looking lost.

"Strange, what were we doing just now?"

"Talking about… not trusting beautiful humans?"

"Weren’t we eating? There was delicious stew.”

"Yeah, where’s the pot? I still wanted to lick it.”

They muttered, looking around, gradually moving again, as if they didn’t notice Ni Ji, or the Guide leaning against him.

【Walk slowly.】

Lin Yuan used her mental power to communicate with Ni Ji, cold sweat dripping from her forehead onto the sentinel’s shoulder.

Ni Ji tightened his arm, holding her as they slowly retreated, the two of them passing through the roaming monsters.

As if completely oblivious to them, most of the monsters didn't even notice Ni Ji holding Lin Yuan as they walked past.

Occasionally, a few more perceptive ones would react, but before they could even open their mouths, a red blade light flashed in the darkness, instantly splitting them in half.

The bonfire was extinguished, and in the dim afterglow, the thick smell of blood spread.

The sentinel's black boots stepped on the ground, silently, without a sound.

Lin Yuan, leaning against Ni Ji, closed her eyes, completely letting him lead the way.

No need to worry about fighting, no need to think about how to dodge. She was only responsible for controlling the monsters in the mental domain. This was much easier for her right now.

She even discovered that her mental power seemed to have been tempered, becoming stronger.

Even in this weakened state, she could still easily control most of the monsters.

It was the same for Ni Ji. Most enemies had lost their will to fight, and he only needed to carefully dodge, cautiously dealing with the few who regained consciousness.

The difficult battle, which should have been a life-or-death struggle, had become much easier.

At this moment, they both admired each other's strength, feeling like they were being protected by the other.

"Seven Arms" and three or five other Deviants gathered around the empty pot, licking the sauce from its bottom.

When Ni Ji approached, he looked up alertly, his nose twitching.

Ni Ji tightened his grip on the hilt of his blade.

Seven Arms flicked his tail, muttering,

"Ah, it's that good sentinel," burying his head again. "Mumble, mumble, forget it, forget it."

In the end, that small group of powerful Deviants didn't raise their heads.

Ni Ji, cautiously watching them, slowly moved his feet, silently passing by them.

The two avoided the roaming Deviants, slowly retreating into the lair.

The lair was very deep, the further in they went, the darker it got, almost without any light at all.

The dripping of water was very clear here.

This was the underground maze, the paths interconnected, a magnificent temple hidden within.

A monster hiding in a passageway rushed out from a corner. It was very small, like a human baby, incredibly fast, crawling on all fours.

Ni Ji lifted his leg, kicked it away, and cut off its head with his blade. The monster shrieked, spraying a cloud of filth.

The filth rained down, and the sentinel turned his body, shielding Lin Yuan from the stench.

Lin Yuan, leaning against his shoulder, her eyes closed, didn't move.

Ni Ji found a corner, put Lin Yuan down, turned on his flashlight, and checked on her.

Lin Yuan’s condition didn’t look good. Her face was pale, covered with sweat. After sitting down, she bent over and retched.

But it seemed like she hadn't eaten anything for several days and couldn't bring anything up.

She sat there, looking at Ni Ji, although very weak, she smiled at him.

Although her head hurt, her memories were gradually returning.

She knew that she had been in great danger this time, almost dying here, almost becoming a monster forever living in this underground world.

But she was fine, still alive, still conscious. That was enough.

She had even found something her mother had left here.

Her mother had also been here once, exploring this Land of No Eyes.

This meant that the path she had been on had not been wrong.

Mary shipwreck — Golden Tree — Land of No Eyes, following the clues given by the wooden box, one contaminated zone after another.

The route on the wooden box, it was the path her mother had taken, but hadn't been able to complete.

It held the answer her mother had sought, but hadn’t found.

From the very beginning, from when she had made this decision as a child, she had known that this was a very dangerous path.

Very difficult, almost certain death.

Both her father and mother were powerful people, but they had died in that man-made fire, because of their search for this truth.

When she decided to do this alone, she had embarked on this path, ready to die.

But now, she had come this far, still alive, not dead, approaching that unknown truth.

This was already very good, something to be happy about.

Moreover, she was no longer alone, she even had friends and family, and a dependable Sentinel.

Lin Yuan rarely smiled.

In the faint flashlight beam, that pale face, leaning against the damp wall, the smile that appeared, had an almost breathtaking beauty, capturing the sentinel's heart.

"I’m so hungry, Ni Ji, do you have anything to eat?" Lin Yuan said weakly.

Her past memories had returned, but she couldn't remember what had happened between the time Ni Ji had been drugged and when they met again.

She couldn't remember what had happened after they separated.

She only felt like she had been in a daze these past few days, as if her mental power had been strongly influenced, turning her into a giant monster.

She had been wandering in this underground cave, without eating anything, until Ni Ji found her.

Now, conscious again, her memories restored, she felt a hollowness in her body, her stomach growling with hunger, she didn’t know how many days she had been starving, her limbs weak from hunger.

Ni Ji, after checking all his pockets, only then realized that he wasn't wearing his own clothes, but the sentinel uniform Lin Yuan had found for him. There were no candies, which he always carried with him, in the pockets.

They had been in too much of a hurry when they escaped here, other than the flashlight on his shoulder and the blade in his hand, he hadn't brought anything.

He moved closer to Lin Yuan's side and said to her, "Just endure it a little longer, we’ll find food soon."

In the darkness, the two, having just escaped from a battle, were very close.

Lin Yuan leaned her head against the sentinel’s shoulder and closed her eyes, "Then let’s rest for a bit, let me borrow your shoulder to lean on.”

Her breathing was very shallow, brushing against his skin.

Ni Ji’s shoulder stiffened.

These past few days, their mindscapes had constantly been connected, and it seemed like there had been too much physical contact between them.

At this moment, their skin touching, their senses instantly connected.

Ni Ji instantly felt a sharp pain in his mind.

It was empathy, the pain Lin Yuan’s body was enduring, transmitted to him through the mental link.

The Guide leaning against him, her mindscape seriously injured. So she had been enduring such pain, such intense pain, that even he, a sentinel, when empathizing, found it hard to bear.

She had broken free from the powerful control of this pollutant, escaped from that strange state, and regained consciousness, it must have been very difficult.

Because of this, her mindscape was injured, and she was weak, tired, and in pain.

But there was nothing he could do. He was a Sentinel, he couldn’t even offer mental comfort.

The only thing he could do was let her lean on his shoulder, let her rest for a while.

"I want to eat something sweet, very sweet," Lin Yuan’s voice came from the darkness, asking him for candy.

"I know," Ni Ji’s heart ached, he deeply regretted this. "I’ll get it for you, a lot, a lot."

"I can't remember what happened after we separated," Lin Yuan’s voice came, intermittently, she leaned against his shoulder and asked, "How did you come down here? How did we end up together again?"

The sentinel in the darkness didn’t speak.

"What happened during this time? Tell me."

"…"

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

Ni Ji didn’t know what to say.

His Guide had kissed him, had done this and that to him.

And now she said she couldn't remember, she even wanted him to tell her.

He just remained silent, his hand covering his face in the darkness.

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