Invasion - Chapter 121
Chapter 121
Jiang Yangshuo, standing in the shadows, said,
"Give me another chance, Yuan Yuan."
He stepped out from the shadows of the trees, taking two steps towards Lin Yuan.
In a suit, his eyes golden, filled with intense emotions.
His slightly manifested half-beast form made him look like a trapped beast, desperate.
"I'll do better this time, I’ll cherish you, I’ll never make this kind of mistake again," his voice bitter as he slowly approached Lin Yuan.
"Do you even know? These past few years, not a single night have I slept soundly, every moment filled with regret."
Lin Yuan took a step back.
Jiang Yangshuo’s emotions were incredibly strong and unrestrained. The tentacles sensed all kinds of complex emotions, anxiety, pain, longing, regret… and something else,
All mixed together, hard to understand.
Humans are always like this, Lin Yuan thought, complicated and fickle, hard to understand.
But she noticed a difference.
The difference was whether she wanted to understand.
Not long ago, it had also been a similar environment.
In a dimly lit place, slightly noisy, another sentinel standing before her, giving her a slightly bitter smile.
His emotions, like molten lava, had warmed her heart.
She had stored his every word and action in her memory, pondering them repeatedly, trying to understand, to this day.
She had desperately wanted to understand, always thinking about them.
Unlike now, although the emotions being transmitted from across from her were strong,
Her heart was as cold and still as a lake, a little bored, only wanting to quickly leave.
Jiang Yangshuo seemed very agitated, his mouth opening and closing as he spoke, and Lin Yuan, lost in her thoughts, only heard a few fragmented sentences.
"I know I was wrong, Lin Yuan."
"I think about you every day."
"I’m going crazy."
"Really, give me another chance… please."
She knew that perhaps Jiang Yangshuo's feelings at this moment were sincere. Perhaps ten years ago, in a garden, the young Jiang Yangshuo who had found her had also spoken to her with the same sincerity.
Lin Yuan couldn't help but think of herself back then.
At that time, she had still been a child, a small child, alone, bewildered by the world around her.
All she could see was a narrow, narrow path before her.
A partner designated by the state, eventually settling down into family life, a life whose end could be seen from the very beginning, without any choice, any room for mistakes.
She had only felt confused at the time.
Now, having seen the true sky and mountains, thinking about returning to that life, it was terrifying.
Jiang Yangshuo was still speaking.
"We’ve known each other since we were children, no one knows you better than I do."
"I no longer mind whether you're an aggressive-type Guide or whatever.”
"I won't say those hurtful things again."
"My father said, if you’re willing, he’ll immediately go and ask Her Majesty for a betrothal, and you can immediately become the mistress of the Jiang family.”
Lin Yuan, hearing this, snapped back to reality, shocked, repeatedly waving her hands,
"No, no, thank you," she almost forgot that a Guide was property of the empire, they had to obey the state-assigned marriage contract, if, at this time, the Jiang family proposed again, and the Queen agreed, she would have no choice but to flee, become a wanted criminal of the empire.
She had to eliminate this possibility, no matter how small.
Reject him, completely extinguish his hope.
When necessary, Guide Lin, adept at reading people’s hearts, quickly came online. Resolute, rational, and cold, she efficiently found a solution.
【Quick, quick, quick, give me the answer.】 Lin Yuan gave her command.
The tentacle secretary team, within a second, searched for suitable responses from the countless memory fragments and presented them to Lin Yuan for imitation.
"Thank you for keeping me in your heart all these years, but I’m afraid I have to apologize,” the girl under the wisteria trellis slightly lowered her head, a shy look on her face. The imitation was very good.
"But, I already have another sentinel."
"Impossible," Jiang Yangshuo subconsciously reached out, wanting to grab Lin Yuan's arm.
The girl standing amidst the flower shadows abruptly looked up at him.
Her eyes cold, like a pair of jade stones soaked in an ice spring.
That gaze was so cold, without a single trace of lingering affection for him.
Jiang Yangshuo's outstretched hand froze in mid-air, slowly lowering under the cold, powerful pressure.
The girl he had known for so many years, whose hand he had held since childhood, who he had once thought would become his wife,
Now, standing before him, she only had basic courtesy for him. If he tried to get any closer, she would use her mental pressure against him.
Jiang Yangshuo felt a pain in his heart, like a red-hot dagger piercing it, twisting and turning.
Perhaps back then, when Lin Yuan had seen him holding another girl’s hand, she had felt the same?
No, what was even more tragic was that perhaps she hadn’t cared as much as he had imagined.
Jiang Yangshuo's eyes reddened, clinging to the last of his hopes, he asked in his gentlest voice,
"That's impossible, Yuan Yuan, you’re just still angry with me, aren’t you? There’s no sentinel more suitable for you than me, don’t you remember, our compatibility rate was 70%."
"But he is very good to me, he likes me very much, we are a good match, and very happy together," Lin Yuan, a little impatient, stopped trying to imitate, her tone cold.
In the end, thinking that it would be more convincing, she added,
"All my flaws are virtues in his eyes, our mental landscapes are also very compatible, I'm satisfied with him, he is already my Sentinel."
Saying this, thinking of someone, a faint blush appeared on her face.
In the flower-scented night, she looked a little like a human girl in love.
"Who is it?" Jiang Yangshuo asked desperately, "Tell me his name so I can give up."
In this moment of crisis, to completely eliminate this trouble once and for all,
Lin Yuan quickly went through the sentinels she knew in her mind, and from among the many brothers she had shared life and death with, she picked a name.
He had a life-and-death friendship with her. They were both willing to risk their lives for each other, and she figured he wouldn't mind being her shield this time.
"That person is…"
The two were talking under the flower trellis in the courtyard. Across the water, in the brightest light, Ni Ji was surrounded by many people.
The newly appointed Vice-Commander of the Royal Guard was very adept at handling such banquets.
He wasn't overly enthusiastic, nor was he too aloof, maintaining just the right distance, easy to get along with.
Young, handsome, with distinguished achievements, honored, undoubtedly a rising star.
Countless people, holding wine glasses, gathered around him, wanting to chat.
A former colleague from the Public Security Bureau, his belly protruding, was excitedly talking about something, and Ni Ji, looking at him, nodded with a gentle smile.
No one knew that this sentinel, smiling and talking, handling everything with ease, was actually incredibly nervous, his five senses enhanced, all his attention on the distant waterside pavilion.
He had noticed Lin Yuan from the very beginning.
He knew that she had taken her wine glass and gone alone to the flower trellis by the water.
He heard the rustling of her skirt, heard her seeming sigh of relief, patting her chest, heard her sit down by the water.
Under the layers of wisteria flowers, a pale hand, holding a crystal glass, swirled it. The faint sound of wine swirling with the movement of her fingers.
That sound, from afar, captured by the sentinel's sharp hearing, made his heart sway.
Ni Ji, on one hand dealing with the people who kept talking to him, trying his best not to make any mistakes, on the other hand, couldn’t help but try to capture every little detail about her.
The aroma of the wine in her glass drifted over from afar.
It was a fruit wine made from longan, sweet at first, with a strong aftertaste. Her favorite.
He imagined that, at this moment, her face hidden behind the flowers, her lips stained with wine, she was slightly squinting, a relaxed look.
There was a faint scent of plants and roses on her skirt.
Perhaps, earlier, she had run through her garden, her skirt picking up the scents unique to her courtyard.
That courtyard with trees, roses, and many other flowers, a place he had been to many times.
Someone was approaching her, and Ni Ji's gaze suddenly turned cold.
Some clueless fellow disturbing her peace.
It was that so-called ex-fiancé, who, since their return, had shamelessly bothered Lin Yuan many times.
That damned fellow.
Ni Ji heard their entire conversation, he shouldn't have listened, it was against sentinel etiquette, but he couldn't help himself, standing there, from afar, hearing another sentinel passionately confessing to her, begging for her forgiveness, for her favor,
His heart couldn't help but clench.
Hearing her cold rejection, he relaxed.
Then he heard her say that she already had a sentinel she liked.
And he heard Jiang Yangshuo ask for that person’s name.
Lin Yuan opened her mouth to answer.
And Ni Ji felt a hand reach into his chest, cold fingers gripping his racing heart,
Not letting it struggle, not letting it beat.
It was as if his ability to breathe was taken away. The colleague beside him was still talking, his mouth opening and closing, but Ni Ji could no longer hear him.
All his attention was focused on a single point, beyond the coming and going crowd, the bustling footsteps.
He heard a dragonfly skimming over the surface of the water, the flowing water reflecting the hanging flower shadows, a fish jumping up, its tail flicking, disturbing the lake’s surface.
The person standing by the water slowly opened her mouth. "That person’s name is…”
At that moment, time seemed to stretch infinitely.
Countless images from his life flashed through Ni Ji’s mind.
When he was a child, he had no parents, his life very hard.
At that time, so young, shivering in the cold wind, starving, he would envy those homes with warm lights.
Injured, huddled in a corner, he would always long for a family’s embrace.
Having miraculously grown up like that, stumbling along the way, a seed of longing for something unknowingly planted in his heart.
He didn’t know what it was, just vaguely pursuing it all this time.
After entering the Sentinel academy, he had admired his teachers, but his teachers had changed later.
He made friends, classmates, but his classmates eventually betrayed him.
He found comrades he could trust his life with at the outpost, and those people were now also gone.
He had never gotten what he wanted, his body empty, his heart always missing a piece.
It wasn’t until he met her that he finally understood what he had always longed for.
A person who brought him warmth, a family, a warm embrace.
Since meeting her, since she hugged him that time, that inextinguishable longing had always been tied to her.
Now, he seemed to have new companions, new goals he wanted to achieve.
But his hidden longing for her was clearer than ever, stronger than ever.
Jiang Yangshuo waited for Lin Yuan to speak, for that name.
Ni Ji also waited, holding his breath, his heart stopping,
Like waiting for the most important judgment of his life.
In his mindscape, a thick fog covered the sea, waves rolling.
A giant scale appeared in the sky, on one side were his country, his mission, hatred, responsibility, ideals… everything, the most important things.
The other side was empty.
Until Lin Yuan parted her lips, and finally said that name,
He’s my Sentinel, his name is…
Ni Ji.
The two words, “Ni Ji,” slowly fell from the sky, landing on the other side of the scale.
The balanced scale spun under the stars.
The sentinel's world at that moment steadied.
The surging waves and the thick fog dispersed, his heart landing back in his chest, fresh air filling his lungs again.
He vaguely knew that perhaps Lin Yuan had only used his name to brush Jiang Yangshuo off.
But, hearing her say, with her own mouth, that her sentinel was Ni Ji, that the person she liked was Ni Ji, not anyone else, not any other name,
Seemed to be enough.
It was as if all that he had experienced, from a lonely orphan, to a warrior enduring hardships, all of it, had been soothed by this moment.
Jiang Yangshuo, his face pale, walked away.
Lin Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, and poked her head out from under the wisteria trellis. She saw the person whose name she had just used, he stood by the water, the shimmering water reflecting on his handsome face, water beside him, water also in his eyes.
Lin Yuan saw a noticeable blush, spreading across his earlobes and neck, the crimson color disappearing beneath the collar of his tightly buttoned uniform.
That sentinel turned his face away, avoiding her gaze. He spoke in the fragrant night,
"You… so you knew how I felt about you," his voice very soft, like a sip of sweet wine, intoxicating.
Lin Yuan wondered if she had had too much to drink tonight, her mind was a mess.
She didn't even bother brushing off the fallen purple petals on her shoulders.
What did he say? What feelings?
What did he hear her say just now?
【I already have a Sentinel, that person likes me very much, his name is Ni Ji.】
【That's what you said just now.】
【We are very compatible, even in our mindscapes.】
The tentacles dutifully reminded her.
Lin Yuan opened her mouth, for a moment, at a loss for words.
Ni Ji sighed, reached out, and gently took a fallen petal from her hair.
Looking at her stunned face, he gave her a gentle smile.
"It’s okay, you don't have to say anything. I understand."
I know you’re just using me as an excuse, I know you don’t have those feelings for me yet.
It’s okay, as long as it was my name. It already makes me very happy.
Don’t say anything more right now, don’t hurt me.
…
The music stopped, the crowd dispersed, the extravagant royal banquet was over.
Ni Ji returned to the secret room where the weapons were stored.
He had only attended a banquet, hadn’t done anything, yet he felt as exhausted as if he had just been through a storm.
He sat down on a chair in the darkness, stretched out his long legs, relaxing his body, not wanting to move at all.
Weapons weren't allowed at the royal banquet, the two blades were left on the shelf, they didn't know what had happened at the banquet.
{Did something happen to him again?}
{Definitely, look at him.}
{Something he’s keeping bottled up, no one to talk to about it? So he came here, to this room, rather just listen to the two of us nagging at him.}
{No need to guess, it’s that Kraken again.}
{Poor him, I feel like he’s about to become a masochist at this rate.}
{Hey, Blackie, give him some advice, aren’t you good at this love stuff?}
{Who’s good at love stuff? I'm only good at the dirty stuff, okay?}
{But, if you ask me, it's not like I can’t give some pointers. Hee hee. Kid, listen to me… mumble…}
Ni Ji reached out and covered the hilt.
The Black Blade struggled, trying to make itself heard through the gaps between his fingers.
"…Listen to me, you should just clean yourself up and offer yourself… mumble… present a fait accompli… make her take responsibility…”
"… Such an innocent little thing… mumble… you can’t even listen to a few words of advice, how are you going to get that Kraken with your pure heart? …Mumble, mumble… let go…”
"Don't cover his mouth."
"His words might be dirty, but he's right."
"When other sentinels steal her away, don’t come crying to us.”
"I don’t like it when even the smell of blood turns sour."
In the dark room, Ni Ji’s personal terminal on his wrist lit up slightly, indicating an unread message.
He tapped the screen, the round, pink octopus profile picture bouncing.
Ni Ji covered both hilts, the eyes on the blades blinking.
The dark room instantly fell silent, not a single sound, as if a pin drop could be heard, only the sentinel’s clear breathing.
{Quick, see what she said, are you dumbstruck?}
{Being invited out late at night could be a good thing.}
After a while, the sentinel loosened his hand and tapped the bouncing little octopus.
The light from the virtual screen illuminated his face, his eyes moving, the words that appeared on the screen, more than ever before.
Ni Ji could actually differentiate between the messages sent by Lin Yuan and those sent by Lin Yuan's tentacles.
If the messages were sent by Lin Yuan herself, they were always concise and indifferent. “Mm,” “Okay,” “Yes,” “Sure,” basically never more than three words.
The tentacles weren’t like that, they typed very quickly, long, sweet nothings, and would even add cute little heart emojis at the end.
This time, it was clearly typed by Lin Yuan herself, the words would appear, then be deleted, appear again, and be deleted again.
Ni Ji could even imagine what the person on the other side of the screen looked like right now.
That person was probably looking at her personal terminal, her face expressionless, her pale fingers tapping the virtual keyboard, repeatedly confirming whether the meaning of the words truly conveyed the feelings in her heart.
A bunch of tentacles chattering and giving their suggestions from the side.
"I'm going to the City of Mantis…"
Typing… Typing…
"It's different from other places."
"It's important to me."
"And it’s quite dangerous."
"I want to ask you…"—deleted.
"I want to invite you…"—deleted.
"I would really like you to come with me."
"I don't know if you’re free."
"Waiting for your reply ohhh~~~"—deleted "ohhh".
"Oh~~~"—deleted
"Yo~~~"
"Waiting for your reply ohhh~~~ + symbol".
Five-pointed star symbol — deleted.
Awkward smiling face emoji — deleted.
Typing… Typing…
Finally, a single, shining pink heart emoji popped up.
If you're interested, you can check out the first chapter on Patreon and cast your vote in the poll. Enjoy a little sneak peek below!
Otome Game: Escape Mode - Synopsis
Chu Jiu obtained an otome game system within the horror game Cocoon and thus embarked on the irreversible path of conquering NPCs.
The NPCs to be conquered were each more handsome than the last, and also each more peculiar than the last.
Inside, there was also a Supervisor, even fiercer than the NPCs, with a stern face, ruthless to others, even more ruthless to himself, able to cut himself without even frowning.
Chu Jiu: Are this batch of NPCs and players all so wild? Love it, love it.
Han Xu gained the ability to hear others' inner voices within the Cocoon. Within a meter, there were no secrets.
His ears were filled with all kinds of trembling, ghostly wails, and wolf howls.
Han Xu: However, there's one person, she's a bit different.
She was thinking:
【This is terrifying】
【If I enter this kind of horror game again, I'll be a dog】
【What's with the booming background music, suddenly coming on like that, I'm about to die of fright】
【Ah... I think I know how to get out... Easy.】
Han Xu: ?
She was thinking again:
【This Han Xu, acts decisively, efficiently, is an ideal partner, and also... uh... has a nice waist.】
Han Xu: ??
I was too late to join the poll, but "Otome Game: Escape Mode" looks very interesting!
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