SDIWD - Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Bai Zhen's most difficult mission was, without a doubt, protecting Hua Mu.
Because Guides were much more stable than Sentinels, it was not currently mandatory for them to study in the Tower. This was especially true for a noble young lady like Hua Mu; although she was a Guide, she had never been to the Tower. She did have private tutors who taught her the basics of being a Guide, but Hua Mu wasn't the least bit interested and only remembered the general outline.
However, the Little White Pills weren't a complex topic, so Hua Mu understood what they were as soon as she heard the name. Sentinels had acute senses, while Guides possessed mental stability. Generally, when on a mission, the ideal situation was for a Sentinel and a Guide to operate as a pair.
Sentinels were responsible for reconnaissance, while Guides used Guide-hormone to help stabilize the Sentinel's spirit animal, preventing them from falling into a frenzy from over-concentration, or even experiencing fugue states.
Unfortunately, the ratio of Sentinels to Guides had never been balanced. In the past, excessive persecution of Guides led many to hide their identities. Now, because Guides were inherently stable, very few volunteered to enter the Inner Tower, resulting in most Sentinels not having a dedicated Guide.
Almost all Sentinels with dedicated Guides were already bonded. For single Sentinels like Bai Zhen, besides their monthly visit to the Tower to have their spirit animal soothed by a public Guide, the most common solution was to use artificial Guide-hormone—the Little White Pills.
"Ugh…" Hua Mu quickly tossed the Little White Pills back to Bai Zhen, a look of disgust on her face.
In fact, the Little White Pills were a perfectly normal, standard-issue item for Sentinels. Sentinels operating alone and single Sentinels absolutely could not do without artificial Guide-hormone, or they would be at high risk of losing emotional control.
Of course, if a suitable Guide were available to soothe them, Sentinels wouldn't want to use the Little White Pills either.
Hua Mu's disgust for the Little White Pills was entirely personal. It wasn't the artificial Guide-hormone she despised, but rather the Sentinels who needed it for soothing.
Bai Zhen understood Hua Mu's aversion to Sentinels and quickly put the item away. She was one of the rare female Sentinels, which was also why the Grand Duke had ultimately chosen her as the Young Lady's guard.
Watching her silently pack her things, Hua Mu suddenly felt a pang of guilt. Of course, in the past, she would never have bothered with such thoughts; it was only because the situation compelled her.
She wanted to say something to ease the atmosphere, but her pride got in the way, and she couldn't bring herself to speak. After a moment, seeing Bai Zhen start to pack other items, she had no choice but to say hurriedly, "In this environment, you should give me a gun for self-defense."
Bai Zhen thought that made sense and was considerate enough to let Hua Mu pick what she wanted from the supplies.
Hua Mu wanted everything, but unfortunately, she wouldn't know how to use most of it. Overall, her goal was still to win over Bai Zhen. She really only wanted the gun for self-defense—heaven knew what else was on this island.
Hua Mu casually picked one, studied it in her hand for a moment, and figured out how to use it. Although she hadn't undergone systematic training like Bai Zhen, shooting games were quite popular among noble young ladies, so using a gun wasn't difficult for her.
Then she took a whistle and a watch, which made her feel a little more at ease.
Seeing she wasn't interested in anything else, Bai Zhen slowly resumed packing.
The atmosphere improved slightly, and Hua Mu felt confident enough to say something else.
"I'm hungry." That bit of coconut meat didn't even count as a snack. Now that the initial shock and anxiety had passed, Hua Mu felt extremely hungry, tired, and sore. "And my body hurts all over."
Bai Zhen's training was based on absolute obedience. Setting aside her adaptability during previous missions, after being assigned to Hua Mu, she was a robot who was absolutely loyal to Hua Mu and acted only on her commands.
Unless Hua Mu's life was in danger—like during the shipwreck or potential threats after arriving on the island—she would not act on her own initiative.
In particular, both moving away from and touching Hua Mu were things she had to be mindful of.
She had taken the initiative to pick coconuts to solve the immediate need for drinking water. She hadn't immediately tended to Hua Mu's injuries because they weren't severe enough to warrant her violating the prohibition against close contact.
Even for actions that required moving away from Hua Mu, like catching fish, she needed an order.
"Miss, before that, wouldn't it be better to treat your injuries first?" Her current situation made Bai Zhen realize she couldn't just follow Hua Mu's orders; she should also offer her own suggestions, which led to her speaking more.
Hua Mu's injuries weren't too serious, but they were enough to make a pampered young lady like her hurt for a while. But she was unwilling to show weakness in front of Bai Zhen, so she had been gritting her teeth and enduring it. She had seen the medicinal lotion for scrapes and bruises in Bai Zhen's bag earlier and had been tempted, but she would absolutely not let the other woman help her.
"Give me the lotion. I'll do it myself. You go catch some fish." For once, she appeared considerate.
Bai Zhen didn't dare object. While handing her the small bottle of lotion, she asked, "If I go catch fish, will you come with me or rest here?"
The spot where Hua Mu was resting was about a hundred meters from the sea. Since there was no other vegetation besides a few coconut trees, the view was quite open.
"I'll wait for you here. Go quickly and come back soon." She determined she could see Bai Zhen from this spot, so she had no desire to go out in the sun.
Bai Zhen assessed the current situation and still had no objections.
"Then please rest well. It should be less than two hours until sunset. We'll make do here for tonight. Tomorrow, I'll scout the island's interior to see if there's a source of fresh water and other food."
Hua Mu actually quite disliked how Bai Zhen only knew how to obey orders, but at this moment, it gave her a small sense of security.
"Fresh water should be very important on an island, right? Why didn't you look for it earlier?"
"…I-I thought I should give you some time to adjust."
Hua Mu glanced at the coconuts on the ground, then at her own injuries, and roughly understood Bai Zhen's thinking.
She was probably worried about her, not feeling safe leaving her here alone.
Her mood improved considerably, and she waved her hand, telling Bai Zhen to go catch fish.
"We're stranded now. Survival is the priority. If you have any suggestions, you must speak up quickly. You don't necessarily have to ask my permission for reasonable actions… Of course, you still have to report back to me afterward."
Whether it was for survival or to win her over, Hua Mu relaxed some of the restrictions on Bai Zhen. Back then, she couldn't stand how Bai Zhen was as obedient as a robot, yet she was the one who had set all sorts of restrictions on her—it was utterly contradictory. Now, suddenly granting her some autonomy due to the change in circumstances, Hua Mu felt a sense of relief for some reason.
Bai Zhen nodded without another word and went to prepare food for the Young Lady.
As soon as she left, Hua Mu quickly checked her injuries and applied the lotion. She had no serious wounds, just some bruises and scrapes, but the bottle only contained a few milliliters of lotion, and it was gone in no time.
The situation during the shipwreck had been chaotic, but Hua Mu clearly remembered some of the details. She knew she had only sustained minor injuries not because she was lucky, but because Bai Zhen had wrapped her entire body around her.
When the Sentinel was taking off her clothes earlier, she hadn't dared to look closely, but she had caught a glimpse of the large bruises on the other woman's shoulders and arms. She suddenly remembered this now and hastily checked the small bottle of lotion in her hand, only to find not a single drop was left. A wave of guilt washed over her.
Although a Sentinel's five senses were acute, their physical body, without the aid of their spirit animal, was no different from a Guide's or an ordinary person's. Their superior physical condition was purely the result of regular training; they certainly didn't have the privilege of being invulnerable.
Shouldn't I have left some lotion for her?
Hua Mu sighed, spent two seconds reflecting on her own selfishness, and then pushed the thought aside.
The Sentinel had said they should plan on being here for at least a month. Hua Mu truly felt like dying. But at this point, survival was more important than anything else, so Hua Mu decided to calm down and think about what to do.
As long as Bai Zhen didn't betray her, survival shouldn't be a problem.
The area around Nils was characterized by a typical equatorial rainforest climate and a tropical maritime climate. Although she had only been on this island for a short time, seeing the coconut trees allowed her to deduce that it fell into one of these two categories. Equatorial rainforest and tropical maritime climates had two advantages: the average temperature was moderate, the temperature variation was small, and rainfall was plentiful.
Although Hua Mu didn't know any survival skills, she did have some common sense. Relying on Bai Zhen, surviving for a month in such an environment shouldn't be difficult. The problem was that this month would certainly be lived in a wretched state—which was simply unacceptable to her.
Hua Mu was wearing a white silk dress, which, having been soaked in seawater and then dried, was now crusted with a layer of salt. It wasn't just her clothes; her skin and hair were the same. For a noble young lady who loved to be clean, this was an absolute disaster.
Bathing, shelter, using the toilet, and changing clothes—just thinking about it all made Hua Mu feel a wave of despair. It was useless to dwell on these things, so she could only turn her gaze to Bai Zhen, who had already walked to the seashore.
The other woman patrolled the shallows for a moment, seemingly looking for a suitable spot, and then began to take off her clothes.
The Sentinel's lack of shame was another reason Hua Mu disliked her. As a woman, even a Sentinel shouldn't be so unconcerned, right?
Her eyesight was very good; from this distance, she could clearly see Bai Zhen's completely unalluring sports bra and two long, fair legs.
The Sentinel was tall and slender. Although Hua Mu had never asked for her exact height, she could tell just by looking that she was over 175 centimeters. Due to years of training, there wasn't an ounce of excess fat on Bai Zhen's body—a flat stomach, toned arms and thighs, and muscle definition that was almost excessively beautiful.
And…
Hua Mu subconsciously touched her own flat chest, a sense of disappointment rising in her heart.
Damn it, she's just a Sentinel, why is her body so good!
That chest, so obviously more impressive than her own, made Hua Mu both angry and jealous.
Comments
Post a Comment