Chapter 91 Guide 19

That's all for today, get out of class dismissed.

In the bright and clean classroom, Lu Xuejin withdrew her overflowing spiritual energy and checked each guide's spiritual energy to ensure that it had been safely withdrawn.

Young guides are quick-witted and easily drift into a daydream state when using their mental powers. If not intervened in time, this can have serious consequences.

"Teacher, can't we have one more lesson?" someone asked reluctantly.

They resist outsiders from intruding on their vision, yet they cannot resist the chief's gentle, spring-like spiritual power.

Receiving guidance feels so good. Damn, those sentries are eating so well!

Lu Xuejin tapped the podium: "Next is the basics of psychology. The knowledge gained in this class will be crucial for your future work. I have other work to do, so I won't take up any more time."

As she spoke, her gentle gaze swept over everyone present.

"You guys need to work harder; your defense is still not strong enough. I hope that by the end of the course, I can see that everyone has built a strong and unique defensive field."

"Okay, teacher."

"Teacher Lu, I will try my best."

These guides were obedient and sensible in front of Lu Xuejin, and would softly call him "senior".

Most of the time, Lu Xuejin was dealing with eccentric sentinels. The new guides, like fledglings, would obediently huddle around him, chirping softly, creating a lively but not noisy atmosphere.

Bathed in the light, Lu Xuejin smiled radiantly. Suddenly, the guide in the front row of the classroom ran out, then quickly ran back, holding a bouquet of flowers and warmly approaching him.

"Teacher, I specially went to the flower nursery to trim this bouquet. Please don't throw it away, okay?" The guide looked at Lu Xuejin expectantly.

Seeing this, the others followed suit and ran up to the stage.

"Teacher, I made some rice cakes this morning, would you like to try them?"

The guides surrounded Lu Xuejin with flowers and desserts, making him both amused and exasperated. He reluctantly accepted a bouquet and immediately said, "Alright, alright, go back to your seat."

Lu Xuejin was inexperienced at first and thought it was a student's good intention. As a result, she accepted one bouquet, and then another immediately followed. In the end, Wan Hong and Luo Mang helped her move a large pile of gifts away.

Now that we have experience, we can quickly take control of the situation.

"I'm leaving now, you can continue your class."

The young man holding the flowers flashed past the door and disappeared.

In the classroom, the smiling guides' expressions turned cold in an instant.

The one offering the flowers had a sinister expression and said angrily, "Going to serve those dogs again!"

"What are the people at Baita doing? Why are the teachers always scheduling counseling sessions?" he said through gritted teeth. "After class, they go to the counseling room until the afternoon, and then go home. They don't leave us any time at all, even though we are the teachers' closest students!"

"Those dogs are filthy! They crowd outside the queuing area every day. Don't they know how smelly they are? How dare they squeeze in front of the teachers!"

“They have to queue up for qualification every day, why can’t we? I also need some guidance. There have been exams one after another lately, my brain is about to explode.”

"Isn't it said that guides are more valuable than sentries? Why did you steal the teacher?!"

Many of them had secretly followed Lu Xuejin, witnessing their teacher being surrounded by stinky dogs the moment she returned to the counseling room. A bunch of trash were earnestly putting on a pitiful act, while a large number of delusional individuals were putting on a show of pursuing her—it was nauseating.

They had even stronger opinions about the two guards Lu Xuejin brought back from the border.

"That guy surnamed Luo is always pretending to be high and mighty. Isn't he just trying to be a sycophant but the teacher completely ignores him?" The sarcasm was blunt and harsh. "If you can't get ahead, what are you pretending for?"

"I'm speechless. What kind of spell did that guy Wan cast on the teacher? What is he anyway? He won without doing anything and just hangs around the teacher every day. Doesn't he feel ashamed?!"

"Being good at playing the victim really makes a difference."

Although they were all in the same class and there were always some unpleasant things going on, everyone's attitude towards this matter was surprisingly consistent—

The man surnamed Luo slapped him once, and the man surnamed Wan slapped him twice!

...

The evacuation room is on the first floor, in a newly decorated office that Baita specially made for Lu Xuejin.

Lu Xuejin, holding flowers in one hand, pushed open the door with the other, only to find that the sentry who had been facing away from him and tidying up the wall decorations had been replaced by Luo Mang. Previously, this was Wan Hong's job.

"commander."

Romans, still using the name from the border era, turned around to see the vibrant flowers unfurling from the guide's arms. He immediately presented her with a crystal-clear, obviously expensive, long-necked bottle.

Clear water rippled within it.

Seeing Lu Xuejin looking at him, Luo Mang explained, "Wan Hong was called away by the tower, saying there was an important mission that he needed to carry out, so I'm here to fill in for him for a day."

"I heard you've been receiving a lot of flowers these past few days, and you're having trouble finding a place to display them, so I just grabbed a bottle from home." The tall sentry lowered his head slightly, his posture gentle and his smile harmless.

No one expected that he had secretly pulled strings to transfer Wan Hong away and couldn't wait to appear in the counseling room.

Román praised frankly: "However, it looks very beautiful for the Commander to hold the flowers like this, the color suits you very well."

Lu Xuejin carefully inserted the flower branches into the vase, and said with some helplessness, "The children probably see me as the judge for their finished products, and they all hope that the bouquet they cut is the one they like the most. Actually, they are all very beautiful."

Since it was a token of his classmates' goodwill, he couldn't refuse, so he accepted it and took good care of it, trying his best to prolong the flowering period.

The previous assistant was quite clumsy in this matter, and didn't even know to find a vase, letting the students' good intentions wither away.

Luo Mang couldn't understand why Lu Xuejin favored Wan Hong so much, even though they were classmates. Those sentinels were wild and untamed, constantly following the guide and taking up his time, yet they didn't know how to stop the surging, greedy sentinels, leaving him exhausted.

What role did these tall, burly sentries play besides stealing air?

Lu Xuejin sat down and began reviewing the data. He needed to gain a basic understanding of the sentries who participated in the evacuation today. Luo Mang knew that he had just come from class and hadn't even had a break before starting work without stopping, so he couldn't help but say, "Commander, why don't we raise the bar a bit and reduce the number of qualified candidates?"

Compared to other guides, Lu Xuejin is quite dedicated. She has the lowest entry requirements and offers the most qualifications, which results in a wide range of quality among the sentries who get her number. Just a few days ago, someone made an inappropriate joke to Lu Xuejin and offended her to her face.

Although he was quickly arrested and imprisoned, and heard that he had just committed suicide out of fear of punishment last night, Luo Mang was still extremely angry. Just thinking about the scene of Lu Xuejin being looked at with dirty and lewd eyes made him want to kill.

A commander should be aloof and untainted, yet those scum dare to defile him!

Wan Hong, surprisingly, did not kill the offender on the spot, but let him live for a few more days.

This kind of useless sentry should just get lost, but Wan Hong is unmoved, so he has no choice but to take action and get rid of Wan Hong.

But this little obstacle will only have an effect for two or three days at most. Once the time is up, Wan Hong will still return to Lu Xuejin's side.

If only the commander would just order Wan Hong to leave.

Luo Mang lowered his eyes, concealing the surging killing intent within them, his slightly furrowed brows showing deep concern.

Lu Xuejin said, "The number of people I can help is just a drop in the ocean, there's no need to set any more barriers."

Luo Mang: "But..."

Lu Xuejin interrupted him, still smiling, but a hint of undeniable coldness appeared in her eyes: "The mental energy consumed in a day is less than when I lead you on a mission. I don't care about this little bit of energy consumption."

Luo Mang remained silent.

The time to open the evacuation room was fast approaching. Roman pushed open the door and saw a long queue already formed not far away. He made no attempt to hide his disgust as he went over to conduct a final check, ensuring no one was carrying weapons, that the sentries were in stable and calm condition, and that no one had a fever.

When dealing with their fellow sentries, the sentries are cold and fierce, showing no warmth whatsoever. However, they all maintain a tacit understanding—all dislikes are expressed through glances, no one speaks, and the corridor is silent except for the rustling sound of shoes rubbing together.

When it was time, the first person said goodbye to Luo Mang, politely knocked twice on the door, and only after hearing Lu Xuejin's response from inside did he leisurely push the door open and enter.

"Chief Lu, we meet again." This person was gentle and calm, with a dignified demeanor, but the basic information stated that he had been hovering on the edge of berserk mode for many years and had killed five colleagues without authorization while carrying out missions.

However, after several sessions of psychological counseling, his mental state has begun to improve.

Lu Xuejin closed the file and said, "After this is over, your indicators will return to a healthy state."

The sentry's face showed no joy, but instead he asked with a melancholy tone, "So, it means I can no longer come to see you?"

Lu Xuejin chuckled: "As long as there's piles of trash in the scene, you can come to me anytime. But if it's clean, there's no need to make a wasted trip."

The effort required to manage and guide traffic is considerable.

The crowd control session ended quickly. Lu Xuejin lowered her head to take notes and said, "Okay, you can go now."

"I've booked a private room at Jingfeng Bay, is that alright...?"

Lu Xuejin slowly shook her head: "You know I won't agree."

The sentry left dejectedly, and Lu Xuejin watched his retreating figure, her smile deepening.

The second was a new face, with unruly hair sticking up and a nonchalant smile on his angular face. He seemed to stir up a wave of heat as he strode in.

As soon as the sentry sat down, Lu Xuejin felt the heat from his body.

"My Lord, save me! I'm about to die!" The sentry tilted his head, his pupils constricted, and he laughed nervously.

Rotate your fingers against your temples.

“Tali said that if the indicators are still so bad after this round of diversion, he will shoot me.”

Her cold, gray eyes stared straight at Lu Xuejin: "You'll save me, right?"

Lu Xuejin said calmly, "Try to open your mental barrier. I'm coming in."

"He hasn't finished speaking yet—" The sentry's words came to an abrupt halt, his pupils dilated, and his devastated mental state was instantly grasped in Lu Xuejin's palm, allowing the guide to knead it.

Lu Xuejin could cause a sentry to suffer brain death on the spot with a single thought.

“Alright,” Lu Xuejin said, withdrawing her mental energy and smiling politely, “Next.”

The sentry didn't move for a moment, his Adam's apple bobbing violently, his broad shoulders and back taut like a piece of iron forged to its limit, the tendons of his muscles spasming and twitching uncontrollably under the thin fabric, rising and falling in waves.

After a long while, he finally spoke, his voice hoarse: "I will come to find you again, Chief."

The third person said, "I'm sorry I'm late. The children were clamoring to see you, and it took me a long time to calm them down."

"Mr. Lu, would you like to come with me to see them?"

Lu Xuejin: "Madam, did you forget to take your medicine today? Remember to take it after the counseling session."

Fourth: "Lu Xuejin, why aren't you replying to my messages?"

Lu Xuejin: "Quiet. I'm about to begin."

One by one, the sentries who entered the counseling room confessed their love to Lu Xuejin. Their intense and obsessive emotions seemed to ignite even the air. However, Lu Xuejin remained unmoved, calmly clearing away one broken mental landscape after another.

He was ruthless when rejecting declarations of love, yet his smile was so tender and ambiguous that it was impossible not to feel hope and fall deeper into the trap.

Dong Yao only saw an evil child who casually manipulated people's hearts.

After a short break of a few minutes, Lu Xuejin resumed her work.

The sentry who came in this time was a face all too familiar. He had been a frequent sight in the evacuation room ever since Lu Xuejin first took up her post. Lu Xuejin already knew his name, family background, friends, merit records, and a whole host of other private information.

Afterwards, the sentry looked at him hesitantly and said, "Xiao Jin, could you reconsider? I bought a new house, and I'll decorate it entirely to your liking, okay?"

"I ask for no title or recognition, I only hope that you will... have mercy on me."

Lu Xuejin sighed: "Can we talk about this later? I'm working right now."

"Okay, okay, you like flowers. Next time I'll bring you Moon Soul flowers. Its color suits you very well."

Perhaps mistaking this statement for a disguised concession, the sentry's melancholy face instantly brightened with sunshine. Unlike his usual dejected state, he left with an undisguised joy on his lips, which anyone could see.

Lu Xuejin turned the page of the file expressionlessly, her eyelashes slightly lowered, a posture that for a moment carried a faint sense of weariness.

He doesn't like things that are too sticky.

...

The next day, Yangliuqian Street.

"Oh, someone's dead."

The sentry watched the scene unfold indifferently.

One sentry suddenly went berserk and attacked another sentry, who then killed him in the street.

The finger, deeply embedded in the flesh of Jiang Gu's neck, was suddenly pulled out, splattering blood all over him. The sentry smiled as he examined the remaining human tissue at his fingertip, making a caressing motion.

Interesting, there are actually guide hormone residues.

Jiang Gu continued his investigation and detected a faint fragrance. In that instant, his amber pupils constricted. He stood up, his boots crushing the blue velvet-like moonlight on the corpse.

My fingers trembled the whole way home.

Once the door was closed, sunlight streamed through my body, casting dappled shadows on one wall, and my fingers instantly produced several thick, wildly dancing streaks.

Jiang Gu laughed while panting.

"Don't rush, don't rush."

"Let's go find him, let's find him."

"Delicious child."

...

Luo Mang didn't stay in his assistant position for long. Wan Hong was much faster than he had imagined. As soon as he finished dealing with the minor obstacle, he quickly returned to Lu Xuejin's side, attracting the guide's attention with his strong presence like a dog.

Luo Mang was squeezed out of his place, and in the end, Lu Xuejin couldn't stand it anymore and told him to go home and rest first, and that she would bother him again if needed.

Luo Mang was helpless.

As a counseling room assistant, Wan Hong's workload was not heavy. Her job duties included opening up the lottery for eligibility, searching and downloading applicants' information, and conducting the final check. Of course, her most important task was to protect Lu Xuejin.

Wan Hong rarely used computers and disliked dealing with text. Sitting in front of the computer to process and manage data was nothing short of torture for him. He just wanted to end everything quickly and return to Lu Xuejin's side.

However, after receiving the Black Tower's rigorous education, even if they are not interested in written content, they do have a basic sensitivity to some data.

Wan Hong calmly looked at the automatically generated follow-up results of the guidance, which showed the situation of each sentry after receiving guidance.

— Mortality rate: 32.11%.

Of course, sentry deaths are quite normal. Even if they receive intervention and are able to overcome the danger of berserk behavior for a period of time, they can still easily die in dangerous missions or in fights with other sentries. Therefore, sentry mortality rates have never been taken seriously, and temporary highs or lows do not indicate anything.

Wan Hong could see reports uploaded by other evacuation rooms on the system. The sentry mortality rate was mostly between 12% and 28%. After all, it was Zone 1, and the death toll was not as high as that on the border. The mortality rate on the border had been hovering between 70 and 80 for many years, so there was no need to keep statistics.

"..."

哢哒.

Wan Hong deleted that line of data and then manually entered a value within the normal range.

The counseling room opened in the afternoon, and Wan Hong went to pick up the first person to be counseled that day.

Assistants have always been a highly disliked position among sentinels. Countless sentinels would fight tooth and nail to secure a spot as a guide, a position that allows them to interact with the guides. Assistants, on the other hand, get to spend time with the guides every day, and if they have a good relationship, the guides might even offer to provide guidance to the assistants privately for free. Wan Hong is the most envied assistant among them.

After all, he was serving Lu Xuejin, and... the sentinels sniffed, easily discovering the presence of guide elements in this fellow human.

The hostility in their eyes deepened, becoming gloomy and repressed.

Wan Hong was used to the attitude of others, but this time the sentry at the front of the line had a big smile on his face, a bright and cheerful smile. After the inspection, he said to him excitedly, "Thank you."

Their attitude was unbelievably good.

"..." Wan Hong pulled him back and did a second check, but found nothing wrong.

"Can we go in now?" the sentry asked, still trying to be patient.

Wan Hong glanced at the bloodstains on his collar that hadn't been cleaned, and nodded.

"Don't worry, I won't harm Chief Lu." The sentry hummed a clear tune as he slowly walked towards the evacuation room. Before entering, he glanced down at his fingertips, his nails twisting for a moment in the bright light.

Hmph hmph hmph.

The smell of pollutants... I never expected to encounter someone like me here.

Pushing open the door, the sentry immediately spotted the guide hiding behind the desk. The sentry stopped abruptly in the doorway, his pupils widening as he scrutinized him almost greedily—his hair flowed like gold, the guide was looking down at documents, his face and neck had smooth, beautiful lines, and his eyes, like the surface of a sea washed by the wind, were unbelievably beautiful.

"Jiang Gu, right?" After confirming the information, Lu Xuejin looked up, her gaze naturally moving upwards, brushing past the sentry's fingers. She pointed to the lounge chair opposite her, gesturing for him to sit down.

Jiang hid her convulsing hand behind her back, walked straight to the desk, and smiled as she extended her other hand.

"Hello, Chief Lu, I've heard so much about you."