Ni Ji was walking on the way back to the dormitory.

The streets at night were dimly lit and the ground was cold and damp. From time to time, tattered pedestrians would walk hurriedly along the roadside, hunched over with their hands in their sleeves.

Even though this is the capital of the empire, except for the special area around the White Tower, most of the place is in a dilapidated state.

In this world, most Sentinels and Guides have a hard life, and ordinary people have an even harder time.

Downstairs of the dormitory, there was a cart carrying coal briquettes. A white-haired old man and his skinny granddaughter were carrying a heavy box of honeycomb coal together and struggling to bring it upstairs.

The old man bent over and coughed as he walked. The little girl, about seven or eight years old, tried to raise her arms to help the elderly grandfather share a little more weight.

Ni Ji walked along the narrow staircase, picked up the dark coal box with one hand, and with his long legs, he took a few steps and carried the box upstairs.

The old man followed Ni Ji upstairs and stretched out a pair of black hands to thank him, but when he saw that his hands were covered in coal dust, he pulled them back in embarrassment.

Ni Ji didn't refuse and reached out to shake his hand.

The old man's finger joints were swollen and covered with curled-edge plasters, and his palms were very rough.

"Thank you, thank you. I trouble you every time, little brother." The coal delivery old man smiled and thanked Ni Ji.

Ni Ji looked down at the palm of his hand. The touch of the handshake was still there, and his fingers were stained with black coal dust and the warmth of human skin.

"She shook a lot of people's hands, except me."

The young and handsome sentry looked down at his hands for a long time and suddenly said something incomprehensible.

The old man and the little boy who were unloading coal briquettes in the corridor looked up at him in confusion.

Ni Ji entered his single dormitory. This was the room Cao Junmin had arranged for him when he first returned to Kyoto.

Later, when he was promoted, he did not change his place. It didn't matter to him where he lived. He would rather live in a shabby and remote place than be crowded with the royal guards in the White Tower.

The house is not big, it is cylindrical in shape, with a separate bathroom and a balcony for cooking.

Apart from a bed, a closet, and some training equipment, the room was clean and deserted, with not a single piece of clutter to be seen.

After several tough battles today, Ni Ji was exhausted, but he still followed his usual habit and did half an hour of high-intensity strength training and then took a shower.

He came out of the bathroom, sat on the edge of the bed and wiped his dripping hair. At this moment, his body was extremely tired, but he still couldn't do it. The song seemed to be faintly ringing in his ears.

At that time, I stood outside the door and said goodbye. A little singing came from the courtyard. It was a girl's voice, soft and sweet.

It was clearly not a powerful mental attack, there was no fire or abyss, no knives or blades. It was just a simple, soft singing of a girl.

But I don’t know why, under that moonlight and lighting, in the glass-like eyes of the person in front of me, the song penetrated deep into my heart and touched his heartstrings.

Suddenly, many things that were weighing on my heart came to the surface. My heart became empty, and chaotic thoughts rolled back and forth in my mind, difficult to suppress.

Even until he walked all the way home, finished everything, and sat down on the edge of the bed, those chaotic thoughts still disturbed his mind.

Ni Ji stood up again, put on an apron, picked up a bucket of water and started cleaning.

The house was originally very clean and free of clutter, and it hardly looked like a space where a living person lived.

But he wiped every corner carefully again. He knelt on the ground, lowered his head and cleaned the ground with a wet rag.

She shook hands with many people except me.

She gave the unicorn spiritual counseling.

She seems to like furry things.

…

Ni Ji knew that he was very funny. He felt that he was like a child who was making trouble for no reason. It was all because of that song that came from nowhere.

He wiped all the fitness equipment twice, and the floor was bright enough to reflect light, but he was still stuck in a confused dilemma.

Ni Ji threw away the rag, sat on the bedside in silence for a long time, took off her apron, put on her coat, opened the door again and walked into the night.

…

Lin Yuan sat in the restaurant, eating dinner with Xiaosuo and Xunhua around the dining table.

Xunhua never eats. Every day during meals, she just holds a glass of water and sits at the dining table to keep everyone company.

Xiao Suo has a big appetite, and most of the time she only eats raw seafood and fruits. She sits at the other end of the dining table, with a large crystal bowl filled with food in front of her. She behaves politely, but the food disappears abnormally quickly. I don't know how she does it.

Lin Yuan didn't know why, but he felt a little listless. Even his favorite food made him feel weak and listless.

She talked to Xiaosuo Xunhua about what she saw and heard in the White Tower today. She briefly mentioned Her Majesty the Queen, the commander of the Royal Guard, and the match.

"In our time, the ruler was a king, and it was rare for a queen to rule." Xunhua held his golden cup and recalled the world hundreds of years ago. "It seems that during my last time, I vaguely heard that a queen would ascend the throne."

Lin Yuan hummed and said that she saw the spirit bodies of the panda and the unicorn.

"So both sentinels tried their best and got injured. But you only provided spiritual counseling to one person?" Xunhua put down the water cup gently and glanced at Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan exclaimed, she had never thought about this.

Of course, she had many reasons, such as the unicorn's mental state had reached a very serious level. For example, he had been tortured and abused for a long time and was very pitiful. For example, Ni Ji... was one of her own.

But she couldn't explain such complicated emotions, so she had to block her mouth with a piece of tender beef short ribs.

"You may not know, but when Ni Ji was in the contaminated area and fell into the illusion of the scarlet egg, he was also mentally traumatized." Xunhua tapped her heart with her white-gloved finger. "After he came back, he didn't seem to receive any counseling from the guide. I feel like his world is also very tired."

Lin Yuan's tentacles twisted around behind him, and his main body could no longer speak.

Xunhua stood up, pushed the dining chair back to its original position, nodded slightly, left the dining table and went back to his courtyard.

He sighed beside the evening primrose patch and watered the newly planted flowers.

This job as a gardener is not easy. There are so many things to worry about.

But with so many things to do and so many people to worry about, he felt that the days ahead were not as hard as he had imagined.

My body grew back and I was busy every day. In my spare time, I listened to Windsor's songs and played with the woodchucks in the tree holes.

Although I am not a human being, I seem to be able to survive in the sun.

Xiao Xun, I hope you can live well and live in the sunshine.

Long after dinner was over, Lin Yuan, who was sitting in the living room reading a book, heard the doorbell ring.

Xunhua didn't know where she had gone, and Xiaosuo seemed to have fallen asleep. The yard was quiet, and no one answered.

Lin Yuan had no choice but to go open the door himself. As he walked through the shadowy courtyard, the tentacles followed him, leaping and dancing with joy as if they had obtained some treasure.

When the door opened, Lin Yuan saw Ni Ji, who was a little out of breath after running all the way.

"I..." Ni Ji took a breath and calmed down his breathing. "I want to trouble you, can you also help me sort out my mental state?"

He was originally very embarrassed, but when he saw Lin Yuan's stunned face sticking out from the door, he spoke out his words in one go. All the knots in his heart were finally resolved.

"If it's not too hard." He laughed. He thought he was ridiculous. But he was in a good mood, and felt relaxed for the first time.

Lin Yuan was stunned for a moment, then she felt happy. She had been a guide for so many years, but almost no sentinel had come to her for a second spiritual counseling session, except for her fiancé, whose memory was already vague.

Is this the first time someone has knocked on her door at night, wanting her help?

Of course she should be happy, it's a good thing.

But this feeling of happiness in my heart seems a little too much.

She took Ni Ji home and almost wanted to hum a little tune all the way through the courtyard.

What song is that?

I seemed to have vaguely heard the song that Windsor had sung in the yard just now.

It was a song sung by a gentle girl under the moonlight, to the moon in her heart.

Lin Yuan, wearing a white guide skirt, led the way through the grass covered with tangled branches and leaves. Her steps were light and she even jumped a few steps happily occasionally.

The tentacles followed happily behind, and one of them boldly took the sentry's hand and walked towards the lighted house.

Ni Ji sat on the sofa in Lin Yuan's house.

This is my second time coming in.

I didn’t know where the other people in the house had gone. All I could hear was the chirping of night insects in the courtyard.

Shoes and umbrellas were placed at the entrance of the living room. Snacks were placed on the coffee table, a few books that had been read were placed in the corner, and a few roses cut from the garden were placed in the vase.

The room was filled with the faint scent of flowers.

There are traces of life everywhere, like a real home. Sitting here seems to allow people to temporarily forget everything outside, forget the cold world, and not think about the difficult journey that is about to begin.

At least for now, I can relax and feel at ease.

Even though they knew that their lives had not changed at all, they were about to set off to the land without pupils.

It is a dangerous and strange world. They not only go to the outskirts of the polluted area, but also go deep into the center of the dark world.

Going to a place like that, no matter how powerful you are, death can come at any time. No one can guarantee that they can come back safe and sound.

The more this happens, the more precious the peace and warmth of this moment becomes.

At this point, Ni Ji would not try to dissuade Lin Yuan anymore. He knew that the guide had his own things to do, just like him.

He was very happy that he was the one accompanying Lin Yuan into the contaminated area.

Together they can face whatever comes in the darkness.

That's enough, better than anything else.

Lin Yuan sat beside him, stretched out his hand, and slowly covered his eyebrows and eyes.

Before his vision was completely blocked, he was sure to see the corners of the girl's mouth slightly curved up, revealing a rare smile.

It seemed as if all the dangers and sufferings disappeared momentarily, and fatigue and exhaustion surged into his heart like a tide. This place made him feel relaxed and at ease.

He seemed no longer a qualified fighter. The perseverance and self-denial he once prided himself on melted away in this warm living room, in the palm of this guide's hand.

His body became very light and he floated down into the sea. He did not feel uneasy because he knew that he would eventually fall into a soft place.

The sound of sea water bubbles echoed in my ears.

A familiar breath invaded the sea and sneaked into his world.

Ni Ji tried hard to stay awake during this process so as not to fall asleep in front of Lin Yuan like he did last time.

But he heard a voice saying to him, "Rest, it's alright."

Then consciousness can no longer be concentrated.

It seems like something fills the broken heart and makes people feel extra at ease.

Yes, I remember now.

I can sleep peacefully when she is by my side.

…

When Ni Ji woke up, he found himself lying on the long sofa. It was very dark at night. He didn't know what time it was, and there was silence all around.

The lights in the room were dimmed. He was covered with a thick blanket.

He seldom sleeps so deeply.

The sentry's keen five senses allowed him to smell a familiar scent, a familiar person.

He realized who was beside him.

Lin Yuan did not leave. She sat on a single sofa near him, reading a paper book by a reading lamp next to the armrest.

She sat in a very relaxed and casual posture, with her feet crossed on the sofa, her body tilted and leaning against the wide armrest of the sofa, one hand supporting her chin, her dark eyes staring at the pages of the book with relish under the light.

The tentacles turned a page of the book for her, and the sound of flipping pages was heard in the air.

None of this is important. What made Ni Ji suffocate the most was that her other hand was resting on the back of a little killer whale beside her.

The white fingers were slowly stroking the black back.

Ni Ji closed his eyes and maintained a steady breathing, not daring to let Lin Yuan know that he was awake.

When he was receiving counseling and fell into a deep sleep, his spirit body - the killer whale, ran out at some point in time.

The shameless guy shrunk himself into a round pillow and took the initiative to squeeze onto the same single sofa with Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan's fingers were stroking its back intermittently.

Lin Yuan most likely cannot remember. For other sentinels and guides, everything the spirit body has experienced will be conveyed to the original body intactly.

Her spirit body is huge and has many tentacles, so even the slightest touch is too scattered for her to detect. With too many tentacles exploring the world every day, she often overlooks many things.

So she didn't quite understand that the transmission of that kind of spiritual connection was not limited to the severe pain of severed limbs on the battlefield, but also included all the slightest touches, contacts and stimulations.

Lin Yuan read her book, occasionally letting her tentacles turn a page, her fingertips gently tracing down the skin of the killer whale's back. Ni Ji held his breath.

The movement of the fingertips and the touch of the nails are so clear. Wherever they go, they cause tremors all the way.

The hand went up along the killer whale's back and touched its head, rubbing and kneading it very gently. The sentry on the sofa felt the warmth of the palm, and fingers reached into his hair, soothingly touching his head. It was like comforting a child who had been hurt badly and had nowhere to go.

Ni Ji closed his eyes. Should he let Lin Yuan know that he was awake?

The feeling of touch went down along the black back of the big fish, all the way down. The sentinel on the sofa tensed the strong muscles of his back.

When he reached the thinnest part of the tail fin, he pinched it in his palm and played with it repeatedly, not wanting to let go for a long time.

Ni Ji clenched his teeth. The little killer whale whimpered in comfort and turned its soft white belly over.

Lin Yuan looked at the book and started to move his finger back along the tail.

Move upwards, close to the junction of the black and white stripes.

The sentry, unable to bear it any longer, jumped up from the sofa, his face flushed, and snatched his own spiritual body back.

Lin Yuan's book fell to the ground. He looked up and saw the sentry who had just woken up, with an innocent look on his face.

What happened?

Ni Ji fell asleep in the middle of the counseling. She was bored and read a book for a while. The little killer whale took the initiative to get close to her, and she seemed to just stroke it.

What kind of emotion is Ni Ji expressing at this moment?

But in retrospect - Lin Yuan quietly twirled her fingers, the killer whale's skin is really good, smooth and elastic, and its cry is also nice.

It makes people feel happy, no wonder tentacles like to pet killer whales to survive.