Tan Shu took Ni Ji, who was injured and unable to walk, to the clinic.

That expensive place with a treatment cabin, claiming that all wounds on your body can be healed just by lying down and taking a nap.

Although he was reluctant, Tan Shu couldn't just bring a bloody body to the teacher.

His teacher was a man who was very particular about his style and manners. He was in the rising period of his career and was determined to get into the aristocratic circles. He had very high requirements for his own appearance and that of everyone around him.

When I went to see the teacher, he would even carefully wipe away the few drops of rain on his shoulders.

The doctor in the clinic talked for a long time in shock about Ni Ji's horrific injuries.

And they said that only their clinic happened to have the latest treatment fluid that the search team had just brought back from the No. 5 contaminated area. It could ensure that the critically injured person who was already lying in the treatment cabin could be effectively treated.

"Luckily he was a sentinel. If it was an ordinary person, he would have died eight hundred times ago." The doctor sorted out the various data on the instrument panel through the observation window, and kept clicking his head. "He still has a lot of old injuries on his body, and they have never been properly treated."

In the room where he was, there was a very old, repaired sealed treatment cabin. Ni Ji was lying inside, eyes closed, wearing a breathing mask, his whole body immersed in a special liquid that was bubbling constantly, and on the yellowed instrument panel, various physical data were running rapidly.

"His joints are obviously deformed. He's obviously been seriously injured. He's in great pain when it rains. His lungs were corroded by the inhaled toxic gas. He never got proper treatment. Tsk tsk, I don't know how he survived. It will take a lot of money and time to fully recover."

The doctor turned to Tan Shu who was standing beside him and asked, "Do you want to take advantage of this treatment to repair some important old injuries?"

This man just came in in the heavy rain with the injured, looking concerned and anxious. It seemed that the two of them had a very good relationship.

"Can he hear us talking like this in there?" Tan Shu's answer was about something completely unrelated.

"Hear? How can you hear it?" The doctor laughed. "This is the real thing brought back from the ruins, specially modified for treating sentinels. The soundproofing effect is first-class, ensuring that the sentinels can receive safe treatment while lying inside. Even if an A-level sentinel comes, he won't be able to hear a single sound from outside."

Tan Shu felt an inexplicable sense of pride in his heart. The legend of his school days had become like this now, far inferior to himself, and he could hardly control his expression.

It's really pitiful. You are in such a bad situation. You don't even have money to go to the treatment room. You offended your teacher and went to the northern border outpost. You must be regretting it now, right?

The doctor continued to ramble, "Look at these old injuries. It would be best to treat them together during this treatment."

The man next to him interrupted him and said in a low voice, "Shut up and don't meddle in other people's business."

The doctor shrugged and stopped talking. The two of them adjusted the data and went to the next room.

After all, the treatment process in the treatment cabin no longer requires human intervention after the machine's operating data is adjusted, which is very convenient.

There is nothing wrong with it except that it is a bit expensive and most grassroots sentinels cannot afford it.

After the footsteps disappeared, Ni Ji in the treatment cabin opened his eyes.

He heard the conversation just now, and could even hear the voice of a patient's family member talking in the distance, as well as the sound of rain falling heavier outside the window.

Lying in a sealed treatment box, the translucent treatment fluid wrapped around his body, the gurgling sound of bubbles continued to ring.

Like being on that familiar seabed.

Ni Ji recalled the battle at the bottom of the sea today and the girl floating in the deep sea.

He really didn't expect to meet such a guide.

A slender figure, a cold expression, and a white dress with layers of layers spread out in the sea, plunging straight in and floating in the deep sea within her own spiritual picture.

Her spirit bodies terrified even the battle-hardened sentinels. Those vague, interlaced spirit bodies floated behind the girl in white, huge, cold, terrifying, and mysterious.

It seems that just a glimpse of a part of it will bring tremendous pressure to people.

As the tentacles entangled him, tightened, and dragged him all the way to the bottom of the sea, Ni Ji even thought about death.

Death is not a big deal to him.

Since everyone else was gone, it was only natural that he would die at any moment.

Eternal sleep may be a kind of eternal peace and relief.

However, after those cold and slippery things entangled their tails and trapped him on the rocks at the bottom of the sea, they did not bring him the torture he had imagined.

They didn't even hurt him.

After seeing the memories that he deliberately placed on the periphery.

The guide floating in the deep sea still had that expressionless look on his face.

But the tentacles climbed up along Jiyuefu and, a little roughly, took turns touching his head.

Perhaps it was because he had suffered too much despair and pain for too long, so he would subconsciously grasp any slight warmth from others and magnify it to savor it.

Moreover, he saw the memories that were screened publicly.

It seemed to be a fair reading and playback without personal emotions. But he knew that the guide deliberately cut off and concealed something.

This cold guide, who had even been offended by himself, treated him gently after invading his mental picture.

A little tenderness from a stranger,

What was being protected was the very thing the dead warriors wanted to protect.

It was raining heavily outside the window. The rain was hitting the window glass densely, leaving behind a series of crooked traces.

Ni Ji closed his eyes and thought of the northern border outpost where he had fought for many years.

In this season, the place is already filled with snowflakes, the sky is as vast as jade, and the earth is icy cold.

The cold winter has arrived. Survival is more difficult than ever.

The fragments of memory that were publicly played in the parade grounds had a very short tail cut off.

After the researcher was killed and the living insect jade was crushed, there were some subsequent clips.

The vengeful sentinel bent down and picked up the fragments of insect jade that were scattered all over the ground bit by bit.

Although the broken and dead worm jade has lost most of its value and will no longer be valued by those high-ranking figures, it can feed many people and become the winter supplies for many families in a poor place like the Northern Outpost.

He picked up the blood-stained fragments, carried them out of the contaminated area, and exchanged them for charcoal, cotton, food, and candy on the black market.

Inside a northern outpost covered in snow, a warm light is on in a small wooden house.

The pregnant hostess sat at the table, knitting a sweater while patting her little daughter who was sleeping beside her.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" She held her belly and went to open the door.

The person who came was an orderly at the sentry post, an elderly woman with both arms broken and replaced with mechanical prostheses.

She braved the snow and dragged a cart filled with food for the winter.

"These are all the shares that your Tazi gets." The elderly lady with disabled hands smiled and used her slightly rusty mechanical arms to move things into the house without saying anything. "Tazi and the others may not be able to come back in time when you give birth. Don't worry, I'm here for you."

After she moved the things, she took out a bag of Imperial coins from her arms and put the coins, which were warmed by her body temperature, into the hands of the hostess.

"The captain specifically asked me to give it to you."

"Oh my! Why are there so many?" The pregnant wife was surprised and happy.

The sad thing is that my husband cannot be with me waiting for the birth of the child.

But fortunately, there was so much food and money. She and her children could at least get through the winter safely.

She raised her head and looked outside, where there was only deep darkness and randomly flying snowflakes.

There is no tall, ugly man who is gentle to me.

The woman felt somewhat uneasy, but she also mustered up the courage of a mother.

Not far away, at the entrance of a dark alley.

The girl with big wavy hair opened the cigarette box, took out a cigarette with her fingers painted with black nail polish, lit it, and took a puff.

"What does he mean?" The girl blew out a smoke ring skillfully and sneered, "If he doesn't come, why do you send this money? Breakup fee?"

"No, he..." The sentry standing in front of her had red eyes and choked up without saying anything. He just stubbornly stretched out his hand and handed over the money bag filled with a lot of imperial coins.

The girl who had been hanging around in the red-light district for many years was disdainful at first, then slowly showed doubts, and finally reacted.

She was stunned for a long time, and her hands trembled several times before she put the cigarette accurately into her mouth. She took a deep puff, exhaled the smoke in a panic, and raised her face to the wind and snow, as if this could blow away the tears in her eyes.

"Does he... that person have anything to say to me?"

"Yes, he said - I hope you can take this money, live well, and change the way you live."

The dark and dirty alley seemed particularly quiet on such a snowy night.

There was only one woman squatting on the ground, covering her beautiful eyes with her hand holding a cigarette.

"Bastard, that bastard." She cried and cursed.

Pure white snowflakes fell from the sky, gently and softly touching her shoulders like a soothing touch.

In the dilapidated orphanage, a large cart full of winter supplies was parked outside the gate.

The children came out cheering and took the candies that were distributed to them. They had never tasted so much sweetness before, and they were as happy as if it were a holiday.

But they did not see that the dean's mother, who was always smiling in the past, was now standing in the corner, lowering her head, covering her face and crying in front of a strange old soldier.

…

After a night of heavy rain, the sun came out again.

Lin Yuan sat in the living room of Cao Yunyun's house, watching her busy feeding dinner to the twins.

Cao Yunyun was her only friend during her time at the Guidance Academy. She was two years older than her and had married a sentinel matched by the state at an early age. She no longer had to fulfill her duties as a guide and could only stay at home to take care of her husband and children.

The TV on the living room counter was playing a news item. Viscount Clay, in formal attire, was distributing gifts of comfort to the families of the fallen sentinels in the sunshine and among the flowers.

The soldiers' families, who were placed in front of the screen, were dressed neatly and accepted the gifts from the Marquis with tears of gratitude.

The event was a great success and the guests enjoyed themselves to the fullest.

The whole world is bathed in sunshine, set against the holy light of the White Pagoda, and is full of love and tenderness.

"It's just some superficial work." Cao Yunyun opened the oven, took out a piece of roasted beef with sauce, cut it up, put it on a plate, and put it in her husband's lunch box, while talking to Lin Yuan.

"According to the investigation we conducted at the time, most of the sentries who died in the contaminated area received almost no compensation. Their pensions were deducted at various levels and were shockingly meager when they finally reached their families."

When she was in the Guidance College, she was a quick and courageous girl, and she wrote many investigative reports on sensitive topics.

But now, she has left that world and is only allowed to focus on her family, becoming a gentle wife and mother.

As she spoke, she put two spoonfuls of fruit puree into the twins' bowls and asked them to finish it. At the same time, she asked the maid to get the dress her husband would wear to the dinner party.

While smoking, he scooped a large spoonful of blueberry jam he made himself, spread it on the freshly baked cake, and handed it to Lin Yuan.

Their family's financial situation has been bad in recent years, but they have to maintain the appearance of a noble family when they go out, so all expenses at home have been cut as much as possible.

Only a maid was left behind to help take care of the trivial matters of communication between the nobles.

Lin Yuan took a bite of the cake. The blueberry jam had a rich layered texture and the cake was soft and sweet, very delicious.

In fact, she admires guides like Cao Yunyun very much.

Being able to take care of the sentinels and complete so many trivial and complicated tasks in an orderly manner while maintaining an optimistic and gentle mood.

If it were me, even if all the tentacles came out to help, it probably wouldn't be possible.

Of course, each of those guys has a small but not very useful brain, which is also a big reason for the chaos.

"Oh, dear. Do you really want to go to those polluted areas?" Cao Yunyun finally found a moment of spare time in the chaos and sat in front of Lin Yuan. "Oh my God, I can't believe that a guide would apply for such a job. But I think it's you who deserves it."

The two of them have different philosophies on life, but they always understand and tolerate each other, so they have been friends for many years.

"Yes. I have a reason to go." Lin Yuan showed her his pass. "Besides, once I go there, I don't have to attend these endless banquets. You know, I'm not good at dealing with these."

The guides in the White Tower had obligations to fulfill every year, including attending the incredibly luxurious banquets held by the nobles.

After all, guides are the most precious flowers cultivated by the empire. They must be placed on the table when necessary to add a touch of prosperity.

"Yes, the banquet." Cao Yunyun clapped her hands as she successfully changed the subject, "Is this how you dress for the banquet tonight?"

Lin Yuan looked down at her clothes and shoes and didn't feel like she found anything wrong. She was wearing a dress but still wearing shoes that made it difficult for her to walk.

"You have to know that Jiang Yangshuo, that bastard, will also come at night." Cao Yunyun put her hands on her shoulders, looking serious. "At times like this, we have to stand up straight. We can't let those bastards look down on us."

"Xiao Yuan, this is a battlefield. It belongs to our guide."

Battlefield...?

Although he felt a little sorry for his good friend who cared about him, Lin Yuan was still distracted by Cao Yunyun's passionate speech.

She recalled what she had seen on the seabed a few days ago.

A body pierced by giant fingers.

Flesh and blood was smeared on the ground like mud.

Those eyes that, after death, still refuse to close in despair.

That's the battlefield, Yunyun, that's what a real battlefield is like.

Can fighting over a sentry and pulling each other's hair be considered a battlefield?