Chapter 28 Sentinel | Staring into the Abyss 5 Fatal Kiss
In the empty room, Pei Heng stood alone.
He raised his hand, his fingertips gently tracing the burning heat of the slap mark on his cheek. He watched Yuezhi's fleeing figure disappear at the end of the corridor, his eyes heavy with melancholy, and he clenched his teeth.
After that day, Yuezhi began to consciously avoid situations where she was alone with Pei Heng.
Inside the tower, she tried to use the busiest passageways, timed her trips to the cafeteria precisely, or simply asked colleagues to help deliver documents that required cross-processing.
That morning, she and Su Jingyun were walking side by side on the wide main corridor inside the tower, discussing some newly released test data.
Just then, a small commotion ahead caught her attention.
It's Pei Heng.
He stood not far away, surrounded by several sentry colleagues dressed in the same black uniforms, seemingly discussing some mission details.
His sharply tailored black uniform accentuated his broad shoulders and long legs, while his signature silver-white wolf tail was casually styled with a few stray hairs falling across his forehead, adding a touch of unruly roguish charm.
He turned his face to the side, his jawline taut, his expression the usual coldness and focus before a mission.
Yuezhi's heart skipped a beat, and almost instinctively she quickly lowered her head, pretending to focus on the data board in her hands, trying to minimize her presence.
Su Jingyun followed her gaze and saw Pei Heng, and couldn't help but sigh softly, "Is that your younger brother Pei Heng? Every time I see him, I think... you two siblings are so handsome and beautiful, but your bone structure and temperament are very different."
After the initial teasing, her tone shifted to concern, "I heard he's going on another emergency mission? Apparently, his contamination levels haven't gone down lately, and the target location this time is said to be very dangerous..."
Upon hearing the word "danger," a familiar emotion, mixed with anxiety and heartache, instantly surged up, eroding the psychological defenses she had built up over the past few days.
Yuezhi's fingers tightened slightly as she gripped the data tablet, her heart beginning to churn.
Should we... offer him some last-minute support? Even just basic contact therapy might give him a little extra security...
The thought had barely formed in her mind when, almost unconsciously, she looked up again.
In that instant, through the throng of people, she crashed straight into a pair of unfathomable eyes.
Pei Heng had stopped talking at some point and was standing quietly in the center of the crowd, his gaze piercing through all obstacles and precisely locking onto her.
That look was no longer the childlike dependence, nor the stubbornness of youth, but a dangerous expression that was almost scalding, carrying intense scrutiny and a certain lurking anger, like a predator locking onto its prey in the dark.
Yuezhi was burned by the undisguised aggression in his eyes; her heart clenched, and fear surged into her heart again.
She hurriedly looked away, as if her secret thoughts had been exposed, and an unnatural blush rose on her cheeks.
"Senior, let's go quickly, the data needs to be processed as soon as possible." Her voice was a little tight, she hurriedly tugged at Su Jingyun's sleeve, lowered her head, and hurriedly left this suffocating place with messy steps.
In the center of the crowd, several familiar sentries were still trying to recommend some S-class guides known for their crowd control abilities to Pei Heng.
"Captain Pei, don't push yourself, why don't you give it a try? That Guide Lin has a really good reputation..."
Pei Heng's eyes were indifferent, showing no reaction to those names.
At this moment, a beautiful and tall female guide walked over confidently. She had obviously heard their conversation. She walked straight up to Pei Heng and smiled just the right amount of smiles.
“Lieutenant Pei, I am Xiuyu, an S-class guide. I just joined the team last month and have learned about your situation. I think perhaps I can help you…”
As she spoke, she naturally reached out her hand, her fingertips about to touch the back of Pei Heng's hand, attempting to make the most basic mental connection.
"No need."
Pei Heng's voice rang out coldly and hard, as he slightly turned his body to avoid the impending touch.
Xiuyu's hand froze in mid-air, her smile instantly turning into a flush of embarrassment and anger. She reluctantly withdrew her hand, feeling utterly humiliated in front of everyone.
"Hmph!" she snorted coldly, her tone sharp.
"You don't know what's good for you! You're still so stubborn even with over 80% pollution levels! You might as well just explode and die out there!" With that, she turned and left angrily.
The surrounding whispers rose in hushed tones, but Pei Heng seemed oblivious. His gaze remained fixed on the corner of the corridor where Yue Zhi had disappeared, his eyes deep and unfathomable. No one knew what he was thinking.
A moment later, through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows along the corridor, Yuezhi saw a military helicopter slowly taking off from the flat ground outside.
The strong winds whipped up by the rotors blew the grass clippings off the ground as the helicopter took off into the sky, gradually becoming a black dot.
She stood there, motionless for a long time.
A sense of emptiness, worry, and loss washed over her like a tide, enveloping her completely.
He left, carrying with him a level of pollution high enough to affect his mind, to face unknown dangers. And she, who was clearly afraid of his approach, was now unable to control her anxiety for him.
*
Yuezhi slept very restlessly that night, keeping her communicator by her pillow, afraid of missing any news about that high-risk dungeon mission.
She woke up as soon as it was light and grabbed the communicator.
The screen lit up, and an unread email notification was clearly visible; the sender was Ta's gene bank.
Before she could even open it, an urgent communication was forcibly interrupted—it was Dr. Chen!
"Yuezhi! Hurry! Come to the medical center!" Dr. Chen's voice was shrill, with the background being the piercing alarm and some kind of... teeth-grinding sound, as if flesh and blood were being forcibly torn apart and then reassembled, interspersed with suppressed, inhuman growls of pain.
"The rejection reaction was too severe!"
The communication was abruptly cut off amidst a loud explosion, leaving only a busy tone.
Upon recognizing the painful screams coming from that direction, Yuezhi's heart skipped a beat, and fear instantly gripped her entire body.
She didn't even have time to change out of her pajamas; she just grabbed a coat and wrapped it around herself, then ran barefoot out of the dormitory and frantically headed for the medical center.
The medical center building was in complete chaos.
The third floor was sealed off, and a large number of researchers and heavily armed sentries were gathered outside a specially designed experimental treatment room, still in shock.
Inside the reinforced glass wall of the treatment room, the place was a mess. Expensive medical equipment was overturned and emitting black smoke. Several medical staff in white coats lay in a corner, their fate unknown.
In the middle of the ruins stood the person she had been anxiously thinking about all night.
Pei Heng's uniform was blown to shreds, the tattered fabric hanging around his waist, revealing his muscular upper body.
The chest, which should have been a bloody mess, was now healing at a terrifying speed visible to the naked eye! What was gushing from the huge wound was not blood, but a thick, seemingly living black viscous fluid that wriggled and rapidly filled the damage, reshaping the muscles and skin.
The youth was enveloped in dark black flames, and his dark eyes were flashing with an ominous blue-purple light as he coldly surveyed the outside world, like a death god detached from life and death.
He had been helpless and tearful then, his eyes filled with confusion and fear as he looked at her, but now, they were filled with utter indifference.
What did she do?!
Why doubt him? Why dig up things buried in the dust of memory? She and Pei Heng only had each other left, yet she pushed him away, leaving him alone to face the devastating collapse that could destroy a person's mind.
"Ah Heng..." Yue Zhi murmured, then pushed aside the crowd that was blocking her way like a madwoman and rushed into the mess.
"Aheng, look at me, it's me!"
She tried to activate her meager B-level guide ability, emanating a gentle spiritual energy that, like soothing a frightened wild beast, softly circled his rampaging mental domain.
The restless black flames froze for a moment.
Pei Heng's eyes, which shone with an inhuman light, slowly focused on her face.
He took a step and walked towards her, black slime sliding down his healed chest and dripping onto the ground with a soft "sizzling" sound.
He stopped in front of her, his tall figure casting a heavy shadow that enveloped her.
He reached out and forcefully grabbed her wrist, lifted it high, and then pulled her forcefully towards him.
"Hmm!" Caught off guard, Yuezhi's chest bumped heavily against his now healed, naked, and burning chest. The cold fabric of his pajamas pressed against his hot skin, sending a shiver down her spine.
With his other hand, he gripped her lower back like an iron hoop, almost lifting her off the ground.
The next second, he leaned down and kissed her lips fiercely with an almost predatory urgency.
"Ugh...!"
The kiss was anything but gentle. Whether it was because his wound hadn't healed or because her lips had been cut, the air between their lips and teeth was thick with the smell of blood, the eerie sweetness of black mucus, and his own violent and dangerous aura.
Yuezhi was caught off guard by his sudden domineering attitude. Her hands weakly pressed against his hard chest, her fingertips feeling the surging power and the still-unsettled turbulent energy beneath his skin.
His kiss was deep and lingering, as if he wanted to confirm her existence through the kiss, or as if he wanted to completely devour her.
Yuezhi was forced to stand on tiptoe, tilting her head back to endure his almost punishing demands. Her breath was stolen, and her brain became dizzy from lack of oxygen and excessive stimulation, her eyes gradually becoming unfocused.
Reason told her she should push him away, but her body gradually softened under his strong control and that familiar, deep-seated scent.
She still lost to him.
Thoroughly.
The moment their lips met, the black flames around Pei Heng, which had subsided somewhat, suddenly erupted again, the intense light even causing a slight distortion in space.
Those outside the treatment room could only see a blurry, flickering, dim firelight through the rippled reinforced glass, completely unable to discern the astonishing scene unfolding inside.
Yuezhi sighed, reached out and hugged the young man's neck, her wrist brushing against the ends of his white hair. In a self-destructive manner, she returned his kiss, indulging in a passionate entanglement with him.
Unbeknownst to her, the screen of a communicator was faintly lit in the pocket of her casually wrapped coat.
The unopened email clearly showed the final confirmation from the Genebank:
[Gene Sequence Verification Notice: Following the latest full sequence comparison, it has been confirmed that there is no biological blood relationship between Yuezhi (ID:7312) and Pei Heng (ID:7314). The original kinship registration information was incorrect and is hereby corrected.]
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