Chapter 77 Guide 5
At that moment, I had to admit that I was swayed by Lu Xuejin's sorrowful and pitiful demeanor.
Is he a guide kept by the company, or an angel worshipped by the Holy Spirit Church?
I know that most of the sentries seek solace and peace in religion. The military does not allow faith, but it is common for soldiers to worship angels, and no commander would punish such behavior unless he wanted to lose his weapon; sometimes, they themselves are devout believers in the church.
Why did the sentinels appear? Why did they suffer from such a terrifying and incurable illness? Why could they only seek comfort from the guides? Why did they live such a painful and hopeless life? To date, no scholar has been able to provide an answer, so they can only turn to religion for help.
The emergence of the Sanctuary can hardly be said to be anything other than a result of compromise by the Federation.
I had no intention of judging such cunning behavior, but I was momentarily dazed when I first met Lu Xuejin.
He looks clean, pure, and natural.
No wonder the hunting dogs were willing to die to protect them.
He was a good boy. Even though he was timid, he dared to ask about his companions' whereabouts when faced with armed and dangerous sentries. I brought him back to the White Tower. The guides liked him, and so did the sentries.
"Fortunately, the company didn't harm him or overdraw his potential, and he knows how to protect himself. What a wonderful child! He should grow up under the protection of the company!"
"He was arrested just a few months ago, but he won't say a word to his family... Poor kid."
"Stable, profound, and powerful fluctuations! S-rank, absolutely S-rank! That shitty company, how dare they let him guide that pack of stray dogs? What a waste!" the inspector cursed. "His whole family must be dead for being so greedy. If he had been allowed to awaken normally, he might have been the first super S-rank guide in history!"
However, Lu Xuejin is a disabled guide and has not yet been able to summon a spiritual entity.
Spiritual beings are the soulmates of every powerful human. They are incredibly powerful and serve as an extension of the abilities of Sentinels and Guides. Without a spiritual being, a powerful human's strength will be greatly diminished.
The inspector launched into another tirade. If it weren't for the fact that everyone from the company had long since perished at the hands of others, she might have applied for a field mission to shatter the mental constructs of those scumbags. While the guides were physically fragile, in their mental world, they were absolute tyrants.
Even without summoning a spiritual entity, Lu Xuejin still displayed unparalleled abilities. He was gentle and sociable, and the bloodshed and violence of the Dark Zone left no trace on his personality. Within a week of arriving at the White Tower, Lu Xuejin received confessions of love from several guides, not to mention the Sentinels.
Some of us, including myself, believe that his incompleteness is not a disability, but rather a kind of perfection, like the armless goddess statues of old. The spiritual entity is both the strong left and right arm of humanity, and in some ways, its weakness, an incomplete remnant. I once read in *Spirit and Black Holes* that spiritual companions are our Achilles' heel, the tail of our imperfect evolution; anyone who advocates for the spiritual entity must admit that this being undoubtedly exposes our savagery and weaknesses.
I've heard some devout followers of the Holy Spirit privately say that Lu Xuejin is the only truly strong human being, while we are merely flawed products who boast about ourselves after receiving only a fraction of divine grace. There's some truth to what they say.
First semester.
"Mental Body Cognition and Communication" - not read.
"The Foundation and Control of Mental Power", excellent.
The instructor commented: "Most guides are still stuck on perceiving the existence, flow, and intensity of their own spiritual power. While they are trying to 'see clearly' their own spiritual landscape through introspection and meditation, Lu Xuejin is already able to condense the diffuse spiritual power into a more controllable field, build barriers, and generate tendrils. He is too outstanding! It's hard to believe that he has not received any relevant education before."
Second semester.
"The Construction and Defense of the Spiritual Wall", excellent.
System evaluation: This student has transformed the one-way barrier into a multi-layered defensive structure, demonstrating excellent performance in high-pressure environments such as malicious detection, mental attacks, forced links, mental pollution, and barrier spikes. While attacking, the student can continuously reinforce, repair, and optimize their own mental barrier, making them an extremely outstanding and mature guide.
Human Physiology and Neuroscience, Excellent.
"Fundamentals of Psychology", excellent.
First Aid and Battlefield Medicine, Excellent.
"The Theory and Practice of Sentinel Spirit Guidance", Excellent.
Systematic evaluation: This student is exceptionally gifted in establishing a preliminary spiritual connection with the Sentinel in a safe, respectful, and non-invasive manner. They possess a unique understanding of interpreting the symbolic meaning and implicit information of the Sentinel's spiritual landscape. They have demonstrated excellent performance in constructing sensory filtering barriers, building temporary barriers in the core area, decontaminating and purifying negative influences, repairing and stabilizing the spiritual landscape, and intervening in crises and providing emergency relief. They also have extensive practical experience.
Third semester.
"Fundamentals of Tactical Coordination", Excellent.
"Group Mental Health Counseling", Excellent.
"Anti-Intrusion and Defense Tactics", Excellent
"Torture and Hypnosis", excellent.
Lu Xuejin's academic performance is outstanding, even compared to senior students or military guides. The Federation's high command has always paid close attention to him. After the previous chief guide retired for recuperation, there was a shortage of high-level guides. They may hope to see the next rising star to lead the way, or they may have other motives.
Undeniably, I've always kept an eye on his life, perhaps because I was the one who brought him back to the tower, and I feel an inexplicable sense of responsibility towards him. If a sentry shows too much attention to the guide, it will draw reprimands from the sanctuary, so I can only observe from the shadows.
I noticed that he liked to hide in a corner during breaks. He rarely opened up to anyone and always kept to himself. That day, for some reason, I appeared in front of him.
I know that the previous lesson was a history and ethics class that many sentries dreaded, but the guides really enjoyed it.
"You can't concentrate on the textbook, can you?" I blurted out a joke I'd been holding back for a long time. "In my year, nobody liked academic subjects either; we always felt drowsy listening to them."
The child didn't say anything, but just gave me a strange look.
Was I being too presumptuous?
Or is it because of the age gap that the common topics they find are awkward?
I suddenly realized that I had been with Black Tower for sixteen years, and at over thirty years old, I didn't seem to be very popular with young people.
After a few awkward words, I realized that the child was only offering a polite smile and that my presence was undoubtedly a disturbance to him, so I left dejectedly.
Because of past incidents, Ta is very concerned about the guides' mental well-being. However, due to the guides' highly sensitive mental landscape, they find it difficult to open up to outsiders. Ta has chosen to employ a mental health counselor, as the psychological state of a person is always closely related to their mental landscape.
I have read all of Lu Xuejin's course evaluation reports and also consulted a psychologist privately about her situation.
"That child was a contradiction in my eyes, fragile yet strong. He never showed his frustration outwardly, even when facing me, he always had a smile on his face. Considering his past, this was abnormal. He was only seventeen, yet he was more mature than soldiers who had fought in the army for many years. I thought we should minimize his exposure to the battlefield, but..."
"But?"
The doctor sighed with pity and said, "He has a heart of crystal and a savior complex that wants to save everything."
After the fourth semester's practical courses ended, the child, despite numerous offers, resolutely chose to go to the southeastern border.
At that time, war raged everywhere, and pollution riots broke out on the southeastern border, making it a place where there was no chance of survival.
...
Two years later.
Outside the outpost on the southeastern border.
At the edge of the rainforest, the air was humid and heavy. Flames scorched and distorted the air, turning half the sky red. Scorched wood groaned in the fire, and the flickering light crisscrossed the cold faces of the team members, like dancing demons.
The air was filled with a strong, foul, and nauseating smell of putrid pollutants.
This was a pollution accumulation point. The leader had repeatedly provoked the sentry post, showing his ambition and covetousness towards it. So, after the other battlefield came to an end, the sentry post immediately turned its attention to dealing with them.
The cleanup team moved silently through the ruins, their movements carrying a trained numbness. Heavy crates were dragged along, containing barely salvageable compressed nutrient solutions, uncontaminated clean water, and weapon parts.
With resources scarce, the outposts had no choice but to plunder from all non-federal forces.
Several figures knelt down, gathering the scattered, mangled human tissues, ravaged by contaminants, and then burning them to ashes. The raging fire illuminated pairs of indifferent eyes. Several sentries, hands clasped over their chests, silently moved their lips, openly performing a prayer ritual.
Lu Xuejin turned her back to them, staring at the center of the flames. Beneath a patch of charred wreckage, a palm-sized contaminant scurried about, probably thinking it was well hidden, but under the guide's mental detection, nothing could escape its notice. The remaining contaminant was writhing in agony from the intense heat; it was a dark black mass, shapeless like mud, but surprisingly, it could withstand the scorching flames.
Sensing his gaze, the pollutant seemed to glance at him, its form rapidly softening. In the flames, it materialized into a human child with a tender face, huddled on the ground trembling, raising a small face covered in black ash, its wet eyes looking at him in fear.
Lu Xuejin raised her sidearm.
Bang.
The special bullet grazed past the "child's" ear, its tip striking a scorching hot rock behind him, sending up a small burst of sparks.
The "child" shuddered, its face frozen in astonishment. It saw Lu Xuejin's straight lips twitch upwards for an extremely brief moment, forming a fleeting and elusive arc. A vague thought flashed through its chaotic consciousness—the human before it had softened.
"What's wrong?" someone asked warily from behind. The other team members paused slightly upon hearing this and turned their gazes in this direction.
Lu Xuejin deftly holstered her gun, turned around, and said with a smile, "It's alright. The ones who slipped through the net have been dealt with."
A sentry was flicking the sticky, foul-smelling slime off his tactical knife. Hearing this, he grinned, revealing a set of white teeth, but his eyes still burned with lingering killing intent. He said, still savoring the moment, "Tsk, a bunch of weaklings. I haven't even had my fill of slaughtering today. These bastards are too easy to cut."
"Should we switch to Class S contaminants?" Another team member filled the last crate with supplies. "Hurry up and clean up. Communication has just been restored, and we received orders to call it a day early. The supply truck is already on its way."
"What's the rush? Are you in such a hurry to be reborn?"
“It’s not about reincarnation,” the team member said, catching his breath and lowering his voice. “I heard the new batch of preparatory students just arrived this morning, and the receiving point is in a frenzy. Besides the ‘wild talents’ selected from several contaminated areas, it’s said that…” He paused, lowering his voice even further, with a hint of sarcasm, “…there’s also a precious darling that a big shot forced in, supposedly the son of a certain congressman.”
The air froze for a moment, and the team members exchanged a knowing glance, a look that mixed contempt, understanding, and a hint of barely perceptible annoyance.
"Why didn't they come earlier or later..."
"Let's go." Lu Xuejin clapped his hands, and the sentries stopped complaining and looked at him. The guide smiled and said, "We'll go back as soon as possible and help you with traffic control along the way."
Upon hearing this, all the sentries instinctively swallowed hard, their faces filled with longing, and their eyes eagerly followed the guide.
Lu Xuejin glanced one last time at the shadow that had curled up again deep within the flames, and then took the lead in leaving.
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