Chapter 80 Guide 8
"We're going to the combat zone tomorrow, get some rest, and don't let us down." Mimicking the tone his instructor had used, Xin Fize couldn't help but glance at the young man at the very center of the group. His eyes were bright, practically sparkling against the somber gray of the border, as if he knew nothing of depravity or defeat, his gaze always fixed forward, making one want to leap with joy.
Xin Fei was worried that Lu Xuejin would not be able to adapt to the bloodshed and cruelty of the battlefield, but she actually performed well.
At most, he couldn't bear to look at the gruesome wounds on his colleagues, and he couldn't help but comfort the pale-faced, mentally traumatized sentries, regardless of his own mental state. He was like a natural battlefield guide, providing quick and gentle guidance, to the point that some madmen several years older than him deliberately injured themselves to beg for his pity.
...It's despicable.
After the observation period, Lu Xuejin quickly integrated into the team. Out of personal motives, Xin Fei often assigned him to his own team. Since someone had entrusted him with their care, it was most reassuring to keep him under his own nose. Even if things went extremely badly, he would die before Lu Xuejin, using his life to pave an escape route for the guide.
Xin Fei witnessed Lu Xuejin's first injury, her first time being so exhausted that she collapsed speechless, her first time fainting from exhaustion, her first time successfully using her mental power to launch a long-range attack... and her first time killing someone.
The guide is like a cold gleam sealed in its sheath, destined to draw blood the moment it is born.
At such a young age, he crushed his enemy so easily—a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, who should be receiving education in the Tower in the Federation, was instead a mad and unrestrained killer in the Dark Zone, taking pleasure in dismembering his own kind.
Before he died, he stared intently at Lu Xuejin, laughing maniacally: "I'll remember you, I'll remember you, I'm going to find you, you have to remember me!"
The guide merely lowered his gaze slightly, his long eyelashes concealing a hint of pity, coldly shattering the sentry's distorted image.
When she looked up again, Lu Xuejin was still smiling, her eyes as clear as ever, even brighter.
"Sir, let's go. There are still many people to deal with today." He stepped over the corpse with its eyes wide open in death.
Xin Fei knew he was not feeling well, but he habitually covered up his embarrassment with a smile, not wanting others to worry.
Gradually, Lu Xuejin became accustomed to killing. His naive techniques transformed into precise and efficient slicing, making him a veritable killing machine. Sometimes, when he hurriedly returned to his post, his fair cheeks were covered with blood vessels like spider webs, making him eerily beautiful.
Xin Fei heard that he had become famous in various dark zones, and some madmen even considered it an honor to die at the hands of the young guide.
Did he want to leave a mark on the guide's pure life with his life, which was not even as good as a weed?
ridiculous.
“Hey, Lu Xuejin,” the curly-haired sentry teased the guide, “try out this sneer.”
Curly-haired guy gave a demonstration on the spot.
Lu Xuejin obediently did as she was told. The moment she curved her lips into a smile, a warm, ethereal, and intoxicating aura emanated from her. The guide tried to soften the smile with a cold gaze, but his efforts failed halfway through.
"I declare that I have defeated Lu Xuejin in the cold laugh contest!" Curly-haired boy raised his hands triumphantly. "You are no match at all. Oh, you can tell at a glance that you are a good kid who would help an old lady cross the road."
"Alright, you're the best." The guide shook his head helplessly.
Lu Xuejin's ruthlessness is only directed towards his enemies. He is inherently pure and gentle, and should not be surrounded by mountains of corpses and seas of blood. He should be protected by a tower of purity, so that he is not tainted by filth and depravity.
At that time, Xin Fei decided to die for Lu Xuejin.
He was destined to die, and to die for someone as radiant as the sun was his honor.
This same guide, who cared for his colleagues, suddenly manipulated him one day, directing him and watching him walk step by step toward the howling, distorted mass of pollutants.
Xin Fei then realized that when the guide's mental power was turned against him as a weapon, it was so terrifying that he was powerless to fight back.
Why?
Is this an order from higher-ups? Or do you simply dislike me?
Who coerced you into doing something wrong, using it as leverage for further threats?
Lu Xuejin, whatever you do, don't let them find out that you can control me.
That day, Xin Fei wanted to turn back countless times, but he couldn't. He continued to fall in the polluted world, using every means to preserve the last vestige of human consciousness, all in search of an answer.
He and Lu Xuejin developed from a superior-subordinate relationship into friends, becoming increasingly close and sharing everything. He thought they could even have a wonderful relationship. Xin Fei, on the other hand, knew he was not a good match for the noble guide, and he only wanted to paint his mark on Lu Xuejin before he died.
Today, he peered through the pollution with his heterogeneous eyes, filled with countless spores. The guide was still smiling, his gaze seemingly filled with pity and heartache, but upon closer inspection, he found only emptiness.
He ultimately did not receive an answer.
Before consciousness returned to nothingness, Xin Fei used the simulated retina to deeply imprint Lu Xuejin's image. Even after closing his eyes, the grayish high-dimensional vision still retained the tall and beautiful image of the young woman.
—I'll remember you! I'll come find you, and you too, you too…
...Remember me.
"Pollution density is decreasing!"
It's all over.
"Stop lying on the ground pretending to be dead, get up and move your things!" Curly-haired guy got up and kicked one of the sentries awake. When he got to Wan Hong's side, he got up quickly before Wan Hong could kick the sentry down. Apart from his messy hair and the pungent smell of blood on his clothes, he looked perfectly normal. Curly-haired guy gave him a strange look and thought to himself, "This kid is pretty good. He didn't even flinch when facing a high-energy battle."
The few preparatory students who had just gotten up fell back down, exclaiming, "Damn it!"
As if their hands and feet had betrayed their bodies and run away, the recruits stood up and fell down again, looking disheveled and comical, which made Curly-haired laugh out loud: "Serves you right for being so arrogant. After today, you all better straighten out your attitude. You think you're so great and that no one can control you, huh?"
He clapped his hands quickly: "Hurry up, hurry up, we've only just begun, don't tell me you're all cowards."
Some hot-tempered individuals immediately retorted, "Shut up!"
"Ha!" Curly-haired man laughed instead of getting angry. "If you've got the guts, go to the combat zone right now and let me know you're not a coward!"
This person had probably been soaking in the pollution for too long, and his brain had been damaged. Upon hearing this, he immediately straightened himself up and staggered into the room.
The preparatory team joined the cleanup effort. They needed to dismantle the corpses and scavenge resources on the spot. This woodland was soaked in thick pollution and almost became a contaminated area. It would take a long time to clean it up and return it to normal—otherwise, the towering trees and dense vegetation here would not bear any fruit for survival.
Wan Hong brushed away the dense fine needles between his gloves, bent over and caught his breath for a while, and looked up to see Lu Xuejin walking over. Her combat uniform was spotless, a stark contrast to the disheveled sentry.
Exhausted sentries were scattered throughout the battle zone. Some were still able to lean against tree trunks to catch their breath, while others didn't even have the strength to stand and sat down on the ground with their knees bent. Lu Xuejin kept walking towards these people. He had just gone through a battle in the mental dimension, but he still had the energy to guide the sentries and soothe their minds that were turning crazy in the fierce fighting.
"Inhale, exhale, relax..."
"My leg is broken," the sentry who had previously asked for backup on the communications channel said calmly.
"No, you're fine. That's just your imagination." Lu Xuejin gently pressed on the sentry's knee, and the mental synapse dropped down. She patted him, and his voice was soft, like sunlight filtering through leaves, "Can you feel me? I'm right here."
“…Hmm.” The sentry nodded, maintaining a calm demeanor that remained unchanged even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, but when Lu Xuejin was about to get up, he reluctantly grabbed the guide’s sleeve, “Don’t go.”
Two sentries nearby started arguing over the loot.
"This necklace is mine! I killed him for the necklace!"
"You're talking nonsense! I was the one who killed him!"
"Are you looking for death?"
"Come on, if you've got the guts, kill me."
Without hesitation, the two engaged in a direct spiritual battle.
He was immediately and gently tugged by a mental synapse, stunned for a moment, and dared not move again. Under Lu Xuejin's stern gaze, he fell silent.
"I'm so envious," whispered a student from the preparatory class who was peeking. "I wish I could be one of them."
"Strong yet gentle, where can you find a guide like that..."
"I was knocked unconscious by the force field for a long time. Could I ask the commander to take a look?" After peeking for a while, his eyes grew more and more infatuated, and he asked shyly.
The person with him probably shared the same thought, nodding earnestly and saying, "Of course we can. We are all soldiers who have dedicated ourselves to the Federation. Even if we are in the reserve class, we have still gone to the battlefield. We cannot show favoritism."
They didn't really want to bother the commander; they were just saying it for fun, as if they could be held in the arms of the beautiful guide and protected.
"The commander is already exhausted, don't make things worse." But someone just doesn't seem to understand the situation and pours cold water on him.
"Damn it, it's him again." The sentry who had been spying turned his head and chirped loudly at the young sentry resting against the tree next to him, "That guy surnamed Luo is always meddling in this and that. I think he's not here to be a soldier, but to be a housekeeper. And does Commander Lu even know you? He's just standing there trying to curry favor with you from afar."
Román ignored him completely, showing no concern for his fellow students' opinions of him.
During his break, the young sentry tidied himself up, combing his hair neatly with his fingers and brushing off the dirt from his clothes. But when he met Lu Xuejin, Luo Mang hesitated and ultimately did not approach her.
The young man's eyes were gentle, but they couldn't hide his fatigue and weakness. Luo Mang even saw a trace of pain in his bright eyes—he must have been very sad to have killed the instructor he once relied on the most, but as someone in a high position, he couldn't show it at all and had to spare the energy to comfort his colleagues.
A herd of inferior livestock that only know how to take.
The guide's power is something to aspire to, but who cares about his overdrawn mental strength and wounded heart?
The commander is trapped in a trap called "rescue" from which he cannot escape. The Federation touts his achievements while ignoring his weakness. This is nothing new to Roman; hasn't the Federation long ago used combination heat, compatibility, and strange genes to lock down the Guides?
The idea of a treasure born from a sentinel... such words can only fool ignorant lower-ranking soldiers.
The commander was also deceived and tricked, bound by invisible shackles, with each end of the chain controlled by the Federation's high command.
Luo Mang was born into nobility, and if he had simply followed the proper path, he would have taken over one of the treasures years later and become its guardian. However, he had turned against his father and stubbornly come to the southeastern border. Now, he couldn't help but want to untie Lu Xuejin's shackles and cleanse her of her troubles.
I will protect you.
In the darkness, he made the same vow as Xin Feize.
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