Time rewound to just before the auction began.
Because he was far too “precious,” Yu Yan had been locked away in isolation. That arrangement conveniently gave his visitors the chance they needed to reach him.
“Mr. Yu.”
The man, disguised as a member of staff, knelt before Yu Yan’s cage. He gazed up at him with eager urgency. “We’ve set everything up.”
Yu Yan’s lips curved faintly, a dangerous edge blooming across his stunning features. “Then all that’s left is for me to take my place.”
The man harbored no doubts about Yu Yan’s capabilities. Nor did he fret over what might happen if Yu Yan couldn’t break free.
Yu Yan was the most powerful—and the most beautiful—Guide the man had ever laid eyes on. He could stand toe-to-toe with any Sentinel. He was their hope. Their light.
Yet the man’s visit served another purpose beyond the report. “Mr. Yu, I overheard them talking about You Fuzhou from the Freedom Alliance…”
He eyed Yu Yan with concern. “What if he comes to rescue you?”
“The Freedom Alliance?”
Yu Yan tugged lightly at the corner of his mouth. Mockery gleamed in his narrow, elongated eyes, sharp as sunlight on steel. “He’s nothing but a figurehead for the public eye. Why would they risk their own interests?”
His voice rumbled low, nothing like the fragile image the outside world imagined. “This incident is worlds apart from anything that’s come before—for the Empire, at least. The Freedom Alliance? Forget it.”
The disgust in Yu Yan’s gaze hadn’t dimmed. He spoke the name with cold revulsion. “They won’t come.”
The man didn’t possess Yu Yan’s breadth of knowledge or connections. He’d heard all the tales of You Fuzhou’s exploits, though, and that left him lingering on the worry. “But what if he does show up…”
Yu Yan arched a brow. He let out a low chuckle, its meaning veiled. “If he does, stick to the plan. As for me…”
He hooked his lips into a smile. It wasn’t seductive or enchanting—not on that breathtaking face. Instead, it carried the cold glint of a blade, the posture of a predator at the top of the food chain, not helpless prey. “If he comes to save me, then he’ll be my Sentinel.”
He would claim him.
A Sentinel bold enough to steal him from the Yashe Empire. One whose words matched his deeds. A young one—agile, fierce, lightning-quick.
He needed a Sentinel like that.
Yet for all his scheming over potential utility, for all the plots and maneuvers, Yu Yan hadn’t anticipated that his heart would stir first.
He was far handsomer than any wanted poster could capture.
Those eyes… No camera could do them justice.
Those eyes Yu Yan couldn’t tear himself away from—no lens could convey their brilliance.
You Fuzhou’s gaze held so much.
The wind sweeping across endless grasslands. The waves crashing in the open sea. Clouds drifting through vast skies… All of it free and untamed, arrogant and aloof. An unbreakable light no one could shatter.
It even made Yu Yan feel like he could never quite grasp it.
Too searing.
Even nearing it felt like a moth drawn to flame, his wings already curling and blackening in the blaze.
Yet he couldn’t resist the pull. He couldn’t suppress that instinct to seek the light. Better to burn to ash in those flames than end up pinned in a collector’s net, preserved as a lifeless specimen.
~~~
You Fuzhou’s team hadn’t originally planned to extract Yu Yan.
But midway to their target, upon learning that the mysterious new auction item was none other than Yu Yan himself, You Fuzhou had waved them onward. He’d inserted the rescue as a prelude to the main operation.
No one raised a single objection.
Their entire mission was about freedom and equality. Leaving Yu Yan behind would have contradicted everything they stood for.
Once everyone had slipped away cleanly and returned to their warship, laughter and cheers filled the air. “That felt amazing!”
“Hahaha, I can’t wait to see the headlines!”
“Quick, screens up—I wanna watch the news!”
“Boss, think your bounty’ll shoot up after this one?”
“Has to add at least one more zero. A hundred billion—topping that Guide’s price, right?”
“Shut it.”
You Fuzhou swatted the back of Nanzi’s head without hesitation. “Keep comparing, and I’ll ship you off to kindergarten.”
The guy was hopeless. A complete illiterate when it came to anything that mattered. All he knew was who topped the charts.
Nanzi yelped but didn’t get mad. He just grinned like an idiot.
The Guide who’d stayed behind on the ship emerged then too, beaming with the thrill of their clean victory. He called out to You Fuzhou with a smile. “Team Leader You.”
You Fuzhou nodded. The man continued, “We’ve got Mr. Yu settled. Mr. Xia gave him the antidote. He took it and can walk normally now—he’s in the shower. Mr. Yu’s on the larger side; none of our Guides are built quite like him. I took the liberty of grabbing some of your clothes for him. I mentioned they were yours, and he didn’t object.”
You Fuzhou recalled how Yu Yan had matched his height perfectly when he’d carried him out of that cage. He nodded. “Fine by me.”
A few Sentinels nearby exchanged knowing winks.
You Fuzhou had never bonded with a Guide. He lacked that innate awareness others had. He had no idea that loaning a Sentinel’s clothes to a Guide crossed a line.
Guides possessed acute mental sensitivity. Sentinels leaked mental energy without realizing—like faulty wiring sparking uncontrollably. Sentinels felt nothing of it themselves. Guides? They sensed it all too well.
And for an S-Class Guide like Yu Yan? He’d detect every trace of You Fuzhou’s mental power lingering on those clothes. It wasn’t a scent. It couldn’t be scrubbed away.
Yu Yan’s acceptance meant interest. Favor.
This wasn’t mere ribbing. It was a glimmer of real hope.
You Fuzhou rejected Spiritual Guidance at every turn. He resisted it outright.
Only Ye Songhua—his childhood companion, distantly related by blood—could manage even a Shallow Guidance for him. But those sessions were too brief to make a dent. Worse, guidance wasn’t her specialty. Her talents lay in mental control.
Her Spiritual Guidance skills fell short of a C-Class Guide’s. Yet no C-Class could match the sheer volume and stability of her mental power.
If only You Fuzhou would accept Yu Yan’s Spiritual Guidance.
That thought echoed through everyone’s minds right then.
With the report delivered, the group headed to the briefing room together.
A handful of Guides stepped in to assist the Sentinels. The operation had been risky; the fight dragged on, leaving some visibly rattled—their states too elevated, frayed at the edges.
The Guides took the Sentinels’ hands and channeled their mental energy.
Once finished, amid a chorus of grateful thanks, the Guides smiled and took their seats, waiting for You Fuzhou to kick things off. He hadn’t undergone Guidance himself. He simply rapped his knuckles on the table and dove straight in.
The mission had been a resounding success, but they weren’t reckless fools driven by impulse. Follow-ups loomed large.
Stirring trouble in the Yashe Empire served as groundwork for operations to come.
They also had to relocate everyone they’d pulled from the auction block.
You Fuzhou commanded immense respect. The team trusted him implicitly. Meetings flowed smoothly, free of squabbles. Thirty minutes later, he wrapped up. “No need to belabor what an S-Class Guide represents—you all know. It won’t just be the Yashe Empire hunting us. Every faction out there will lose their minds trying to track us down. All operations on hold for now. Lay low. Don’t walk into the crosshairs.”
S-Class Sentinels abounded across the powers that be—a few, a dozen per faction. S-Class Guides, though? The living ones could be counted on one hand.
The young ones? There was only Yu Yan.
A youthful S-Class differed vastly from an aging one. Sure, outsiders might lament that he was a man, unfit for breeding stock. But that wouldn’t stop the frenzy to possess him.
Especially since Yu Yan was a compatibility-type Guide. He boasted high Compatibility Rates with every Sentinel.
A single bonding with a Guide like that could mend any Sentinel’s ravaged Spiritual World. Restore it to pristine vitality. Even elevate performance dramatically—not a rank increase, but peak condition.
High-rank Sentinels’ Spiritual Worlds came flawed from the start. They could never operate at full capacity without a high-Compatibility Guide at their side. Regular deep Spiritual Guidance sessions were essential.
The higher the rank, the greater the dependency.
An S-Class Guide changed everything.
Even an S-Class Sentinel needed just once to purge every deep-seated affliction. A high-match S-Class Guide? One session unlocked 200% potential.
Compatibility-types offered high matches to all Sentinels—even S-Class ones.
That explained the auction bidders’ madness, eyes bloodshot like survivors in the apocalypse clawing for the last scrap of meat.
You Fuzhou figured Yu Yan’s face played a role too.
Yu Yan really was striking.
Free of all those degrading accessories, he’d be even more so.
The thought crossed You Fuzhou’s mind as he knocked on the door to Yu Yan’s quarters.
He needed to gauge the man’s intentions. Yu Yan’s circumstances were uniquely perilous. You Fuzhou wasn’t sure where to place him safely. If Yu Yan chose to stay aboard their warship…
The door slid open. You Fuzhou couldn’t say why a jolt of surprise hit him so abruptly.
There stood Yu Yan, clad in his clothes. The Guide matched him in height. A plain white tee and rugged combat pants hung simply on his frame, his hair still half-damp and tousled.
Gone was the ornate display from the cage. This version felt more everyday—not a porcelain doll on exhibit. And yet…
You Fuzhou’s breath caught for a pair of seconds.
Too beautiful.
Not the conventional, cookie-cutter sort of beauty. It defied easy words, leaving “beautiful” as the only fit.
You Fuzhou suddenly understood why people compared him to a rose.
Roses grew amid thorns—vivid and heart-stirring, yet laced with sharp spines and peril. They were no fragile blooms to be easily plucked.
You Fuzhou found himself momentarily speechless, assaulted by that impossibly striking face. It was Yu Yan who broke the silence first, his lashes fluttering as he called out in a low, husky voice, “Team Leader You.”
You Fuzhou snapped back to attention. “…Ahem.”
The habitual invitation to “come in and talk” suddenly felt too forward, almost disrespectful. “Sorry.”
His tone was utterly sincere. “You really are… incredibly good-looking. I zoned out for a second.”
No beating around the bush.
There was nothing to feel guilty about, after all.
Yet a swirl of emotions flickered deep in Yu Yan’s eyes. He gazed at the young sentinel before him—blunt and honest—and lowered his head, as if embarrassed by the compliment. His words rang true: “You’re the most captivating one, Team Leader You.”
He couldn’t forget.
No matter what, he couldn’t forget a single one of his actions.
You Fuzhou wasn’t just feigning politeness; he was genuinely abashed. He coughed awkwardly and swiftly changed the subject. “I wanted to ask… what are your plans from here on out?”
Yu Yan blinked, momentarily stunned, as if he didn’t understand the question. He lifted his gaze, confusion mingling with a hint of fear and panic in those beautiful, lively eyes. “You… don’t want me anymore?”
You Fuzhou: “……?”
What?
But Yu Yan’s eyes were already reddening. “Are you going to hand me over to someone else?”
You Fuzhou: “???”
What??
Yu Yan opened his mouth to speak, but You Fuzhou raised a hand to stop him. “Hold on.”
Frowning, he asked, “Why would you even think that?”
Yu Yan bowed his head again. He wasn’t overplaying the pitiful act, but his perfect measure of hesitation, the slight tremble, and the subtle curve of his back all conspired to make him seem wronged, mistreated. “You took me away… It’s no different from buying me. Do you think I’m unclean now, so you want to get rid of me? I’m… I’m clean, though. I’ve only ever done shallow guidance for others.”
Yu Yan reached out, ostensibly to demonstrate how he’d only ever pressed shoulders during shallow guidance sessions. In truth, he yearned to touch You Fuzhou, to leave his mark on this sentinel who couldn’t sense mental energy…
But You Fuzhou dodged away almost immediately.
Yu Yan paused.
A flash of surprise crossed his eyes.
He had felt it—You Fuzhou’s instinctive rejection… No.
Was it rejection stemming from trauma?
What had happened to him?
As Yu Yan pondered this, he let his hand fall and murmured softly, “You think I’m dirty.”
This time, his tone carried the weight of a final judgment.
“…”
No.
You Fuzhou’s head was beginning to throb.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s not it… Just wait a second.”
He gathered his thoughts, suspecting it had to do with Yu Yan’s background… Damn it.
How the hell had those animals raised him like this?
Irritation bubbled up in You Fuzhou, and his emotions surged. Yu Yan, ever perfectly attuned, took a small step back. “Sorry…”
You Fuzhou remembered that guides could sense a sentinel’s mental fluctuations: “.”
He reined in his feelings. “I’m not mad at you.”
After a moment’s thought, he continued, “What I mean is, you can choose for yourself. You have the right to make your own choices.”
He’d encountered one or two guides before—ones raised in captivity from childhood, their minds warped beyond normal reasoning—so he added, “Do you even know what choice means?”
Yu Yan had no intention of playing the naive fool with You Fuzhou, so he simply nodded.
You Fuzhou let out a breath of relief and smiled again. “So, you can decide. If there’s somewhere you want to go, I’ll take you there myself. If you’d rather stay, that’s fine too. And if you don’t want to do guidance for sentinels anymore, no problem. One more mouth to feed isn’t a big deal.”
How could someone like this even exist…?
Thanks to his ability to sense the sentinel’s mental fluctuations, Yu Yan knew every word was sincere.
It was the first time he’d encountered a sentinel like this.
Yu Yan’s lashes trembled as he asked softly, “And if… I want to stay by your side?”
You Fuzhou wasn’t clueless about romance—he wasn’t an idiot. He knew what Yu Yan meant, and a headache bloomed behind his eyes. “I didn’t save you for…”
“But this is what I was born to do.”
Yu Yan looked up at him. “You took me away, so I’m yours now… You could transfer ownership to someone else if you wanted.”
You Fuzhou felt like he wasn’t getting through today. “You’re a person, not an object.”
Helplessly, he added, “You’re not limited to just this.”
Yu Yan replied quietly, “But that’s my value. That’s a guide’s value.”
Those were the words they’d drilled into him—those people.
You Fuzhou had clearly heard them more than once himself, enough to carry some trauma from it. His emotions spiked visibly, the smile fading from his face.
Yu Yan seized on that, a flicker of deep contemplation in his eyes.
In the end, You Fuzhou exhaled slowly. “…Staying here would be safer for you anyway. Let’s say you want to stay. Okay?”
Yu Yan nodded. You Fuzhou thought for a moment. “And you don’t have to do guidance for other sentinels… We can talk about that later.”
The priority now was rebuilding Yu Yan’s sense of self.
