Chapter 23: Being Alone
On one hand, he was amused to the point of anger, but the moment he saw the message, Xu Xunyue finally understood what that vague and uncomfortable feeling was.
It was a sense of his bonded Sentinel.
When a bonded Sentinel’s condition declined or they were in crisis, a feeling of discomfort would arise in his heart.
This feeling was too basic and too faint. Xu Xunyue had lived for twenty-eight years and had never had this kind of sensation before. And Zhu Hui had been posing for pictures and acting cute, trying to muddle through, and in the end, he had actually succeeded.
Looking at the endless stream of explanatory messages on his terminal, Xu Xunyue was the first to leave the classroom under the awed and curious gazes of the students.
Very good.
Since you like to mess with your own body so much…
All those previous reasons for bullying him can be put on the back burner.
The infirmary.
The school doctor, in a white coat, sat at the reception desk, distractedly reading a professional book in his hand. He would occasionally turn his head to glance at the back of the room, his eyes filled with a mixture of worry and fear.
In the direction he was frequently looking, a young Sentinel in a black combat uniform sat on the examination bed, staring listlessly at his personal terminal. His half-gloved hand slid up and down the screen, flipping back and forth, always looking at the same chat interface.
The person on the other end was saved as “Brother,” and his profile picture was a vast snow-capped mountain. The last message he had sent was from two minutes ago.
[Brother: Got it.]
Before that was a string of explanations sent by the young Sentinel himself.
He hadn’t wanted to lie to his brother.
However, when faced with the command, he had subconsciously tidied up his appearance and condition, adjusted his clothes, fixed his expression, and had even run back to the training room from the infirmary in fourteen seconds to take a picture. When he sent the message to Xu Xunyue, he was indeed in the training room.
…So, strictly speaking, he hadn’t lied?
No, this is not the time to be dwelling on that.
Zhu Hui shook his head, throwing this surely-doomed-if-spoken-aloud excuse out of his mind.
He just didn’t want to bother his brother too much. It was his brother’s first day at his new job, and his brother was about to start class when it happened. The situation wasn’t serious at the time.
He just didn’t expect his brother to take the initiative to check in on him…
Thinking of this, Zhu Hui felt a surge of happiness, but this joy vanished when he looked at the time.
It’s over.
Brother hasn’t sent me a message for three minutes.
Brother is definitely angry.
What if brother doesn’t come?
No, even if he’s angry, brother should still come.
As he was lost in his wild thoughts, the sound of wheels rolling on snow came from a distance.
Zhu Hui sat up straight abruptly and looked toward the door. His movement caught the school doctor’s attention. The doctor cautiously glanced at him, then also looked toward the door.
And so, when Xu Xunyue pushed the door open, he was met with the direct gazes of two people.
He glanced at the school doctor, who seemed to let out a sigh of relief, and then his gaze fell on the Sentinel behind him.
The Sentinel looked no different from his half-body selfie, except that his face was not rosy. He already had a pale complexion, and now he looked even more listless.
Whoosh—
The school doctor stood up straight from his seat, polite and unable to hide his excitement. “Guide Xu, you’re finally here! Let me tell you about Student Zhu’s situation. He’s not injured, just that his spiritual domain is a bit unstable. The compatibility of several school doctors with him is not over 60%, and he said he wanted to wait for you to do an examination, so…”
“He already told me everything on his terminal,” Xu Xunyue nodded. “I’ll take it from here. But I’ll have to trouble you to step out for a moment.”
The school doctor was stunned for a moment, then it dawned on him.
Although there was no need for an outside doctor to leave, weren’t the two of them married?
This situation was a bit rare in the Sentinel Academy, but between partners, they might need to do some intimate things.
Understandable, understandable.
Anyway, the academy had other infirmaries.
The school doctor cheerfully took out a “Do Not Disturb” sign from a drawer, tucked the unread professional book under his arm, waved at the two of them, and left. He was even so considerate as to hang the sign on the door outside as he left.
With a thud, the door closed, leaving only two people in the infirmary.
Shadows instantly rushed out of Xu Xunyue’s spiritual landscape.
Perhaps also sensing that something was wrong, large swathes of black rushed to the Sentinel, surrounding Zhu Hui just like they had in the snowfield, and began to make anxious, wolf-cub-like noises.
Zhu Hui looked at Xu Xunyue with some helplessness, at the same time lifting his feet to avoid his military boots stepping on the pure black creatures on the floor.
“I made my spiritual body sleep for now. If it wakes up now, it might bite…”
Xu Xunyue immediately recalled them.
[The little wolf will be out later. No messing around now.]
This was said to his spiritual body with great seriousness, and the shadows all fell silent.
The freed Sentinel jumped off the bed, walked a few steps to Xu Xunyue, and squatted down nimbly. Then he tilted his head up, looking pitifully at the person who was also looking down at him.
“I was wrong. I should have told you the truth.” His voice was also low and soft.
When in doubt, apologize first, and then act cute and pitiful.
Xu Xunyue was once again amused to the point of anger.
On his way here, Zhu Hui had already told him the whole story of why he was in the infirmary.
In short, it was an accident caused by another Sentinel suddenly losing control during a sparring session with Zhu Hui, his aggression skyrocketing. According to Zhu Hui, although the other’s combat power had soared, he had still been easily subdued, and no major disaster had occurred.
A graduating student shouldn’t have this kind of situation. The teacher had them both go to the infirmary for a check-up. The other Sentinel’s examination results were as the school doctor had expected, but Zhu Hui, who was unscathed and had originally just been there for a routine check, had a problem with his spiritual power test.
At first, it was just that the instrument detecting spiritual power fluctuations showed excessive fluctuations. Later, he started to get a headache, the kind of feeling where there were many voices speaking in his head, but he couldn’t hear what they were saying clearly. The snow wolf was particularly irritable because of this and had almost run to the other infirmary to bite the culprit.
Zhu Hui hadn’t violated any rules or discipline, and he had recalled his spiritual body in time, so it was far from the point of being sent to the confinement room. But the school doctor didn’t dare to let him go either. They would be responsible if something happened.
But the problem was, besides Xu Xunyue, the academy couldn’t find a Guide with a compatibility of over 60% with Zhu Hui at the moment. The school doctor could only make an assessment and suggestion based on the measuring instruments and couldn’t provide any substantial help.
He had originally prepared to call Xu Xunyue, but Zhu Hui had insisted on waiting until Xu Xunyue finished class. The school doctor looked at the time, saw that it was only a little over an hour, and gritted his teeth and waited.
Fortunately, nothing had happened while they waited.
Xu Xunyue looked at the Sentinel squatting by his wheelchair, looking very obedient. He smiled and stroked his face.
Zhu Hui swallowed, even more nervous.
Maybe brother should just scold me a little.
This smile, although beautiful, is also very scary. I feel like I’m going to receive a more terrifying, unknown punishment…
Wait?
His infinitely straying imagination suddenly stopped. The pain in his brain suddenly lessened, as if a peaceful, warm current was washing over his entire body, and he was soaking in a hot spring.
“How do you feel now?” Xu Xunyue released the hand cupping his face.
“Much better…”
Zhu Hui felt like he was dreaming.
His brother didn’t scold him.
Not only did he not scold him, but he also cared about him, regulated his five senses for him, and soothed him with his spiritual power.
His brother was absolutely the best brother in the world.
Just as he was thinking this, the Guide’s hand was already on his forehead. Zhu Hui immediately closed his eyes very cooperatively, withdrew his spiritual barrier, and completely opened up his spiritual landscape.
