Chapter 50: Edge Control
Time went back to three hours ago.
On this day, Xu Xunyue was preparing to write some lesson plans and graduation student evaluation forms in his office. Coincidentally, Zhu Hui finished his training early and ran over to find him at around two in the afternoon. On the way, he also ran into Xu Mengwei, who asked him a few questions about his recent situation after coming back from the cataclysm zone—this was something Zhu Hui had specifically reported.
After leaving the deep sea, they had followed the previous battle traces and found the aircraft parked on the snowfield. Although Xu Xunyue’s connection with the Endless Snow had been broken, with no malicious creature to guide them, the two of them did not encounter any mishaps on their way back.
They had only been in the cataclysm zone for a little over a day, but it seemed like they had experienced a lot. The wheelchair had been left in the aircraft from beginning to end and had not been used.
However, Xu Xunyue did not want to expose himself at this juncture. It was fine for Zhu Hui to know that he could move normally, and it was more convenient for them to get along in private. But on the surface, he was prepared to continue hiding for a while, waiting for the Emperor to be unable to resist doing something, or for a major incident to occur in a cataclysm zone that required support before he made a move.
The fact that the two of them had entered a cataclysm zone for more than twenty-four hours and had come out unscathed had caused a huge uproar in the Empire, taking the already hot news to a new level. It went without saying that they had received a lot of concern from many parties.
On the White Tower’s side, there were students, colleagues, and superiors. On the military and political side, there were some officials who had had contact with the two of them in the past or present. The Minister of Finance, Luo Mingxu, had almost come to visit in person, but Xu Xunyue had pushed it back for a while on the grounds that he needed to rest and had too many things to deal with recently.
This was in terms of humanistic care. In addition, the two of them had to face various inspections from the security department for two or three days, including but not limited to cataclysmic factor concentration tests, contaminated tendency evaluations, and so on. Of course, the results were fine.
The military had also asked them about their experience in the cataclysm zone. Xu Xunyue and Zhu Hui had discussed what to say on the way, so the information the military got was similar to what they had gotten from other Sentinel students.
What? You’re suspicious, you want to conduct a strict investigation?
You’ve got to be kidding. One is the only Offensive Guide and White Tower teacher in the entire Empire, and the other is a young and promising new Chief Sentinel. In a sudden situation, both sides have sufficient motivation to enter a cataclysm zone. What’s there to be suspicious about?
Because the accompanying teacher had reacted quickly and the rescue was timely, in the end, no one was missing or dead. The storm gradually subsided with the passage of time, and this sensational event that had shaken the Imperial Capital and even the entire Empire was put to an end.
Life temporarily returned to peace, and so there was today’s “afternoon dessert.”
When Zhu Hui came to find Xu Xunyue, his attitude was very obedient. He said, “I’m just here to see brother and accompany brother. Was brother writing materials before? Then please continue to work. I won’t disturb you.” But his actual behavior was not as honest as what he had said.
At first, Xu Xunyue had believed his words and had given him a book to read. After about twenty minutes, he found that Zhu Hui was a little drowsy, so he told him to go to the small room on the side of the office to sleep for a while.
But Zhu Hui perked up instead, and seriously said that he was not sleepy, and even continued to flip through the book. The difference was that he was now reading the book and looking at his brother at the same time.
Or rather, reading for one minute and looking at his brother for nine minutes.
Xu Xunyue was a very keen person when it came to being looked at, but knowing that the person sitting next to him was Zhu Hui, the discomfort of being stared at was not so strong. He could still continue to do his work if he calmed down.
He didn’t expect Zhu Hui’s behavior to escalate. As he was looking, he suddenly ran over and kissed him.
It was the kind of kiss without any distracting thoughts, just rubbing his cheek with his lips. Then he ran back to his original seat with lightning speed, so fast that it was as if he hadn’t gotten up at all.
Xu Xunyue turned his head to look and saw the Sentinel’s particularly upright posture.
The book was placed on the sofa next to him, and his two hands, wearing half-fingered combat gloves, were on his knees. His back was straight, his eyes were lowered, and his breathing was almost imperceptible. He was completely motionless.
He looked extremely innocent.
If one were to only judge by this scene, probably no one could have guessed what Zhu Hui had just done.
Xu Xunyue looked at him for a long time, took a deep breath, and his left hand, which was not holding a pen, patted the desk on his left.
This hard, redwood desk was very large and could hold many things. Xu Xunyue only occupied a third of the desk’s width when he was writing the evaluation form at the desk.
“Little Hui, come here,” he said.
Ever since Zhu Hui had tricked him with a nickname in the Endless Snow when he had amnesia, Xu Xunyue’s way of addressing him had become more varied. Although he found this “deception” both funny and exasperating, he was also happy to fulfill his Sentinel’s various small wishes.
Zhu Hui was called by him and subconsciously got up and walked over. His expression was still a mixture of daze and a hint of secret joy—this secret joy was not because of what Xu Xunyue had just said, but because he was secretly pleased with his successful sneak kiss.
Unfortunately, the next moment, he couldn’t be pleased anymore.
“Move the things on the desk to the side,” Xu Xunyue said in a calm tone. “Then get on it yourself.”
Zhu Hui: “???”
Zhu Hui was shocked.
Zhu Hui was looking forward to it.
As he was tidying up the computer and documents on the desk, he was also reflecting in his heart on what he had done wrong recently that had angered his brother and required punishment.
The things were quickly tidied up, and his reflection also quickly ended.
The answer was no.
He had been very good recently. He had been very good since he came back from the Endless Snow.
His brother was also very satisfied with him. The two of them now slept in the same room every night. This was something his brother had taken the initiative to have him do after he returned home.
Mmm, then it doesn’t matter. It’s not like brother only does this to me when he’s angry. It can also happen when he’s not angry.
His sleepiness was swept away. Zhu Hui crisply executed the command, his clothes falling to his ankles, and his upper body lying on the desk.
After doing all this, he only then discovered a problem.
Because he was standing on his brother’s left, his eyes couldn’t see his brother when he was lying down like this.
Why isn’t brother doing anything?
After waiting for a while, Zhu Hui’s mind was in a mess, but he still hadn’t heard any movement from Xu Xunyue. The only sounds in the entire office were the intermittent sound of writing and breathing, which was particularly captivating.
He couldn’t help it and turned his head to look back.
And then he found that Xu Xunyue was really, just, writing.
Zhu Hui’s eyes widened.
How… how could he be like this?
Although his intention was just to look at his brother, and to kiss him if he really couldn’t resist, and he didn’t want to disturb his brother’s work, but to really see the other as unmovable as a mountain—and a kind of unmovable as a mountain where he was like this but the other was calm and composed…
Zhu Hui was not calm at all.
What material is brother writing?
Should I do something now, or should I just lie here and wait?
I can’t guess what brother is thinking…
As if sensing what Zhu Hui was thinking, the Guide who was writing with his head down glanced at him, then curled his lips and slowly took out a tube of something very familiar to the Sentinel from the drawer.
Zhu Hui was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted.
Isn’t this… isn’t this the one brother used on me in the infirmary…
How come he has it in the office too?
No, it’s normal to have it in the office. They’re already married. At this stage of their relationship, this kind of thing is to be expected.
“Turn your head. Don’t look back again. This is the last time.”
Xu Xunyue, wearing the white gloves specific to Guides, reminded him with a fingertip dipped in some liquid.
Zhu Hui acknowledged and obediently turned his head.
However, the subsequent development was not quite what he had imagined.
His brother did not deliberately stimulate him. He neither touched his sensitivity, nor did he touch the deeper, more sensitive places.
It wasn’t that Zhu Hui didn’t react. He would react no matter what was done to him. He liked his brother that much.
But he knew that his brother knew his body very well. If his brother wanted to, he wouldn’t be able to last long at all.
So why…
This currently still-obedient young Sentinel spent the first few minutes in this state of confusion.
A few minutes later, the sound of writing sounded again.
Rustle, rustle, rustle…
In the extremely quiet room, the extremely faint sound was infinitely amplified by the Sentinel’s hearing, impossible to ignore, and that finger was still unhurriedly plucking at his nerves.
Not enough. I want to be treated more roughly.
His pale skin gradually turned red. Zhu Hui clenched his fist and then released it, unable to control himself and gasping for breath.
He suddenly knew why Xu Xunyue was doing this.
This was perhaps a… reward? for his small disturbance of his brother’s work, but his brother was reluctant to punish him.
I really want to see brother’s face.
Is brother just writing with his head down? Is he not even looking at me? There’s clearly no Sentinel in the entire White Tower, the entire Empire, who is more pleasing to the eye and more obedient than me…
Suddenly, the finger withdrew.
Zhu Hui’s reaction was a step behind, and the place that had been briefly opened lost its filling. That feeling of not being enough began to intensify.
He wanted to beg Xu Xunyue, but he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue as soon as he opened his mouth.
This was the scene his brother wanted to see. He should accept it completely. His body wasn’t uncomfortable, it was just that his wishes and tendencies were not being satisfied as soon as they were expressed, as they had been before. His brother was just bullying him in a different way.
But feeling that hand land on the end of his spine and slowly caress it, he still subconsciously rubbed back a little, toward the other’s fingertips.
After doing this, he belatedly remembered how greedy this action looked.
It was a complete plea.
It was certain that he was blushing, but fortunately, the effect was good. He heard his brother laugh softly, and the crevice, stained with moisture, was parted again.
“I forgot to say before, so I’ll add it now. You’re not allowed to move on your own.”
Zhu Hui said he understood in a hoarse voice, and so the place that was holding the Guide’s fingers was touched, and a second finger slid in from outside the crevice.
As if to reward him for his obedience.
But the subsequent treatment did not change. It was the same as before, an unhurried touch, occasionally bending and unbending his knuckles.
Nearly two hours passed like this, and Zhu Hui was not released.
Even if it was a slow grind, the stimulation would accumulate. He had been close to finishing several times in these two hours, but Xu Xunyue could always make an extremely accurate judgment and suddenly pull away just when he was at the last bit, leaving his tensed leg muscles to spasm in vain.
At this time, no matter what, he could only grasp at air.
The sound of writing was intermittent. Zhu Hui’s tears came out, large drops rolling down his cheeks onto the redwood desk. But because of his position, he couldn’t even use this pitiful appearance to rub against Xu Xunyue.
“B-Brother…”
He called out in a soft voice, and received a smiling reply and a “what,” which sounded kind and gentle, but there was no option of letting him go.
The teasing of the two fingers actually stopped because he had spoken.
Does this mean I can’t beg or act coquettishly?
Alright…
“N-Nothing.”
Zhu Hui bit his lip and whimpered.
This was his brother’s office. He didn’t know if his brother had turned on the mental interference, but if others… for example, Xu Mengwei, whose office was not far away, heard it, it would affect his brother to some extent.
It was best not to make a sound, but he couldn’t do it. He could only barely judge whether anyone was coming outside the office based on his hearing.
Anyway, there had been no one for more than an hour.
After another withdrawal, Zhu Hui really couldn’t stand it anymore and secretly did something that Xu Xunyue hadn’t said he couldn’t do, but he knew he couldn’t.
—He turned on his tactile super-sense.
A high-level Sentinel using their talent had nothing to do with their spiritual power. Even a Guide with extremely precise control over their spiritual power wouldn’t be able to discover it.
He probably won’t be discovered.
After turning on his tactile super-sense, the surrounding air became exceptionally cold. Zhu Hui waited nervously, thinking that according to the previous pattern, in a little while, his brother would pluck the string that had gone down again. As long as his brother’s finger touched it once, just once, it would be fine.
And what he had to do was control his breathing, his voice, and his muscles.
His breathing had to be natural, his voice had to be very small, and his muscles had to be relaxed… In short, he couldn’t let his brother see that he was secretly enjoying himself.
The idea was very good.
But it was unknown where he had slipped up. Xu Xunyue did not push in as he had before.
Instead, he said without any warning:
“Turn off your super-sense. I didn’t ask you to practice this now.”
Zhu Hui: “…”
It’s over. I’m definitely going to be punished for this.
Just as he had turned off his super-sense, he heard Yu Yuan’s footsteps. The footsteps grew closer and closer, finally stopping outside the door, and a knock sounded.
Zhu Hui instantly held his breath.
He didn’t dare to move, biting his lip hard. He had done everything he could, but he could still hear the sound of liquid being stirred, and against the backdrop of the knocking and Yu Yuan’s voice, that sound was extremely loud.
But he couldn’t control this.
His mind went blank. He hadn’t thought of what to do when Xu Xunyue deprived him of his hearing, and the number of fingers had also changed from two to three.
More… I should like it, but at that time, Zhu Hui didn’t dare to have any reaction. He even forcibly relaxed his tensed muscles, afraid that he wouldn’t be able to hold back and would make some loud noise.
Not being able to hear meant being unable to judge the situation, not knowing what Xu Xunyue had said to Yu Yuan, and not knowing when Yu Yuan would leave.
Although he knew that Xu Xunyue wouldn’t let Yu Yuan in, the position of the desk still made Zhu Hui’s mind wander.
The desk was placed in the most conspicuous position in the center of the room. If the door were opened, the person standing at the door would 100% be able to see him…
This is too much.
Mmm… and brother is even speeding up at a time like this.
Zhu Hui held his breath, but other aspects were uncontrollably overflowing even more. Tears and transparent liquid flowed out more and more, soaking places other than his body.
He unconsciously stared at the students walking on the path outside the window, always feeling that they could see him with just a glance, although this was also impossible. This was the seventh floor, and he wasn’t by the window.
…
It seemed like a long, long time had passed, so long that the sky had turned dark, before this sweet torment finally ended.
It was unknown whether Yu Yuan’s appearance was a good thing or not. After she left and his hearing returned, Xu Xunyue finally put down his pen and began to deal with his Sentinel with all his heart.
Having been played with neither lightly nor heavily for so long before, his reaction now was particularly intense.
Perhaps it was because he was too nervous and his emotions were fluctuating too much, but Zhu Hui’s thoughts in these few hours were particularly easy to read.
Xu Xunyue didn’t even have to deliberately listen to capture a bunch of words like “how could brother be like this” and “I like this kind of brother too.”
This was how he had found out about Zhu Hui secretly turning on his super-sense. Xu Xunyue found it a little amusing in his heart.
When he had mentioned using super-sense in the infirmary, his Sentinel’s attitude had not been like this.
Speaking of which, could Zhu Hui’s constitution also be changed by his presence?
He looked at the wetness that had spread from his fingertips to the palm of his glove, and was lost in thought.
Zhu Hui’s compatibility list and compatibility rating would change with the increase in intimacy, so Zhu Hui’s body would also gradually adapt to his treatment.
According to this line of thought, it wasn’t impossible to explain why there was more water than last time and the time before that.
He had really become a Sentinel specially made for him in a certain sense…
Pushing his fingertips to the deepest, in a few seconds, the other could no longer bear it, trembling all over, sobbing and mumbling “brother” in his mouth.
Xu Xunyue glanced at the desk below.
…It was already a sight to behold.
After it was over.
“Brother… what were you writing just now? Can I see it? You were writing so seriously…”
For a full three hours, was I not more fun than this piece of paper?
Speaking in a low, breathy voice, Zhu Hui wiped the tear stains from his face, touched the stack of papers in front of Xu Xunyue, and leaned over to look.
Xu Xunyue raised an eyebrow, neither speaking nor stopping him, and lifted the arm that was pressing on the paper.
Zhu Hui saw everything as he wished.
A moment of silence.
“…”
He felt his face was even hotter than before.
Meeting those ice-blue eyes with a hint of a smile, his heart couldn’t help but beat faster. Zhu Hui happily pressed his lips against Xu Xunyue’s, throwing the words he had originally wanted to say to the back of his mind.
The paper on the desk was illuminated by the office lights, the handwriting on it clear and sharp, the content clear at a glance.
This was the evaluation form for the students of Class 1 at the Guide Academy. The content included everything from physical fitness to reaction ability, from spiritual power strength to spiritual power control, from past records to competition performance… In short, it was a kind of scoring for the small competition recently held by the academy.
The Sentinel Academy also had something similar. The professional teacher’s evaluation was one of the references for the student’s graduation results.
When Zhu Hui had first arrived, Xu Xunyue had been writing this material. After he arrived, Xu Xunyue had continued to write intermittently.
Although he couldn’t see what Xu Xunyue was doing while lying on the desk, his ears could hear the occasional rustling sound, which gave Zhu Hui a sense of shame, as if “brother was playing with him while working,” and he had even been made a mess of.
But now it seemed that his brother hadn’t been writing very seriously either. His brother had also been distracted.
A vivid example was right before his eyes.
In the bottom right corner of the form, there were two printed columns. The first was “Evaluation Subject:”, and the second was “Evaluator’s Signature:”.
Both of these lines were to be filled out by the teacher. Without a doubt, the teacher should write the name of the student being evaluated in the first column, and his own name in the second.
However, on the paper before him, the handwritten words after the first and second columns were, respectively:
Zhu Hui.
Sweetie.
All written wrong.
