Chapter 68: Each Other’s Dreams
Xu Xunyue had a dream.
When he began to have some consciousness and was no longer completely immersed in it, the malicious creature that had been hiding in the dark every time before appeared.
In the dream, the other party was using a human body. His abilities were very strange, and he frequently induced him to enter an abnormal state.
“We’re the same kind, so why don’t you join me?”
“Such a powerful force, does it really have no attraction for you?”
“If you’re just reluctant to part with that Sentinel, you can completely bring him here too.”
“Let him become your vassal, the kind of toy doll without self-awareness, or, eat him bit by bit… how you deal with him is your business.”
When he was facing these things, his Sentinel was always by his side, blocking all external physical attacks for him, but he was still very worried that he would be affected by those voices.
He had not fallen for it, but he liked to see his Sentinel worry about him.
This seemed a little bad… In short, in the dream, he had not lost himself, but had just found some strange reasons to make his Sentinel cry repeatedly many times.
Xu Xunyue, whose consciousness was half awake and half freely playing, fell into deep thought.
The rustling sound of fabric rubbing came from beside him. His intuition could distinguish that it was a sound from reality.
…Reality.
Xu Xunyue opened his eyes, his spirit relaxed and comfortable. Unexpectedly, he met Zhu Hui’s amber eyes.
They were right in front of him.
The fire in the bedroom was almost out, and the firelight was not so bright, but those eyes were shining with a fine light from somewhere, and his face and ears were also red.
Xu Xunyue saw many shadows on Zhu Hui.
Many places where shadows should not have appeared, strange-shaped shadows had appeared. They were locking the Sentinel’s hands and feet, and had dragged the Sentinel onto the bed.
The rustling sound Xu Xunyue had heard in his dream was precisely the sound made when the other was being dragged and rubbing against the bedsheets. His subconscious in his sleep had driven his spiritual body to do this.
Now, Zhu Hui was “forced” to kneel on him in an awkward position, his eyes evasive.
They had only looked at each other for a moment before Zhu Hui moved his gaze away.
Xu Xunyue glanced at the fire pit under the bed, which was almost extinguished, with only a little bit of embers left to keep the food warm, and understood.
The fire had burned out, so the food must have also been heated up a long time ago.
He half-sat up, recalled his spiritual body into his spiritual landscape, and hugged the Sentinel who had fallen forward because he had lost his “chains,” and asked with a smile:
“Why didn’t you call me when you were done? You didn’t struggle or say a word.”
Zhu Hui subconsciously wanted to bury his head in his neck and take a deep breath, but then he remembered that he was not clean, so he awkwardly propped himself up.
“…You should rest a little longer,” he said. “I’ve already eaten. I’m not tired.”
Xu Xunyue pulled down the hand that was secretly propping himself up and then ruffled the top of his head.
“It’s not dirty. You’ve already cleaned yourself. I’m not that clean either.”
Zhu Hui’s body stiffened. He remembered the perception ability that belonged exclusively to Xu Xunyue, which he had just learned about not long ago.
He heard what I was thinking.
…It was still a little shameful.
He hummed softly, and contentedly rubbed against Xu Xunyue’s chin. After a long moment, he moved his body again and asked Xu Xunyue if he wanted to eat now.
Xu Xunyue of course said yes.
The temperature of the food in the pot was just right. The pre-processed meat and vegetables were cooked until they were soft and tender. The juice had soaked into the soup, making the clear water flavorful.
The container holding the soup was just the right temperature, and it was very warm to hold in his hands.
The primitive way of making a fire, the simple processing method, had made a meal so special. Besides satisfying the needs of the body, it also had the extra meaning of making one feel happy.
“Your cooking skills have improved,” Xu Xunyue praised.
He hadn’t helped this time, only adjusted Zhu Hui’s five senses at the beginning.
“It’s because brother taught me well,” Zhu Hui sat next to him, propping his face with his hand and looking at him. After a while, he said, “…Brother, did you have a dream just now?”
When they had slept together before, this kind of situation had never happened.
“Yes, I had a rather strange dream.”
As Xu Xunyue spoke, he thought to himself that it might not have been a complete dream.
Since he was a child, the number of dreams he had an impression of could be counted on one hand. After he became a Guide and could stably control his own power, he had completely stopped having dreams that were connected to reality.
According to the ancient proverbs of the Empire, the dreams of a Guide with strong spiritual power were actually more like a kind of prophecy.
The second half of his dream was a mess and indescribable, but the first half seemed to have some substance.
Xu Xunyue had not forgotten the existence of that malicious creature. The other party was wandering in a cataclysm zone. Last time, it had caused chaos in the Endless Snow, and this time, it was suspected of taking advantage of the chaos to launch a sneak attack. It was very likely hiding in the dark now, ready to attack at any time.
He couldn’t let his guard down.
“After we finish resting and set off again, we have to be careful of all the creatures we encounter,” Xu Xunyue said. “Including humans.”
After he finished the food Zhu Hui had left, he resolutely drove the other to the bed.
Zhu Hui still wanted to argue, “A Sentinel can go without…”
“Be obedient, go to sleep. I’ll give you a mental soothing.”
This time, Xu Xunyue consciously used his spiritual body to tie the person to the bed to lie down, and by the way, he threatened, “If you don’t sleep, I’ll tickle you.” Then he bent his knuckles and gently scratched the skin around the other’s Adam’s apple.
The shadow cast by his knuckles also twisted twice in the air, as if it were a fox borrowing the might of a tiger.
Zhu Hui’s Adam’s apple trembled uncontrollably. His expression was cautious, but he was clearly holding back a laugh.
“Okay, okay, I know. I’m very obedient, brother…”
After begging for mercy a few times, he obediently closed his eyes.
[Wait.]
[Wait a minute!]
The shadows had completed Xu Xunyue’s command to tie him up. They were proudly lingering at his feet, and at this moment, they righteously made a request.
[Let him let the wolf out.]
[Yes, yes, the wolf has rested for so long. It’s time for it to come out and work.]
[We surrounded him before, but he didn’t understand what we meant. Sigh, you should teach him more in the future.]
Xu Xunyue captured the main point of his spiritual body’s words.
He asked: [What did you guys do? I mean, besides when I woke up, what did you guys do?]
[We didn’t do anything. You told us to drag him to bed later.]
[We just surrounded him—that’s a form of protection!]
[We also praised him, like he’s skillful, the things he makes are delicious, he’s improving faster and faster, and he’s worthy of being your Sentinel… but he didn’t understand. Sigh!]
[If only all humans were as good at understanding the meaning of spiritual bodies as you are.]
Xu Xunyue thought to himself, If Zhu Hui could understand, that would be a disaster.
He would probably die of shame.
In addition, he probably guessed the reason why the snow wolf didn’t come out.
Although he liked to bully his own Sentinel, Xu Xunyue was still very good to the Sentinel’s spiritual body and had no intention of deliberately bullying it.
He thought for a moment and felt that he should still give the snow wolf some buffer time, so he was prepared to refuse the shadows’ request—
With a soft whoosh.
A certain wolf that had been on his mind appeared in the room.
It looked very surprised by its own appearance. When it met Xu Xunyue’s surprised gaze, it anxiously lowered its tail.
The shadows cheered and pounced, not forgetting to thank the Guide.
Xu Xunyue: “…”
Actually, I didn’t say anything.
It was Zhu Hui who threw his spiritual body out himself.
Xu Xunyue looked at the Sentinel with his eyes closed, the corners of his lips curling up slightly. He reached out and placed his hand on his forehead.
[That, mmmph mmmph…]
The snow wolf’s eyes were shining from being kneaded in a storm. After it was done, it still spoke to Xu Xunyue with great strength.
[Little Hui told me to come out and protect you guys.]
Xu Xunyue’s movements paused.
[I know,] he said.
[Then, can you really hear everything?]
[That’s right.]
[…]
Xu Xunyue felt that he saw the word “resignation” in those wolf eyes that were so similar to Zhu Hui’s.
[Sigh,] the snow wolf sighed. [I shouldn’t have told so many dirty jokes.]
[How can I face people like this?]
Xu Xunyue: “?”
He could hear everything, that’s right, but that was only when Zhu Hui was by his side. When Zhu Hui was far away, he couldn’t hear him.
So this kind of thing happened when Zhu Hui wasn’t by his side…
A mischievous smile flashed in his eyes. Xu Xunyue entered Zhu Hui’s spiritual landscape.
On the snowfield, the dream star was slowly rising.
What was that about a Sentinel being fine without sleep for a night? Isn’t he sleeping very quickly?
No matter how high the body’s limit is, it’s not like you can’t feel tired.
Xu Xunyue called in a part of the shadows to help, while he himself walked toward the pitted snowfield.
After being with him, Zhu Hui’s spiritual landscape had not been injured much, and the result of his fatigue was that the overall environment did not look so vibrant.
The arrival of the shadows undoubtedly added vitality to this place.
They floated around on the snowfield and the cliffs, touching that unique Meconopsis, taking away the moisture in the air, and tidying up the fallen leaves on the mountain…
They were having a great time.
For a Guide with a bonded Sentinel, the Sentinel’s spiritual landscape was undoubtedly the Guide’s spiritual body’s second home.
The petals of the Meconopsis were curled up like a mimosa. The fallen leaves under the tree were swept clean, and the leaves on the tree began to be disturbed, blown west by the east wind and east by the west wind, the memory images on them clear at a glance.
But it was precisely this kind of blatant, unprofessional behavior that made the somewhat gloomy sky of the snowfield gradually become clear.
The dream star was shining brightly in the sky, like a gift box that was close at hand yet mysterious.
What did Zhu Hui dream of this time?
“I dreamed of our wedding.”
When the mental soothing was over and the second half of the night had completely passed, Xu Xunyue woke up the sleeping Sentinel and got such an answer.
“We should have a make-up wedding,” Xu Xunyue nodded with a smile. “We’ll do it after the matter with the Empire is over. Where do you want it?”
The two of them simply tidied up their clothes and luggage, and as they left the room and walked out of the villa, they chatted in low voices.
Zhu Hui said, “It depends on where brother likes.”
“Then where was it in your dream?”
“By the sea.”
“By the sea? That sounds very good…”
Xu Xunyue suddenly stopped speaking and looked outside the villa’s fence.
Zhu Hui had noticed it a little earlier than him, and at this time, he was also staring at it without blinking, his entire being in a state of alert.
There were people there.
Five people. One was standing at the very front, and the remaining four were standing behind that one.
The person standing at the very front was slender, but had a certain indescribable temperament. It was clear at a glance that he was not the same kind of person as the bald Sentinel.
He seemed to be the leader of these five people. He was waving at them, with a polite smile on his face.
Xu Xunyue and Zhu Hui exchanged a look and did not approach rashly.
And so, the five people walked over slowly, at a speed that showed they had no hostility.
