Xiang Ye retreated into the bathroom, feeling utterly embarrassed.
He hadn’t actually been planning to do anything, nor did he have the nerve. Ying Li’s shirt was huge on him, hanging almost to his knees, and he wore shorts underneath, completely covered. He’d just finished showering, felt he’d finally put on a little weight and grown a bit taller, and wanted to soak up some of Ying Li’s attention. Who could have guessed there were other people in the house besides Ying Li?
Xiang Ye put on his pants properly and quietly walked back out.
He wasn’t the only one embarrassed; the Guide Academy teachers felt awkward too. Only Ying Li was completely calm. A kid making a silly blunder, that’s all. Nothing to it.
Seeing Xiang Ye walking out with his head down, Ying Li said, “Xiang Ye, the teachers came to see you. Say hello.”
Xiang Ye greeted the teachers. Teacher Xu immediately said, “Xiang Ye, come back to the Academy with us. We need to give you a checkup.”
Among the few teachers, only one was C-rank, the rest were all D-rank. C-rank Guides were rare in the Upper City District. Ying Li, however, was a B-rank Sentinel—a young one. Although they’d scolded Ying Li a bit when they first arrived, they didn’t dare truly offend him. Some things, they intended to discuss with Xiang Ye in private.
Xiang Ye finished listening and looked over at Ying Li. Seeing this, Ying Li said, “Xiang Ye, go with the teachers.” He had a clear conscience, so letting Xiang Ye go was fine.
Xiang Ye then said, “Big Brother Ying, you go take your shower quickly, and then get some sleep.”
“Alright,” Ying Li nodded.
Only then did Xiang Ye reluctantly leave with the teachers.
A few of them went to the rooftop to catch a ride. As soon as they boarded the Academy car, Teacher Xu asked, “Xiang Ye, did you go hunting outside the city with Ying Li?”
Xiang Ye nodded, admitting it.
Teacher Xu immediately said, “Do you know how dangerous it is outside the city? Corrosive Energy is harmful to Guides; it deteriorates a Guide’s body…”
“Teacher Xu, my body hasn’t deteriorated,” Xiang Ye quietly argued. “I was the one who insisted on going out this time; it has nothing to do with Ying Li.”
Ever since awakening as a Guide, he’d left the city daily, exercised consistently, and not only had his body not worsened, it had improved significantly.
Teacher Xu, seeing he was determined to defend Ying Li, was left speechless.
Teacher Zhou, who had never liked Xiang Ye, let out a cold snort. “Even if you want to cling to Ying Li, you don’t need to watch him every second of every day. Besides, Ying Li doesn’t actually fancy you; he just sees you as a plaything.”
Xiang Ye immediately grew upset. “I want to stare at him every second!” As for Ying Li treating him like a plaything… he wished that were true! The key problem was that Ying Li treated him like a child!
The other teachers brought up more dangers of leaving the city, even citing past examples where Guides following Sentinels on hunts had died outside. But Xiang Ye just kept his head down, silent. He was clearly not listening.
They were at a loss. The only thing they could do was take Xiang Ye for his physical. If his physical condition was worse than before, or if he showed signs of Corrosive Energy erosion, they could use that to persuade him not to go outside.
But when they ran the tests, they found Xiang Ye’s body was in much better shape than twenty days ago. He’d gained over ten jin, and grown nearly two centimeters taller. It was obvious he’d been eating incredibly well.
And that wasn’t all. During the examination, Xiang Ye wouldn’t stop showing off: “Before, when I followed Ying Li to the surface training ground, the Sentinels begging him to teach them some skills brought him all sorts of food. He gave it all to me!” “I ate fried eggs! And roast chicken, roast pork, fresh vegetable salads…” “Ying Li found some edible water chestnuts outside the city. He gave me a bunch every single day!” “Before we went into the wilds this time, he even bought a lot of dried meat at the Surface Exchange and had me eat some every day for nutrition.” “Outside the city is so beautiful! I was inside the car the whole time, never in any danger.” “Ying Li even took me sightseeing.” …
As he spoke, Xiang Ye pulled out the photos he and Ying Li had taken over the past few days to show the teachers.
Originally, Xiang Ye had been a bit annoyed at these teachers for suspecting Ying Li of mistreating him. He had looked at them unfavorably. But after happily boasting for a while and watching the teachers’ expressions shift through a complicated spectrum, his dislike faded. Right now, he just wanted to boast a bit more, just to see their faces change again.
Teacher Zhou felt his teeth ache. “You go on and on about how good Ying Li is to you, so why hasn’t he bought you any clothes?”
“He gave me money. I’m the one who doesn’t want to buy them,” Xiang Ye stated. He had ten thousand credits in his account—enough to buy himself dozens of outfits!
The Guide Academy teachers were completely exasperated. Most importantly, from everything Xiang Ye said, Ying Li genuinely hadn’t mistreated him. Xiang Ye was eating better than anyone! Even they couldn’t afford to eat meat every day like Xiang Ye.
In the end, all they could say was, “Just be careful yourself. If something really goes wrong, it’ll be too late for regrets.”
Xiang Ye said, “Thank you for your concern, teachers. I will be careful.” He knew these teachers meant well, so his thanks were sincere. Well, except for Teacher Zhou; he could sense that Teacher Zhou didn’t like him.
Just as he thought that, he heard Teacher Zhou speak. “Xiang Ye, don’t think too highly of yourself. Not long ago, Ying Li was confessing his feelings to Wu Nian. To him, you’re nothing but a second-choice after being rejected by someone else. He hasn’t even agreed to be your Guardian.”
A Guardian Contract bound both Sentinel and Guide, and protected both. If the contract was signed, whichever side wanted to go back on it would have to pay a price. But without that contract, the two had no real ties. If Ying Li ever got tired of Xiang Ye and kicked him out, Xiang Ye would have no recourse.
With a contract, it was different. If Ying Li fell for another Guide and wanted out, he’d have to pay Xiang Ye a massive compensation and continue supporting him until he found another Sentinel. Of course, entering a Guardian Contract was always with the aim of establishing a Mental Bond, so Sentinels generally wouldn’t choose a Guide whose rank was far from their own. After all, if a Mental Bond couldn’t be established, the Sentinel would lose out badly.
Xiang Ye didn’t care about Teacher Zhou’s sarcasm. He only focused on one thing: “Who is Wu Nian?”
Seeing this, Teacher Xu quickly said, “Wu Nian has nothing to do with Ying Li. Don’t worry about him. Just live your life well from now on.” He felt Xiang Ye was somewhat obsessive and feared he’d go looking for trouble with Wu Nian, so he was unwilling to elaborate.
Xiang Ye didn’t press further, but he filed the name “Wu Nian” away in his mind, deciding he’d look him up later.
Xiang Ye’s body was significantly better than before, just like a teenager developing normally. Teacher Xu uploaded his checkup report and saw him out, adding a final reminder: “You’re still young. Don’t actually… do anything with Ying Li. You could get hurt.”
A Sentinel’s strength was immense; Guides were incredibly fragile to them. A Sentinel could accidentally snap a Guide’s arm without even realizing they’d used force. Generally speaking, a Sentinel and Guide needed to live together for a while first, adapt to each other, before taking things further.
The physical results showed no marks anywhere on Xiang Ye, and no internal injuries. It was clear Ying Li was an honorable man who hadn’t touched him. Teacher Xu just worried Xiang Ye might throw himself at Ying Li and get hurt in the process.
Xiang Ye said, “I understand.” He did want something to happen with Ying Li, too bad Ying Li was unwilling!
As soon as he left the Guide Academy gate, Xiang Ye pulled out his Communication Terminal and went online to search for “Wu Nian.” The public net turned up nothing. After thinking for a moment, he used his Guide credentials to log into the Academy’s internal forum. Sure enough, Wu Nian’s information was there.
There was a post on the forum from months ago: “Wu Nian actually rejected Ying Li? Why?” The original poster detailed the event of Wu Nian rejecting Ying Li’s confession on graduation day, expressing their confusion. Beneath it, there were many replies.
“I can’t figure out Wu Nian’s thinking either.”
“He was the one who approached Ying Li first back then!”
“If I’d known he’d reject Ying Li, I would have made a move! Ying Li is so handsome!”
“Ying Li is a bit poor, but he reached B-rank! That’s a B-rank Sentinel! Is it too late for me to pursue him?”
“Too bad I already have a Guardian…”
…
After reading, Xiang Ye felt a bit dejected. His love rivals were far more numerous than he’d imagined! But he quickly cheered up again. Compared to these people, he still had an advantage—his rank was high! He was a B-rank Guide!
As for Wu Nian… Xiang Ye was actually quite grateful to him, grateful he’d rejected Ying Li. If Wu Nian hadn’t turned Ying Li down, Ying Li most likely wouldn’t have brought him home. Even if Ying Li had taken him in, he certainly wouldn’t have treated him this well; after all, Ying Li’s money would have to support his Guide.
No, thinking about how ugly he’d been back then, even if Ying Li had brought him home, Ying Li’s Guide would’ve kicked him out for sure.
Xiang Ye thought about many things, and at the same time, he took note that Wu Nian was the Guide who had come looking for Ying Li recently. Him not telling Ying Li about Wu Nian’s visit was absolutely the right call! That Wu Nian was likely regretting things now, wanting to get back with Ying Li, which was why he’d come knocking. If he hadn’t blocked him, letting Ying Li see Wu Nian, and Ying Li got sweet-talked into forgiving him… where would that leave him?
Xiang Ye decided that when he got home, he was going to eat even more. He needed to grow up faster. Only then could he make Ying Li realize that he wasn’t a child anymore. And then he could sign a Guardian Contract with Ying Li. Hmm, a Guardian Contract still wasn’t safe enough. Best to establish a Mental Bond. Only with a Mental Bond established would Ying Li be unable to shake him off for a lifetime!
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you heading home?” Ying Li’s voice suddenly sounded.
Xiang Ye jumped, startled. He looked up and saw it was Ying Li. He immediately closed the page on his Communication Terminal. “Nothing, just… browsing.”
“If it’s nothing, hurry up and let’s go home.” Ying Li could see Xiang Ye’s guilty conscience but didn’t pay it any mind. He didn’t ask further, figuring Xiang Ye was probably online looking at things a kid his age shouldn’t be looking at. Xiang Ye hadn’t been typing, so he couldn’t possibly be causing trouble online.
Xiang Ye brightened up at once. “Big Brother Ying, did you come to pick me up?”
Ying Li nodded. He knew the Guide Academy wouldn’t do anything to Xiang Ye, but remembering Xiang Ye was young and might be scared after being taken away for questioning, he’d decided to come.
“Big Brother Ying, you’re the best.” Xiang Ye was overjoyed.
“Come on, let’s go home and sleep.” Ying Li started walking back, with Xiang Ye in tow. After all, they’d been out of the city for ten whole days, he was still a bit tired and wanted a proper rest.
The two walked home together. After they’d gone a good distance, Wu Nian emerged from a nearby alleyway.
A few days ago, Wu Nian received a call from the Guide Academy asking about his living situation. It made him realize he could seek help from them, so he’d come today. But as soon as he arrived, he saw Ying Li leaving the Academy gate with a young man. The young man looked quite young—probably a junior student. So, Ying Li had found another Guide after being rejected?
Wu Nian froze for a moment, then anger surged through him. He wanted to storm out and confront Ying Li. But in that short span, Ying Li was already far away.
Inwardly, Wu Nian cursed Ying Li up and down. It was only when he reminded himself that Ying Li’s future life was bound to be worse than his own that he finally felt some relief.
The Upper City District smelled foul and was crowded, so Ying Li had been suppressing his senses to spare himself the discomfort. He hadn’t detected Wu Nian and took Xiang Ye straight home.
The two slept until the next day. As soon as they were up, Xiang Ye headed into the kitchen. “Big Brother Ying, I’m going to scramble some Mutant Beast eggs for you today!” Food was expensive in the Underground City, and cooking oil was especially costly. While they’d been in the wilds, they’d rendered some fat from the Mutant Beasts to bring back, which was perfect for frying the eggs.
“Sounds good.” Ying Li smiled.
Xiang Ye got busy, then felt a pang of regret. “It’s too bad once we’re back in the city, we won’t have any more Mutant Beast meat. Such a shame.”
But Ying Li said, “Don’t worry, there will be meat to eat. When we go out to train tomorrow, I’ll take some time to catch a beast.” He planned to ride his motorcycle out during a training break and bring back some Mutant Beast meat. Xiang Ye could clean the Corrosive Energy from the meat at the training ground, and then they could bring it back into the city. Regulations forbade bringing Mutant Beast meat into the city, but meat that contained no Corrosive Energy? Who could tell it was from an Mutant Beast? The scanners at the city entrance wouldn’t be able to detect it.
Xiang Ye’s face lit up with a smile. He started telling Ying Li about yesterday’s test results again. “Big Brother Ying, I grew another two centimeters! And gained ten jin!”
“Impressive,” Ying Li praised, glancing at the swirl of hair on top of Xiang Ye’s head. He had grown taller. But still a bit short.
Xiang Ye kept rambling on. “Big Brother Ying, if I keep growing at this rate, in just a year, I’ll be as tall as you!”
Ying Li didn’t say anything. He thought Xiang Ye was being far too optimistic. In his last life, Xiang Ye had maxed out at 1.7 meters. Even if he grew a bit taller this time, matching his own height was a long shot. Still, no point in discouraging a kid. Ying Li smiled. “Eat plenty, and try to grow even taller than me.”
