Chapter 32: Encounter

As Xiang Ye spoke, he became more and more animated. He even pulled up his old photos and physical data to show those around him. “When I was young, I never had enough to eat. I was always skinny and small, couldn’t work hard enough to support myself… That day, I was practically dying of hunger. It was Ying Li passing by who saw how pathetic I looked and took me in…”

Recalling those past times, remembering how things were back then, Xiang Ye’s eyes turned red. It was the closest he’d ever come to death as a child, and even now, the memory sent a chill through him.

Guides were generally somewhat innocent, especially those in the Upper City District. With many Sentinels and few Guides, and those Sentinels lacking powerful family backgrounds, Sentinels rarely dared bully Guides. The worst problem the Guides in this lounge ever faced was a lack of money, but they still earned money far faster than ordinary people! Surrounded by ordinary folks who had it so much worse, they generally considered themselves quite lucky.

Listening to Xiang Ye’s story right now, they felt a pang of sympathy, empathizing deeply, their eyes growing as red as Xiang Ye’s.

If someone had helped them when they were in utter despair, they’d certainly fall in love with that person too. What a beautiful love story that would be! Looking at it this way, Ying Li seemed like a pretty decent person?

“After going home with Ying Li, I put on weight, grew taller, and even awakened as a Guide. I’m living a life now that I never even dared to dream of before…”

Xiang Ye was in the middle of speaking when suddenly, someone opened the door and walked in. He instinctively stopped talking and realized the newcomer was Wu Nian.

Immediately, Xiang Ye straightened his back, adjusting his posture to match that of the elderly female Guide sitting next to him. Surely, that would make him look better. The very first moment he’d seen that kind Guide, he’d thought she possessed such a wonderful aura, and he wanted to become someone like her.

Xiang Ye saw Wu Nian. And Wu Nian, of course, saw Xiang Ye.

Wu Nian hadn’t been in a good mood today. Well, ever since his rebirth, he’d rarely been in a good mood. Yesterday, he’d gone to the Guide Academy seeking help, but the “help” they offered was trying to introduce him to Sentinels! Those people had no good intentions; all they wanted was to sell him to a Sentinel for money! Wu Nian naturally refused to go on any blind dates.

So the Academy negotiated with the Bank on his behalf, lowering his interest rate, reducing his monthly payments by extending his loan term, and contacted the Calming Center, asking them to prioritize assigning Sentinels who needed Mental Combing but hadn’t specified a Guide to Wu Nian.

Thus, he was at the Calming Center again today. He’d just finished combing the Mental Sea of a Sentinel he’d been assigned. Feeling a bit hungry, he remembered the Guide Lounge provided free snacks for Guides, so he headed over. In the past, he would have looked down on these little snacks, but recently, he was so short on money he couldn’t even afford them.

Wu Nian, frustrated and irritated, entered the Guide Lounge, and the first thing he saw was Xiang Ye. Yesterday, when he’d run into them at the Academy gate, he hadn’t known who Xiang Ye was. But not long after leaving, an old classmate contacted him: “Wu Nian, did you know Ying Li found another Guide? And he actually took that Guide outside the city on a hunt!”

Learning Wu Nian knew nothing, his classmate spilled everything, telling him all about Xiang Ye and Ying Li, and introducing Xiang Ye, the Guide who awakened only after reaching adulthood.

Wu Nian was stunned. He knew Ying Li was unreliable—in his last life, Ying Li had always been trying to drag him on trips outside the city. But he never imagined Ying Li could be this reckless! Taking a Guide on a hunt? Had he lost his mind?! It was a good thing he hadn’t stayed with Ying Li in this life!

He’d spent last night talking with his classmate, saying how unreliable Ying Li was, how pitiful Xiang Ye was. Now, seeing Xiang Ye, his face was full of pity. “You’re Xiang Ye, right? Do you need help? The Guide Academy isn’t very dependable, but they can probably help you find a different Sentinel.”

Since the moment he saw Wu Nian, Xiang Ye had been like a hedgehog, all his spines bristling. He was fully prepared to ‘battle’ Wu Nian. Instead, Wu Nian wasn’t trying to steal Ying Li, but was looking at him with pity? This completely threw Xiang Ye off.

Wu Nian looked over Xiang Ye’s cheap, ill-fitting clothes and felt even more sympathy. Even as broke as he’d been recently, he wouldn’t wear clothes that didn’t fit. It was just too embarrassing! At the same time, a sense of superiority rose within him. In Ying Li’s heart, this Xiang Ye certainly couldn’t compare to him. In his last life, even though Ying Li wore this brand, he’d never made Wu Nian wear it. But for Xiang Ye? He made him wear this, and even bought it a size too large.

“If a Sentinel is oppressing you, you have to fight back, or they’ll just get worse!” Wu Nian looked seriously at Xiang Ye. “Ying Li is no good. You should get away from him as soon as possible…”

Xiang Ye, initially confused, flared with anger the moment Wu Nian started insulting Ying Li. “You’re the one who’s no good!”

Wu Nian, who wasn’t used to taking any grief, immediately teared up. “I’m giving you good advice, and you curse at me?!”

Xiang Ye wanted to have a shouting match, but seeing Wu Nian’s pitiful look, he didn’t know how to respond. He wanted to tell Wu Nian just how amazing Ying Li was, but what if that just made Wu Nian want to compete for him? He also wanted to curse him out, but there were other people here, and he didn’t want them to think he was vulgar and rude.

Realizing it was already lunchtime, Xiang Ye ignored Wu Nian and turned to the other Guides in the lounge. “I need to go home for lunch. See you next time.” He left right after saying goodbye.

Seeing this, Wu Nian snorted. “His life must be miserable. I hit a sore spot and he got embarrassed and angry!”

The people around them were speechless. Just moments ago, Xiang Ye had been telling them how delicious his fried eggs were. Did that sound like someone living a miserable life? If Xiang Ye’s life was bad, then all of theirs were terrible. For instance, the elderly Guide who had brought Xiang Ye—her life wasn’t easy either. Both her children were ordinary people, and so were their offspring. In the Upper City District, ordinary people’s lives were always just passable. She was over a hundred now, had already outlived her children and several grandchildren, and still had to support the remaining ones. Every family had its own difficulties.

After leaving the Calming Center, Xiang Ye hailed a car to head home. On the way, he received messages from the guides he’d befriended today. Some shared their own experiences on Mental Combing, while others told him not to mind what Wu Nian had said. Xiang Ye replied to them one by one and returned home in a good mood.

When he arrived, Ying Li had already cooked the meal. Cooking was truly simple for a Sentinel. The reason his cooking had been bad before was simply because he’d never put any thought into it. To the old him, food just needed to be cooked and edible; whether it tasted good or not was secondary. Now? At noon today, he’d thrown his full sense of smell into the task of frying eggs, just so he could get them absolutely perfect.

He’d only made fried eggs, not a spread of steamed eggs and egg drop soup like Xiang Ye. Mainly, he felt no other dish could compare to the simple fried egg. He could eat these every day for the rest of his life!

During the meal, Xiang Ye told Ying Li about his day, mentioning all the new Guides he’d met. But he didn’t breathe a single word about seeing Wu Nian.

If he didn’t bring up Wu Nian, Ying Li would eventually forget him. If he mentioned Wu Nian, wasn’t that just forcing Ying Li to remember him?

Ying Li was happy to hear Xiang Ye had made friends. He then asked, “Why did you buy your clothes a size too large?”

Xiang Ye replied, “I’ve been growing so fast lately. If I didn’t buy them a little big, I might not fit into them next month.”

Ying Li couldn’t help but laugh. It was a bit of an exaggeration, but Xiang Ye really had been growing rapidly.

After lunch, Xiang Ye went back to the Calming Center. Shi Tai had booked his Mental Combing session for the afternoon, and Xiang Ye wanted to observe. He also planned to talk up Ying Li’s good qualities even more to the Guides there!

Watching Xiang Ye march out the door brimming with energy, Ying Li stayed home, doing exercises while pondering what beast to catch for dinner tomorrow. He didn’t plan to go far, likely sticking to the area near the Safe Zone. He wondered which beasts nearby tasted best. He’d aim for a fatty one; the fat could be rendered into oil. He also needed to find a younger, more tender one, so the meat would be easier for Xiang Ye to chew.

But since they were back in the Underground City, tougher meat wasn’t a huge problem—they could just mince it and make meatballs.

With that in mind, Ying Li searched online for cooking tutorial videos. He’d always thought of himself as someone who wasn’t a picky eater. In his past life, even as an A-rank Sentinel with plenty of money, he rarely ate food from the Ecological Zone and mostly stuck to Nutrient Paste. But after tasting Mutant Beast meat and eggs, he suddenly realized he hadn’t lacked appetite before; he’d simply never had good food.

Xiang Ye came back relatively early that evening, humming a tune when he walked in. “Big Brother Ying, I’ve learned how to comb Mental Seas! Do you want me to comb yours?”

Ying Li said, “No need. My Mental Sea is in perfect condition.” His Mental Sea was, at this moment, utterly calm and tranquil. It didn’t need any combing at all.

Hearing this, Xiang Ye was very disappointed. “Then, when you need it in the future, come find me.”

“Alright.” Ying Li agreed.

Xiang Ye brightened up again and went into the kitchen to cook.

Ying Li didn’t leave the city that day. However, the very next day, he brought Xiang Ye outside again. The teachers at the Guide Academy were speechless upon receiving the notification, but there was nothing they could say. For one, no rule forbade Guides from leaving the city. And for another, Xiang Ye was going willingly.

Luo Qiming and the others planned to rest another day, so Ying Li didn’t go to the training ground. Instead, he retrieved his motorcycle from his rented warehouse and took Xiang Ye hunting. Wearing a helmet, Xiang Ye sat behind Ying Li as he had before, taking out his phone to film a video. He planned to post this video to his social feed to show the new friends he’d made.

The beasts near the Safe Zone were relatively low-level. Such beasts weren’t worth much money, but their taste was not necessarily worse than high-level Mutant Beasts. High-level beast meat was simply too tough; even Ying Li might not be able to chew it.

Not far from the Safe Zone, in an area without surveillance, Ying Li caught a D-rank beast that looked plump and delicious at first glance. He sliced off roughly ten jin of meat. Then he found a spot for Xiang Ye to clean the Corrosive Energy from the meat. While Xiang Ye worked, Ying Li practiced various Combat Techniques nearby.

At noon, they ate a simple lunch of food brought from the city. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to roast the beast meat, but they were a bit too close to Starlight City, and Sentinels occasionally passed by. Roasting meat there risked being discovered. A Sentinel’s sense of smell was extraordinarily sharp; a high-ranking one could catch a scent from dozens of kilometers away.

Xiang Ye was clearing the Black Spots much faster now than at the very beginning. Still, the meat was filled with so many Black Spots that it was slow going. It took him the whole day to clean the ten jin of meat completely. He diced the meat, packed it into the lunch containers they’d used to bring food out, and only then did the two head back. The cleaned Mutant Beast meat didn’t trigger any alarms during the security screening, and they entered the city smoothly. Without pausing for a moment, they rushed straight home to cook. They were dying to eat!