At ten in the evening, the artificial sun had long since gone dark. Many in the Upper City District had already gone home to sleep, but there were others who only now ventured out.
Beneath a building offering daily rental rooms, a few teenagers who had dyed their faces with pigments and deliberately torn holes in their clothes slouched against the rust-streaked walls, howling a chaotic song: “I’m going to shatter this sky, I’m going to fly up to the heavens…”
Such youths were common in the Upper District. They weren’t yet adults, weren’t about to starve, so they ran wild everywhere.
But once they came of age, the crushing weight of survival would break them. They would scramble for nutrient paste, never again possessing the energy to raise such a ruckus in the dead of night.
Others, though, would take their place.
Wu Nian had been woken by this crowd. Once awake, he’d wanted to open his window and curse at them, but couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing. He could only stew in silent frustration.
The neighbor in the next room did open his window and let loose a torrent of abuse. Unfortunately, the teenagers below paid him no mind, responding with piercing whistles and even louder singing.
With all this clamor, Wu Nian couldn’t fall back asleep. He dressed and went out, making a point to pin his Guide Badge to his chest.
Seeing someone emerge from the building, the gang of youths started whistling again—until they spotted the Guide Badge Wu Nian wore. They scattered instantly.
They wouldn’t dare offend a Sentinel or a Guide!
Those Sentinels were terrifying. Once, a group around their age had accidentally disturbed a Sentinel. The Sentinel’s Mental Sea destabilized and he went berserk, carving that group of troublemakers into eight pieces—no, more than eight. Probably closer to eighty-eight.
Guides weren’t as fearsome as Sentinels, but a Guide always had a Sentinel behind them!
Though the youths had fled, Wu Nian didn’t go back to sleep. Instead, he headed to the Central District to see if any Sentinel might be willing to treat him to a meal.
He was hungry. He’d lost a lot of weight lately.
On the way, Wu Nian grumbled inwardly about the Upper District’s wretched conditions. But once he arrived, the complaints stopped.
Outside a beverage shop in the Upper City District, several Sentinels sat together. One of them, well-proportioned and strikingly handsome—who else could it be but Yu Mingwei?
Wu Nian stared at Yu Mingwei with delighted surprise, eyes fixed and unblinking.
Yu Mingwei had awakened as a B-Rank Sentinel right from the start. Though not the most favored among the younger generation of the Yu Family, he was still a Yu by blood. Since childhood, he’d never lacked for fine things. Not long after reaching adulthood, he had become an A-Rank Sentinel.
But rank was one thing; combat prowess was another. Yu Mingwei could only use his mental power to suppress Sentinels of lower rank. Out in the wilds, he couldn’t even kill a lone B-Rank Mutant Beast.
He’d barely ever been to the wilderness, anyway. He had a life of comfort and privilege to enjoy—why suffer in the wilds? There wasn’t even internet out there!
With his high rank, Yu Mingwei’s perception was naturally sharp.
When someone stared at him, he noticed immediately. He looked over, saw a good-looking Guide, and smiled.
The current head of the Yu Family was Yu Mingwei’s father, but the matriarch was not Yu Mingwei’s birth mother.
Yu Mingwei was illegitimate.
Above him was a prodigiously gifted and exceptionally capable older brother, and below him, a swarm of half-siblings by different mothers. He could get some resources from the Yu Family, but not many. As for inheriting the family—that was impossible unless he became an S-Rank Sentinel.
But reaching A-Rank had already been sheer luck. Becoming S-Rank was nearly impossible.
Yu Mingwei understood his own capabilities very well. He had long since resolved to find a wealthy B-Rank Guide as a partner.
He already had a target in mind, but that target was still too young to pursue for now.
If he couldn’t pursue, so be it. He also had to keep himself clean.
His target was a Guide of high rank with a wealthy background. If he fooled around too much, he probably wouldn’t even qualify to court her.
But truly abstaining was something Yu Mingwei couldn’t manage. So he came to the Upper District for sport.
People from the Upper District couldn’t easily get to the Central District. Even if they could, they had no means to stir up trouble.
As long as he didn’t father a child, it was fine.
Now, seeing a fairly attractive Guide staring at him, Yu Mingwei’s interest stirred. He raised his glass toward the other party. “Would you like to join me for a bite?”
Wu Nian didn’t hesitate. He walked right over.
He suspected Yu Mingwei had also been reborn. Probing, he said, “Long time no see.”
Yu Mingwei raised an eyebrow. “Have we met before?”
Hearing this, Wu Nian figured Yu Mingwei probably wasn’t reborn. He quickly said, “I mistook you for someone else.”
Yu Mingwei studied Wu Nian’s expression carefully. His face still held a smile, but inwardly, he was completely on guard.
The Guide before him claimed he’d mistaken him for someone else, but his eyes and demeanor clearly showed recognition!
Without revealing his suspicion, Yu Mingwei subtly drew information out of Wu Nian.
In the Central District, he couldn’t be called young and promising. But as an A-Rank Sentinel, he wasn’t someone just anyone could fool.
Yet the more he probed, the more baffled he became.
This Wu Nian acted as if he knew Yu Mingwei intimately. But Yu Mingwei was absolutely certain they had never met.
Was this a spy planted by someone else?
No, who would plant such a clumsy spy?
Full of questions, Yu Mingwei smiled as he exchanged contact information with Wu Nian.
Ying Li had no idea that Wu Nian had already run into Yu Mingwei. Even if he’d known, he wouldn’t have cared.
He understood Wu Nian and knew Wu Nian could never hide anything in front of Yu Mingwei.
So he had always been careful. Lately, he’d performed like any ordinary B-Rank Sentinel. Any extra crystal cores he earned, he funneled to Old Lin at the auto repair shop.
If Yu Mingwei investigated, the most he’d uncover was Ying Li teaching Luo Qiming and the others some Combat Techniques.
Luo Qiming and the others treated these techniques as treasures, but to Central District folks, Combat Techniques for C-Rank Sentinels weren’t worth a second glance.
Besides, those techniques were all ones he’d created later in life, without any traceable origin.
Actually, it wasn’t even certain they’d be discovered. He had warned Luo Qiming and the other three to be careful—don’t run their mouths, and never teach the techniques to outsiders.
Ying Li’s days passed as they always did. After resting for a few days, he once again led his team out of the city to hunt.
Xiang Ye naturally followed.
The Guide Academy had tried to make Xiang Ye stay behind, but he insisted on going, and they couldn’t stop him. They did, however, speak to him again, telling him to stop posting about life outside the city on his social feed. They didn’t want Guides from the Upper District getting the idea to follow Sentinels out on hunts.
For Central District Guides, this was no problem. But for Upper District Guides? Absolutely not. The vast majority of Upper District Sentinels couldn’t protect their Guides out in the wilderness.
Even the Safe Zone had Mutant Beasts. Some even liked to live in packs.
Xiang Ye agreed to this. He deleted the wilderness-related posts he’d made before, leaving only a few “mukbang” videos.
This time, Ying Li again chose a safe location as their hunting ground.
In his previous life, he’d often left the city to hunt and knew every hunting spot near Starlight City like the back of his hand. He had plenty to choose from.
Once they reached the hunting ground, he first directed Luo Qiming and the others in setting up camp, then taught them how to hunt.
He was busy until nightfall. Only then did Ying Li take Xiang Ye out for a picnic.
On this trip, Ying Li had caught a Mutated Chicken, so they had roast chicken to eat.
Mutated Chickens were much plumper than Mutated Birds, with more tender meat. The flavor was excellent.
When Ying Li was full, he said to Xiang Ye, “Tomorrow I’m leaving the camp. I’ll be back a bit late, and I’ll bring you something good.”
In the wilderness, Heavenly Treasures were scarce, but there were many resources useful to Guides and Sentinels.
These items weren’t as potent as true Heavenly Treasures, but they still benefited Guides and Sentinels.
In his previous life, Ying Li had sought out many resources for Wu Nian to use. He’d also traded for resources others found and gave them to Wu Nian.
After all, given the circumstances then, only by raising Wu Nian’s rank could they establish a Mental Bond.
In this life, he was definitely not giving those resources to Wu Nian again. But he could give them to Xiang Ye.
Xiang Ye had mostly absorbed the tree gum he’d given him before. It was time to try something else.
He didn’t know how Xiang Ye had become an A-Rank Guide in his previous life, but it must have involved a great deal of suffering. In this life, Ying Li hoped Xiang Ye could smoothly reach A-Rank by the time his body fully matured.
“Big Brother Ying, can I go with you?” Xiang Ye asked.
Ying Li said, “No. The place I’m going is quite dangerous.”
The area they were in now would at most have a few C-Rank Mutant Beasts show up.
Although he’d instructed Luo Qiming and the others to avoid firearms whenever possible, he’d still bought some and kept them available. Xiang Ye also had powerful weapons Ying Li had prepared for him.
C-Rank Mutant Beasts couldn’t hurt them. Even a B-Rank Mutant Beast—they could hold it off and even have a chance to kill it.
But the place he was heading to was different. There was an A-Rank Mutant Beast there.
On this trip, aside from finding Guide-suitable resources, he might also bring back an A-Rank Crystal Core.
In his past life, that A-Rank Mutant Beast had died by his hand. He knew the beast’s weaknesses.
“Then, Big Brother Ying, can we take a few more photos together?” Xiang Ye suggested instead.
To such a small request, Ying Li agreed immediately.
The next morning at four, Ying Li was up.
He slipped away from the camp without a sound. No one noticed except Xiang Ye, who had hooked a tiny thread of mental energy onto him.
When Luo Qiming woke in the morning and saw Ying Li was gone—his motorcycle, parked at the camp entrance, also missing—he asked Shi Tai and Hong Mayi, who’d been on watch for the second half of the night, “When did Captain Ying leave?”
Shi Tai and Hong Mayi looked at each other. They had no idea.
Seeing this, Xiang Ye said, “Big Brother Ying left at four. He wanted to see if you’d notice. You didn’t.”
The night before, Ying Li had told Xiang Ye he’d sneak away in the morning. He wanted Luo Qiming and the others to be more vigilant in the future.
Lately, Luo Qiming’s group had learned much from Ying Li, and with their hunts going so smoothly, they’d inevitably gotten a bit cocky.
During night watch, knowing Ying Li was in the camp, they’d relaxed a little.
And now, Ying Li had slipped away in the middle of the night without them knowing a thing! They didn’t dare slack off again and resolved to maintain twelve parts vigilance from now on.
Xiang Ye glanced at them, then turned back toward the camp entrance.
This morning when Ying Li left, to stay completely silent, he hadn’t just used his mental power to conceal himself. After leaving the camp, he’d lifted the motorcycle with both hands and run.
Thinking about it now, Xiang Ye couldn’t help but smile. Then he sighed quietly.
Who knew when Ying Li would return?
This morning, when Ying Li left camp, he had indeed carried his motorcycle and run. But now, he was already riding that motorcycle, speeding through the mountain forest toward the A-Rank Mutant Beast’s territory.
