The temperature in the mental landscape didn’t match what Xin Hexue actually felt.
Even though it appeared to be a freezing polar region, due to an instinctive sense of self-protection, the only temperature Xin Hexue could perceive was a mild coolness with a hint of warmth.
His mental landscape would envelop him in the gentlest, calmest warm current. The piercing cold winds and harsh frost are only directed at those who intruded into his mental landscape.
However, at this moment when his mental power was weak and exhausted, his mental landscape could no longer summon a polar storm. It could only use the least effort-consuming way to protect his body.
A flock of birds had hidden the angel at the edge of the world beneath the aurora, trying to escape the pursuit of the predator.
However, the vicious wolf still found him.
Its dark snout gently nudged the young man’s body, burying into the wings.
The gray wolf was a typical canid. Its tongue, unlike that of felines, had no barbs. Still, an adult wolf’s mouth held forty-two sharp canine teeth, so it had to carefully restrain them to avoid hurting the other party.
Its tongue licked at the bloodstains on the wings, and the dark red color slowly spread, diluted, and faded, until the flight feathers returned to pure white.
Following the wings, the long, narrow black tongue pressed into the spot where the wings grew out.
There was the scapula, with defined bone lines covered with a thin layer of skin, cold white like the snowfield. The fragile skin turned an obvious red with just one sweep of the tongue across it.
Yan Ji couldn’t understand how someone’s skin could be so delicate?
One red mark after another bloomed, like plum blossoms strewn through the snow overnight.
He had clearly used no force, and yet the red marks already made the young man look as if he’d suffered inhuman abuse.
It left him with a strange, indescribable feeling.
So he could only lick more…to taste it fully.
The gray wolf exhaled heat, which instantly turned into white mist in the polar air.
The unfamiliar touch and the burning-hot sensation shattered Xin Hexue’s sense of temperature equilibrium in an instant, like a small flame scorched to the extreme, rushing from his nerve endings all the way to his brain.
His skin hunger had even started affecting his mental landscape. He was so sensitive that he couldn’t even tolerate the ticklish sensation of his own feathers brushing his bare skin when his wings folded around his body, and yet now, he was being licked wantonly by the gray wolf.
With no technique, just relying only on animal instinct, Yan Ji licked Xin Hexue into a complete mess.
The feathers stood up in disarray, pointing every which way. One could imagine how long it would take for a beautiful snow petrel to tidy them back to their flawless state.
Xin Hexue was so exhausted that his eyelids were stuck together as if they were glued and refused to part. However, his body kept twitching from the intense itchiness. He bit his lip in embarrassment, and his long, delicate fingers curled helplessly, even the knuckles tinged a maddening pink.
“Stop…”
The gray wolf kept licking at his wings and back, making him look as if he’d just been dragged out of the water.
Green quietly sprouted beneath the aurora at the edge of this icy expanse; lichen, spruce, and gentian pine, the flora unique to the gray wolf’s habitat, quietly appeared in this mental landscape.
Like an invasive species, they wildly overran this empty and desolate polar region, attempting to leave their mark.
Yan Ji never received another command from Ji Yushan. This research expert who also served as a doctor probably still had some morals and knew that the patient’s privacy was sacred and could not be violated.
Suddenly, he froze.
His head, or rather, the gray wolf’s head, was yanked by Xin Hexue, who had flipped over and grabbed his fur.
Xin Hexue’s eyes had opened at some point, and were now narrowed slightly, looking at him. “…A bad dog who doesn’t listen.”
Through the eyes of the gray wolf, Xin Hexue seemed to stare directly at Yan Ji, who was controlling everything from behind.
Yan Ji felt a current quietly shoot up his spine and he couldn’t stop his actions.
The pitch-black wolf tongue reflexively licked toward the higher-ranking human again as a gesture of goodwill, flicking directly over the lower abdomen and making it stand trembling in the air.
Moisture glazed its surface, like a bright red bean.
Yan Ji froze. Heat surged through his nasal cavity, and he awkwardly rubbed his wolf head against Xin Hexue’s face, trying to appease him. He was worried that he would get angry, but he blurted out, “…Seems kind of sweet.”
Xin Hexue’s remaining rationality completely collapsed, and his earlobes turned blood red. “Yan… Ji!”
…
After Ji Yushan removed all the electrodes and tubes from his body, Xin Hexue pursed his lips tightly and stepped out of the treatment pod.
The hospital gown hung loosely on his thin frame, the hem dragging down.
Yan Ji followed behind like a big dog that had made a mistake, not daring to make a sound. But whenever Xin Hexue looked back and met his gaze, his expression was visibly full of flattery.
When Ji Yushan in another room detected signs of Xin Hexue’s mental condition improving, he cut off the earpiece feed.
The researchers and assistants had no idea what had happened once Yan Ji entered Xin Hexue’s mental landscape, but from the look of things now, the pair of newly bonded sentinel and guide clearly had some emotional friction.
Hopefully, they’d reconcile.
The researcher who’d spoken out of line earlier prayed sincerely.
She prayed it wasn’t her mention of the major general’s ex-husband that had caused the conflict between them.
To observe the situation further, Xin Hexue stayed in the White Tower’s hospital room for two days, while Yan Ji was carefully placed by the White Tower in a room far from Xin Hexue, yet close enough to be summoned immediately in case of an emergency.
Only after confirming that Xin Hexue’s physical and mental condition had stabilized did the military high command and Wei Zhuo’s visit request get approved by the White Tower.
Because the meeting involved confidential information that had not yet been made public, the White Tower provided a secure conference room to ensure no outsiders would know about it, including Yan Ji, this young sentinel with no outstanding military achievements and far from the center of power, who could only return home and wait for his lover.
The satellite images brought by personnel from the military’s highest strategic command were more detailed and complex than those Wei Zhuo had previously shown Xin Hexue.
The level of secrecy was also far beyond what anyone present had previously had access to.
In the sealed space, the walls were made of special soundproof material. The remaining ceiling lights stayed off, with only the projection beam shining on a blank wall, accompanied by a 3D simulation sand table.
Zoom in. Zoom out. Zoom out again.
Until all present could see the dense green lines in the currently known Folded zones.
These green lines were like a massive web, linking all the originally isolated, unconnected Folded zones together.
The commander in the control room looked grim. He was the first to notice this anomaly and had been tracking it for almost two months.
“It first appeared in the Northern Frontier.”
The commander’s laser pointer landed on the Northern Frontier. The time he mentioned happened to coincide with Wei Zhuo’s second trip there to investigate the anomaly.
In the memory Xin Hexue saw while guiding a sentinel earlier, a unique mutated species from Rainforest Folded zone 122 had appeared, strangely, all the way in the distant Northern Frontier that was separated by thousands upon thousands of miles from the Western Region.
He appeared to be listening to the commander, but his whole mind had already sunk into thought.
If it were before, Xin Hexue might not have understood these green lines. But after the amusement park Folded zone incident, and the coincidental entry into that deep crimson hell…
Xin Hexue could now confidently draw a conclusion:
“It’s trying to connect the Folded Zones to launch a full-scale attack on the safe zone.”
His voice fell at the same time as the commander’s, overlapping with his words.
Everyone’s eyes turned to him.
The commander’s eyes were intense. “Have you understood something?”
Xin Hexue was long used to being stared at. His expression remained calm as he explained: “Those green abnormal energies are all part of the strangling tree’s neural network.”
Every vine that escaped from the rainforest Folded zone was a node in the strangling tree’s neural network, which was why they now appeared as green anomalous energy on the image.
Xin Hexue guessed that some vines were controlled by He Botian, carrying the color of He Botian’s own consciousness, while others lacked higher-level thought and were filled only with the strangling tree’s bloodthirsty aggression. In fact, even the former might not be fully controlled by He Botian. From what Xin Hexue had seen and heard in the red hell, He Botian was still battling the strangling tree for control. The two were locked in a power struggle, and overall, He Botian was currently at a disadvantage.
Since the subject involved a mission target, Xin Hexue deliberately left out He Botian’s part when explaining. He only said that his mental power had accidentally stimulated the vines, which led him into the mental landscape of the strangling tree.
The unique intel he offered played a crucial role in understanding the current situation.
At present, the military had no means of predicting the strangling tree’s actions, and thus couldn’t prepare or deploy ahead of time for new Folded zones.
Just a few days ago, the amusement park was suddenly polluted and devoured, which was a direct blow. Even though the Folded Zone was successfully destroyed overnight, the number of casualties left the military with a harsh lesson.
They had been overconfident, firmly believing that the monsters of the Folded zones couldn’t cross the border lines. After all, they’d placed many watch towers along the borders.
But the reality was, monsters had long since infiltrated both inside and outside the safe zone, slipping through every crack.
Since they couldn’t predict the offshoots’ actions, the best course now was to find the main body and eliminate it.
“In the mental landscape, could you determine the exact location of the strangling tree’s main body?”
This was, without question, the most terrifying and aggressive Folded zone monster in hundreds of years. If left unchecked, it would inevitably overturn humanity’s future. At that point, not just the safe zone, but even the White Tower, the last line of defense, might not survive.
Unfortunately, Xin Hexue shook his head.
“That place was like hell. The ground was deep red and cracked, stretching endlessly. Aside from the strangling tree and its vines, there was no vegetation. I couldn’t tell where it was.”
…
When Xin Hexue returned from the White Tower, it was Wei Zhuo who drove him.
The two of them spoke little in the car. It was unknown whether it was because they were exhausted from dealing with the vine monster incident, or because another sentinel had silently come between them…
It used to be He Botian.
Now it was Yan Ji.
As soon as they got out at the destination villa, Yan Ji ran up and asked about Xin Hexue’s condition. “How are you?”
Xin Hexue shook his head. “I’m fine.”
“Dinner just happened to be ready.”
Yan Ji swept a glance at Wei Zhuo from the corner of his eye, mockery flickering at the end of his brows. “But I only made enough for the two of us. It seems like guests won’t be staying for dinner.”
Wei Zhuo’s eyes darkened, but he ignored the young sentinel’s provocation.
He handed two golden invitation cards to Xin Hexue.
“There’s a summit at the Four-Sector Border on New Year’s Eve. I’ll come pick you up then.”
The Four-Sector Border Summit was a meeting jointly held by the southeastern, southwestern, northwestern, and northeastern borders of the Safe Zone along with the Central Military District. It focused on strategic deployments for the Folded Zones, essentially a year-end review and future policy adjustments. Besides political figures, senior military guides and sentinels would also attend.
This invitation had been finalized at the beginning of the year, so when it reached Xin Hexue, one of the recipients was clearly marked as He Botian. Unexpectedly, so many unexpected changes happened in one year.
Xin Hexue couldn’t help but rub the name gently.
Gold dust stuck to his fingertips.
Xin Hexue: “Mm.”
Actually, even if Wei Zhuo didn’t pick him up, the military would still arrange a vehicle to take him to the venue.
Xin Hexue didn’t expose the true intention behind Wei Zhuo’s gesture.
As He Botian’s good brother, it seemed perfectly reasonable for Wei Zhuo to take care of his brother’s widow.
Xin Hexue didn’t know how long he would keep up this propriety.
But this young master who’d grown up receiving an aristocratic education and raised under strict discipline and control, finally erupted in silence and chose to go to the front lines against all expectations…
The result of constant repression was either hitting rock bottom and bouncing back…or becoming a pervert, then bouncing back.
Xin Hexue was quite looking forward to seeing what he would end up doing.
He curved his eyes in a smile.
Still, compared to Wei Zhuo who had already left, the sentinel in front of him was a more pressing problem that needed to be dealt with.
Yan Ji had finished dinner before Xin Hexue. He put down his chopsticks on the table and went directly to the point: “Do I look a lot like He Botian? Why do you keep calling his name when looking at me?”
It seemed like he was really upset about it.
Which was understandable. As the official, current boyfriend, seeing his partner seemingly obsessed with an ex would make even the most emotionally mature person uncomfortable.
Xin Hexue pretended not to understand. “Do I?”
Yan Ji: “…You do.”
Yan Ji: “Back at the puppet circus venue, and also during the mental landscape fusion…you called his name first both times.”
Xin Hexue lowered his gaze. “Sorry. Maybe because we’ve been through some life-threatening situations together, I got used to fighting side by side. That kind of subconscious reaction wasn’t intentional. I didn’t mean to look at you and… call his name.”
“But, it must be hard for you to hear that, right?”
He looked up at Yan Ji and said, “If you want to break up because of this, I’d completely understand.”
Yan Ji immediately stood up, reacting strongly. “When did I ever say I wanted to break up? I never said that! Not a single word I said meant that!”
Xin Hexue paused for a moment. “Alright. I understand.”
Yan Ji ran a hand through his black hair in frustration. “You don’t understand at all!”
Xin Hexue found him a little noisy. He disliked how men would become neurotic and paranoid once they started dating him.
Even so, he still put on a gentle demeanor. “Do you want to sleep in my room tonight?”
Yan Ji instantly went silent.
……
It turned out that sleeping in Xin Hexue’s room tonight…
Actually just meant sleeping under a quilt.
Yan Ji stared at the ceiling with lifeless eyes.
Xin Hexue had already closed his book, finished his bedtime reading, and was about to turn off the bedside lamp and sleep.
Yan Ji muttered, “It’s only nine o’clock.”
Xin Hexue was surprised. “You’re not sleepy? But I’m a little tired.”
Yan Ji turned over and wrapped his warm arms around Xin Hexue’s waist. Through the pajamas, he felt the soft and flexible sensation of his body.
“Are you feeling better? The doctor recommended more mental landscape fusion sessions.”
“Ji Yushan told me that you and He… him..” Yan Ji was a little reluctant to say this person’s name, so he simply referred to him and continued, “…used to do it ten times a week. I can do that too…”
Before he could finish, long, elegant fingers pressed against his lips.
Xin Hexue lowered his gaze. “He told you that…”
He really didn’t want to bring up such a messy topic, so he brushed past it like a cat’s purr, then stated firmly, “Nonsense.”
During his previous session with Ji Yushan, he hadn’t confessed a word about how often he and He Botian used to have sex.
Who made up this “ten times a week”?
Whether it was true or not didn’t matter anymore, Yan Ji was clearly determined to compete. He had to prove that he was better than He Botian.
“Mental and physical intimacy helps your condition. So… Can I help?”
He sought Xin Hexue’s opinion.
Xin Hexue: “…No.”
Yan Ji didn’t give up. He looked at Xin Hexue with hopeful eyes.
“I’ll wait until you’re asleep and do it gently. Isn’t that okay?”
“What about using fingers? Still no?”
“Face to face?”
“From behind?”
“Holding you?”
“Or pressed against the mirror?”
With every sentence, Xin Hexue’s teeth clenched a little, and his pink ears practically wanted to fold shut.
So he simply pulled the quilt and slammed it down over Yan Ji’s annoying, shameless face.
“Mmmph mmmph!”
Xin Hexue held it down expressionlessly, showing no intention of letting go.
The little cat showed its bad temper, intent on smothering the shameless dog to death.
