Xin Hexue couldn’t even tell if it was day or night anymore.
Scarier than He Botian during their honeymoon phase was the He Botian who had turned into a monster.
On the bed, the carpet, even the sofa and bathtub.
Sometimes he passed out from exhaustion, but most of the time he kept waking again and again from overstimulation.
If he wasn’t lying down, he was face down. Every time Xin Hexue thought he had reached his limit, an ice-cold fluid would be fed into his mouth, melting instantly and sliding down his throat.
The cut-open vines were oozing this fluid nonstop.
Xin Hexue had no idea what this substance was.
Maybe it was monster blood, maybe something like demonic blood in strange fantasy settings, but somehow it was even more nourishing than that.
One day… or two…? Three…?
Xin Hexue was in a haze. He realized he wasn’t hungry or dehydrated at all.
The chronic sickness in his body was even healing slowly.
The fluid was like glue, mending his cracked and broken body together.
Because of that, the vines worked even harder.
But what was this stuff?!
Cold fluid was once again forced into his throat by the vines.
Even though it had no real taste.
Due to psychological resistance, Xin Hexue’s eyes flushed red and he gagged uncontrollably.
He quickly realized this was a bad reaction.
Because the vines switched to a new method to keep feeding the fluid into him.
“Wu!”
No way… absolutely not… he couldn’t take any more. He Botian was going to break him.
Xin Hexue’s eyes lost focus.
His stomach and lower abdomen bulged slightly. Below him was sticky and cold, and the fluid, squeezed deep inside by the vines, kept squelching out between his legs.
Xin Hexue was very clear that the power outage that day had been a trap.
Because the moment the vines wrapped him up completely, the power in the villa came back on.
It seemed like night again, and the bright bedroom lights shone down on him.
The mirror reflected the scene…the green vines wrapped around him too tightly, and red marks bloomed on his white body.
Like a fallen holy angel, even his wings were tied down.
He would be tied to a stake and judged, and everyone would see him being torn to pieces by a monster.
Xin Hexue was devastated to find that he was still absorbing the nutrients the monster gave him.
His clenched jaw loosened, and he cried in a low, choking sob, sounding like a little cat, pleading, “Turn off the lights!”
The vines seemed to understand simple commands.
The room went dark instantly.
When the white light exploded in front of his eyes again, Xin Hexue arched his neck like a dying swan.
His life seemed to flash before his eyes.
He suddenly remembered the first time with the old He Botian.
At least a virgin was easier to handle than a monster.
………
The air on Christmas Eve was chilly, but the night sky was clear.
Snowflakes formed a thin white layer on the streets and rooftops. Shops along the street dressed the silver fir branches in Santa hats. Colorful lights and golden wreaths were everywhere.
Reindeer pulled sleighs across the square, golden bells jingling under their necks. The imperial city was steeped in the holiday mood.
Even the Joint Military Academy’s radio station was playing soft, cheerful Christmas tunes.
This meant the Christmas holiday had officially begun.
More and more sentinels and guides streamed out of the teaching buildings, laughter and joy filling the atmosphere as students welcomed the break.
Even though final exams for the semester wouldn’t end until Little New Year’s Eve in late January, and this was just the start of the final exam month, the school’s Christmas break lasted a full seven days, which was a much-needed intermission.
Xin Hexue had just left the classroom. He had finished the first mandatory guide course of the semester. The course was simple and light, so the exam was scheduled before the holiday.
He kept his head down, hands stuffed into the side pockets of his down jacket.
His chin pressed against the jacket zipper.
A breath puffed out into white mist in the air and dissipated.
Xin Hexue looked up. The stars had already appeared in the sky.
Suddenly, someone ran up behind him and threw an arm around his shoulder…it was Alexander from the dorm next door.
An overly cheerful and thick-skinned guy.
“Xin! I have a very awesome Christmas Eve plan! Right now there are two dorms joining, 422 and our 423. How about you? Do you want to join us?”
“But…” Alexander scratched his head again, “You probably have plans with He?”
Xin Hexue replied casually, “I’m fine with anything.”
Alexander was pleasantly surprised, “Great! So you and He are both coming, right?”
Xin Hexue lowered his eyes slightly, his expression calm. “I’m not really sure about him.”
Alexander was stunned. “You guys…did you have a fight?”
Xin Hexue shook his head. “No.”
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a fight.
Alexander clearly didn’t believe it, and muttered angrily in a low voice, “With such a great guide as a boyfriend, he still fought with you? He’s just too ungrateful!”
Everyone thought Xin Hexue and He Botian were dating.
After all, they had been inseparable since the start of the semester.
A gentle and resilient beautiful guide, and a sunny, cheerful, handsome sentinel, whether from appearances or raw ability, even if the sentinels were jealous enough to chirp like crickets in their dorms late at night or even challenge He Botian to a fight at the training hall, they still had to admit that He Botian and Xin Hexue were a perfect match.
After all, none of them could beat He Botian.
Sometimes, these things followed the rules of courtship in the animal kingdom, with strong combat ability a prerequisite for successful courtship.
Of course, nothing could be said with absolute certainty, but in this batch, the only sentinel who might be able to go up against He Botian probably had no interest in the school beauty. Otherwise, since they were already in the same dormitory and had a past engagement, they would’ve gotten together already. There wouldn’t have been any opportunity for a good brother to step in.
Xin Hexue had no idea what outsiders thought.
But as for him, he was still just fishing for He Botian.
They hadn’t pierced that final layer of window paper between them. They were still in that stage above friendship but not quite lovers.
Xin Hexue had noticed several times that He Botian struggled to say something to him, but in the end, his expression would twist into one of being tortured by his conscience, and he would firmly shut his mouth.
Xin Hexue wasn’t in any hurry. The other party’s love value was already at eighty, it was only a matter of time before he confessed.
Even if he kept it bottled up, it wasn’t him going to suffocate to death.
So Xin Hexue stayed put.
But what came faster than He Botian’s confession was a fight that could not be considered a fight.
The trigger was Xin Hexue submitting an application to the military and the reserve legion to join as a guide on active duty. There hadn’t been any precedent for this in the last hundred years.
When He Botian found out, he uncharacteristically lost his temper.
Xin Hexue and he had a disagreement over whether a guide could enter the frontline in the Folded Zone.
“The Folded Zone is too dangerous!” He Botian was doing his best to suppress his emotions, pacing back and forth on the floor in front of Xin Hexue. The fact that he couldn’t convince Xin Hexue to withdraw the application or change his mind made him look like an anxious bear.
Xin Hexue sat quietly on the sofa, lifting his gaze to look at him.
He said calmly, “If you’re worried I can’t protect myself, then you know how I perform at the training hall.”
Besides the required guide courses, Xin Hexue had also taken several of the practical combat simulation classes that were normally part of the sentinel curriculum.
Guides and sentinels had different academic tracks, guides studied for two years, while sentinels studied for four.
He Botian, like Wei Zhuo, was two years older than him and currently in his third year at the Joint Military Academy. So even though they were in the same dorm, from age and entry year, they were clearly senior and junior.
He Botian had already spent a full year in the reserve legion. He had personally been to the Folded Zone and had witnessed the real, bloody, and brutal scenes there.
“Ah Xue, the Folded Zone isn’t simulation training…” He Botian tried his hardest to describe the life-and-death situations he had seen and heard about, but Xin Hexue remained calm and unaffected.
And this was exactly what drew He Botian to him.
Xin Hexue looked delicate and fragile, but He Botian knew that within that seemingly frail body lived a resilient and powerful soul. Once Xin Hexue set his mind on something, it was nearly impossible for others to change it.
But now, this was exactly what gave He Botian a headache today.
A guide’s duty was to provide mental guidance. Facing sentinels who could go berserk at any moment, this job alone was risky enough.
So guides were supposed to stay in the safe zones. The outside world was too dangerous. Guides, unlike sentinels, didn’t have their physical strength massively enhanced. Anything in the Folded Zone could threaten a guide’s life at any time.
This was what he thought in his heart, but he couldn’t say it out loud.
What if Xin Hexue thought he was an egoist sentinel chauvinist? He Botian’s jaw clenched, and his sword-like eyebrows were furrowed. “Anyway, I’m against it.”
Xin Hexue glanced at him and said lightly, “What right do you have to be against it?”
One blow, and He Botian was crushed.
He wore that tangled expression again that Xin Hexue found hard to describe.
It felt like he was just one step away from confessing, but there was still some kind of barrier between them. He Botian’s conscience was clearly suffering.
They fell into a deadlock.
He Botian still fetched water and saved seats for Xin Hexue, reminded him about the weather and what to wear, but they spoke less and less.
Xin Hexue was deliberately giving him the cold shoulder.
He was waiting for the next opportunity, one that would make He Botian’s emotions explode in one fell swoop.
And this opportunity soon arrived.
……
The streets on Christmas Eve were particularly lively. Even though it was almost midnight, there were still people coming and going.
A passerby walked past a tavern and happened to glance at the booth by the window. His gaze was involuntarily drawn in. By the time he realized it, he was already inside the tavern.
The tavern was decorated in a vintage style. Unlike other bars with earsplitting music at midnight, this place played much softer tunes.
This made it very popular with the nearby students.
A Christmas tree in the center of the hall sparkled with golden lights. Ribbons and bits of confetti littered the walnut wood floor.
The passerby turned his attention to the booth by the window on the left.
On the table sat a special holiday gingerbread milk liqueur, the stemmed glass tied with a red-and-white striped scarf.
Sitting there was a very good looking boy, somewhere between a teenager and a young man.
The temperature inside was just right. He was wearing a high-neck sweater, with a down jacket casually draped over his shoulders, leaning back against the sofa in the booth.
The passerby heard hushed whispers..it was obvious the others were also curious about that special table.
A student from the Joint Military Academy.
The good-looking boy sitting in the center seemed to be a guide.
The lighting in the tavern was warm and golden.
Xin Hexue blinked slowly, a sheen of moisture rising in his eyes.
He Botian’s voice couldn’t hide his joy as he asked, “Great, are you finally sleepy? Let’s go back?”
Xin Hexue deliberately ignored him and didn’t even glance his way.
He Botian obediently shut his mouth again and sat back in his seat.
He and Wei Zhuo had run into Alexander and the others by chance and saw Xin Hexue among them, so they joined on their own.
They were the uninvited guests.
Fortunately, the game at the booth was still going, and no one noticed the earlier tension between He Botian and Xin Hexue.
It was a common bar party game.
The King’s Game.
In this round, the unlucky two picked by the king who drew the joker card were now standing at the tavern bathroom entrance, bowing in unison to the first customer who walked in, “Welcome!”
Then bowing again to the first customer who exited, “Please come again!”
The passerby looked puzzled and quickly walked away.
The other sentinels at the booth were laughing so hard they bent over, waiting for the two to return.
The two punished sentinels were speechless and on the verge of tears. “Can we stop doing these psycho punishments? The whole tavern thinks we’re sick.”
Alexander chuckled, “Then let’s do something romantic next round.”
The playing cards were reshuffled.
One by one, everyone drew a card.
Alexander exclaimed with delight, “I’m the king!” He revealed the joker.
Then he grinned slyly and said, “Then let the Ace of Hearts sit on the Nine of Hearts’ lap and ask the Nine of Hearts if they like me, you have to look into each other’s eyes deeply for thirty seconds and record it as a Christmas keepsake special…”
“Thirty seconds? That’s too long!”
“What kind of weird question is that?”
“Ew, Alexander, you’re so disgusting.”
Everyone started shrieking, making exaggerated retching noises while shouting and jeering.
“Who’s the Ace of Hearts?”
“And the Nine of Hearts?”
Xin Hexue spread out his playing card with surprise.
Ace of Hearts.
The room suddenly fell silent for a moment.
Alexander realized things had taken a turn, “Wh-who’s the Nine of Hearts?”
He Botian’s face was tense, and the playing card in his hand was almost crumpled from how hard he was gripping it.
Wei Zhuo said coldly, “It’s me.”
