Yan Ji had indeed run the whole way here.
The Joint Military Academy wasn’t far from the villa district, and he already knew the route well.
His communicator was in the zipper pocket of his windbreaker.
Half an hour earlier, Xin Hexue had sent him a message.
Apologizing for not replying for seven days because he “hadn’t seen” the message Yan Ji sent.
Yan Ji couldn’t help but let out a cold snort. His smile was bitter and full of self-mockery.
What kind of perfunctory excuse was that?
What, did the app swallow the messages and blocked them entirely?
Even a three-year-old wouldn’t believe that.
What did Xin Hexue take him for?
At the time, Yan Ji’s face was very cold, and his brows were sharp.
He didn’t hesitate to give the app a one-star review in the store.
The app’s icon now had a red badge, meaning Xin Hexue had sent two more messages.
Yan Ji had only left him hanging for one minute, and Xin Hexue already sent two more texts.
So now he realized he wasn’t some lapdog who came at the snap of a finger?
Yan Ji pressed down the corners of his lips, which had started to curl up.
He deliberately waited for a full minute before opening the chat window.
[Xin Hexue: Can you tell me the seasoning ratio for the pork bone and winter melon porridge you made last time?]
[Xin Hexue: If possible, please be precise down to the gram.]
Clearly, a guide with absolutely no cooking experience.
[Yan Ji: You haven’t eaten yet?]
[Yan Ji: The part time housekeeper didn’t come? You didn’t order takeout either?]
Xin Hexue didn’t reply and Yan Ji started to get restless.
He had been sulking because Xin Hexue never directly responded to his initial question.
Of course Yan Ji cared.
He could still clearly remember how fast his heart was beating when Xin Hexue accepted the bouquet and said he liked it.
If he didn’t like him, he could’ve said so from the start, why string him along?
Yan Ji kept a stern face, but after two minutes without a response from Xin Hexue, he was already standing up from his seat anxiously.
13:05.
‘It was already this late and he still hasn’t eaten?’
Yan Ji had always known Xin Hexue’s health wasn’t great.
Was he really this bad at taking care of himself?
“Where are you going?” Jia Jin was getting water in the common living area when he heard hurried, frantic footsteps.
Yan Ji didn’t answer. He just grabbed his jacket and ran out.
……
Obviously, the earlier excuse of “jogging by” was not very convincing.
Xin Hexue stepped forward and at his command, the front gate opened for the young sentinel.
He spoke gently, “Come on in first.”
Yan Ji didn’t know how to start the conversation, and stammered, “…Y-you haven’t had lunch yet?”
He hoped Xin Hexue hadn’t noticed how he ran all the way here, then circled outside the gate like a dog.
The smart recognition system at the gate probably thought he was sick.
Maybe it had already tagged him as some pervert lurking around.
It was Christmas Eve.
Yan Ji had just finished his exams in the morning, and hadn’t changed out of his uniform yet. He was still wearing the pitch-black military uniform of the Joint Military Academy.
His peaked cap, which usually sat low over his sharp brows and made him look intimidating, was now removed. He fiddled with it to hide his thoughts, scraping his finger along the brim. He said unconvincingly, “I was just worried you fainted from hunger and no one noticed.”
“Mm… well, thank you for coming,” Xin Hexue smiled and didn’t expose him. “I haven’t eaten yet.”
He had been fussing over the vines for so long that he had only had two mouthfuls of porridge until now.
“The pork bone and winter melon porridge you made last time was really delicious. Can you teach me how to make it?”
Xin Hexue looked at him with anticipation.
Yan Ji immediately put his military cap back on and pulled the brim down to hide most of his face.
His ears were heating up uncontrollably.
‘What is going on… is this acting coquettish?’
Xin Hexue himself didn’t even realize it.
Although his health had been improving thanks to the nutrients from the vines, his overall condition was still hard to describe…like a white plumeria flower drenched in heavy rain.
His lips were a brighter red than usual, which softened the coldness he usually projected.
A faint flush lingered at the corners of his eyes, making them look both seductive and soft. Even when his emotions were unreadable, there was still a vague allure in his gaze. As his eyes moved, he looked breathtakingly beautiful.
Yan Ji kept his head down as he walked ahead, as if slowing down even a little would land him in a trap.
When Xin Hexue tried to follow him into the kitchen, Yan Ji pushed him out.
“Secret family recipe,” Yan Ji said righteously. “I can make it for you, but I’m not sharing it.”
No way. If Xin Hexue learned to make it himself, he’d lose one more excuse to come here.
[Yan Ji love value +1]
K thought Yan Ji had fully mastered the principle of “it’s better to give a little cat fish than teaching the little cat how to fish.”
After getting chased out of the kitchen, Xin Hexue turned around to wash his hands.
He used disinfectant meticulously, not missing even a single crevice around his fingernails.
While he scrubbed until his fingertips turned pale, a pitch-black car pulled up outside the villa.
K, connected to both the smart gate system and the internal and external surveillance, noticed the vehicle immediately.
[Wei Zhuo is here.]
He tipped off Xin Hexue.
Xin Hexue wiped his hands dry with a tissue.
The faucet was turned to the maximum. With the sound of rushing water, any trace of dirt was thoroughly rinsed away.
Sunlight filtered through the window. Reflected in the glass, Xin Hexue’s eyes were unreadable.
He looked like a beautiful murderess who had just finished burying her ex-husband’s body.
……
Because the visit involved confidential matters, Xin Hexue took Wei Zhuo up to the second floor without telling Yan Ji.
Wei Zhuo seemed lost in thought along the way, his eyes solemn and his expression heavy.
Just like Yan Ji, neither of them realized there was another sentinel in Xin Hexue’s house.
Wei Zhuo had been thinking about what the military and the Joint Military Academy had mentioned earlier.
As he sat down on the sofa in the second-floor lounge, Wei Zhuo asked in a low voice, “…You haven’t been going to class? And no mental guidance either?”
Due to Xin Hexue’s poor physical condition, the day he returned to the White Tower, they had already notified the Black Tower’s system manager that their guide needed rest. Only sentinels with over 85% mental pollution could apply for an exception. For the rest, their originally scheduled December appointments were postponed until the following month.
As for the military academy, K had already applied for an extended leave on Xin Hexue’s behalf on the day his host’s ex-husband returned from the dead.
The academy itself had very few full-time instructors. Nearly half the teaching staff were rotating positions, invited from the front lines or other regions to give lectures. Both staff and students were used to frequent changes, so no one reacted strongly.
The school’s reply email even expressed concern for Xin Hexue’s health.
Xin Hexue lowered his eyelashes. “I haven’t been feeling well these past few days.”
Wei Zhuo: “…Mm.”
The two of them suddenly fell into silence.
Wei Zhuo had recently hit a wall with Ji Yushan. Because he used his authority for personal revenge, Wei Zhuo’s assessment report had been stamped with a glaring red “FAIL”.
He had been thinking about what Ji Yushan said, that Xin Hexue had already chosen someone better.
But Wei Zhuo wasn’t the type to give up just because of someone else’s opinion.
Under pressure from the Black Tower, the research institute eventually compromised and completed the two missing tests.
The results were excellent. He was evaluated as a sentinel with a vast mental landscape, emotional stability, and great potential for growth. The machine even gave him a very high score. If this were a premarital screening, he would have passed every metric with flying colors.
All this would serve as reference for whether a match could succeed.
The only step left was for the sentinel and the guide he liked to jointly submit an official compatibility test application.
Wei Zhuo should’ve come here the moment the results came out and confessed everything to Xin Hexue.
If all went well, the compatibility result would be released in a month.
If things went even better, they could get engaged by January.
Or skip the engagement altogether. It might be rushed, but with the Wei family’s wealth and status, they could still host a grand and formal wedding.
But he suddenly remembered that this time of year marked the anniversary of Xin Hexue and He Botian’s relationship.
Wei Zhuo remembered that night three years ago, across Christmas Eve.
He had just come out of the tavern. During the game, he blurted out “I like you” to Xin Hexue…but the sound was drowned out by a car horn.
Wei Zhuo had taken a few sips of alcohol.
He usually never drank, and his mind was a mess. He wandered on the long bridge, waiting to sober up.
Once he was clear-headed, he planned to just call a car and go home for the Christmas holiday.
But he forgot something and detoured back to the dorm.
Wei Zhuo’s eyes were dark as ink.
That’s why, there was that memory that was buried deep within his mental landscape, so deep he didn’t want Xin Hexue to ever find it.
He had become a dark, lowly voyeur.
For so many years after that, his resistance to any form of emotional relief beyond mental stabilizers had a lot to do with this.
If it hadn’t been for that traffic jam outside the tavern…
If those two cars hadn’t nearly rear-ended and honked at just the wrong time…
If Xin Hexue had actually heard him say “I like you”…
Would the relationship between them have been different in the past three years?
The answer was unknown.
But now, he had one last chance before him.
Xin Hexue was reading the folder of materials he had brought out. The documents were spread out on the table, each page filled with complex data and printed satellite transmission images, all related to the recent abnormal energy fluctuations in the Folded Zone.
There was a lot of information, stacked one sheet over another.
It took Xin Hexue some time to read through them one by one. Moreover, the table meant for hosting guests and brewing tea was a bit low, so he had to keep his head down as he read.
His short hair, which hadn’t been trimmed in several months, had grown a little long. The black strands gently curled down his shoulders, falling to the front of his jaw.
They blocked his view a little, so Xin Hexue used a white elastic band to tie his hair up.
He did it very casually, but the exposed lines of his face and neck were white and soft. Combined with the messy bun, it gave off an especially lazy aura.
Like a quiet and gentle wife.
Wei Zhuo’s expression softened, his eyes carrying a tenderness even he didn’t notice.
Suddenly, his gaze froze.
He stared at the ambiguous marks exposed by the home clothes.
Xin Hexue had entrusted him to buy a low-sensitivity ointment for external injuries, which now lay in Wei Zhuo’s hand.
Wei Zhuo suddenly realized something.
“Who was it?” His voice turned chillingly cold.
Xin Hexue turned back blankly.
Wei Zhuo’s gaze felt almost tangible, sharp as ice picks and enough to send a chill down anyone’s spine.
It was as if, in the next second, he would pull out a gun and kill the man who had left those marks on Xin Hexue.
Wei Zhuo repeated the question, “Who did it?”
Realizing something, Xin Hexue tugged at his collar.
The sentinel’s body temperature was scorching, and the pad of his calloused finger pressed on the red mark on Xin Hexue’s neck.
……
The pork bone and winter melon porridge was cooking to a soft, thick consistency. When the lid was lifted, the white rice porridge released a fragrant aroma.
Yan Ji casually removed his apron and draped it over the back of a chair.
The living room on the first floor was empty.
He called out, “Xin Hexue?” Did he go upstairs to rest?
Yan Ji frowned sharply.
He went up the stairs, only to be greeted immediately by the sight of a tall and broad-shouldered sentinel pinning the young man against the sofa.
Xin Hexue kept struggling, but the other party only grew more aggressive.
“Don’t…” Xin Hexue’s hands were placed behind his back and restrained at the waist. The sentinel’s big hands were like iron shackles, tightly locking his wrists in place.
Wei Zhuo only wanted to stop his struggling so he could check the marks more clearly. He frowned. “Don’t move.”
He easily restrained Xin Hexue’s hands with one hand, while using the other to support the back of Xin Hexue’s head to prevent it from hitting anything.
His fingertips rubbed gently along Xin Hexue’s nape, as if soothing a snow-white cat.
But that snowy skin was covered with marks, like a white mountaintop reflecting a crimson sunset…very gorgeous.
It was unknown how the two had struggled and countered each other.
The soft fabric of the home clothes had folded into wrinkles and rolled up to above the lower back. Two buttons on the chest had even popped off.
His collarbones were exposed, a small patch of white chest flashed by, and two red and swollen nipples could be seen.
The young guide, forced into this, had no power to resist, only letting out a kitten-like whimper.
He turned his face away, the corners of his eyes flushed red, cheeks buried into the sofa.
It seemed like a conditioned reflex had formed as he subconsciously rejected the man’s touch. Xin Hexue’s body curled up. “No more… don’t do this…”
Yan Ji’s mind exploded with a loud bang.
His reason was scorched to ash by flames.
All the traces of sex left on Xin Hexue’s body were linked to Wei Zhuo.
And now… the man actually wanted more!
Yan Ji suddenly lunged forward, pulled the sentinel committing atrocities, and swung his fist hard.
Even though Wei Zhuo turned his head quickly and dodged the direct hit to the face, the punch still landed on his cheek.
Wei Zhuo’s cheekbone turned red, and a cold light flashed in his eyes.
The cold face became colder, and his tone was certain. “It was you.”
A spark turned into a raging fire in an instant, consuming the entire situation and burning away all reason, leaving only madness in the ashes.
At this moment, there was no longer a relationship of senior and junior. The two sentinels fought like primal beasts, fists and flesh colliding with sickening thuds that made one’s teeth ache.
Xin Hexue picked up two buttons from the floor.
He felt a little regretful.
Xin Hexue: [It looks like the shirt can’t be worn anymore.]
K: […The system has just loaded a sewing module.]
