The location of the Four-Sector Border Summit changed every year. In previous years, it was mostly held at the empire’s Golden Grand Hall, and sometimes in the imperial palace. This time, due to unusual circumstances in the Northern Frontier, the summit was postponed by a week from the original date and was now taking place during the Spring Festival holiday. As a result, the location was selected to be the Royal Dongbaek Palace.
The Dongbaek Palace was originally a vacation retreat where imperial nobles came to rest during the Christmas holidays. Nestled by the mountains and facing the water, the environment was serene and quiet.
Although in recent years, the nobles had obviously found newer and more exciting destinations, this traditional holiday palace still received proper upkeep and maintenance. The attendants and servants stationed here year-round to serve the nobles continued their daily cleaning routines.
A red carpet extended to the palace gates. Golden-bronze columns towered above, wrapped in pine branches and floral carvings.
This year was especially cold. With the snow-covered mountains behind the palace and the expansive East Lake in front, the fog over the lake had crystallized on the blue pines and cypresses, turning into icy blossoms.
The air outside was so cold that it penetrated the bones. Because of this, Xin Hexue wore a dark grey wool coat over his pitch-black suit.
However, once he passed through the gardens and entered the banquet hall, the cold was completely dispelled.
The heating was warm enough to coax unseasonal flowers into full bloom, and the peonies were vivid and lush, and peach blossoms fresh and lively.
He felt cold earlier, and now he was getting warm again.
Shortly after entering, an attendant stepped forward to help Xin Hexue remove the now-unnecessary wool coat.
The attendant also reached out to remove the guest’s gloves, but was gently stopped. The young guide declined, “No need.”
The attendant glanced at him in surprise, then lowered his head respectfully.
The image of the young man with half of his wrist skin exposed lingered in his mind, and the attendant’s ears felt inexplicably hot.
Xin Hexue readjusted the slightly loosened leather gloves, the soft whiteness of his skin contrasting sharply with the shiny black leather.
When the attendant glanced over again, Xin Hexue himself showed no expression at all.
Finding it a bit strange, Xin Hexue turned his head and asked Wei Zhuo, “What’s wrong?”
Wei Zhuo lowered his eyes, concealing the warning look he had just given the attendant.
“Nothing.”
“Let’s head in.”
When this palace was first constructed, it was merely a royal hunting retreat, so its original scale was not large. But after decades, even centuries, of expansion and renovation, it had now become a magnificent palace with nearly six hundred rooms, including the king’s office, audience chamber, banquet hall, grand hall, small chapel, clothing room, and numerous bedrooms.
The summit would last the entire afternoon and it was to be held in the grand hall. The architecture combined traditional classical style with modern large-span structures, and was spacious and majestic, solemn and dignified.
Due to the high white dome above, the space felt overly vast and empty, giving an inexplicable chill to those sitting inside. Fortunately, the heating was sufficient, and Xin Hexue did not feel uncomfortable.
He and Wei Zhuo were seated near the front. This area was clearly reserved entirely for senior sentinels and guides from the front lines. Even though Xin Hexue had temporarily stepped down from the front line, just like last year, he was still arranged in one of the front rows.
Wei Zhuo sat on his left just like before.
Everything from the proceedings and even the sequence of events was nearly the same as before. The only difference was that last year, the sentinel sitting to Xin Hexue’s right was He Botian. This year, it was someone else.
A sentinel with a head of woolly curls wore a proper suit and sat upright, lacking the usual unrestrained, chatty demeanor. His handsome features were serious, but the moment he opened his mouth, his true nature slipped out. As the two of them took their seats, he grinned and greeted, “Hexue, Brother Wei…”
After trying his best to look serious for awhile, Kuike couldn’t hold it in anymore. He said to Xin Hexue, “This is my first year getting an invitation. Hexue, did you see? There are so many nobles from the Elder Council in the front, and a few cabinet ministers I’ve only ever seen on TV. I’ve never been to such a classy place in my whole life.”
Like He Botian, Kuike also came from a low background on the border. His combat ability was slightly inferior to He Botian and Wei Zhuo, but being S-level was already rare among all sentinels. After He Botian’s death, the military had plans to select individuals from the dozens of S-level personnel for focused training, and given Kuike’s rich service record, he was unsurprisingly on that list.
“I even went and chatted with the officer from the Eastern Command Tower just now…”
Completely oblivious to Wei Zhuo’s gaze, Kui Ke continued to chatter endlessly with Xin Hexue.
Xin Hexue naturally noticed the automatic cooling vent on his left side, but he didn’t care. He turned his head slightly to listen to Kuije’s talk, nodding occasionally or giving a response. He was practically the ideal, steady listener. Kuike didn’t stop talking until the summit officially began.
The early part of the summit was recorded and live-streamed by a dedicated camera crew. The cameras stationed between the stage and the seating area would occasionally sweep across the crowd and linger on the young guide’s face, as if reluctant to move away.
Even under such an unforgiving lens, his features remained flawless. Instead, the high-definition shot only made the superior structure of his face and features appear more vivid.
He was a beauty excessively favored by the Creator.
Dressed in a pitch-black suit, sitting upright with his back straight, he had the kind of perfect posture worthy of being printed in a textbook. Whether it was innate temperament or the result of harsh training, he resembled a piece of meticulously carved and polished white jade porcelain.
He had black hair and snow-white skin, so delicate that not a single flaw could be found under the incandescent light and camera lens.
With soft-lined features of Oriental descent, his eyes held the ink-and-wash tone of traditional painting. His dark eyes looked intently and seriously at the stage.
Perhaps noticing that the camera hadn’t shifted away for a while, the young guide’s eyes glanced in this direction.
Single sentinels who had been crouching in front of their TVs specifically to catch a glimpse of him through the lens were instantly sent into climax by this moment of eye contact across the screen.
The gray section of the Deep Sea Forum was completely immersed in a frenzy.
[Photo.jpg Photo.jpg]
[Thank you Four-Sector Border Summit for finally letting me see my wife whom I’ve never met.]
[Even though it was less than ten seconds on camera…]
[Who got the major general’s guidance slot next month? It’s me, turns out it’s me, hehe]
In contrast to the high spirited sentinels on the forum, Yan Ji’s mood at this moment had hit rock bottom.
He had successfully sent the message. The camera lingered on the stage, and just as he had hoped, it soon went back over the audience. Although it didn’t aim directly at the young guide, it still conspicuously swept past the section where he was seated.
Because of this, Yan Ji clearly caught the moment when the young man on the camera apparently noticed the message on his communicator and looked down.
Finally, his delicate brows furrowed slightly as if troubled, and he chose to tuck the communicator away, setting aside the contact’s message.
Had he caused Xin Hexue trouble?
The young sentinel in front of the TV felt an unprecedented chill, as though he had fallen into an icy abyss, as if a hand had pierced his chest, seized his heart, and silently squeezed it tight.
Yan Ji couldn’t breathe.
The communicator fell to the ground with a loud crash, and the screen went dark.
………
The summit’s opening segment ended quickly. Aside from Wei Zhuo stepping up once as a representative of frontline soldiers to give a speech, the remaining agenda no longer involved them.
The specific matters of strategic deployment were still topics to be discussed among the military high command, the military governance council, the parliament, and the emperor.
The sun sank behind the mountain range backing the Dongbaek Palace.
The banquet finally began.
The banquet hall gleamed with gold and splendor, and the golden orange in the plates reflected through the glass goblets.
The marble floor shone as smooth as lake water. Every pair of glossy black leather shoes or sequin-adorned high heels that passed over it stirred no waves, only crisp, clear echoes.
Political figures, nobles, and celebrities from all walks of life moved among one another, using exquisite dishes and fine wine as conversation openers.
A damp and greedy gaze, almost tangible, clung to Xin Hexue, scanning him from top to bottom. When Xin Hexue turned his head, he met a look that was far from respectful.
A noble with status and influence in the Imperial Capital City.
Xin Hexue remembered him because this man frequently made headlines for winning extravagant final bids at auction houses. Any sentinel or guide who had served on the frontlines would likely recognize him, he was always asking if they had brought back any “treasures” from the Folded Zone.
The so-called treasures he referred to were mostly monster remains, insect crystals picked from the insect swarm, or mutated plants.
This man was obsessed with collecting such rare items. He had lived in the hedonistic safety of the capital for too long and had even come to believe in heretical theories that claimed mutated species were the destined evolution of humankind. He believed gathering more things from the Folded Zone would help him evolve into a higher lifeform and extend his lifespan.
And while such beliefs seemed incomprehensible to others, people like him were not rare among the capital’s nobles. Many blindly followed the same thinking.
At this moment, the middle-aged noble with blond hair and blue eyes had transferred his greed for “treasures” onto Xin Hexue.
The sticky, damp gaze seemed to lick the body of the empire’s only 3S-level, rare guide.
Whether it was a person or object, the rare and unique always attracted fervent obsession, stirring extreme individuals to twisted desire.
“Count Naiem.”
As the man approached, Xin Hexue calmly took two steps back.
He lowered his gaze, thick eyelashes casting a light shadow beneath his eyes.
Count Naiem was already quite old. When he smiled, several groups of facial muscles contracted together. Although he believed it to be a perfect smile, to outsiders it looked like layered seaweed folds.
While speaking to him, Xin Hexue felt a faint but distinct sense of aversion.
Count Naiem’s gaze slithered over his face and he raised his wine glass. “I’ve long heard of the major general’s name. A toast to you.”
Just as Xin Hexue was about to politely refuse, he caught a glimpse of a figure approaching him from the corner of his eye.
He then put on an apologetic expression. “Sorry, Count Naiem, I’m not good at drinking.”
Count Naiem arched his eyebrows. “Oh? But just now, before I came over, I saw you drinking alone. Are you deliberately giving me the cold shoulder? It makes it hard for me to save face.”
Xin Hexue feigned hesitation. As the rim of the wine glass was just about to touch his lips, a large hand intercepted from the side, taking the glass away.
The sentinel’s Adam’s apple rolled, and the red wine in the glass was emptied in one swift gulp.
Wei Zhuo said coldly, “Is the count satisfied now?”
He took half a step forward, blocking Count Naiem’s view of Xin Hexue.
Seeing that it was Wei Zhuo, Count Naiem retreated with a forced laugh. “Haha, what are you saying? I just came over to say hello. It’s not about satisfaction or anything. If Xiao Xin doesn’t want to drink, am I supposed to force him?”
After exchanging a few more words, Count Naiem finally left the area.
After all, he had merely inherited his title thanks to ancestral favor. Compared to the favored inner-court families who had remained close to the emperor from a century ago until now, there was still an insurmountable gap.
Xin Hexue frowned slightly. He felt something was off.
Just now, when Count Naiem had approached him, he had caught a faint scent of sulfur, mixed with a bitter plant-like astringency.
…It smelled like the air he had encountered in the mental landscape of the Strangling Tree.
Wei Zhuo noticed the change in Xin Hexue’s expression. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Xin Hexue lowered his eyes and shook his head.
After that, Wei Zhuo took over the role that had once belonged to He Botian. He stood beside Xin Hexue like a sentinel escort from the past. Whenever other guests approached to chat or offer a toast, Wei Zhuo intercepted them all.
The spicy red wine rolled down his throat, but Wei Zhuo’s eyes remained clear, his expression still carrying that usual cold sharpness.
After several rounds of this, eventually no one came up to Xin Hexue to make things awkward anymore.
………
The night wind was chilly and crisp.
Xin Hexue used the excuse of needing air and climbed the spiral stairs to the second-floor open-air balcony. The surrounding railing was adorned with exquisitely carved reliefs.
He finally took out his communicator.
The messages didn’t come in like a bombardment.
Although Yan Ji’s heartbreak value had skyrocketed by nearly fifty, the number of messages Xin Hexue received was only a handful.
Most of them were: the other party has retracted a message, retracted a message…
Eventually, what was left was a powerless, bitter question.
[Yan Ji: When you said I looked good in the brown suit, were you thinking of me, or of He Botian?]
[Yan Ji: Back then, when you agreed to be with me, was it also because I look like him?]
[Yan Ji: Xin Hexue, you can’t humiliate me like this. You cannot trample on my feelings for you like this…]
The sentinel’s typing seemed like every word was written in blood and tears.
19:29.
[Yan Ji: Let’s break up.]
……
Xin Hexue directly scrolled to the bottom.
22:00.
[Yan Ji: Baby, good night.]
[Yan Ji: …My hand slipped.]
