Chapter 218: Unconscious Teasing, the Most Tempting

Chapter 218: Chapter 218: Unconscious Teasing, the Most Tempting

"Who’s scared!"

Xing Che chuckled and tossed a knife to Yun Sheng.

Fighting pollutants with spiritual power alone was too slow.

Yun Sheng caught it effortlessly. Without a word, she charged toward the first pollutant that lunged at her.

She was shockingly fast. As she sidestepped its fangs, a thin needle of spiritual power shot into the pollutant’s eye.

It let out a piercing shriek and staggered back. Yun Sheng gave it no chance to recover, slashing her knife across the side of its neck. Black blood sprayed out.

A second one pounced from the side. She flipped into the air, using its back as a springboard, and brought the knife down in a backhanded strike that pierced through the top of its head.

She forced a third one back several steps. It roared and tried to flee, but Yun Sheng pursued it. Her spiritual power solidified into invisible ropes that bound it tightly, and with a single slash, she lopped off its head.

Three pollutants lay at her feet, their black blood soaking into the soil.

Yun Sheng panted, the hand holding the knife trembling slightly. But her back was ramrod straight, and her eyes shone brightly, as if a fire burned within them.

Xing Che leaned against a tree and clapped softly twice.

The applause wasn’t loud, but it sounded exceptionally clear in the quiet forest.

"Beautiful."

His voice held a note of sincere admiration, and the corners of his lips curved slightly.

Yun Sheng sheathed her knife, wiped the sweat from her brow, and walked toward him.

Xing Che watched her approach. His gaze lingered on her face for a moment before shifting away.

"For a guide, that’s some impressive combat strength." His voice returned to its usual lazy drawl. "But a guide’s spiritual power has one other, more important function besides fighting."

Yun Sheng understood. "You mean soothing?"

Xing Che nodded.

In the Star Alliance, guides are rare, but Sentinels are plentiful.

Every time a Sentinel returned from a battle in a contaminated zone, their spiritual landscape would suffer varying degrees of pollution. The higher their Level, the more uncontrollable this pollution became.

That’s why when the Tower trains guides, in addition to having some self-defense capabilities so they don’t drag down Sentinels in joint operations, another core requirement is that a guide must always be prepared to soothe a Sentinel.

"So," Xing Che looked down at her, a questioning look in his amber-gold eyes, "want to learn?"

Yun Sheng blinked. "You can teach a guide’s soothing ability?"

"What, you don’t trust your teacher?"

Xing Che raised an eyebrow, his tone laced with mischief.

Yun Sheng shook her head and said seriously, "It’s not that I don’t trust you. I’m just curious. You’re a Sentinel. How would you know how a guide soothes someone?"

Xing Che fell silent for a moment. His gaze drifted into the distance as if he were recalling something.

After a long moment, he slowly drew his gaze back.

"The person who took me in... they also took in a guide..." He didn’t elaborate, instead reaching out to flick her lightly on the forehead. "Stop asking so many questions. Are you going to learn or not?"

Yun Sheng rubbed her forehead, the corners of her mouth curving into a smile. "I’ll learn."

Xing Che saw her smile, and his gaze wavered for an instant. He looked away and took a few steps deeper into the woods.

"Then let’s start with the basics," his voice drifted back to her, carrying an almost imperceptible gentleness. "Based on your understanding, try soothing me."

The words had barely left his lips when the spiritual power around him began to show faint signs of instability.

A chaotic fluctuation radiated from his body in waves, like a stone dropped into a calm lake, sending out ripples that grew larger and more frequent.

His brow furrowed slightly, but he didn’t suppress it, allowing the spiritual power to surge and drift through the air.

Yun Sheng’s brow twitched. She slowly unfurled her spiritual power, extending it toward Xing Che.

The moment she made contact, the chaotic fluctuation faltered, as if something had gently pressed down on it.

Her spiritual power traced the chaotic fluctuations, attempting to smooth them out.

Every time she had intertwined her spiritual power with Bai Ye’s or Si Jin’s before, it was either to steal their power in a dream or to passively entangle and soothe them in a desperate attempt to save their lives.

The body’s previous owner had never systematically learned how a guide was supposed to soothe a Sentinel, so naturally, she hadn’t either.

Her touch was at times light, at others heavy; her rhythm at times fast, at others slow. She was like a toddler just learning to walk—stumbling, clumsy, yet earnest.

She was making a bit of a mess of Xing Che’s spiritual power, and the fluctuations actually grew more violent than before.

His brow twitched, and a suppressed groan escaped his lips. But he didn’t interrupt her, simply standing there and letting her fumble through it.

Yun Sheng’s spiritual power quickly entangled with Xing Che’s, rapidly closing in on his spiritual landscape.

Just as she was about to invade it, Xing Che’s hand landed on her shoulder.

The pressure was light, but it carried an uncontrollable tremor.

"Slow down. Don’t rush."

Yun Sheng slowed her pace, allowing her spiritual power to seep into his spiritual landscape bit by bit, cautiously.

Xing Che’s fingers slid from her shoulder and dropped to his side. He clenched his fist slightly, then relaxed it.

She didn’t rush to deal with the cracks in his spiritual landscape. Instead, she slowly continued to untangle the snarled threads of his spiritual power, like picking apart a knotted skein of silk—unhurried, patient, smoothing it out bit by bit.

This slow, grinding process was more agonizing than a sharp, violent impact.

Xing Che’s breathing grew heavier, his Adam’s apple bobbing restlessly. Suppressed emotions churned in his amber-gold eyes.

His fingers clenched and unclenched, over and over. His entire body felt like it was being scorched from within, every nerve trembling faintly at her touch.

He wanted to tell her to hurry, but he swallowed the words before they could escape.

’She’s learning, and so earnestly. I can’t interrupt her.’

’After all, I promised her I’d be a good teacher!’

Yun Sheng savored the process, treating it purely as a learning experience. She recalled information from the manual she’d read, moving unhurriedly along the grain of his spiritual power.

She constantly adjusted her pressure and rhythm until she finally managed to slowly smooth out a hopelessly tangled wisp of his spiritual power.

The blocked power began to flow as if a floodgate had been opened, merging docilely into Xing Che’s spiritual landscape.

A flicker of joy went through Yun Sheng. Just as she was about to touch the nearest crack, Xing Che suddenly grabbed her hand.

His breathing was ragged and heavy, his chest heaving violently. He stared at her, his eyes churning with a desire and restraint that threatened to overflow.

His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed it back. In the end, he only managed to force out a single word.

"Enough."

Yun Sheng, however, didn’t notice there was anything wrong with Xing Che.

Her eyes were sparkling with eager excitement.

She had just successfully smoothed out that wisp of spiritual power and felt like she was starting to get the hang of it. She wanted to strike while the iron was hot and take care of the cracks as well.

"Let me try again," she said, her spiritual power already reaching out. "I think I was starting to get the feel for it..."

Before she could finish, an arm suddenly tightened around her waist.

Xing Che’s hand had wrapped around her. The pressure wasn’t heavy, but it was firm enough to pull her forward.

Caught off guard, Yun Sheng stumbled right into his arms, her nose brushing against his chest.

"Are you sure..." Xing Che leaned in close, his Adam’s apple bobbing furiously, "...you want to continue?"