CH 12

After waiting silently for five minutes, Xiao Zhenyun was certain that Si Di wouldn’t answer his question. 

The silence between them spread like a shadow, accompanied only by the sound of their boots treading on mud and dry branches. If one listened carefully, they could also hear Si Di’s faint breathing.

As they walked, Xiao Zhenyun caught a whiff of burnt smell and, within the narrow range under Si Di’s raised collar, he finally noticed something amiss. He saw a circle of reddish-black burnt skin around Si Di’s neck, most of it peeled, with fresh red flesh exposed, some scabbed over, and others still oozing with blood. It looked painful and was aggravated by the friction from Si Di’s sweat-stained and dirt-covered collar rubbing against it.

The electric collar might have disappeared, but the cruel marks it left behind revealed the severity of the brutal battle he had just endured on the flying ship. Unable to resist, Xiao Zhenyun reached out to fold down Si Di’s collar, giving the wound room to breathe.

“I told you not to touch me!” Si Di angrily slapped away Xiao Zhenyun’s hand. He stopped and turned around, his pupils dilated with a hint of madness about to take over. His eyes were almost half-filled with red blood vessels, and the remaining white was invaded by the crimson hue, a prelude to his unstable mental state.

Xiao Zhenyun had no choice but to immediately release a bit of spiritual elements. It was a tiny amount that he had squeezed out by nearly exhausting his glands. However, thanks to their high compatibility, it had a good effect and quickly calmed Si Di’s emotions, making his rapid breaths steady. Si Di, seizing the opportunity, took two deep breaths and actively suppressed the violent and destructive impulses in his heart.

“Why do you have spiritual elements?” Si Di asked, puzzled yet cautious. Xiao Zhenyun had no spiritual power, and naturally, he had no spiritual elements.

And it smelled really good. Si Di refrained from saying this aloud.

Why did such a scumbag possess such beautiful eyes and such fragrant spiritual elements? These two things were contradictory and incompatible with Xiao Zhenyun. He had never smelled spiritual elements like this before, but it felt strangely familiar…

Xiao Zhenyun didn’t answer his question. After squeezing out the spiritual elements, he lowered his gaze and said lightly, “Thank you.”

“… ” Si Di found it somewhat amusing. 

When a good person made one mistake, they would be criticized by thousands, but when a bad person showed a little kindness, even he was momentarily shaken. He no longer dwelled on the issue of spiritual elements; after all, it seemed that Xiao Zhenyun didn’t want to talk about it, and he wasn’t in a hurry to know either. There were more pressing survival issues at hand: water, food, and shelter.

Xiao Zhenyun was thirsty, but he was reluctant to ask Si Di to find water, so he gritted his teeth and endured it, even though his eyes had turned red from the strain. He even found himself fantasizing about licking the blood from Si Di’s wound and the sweat dripping down his face.

No, this behavior was too perverted.

To prevent himself from going insane with thirst and turning into a starving beast, Xiao Zhenyun resisted the urge and finally asked, “Is there water?”

Si Di didn’t explode in anger again, but his attitude was far from good as he replied coldly, “I’m looking for it. The rainforest smells too mixed, but it should be in this direction.”

If they were a pair of sentinel and guide with a more harmonious relationship, they could establish a temporary mark, achieve a spiritual link, and have the guide take over the sentinel’s five senses, enhancing their sense of smell without harming the sentinel. This was an inherent ability of guides.

During the two to three months of losing money like crazy, Xiao Zhenyun had also urgently studied a lot of special knowledge about spiritual abilities. Although he was still very unfamiliar with controlling spiritual power, he wasn’t as clueless as before when Si Di pulled him into his spiritual domain, emptied him, and used him for his own pleasure.

However, the friendly interaction between the sentinels and guides was simply non-existent when it came to Xiao Zhenyun and Si Di. Although Si Di saved him for some inexplicable and complex reason, it was utterly impossible to have him open up his spiritual domain for Xiao Zhenyun to temporarily mark.

Xiao Zhenyun naturally understood this and wouldn’t mention the marking matter unless absolutely necessary.

After approximately another half an hour of trekking, when Xiao Zhenyun was almost half-dead and sunburnt to a crisp by the scorching sun, a pair of peculiar ears suddenly popped up on Si Di’s head. Sensing something, he swiftly turned his head to the side, and the tufts of his ears grazed against Xiao Zhenyun’s cheek, tickling him. With weak eyes, he glanced over, and Si Di said, “I hear the sound of running water.”

Then he lifted Xiao Zhenyun up again, saying, “Hold tight.”

Without any pretense, Xiao Zhenyun extended his arms forward and tightly encircled Si Di’s shoulders and neck, avoiding touching the wound. Assured that he wouldn’t be thrown off, the sentinel immediately accelerated and rushed towards the sound of the flowing water.

The guide’s stamina was equivalent to an average person, while the sentinel’s was several times superior. Carrying a man on his back under scorching high temperatures, traversing uneven muddy and mountainous roads for an hour, and yet Si Di still had the energy to run. Xiao Zhenyun couldn’t help but feel impressed.

Soon, even he could hear the sound of the water. Clear spring water flowed along smooth stone walls, gurgling and creating a small pool with a depth just above the knees. The refreshing coolness could be felt just by approaching it.

Si Di placed Xiao Zhenyun about a meter away from the water, removed his mud-splattered boots and sweat-soaked socks, and rolled up his trouser legs on both sides. He chose the smoothest and slowest part of the water flow in a small pond, slowly stepping into the water while supporting himself with nearby rocks. He also tucked his large tail around his waist to keep it dry.

As the cool spring water flowed through his toes, Si Di couldn’t help but let out a relaxed and satisfied sigh.

The water level was at a certain height above the ground, and the surrounding stones were slippery and pointed, covered in moss. Even in his extreme thirst, Xiao Zhenyun dared not approach recklessly. He could only watch Si Di walk back and forth in the water, scooping up two handfuls of water to quench his thirst and then happily splashing his face, washing away the heat and fatigue.

Finally, after a struggle, Si Di remembered Xiao Zhenyun, who was anxiously staring at him from the shore. Xiao Zhenyun made no attempt to hide his need, gazing directly at Si Di, wondering when this guy would finally let him drink water.

Both of them had no containers in hand, and after a futile search, Si Di could only symbolically sway his right hand into the lake, indicating, “I’ve cleaned this hand, Mr. Distinguished Vice Chairman.” Then he cupped a handful of water with his right hand, letting it trickle away as he walked back to the shore and brought it to Xiao Zhenyun’s lips.

Xiao Zhenyun remained unpretentious and propped up his upper body, stretching his neck to bury his face in Si Di’s palm. The small amount of water in his hand only served to moisten his lips before it disappeared instantly. Xiao Zhenyun lifted his long hair hanging in front of his shoulders, tucking it behind his ears, and then raised his gaze, staring fixedly at Si Di’s face.

No words were needed; a single look conveyed his meaning.

Since he had saved his life, Si Di had no intention of tormenting him for amusement. He helped Xiao Zhenyun settle on a stone as close to the water as possible. With one foot in the water and the other on the shore, he kept bending down and rising, using his palms to offer him water.

Xiao Zhenyun always felt like he was drinking Si Di’s foot-washed water… but in his desperate thirst, he couldn’t be bothered with such details. When he drank too quickly, his tongue inadvertently touched Si Di’s palm, and the sentinel pulled his hand back as if it were scalded, angrily saying, “Drink properly, or don’t drink at all!”

Xiao Zhenyun wasn’t one to tiptoe around things. Though he’d been aware that he relied on Si Di to get by under the eaves these days, he wasn’t overly conscious of it. After quenching his thirst and his throat feeling less parched, his voice naturally grew louder as he questioned with bewilderment, “What are you trying to say? I haven’t done anything, have I?”

It was the first time Si Di had heard Xiao Zhenyun speak with such vitality and tone. The Xiao Zhenyun he knew always sat weakly in a wheelchair, dressed neatly with a pretentiously refined air, adorned with a false smile that made one nauseous. If one happened to accidentally peel away that facade, they’d glimpse the decaying darkness within, like a rat lurking in the shadows, too afraid to face the light, only daring to peek outward with sinister eyes full of malice and negativity.

Xiao Zhenyun felt that Si Di’s gaze was akin to that of looking at a monster, as if he was meeting him for the first time.

…And indeed it really was their first true meeting.

However, Si Di had long known that Xiao Zhenyun was two-faced, so he wasn’t overly surprised. Now that the other person had the strength to retort, Si Di flicked off the remaining water droplets from his hand and sat about eight meters away from Xiao Zhenyun, starting to wash the mud off his socks and shoes.

After resting for a while, a huge black wolf jumped out of nowhere from behind him. Upon landing, it staggered for two steps, far from its previous imposing and dignified appearance. Tai Ji circled around Si Di’s leg, perhaps due to feeling unwell, its head hung low, whimpering and seeking comfort from its master.

Si Di also felt sorry for his spiritual form and squatted down to rub its head and ears. Once it was comforted enough, he patted its shoulder, indicating it could go to the shallow water area to splash around.

Tai Ji obeyed and splashed around, hopping from one rock to another, lapping up water, and following the stream and small waterfalls downstream. In no time, it disappeared from sight. But in less than a moment, it returned with a fish in its mouth. Although its manner of coming and going was exactly the same, Xiao Zhenyun somehow sensed its faint sense of pride and happiness.

When it saw people, Tai Ji couldn’t help but wag its drooping tail, showing a slightly dog-like appearance, similar to its brother’s.

Xiao Zhenyun instantly felt happy; They are really furry brothers.

Looking at Tai Ji and then remembering his own silly deer, who had been missing in action since he went to find water, Xiao Zhenyun couldn’t help but feel melancholic. They say a spiritual form follows its master, could it be that his heart also contained a foolish deer, beyond anyone’s comprehension?

As Tai Ji passed by Xiao Zhenyun’s side, it suddenly stopped and curiously glanced back at him. Then it cautiously approached Xiao Zhenyun, earnestly sniffing the scent on his body.

“Tai Ji,” Si Di said with a cold tone, “come here.”

Seemingly having caught a whiff of something, Tai Ji hesitated for a moment, pacing back and forth two steps in place. In the end, it still deemed its master more important and quickly ran over to place the fish at Si Di’s feet.

“Why do you keep smelling him?” Si Di asked, puzzled, pinching Tai Ji’s long snout and shaking it left and right. “What’s so good to smell about this scumbag’s scent?”

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