CH 20

Facing Little Wolf’s resentful complaints, what else could Xiao Zhenyun say? He could only urge Si Di not to waste the remaining energy, and then carefully inquire about his current situation and what he needed to do.

Enduring the pain, Si Di made vague implications, staring at Xiao Zhenyun’s lips as if they were emitting smoke, yet the usually sharp guide failed to grasp his intentions. Suddenly, his rationality collapsed, and the primitive fierceness surged through his veins.

Savage wolves sought what they wanted by their own hunt, only tamed dogs wagged their tails, awaiting their master’s approval.

Without delay, he leaned in, silencing Xiao Zhenyun’s nonstop words with a deep, consuming kiss.

Xiao Zhenyun: “…”

As if predicting the embarrassed look he would wear the next second, Si Di precautiously closed his eyes, passionately concentrating on preying the guide elements. Xiao Zhenyun indeed entertained teasing thoughts, but he was more concerned about Si Di’s mental state. A sensation capable of making a sentinel break into a cold sweat wouldn’t be a simple headache. He had no desire to face a mentally unbalanced sentinel on a chilling rainy night.

Xiao Zhenyun struggled to locate the subtle mental link, a bond that had flickered briefly. Even when he faced the last math problem of his college entrance exam, he hadn’t been as serious. Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain; he couldn’t find that opportunity to establish the mental link.

Si Di pulled back to catch his breath, only to impatiently kiss again after a brief pause. Mercilessly, he pushed Xiao Zhenyun to the edge of a withered vine heap, their backs against the stone wall.

This was probably the feeling of realizing the usefulness of a book when it’s too late. He didn’t know the systematic methods guides used to establish mental links. He relied on luck, as he was lucky yesterday, stumbling onto the right path, making everything effortless. But tonight, with bad luck, he was headbutting against closed doors.

After a while, he opened his eyes in concern, “I can’t…”

As the words started, he muffled the rest under his tongue. Xiao Zhenyun heard the rhythmic breathing of sleep, calm and peaceful, belonging to someone in deep slumber. Si Di had fallen asleep.

So, was it not solely because he was about to fall into mental chaos that he sought help from Xiao Zhenyun?

… Xiao Zhenyun pondered for a moment, still unable to accurately assess Si Di’s condition. However, since he was already asleep, it shouldn’t be a big problem. He squeezed out a bit of a guide element, confirming that Si Di was all right, and before long, he too drifted into sleep amidst the sound of pouring rain.

Unstable sentinels with wavering spiritual power were truly a hassle.

He thought to himself.

Little did he know that in the latter half of the night, he would be awakened by Si Di’s kisses three times in succession. The third time, Xiao Zhenyun had run out of guide elements. His guide powers couldn’t recover at the speed Si Di demanded. The kisses between them became just that – kisses.

Too troublesome, Xiao Zhenyun couldn’t take it anymore.

“Just bear with it,” exhausted and sleepy, his guide powers depleted, he spoke in the gentlest tone while delivering the harshest words, “Wake me up again, and I’ll kill you.”

Si Di: “…”

He silently controlled his spiritual power, reducing the sensitivity of his pain perception, not because he couldn’t bear it, but knowing his 90% match-rated guide was right by his side, why bother enduring the hardship? However, being a bit impulsive for the first time, he misjudged the situation and ended up frustrating someone.

Outside the cave, the rain continued, its never ending pattering quite irritating. Si Di didn’t like this kind of noise. Unable to sleep, he sat at the cave entrance absentmindedly fiddling with the terminal. Just as dawn was about to break, he caught a glimpse of something in the corner of his eye. His whole body jolted, and after confirming the signal was back, he swiftly stood up.

“Xiao Zhenyun!” he exclaimed with delight. “There’s a message—”

Before he could finish, several grass stems were thrown at him from behind, accompanied by an angry roar: “Get lost!”

Si Di: “…”

Xiao Zhenyun clearly had a serious case of morning grumpiness. He made a mental note.

He swiftly navigated through several floating interfaces on the terminal, typing rapidly. However, in less than a minute, Si Di’s expression grew more serious. He checked the signal once again and then exclaimed, “This is bad!” He quickly unplugged the terminal, stomping on it, and then turned to scoop up Xiao Zhenyun from the pile of grass, lifting  him onto his shoulders and leaping out of the cave.

Xiao Zhenyun’s abdomen still had the bruise from Si Di’s previous punch, and the jerking from running almost knocked the air out of his lungs. Si Di heard his painful cry, quickly adjusted his posture, and explained while running, “An unidentified signal detector has locked onto us. The search ship must be nearby. They’re interfering with my outgoing messages. This doesn’t seem like a rescue; it’s more like a chase. Not friendly.”

“MP’s people?” Xiao Zhenyun held onto Si Di’s neck tightly.

The drizzle continued to fall lightly from the sky. Si Di stepped into a muddy pit, splashing both of them with dirtied water, but he paid no attention to it. “Not sure, but there are plenty who want me dead.”

Vigilance was deeply ingrained in a sentinel’s nature. Si Di seemed prepared for this situation. He led Xiao Zhenyun to a densely vegetated hill, allowing him to hold on tight as he agilely climbed up a tree, placing Xiao Zhenyun on a branch. Vines covered the area, and the tall, lush trees allowed them a clear view of their previous cave dwelling and the entire right coastline of the isolated island. The vegetation around provided ample cover and easy retreat if needed.

The black wolf emerged from the scene, slipping like a phantom into the shadows beneath the trees, surveying for any potential threats behind them.

One could say Si Di’s reaction was far from excessive. Barely ten minutes after their departure, a white canoe had docked at the shore, and ten fully armed gunmen quickly came ashore. With Xiao Zhenyun’s vision, he could only make out a few small dots moving around the rugged rocks by the sea. Si Di’s eyesight was several times sharper. He whispered, “Well-trained mercenaries, well-armed and equipped. I count two sentinels and a guide, the rest are ordinary people. One sentinel’s psychic form seems to be… a bear, and the other, perhaps an octopus? Or a squid?”

“Enough with the guessing, you’re making me hungry.” In the faint light of sunrise, Xiao Zhenyun yawned, clearly sleep-deprived. Si Di looked at him. “You have the energy to joke? Aren’t you worried we might not make it out of here alive?”

“Fear, but these people are also our chance to leave the island,” Xiao Zhenyun said calmly, “Is there a way to snatch a communicator from their hands, or simply take over their yacht?”

“…Most likely, the others only have internal intercoms in their hands, we need to get on the ship,” Si Di shifted his gaze back to the group of mercenaries, watching as they rushed straight to the cave entrance as soon as they landed ashore, “Once they discover the traces we left in the cave and start searching the entire island, it will be our chance.”

As he had expected, soon the mercenary squad returned empty-handed, splitting into four smaller teams at the foot of the mountain. Si Di focused on the three teams without guides, observed for a while, and then locked onto his target. He returned to Xiao Zhenyun’s side and whispered, “You stay here and hide. In case we’re discovered…”

Xiao Zhenyun said lightly, “If we’re discovered, I’ll take my chances.”

Si Di couldn’t help but chuckle, “…I’ll be as quick as I can.”

With that, he swiftly flipped down from the tree, and along with Tai Ji, silently disappeared from Xiao Zhenyun’s field of view.

Xiao Zhenyun believed that the hiding spot Si Di had found for him was definitely secretive enough, but he was also well aware of the sentinels’ acute sense of smell, not to mention the assistance of a brown bear in searching. About twenty minutes after Si Di had left, he faintly heard the sound of grass being rustled and slapped open, a soft, faint sound, gradually approaching from far to near, inching closer to his position.

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