CH 28.3

On the day of the wedding banquet, Si Di, dressed in a sleek, tailored dark sentinel uniform, absentmindedly adjusted the restraint ring on his wrist while appearing casually before Xiao Zhenyun. He looked at the guide up and down and asked with a hint of confusion, “You seem to have gained quite a bit of weight since the last time we met?”

“Must be an illusion, right?” Xiao Zhenyun chuckled as he accepted the champagne brought by a waiter. In the next moment, Xiao Nian took the drink from his hand and placed it back on the tray.

Xiao Zhenyun: “…” Is this still my adopted son? Did I bring a dad back?

Administrator Xiao Nian also wore a small plaid suit with shorts, a bright-colored bowtie, somewhat resembling Conan. Hearing this, he silently muttered to himself, “Can he not gain weight? Yesterday afternoon, he finished off a whole roasted duck by himself, and at midnight, he even planned to slurp down a bowl of lamb noodle soup.”

Si Di noticed the interaction between Xiao Zhenyun and Xiao Nian and nodded, saying, “With your physical condition, you should indeed quit smoking and drinking.”

??? He’s suddenly taking care of me?

The wedding had a perfect weather, clear and cool, with lush greenery all around. Guests, dressed in their finest, mingled in groups of three or five, and the handsome men and beautiful women moved through the crowd, occasionally accompanied by cheerful laughter.

Xiao Zhenyun noticed something white stuck to the left temple of Si Di. Without waiting for him to ask, Si Di explained casually, as if reading his thoughts, “Sensory suppression patch, with a chip inside to significantly reduce the sentinel’s sensory sensitivity.”

Si Di’s silver hair appeared to be intentionally disheveled, a controlled chaos. With the wild-looking dark mouthpiece and restraint ring on his chin, along with the presence of the shock collar, his uniform collar had two unbuttoned buttons and no tie. He looked like a complete scum. A sharp gaze occasionally swept by, untamed, as if it might lose control and bite at any moment.

“It’s not very comfortable to wear,” he said. “It feels like my ears and eyes are covered by invisible hands, and there’s a film separating me from the outside world. My nose is congested, too; I can’t smell anything.”

Someone seemed to be calling Si Di from a distance, and he lost his sentinel’s vision. He looked intently for a moment to confirm the person’s identity and whispered in Xiao Zhenyun’s ear, “I need to step away for a moment.”

The sentinel came and went in a hurry, his long legs that had been neatly tucked away last night were now hidden in trousers, revealing well-defined muscles with each movement. Quite a few people recognized him on the way, waving and greeting him with joy or respect.

Although the bride and groom were ordinary people, due to their fathers’ positions as union chairman, most of the guests were special individuals. They chose to hold the wedding on an open and airy grassland rather than in a luxurious hotel ballroom to allow the special individuals to unleash their spiritual forms. Xiao Zhenyun looked around, feeling like he was in a zoo, with a wide variety of birds and animals, and even fish.

The spiritual bodies that couldn’t leave the water were rather interesting. They had evolved to carry lightweight bubbles filled with sufficient water. When their masters called them on land, they would stay in the transparent bubble of fresh or saltwater, leaping forward gently with each bounce.

Xiao Zhenyun had been paying a bit too much attention to a swordfish1 spirit body, with its long, pointed upper jaw that naturally drew attention. Moreover, this swordfish had a very lively personality, darting around on the grassland. It always felt like the next second, its spear-like snout would puncture the bubble, turning from an active marine swordfish into a stranded, dying fish on land.

“Xiao Nian, look at…” He was about to say something when a cold, hard object was thrust into the palm of his hand. He looked down and saw a holly-colored ring.

“A ring-shaped spy camera,” Xiao Nian introduced with an expressionless face. “The camera is in the gem on top, and the shutter button is on the inner side of the ring. Just bend your finger slightly to take a photo.”

Xiao Zhenyun’s first encounter with this peculiar ‘instrument’ left him puzzled. He fiddled it in his palm for a moment before sliding it onto his right middle finger. “Can’t we just use a regular terminal camera for this? Why bother with something that doesn’t even come with an instruction manual?”

“Use a regular terminal camera openly?” Xiao Nian raised an eyebrow, looking at him. “Could you please show a little self-awareness as a lecherous uncle with an abnormal obsession?”

“…” Self-awareness of what? Xiao Zhenyun spun the ring between his fingers. “I don’t understand. Si Chu is obviously full of flaws. Why didn’t ‘Xiao Zhenyun’ chase him earlier? He had to have a secret crush and only regretted it after he was out of reach, and everyone fell in love with Ye Feiran.”

“He’s insecure.”

“?” Xiao Zhenyun pointed to his own face.

This flawless face, though bearing a strong resemblance to his true self, had differences. Xiao Zhenyun’s skin tone was deeper, his skin not as smooth, and his forehead concealed a scar from his playful childhood that had taken several stitches. It’s not that he’s arrogant; with this face alone, he could have a successful campus romance scene. If it weren’t for the strict upbringing by his parents, he might have been led astray by the flashy world at an early age.

Xiao Nian followed his finger and glanced at his face, then lowered his head to point at his legs. “Do you know how many people’s gazes have been fixated on your wheelchair and legs since you entered?”

“… I don’t know.”

“If the ‘Xiao Zhenyun’ from the original work were here, he would know. He would remember exactly how long each gaze lingered.” Xiao Nian said, “His obsession with his legs and spiritual power overshadowed his charm.”

Xiao Zhenyun couldn’t help but feel sorry for this character’s plight. Due to his accidental inclusion, ‘Xiao Zhenyun’ didn’t develop consciousness like the other characters in the book. He was truly just a character in ink on paper, and it was unclear whether that was a good or bad thing for ‘himself.’

But now wasn’t the time for pity. Xiao Zhenyun absentmindedly twirled the ring. “Alright, it’s time to take some beautiful pictures of Si Chu for the sake of his healthy legs and mental well-being. Let me find where the little doggie is now…”

Little doggie was… in a dog pile.

Golden retrievers, Bichons, Samoyeds, Tibetan Mastiffs, Corgis, and herding dogs…

The sentinels of the canine forms had some peculiar preferences, as they gathered together in a tight circle, providing a large playground for their spiritual forms to run, play, and socialize. On the sidelines, the feline spirit sentinels rolled their eyes. Most interestingly, there were quite a few actual dogs mixed in with the spirits. While they looked the same as the spiritual forms, there was a stark difference in their energy and spirits. However, for some reason, as Xiao Zhenyun gazed upon the multitude of dogs in every direction, he found it hard to distinguish which ones were the real dogs…

Si Chu’s nose was keen, and he spotted Xiao Zhenyun from a distance, waving enthusiastically. “Little uncle!”

Xiao Zhenyun quickly snapped a picture of him. Xiao Nian’s terminal and ring camera provided real-time data transmission, and he sneakily checked the photo. Well, he had captured only a blur, resembling Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream.’2

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