Chapter 21: Brother Xingxing

Darkness. Everything was darkness!

Ji Xun instinctively took half a step back. The space before him felt like the dream he had just awakened from, but with one difference: in the dream, the darkness was calm, whereas here, violent mental energy was rampaging through it!

In the dead of night, the powerful collision of mental energies produced a piercing screech. Ji Xun felt his eardrums throb, and even breathing became a struggle.

Enduring the discomfort, he reached out to turn on the light. Only when his fingers brushed against the wall did he realize his hands were trembling violently.

"Click."

The light instantly banished the pitch-black void. Ji Xun sensed something rustle as it scurried away to hide. He saw that the bed was empty. He took a shallow breath and approached, his footsteps slow.

The pheromones in the bedroom were even more frantic than what he had felt at the door. Ji Xun’s cheeks flushed crimson, his skin stung, and his brain felt heavy and muddled. This was the result of intense mental radiation. Ji Xun’s own mental power was too weak to form an effective barrier.

Like a man trudging through a blizzard, he forced his trembling legs forward, step by step, whispering, "Brother Hang?"

"Hang..."

Finally, on the other side of the bed, he saw the Sentinel, curled up in the corner with his knees pulled to his chest. Ji Xun was stunned. He had never seen such a scene before. There was blood everywhere. Fu Shuhang’s hands were bleeding; he sat barefoot with his head bowed, his body shaking as if something inside him were clawing to get out, and he was struggling to suppress it.

Terrified, Ji Xun hurried to help him. "Brother Hang."

"Get... out."

Fu Shuhang’s voice was harsh and raspy. How could Ji Xun leave now? He reached out. "Hang..."

"GET OUT!!"

Fu Shuhang suddenly raised his head and roared! Ji Xun was startled; it felt as if the intimidating growl of a Bengal tiger echoed in his ears, and he stumbled back three or four steps!

Looking at Fu Shuhang again, still trembling with fright, Ji Xun felt as if his soul had left his body. Fu Shuhang’s eyes had turned a solid, blood-red. Even as a poor student, Ji Xun knew the basics: if a Sentinel remained in a manic state for over twelve hours without receiving mental soothing, they would descend into the "Deep Well" state. In the Deep Well state, a Sentinel’s physical functions remained, but their consciousness could almost never be awakened again!

The string in Ji Xun’s brain snapped! An unprecedented panic gripped his heart. How could this be? Didn't Stone just take Brother Hang for mental soothing? Didn't Mom come by tonight to make sure everything was fine? Why?!

In a fleeting moment, countless thoughts flashed through Ji Xun’s terrified, chaotic brain. The last and clearest one was: he had to find an adult immediately!

Once this thought took hold, blood rushed to his head, shaking him out of his dazed state. He turned and ran toward the door!

"Sizzle—" A sound erupted in the bedroom. Then, with a "pop," the lightbulb was shattered directly by the mental energy! The room plunged into darkness.

Ji Xun’s feet faltered. His heart was pounding, but he dared not hesitate. Losing his sense of direction, he ran toward the door based on instinct!

Unlike Guides, Sentinels had perfect vision in the dark!

A greenish glow emerged. In the darkness, Fu Shuhang was like a swift, fierce beast. He accurately caught up to the Guide attempting to escape, pinning Ji Xun down onto the bed!

Ji Xun was struck, his heart jumping into his throat! When he finally regained his senses, Fu Shuhang’s scorching breath, which felt like it was sparking with heat, was right above him. It was rapid, manic, and filled with anxiety. Ji Xun felt like he was being burned! Are Awakened humans really capable of reaching such high body temperatures?!

Ji Xun felt as if he had fallen into a volcano, his inner fear reaching its peak. He shouted, "Brother Hang! Fu Shuhang!"

The Sentinel’s hands were as hot as soldering irons. He used his limbs to tightly lock the young Guide’s, pinning him firmly beneath his body. Soon, Ji Xun’s consciousness was "steamed" back into chaos by the high heat; he felt breathless, as if he were about to suffocate.

No. He might die in Fu Shuhang’s arms!

Ji Xun tried to struggle, but that only caused Fu Shuhang’s arms to tighten further!

Help. The word was stuck in his throat as he was held in that crushing embrace. However, the overwhelming, volatile mental energy and pheromones were strictly locked within the Fu residence by the barrier set up by Gao Mingyuan. Not a shred could leak out.

In his desperation, every second felt agonizingly long. Ji Xun’s face turned scarlet. He felt he was about to die. He even found himself thinking: if he died, and no one came to find the adults, Fu Shuhang would soon fall into the Deep Well state, too. Could this be considered dying together?

No. Uncle Fu and Uncle Gao were so powerful; they would definitely find a way to save Fu Shuhang. In the end, he would be the only one who died! Would the Marshal’s son be exempt from the military court or exile to the Star Prison for committing manslaughter while in a state of mental runaway? No, no, no. That would be too unjust!!

As Ji Xun was lost in his near-death ramblings, he suddenly heard a vague, heart-wrenchingly sad, yet desperately restrained voice from above—"Mine."

What? Ji Xun thought he had misheard and immediately pricked up his ears. Then, he realized he wasn't dead. Not only was he alive, but the dangerous, rampaging mental energy in the room no longer seemed to be harming him. Fu Shuhang was wrapping around him like a human barrier, blocking all the attacks.

With this realization, Ji Xun found his breathing smoothing out. Yet, Fu Shuhang was still as hot as a red-hot iron!

No, he couldn't delay any longer! Ji Xun began to attempt self-rescue. He tried to stay calm and said, "Brother Hang, let me go. I’ll go call my mom, okay? Or you could go to the bathroom and take a cold shower to lower your temperature."

Fu Shuhang did not answer. He was delirious, only tightening his grip further, his scorching chin pressed firmly against Ji Xun’s forehead. From his throat, he painfully uttered one more sentence: "Mine, mine..."

This time, Ji Xun heard it clearly. "Yours? What do you want? Brother Hang? Talk to me!"

But Fu Shuhang wasn't talking to him; like a child, he was expressing his deepest, most primal longing in the simplest way possible.

"Mine..."

The voice grew lower, turning into a weak, breathy whisper, finally mixed with a faint, aggrieved sob. It was as if he were on the verge of a breakdown. Ji Xun couldn't move, and he was burning with anxiety from Fu Shuhang’s unawakened, obsessive state!

In a flash of inspiration, Ji Xun suddenly remembered—wasn't he always pinned down like this by the General?

Once this thought appeared, it was like a lifeline in a desperate situation. Ji Xun had been "pounced on" by the General for ten years, so he was quite experienced. He found an angle to free one hand and began to firmly stroke Fu Shuhang’s back.

"Yours, yours..."

Ji Xun coaxed Fu Shuhang as if he were soothing a large white tiger. "It’s okay now." Ji Xun felt his exposed hand stinging as if pricked by needles, but he endured the burning pain, stroking Fu Shuhang’s back rhythmically. "Brother Hang is okay now, it’s okay..."

It was as if they were back in childhood. When Uncle Fu and Uncle Gao were away on business, Fu Shuhang would sleep at his house. In April and May, there were many thunderstorms; the lightning and thunder felt like they would strike down at any moment, and Fu Shuhang would hold him with his arms and legs, tucking Ji Xun’s head into his chest, patting him and saying, "Don't be afraid, it's okay, it's okay."

Ji Xun suddenly wanted to cry so badly. He thought, he could stop taking revenge on Fu Shuhang; if he didn't like him, so be it, if he looked down on him, so be it. Just please go back to normal, don't be like this, he was scared.

He was really so scared. Would Fu Shuhang die? Would he burn out and fall into the Deep Well, never to wake up again?

"It’s okay, it’s okay..." Ji Xun held back, forcefully stroking Fu Shuhang’s back over and over. He sobbed, "It’s really okay now! Please, Brother Hang... wuwuwu... wa...!" He couldn't hold it in anymore and hugged Fu Shuhang tightly, crying in helpless, broken sobs like a three-year-old child.

Once Ji Xun started crying, he couldn't focus on soothing the other person anymore.

When Fu Shuhang finally regained consciousness, he found himself holding Ji Xun. Ji Xun’s face was covered in tears, his long eyelashes stuck together and damp. Fu Shuhang’s heart sank!

A Sentinel’s superhuman five senses seemed useless at this moment. Fu Shuhang reached out and slowly checked Ji Xun’s breathing. Only when he felt the even, warm air did he close his eyes and let out a heavy breath.

Fu Shuhang sat up. Looking at the mess in his bedroom in the dark, he re-wrapped the wounds on his hands with bandages, cleaned up the blood, and finally looked at Ji Xun, who was sound asleep on the bed.

Fu Shuhang’s thoughts were complex. It was said that Ji Xun was bold, yet he was afraid of even a small bug. But to say he was timid—he had dared to sneak into a Sentinel’s house, alone and in the dark, in the middle of the night.

Fu Shuhang pulled up a chair and sat by the bed, watching Ji Xun. He was sleeping so soundly. He didn't know how long he had been watching. Fu Shuhang finally couldn't help himself; he reached out to touch him, his fingertips just brushing a hint of warmth, but when he went to let his hand rest, he suddenly grasped at empty air!

In that instant, it wasn't just his hand that was empty—it was his entire heart.

Fu Shuhang opened his eyes abruptly!

When Ji Xun woke up, it was already the next morning. He opened his eyes to see his own ceiling, lying on his own bed, wearing his own cotton short-sleeved shirt. He raised a hand to touch his eyes, feeling the crust from crying for too long...

Ji Xun got up to wash his face. Halfway through brushing his teeth, he went to the window, lifted a corner of the curtain, and peeked out. The curtains on the second floor across the street were drawn tight.

That’s really strange... How could I have such a dream? It was so real!!

Ji Xun looked down at his fingers, recalling the feeling of being scorched until his fingertips went numb—the feeling that his fingers were going to burn off, Fu Shuhang’s blood-red eyes, the messy bloodstains in the bedroom, the exploded lightbulb, and the pained, struggling, yet aggrieved "mine" in the darkness...

It all felt like something he had truly experienced. This was too outrageous.

Ji Xun returned to the washroom, puzzled. After brushing his teeth for a while, he suddenly thought of something!

—Fu Shuhang had hugged him with incredible force! If it were real, there would definitely be fingerprints.

Ji Xun immediately pulled open the collar of his pajamas to look.

Nothing. There wasn't a single mark.