Chapter 51

"So..." Fu Shuxing raised his head to look at Ji Xun.

Seeing the little guide biting his cheeks so tightly out of nervousness that two dimples appeared, Fu Shuxing's hand in his pocket involuntarily curled into a fist, suddenly finding it extremely difficult to say what came next.

For some inexplicable reason, he felt his earlobes burning and his heartbeat accelerating.

This was something that had never happened before.

Ji Xun waited for a long time without hearing the rest, so he timidly and carefully asked, "So... what?"

The words on the tip of Fu Shuxing's tongue changed into: "Why have you been avoiding me these past few days?"

Just this?!

Did it really require that much buildup beforehand?

You seriously almost scared me to death!!

Ji Xun's heart settled, and he immediately said, "I haven't been avoiding you, Brother Xing. Didn't I mention this morning? I've been a bit busy lately, and besides, since you rarely get a break from training, I wanted to let you sleep in and rest more."

"Busy with what?"

"Hatching the Great King's egg," Ji Xun said. "Fan Yunhai from your class can vouch for it. Today I even had his golden eagle try to help me hatch the egg."

Fu Shuxing frowned slightly as he looked at the little guide in front of him.

Yet Ji Xun spoke with complete and utter righteousness. "If you don't believe me, go ask Fan Yunhai yourself! After all, General is a mammal, so if we're talking about hatching an egg, I figured birds would definitely have more experience. That's why I looked for him."

Hearing the little guide call his name, General turned its large head to look, its long tail giving a lazy flick.

Fu Shuxing looked at Ji Xun, confirming, "You're not avoiding me?"

Ji Xun was very certain. "Definitely not!"

Fu Shuxing thought for a moment. "Then about what happened before... you've forgiven me, haven't you?"

Thinking Fu Shuxing was talking about accidentally dropping the Great King's egg on the ground two days ago, Ji Xun replied, "Didn't I forgive you right away back then?"

Fu Shuxing's brow furrowed. Right away back then? Absolutely not.

Realizing Ji Xun had misunderstood, he corrected him, "I meant what I said about you not having a mental beast."

Ji Xun: "..."

Good grief.

You committed a heinous crime and you still dare to bring it up?

Ji Xun blinked his eyes, activated his acting skills, and instantly put on an innocent expression. "What mental beast? I've already forgotten all about it!"

Fu Shuxing: "Really?"

Well, obviously it's a lie, can't you even tell?!

Ji Xun replied verbally, "Really!"

"I knew it," Fu Shuxing said, looking at Ji Xun, then suddenly adding, "After all, I only said it once, and I didn't mean it at the time."

Didn't mean it my ass!!!

Ji Xun's brain instantly exploded, roaring internally: *Did you lose your memory, how could you possibly have only said it once?? You said it once right in front of Zhao Zhanlei and the others! And then you said it twice on the night General was howling away!! And afterwards you didn't feel like you did anything wrong at all slightest bit!*

Seeing Ji Xun remain silent, Fu Shuxing realized what Zhao Zhanlei said might actually be true.

Ji Xun perhaps hadn't completely let go of it yet.

Fu Shuxing offered an apology: "I'm sorry."

Ji Xun was taken aback and looked at Fu Shuxing.

Fu Shuxing explained, "Those words... weren't actually what I truly meant."

"It's fine," Ji Xun said on the surface, while secretly curling his lip and thinking: *Apologizing now, huh? Too late!!*

*A harsh word cuts deep even in June!*

*This score between us is far from settled!!*

Ji Xun continued, "After all, what you said was the truth. At that time, I really didn't have a mental beast, and I didn't understand anything either. I was no different from a little good-for-nothing."

Hearing Ji Xun say those words, Fu Shuxing felt a sudden pang of ache in his heart.

A fleeting, sudden sensation.

He pressed his lips into a straight line and walked toward Ji Xun.

Ji Xun was startled and instinctively raised his schoolbag to shield himself. "Brother Xing, what are you trying to do?"

Fu Shuxing stopped walking when he was still a meter away from Ji Xun.

Bathed in the lingering glow of the setting sun, the lines of Fu Shuxing's face seemed to soften slightly. He looked at Ji Xun, harboring emotions that had never been revealed to anyone else, exposed and inescapable even without Fu Shuxing knowing it himself.

Fu Shuxing said in a low voice, "You aren't."

Ji Xun nervously clutched his schoolbag.

Fu Shuxing: "I said certain things to Zhao Zhanlei and told him not to tell you."

???

Ji Xun's eyes widened in shock—*As expected! I knew it!!*

That guy is completely two-faced!!!

Zhao Zhanlei, who had anxiously intercepted the two adults of the Fu family at the gates of the government compound, didn't even get to say his first word before he sneezed violently!!

Upstairs in the Fu family's second-floor bedroom.

Fu Shuxing said, "Because sentinels and guides with a massive disparity in mental power cannot possibly be together."

Ji Xun knew about this.

Zhao Zhanlei had mentioned it, and Ji Xun had read it in books himself.

*—Isn't this the exact reason why you scolded me and looked down on me?!*

Ji Xun thought to himself.

Fu Shuxing continued to explain, "I was afraid of hurting you."

Ji Xun: "Um..."

Inside, however, he was roaring frantically: *Afraid of hurting me? Talk is cheap! Scolding me as a little good-for-nothing without a mental beast wasn't hurting me then?? Couldn't you just say it straight? Am I someone who is completely unreasonable?*

*If my heart had been just a little more fragile, I would have cried myself to death that night!!*

Seeing Ji Xun acknowledge him, Fu Shuxing quietly breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as you understand."

"Huh?" How did it jump to this so quickly? Ji Xun asked, "Understand what?"

"My underlying motives for saying those things."

Ji Xun: "..."

Motive my ass, you just looked down on me.

"So..." Finally returning to that "so," Fu Shuxing's Adam's apple bobbed gently. The sensation of burning earlobes and a racing heartbeat returned with a vengeance, but this time, Fu Shuxing did not hesitate or back down. Instead, he asked the question: "Do you still want to be with me?"

Ji Xun: "!!!"

Ji Xun was completely dumbfounded!!!

Was this even the topic they were just discussing???

Did they talk about any of this???

Why is this happening so suddenly?!

"How..." From utter bewilderment to realizing what was happening, Ji Xun's heart hammered wildly.

Fu Shuxing gave a light cough and took half a step back. He looked at Ji Xun, but a moment later feeling the heat rise again, he averted his gaze, clenched his fists, and said, "I mean, if you still want to, I can take care of you. After all, before..."

"No."

Fu Shuxing froze stiff! His mind turned completely blank in that instant.

After a heavy, violent thump, his heartbeat suddenly vanished.

The surroundings became dead quiet.

Fu Shuxing slowly turned his head to look at Ji Xun.

Yet Ji Xun burst into bright laughter instead!!!

"I'm just messing with you!!"

The hand Fu Shuxing had clenched into a fist trembled slightly. Caught between shock and relief, he felt a rare sense of helplessness.

Ji Xun was still smiling so brightly, his eyes curved into crescents, his dimples deep, as he looked at Fu Shuxing and said, "Of course I still need you guys to take care of me! Even though I have the Great King's egg now, it hasn't hatched yet, and my mental power is still very weak. Ever since I was little, Brother Xing, you've always taken care of me, and once we get to the military academy, I'm definitely still going to rely on you and Stone to cover my back."

Fu Shuxing realized something was wrong.

The little guide had clearly misunderstood his meaning.

Fu Shuxing corrected him, "That's not what I meant."

"If that's not what you meant, then what did you mean?"

Of course Ji Xun already understood exactly what Fu Shuxing wanted to say, but since he didn't know what kind of game Fu Shuxing was playing again, he could only resolutely play dumb and disrupt the rhythm. "You're both my older brothers, and your mental powers are so high, naturally you have to protect me."

Recently, Ji Xun had been acting imposing, triumphant, showing off to the extreme, and basking in unmatched glory in his class.

Yet at this moment in front of Fu Shuxing, he reined in his "super guide" aura and belittled himself, saying, "As for me, although I have the Great King's egg, it's still just an egg, and my mental power ceiling is only so high. Even after it hatches, I'm just going to be an ordinary little guide."

"During evaluations, Brother Xing, you and Stone will definitely be sentinels above A-rank. I'm just an E-rank, at best a D-rank little guide."

Fu Shuxing understood.

He pressed his thin lips tightly together.

Ji Xun had picked up a knife and carved a distinct, unbridgeable boundary between them.

Zhao Zhanlei was right.

Ji Xun was still holding a grudge; he clearly cared deeply about this.

"You aren't." It felt as though a boiling pot of oil had been poured over Fu Shuxing's heart. Enduring that sensation, he said in a deep voice, "The idea that a massive disparity in mental power means people can't be together refers to guides who cannot perform mental soothing for sentinels."

"Right," Ji Xun said. "It's in the books, I remember."

Fu Shuxing said, "But you can perform mental soothing for me."

"What???" Ji Xun couldn't believe his ears, instantly springing up in shock!

He had forgotten that the white tiger was lying right at his feet, and he accidentally stepped on it. Ji Xun quickly pulled his foot back. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, General."

Having taken a step to the foot, General merely flicked its tail lightly.

It lay there motionless as a mountain.

Ji Xun looked back at Fu Shuxing, suddenly remembering that Zhao Zhanlei had also asked him something similar—it must have been what Fu Shuxing told him.

Calming down a bit, Ji Xun said, "Impossible, I can't even enter your mental domain."

"You said it yourself, you saved me once in a dream."

As soon as he brought it up, Ji Xun remembered, but entering a mental domain through a dream was something from a very long time ago.

Aunt Wang had said that once mental power stabilized, night terrors would no longer occur.

Without even thinking, Ji Xun said, "That doesn't count."

Fu Shuxing's voice dropped. "Why doesn't it count? Real life or dream, the sole result is that you performed mental soothing for me, and it succeeded."

"That's because I was sick; my mental power was unstable, which triggered the night terrors," Ji Xun explained to Fu Shuxing. "That kind of situation only happens when my mental power is unsteady. Affected by you, pulled by the strong 'summons' of your mental domain, and because my ability was low and I couldn't control my own mental power, I ended up helplessly drifting into your mental domain."

Ji Xun continued, "However, once my mental power stabilizes, that kind of situation won't happen ever again."

Having said that, Ji Xun felt a little flare of annoyance. He remembered failing to enter Fu Shuxing's mental domain that night, and after reading up on it later, he discovered it was because Fu Shuxing had been subconsciously rejecting him, looking down on him, and refusing to let him in, which was why he failed.

Honestly, how utterly infuriating!!

*It won't ever happen again once mental power stabilizes?*

*Impossible.*

Fu Shuxing's jaw tightened. Not believing it, he said, "You're lying to me."

"Why would I lie to you?" Ji Xun raised an eyebrow. "My medical records from that hospital are still there! If you don't believe me, I'll go find them and show them to you when I get home. What mental soothing succeeding in a dream—that was just a blind cat running into a dead mouse."

Ji Xun added, "Brother Xing, you wouldn't have said all those weird things to me this afternoon just because of that, would you?"

Fu Shuxing didn't speak.

His expression had already grown very ugly.

Seeing Fu Shuxing's tacit admission, Ji Xun lowered his gaze, his already-shoeless foot gently stepping onto General's soft, oversized paw.

The lying General shifted its paw away—this was definitely not something to be played with.