Chapter 53

The two of them walked out of the mental guidance room.

Instructor Lou De asked, “Calmer now?”

Fu Shuxing replied, “Mm.”

“Why didn’t you come for guidance this morning?”

Fu Shuxing slipped both hands into his pockets, his expression indifferent. “I forgot.”

Forgot?

Looking at him, Instructor Lou De felt a dull headache coming on.

Fu Shuxing was his most accomplished and outstanding student, yet at this moment he was nothing but a difficult problem.

“When you get home, have your father take a look at you,” Instructor Lou De said.

“Mm.”

“Don’t just keep saying ‘mm.’ You have to actually do it! Haven’t you noticed that something has been seriously wrong with you lately? Take this barrier, for instance—it’s no different from having no barrier at all! Who made it for you?”

“My father.”

“Impossible!” Instructor Lou De said. “Could a barrier established by Chief of Staff Gao really allow so much useless information and negative emotion to accumulate through your five senses? Your brain must feel ready to explode! And you actually avoided coming for mental guidance. What on earth were you thinking?”

Fu Shuxing’s voice remained flat. “I didn’t avoid it. I just forgot.”

Instructor Lou De was speechless with exasperation, but there was nothing he could do. “Fine. This time, let it go. But tomorrow, you’d better perform well on the exam!”

Fu Shuxing gave a subdued reply. “Mm.”

The two of them left the assessment building.

In early winter, darkness fell early.

The Sanctuary’s streetlights came on.

Fu Shuxing watched the last trace of sunset fade along the horizon and suddenly asked, “Teacher, when a guide gives a sentinel mental guidance, can it harm the guide?”

“Of course not.” Thinking Fu Shuxing was asking about the guide physicians in the assessment building who provided guidance to the student sentinels, Instructor Lou De said, “A guide’s mental power is naturally much stronger than a sentinel’s, and it recovers more quickly as well. The essential difference between sentinels and guides is the difference between warriors and mages. We rely on the power of our five senses; they rely on mental power.”

He continued, “Compared with providing mental guidance, establishing a barrier actually consumes more mental power.”

“Thank you, Teacher.”

“What are you thanking me for? It’s late. Hurry home.”

“Goodbye, Teacher.”

The final exams were just around the corner.

Mother Ji had prepared an extravagant feast especially for her son, who had been studying hard for days.

With the exams so near, Ji Xun stopped reading and practicing. The moment he came home from school, the first thing he did was take a shower.

Tonight’s task was to rest properly and sleep well, restoring his energy for the battle ahead.

He would meet tomorrow’s exams in his best possible condition!

Once Mother Ji had finished setting out the dishes, she called, “Dinner’s ready!”

“Coming!”

Before running downstairs, he remembered to shout toward the study next door, “Dad, dinner!”

As a sentinel, Ji’s father had exceptionally sharp hearing and eyesight. When his wife casually hummed a tune while washing vegetables in the kitchen, he could always pick up the melody and hum along. There was no need for their son to call him.

But since the boy had called, he answered anyway. “Coming.”

Ji Xun ran downstairs. The sight of the tableful of food made his eyes light up, and he let out an astonished cry.

“It’s all my favorites! Mom, I love you!”

He immediately reached out, pinched up a piece of crispy fried pork, and popped it into his mouth.

Mother Ji, who was arranging the tableware, gave him an amused glance. “Go wash your hands first.”

“Right away!”

Ji Xun grinned and dashed into the kitchen to wash his hands.

At the dinner table, Mother Ji kept piling food into her son’s bowl, urging him to eat this and try that.

Everything was one of his favorites, and Ji Xun refused nothing. Whatever his mother placed in his bowl, he accepted, praising every dish as he ate.

Father Ji eyed the mountain of food in his son’s bowl, then looked at his own. He lifted his bowl of plain rice, coughed lightly, and said in an offhand manner, “Honey, put a piece of braised pig’s trotter in my bowl. It’s too far away for me to reach.”

Mother Ji picked up a large piece of trotter and placed it in her son’s bowl. Then she handed the entire platter to her husband.

“You can keep it over there.”

Father Ji fell silent.

Mother Ji suddenly remembered something. “When I went outside while cooking dinner, I noticed that there were no lights on at the Fu residence. Neither adult had come home yet. Is little Xing alone tonight?”

It had been nearly half a month since Ji Xun had last seen Fu Shuxing.

He had been completely absorbed in preparing for the exams and had not contacted Zhao Zhanlei during that time either.

Now that his mother had brought it up, Ji Xun suddenly remembered something he had heard after school that concerned Fu Shuxing.

“I don’t think Brother Xing is home yet,” Ji Xun said. “The final exams begin tomorrow, don’t they? All the sentinels had to undergo mental guidance today. Brother Xing didn’t go until the afternoon. One of the instructors from his class took him there, so he probably hasn’t finished yet.”

Mother Ji looked puzzled. “Why is little Xing getting his mental guidance at the Sanctuary? Doesn’t Mingyuan usually do it for him?”

“Uncle Gao is probably busy.” Ji Xun gnawed at a fragrant pig’s trotter, his mouth shiny with grease, and spoke indistinctly. “Didn’t you just say that Uncle Gao and Uncle Fu still haven’t come home?”

Mother Ji sighed. When adults were busy, it was the children who suffered.

It was hard on Fu Shuxing, who had been independent and sensible since childhood.

Thinking that his mother was worried something might go wrong with the mental guidance, Ji Xun hurried to reassure her. “Mom, don’t worry at all. With Brother Xing’s abilities, even if he skipped the guidance, those final assessment events would still be child’s play for him. He could handle them with ease.”

Mother Ji smiled, but she still could not put her mind at ease.

Looking at the dishes spread across the table, she rose to fetch some containers and packed away a little of everything.

Ji Xun knew exactly what she was up to. He said nothing, merely turning down the corners of his mouth in secret.

She really treated him like her own son…

Adults were far too easily deceived by the surface their children put on, Ji Xun thought.

No. He had to eat more.

The more he ate, the less Fu Shuxing would get!

Seeing his son eating so enthusiastically—he had already gone through two small side plates—Father Ji reminded him, “Don’t eat too much. Overeating can cause indigestion and keep you awake tonight.”

Ji Xun thought that made sense. It would be awful to feel sick from eating too much!

After sucking the last snail from its shell, he decisively set the shell down.

“I’m full!”

Mother Ji immediately glared at her husband. “Why did you have to say all that? The boy finally has an appetite.”

Father Ji looked aggrieved. “I was only worried he’d get indigestion…”

“Mom, I really am full. I’m practically stuffed!” Ji Xun transferred all the untouched meat from his bowl into his father’s. “You two take your time. I’m going upstairs first! I’m going to bed early tonight!”

Mother Ji said, “The herbal medicine will be done soon. I’ll bring it up to your room later.”

Ji Xun immediately said, “Can I skip it tonight? I’ve eaten so much meat already. What if the medicine gives me diarrhea? If I get diarrhea, I won’t be in any condition to take the exam tomorrow. Besides, missing one or two doses won’t matter.”

Mother Ji said, “All right.”

Seeing how readily his mother agreed, Ji Xun inexplicably felt the nervous thrill of someone undertaking a grand operation.

“Then I’m going to bed. Walk quietly later, okay? Don’t wake me up.”

Mother Ji laughed. “All right, all right.”

Father Ji added from the side, “You’re the one who talks too much. Once you’re asleep, even thunder couldn’t wake you. Who could possibly manage it?”

Ji Xun chuckled. “Thunder would still wake me. Good night, Mom and Dad!”

Ji Xun lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

Whether it was because he had eaten too much or because he was nervous, he eventually got out of bed and went to the window. Pulling aside the curtain, he saw that the Fu residence across the way was still completely dark.

Was Fu Shuxing still not home?

Fu Shuxing had been leaving early and returning late recently. Since he had undergone mental guidance today, it was normal for him to be even later.

Ji Xun climbed back into bed.

He began imagining what expression Brother Xing and Stone would wear if he came first in the final exams…

It seemed he would no longer be able to keep his identity as a super-guide secret.

When that happened…

As he thought about it, Ji Xun gradually fell asleep.

Before long, he began to feel unbearably hot.

He tugged at his clothes, then realized that the heat was not coming from his body. It was as though ten suns hung overhead.

There was not a trace of moisture in the air.

Ji Xun saw the air warping beneath the scorching heat. He took one step forward. A bead of sweat slipped from his chin and fell to the ground, producing a clear sizzle beside his ear before evaporating without a trace.

At that moment, Ji Xun suddenly realized that the silence around him was abnormal.

His mind exploded with alarm.

Oh no!

This was… this was…

Ji Xun immediately looked around in panic.

It had been some time since he had last come here, and he had nearly forgotten the sensation. But how had he entered Fu Shuxing’s mental domain again, without warning?

Had Fu Shuxing done this?

Ji Xun forced himself to calm down.

Panic would not help. He had to find a way out as soon as possible.

Every time he entered a mental domain in a dream, he felt especially drained upon waking the next day.

If this affected his exam, he would be finished…

But soon, Ji Xun discovered that he could not calm down at all.

The blazing sun made him dizzy. Sweat poured from his body, while the sand beneath his feet felt like a sheet of red-hot iron, so hot that even the soles of his shoes seemed ready to melt.

“Brother Xing? Brother Xing, where are you?”

Ji Xun could not raise his voice. His throat was parched, and he could not even produce saliva.

He felt every pore on his body bursting open. His strength and moisture were draining away at terrifying speed, while a searing pain spread across his skin.

Just as Ji Xun thought he was about to die of heatstroke, a deep rumble suddenly rolled across the distance.

Ji Xun’s heart lurched.

This was bad!

He looked up and saw that the sky, which moments before had been cloudless beneath a brilliant sun, was rapidly filling with black clouds. The thick clouds looked like an enormous mouth, swallowing the sky and blotting out the sun as they spread across the entire heavens.

They gathered far too quickly.

Ji Xun’s pupils contracted, and he turned and ran in terror!

The bright sky darkened with astonishing speed.

A blinding bolt of lightning split the black clouds.

The world around him flared white.

Ji Xun’s heart seized for an instant, and he stopped running at once.

He covered both ears. His heart hung taut in his chest. He did not dare breathe, holding himself rigid in terrified anticipation.

But he could not hold his breath forever.

The moment Ji Xun drew another breath, thunder exploded directly overhead with a deafening roar.

“BOOOOM!”

“Ahhh!”

Terrified, Ji Xun ran while pressing both hands over his ears.

He had no idea where he was going.

Every so often, lightning illuminated the surroundings as brightly as day. The thunder crashed like a colossal chisel hammering against the entire world. Ji Xun was shaking with fear, but he did not dare stop. He fled wildly in every direction until, in his panic, he stumbled over his own feet and crashed heavily to the ground.

A violent wind suddenly rose, whipping sand and dust into the sky.

Lying on the ground, Ji Xun felt his body grow frighteningly light—so light that the gale seemed ready to lift him up and hurl him into the air.

Terrified, he instinctively reached for something to hold on to, but his hands closed around nothing except sand.

His body shifted helplessly in the raging wind.