CH 19

The island experiences extreme temperature fluctuations day and night, coupled with frequent heavy rainfall. Usually, by 3 in the afternoon, heavy rain starts pouring down. Just before the first raindrop fell, Si Di returned to the cave.

After an afternoon shower, he escorted Xiao Zhenyun back to their lodging. He mentioned that he was heading to a higher point to check for any possible signal reception, and then he jumped out with Tai Ji. Xiao Zhenyun didn’t hold much hope for the signal, so when Si Di returned with a shake of his head, he wasn’t particularly disappointed. Instead, he consoled, “Don’t worry, we’ll be rescued soon.”

“I hope so,” Si Di said amidst the flickering flames. He tossed two potato-like things to him, and Xiao Zhenyun peeled one open and took a bite. It was sweet and tender, and as he was quite hungry, both fruits were quickly devoured. He even chewed and swallowed the remaining peels.

“Tasty?”

“Delicious,” Xiao Zhenyun praised without hesitation. Si Di nodded and handed him his share as well, saying, “If they’re good, I’ll dig more tomorrow.”

Of course, he wasn’t being so friendly without a reason. Immediately after, he made a request, “Help me with my spiritual domain.”

“…,” Xiao Zhenyun put down his water container, aware of his limited skills. “I can’t. I can’t even enter my own spiritual domain.”

Si Di: “…”

Growing anxious, Si Di pressed, “But my spiritual domain is still very unstable. Without occasional mental grooming, I may fall into a mental frenzy at any time… You said you can’t, then how did you help me yesterday?”  “

Xiao Zhenyun noticed Si Di’s gaze lingering on his lips, and then quickly averted his eyes, avoiding that intense look. Although he wasn’t a sentinel, he was still a man who understood what Si Di had been thinking just now. After a moment of contemplation, he decided that since they had already kissed once, a second time wouldn’t hurt. With a blunt tone, he said, “Kiss me again, then I’ll try to get the feeling.”

“That’s not a kiss,” Si Di seriously explained, “It’s an emergency saliva exchange of guide elements used for treating sentinels.”

“Oh,” Xiao Zhenyun couldn’t be bothered with Si Di’s pseudo-serious sentinel talk. “You can call it whatever you want. If you don’t kiss me, you’ll sleep outside tonight. I’m afraid you’ll go crazy and tear me apart in the middle of the night.”

“…,” compared to his indifference, Si Di displayed an extremely hesitant expression. After quite a while, he nervously leaned closer and struggled for a bit before tremblingly saying, “Little Uncle…”

“Can you not call me ‘Little Uncle’ at a time like this?” Xiao Zhenyun sighed and distanced himself from him. “During the day, I’m Xiao Zhenyun. At night, when you’re going to kiss me, you call me Little Uncle. Si Di, your kinks are really something else, huh?”

Si Di’s cheeks flushed as red as the bonfire behind him. He was so restless that his ears seemed ready to burst. Through gritted teeth, he retorted, “Xiao Zhenyun, I never expected you to be so outspoken in private. How did we even get to the point of discussing ‘kinks’… Why do you just blurt out anything? I called you Little Uncle to help you get in the right mindset, to prevent you from thinking about inappropriate things.”

Actually, Xiao Zhenyun hadn’t even been thinking about anything of the sort: “…”

He elongated his “oh” sound, “Well, I can’t get aroused anyway, so there won’t be any awkward reactions.”

“Are you proud of not being able to get aroused?” A touch of guilt flashed in Si Di’s eyes, his wolf ears perking up in an almost explosive manner, as if he were about to burst into flames at any moment.

Xiao Zhenyun’s lips curved into a teasing smile, anticipating another round of rough and infuriating remarks about to spill forth from those very lips. Just then, Si Di leaned in abruptly, relentlessly capturing those vile lips, and forced them apart, intensifying the kiss with closed eyes.

Bleeding again. Such a fierce wolf, blood always drawn with every kiss. A chuckle welled up within Xiao Zhenyun; he slowly closed his eyes. The cave walls, bathed in flame, cast a tangerine glow. Two elongated figures clung to each other, the crackling of burning twigs harmonizing with the persistent rain outside, cleverly masking occasional embarrassed swallows and soft moans.

After a while, Xiao Zhenyun pushed against Si Di, both panting heavily as they broke apart. The heat on Si Di’s face remained unabated, and he attempted to cover his embarrassment with an indifferent tone, “What about the mental link?”

Xiao Zhenyun wiped the corner of his mouth and furrowed his brows, “I don’t feel anything at all.”

Si Di was taken aback, his voice tinged with alarm, “What do you mean by ‘feel’?”

“…Can you clean out the lewd junk from your mind, you little pervert?” Xiao Zhenyun retorted.

“I…” Si Di felt like he was playing the victim.

“Yesterday, when we kissed, I saw something like a chain, I connected the two ends, forming a mental link with you,” Xiao Zhenyun explained, “I know it sounds abstract, and despite that, even though we’ve kissed for so long today, I haven’t sensed a thing.”

“Why?” Si Di asked, “Is there some condition that hasn’t been met?”

Certainly can’t strip down and hug each other, right? Both Xiao Zhenyun and Si Di pondered this simultaneously, yet neither voiced it, in perfect unspoken agreement.

Especially Si Di, recalling how during treatments with other guides, not even bodily fluid exchange was necessary, let alone hugging. Only in cases of low compatibility, sentinels would use saliva test strips to enhance the mental link with the attending guide.

“Could it be that the circumstances were critical that day, and it’s not replicable now?” Xiao Zhenyun wondered aloud.

Si Di remained skeptical, brow furrowed, lips pursed, his expression mysterious. When Xiao Zhenyun suggested trying again, he suddenly blurted out, “You’re doing this on purpose, pretending you can’t when you clearly can.”

Xiao Zhenyun failed to keep up with Si Di’s train of thought, “Why would I pretend not to? How would that benefit me?”

“The benefit would be…” Si Di closed his eyes briefly, as if discarding a burden, and said expressionlessly, “To kiss me more times.”

“…”

Si Di cut off Xiao Zhenyun before he could speak, adding, “You have a track record, can’t blame me for being suspicious.”

Xiao Zhenyun replied, “Si Di, you better think this through. Our compatibility is at ninety percent. If you dare stand here and vow you’ll never come looking for me, even if you die in the future, I swear I won’t spare you a single thought in this lifetime.”

“Ninety percent?!” Si Di’s pupils suddenly dilated, his shock causing even his irises to tremble. He had previously dared to speculate conservatively at eighty percent, but to his disbelief, it had actually exceeded that – ninety percent, an unreal concept. It was a level of compatibility that could make world news if revealed. It was so rare that he couldn’t even remember the last time a 90% soulmate had appeared.

Seeing the reaction he wanted from Si Di, Xiao Zhenyun grinned with satisfaction. “Don’t you get it? On the day you rescued me while I was critically injured, you voluntarily pulled me into your spiritual domain. Only a sentinel and guide with compatibility over 90% can achieve that.”

“…Ninety percent,” Si Di muttered in disbelief, repeating the terrifying number. It was a figure he had never dared to imagine, and it even instilled a sense of fear. Hesitating, he took a step back, his expression a mix of shock and uncertainty. “This can’t be possible…”

“Why not?”

“I need to think…” Si Di dodged, turning away, his mind racing. “Little Uncle, let me think…”

Xiao Zhenyun wasn’t truly annoyed. Seeing Si Di’s expression of existential doubt, his spiritual domain having collapsed along with his worldview, he felt like he was teasing him instead. “Sure, take your time… I’ll rest for a bit. If you feel uncomfortable anywhere, just call me.”

He summoned Tian Lu, allowing him to be his pillow and warm his bed. During the day, Si Di had collected a lot of grass and leaves, sun-dried and aired them, creating a warm cushion beneath him.

Sleeping with a deer wasn’t as comfortable as it seemed, Xiao Zhenyun thought without guilt.

It wasn’t surprising that Si Di was taken aback. A 90% compatibility was like knowing the ending of a movie before it even began and then watching it with the answer in hand. Some people might hate spoilers, loathing the answer because they craved the unknown and the infinite possibilities. But Xiao Zhenyun was fine with it. Knowing the outcome beforehand gave him a sense of calm control, and no matter how confusing the plot might be in between, he wouldn’t panic. Because the ending had long been predetermined.

From the moment Xiao Zhenyun learned about compatibility from the administrator, he had considered whether to bond with Si Di. It could be a way to advance the engagement plot of the male lead, which had been inexplicably delayed. However, he later realized that ‘Xiao Zhenyun’ in the book and Si Di were like water and fire – incompatible. Si Di even looked like a ‘blackened’ mad dog. Xiao Zhenyun didn’t want to get bitten, so he abandoned the idea.

Yet Si Di’s actions in rescuing him yesterday had changed Xiao Zhenyun’s perspective once again. He admired Si Di’s bottom line as a person, so he reconsidered. As a former human, he was curious about the fated bond between sentinels and guides and didn’t mind experiencing it firsthand.

But if he heard Si Di shouting tomorrow that he controlled his destiny, to hell with the 90%, that his love was his own say!

Xiao Zhenyun would definitely kick him out immediately, even if his spiritual domain collapsed.

He fell asleep with an attitude of ‘love it or leave it’. Yet, before the second day arrived, he was awoken by Si Di in the dead of night. The cave was pitch-black, rain was falling outside, and the cave’s fire had gone out. Xiao Zhenyun fumbled for the terminal to turn on the light. Before he could extend his hand, Si Di grabbed it, forcefully pressing it against his own face.

Xiao Zhenyun’s hand broke out in cold sweat.

“Si Di?”

Si Di didn’t get the immediate assistance he wanted from his guide. He shouted in frustration and pain, “Guide elements! My head feels like it’s splitting open!”

In the darkness, Xiao Zhenyun didn’t even realize that he was smirking, his heartbeat racing. He decided to give this sentinel, who disrupted his dreams and had an awful attitude, a small lesson. He intentionally asked, “Is this the attitude you have when asking for help?”

“…” Si Di’s strained breathing paused for a moment, as if he had encountered a difficult question posed by a wicked examiner, feeling both wronged and uncomfortable. Not long after, he helplessly let out a soft whimper, his tail curling around Xiao Zhenyun’s waist. “Woof.”

The sound was pleasing, and even Xiao Zhenyun’s deer tail came out, shaking contentedly behind him. He immediately released his guide elements with great satisfaction, saturating the entire cave with it. It was so intense that it almost overwhelmed Tai Ji.

The next moment, however, Si Di angrily bit into Xiao Zhenyun’s shoulder, using significant force, and the bite drew blood the instant it happened. Before Xiao Zhenyun could even get angry, Si Di preemptively complained in a stern voice, “And you say you don’t like Xiao Chu!!”

“…”

“Who is Si Chu? Who is Si Chu?!”

The author has something to say:

Doggy: Who’s calling me?

Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters.  (๑>ᴗ