The Beloved Guide Was Forced in a Love-Rival Shura Field - Chapter 101

The darkness before dawn was completely shattered.

Ning Ning huddled under the warm blankets; the only light in the bedroom came from the cold, bluish glow of the tactical screen and Xiao Lin’s deep, calm commands.

“Operation complete. Next, B2 District, Zhou Yulin’s private guard. Five minutes. I don’t want to see them again.”

Xiao Lin’s fingers traced a cold arc across the screen.

On the map, the red dots representing the Crown Prince’s loyalist Zhou Yulin’s forces were surrounded by multiple blue arrows. They struggled for only a few seconds before being completely wiped out—without leaving even the slightest ripple of life behind.

Ning Ning’s heart twitched along with the disappearing red dot.

He had only ever seen such scenes in movies before—cold data, ruthless orders, and behind every word, the death of countless lives.

But now, the man who wielded the sharpest executioner’s blade in the empire was sitting right beside his bed. His broad back was like an insurmountable mountain, isolating all the bloodshed and smoke to the other side of the screen, leaving Ning Ning in a realm of absolute safety.

It was an extremely strange yet intoxicating sense of security.

Even though the world outside the window was a hellish battlefield, he felt like a precious pet enclosed in the eye of the storm—no cold wind could reach him.

At that moment, the light computer at his bedside buzzed softly again.

It was Gu Qingfeng.

But this time, it wasn’t a video. Instead, a series of encrypted messages quietly refreshed.

[Rebel logistics supply center, the commander has just resigned. Reason: enlightened, embraced the Peace Dove Sect, decided to lay down the sword and attain instant enlightenment.]

[Eastern city gate defense position, command system experiencing unknown malfunction, currently looping the Imperial Anthem on all channels. Morale stable (slightly dropping).]

[The Crown Prince’s last reserve forces experienced severe traffic congestion while assembling. Reports indicate that a few stray cats were fighting in the middle of the road, causing chaos. No one dared intervene.]

Each message bore Gu Qingfeng’s signature elegant yet cruel style.

No flashing blades. No booming artillery.

Like a ghost lurking in the shadows, he could effortlessly paralyze the rebel nerve center with invisible threads. The supposedly impregnable deployments that the Crown Prince relied on crumbled like children’s paper toys in front of him.

Ning Ning glanced at the tactical screen in front of him, watching Xiao Lin’s surgical precision and cold cruelty.

Then he looked at the light computer in his hand, witnessing Gu Qingfeng’s silent, bloodless annihilation.

Suddenly, he understood.

One commanded the empire’s strongest violence; the other played with the most dangerous human hearts.

One was the thunderous axe in the open; the other, the strangling web in the shadows.

Combined, these forces were invincible. A power capable of making the entire empire tremble.

And at this very moment, this power was completely, unreservedly devoted to him alone.

A burning, indescribable pride surged in his chest, swelling until it ached and even made his eyes moist.

He was proud of his choice.

“Marshal…” A young officer’s hesitant voice came from the tactical screen. “The rebel forces outside the palace have been mostly cleared… the Crown Prince… has been captured alive.”

Xiao Lin uttered a simple “Hm,” expressionless, as if he had expected this outcome.

Just as he was about to issue a new command, the entire command system suddenly blared an alarm far sharper and more piercing than the previous air raid sirens.

On the screen, a blood-red icon representing the highest state of emergency flashed wildly in a western district of the palace.

“Report, Marshal!” A communications officer’s voice was utterly panicked. “The Ninth Civilian Shelter has experienced a massive explosion! It’s… the rebel remnants detonating a backup energy facility! Preliminary estimates indicate over five thousand civilians!”

The screen switched immediately.

Flames shot into the sky, thick smoke billowed, buildings collapsed into rubble.

The visuals were no longer cold red and blue dots—they were live, high-definition images.

Countless people in panic ran through the debris, crying. A mother clutched her child, kneeling on the ground, wailing in despair.

These were not mere data points.

These were living, breathing humans experiencing hell.

Xiao Lin’s black eyes darkened instantly, his entire presence pressing down with terrifying intensity.

“The First Corps is executing capture missions and cannot provide immediate reinforcement!”

“The Third Corps is blocked by the palace’s energy barrier; it will take fifteen minutes to circumvent!”

“Marshal! The scene is out of control! Panic is spreading!”

One bad report after another came in. Xiao Lin’s hands, resting on his knees, clenched until the knuckles whitened.

He could crush an entire army but could not instantly extinguish a fire in a civilian district or soothe five thousand desperate hearts.

He suddenly turned to tell Ning Ning “don’t be afraid,” only to freeze.

Ning Ning had already pushed off the blanket, standing barefoot on the cold floor.

He didn’t look at Xiao Lin, only staring intently at the fiery ruins on the screen, at the mother clutching her child, at the fleeing, desperate masses.

His beautiful violet eyes no longer held the earlier relief or pride, nor fear or panic.

They carried… a piercing compassion.

A sense of responsibility, innate and impossible to ignore.

“Xiao Lin,” Ning Ning spoke softly, yet with firm resolve, “I have to go.”

Xiao Lin’s heart jolted violently, and almost instantly, his towering figure blocked Ning Ning like an unscalable wall.

“No!”

The word came out through clenched teeth, filled with a panic born of childhood trauma he hadn’t realized he still carried. He reached out and grabbed Ning Ning’s delicate wrist, holding him as if he wanted to embed him inside himself.

“That place is too dangerous, Ning Ning. I won’t allow you to go!”

He could clear the world for him, kill every enemy—but Ning Ning had to remain where he could see and protect him.

Ning Ning shook his head against the painful grip.

He looked up at Xiao Lin, his violet eyes glowing in the firelight with a strange, gentle brilliance.

“But I am the Moon God,” he said softly, without any heroic bravado—simply stating a fact.

“If… everyone is suffering, and the god hides in the safest place… what use is such a god?”

The words struck Xiao Lin like a gentle lightning bolt, shattering all his possessive, protective notions.

Indeed. He was his Ning Ning, the treasure he wanted to lock away with his life.

But he was also everyone’s Moon God.

Before Xiao Lin could respond, Ning Ning tried to break free from his grasp. The tiny figure in front of the massive tactical screen seemed fragile, yet his steps toward the door were resolute.

At that moment, the light computer blinked again.

It was Gu Qingfeng.

“Your Highness, don’t be afraid.” His voice came through the communicator, calm and gentle as always, as if he had anticipated this scene. “The Royal Guard is waiting outside the Marshal’s residence. They will clear the safest path for you.”

He paused, a barely perceptible smile in his tone—seeming to speak both to Ning Ning and Xiao Lin.

“Go do what you wish. Whatever decision you make, we are here.”

Gu Qingfeng’s words became the straw that broke Xiao Lin’s last defensive barrier.

He understood.

He could shield Ning Ning from blades and bullets; Gu Qingfeng could clear conspiracies in the shadows.

But some things, only Ning Ning himself could do.

Like comforting the shattered hearts of the empire’s people.

Xiao Lin watched Ning Ning’s resolute back, his clenched fists slowly relax. The hand that had held his wrist so tightly now gently grasped his, reverently.

“…Go,” Xiao Lin finally said, his voice hoarse, sandpaper-rough.

He stood, took his Marshal’s greatcoat from the rack, and stepped behind Ning Ning, wrapping the thick garment around his small frame, nearly engulfing him entirely with his warmth and cold, commanding presence.

He straightened Ning Ning’s collar, his long fingers brushing across the soft cheek, eyes deep as the ocean.

“I’m sending the Seventh Corps’ ‘Guardians’ squad with you,” he whispered, more like a plea than an order. “Take care of yourself.”

“And come back.”

“You must come back.”

Ning Ning nodded, his face buried in the oversized coat, inhaling Xiao Lin’s reassuring scent.

He didn’t look back.

He pushed open the door and stepped onto the chaotic yet grand stage that awaited him.

Support