The Beloved Guide Was Forced in a Love-Rival Shura Field - Chapter 21

The tug-of-war in the mind-sea ended faster than expected.

The moment Gu Qingfeng’s cold, aggressively invasive mental tendril tried to entangle Ning Ning’s consciousness, Xiao Lin made a choice based on almost animalistic instinct.

Win against Gu Qingfeng?

That thought didn’t last even a second.

Any victory was meaningless if it meant harming Ning Ning.

The blazing golden mind-sea, which had just been calmed, collapsed inward without hesitation. The chaotic energy didn’t attack the external enemy; instead, it transformed into the strongest golden barrier, tightly and impenetrably shielding that wisp of purple light he held so dear at its core.

At the same time, in the real world, Xiao Lin forcefully severed his mental confrontation with the outside world.

This move was like having his leg broken by a head-on collision while sprinting at full speed.

“Pfft—”

A metallic, rusty taste surged up his throat. Xiao Lin let out a muffled groan, his body staggered violently, and a striking trickle of fresh blood slowly slid from his tightly pressed lips.

But his golden eyes were fixed on the person in his arms; he didn’t even have a moment to wipe the blood.

He didn’t care how severe his internal injuries were.

He only knew that the little one in his arms was safe.

Meanwhile, due to this sudden and dramatic change, Ning Ning’s mental world sank into an even deeper chaos.

He felt as if he had been thrown into a warm yet overbearing golden vortex.

This force was no longer the turbulent storm he had to soothe before. It was a gentle, docile, and absolutely submissive warm current, carefully supporting and enveloping him, preventing him from any jolts.

Then, a massive wolf’s head, with fur like molten gold, drew close.

The wolf’s eyes no longer burned with a restless fire but with a pure, almost obsessive gaze.

It extended its tongue. The surface, which should have been rough, was now incredibly soft and carried a temperature that could melt a person, gently and repeatedly, licking the outline of Ning Ning’s mental form with an almost sacred reverence.

This was not an invasion but a branding.

A mark that blended supreme cherish and possessive obsession.

Every inch of Ning Ning’s consciousness was tinged with Xiao Lin’s overbearing aura, a mix of snow and fire.

Then, the massive wolf body slowly curled up, gently but forcefully encircling the small consciousness wrapped in a purple halo. It used its sturdy jaw to lightly nuzzle him, and a contented, affectionate whine emanated from deep within its throat.

It wanted to lock him within its scent, leaving no gaps, as if to completely fuse him into its bones and blood, making him its eternal private treasure.

Next to them, the fluffy cloud-beast sent by Gu Qingfeng tilted its head. Its black, beady eyes were filled with immense confusion.

Aw, what are you guys doing?

In reality, Ning Ning’s body trembled unconsciously in Xiao Lin’s embrace.

His slender eyelashes fluttered like a butterfly’s wings, and his pale lips parted slightly. Some vague, fragmented syllables escaped his throat.

“Eldoria… Kael… thas…”

That was not the imperial language, nor any other known galactic tongue.

The syllables were ancient and ethereal, carrying a strange rhythm that was both sacred and sorrowful, as if they were the whispers of an ancient deity, striking the hearts of the two top-tier Sentinels present.

Xiao Lin looked down at the person in his arms, his heart suddenly tightening.

A nameless unease, even greater than the panic of his earlier estrus-heat loss of control, seized him.

He no longer hesitated, scooping up the pliant Ning Ning and striding toward the door.

“Click.”

The heavy metal door opened from the inside.

Outside, Gu Qingfeng’s figure stood ramrod straight. The face that always wore a gentle smile was now covered with a layer of frost that could freeze a person to death.

But when his gaze fell on Xiao Lin’s arms, seeing Ning Ning’s bloodless, fragile little face that looked as if it would shatter with a single touch, his deep eyes narrowed sharply.

Ning Ning’s silver, slightly curly hair was damp with sweat, clinging messily to his forehead, making his face appear almost transparently white. His eyes were tightly closed, his brows slightly furrowed, and his long eyelashes cast a fragile shadow beneath them, like a butterfly with rain-soaked wings, about to wither away at any moment.

Gu Qingfeng’s heart felt as if it had been seized by a cold hand and twisted with force.

The pain made his fingertips go numb.

It was his rashness, his failure to control that damn possessiveness, that had hurt him.

The surging jealousy and anger, at this moment, completely turned into a thick, unconcealable sense of guilt and heartache.

Xiao Lin held Ning Ning, his gaze coldly sweeping over Gu Qingfeng. Surprisingly, there was none of their usual mutual antagonism. His expression was strange, a mix of a hint of satisfaction after getting what he wanted and an unmasked solemnity.

“He needs rest.” Xiao Lin’s voice was low and hoarse, with an undeniable tone of command.

Gu Qingfeng did not argue. He simply stepped aside, his gaze fixed as if glued to Ning Ning, never leaving him for a moment.

Unexpectedly, the two strongest S-ranks in the Empire temporarily reached a truce.

Together, they settled Ning Ning in the quietest, most comfortable room in the Marshal’s mansion. Xiao Lin stayed by the bed, not leaving for a second, personally using a warm towel to wipe the cold sweat from Ning Ning’s face. Meanwhile, Gu Qingfeng used the highest royal authority to summon the most elite medical team and equipment for a full-scale vital signs monitoring of the room.

The two men at the pinnacle of the Empire’s power were now like two children who had made a mistake, clumsily and carefully guarding their shared treasure.

In the darkness of his slumber, Ning Ning’s consciousness fell into a grotesque nightmare.

He felt like he was constantly falling.

All around him was a cold, suffocating darkness, and in his ears was the sound of a whistling wind.

After an unknown amount of time, he landed with a “thud” on a cold floor.

He struggled to open his eyes.

Beneath his feet was a crystal floor that shimmered with a ghostly blue light, but it was completely shattered. Huge cracks spread out like a spider’s web to the edge of his vision. From the depths of the cracks, a dark energy surged, making his heart race just by looking at it.

He looked up, and his breath instantly hitched.

There were no stars or moon in the sky.

There was only a gigantic, indescribable, slightly wiggling, bloody “tumor.”

It was a collective of countless twisted flesh, grotesque carapaces, and dense compound eyes—the Queen of the Zerg.

It hung there, like a rotten, evil moon.

It made no sound, but a massive mental pressure, powerful enough to tear apart a soul, swept across the entire world like a tsunami. It was a pure, undisguised will of destruction and devouring.

Ning Ning “saw” that the spires that once stood on the crystal ground, shining with sacred light, were now all reduced to ruins. Countless elegant beings, clad in splendid silver-white armor, lay scattered among the debris. Their civilization, their pride, their everything, had been utterly annihilated by the Queen in the sky.

A tidal wave of sorrow and despair that did not belong to him overwhelmed him.

“No… don’t…”

“Ning Ning? Ning Ning!”

A frantic voice, like a lifeline, pulled him out of that desperate, bloody nightmare.

Ning Ning’s eyes snapped open. He gasped for air, his chest heaving violently.

His forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his beautiful purple eyes still held the lingering remnants of extreme terror.

What greeted his sight were the faces of Xiao Lin and Gu Qingfeng, both filled with worry and urgency.

“I… I…” He wanted to speak, but his teeth were chattering, and his whole body trembled like a leaf in the autumn wind. “I had a dream… it was so scary…”

“Don’t be afraid, it’s okay, it was just a dream.” Xiao Lin immediately held his cold hand, trying to warm him with his own body temperature. His voice was gentle in a way he himself didn’t notice.

Ning Ning, however, seemed not to hear. He grabbed Xiao Lin’s arm with surprising strength, his nails digging into the fabric of the other’s military uniform.

“It wasn’t a dream! It was real!” He cried out incoherently, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably. “The crystals… they all shattered! And that thing in the sky!… that tumor! It’s the moon… no, it’s not the moon! It’s eating… it ate everyone!”

As he spoke, he scrambled to describe the scenes from his dream.

From the shattered crystal ground, to the corpses of the elegant beings in silver-white armor, to the Zerg Queen suspended in the sky, radiating endless malice.

As he narrated, the air in the room seemed to be sucked out in an instant.

The worry on Xiao Lin’s and Gu Qingfeng’s faces was gradually replaced by a solemnity and shock they had never known before.

When Ning Ning, exhausted, could no longer speak and could only let out small, animal-like whimpers, the two men exchanged glances.

In each other’s eyes, they saw the same thing—utter horror.

That was not a dream.

That was the most ancient and brutal truth about the “Gods” and the “Zerg”—a truth that had been forcibly erased by the Empire and buried in the deepest parts of history.

And Ning Ning, for some unknown reason, had become the sole witness to this truth.

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