The Beloved Guide Was Forced in a Love-Rival Shura Field - Chapter 30

Ning Ning felt like he was about to split apart.

All he wanted was to flop on the bed and melt into a puddle of bunny mush, yet somehow he had been dragged out into the back garden.

The culprit was none other than Gu Qingfeng.

At the door earlier, His Highness the Second Prince had used that warm, jade-like voice of his—utterly impossible to refuse—saying:
“Ning Ning, staying cooped up indoors is bad for your health. Let me take you for a walk in the garden, get some fresh air, hmm?”

Before he could even shake his head, Xie Lín had immediately blocked the way like a mountain, face frosty as he said:
“I’ll accompany him.”

And so things had turned into this—

He was now hemmed in by three long-legged men in a pin formation, so tightly that not even a breeze from the garden could get through, let alone fresh air.

The back garden’s air was thick with clashing pheromones, currents colliding beneath the surface.

Xia Yu kept his flawless, gentle smile as he pointed at a cluster of snow-white roses, trying to start a conversation:
“Senior Ning Ning, look at these flowers. They really match the color of your hair.”

Ning Ning’s head, muddled from a low fever, felt stuffed with wet cotton. He was about to nod perfunctorily to end this strange gathering when his waist suddenly tightened.

The next instant, an irresistible force turned him around.

His back slammed firmly into a chest that was both hard and hot.

Xie Lín’s tall body was like a wall, closing around him seamlessly, positioning him with his back to Xia Yu and facing a stretch of empty greenery. The stiff military fabric pressed through his thin clothes, like a moving fortress that completely cut him off from the outside world.

【Help, 89! He’s doing it again!】 Ning Ning shook the system by the collar inside his head, 【This copper-wall-and-iron-fortress possessiveness! I feel like a prisoner being escorted!】

System 89 buzzed with something suspiciously like fangirling static: 【Don’t be afraid, Host! This is daddy-boyfriend love! He’s shielding you from potential danger!】

【Danger, my foot! I only know I’m about to suffocate!】

Xia Yu’s smile didn’t falter, but the warmth in his eyes chilled noticeably. He forced his way back into the conversation:
“The Marshal is certainly attentive. But it seems like Senior has more interest in roses?”

Ning Ning blinked his pretty violet eyes in confusion.

Since when was he interested in flowers? He didn’t even know he had pollen allergies.

But his fever-fogged head was too heavy to explain. He only wanted to lean somewhere comfortable. So, instinctively, he nestled closer to the warmer, sturdier “heat source” behind him, seeking a sliver of comfort. A soft, nasal little “mm?” slipped from his throat.

That innocent act of trust lit a fire in the chest of the man behind him, filling him with fierce satisfaction.

Xie Lín lowered his eyes to the obedient boy in his arms. His once icy aura softened. Without changing expression, he answered in Ning Ning’s stead, his voice low and commanding, as though issuing an unalterable military order:

“He’s allergic to pollen.”

Xia Yu’s smile nearly cracked.

And then, a gentle jade-like voice, laced with reproach, drifted into the air.

“My, Marshal Xie, Ning Ning is still ill. How could you let him stand here in the wind?”

Gu Qingfeng had somehow come right up to them. Dressed in the academy mentor’s white uniform, black-haired and dark-eyed, his face bore that impeccable smile. Without even glancing at Xia Yu, his gaze went straight over Xie Lín’s shoulder, landing squarely on Ning Ning. His tone brimmed with tender concern, almost overflowing.

“Look at our Ning Ning. His face is burning red—it’s heartbreaking.”

That seemingly caring remark pierced the fragile balance like a poisoned needle.

Ning Ning shifted uncomfortably under the weight of three simultaneous gazes.

The afternoon sun fell on him, silver curls glowing softly. His skin, already pale as porcelain, was flushed with fever, a blush spreading from his cheeks to the tips of his delicate ears—fragile and enticing.

And his eyes—those weren’t just violet. They shimmered like flowing galaxies, pure and untainted. When he frowned faintly from discomfort, long lashes quivered like butterfly wings, and a quiet purifying power unfurled from him.

The violent, gunpowder-tinged pheromones of sentinels, the probing mental strands of guides—all of it was soothed and purified by this gentle force.

Ning Ning himself was unaware, only feeling that the oppressive atmosphere had lightened a little.

But the three men felt as though they’d been struck by a miracle. Their breaths caught.

That absolute purity, intertwined with his unconscious allure, spun into an invisible net that ensnared their reason and very souls.

Xie Lín’s golden eyes shrank sharply, violent possessiveness roaring like fire in his chest. He wanted to hide him away, build a cage of body and mind, and let that light shine for him alone.

Xia Yu’s heart clenched painfully. Duty, loyalty, orders—all crumbled into ash. A single crazed thought consumed him: steal this moonlight, hide it away, make it his alone. That primal hunger surged, drowning rational calculation.

Even Gu Qingfeng’s eternal smile cracked faintly. In his eyes churned a bottomless abyss named greed. He no longer saw merely a lovely boy, but a living “god” capable of overturning the Empire, a key to seizing the pinnacle of power.

Xie Lín immediately caught the shift in their gazes—that naked hunger and claim.

Rage at the invasion of his territory thundered up from within.

He straightened, broad frame blocking Ning Ning more completely, shielding him from every covetous glance. His hand rose, as if to smooth wind-tousled bangs, but his thumb pressed firmly against Ning Ning’s temple, slow and deliberate, imprinting his own aura to overwrite all others.

It was a silent, unmistakable warning mark.

Gu Qingfeng saw everything, his smile growing even gentler. Stepping forward, his gaze skimmed over Ning Ning’s pale yet enticing lips before flicking back to Xie Lín. He chuckled softly, words sharp as blades:

“The Marshal’s way of caring is a little too rough. Ning Ning is a treasure, not one of your recruits.” He paused, voice softening further. “Why not leave him to me? The royal medical team knows better than the army’s rough hands how to care for him.”

He extended a hand, fingers long and jade-pale in the sunlight—aim clear.

He meant to take the boy from the Marshal’s arms.

The air froze.

Ning Ning thought he would suffocate.

He’d had enough!

He just wanted to sleep!

“…I feel dizzy,” the boy’s soft, husky voice—like a kitten’s paw—scratched lightly at each man’s heart. “I want… to go back and sleep.”

That single sentence shattered the standoff.

Xie Lín’s attention snapped wholly back to Ning Ning. Without hesitation, he pulled him tighter and swept him up in his arms. The motion was steady, not a single jolt, as if cradling a priceless treasure.

“His mental state is unstable. He needs absolute quiet.” His golden eyes swept coldly over Gu Qingfeng and Xia Yu, tone brooking no debate.

On the way back from the garden, Xie Lín’s possessiveness showed no restraint. Whenever students cast curious glances, he gathered Ning Ning closer still, his tall frame cloaking him entirely in shadow, blocking every prying eye.

Ning Ning buried his face against the Marshal’s chest, breathing in the calming scent of cedar, while grumbling furiously in his head: 【System, look! He’s doing it again! A princess carry! I’m a man, being princess-carried! How am I supposed to live in this academy now?!】

System 89 sighed in rapture: 【Host, this is unique pampering! Don’t you see the envy and jealousy in everyone’s eyes? The satisfaction level is through the roof!】

Ning Ning: 【……】

Truly, communication with this system was impossible.

Xia Yu stood frozen, watching their retreating figures meld into one. That declaration of ownership stabbed into his chest like a poisoned needle. Jealousy and orders clashed violently in his mind, and for the first time, he wavered.

“Student Xia Yu, isn’t it?”

Gu Qingfeng’s gentle voice sounded at his side.

Xia Yu snapped back, masking himself with respectful composure. “Your Highness, Second Prince.”

“I remember you. First among the exchange students. Outstanding.” Gu Qingfeng smiled as if it were ordinary praise.

“You flatter me, Your Highness.”

“Caring for classmates is commendable.” His smile held, but his eyes glinted with ice. “But Ning Ning is delicate, thin-skinned too. He can’t take too much… ‘enthusiastic’ attention.”

He leaned closer, voice dropping low, for Xia Yu’s ears alone.

“From now on, stay away. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee your exchange program will end smoothly.”

With that, he straightened his immaculate sleeve and turned away, leaving Xia Yu standing alone.

The polite smile on Xia Yu’s face finally cracked and crumbled.

He knew—he had just been placed on the kill list of the Empire’s two most powerful men.

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