The Beloved Guide Was Forced in a Love-Rival Shura Field - Chapter 37

The moment the car door was slammed open, a terrifying pressure burst forth.

A massive dark-gold wolf manifested beside Ning Ning, tilting back its head with a soul-shaking roar.

Like a golden bolt of lightning, the wolf leapt forward. Its enormous body moved so fast it left only afterimages. With one swipe of its razor-sharp claws, the hard chitin armor of the Zerg tore apart like paper, spraying hot, stinking fluids everywhere.

Ning Ning leaned against the jolting car window. For the first time, he was seeing with his own eyes the full, unrestrained strength of Xie Lian on a real battlefield.

The man didn’t even use weapons—his body itself was the deadliest weapon. Every punch, every kick, carried the terrifying force of absolute destruction. His movements were clean and efficient, without the slightest waste, nothing but pure slaughter.

【Holy crap… is this combat power even real? That’s not a man—that’s a human Gundam! System, quick, look! He’s a Gundam!】

The blood-soaked scene, combined with the icy killing intent bursting off Xie Lian, made Ning Ning’s heart pound wildly.

Just then, a Zerg swatted aside by the wolf shrieked and lunged at Xie Lian from the side. Its scythe-like claw grazed against his arm guard, leaving behind a screeching scratch!

That strike hadn’t actually harmed him at all, but Ning Ning’s pupils contracted sharply.

A surge of uncontrolled worry and fear, like electricity, shot through his limbs and bones, as if flipping a switch buried deep within him.

He felt something in the depths of his spiritual sea boiling up, out of control.

【Wait, what? System, help! Not now, bro—don’t tell me my mana bar’s about to overflow right here? Come on, not like this!】

An invisible wave spread out from him, silent and unseen.

That wave carried an aura cold and alluring like moonlight, instantly covering the entire battlefield.

The low-level Zerg that had been swarming another patrol vehicle suddenly froze.

Their raised scythe-claws stalled midair. Their bloodthirsty compound eyes turned in unison toward the armored car where Ning Ning sat.

The furious screeches from their mouths gradually faded. Their aggressive stances melted away, replaced by… bewilderment and confusion.

【??? Why are you looking at me! Big bros, your enemy is over there—the walking WMD! I’m just an innocent passerby corporate slave!】

Xie Lian smashed through the head of the last elite Zerg with his fist. Hot liquid splattered across his cold, hard profile, but then he noticed the bizarre scene.

He snapped his head around, gaze locking first on the frozen low-level Zerg, then on the armored car holding Ning Ning.

In those dark-gold wolf eyes flickered a trace of panic—panic even he himself had never realized he could feel.

The guards on the field also stopped their attacks, staring wide-eyed at the surreal sight before them.

And a kilometer away, hidden behind a rocky outcrop, a concealed figure slowly lowered his high-powered scope and activated his encrypted communicator.

His voice shook with excitement:

“Target has displayed the miracle. Operation ‘Mooncatcher’—commence in full.”

The battlefield sank into eerie silence.

“Bang!”

The car door was wrenched open from the outside, and Xie Lian’s tall figure blocked out all the light and all the chaos beyond.

He was still cloaked in smoke and blood, the scent thick and choking.

But when he bent down to look at Ning Ning, his eyes held not killing intent but a surge of fear so raw it nearly overflowed.

Ning Ning’s face was pale, lips drained of color. His pretty violet eyes still held the remnants of shock, staring blankly at him.

Xie Lian said nothing.

He bent low, one arm sliding under Ning Ning’s knees, the other bracing his back, and in one fluid motion lifted him completely out of the vehicle.

The movement was forceful, leaving no room for resistance.

“Ah…” Ning Ning gasped softly, instinctively throwing his arms around Xie Lian’s neck, burying his face against the man’s solid, heated chest.

【Help… this suffocating possessiveness! Big guy, easy, I’m about to be preserved like a human specimen! But damn… it feels so safe.】

That familiar cold-tinged warmth wrapped around him, finally calming his racing heart little by little.

“Marshal…” The one-armed commander hurried over. Seeing the boy shielded in the marshal’s arms as if he would shatter at the slightest touch, his voice caught.

Xie Lian didn’t pause for a second.

He carried Ning Ning as though holding a lost and recovered treasure of infinite worth, steady and firm, as though even the smallest jolt might break him.

His voice was ice-cold: “Clean up the field. Everything that happened today—sealed. Anyone leaks a single word, tried as treason.”

He walked quickly, still holding Ning Ning.

Ning Ning could hear the steady thump of his chest, could feel the tightening of his arms—so tight it seemed to etch him into bone and blood.

It wasn’t a grip meant to hurt, but one born of sheer terror, of nearly losing something beyond bearing.

Back at the temporary command post, Xie Lian kicked the door shut with a resounding bang, cutting off all outside eyes.

He still didn’t let Ning Ning go.

Instead, he carried him straight to the lone armchair, sat down with him, and shifted so the boy sat fully on his lap, completely encircled in his arms.

He lowered his head, pressing his forehead to Ning Ning’s.

Hot breaths brushed over Ning Ning’s cool skin, trembling faintly.

Eyes closed, he was like a giant wolf returning to its den after patrol, again and again checking the safety of its precious cub with warmth and heartbeat.

“…Are you alright?”

After a long time, he finally spoke, his voice hoarse and shaking.

Ning Ning shook his head slightly in his arms, whispering, “I’m fine, just… no strength.”

Only then did Xie Lian open his eyes. Those dark-gold pupils locked onto him, thick with emotion.

He raised his bloodstained, gloved hand. With broad, rough fingers, he traced Ning Ning’s cheek with clumsy gentleness, slow and deliberate.

From the corner of his eye, down his nose, to his bloodless lips.

As if by touch alone he could erase the soot and fear from his face, and brand upon it his own unique mark instead.

“Never again.”

Xie Lian’s low voice was less a command than a plea, suffused with barely suppressed fear.

“Without my permission, you are not to use that power again.”

【Bro, you think I wanted to? This thing’s got a mind of its own—it doesn’t listen to me!】

His rough fingertips brushed over Ning Ning’s lips. The soft feel made his Adam’s apple bob. He wanted to hide him away—somewhere only he could reach.

“But…” Ning Ning tilted his head up, violet eyes confused, “I think… I might be able to help them.”

“Your safety comes first.” Xie Lian cut him off, fingers tightening on the back of his neck, giving a light squeeze. “Everything else is irrelevant.”

Then came hurried knocking from outside, along with the one-armed commander’s voice: “Marshal, the commanders from every front have gathered. They…” His voice shook with uncontrollable excitement, “They want to see the Guide, sir!”

Xie Lian’s face instantly darkened.

Outside, nearly every high-ranking officer at the base had gathered. They stared at the shut door, eyes burning with fervor and hope. What they had just witnessed was nothing short of divine revelation to men barely holding the line against the swarm.

A red-haired woman couldn’t hold back, shouting, “Marshal! We beg for the Guide’s aid! If he intervenes, I’ll stake my life—I can push the line forward ten kilometers!”

“Marshal! The medical wing is collapsing! My brother’s in there—he won’t make it! Please!”

“Marshal, we can’t hold on any longer! Those sentinels… they’re still so young!”

Desperate pleas rose like a tide, brimming with despair and longing.

The door opened. Xie Lian stood there, expression like ice, his overwhelming sentinel aura silencing the crowd instantly.

“He is not a tool.” His words were quiet, but each one fell like frost. “Say it again, and you’ll face martial law.”

The officers exchanged looks, cowed into silence.

Then Ning Ning peeked from behind him. He saw the faces outside—filled with both reverence and hopelessness—and thought of the twisted pain on the faces in the medical wing.

Those young sentinels—they had families, dreams.

He tugged lightly on Xie Lian’s sleeve.

Xie Lian looked back at him, gaze still hard.

“Xie Lian,” Ning Ning called his name directly for the first time. His voice was soft, but steady. “Let me try. Here, in a completely safe place. I don’t… want to watch them just die.”

The boy’s hand still clutched his sleeve, his violet eyes clear but stubborn, holding a resolve even he hadn’t realized he carried.

Xie Lian looked at him. In those purple eyes there was no fear, only compassion, only refusal to stand by.

And under that gaze, all the marshal’s defenses shattered.

After a long silence, he gave in, painfully.

“…Alright.” He clasped Ning Ning’s hand, wrapping the cool fingers within his own. “But only within my mental barrier.”

“And,” his voice sank, brooking no argument, “just this once.”

Ning Ning nodded obediently. “Mm. Just this once.”

【System, did you see that? My big wolfdog finally compromised! Okay, the terms are harsh, but hey—that’s progress!】

Xie Lian gave him a deep look, then turned back to the officers.

“Prepare the safest isolation room in the medical wing. Only essential medics may remain. Everyone else—clear out.”

“Yes, Marshal!”

The officers answered in unison, eyes burning with new hope.

Xie Lian shut the door again, gathering Ning Ning back into his arms.

“Remember,” he murmured into his ear, “the moment you feel unwell, you stop. I’ll be here. Always.”

Ning Ning felt the tension in his muscles, the quickness of his breath, and knew how hard this choice had been.

“Xie Lian,” he whispered, “thank you.”

The man didn’t answer—he only held him tighter.

In his heart, that single “thank you” was worth more than the praise of the entire Empire.

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