The Beloved Guide Was Forced in a Love-Rival Shura Field - Chapter 6

The moonlight was cold, as if a layer of frost had been plated over the entire garden.

Ning Ning curled up behind the massive angel statue, trembling like the last leaf in the autumn wind. His breathing came in ragged gasps, his heartbeat so rapid it threatened to break through his chest.

He had escaped.

But he knew—it was only temporary.

Behind him, from the direction of the banquet hall, two burning gazes still clung to him. Both were equally consumed with a frenzy of possessiveness, one bright, one shadowed, like maggots on bone—inescapable.

Just as he thought he could catch his breath, a voice sounded behind him, so close it made his heart seize.

“Don’t hide.”

That voice was absurdly gentle, like a feather, yet carried a force that brooked no refusal. It scraped against Ning Ning’s nerves, already stretched to breaking.

His body went rigid.

Slowly, he turned his head. Under the moonlight, his violet eyes, still wide with fright, reflected the towering, oppressive figure of Xiao Lin.

The terrifying wolf.

How did he follow me here?!

【System, be human for once! Did he install a tracker on me?!】 Ning Ning screamed inwardly. His body reacted before his brain—scrambling back on all fours, desperate to wedge himself into the icy cracks of the statue.

Xiao Lin watched this frightened-rabbit display, and his heart clenched painfully, as though gripped by an invisible hand.

He regretted it.

He shouldn’t have declared his claim so aggressively in the banquet hall. He shouldn’t have looked at his little rabbit with eyes that threatened to devour him.

The undefeated Marshal of the Empire, for the first time, felt something foreign—helplessness. Drawing in a deep breath, he forcibly restrained every ounce of his S-rank sentinel’s oppressive aura. He even hunched his massive frame slightly, awkwardly trying to appear less threatening.

Then, under Ning Ning’s incredulous stare, the man who had made countless enemies tremble—knelt on one knee.

The knee of his military boot pressed into damp grass. The posture, symbolizing surrender and submission, was meant only to meet the boy in the shadows at eye level.

“I…” Xiao Lin’s throat bobbed. He wanted to say something, but his vocabulary failed him.

All he could do was carefully extend his hand. Those long fingers, calloused from wielding the Empire’s blade, now trembled with a near-humility he himself didn’t notice.

But as his fingertips neared Ning Ning’s sleeve, the boy recoiled again, whimpering like he’d been burned.

Xiao Lin froze completely.

The hand hung in midair—neither retreating nor advancing.

His dark green wolf’s eyes churned with pain and regret. The consuming fire of anger and possessiveness was crushed down by sheer willpower, leaving behind only clumsy, stiff gentleness.

“Don’t be afraid.” His voice was even softer now, coaxing, like soothing a newborn creature terrified of the world. “I… I only want to see if you’re hurt.”

His gaze dropped to Ning Ning’s pale ankle. Dirt clung from his frantic escape, and there was a clear red scrape along the delicate skin. In the moonlight, it was glaring.

The sight darkened Xiao Lin’s eyes, lowering the very temperature around him.

He had let him get hurt.

Just as he was about to sweep Ning Ning up without hesitation, another voice cut through the fragile stillness—warm as jade, tinged with just the right measure of concern.

“So here you are, Young Master Ning. I’ve been looking everywhere.”

Gu Qingfeng approached slowly, moonlight outlining his tall, elegant figure. His perfect smile was still in place, but when his deep black eyes flicked to Xiao Lin, kneeling in the dirt, they gleamed with a mocking chill.

The air froze.

Xiao Lin rose, his towering body forming an unmovable wall, shielding Ning Ning behind him completely. Moonlight gleamed coldly off his epaulets. The last traces of awkward warmth in his wolf’s eyes were gone—only the icy vigilance of the Empire’s Marshal remained.

He faced the newcomer, his tone flat, devoid of warmth: “Your Highness, this matter doesn’t concern you.”

“On the contrary, Marshal, you’re mistaken.” Gu Qingfeng’s smile never faltered. Stopping at a deliberate distance, his gaze pierced straight through Xiao Lin’s broad shoulders to lock on the boy behind. His voice dripped with tender concern. “Ning Ning is the Empire’s treasure. And he is my dance partner. After such a fright, as his partner, I am obliged to care for him.”

He deliberately made “Ning Ning” sound intimate, natural.

“Dance partner?” Xiao Lin’s lip curled faintly, his tone razor-edged with mockery. “A single dance, and you exalt yourself so.”

“Oh?” Gu Qingfeng’s voice was clear, warm—yet every syllable cut like a scalpel, prying open the Marshal’s suppressed rage. “But wasn’t it Ning Ning who chose me just now? He feared you, yet placed his hand in mine. I suppose this kind of mutual willingness is something a man accustomed to giving orders could never understand.”

Xiao Lin’s jaw tightened into a rigid line.

Ignoring him, Gu Qingfeng addressed the shadowed figure behind: “Ning Ning, don’t be afraid. What happened at the banquet wasn’t your fault.”

His voice was soothing, like a precise sedative, bypassing Xiao Lin to pour directly into Ning Ning’s mind.

“The fault lies with those… who can’t control their desires, disturbing you.”

The implication was sharp, soothing Ning Ning while casually lumping Xiao Lin among brute beasts ruled by desire.

【Host! Host! This is the perfect chance!】 System 89 cheered wildly. 【Quick! Point at Xiao Lin’s nose and cry to Gu Qingfeng: ‘It was him! He’s the scariest, most savage one!’ That way you’ll humiliate the lead gong and curry favor with the lead shou! Perfect villain script!】

【Shut up!】 Ning Ning screamed inwardly. 【If I say one more word, Xiao Lin’s glare will vaporize me on the spot! Someone save me—who wants this cursed blessing anyway?!】

Gu Qingfeng ignored Xiao Lin’s deadly expression, even stepping closer, the smile never wavering. “Marshal, you don’t look well. Did my words strike a nerve? I was merely concerned for Ning Ning. Look, he’s nearly in tears.”

“My guide is mine to soothe.” Xiao Lin’s voice rumbled like thunder, every word heavy with possessiveness. “Your Highness’s concern is better reserved for others.”

“Yours?” Gu Qingfeng chuckled softly, drawing out the word. “Surely, Marshal, you haven’t forgotten. Ning Ning has yet to bond. Until he chooses, no one has the right to claim him. That is Imperial law. Unless, of course, you intend to break it?”

Caught between two mountains, Ning Ning buried his head deeper. If only the angel statue could swallow him whole.

The air thickened, oppressive. The two men said nothing, but their invisible mental fields clashed again—fire against ice—creating a vacuum around Ning Ning where even the wind stilled.

Finally, Gu Qingfeng broke the silence, smiling as he drew out a neatly folded white cloak, its fibers scented faintly of woodsy fragrance. “It’s late, and chilly here in the garden. Ning Ning is dressed too thinly—he’ll catch cold.”

He stepped forward, intending to drape it over him.

Xiao Lin moved at once, arm snapping out like an iron gate, barring his path. Their sleeves nearly brushed. The tension crackled like drawn blades.

Trapped between two apex predators, Ning Ning could hardly breathe.

He couldn’t take it anymore!

Not another second of this battlefield!

He had to run!

Without a shred of decorum, he suddenly bolted from behind the statue, darting between them.

But as he passed Xiao Lin’s imposing form, his foot twisted. With a cry, he pitched forward.

“Careful!”

Two voices rang out together.

One hand—gloved, elegant, cool.
The other—calloused, scorching, powerful.

Both seized his arms, pinning him firmly between them.

Ning Ning: “…”

It was over. Barbie-Q’d.

He lifted his gaze in horror—on the left, Gu Qingfeng’s fathomless eyes glimmered with quiet triumph; on the right, Xiao Lin’s wolf’s eyes blazed with storming fury.

The next instant, the two overwhelming S-rank mental forces erupted—using Ning Ning as their conduit—

A deafening clash!

“Bzzzz—!”

It felt like lightning had split his mind. His spiritual sea churned violently, invaded by icy knives and searing fire, tearing him apart.

He’d had enough!

The agony and terror ignited his last spark of survival instinct.

“Let me go!”

He screamed aloud, and with a desperate surge, wrenched his arms free from both grips.

Like a rabbit cornered on a cliff, he chose the only path left—reckless flight.

Ning Ning turned and fled, stumbling, scrambling with everything he had, not daring to look back.

Neither man pursued.

Under the moonlight, their elongated shadows remained, locked in silent confrontation.

Only when Ning Ning vanished around a corner did Xiao Lin lower his eyes. On his hand, the warmth of the boy’s delicate skin still lingered.

Then he noticed a faint silver glint in the grass.

A small, ornate mother-of-pearl cufflink, slipped from Ning Ning’s sleeve.

In the moonlight, it gleamed with pearly luster.

Bending down with almost reverent care, Xiao Lin picked it up, holding it in his palm as though it were a fragment of moonlight fallen from the boy himself.

“A keepsake?” Gu Qingfeng’s voice drifted softly. Watching Xiao Lin’s gesture, his smile deepened, though his eyes remained cold. “But Marshal, true ownership isn’t proven by picking up stray trinkets.”

Xiao Lin gave no answer. He only clenched the cufflink tighter, the sharp edge biting into his palm until his knuckles blanched.

Lifting his gaze at last, his wolf’s eyes were stripped of all humanity, glacial and merciless, as he declared each word like a final verdict:

“He will be mine.”

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