The Beloved Guide Was Forced in a Love-Rival Shura Field - Chapter 74

The silent war in the flagship’s dining hall ended with Ning Ning gulping down an entire cup of ice water and fleeing in defeat.

He collapsed onto his soft, huge bed, thinking he could hide in his room and do nothing until the end of time. But in reality, he had severely underestimated the degree of competition between top-tier rivals.

Early the next morning, while Ning Ning was still lazing in bed, a communication request appeared directly on his bedside display.

Sender: Gu Qingfeng
Subject: Tutor Guidance

A warm, flawless face appeared on the screen, accompanied by a perfect smile. “Good morning, Ning Ning. I’ll be waiting for you at the Psionic Training Room at 9 o’clock.”

His tone was gentle, yet left no room for refusal.

Ning Ning, with a head of messy silver curls from sleep, was stunned. Wait, was this serious? Yesterday they had been at each other’s throats at the dinner table, and today this guy was going to act as his teacher?

[System 89: Host, according to the data, Gu Qingfeng possesses the Empire’s highest-level Guide Teaching Certification! Absolutely professional!]

[Ning Ning: …Thanks, but I just want to be a lazy cannon fodder, not improve myself!]

Despite his inner refusal, his arms could not compete with fate. At precisely nine o’clock, Ning Ning reluctantly showed up at the door of the Psionic Training Room.

The room was spacious and blindingly bright, with soft cream-colored walls and a faint, calming scent in the air. Gu Qingfeng was already there, dressed in a form-fitting white training suit, his black hair tied back simply with a band. He looked professional, restrained, and emanated a trust-inspiring calmness.

“Sit.” He patted the soft mat opposite him.

Seeing the unyielding professionalism on the other’s face, Ning Ning had no choice but to sit.

“Close your eyes and relax,” Gu Qingfeng said, his voice carrying a strange hook that directly pulled at Ning Ning’s consciousness. “Don’t think about what it is, and don’t fear it. Imagine your psionic energy—not as something intangible, but as a part of your body, like your blood or your breath.”

His voice was soft, yet persuasive. “Feel it flowing through you. Try… to gently touch one of the light points with your mind.”

Ning Ning tried, half-believing. At first, his mind was a chaotic mess of “Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?” But gradually, guided by Gu Qingfeng’s almost magical voice, he felt himself sinking into a warm, serene ocean.

He saw it.

Countless tiny light points with soft purple halos floated in his mind, emanating a gentle aura unique to him. They felt close, warm, and comforting.

“Well done,” Gu Qingfeng praised at just the right moment, his tone carrying genuine admiration. “Your psionic energy is very pure, Ning Ning. Now, try to gather them and form a small barrier around your consciousness. It doesn’t need to be strong yet; just experience the process of ‘building’ it.”

Ning Ning clumsily tried. The light points, like mischievous children, scattered in all directions, but for the first time, he felt the novelty. So this was psionic power, and he could control it. It wasn’t bad at all.

Just as he focused and finally managed to gather a thin layer of light, before he could rejoice—

“Bang!”

The heavy alloy door of the training room was violently pushed open from the outside, slamming into the wall with a deafening crash.

The serene atmosphere shattered instantly.

Xiao Lin strode in, clad in a black training uniform, radiating an intimidating aura. His golden beast-like eyes locked solely on Ning Ning, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor.

Ning Ning shivered; the thin light barrier he had struggled to form dissipated instantly.

“Pre-battle mobilization.”

The man’s words were concise and chillingly effective.

“He,” Xiao Lin’s gaze finally shifted from Ning Ning to Gu Qingfeng, scanning him with two sharp, icy blades of eyes, “must understand what the enemy he will face is.”

Without another word, he grabbed Ning Ning by the wrist. His grip was inescapable, like lifting a small chick, dragging him toward the exit.

“Ah… Marshal?” Ning Ning stumbled, almost swept along.

Gu Qingfeng stood silently by the door. For the first time, his perfect, gentle smile cracked slightly. He quietly observed Xiao Lin’s firm grasp on Ning Ning’s delicate wrist, a fleeting flash of something cold passing in his eyes.

Ning Ning was practically dragged straight into Xiao Lin’s exclusive holographic tactical simulation room.

Unlike the bright training room next door, this room was dark and cold, with metallic and rusted air. Only the central holographic projector emitted a faint blue light, like the eyes of a monster.

“Look.”

Xiao Lin pressed Ning Ning into a wide command chair, standing behind him like an iron tower, hands braced on the chair’s sides, forming an inescapable cage.

Ning Ning felt utterly enveloped by his intense, angry aura, unable to move.

Cold mechanical voices began to broadcast data in the room.

In the next moment, countless horrifying holographic images of insects surrounded Ning Ning in 360 degrees.

“Sicklebug, unit type: melee. Features: sharp forelimbs, heavy armor, excels in close combat…”

A giant insect, the size of an armored vehicle, roared and lunged at him, its gleaming sickle-like forelimbs almost poking his nose.

“Ah!” Ning Ning screamed, trembling.

“Open your eyes,” Xiao Lin said coldly, right next to him. “No one on the battlefield will give you the chance to close them. Remember its weak point—the nerve bundle connecting the third and fourth legs.”

Reluctantly, Ning Ning forced his eyes open.

The scene switched instantly.

“Spraybug, ranged unit. Stores high-concentration corrosive acid capable of melting grade-three alloys instantly…”

Green, disgusting goo rained down, accompanied by the sizzling sound of metal dissolving. Even the air felt hot and caustic.

Ning Ning’s face went pale. His stomach churned violently.

One after another, grotesque insect types appeared, tearing through mechs and devouring soldiers, all accompanied by cold, precise battlefield data and Xiao Lin’s calm, merciless tactical explanations.

Ning Ning felt as if he were not learning about the enemy, but attending a centuries-long, torturous anatomy class—immersive VR edition.

His head spun, eyelids grew heavy, and Xiao Lin’s low, magnetic voice turned into an almost hypnotic chant.

[System 89: Host! Stay awake! The Marshal is watching! Falling asleep will have dire consequences!]

Ning Ning groaned weakly in his mind: I don’t want to sleep… but my eyelids have a mind of their own… this is more hypnotic than calculus…

Just as he was about to drift into unconsciousness, a gentle voice, like a clear spring, suddenly entered the blood-soaked, rust-filled nightmare.

“Marshal, perhaps this teaching method is… a bit too direct.”

Ning Ning jolted awake, half of his mind instantly cleared.

Gu Qingfeng had quietly appeared at the door. He didn’t step in, only leaned against the frame, wearing a perfectly measured expression of exasperation and indulgent tolerance, as if to an unruly child.

He lifted a hand and traced a gentle line in the air.

With just that motion, the blood-soaked, terrifying insect images dissipated like mist under sunlight.

In their place appeared a dazzling star map, magnificent enough to take one’s breath away.

The deep blue cosmos resembled the richest velvet, dotted with billions of diamond-like stars. A brilliant galaxy of countless light points stretched across it, dreamlike and magnificent.

The room’s smell of rust and blood vanished, replaced by the serene beauty of the starry heavens.

Gu Qingfeng stepped forward, stopping at Ning Ning’s other side, facing Xiao Lin’s iron tower. He leaned slightly, his voice soft, like telling an ancient bedtime story.

“In the oldest legends of the Empire, when the first of the insect hordes tore through space and descended upon this universe, they were not met with swords and cannons.”

His fingers traced a faint moon on the glittering star map.

“The moon’s light soothed their innate fury and confusion.”

His voice was soft, yet it carried undeniable authority.

“Legend says the insects were not born for destruction. They are merely lost pilgrims, desperately seeking their long-lost ‘god.’ Every invasion, every roar, is just a cry of sorrow.”

He turned his gaze to Ning Ning, eyes filled with a warmth and curiosity that seemed to see straight through him, to the moon god in the legend.

“So, in a sense, they are not your enemies, Ning Ning.”

“They are just… children lost for far too long, longing to go home.”

This ancient, romantic legend, effortlessly, elevated Ning Ning’s role from a passive “remedy” to the supreme “god.”

In contrast, Xiao Lin’s cold, data-driven military lesson appeared crude, clumsy, and utterly devoid of beauty.

Ning Ning was fully alert now.

He tilted his head and stared at Gu Qingfeng with wide purple eyes, a mix of astonishment and curiosity.

He could feel the iron tower behind him—Xiao Lin—cooling rapidly.

The air seemed to freeze.

Xiao Lin said nothing.

He just stared at Ning Ning’s profile, seeing in those beautiful purple eyes only Gu Qingfeng’s image reflected.

In his golden beast eyes surged repressed rage, and… a subtle, unrecognized sense of defeat and frustration.

All he wanted was for Ning Ning to understand how dangerous the world outside was.

He wanted him to learn to protect himself, to trust no one blindly.

He had used all he knew, all he thought was the most direct and effective way, presenting his priceless marshal-level knowledge and battlefield experience to Ning Ning without reservation—clumsily, but sincerely.

Yet why…

Why did Ning Ning look at that person with eyes full of light?

The Marshal’s precious little guide, his beloved, had completely given his attention to the sly, cunning fox with an ephemeral story.

His heart ached, the familiar, dense, sour pain creeping back.

Like a dull knife coated with bitter poison, slowly, cruelly, grinding against it, again and again.

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