Chapter 20: Feng Jingtian; Roughly Rubbing Zhuang He’s Red and Full Lips…
Zhuang He bent down and leaned over to check Lu Yin’s general condition. Aside from his palms, there were no other injuries.
Frowning, he pulled Lu Yin’s hands toward him, his fingertips touching the burning-hot palms.
Lu Yin’s hands were a full size larger than his own, which made sense given that the boy was also much taller than him.
Zhuang He lowered his head to treat the wounds first, his golden spiritual power drifting around them to provide temporary comfort to Lu Yin.
He was focused on the palms and didn’t notice that the man sitting above him had opened his eyes. A pair of blurred, fervent eyes were staring at him without blinking.
Am I dreaming? A hint of blood-red was visible in the depths of Lu Yin’s eyes.
He watched the person half-kneeling before him. The man’s soft silver hair was tied back, with the ends resting on his shoulders. Because of the way he was leaning over, the fabric of his collar hung open slightly, revealing fair skin tinged with a faint, healthy pink.
Further down, however, nothing could be seen.
A surge of headache and violent impulses struck again, and Lu Yin’s eyes snapped shut as he fell back into unconsciousness.
Once the wounds on the palms were treated, Zhuang He looked up and saw that Lu Yin was still unconscious. He sat in the chair beside him and slowly began to inject spiritual power.
In truth, he wasn’t entirely sure if Lu Yin would reject him. After all, the way he had rejected Cheng Cheng earlier was too violent. If a secondary rejection occurred…
But right now, aside from him, there seemed to be no one else capable of performing a soothing for Lu Yin.
The golden spiritual power was like a beautiful, gilded birdcage, completely enveloping Lu Yin. He looked like a canary belonging to Zhuang He. Following a tentative touch, the spiritual power scrambled to drill inside.
Zhuang He sat to the side with a relaxed expression; he had to maintain perfect control over the spiritual power.
Once he entered Lu Yin’s mental sea and surveyed the extent of the collapse, Zhuang He felt somewhat relieved.
It seemed Lu Yin had simply rejected Cheng Cheng specifically; he hadn’t reached the point of total self-destruction.
The gentle phoenix curled its wings, cradling the White Tiger—which was much larger than it—in its arms. Continuous golden threads poured into Lu Yin’s body, and the White Tiger gradually calmed down from its initial state of agitation.
It lay lazily on the ground, its thick, sturdy paws attempting to swat at the phoenix’s wings, only to be given a light peck on its large head by the phoenix.
The White Tiger looked aggrieved as it rested its front paws on the ground and placed its large head on top of them, its tiger eyes looking quite pitiful.
Unmoved, the phoenix continued to groom both itself and the tiger, its heart as hard as iron against this display of feigned misery.
Seeing that it couldn’t trick the phoenix, the White Tiger flipped over to reveal its belly in a cooing manner, its front paws carefully reaching out to pat the phoenix. This time, the phoenix didn’t swat it away. Instead, it gently rested its beak on the tiger’s head and spread its wings to envelop it.
Under the gentle guidance of the spiritual power, Lu Yin felt his anxious and violent emotions subside. He took a few deep breaths and slowly opened his eyes.
The moment he opened them, he saw Zhuang He leaning over him, their hands interlaced in a ten-finger lock. The man looked as if he were quite dependent on him.
Immediately, his body stiffened, but the slight movement still alerted Zhuang He.
“Feeling better?”
Zhuang He was half-kneeling beside the chair where Lu Yin was slumped. He released the tightly interlaced hands, his eyes full of worry.
Lu Yin didn’t quite realize what had happened. He only remembered a Guide trying to enter his mental sea, but he and the White Tiger had refused. Following that was a violent mindset that wanted to destroy the other party. Knowing this was abnormal, he had immediately suppressed the anxiety in his heart, attempting to use pain to resist it.
He didn’t remember what happened after that. He only felt that after a while, an extremely comfortable spiritual power entered his mental sea. This time, neither he nor the White Tiger refused, opening everything to the other party.
“Teacher… you…”
Lu Yin’s voice was a bit hoarse. As the pain from his palms reached him, he lifted his hands to see they had been meticulously bandaged.
Zhuang He also rose from his position over him, taking away the clear fragrance from Lu Yin’s nose and the exquisite beauty from his sight.
“Your spiritual power went out of control. We had to have physical contact for the soothing to be successful.”
There was no other way. Although the initial entry of spiritual power had gone smoothly, Zhuang He simply couldn’t enter the deeper layers of the mental sea. This prevented him from successfully soothing Lu Yin and waking him up.
Out of necessity, he had to get close to Lu Yin. With their skin touching and their high compatibility, he was able to smoothly enter the depths of the mental sea and complete the soothing.
Only by being so close to Lu Yin did he realize that he was truly a full size smaller than the boy.
In truth, among Guides and even among ordinary Sentinels, Zhuang He was considered to have a relatively tall and strong physique. He rarely encountered someone so much larger than himself; even with Shi Yan and the others, the difference was only marginal.
But when he was leaning over Lu Yin, he realized that the boy’s tense biceps were almost as thick as his own thighs, and a single palm could span half his waist.
Is this what a 3S-grade Sentinel is like? Not only was the spiritual power terrifying, but even the physique was formidable.
To Zhuang He, this was just an unexpected soothing session, but to Lu Yin, it was like a disturbed pool of water, sending ripples through his heart.
“I’ve troubled Teacher.”
Lu Yin lowered his head, not daring to look at him. His heart was a mess. He lightly clenched his palms; it was a bit painful, but the lingering warm sensation was still there.
“Your training for this period is suspended. The assessment is only a few days away. I’ll give you one day of intensive training right before the assessment,” Zhuang He instructed calmly, glancing at the readings on the device Lu Yin was wearing.
“But, the training this time…”
“I will apply to the high command. I will provide full accompaniment and protection during your assessment.”
His tone was flat, having returned to that cold demeanor, but he was genuinely acting in Lu Yin’s best interest.
Lu Yin understood this in his heart and didn’t press further.
Today’s training had gone beyond Zhuang He’s expectations, resulting in him lying idly at home after parting with Lu Yin.
The kitten in his arms rubbed against him comfortably. Although it had been implanted with feline habits, as a butler-type bionic machine, it didn’t shed fur, so the rubbing was for naught.
The mischievous kitten, seeing that it couldn’t leave any marks on Zhuang He, flicked its tail and ran off to play in the yard.
Zhuang He sat on the soft sofa reading the day’s news. He tried to search for the news about the Council of Elders he had seen yesterday, but he only got a blank page.
His fingers tapped lightly on the sofa; the fabric was too soft to make any sound.
In the midst of his contemplation, Zhuang He’s light-brain beep-beep-beeped. He picked it up to see a new request for soothing.
Tapping it open to see the applicant, the brow Zhuang He had furrowed in thought relaxed. Ask and you shall receive. Although he didn’t particularly want to interact with this person, the information he could gather from him would be much more accurate.
He accepted the request. After the room assignment came through, a video call popped up immediately after.
“Chief Zhuang, it’s been a long time.”
On the other side of the screen, a man with short black hair sat upright, a flawless smile on his face. Even his face appeared to have been meticulously carved—deeply handsome and profound.
Only the emblem on his collar revealed his status.
“Your Highness, it has been a long time.”
Zhuang He greeted him with a neutral expression. He had interacted with this Prince quite often, yet he remained lukewarm toward him. The feeling the Prince gave him was like being covered by a layer of disguise—it was too fake.
“See you later.”
The man on the screen nodded. It was unclear why he had specifically made this video call.
Zhuang He took the light-brain in his hand after the call ended and got up to head to the soothing room.
When Zhuang He arrived, the man was already waiting inside, sitting on the sofa reading a book.
The elegant posture and the sense of nobility emanating from within were protocols exclusive to the Imperial royalty.
“Your Highness.”
“Mhm. You’ve arrived.”
Feng Jingtian closed the book and placed it aside. He looked at Zhuang He with a perfect smile, but his expression suddenly froze.
However, he adjusted quickly, immediately rising to welcome Zhuang He and leading him to sit on the sofa.
Zhuang He tried to resist a few times but didn’t succeed. The other was a Prince, after all; he couldn’t make things too awkward.
“Have you been sleeping well lately?”
Zhuang He’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. “Same as usual.”
Feng Jingtian only nodded with a smile, spreading his arms as he looked at Zhuang He with a hint of nonchalance in his eyes. “I’ll have to trouble Chief Zhuang.”
Zhuang He nodded and sat down beside him, making sure to keep a bit of distance.
Feng Jingtian noticed Zhuang He’s small movement but only arched an eyebrow without speaking.
A cold sensation wrapped around Zhuang He. Suppressing the irritation in his heart, he released the phoenix. A Black Mamba flicked its bright red tongue, letting out a hissing sound.
The phoenix wasn’t polite with it either, snatching it up with a talon and pulling the Black Mamba off Zhuang He’s thigh.
Spiritual power flowed into Feng Jingtian’s body, causing him to let out a comfortable sigh. The Black Mamba watched Zhuang He with a cold, sinister gaze, completely ignoring the phoenix’s taunting play.
Getting no response, the phoenix dejectedly shrank back to Zhuang He’s side, nesting in his arms and rubbing against him.
After a long while, the soothing session finally ended. Zhuang He opened his eyes and let out a breath. The phoenix vanished into points of golden light, while the Black Mamba slowly crawled to Feng Jingtian’s feet and was also retracted.
“Thank you for your hard work, Chief Zhuang.”
Feng Jingtian lightly rubbed his wrist. The gilded light-brain on it was very conspicuous, and Zhuang He couldn’t help but look at it a few times.
“Your Highness is too kind. It is part of my duty.”
He withdrew his gaze and prepared to leave, but his wrist was suddenly grabbed from behind. A wave of brute force struck unexpectedly, and Zhuang He’s instinct was to turn and pin the other down, but he suddenly remembered Feng Jingtian’s identity.
He forced his half-executed move to a halt. He only heard Feng Jingtian let out a low chuckle, and then he was pinned against the soft sofa.
Feng Jingtian then leaned over, his legs pressing on either side and his hands pinning Zhuang He’s shoulders, making it impossible for the person leaning against the sofa to escape.
“Your Highness?”
Zhuang He struggled, but he couldn’t break free. Feng Jingtian was using clever leverage, and he didn’t dare use violent force to counterattack.
“Chief Zhuang, have you considered the matter I mentioned before?”
Zhuang He’s expression turned cold upon hearing this, and his tone became very sharp. “Your Highness must be joking. I wouldn’t dare aspire to such heights with Your Highness.”
“That mouth of yours…”
Feng Jingtian raised a hand and roughly rubbed Zhuang He’s red and full lips, earning an even more furious and icy glare.
“Your Highness, please show some self-respect.”
“Hehe… let me guess. That 3S Sentinel… you think very highly of him, don’t you?”
Hearing him mention Lu Yin, Zhuang He’s face changed, and he scolded sharply, “Your Highness! Lu Yin is a key talent being nurtured by the Empire!”
Feng Jingtian laughed nonchalantly. “Alright, alright. I didn’t say I was going to do anything. Rest assured, Chief Zhuang. Aside from this country, the only thing I want is you.”
Zhuang He looked at him coldly, his anger overflowing from his eyes.
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