Chapter 47: I Don’t Want to Repeat Myself a Second Time
The Sentinels pinning Shao Bo down immediately grew anxious. “What about the other Guides then!”
“They’ve just finished using their mental power and are resting. They won’t recover that quickly!” Shu Fenghua rubbed her temples irritably. “Doesn’t Commander Sen Ji recall Sentinels on the brink of mania ahead of time? How did he go berserk?”
The Sentinels looked at each other, finally telling the truth. “He… refused to retreat.”
“Ha!” Shu Fenghua let out a speechless laugh. “Then he purely deserves it.”
“Guide Shu… is there really no other way? Shao Bo usually retreats in time. We don’t know why he was so stubborn this time.”
The Sentinels pleaded one after another, but Shu Fenghua could only shake her head.
She was indeed powerless, and the only person who could save Shao Bo might not be willing to act.
After all, she had heard about how aggressive Shao Bo had been toward Xie Qiang before they went to the battlefield.
“Let me die on the battlefield!” On the ground, Shao Bo struggled with blood-red eyes. His fingertips were nearly embedded into his comrades’ arms. He roared in anguish, “Dad, Mom, little sister, I’m coming to find you—”
The Sentinels fell silent. Many who knew of Shao Bo’s past covered their faces and turned away, sighing softly.
Finally, a Sentinel who was close to him knelt with a thud, kowtowing frantically to Xie Qiang. “Imperial Daughter, I beg you, save him!”
Xie Qiang was startled and hurriedly backed away. Realizing what was happening, she went to help him up. “Don’t do this!”
“Imperial Daughter, Shao Bo’s hometown was completely sacrificed to resist the Zerg. He is the only one left. He is loyal to the Empire and has never slackened on the battlefield. For the sake of his hard work, even if it’s just purifying him back to 89%—”
The Sentinel kowtowed desperately. “You can punish him however you want after that!”
Seeing that he wouldn’t stop, Xie Qiang sighed. “Sentinel, what you’re doing now is a waste of effort.”
The Sentinel looked up in grief. “Imperial Daughter!”
“Because I already intended to purify him, so all those kowtows were for nothing.” Xie Qiang stared at the Sentinel’s swollen forehead, her gaze somewhat pitying. “You’re kowtowing so earnestly. Your spiritual body must be a cow, you’re so honest.”
The Sentinel clutched his forehead and, realizing what she meant, wept with joy. “My spiritual body is indeed a water buffalo.”
Xie Qiang: …
Shaking her head with a slight smile, Xie Qiang leaned down, preparing to purify the berserk Shao Bo.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she reached out, Shao Bo reacted like a triggered spring. His arm broke free from the restraint of three A-class Sentinels and swung toward her hand with a roar— “I don’t want your hypocritical purification! Get lost! Get lost! Let me die!”
Xie Qiang couldn’t dodge in time and instinctively closed her eyes.
But the expected pain didn’t come. Shao Bo’s wrist was intercepted mid-air and snapped by the owner of the three-fingered black gloves.
Xie Qiang looked at Mo Yin gratefully.
Mo Yin: “Break them all?”
Xie Qiang: “…That’s not necessary.”
With Mo Yin there, Xie Qiang felt safe enough to proceed. She grasped Shao Bo’s wrist and channeled her mental power.
But soon, she frowned. “He won’t let me enter his mental sea.”
Every Sentinel’s mental sea had a barrier. If the Sentinel strongly resisted, even an S-class Guide could not successfully break through to purify them.
If forced, the Sentinel would likely end up in a vegetative state.
In his berserk state, Shao Bo struggled to lift his head, his blood-red eyes looking at Xie Qiang mockingly.
He laughed hideously, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes. “I will never let you into my mental sea again! Even if I die, I won’t let you humiliate my family again!”
“I won’t humiliate your family, nor will I humiliate you,” Xie Qiang soothed him. “I promise.”
“Pfft, hahaha!” Shao Bo’s eyes were bloodshot as he laughed crazily. “I don’t want to live anymore!”
The youth’s eyes were wide with fury, filled with resentment and slaughter. “I’m going to kill the Zerg! I’ll use my mania—to bury them with my life!”
The Sentinels holding him down were gradually losing strength. Seeing Shao Bo’s berserk state deepening, Xie Qiang finally couldn’t listen anymore. She turned to ask Shu Fenghua, “If I knock him out, can I enter his mental sea to purify him?”
Shu Fenghua shook her head. “A person in a berserk state cannot be knocked out, not even by an SSS-class Sentinel.”
“…” Xie Qiang turned back to Shao Bo. Her clear eyes were filled with seriousness and gravity. “Shao Bo, I know you can hear me. If you want to continue killing Zerg, open your mental sea immediately and let me purify you.”
However, the youth only screamed manicly, “Kill me, kill me!”
“Shao Bo, I don’t want to repeat myself a second time.” Xie Qiang took a deep breath, her pink lips exhaling softly. “Open your mental sea.”
“Hahaha—I’m going to kill the Zerg! Kill the Zerg!”
“Maybe… just give up.” Seeing that Shao Bo had completely lost consciousness, Shu Fenghua shook her head regretfully. She was just about to say it was his own choice when she saw Xie Qiang suddenly raise her arm.
Slap—
the sound was crisp. Not only was everyone present stunned, but even the berserk Shao Bo dithered for a moment.
Shu Fenghua saw Xie Qiang’s lips move. Just as she thought the Imperial Daughter was about to say something, she saw Xie Qiang simply blow on her reddened palm before raising her other hand— Slap—
Like fingers snapping against paper, the sound was particularly piercing to the Sentinels’ ears.
This time, Shao Bo was slapped into a stupor, a trace of clarity returning to his eyes.
Shaking her arm, Xie Qiang then clenched her fist and punched Shao Bo in the jaw, knocking his head upward.
“Imp—Imperial Daughter?” Shu Fenghua’s loud voice was now carefully hushed. “What are you doing?”
“Purifying him.” Xie Qiang’s face was full of matter-of-factness. “He doesn’t want to open his mental sea, so I can only perform basic purification.”
Basic purification was surface-level purification through skin contact.
Shu Fenghua went silent for a moment. Well… slapping, how does that not count as basic purification?
And it really fits the Imperial Daughter’s style.
Inside the purification hall, a series of crisp slaps and muffled thuds echoed. Watching Xie Qiang beat someone while maintaining a warm, beautiful smile, many Sentinels silently covered their own faces and jaws, unable to look.
Why does the Imperial Daughter, smiling while slapping someone, feel scarier than the Imperial Daughter coldly cracking a whip!
When Shao Bo came to, both his cheeks were red and swollen.
Seeing Xie Qiang, he instinctively put on a fierce face. “You wicked woman, stay away from me!”
He struggled. “Let me go! Let me go back to the battlefield! This Empire is rotten to the core. I’d rather die at the hands of the Zerg than at the hands of a cowardly Commander and a tyrannical, incompetent heir!”
Xie Qiang raised her arm.
Everyone instinctively covered their ears.
However, Xie Qiang gently covered both his ears. Her docile mental power bit by bit dispersed the chaotic sensory perceptions from the outside world, smoothing over the rage and gloom in his heart.
“Shao Bo, I’m sorry.”
The girl stared earnestly into his eyes. “Your family and your fellow villagers were great and selfless. I shouldn’t have said those things about them.”
Shao Bo’s eyes suddenly reddened. Tears welled up as he said indignantly, “I don’t need your hypocritical apology! Do you think saving me wipes the slate clean? On what grounds do you get to suddenly become ‘good,’ and what does that make everything I suffered before?”
“But I will say it anyway.” Xie Qiang looked at him steadily. “It’s not to erase my own sins, but because I don’t want the Empire’s Sentinels to die so miserably by suicide.”
“If you must die, die at the hands of the Zerg.” She let go and stood up, looking down at Shao Bo. “Suicide is the most cowardly and pathetic way to die. If you die like this, that would be the greatest insult to your family and villagers.”
Shao Bo’s body trembled violently. Xie Qiang’s words were like a knife stabbing into his heart. He couldn’t help but cover his face and weep.
“It was me… who insulted them…”
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