Awkwardness

The mental soothing went more smoothly than expected.

Pale blue spiritual power slowly withdrew from Jonah's Mindscape like warm water at low tide. Wherever it passed, it cleared away the accumulated fragments of toxins, and the surging spiritual waves gradually calmed.

After a little over twenty minutes, the last glimmer faded from Yuqing's fingertips. She had finished clearing the entire outer region of his Spiritual Sea.

The monitor beside them beeped softly, and the numbers on its screen settled. His mental contamination level had fallen steadily from 73.12% to within the safe threshold of 60%, and the glaring orange-yellow bar had turned a reassuring pale green.

"All done." Yuqing withdrew her hand and bent over to undo the restraints around his wrists and waist. The soft ripping of the nylon fasteners sounded unusually clear in the quiet treatment room. "Are you uncomfortable anywhere else?"

"N-no." Jonah sat up on the treatment bed, his chest still rising and falling slightly. A sharp glint flashed through his eyes, but it vanished so quickly that by the time Yuqing turned back, all she saw were his lowered lashes. Long and thick, they cast faint shadows, making his already gentle features look even more harmless.

Yuqing had just straightened up when a hand gently caught her wrist.

The young man's fingertips were slightly cool, with a barely perceptible tremor.

Without looking up, he took her hand and slowly drew it toward his cheek. Only when her warm palm rested against his hot skin did he seem to find his footing at last. He rubbed against it gently. "Thank you, miss guide."

Yuqing froze.

Beneath her palm was the young man's warm cheek, delicate to the touch, just like his lop-eared rabbit Spirit Entity. She could even feel his slightly rapid heartbeat through his skin.

The tip of Yuqing's nose suddenly grew hot, and a familiar pressure welled up. She wailed inwardly-

I'm done for, I'm done for! Am I really going to get a nosebleed today no matter what?!

The treatment room door hadn't been shut all the way, and Aiden and the others, who had been waiting outside for some time, were grinding their teeth in frustration.

"That damned rabbit really knows how to put on an act!"

"Exactly! What's he pretending to be a weak, pitiful little white rabbit in front of the guide for? It nearly bit through my Spirit Entity's neck yesterday!"

"Damn it, guides all like cute Spirit Entities like that. Mine's a polar bear, a great big duang of a thing. It definitely won't be popular."

"Come on, at least your Spirit Entity has fur. I heard guides hate cold-blooded and reptilian Spirit Entities the most. Hardly any guides are willing to soothe them."

The group muttered sourly among themselves, and no one noticed another person standing in the shadows not far away.

Lin He leaned against the cold metal wall, his hands clenched tightly at his sides, his knuckles turning bluish-white.

He stayed there for a long time, watching the young woman gently stroke the little rabbit and patiently help Jonah clear his spiritual power. He stayed so long that the sentinels went in one after another, full of anticipation, then came back out as if floating on air...

He alone stood as though rooted to the spot, unable to move even half a step forward.

His smart device vibrated three times on his wrist, and the appointment reminders that popped up lit up and went dark again. He didn't even have the strength to raise his wrist and look.

His Spirit Entity was a black python: cold-blooded, vicious, and laden with toxins that wouldn't dissipate. Even he hated it, let alone a guide as pure and gentle as her.

"Lin He?" The young woman's voice held a note of uncertainty. "Is he not here?"

Lin He abruptly came to his senses, snapping back as though he'd been burned.

He didn't answer or step forward. Instead, he clenched his fists, turned, and strode away down the corridor.

The Dark Prison stood in the most remote corner of the military district, surrounded by high-density alloy and cut off from daylight year-round.

The cold, hard alloy walls were damp, and the air smelled of rust mixed with suppressants.

Ever since he had forcibly broken through to SSS rank last month, he had demolished three perimeter walls and two watchtowers while his spiritual power was out of control. The marshal had considered the repair costs outrageous and simply assigned him a cell in the Dark Prison.

Unlike the other cells, which held sentinels who had lost their minds in the Berserk State, his door was unlocked. He could come and go whenever he pleased.

But he knew in his heart that this place was more like where he belonged. A monster like him, who could explode at any moment, perhaps ought to stay here and rot.

"Hiss..."

The faint sound of scales scraping came from the darkness. An enormous python, black from head to tail, slowly slithered out. Its scales gleamed with a cold, hard metallic sheen, and violence churned in its golden slit pupils. But it didn't approach Lin He, instead coiling up in a distant corner.

It could sense its master's hatred for it... no, his hatred for himself.

Lin He's gaze fell on the black python, his eyes as dark as a bottomless pool. Images flashed back from the depths of his memory like barbs, making his head throb faintly again.

When he was young, his mother had always loved holding his younger brothers, but whenever she looked at him, she would frown, her voice full of disgust:

"You cold-blooded thing. You really are just like your father, born to be hated."

Yes, cold-blooded, ugly, and poisonous too.

Who could possibly like that?

"Hiss!"

The black python abruptly curled in on itself, its scales scraping together with soft clicking sounds. Thick Spirit Toxins churned inside it, scorching its meridians like fire. Violent emotions surged through their spiritual connection: the urge to tear, to destroy, to drag everything around it into the abyss.

It flicked the tip of its tail in agitation, striking the wall hard enough to leave a shallow dent.

Meanwhile, Han Yu had just finished checking on the patients in the Dark Prison with a medical assistant.

The record board in his hand was densely covered with the physical data of sentinels in the Berserk State. The sentinels confined in the Dark Prison had all once been heroes who guarded the Federation's borders. Even now, with their minds shattered and no medicine capable of curing them, the military district had never stopped providing them with medication and care.

Bang!

A muffled impact suddenly came from a corner, shaking dust from the walls.

Han Yu frowned and hurried over. He pushed open the half-closed cell door and immediately saw Lin He standing in the shadows, as well as the black python curled up in the corner, plainly struggling to endure the toxins.

"Lin He?" Han Yu was taken aback for a moment, then frowned even harder, his voice tinged with obvious confusion and anger. "Why are you still here? The marshal gave you a spot for soothing. Why aren't you in the treatment room looking for the guide? What are you doing here?"

Han Yu's brow furrowed deeply. A chance to be soothed by a guide was hard to come by, and countless people had their eyes on it. Yet here Lin He was, who knew what had gotten into him this time.

Lin He's only response to Han Yu was silence.

"Do you want to die? Don't you know what condition you're in?" Han Yu was furious. "The guide won't wait for you. Your appointment time hasn't passed yet, so hurry up and find her!"

"She won't want to soothe me." Lin He closed his eyes, looking to Han Yu like someone who had shut himself off and had no will to live.

"I really can't be bothered with you!" Han Yu was so angry that his temples throbbed twice. But despite what he said, Lin He was in a very bad state, and Han Yu couldn't bring himself to leave him alone. He opened his smart device, prescribed two D07 Forced Suppressant Injections, and administered them to Lin He.