I Found Her

"Ugh..." The man let out a muffled groan as she crashed into him. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and his already delicate, pale face looked even more fragile, as though a gust of wind could shatter him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Are you all right?" Once Yuqing realized she had landed on someone, she hurriedly helped him up in a panic. In the apocalypse, a strong body was essential. Medical resources were far too scarce, and once someone fell ill or became disabled, they would most likely be abandoned. The thought sent Yuqing's heart straight into her throat.

Oh no, I hit him hard enough to make him cough up blood. What if he's injured internally? He doesn't look very healthy to begin with. If I've really hurt him badly, I'll have a lot to answer for!

"I'm... I'm fine." Carlos raised a hand and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his fingertip. His voice was a little hoarse.

His mental power was in turmoil, the poison was surging through him, and he had been ambushed. Coughing up blood was an everyday occurrence for him now. Otherwise, simply having someone fall on him would have been nothing to a thick-skinned sentinel.

"Don't worry, I'll take responsibility for you!" Yuqing's tone was unusually firm. Her deep sleep just now had restored two-tenths of her depleted physical strength. Although the supernatural power she had left was still pitifully weak, it was enough to treat a few bruises.

Carlos was about to ask why she was here, but the next second, the girl's gentle, healing mental threads answered every question he had...

The girl before him was the guide who had gotten lost in the forest.

The girl raised her hand and gripped his wrist. The instant her power surged forth, the domineering Spiritual Sea of a top-tier sentinel tried to suck all her mental power in like a black hole.

With her previous experience to guide her, Yuqing immediately reined in her power, leaving only one slender mental thread to probe into his Spiritual Sea. She transformed the rest of her power into a warm, healing light that spread along the meridians in his wrist, gradually smoothing away his visible bruises while quietly easing the toxins churning inside him.

The guide was not generous, but even a few strands of mental power were enough to make the sentinel's eyes glaze over with pleasure. He had gone a long time without mental soothing.

The gentle mental threads drifted through his chaotic Spiritual Sea, greatly easing the sharp, stabbing pain and surging agitation caused by the toxins and his disordered mental power in an instant. He felt as though his whole body were immersed in warm seawater. Even his breathing grew soft and slow, and his taut nerves relaxed completely.

It had been a long... long time since anyone had managed to enter his sea of consciousness. His head rested lightly on her shoulder, his breathing grew a little ragged, and his arms tightened slightly. His cheek rubbed unconsciously against the side of her neck, and through his hazy awareness, a faint, fresh scent of jasmine lingered at the tip of his nose.

Yuqing's power did not last long. Before the energy in her body could run dry again, she withdrew her power and mental thread without hesitation.

The instant her power withdrew, a tremendous sense of emptiness and loss swept over Carlos. It was as if a piece of his heart were missing, and unease and agitation surged up together.

To make up for the anxiety, as if he had been abandoned, Carlos kept rubbing against the exposed skin of Yuqing's neck. His lips brushed tentatively, "inadvertently," across her skin, drawing a shiver from the girl.

Seeing that she did not stop him, Carlos grew increasingly bold, until his sharp teeth nearly pierced a blood vessel in Yuqing's neck. Unable to bear it any longer, she slapped him. "Bad dog, no biting!"

Yuqing had acted entirely on instinct. Their base kept a few mutated retrievers. They were large and usually quite obedient, but sometimes they could not control their strength and were liable to bite people. If she did not discipline them, they would never learn.

But the one she had hit this time was a person...

"Ahem... Well... I... I didn't mean to mistake you for a dog." Yuqing was stunned by her own words. She had meant to say she hadn't hit him on purpose; she had only mistaken him for a dog.

That didn't sound quite right either.

Carlos suddenly raised his head. His beautiful eyes were already bloodshot, giving his delicate features an especially sinister look. A smile curved the sentinel's lips, and he pressed an exceedingly dangerous kiss to the back of the girl's fair hand. "It would be my honor to be your dog, Miss Guide."

"...Huh?" Yuqing did not understand, but she was deeply shocked.

"So, Master, might I have the honor of knowing your name?" Carlos spoke submissively, adopting an exceptionally humble manner, yet at some point his tall frame had quietly enclosed the girl entirely in his arms.

"Yu... Yuqing." How could Yuqing, a respectable, honest woman, withstand such temptation? By the time she recovered from the sight of his beauty, she had already given him her name.

"A-Qing... My name is Carlos," Carlos murmured. The girl before him was surely no low-level guide. Were high-level guides stationed on the Empire's border? Why hadn't the border lord reported it to the capital? Though he had his doubts, all Carlos wanted now was to tie himself and the guide together as quickly as possible. "Then, once we return to the Empire, may I apply to become your guardian sentinel?"

At Carlos's words, Yuqing's reason snapped back into place. She cursed inwardly that beauty was a snare.

That group had claimed to be Federation sentinels and assumed she was a guide from the Empire, so they had not questioned her identity. But Carlos was a sentinel of the Empire. If he went back and found no record of her, how was she supposed to explain where she had come from?

Just as Yuqing's mind was racing, trying to figure out how to shake him off, familiar voices reached her. It was the group of Federation sentinels she had encountered earlier!

"Miss Guide?! Miss Guide!"

"Shang Yu, didn't you say the guide was here? Where is she?!"

"Damn it, if anything happens to the guide, I'll tear you Federation bastards to pieces!" Daniel's eyes were red with anger as he glared viciously at Shang Yu and the others. If he had encountered a guide, he would have wanted to worship her like an ancestor. Yet they had dared to leave a guide alone in such a dangerous place. It was simply unforgivable!

"Rosent, you're an idiot too! Why didn't you stay with the guide? What were you doing running off with him?!" Will cursed as he released his bloodhound to search for her.

Rosent was momentarily lost for words. He wanted to argue back, but realized he was in the wrong, so he could only shut his mouth in embarrassment.

Fortunately, the guide seemed to be on the ground, and the bloodhound really did pick up an almost imperceptible scent. It was to the right. Will shouted, "To the right!"

At this moment, neither the Federation nor the Empire could spare any thought for grudges or allegiances. The forest on the border was far too dangerous, and no one knew when a contaminated creature might appear. The guide's safety came before everything else.

The group immediately ran to search on the right. In the end, Will's Spirit Entity was the first to discover the two people behind a large tree. Will looked in the direction his Spirit Entity indicated, only to see their own consul. "I found... Huh, Consul, why is it you?"

The Federation and Empire sentinels hurried over when they heard him. Seeing a familiar face, Yuqing called out excitedly, "Ers!"

Only then did everyone notice the girl Carlos was holding protectively in his arms. Her clothing was strange. If not for her exposed, fair face, her drab clothes would have almost made her blend into the forest.