Awesome, It's Already Chapter 22

Xuan Jia hadn't expected her to remain unwilling to leave after all he'd said.

After some thought, he decided to make his position and capabilities clear once more.

"Guide Xin Lan, if you have any concerns, or if someone has coerced you in a way you can't speak openly about, you can tell me in private. I can resolve it all for you."

He openly looked at her sentinel guards, whose hostile expressions made it obvious they had done bad things to her.

He thought that their nervousness and repeated attempts to keep him from meeting Xin Lan meant they must have sinister intentions and had done many things to harm her.

But Xin Lan laughed out loud when she heard him.

"Huh? You mean them? Coercing me?"

Struggling to hold back her laughter, she glanced at the men opposite her, all wearing grave expressions, and raised a hand to give Xuan Jia a heavy pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, you're overthinking it. If anyone's doing the coercing, it'd be me making them do things they don't want to do. They wouldn't dare do anything to me."

As she spoke, she suddenly turned to the five men, whose expressions all differed, and winked. "Isn't that right?"

Though they hadn't known her for long, it was the first time Mo Xiao and the other four had seen her wear such a lively expression, one so befitting her age.

The men froze for a moment, then some scratched their cheeks awkwardly while others blushed shyly, all answering in low voices, "Yes."

Even Mo Xiao's eyes held a hint of natural amusement. "Yes, Guide Xin Lan is right."

Xuan Jia: ...

"All right, then. It seems I was worrying too much."

In the end, Xuan Jia left with his people, full of regret.

Before leaving, though, he added Xin Lan's Star Network number and told her that if she changed her mind and wanted to come to District K1, she could contact him anytime. He would come as quickly as possible, and he promised that all her terms would remain unchanged.

A promise like that was nothing short of a ticking time bomb to the people of K9 District.

Especially today, at this very moment.

Mo Xiao pondered for a moment before finally bringing something up.

"Guide Xin Lan, after spending time with you yesterday, we think there may have been an error in the assessment of your spiritual power. You might be above S-rank. Would you be willing to come with us for another test?"

"If your new result is higher than S-rank, you'll receive better treatment than you do now, and your status will be higher as well."

Xin Lan had known all along that this would happen.

Even so, she was somewhat reluctant. "Do I have to take the test again?"

Mo Xiao's expression didn't change. In fact, his smile grew wider.

"Of course not. The decision is yours. We're only offering a suggestion because we're worried a malfunction in the testing equipment might have given you a rank that doesn't match your status. That would be very unfair to you."

"Then I won't take it."

Since the retest wasn't mandatory, Xin Lan waved a hand and refused outright.

The fairness she wanted had never been the status and treatment of a high-ranking guide, and she wasn't afraid of them making wild guesses.

"All right, go do whatever you need to do. Don't bother me unless there's something important. I'm going to work."

She'd slept until noon today, and that afternoon she had to purify and soothe five to eight sentinels in one go. After work, she still had to check on the little Azure Dragon and the dead fox. She was so busy!

After Xin Lan left, a wretched howl immediately rang out in the central council chamber.

Wu Xi grabbed his hair with both hands, nearly out of his mind.

"Ahhh! Miss Guide must have taken a fancy to Xuan Jia! What do we do, what do we do, what do we do?!"

Yun Jin looked at him in confusion. "Why are you suddenly going crazy? Who said she took a fancy to Xuan Jia?"

Hadn't she just been a tiny bit more enthusiastic when she first met him than she had been with them? How could that be called taking a fancy to him? At most, she was a little curious about Xuan Jia. Yun Jin had clearly seen that Xin Lan hadn't given Xuan Jia another glance during the conversation afterward.

"What do you know?"

Wu Xi pulled out two hairs in despair, his eyes reddening with grievance.

"Miss Guide doesn't like being touched casually by strangers, and she doesn't like hand-kissing either. Out of all of us, she's only ever let me kiss the back of her hand. Even Chi Ming can't just touch her whenever he wants... But when Xuan Jia kissed the back of her hand, she didn't even frown! If she hasn't taken a fancy to Xuan Jia, what else could it be?"

He seized Yun Jin's collar, tears nearly springing from his eyes.

Yun Jin's brows furrowed tightly enough to crush two mosquitoes. He slapped Wu Xi's hand away. "How should I know? I've never kissed the back of her hand."

Yun Jin usually did everything with great confidence, but this time, he sounded a little uncertain as he argued with Wu Xi.

Although he really had never thought of kissing the back of Xin Lan's hand, that didn't mean he could remain calm after learning for certain that she was lukewarm toward him yet exceptionally tolerant of someone else.

Come to think of it, he couldn't even measure up to Wu Xi...

Mo Xiao glanced at his gloves, his brows involuntarily drawing together.

So when they first met, she hadn't disliked him because shaking hands with gloves on was rude. Had she simply not wanted to touch him at all...?

Wu Xi's words had stirred unusual feelings in both of them, but Cang Leng and Chi Ming didn't mind at all.

Especially Chi Ming.

Usually quiet and never one to trade barbs with others, he acted entirely out of character today. He deliberately raised a hand to touch his lips in front of everyone, his golden eyes filled with unconcealable smugness.

"Oh? Is that so? I don't think so. As I see it, she was only being polite and didn't want to embarrass Xuan Jia in front of so many people. Lanlan is an S-rank guide. If she really took a fancy to someone, she'd bestow a kiss on him and claim him outright, not keep up the formalities and let him leave."

The little bit of pride Cang Leng had just felt because his Spirit Body was loved was crushed in an instant.

He immediately grasped what Chi Ming meant, and his perpetually misty purple eyes suddenly shone with startling brightness.

"Damn it! What do you mean by that, Chi Ming? How can you be so sure that's what she'd do if she took a fancy to someone? Don't tell me you and Miss Guide..."

His eyes went round, his face full of disbelief.

Mo Xiao and Yun Jin also frowned and looked over, evidently thinking such a thing couldn't have happened.

After all, Xin Lan had shown no sign of wanting to be close to any of them so far, much less engaged in such intimate acts as touching skin or pressing lips together.

Just thinking of her beautiful but indifferent face, they couldn't imagine her doing such a thing to Chi Ming.

But Wu Xi's words struck them like a thunderbolt.

"Oh, right! Miss Guide did take the initiative to help purify your Mental Landscape, and she even kissed you. Looking at it that way, Xuan Jia still can't compare to you. Maybe she only has a little fondness for Xuan Jia, and not much at that. Now that I think about it, I suddenly feel much more relieved! Hahahaha!"

Yun Jin and the other two: ...

"What are you relieved about?"

Yun Jin kicked him, his face dark, and for no apparent reason, his gaze held a sudden trace of hostility as he looked at Chi Ming.

"It's a good thing Miss Guide hasn't taken a fancy to Xuan Jia, but hasn't she failed to take a fancy to you too?"

The smile froze on Wu Xi's face.

Right, what was he relieved about?

Chi Ming was his greatest rival!

In an instant, all four of them turned their gazes on Chi Ming at once.

Chi Ming, however, remained as composed as ever, not the least bit flustered.

"You don't have to look at me like that. I just happen to suit Lanlan's tastes in certain ways, that's all. She was only in a good mood and rewarded me that once while she was at it."

At that, he paused, and his eyes darkened again.

"However, she hasn't promised to make me her exclusive sentinel. So I'm the same as you. We all have to work hard to prove our worth to her until she's willing to form a physical link with us. Otherwise... we'll all meet the same end."

Chi Ming had made the most progress of the five, but he also felt the most insecure.

Although he had deliberately said those things just now to make them envious and jealous so he could gain a sense of superiority.

But that small sense of superiority was like a cup of water against a burning cart in the face of his deep, dark unease. Not only did it fail to make him happy, it only deepened his anxiety.

As someone who had also received special treatment, Wu Xi understood Chi Ming's feelings very well.

He was indeed still angry, but what he felt more now was worry for the future of all of them.

"Sigh, why is Miss Guide so cold to all five of us? It's as if we're just a pile of wooden posts in front of her, with no appeal to her whatsoever."

He sighed, touched his face, then looked at the other four handsome faces, each attractive in its own way, and grew even more puzzled.

"By the standards of all humanity, even if our looks and physiques aren't top-notch, we're at least among the rare few who stand out, right? And as for status, there's no one in all of K9 District higher than us. I really can't figure it out. What kind of man does she like? Or does she just not like men at all?"