She Had Actually Tacitly Allowed It

As Wu Xi grew more and more outrageous, everyone was at a loss for words.

Yun Jin rolled his eyes and walked away.

The others all went their separate ways as well.

Only Mo Xiao remained seated, not moving an inch.

He took off his gloves and pressed his brow. In his azure eyes, a rare trace of irritation surfaced before he could suppress it.

"Lanlan..."

He had noticed that form of address yesterday.

But at the time, he had assumed Chi Ming simply lacked manners and that Xin Lan, being easygoing, had chosen not to fault him.

Now he knew she had actually tacitly allowed it.

She was so cold and distant by nature, yet she had taken the initiative to kiss Chi Ming and even purified his Mental Landscape for him.

But with Mo Xiao, she was unwilling to accept even the most basic handshake.

So... why?

Letting the dark emotions in his heart grow unchecked, Mo Xiao took a deep breath, slowly closed his eyes, and leaned back in his chair.

After an unknown period of silence, a notification from his wristband interrupted his jumbled thoughts.

He sat up straight again, and the emotions that had been stirring within him vanished in an instant.

On her second visit to the soothing room, Xin Lan noticed a new warning sign by the entrance.

Written on it in highly conspicuous red letters were the words "Do not touch the guide without permission." Anyone coming to the soothing room would spot it at a glance.

But only when Xin Lan opened the door did she notice that someone had sneakily drawn a few chibi bear paw prints beside the signature identifying it as the guide soothing room.

"...Childish."

The corners of Xin Lan's mouth lifted as she huffed and pushed the door open.

She selected a few sentinels with relatively high rampage levels and sent out notifications. Less than ten minutes later, the first sentinel knocked on the door of the soothing room.

"Hello, Miss Guide. I'm Kui Sha."

Kui Sha had a neat crop of brilliant golden hair, a muscular, imposing build, and several bloodstained tears in his combat uniform. He had clearly just returned from a mission and hadn't had time to change, and he carried a heavy aura of menace and blood.

But perhaps because this was his first time securing an appointment for a guide's soothing, despite his fierce appearance, his movements were awkward and restrained, and his cool, handsome face showed a trace of shyness and embarrassment.

Xin Lan: ?

Wait, what was with this guy... What was he shy about?

"Have a seat."

She didn't understand what he was thinking, nor could she be bothered to try. She simply gestured for him to make himself comfortable on the sofa.

Kui Sha looked at the soft, comfortable sofa on the right but didn't dare go straight over.

Instead, he went to the chair on the left of his own accord and clumsily fastened both his hands in its restraints.

"All right, Miss Guide, I'm ready."

Xin Lan: ...?

Wait, hadn't she told him to sit on the sofa?

Did he like that chair so much?

Actually, Kui Sha didn't like the chair either, but it could bring him to his senses if he lost control and wanted to hurt the guide.

But if she was as bad as the other guides, he would never book her purification and soothing again. He would rather use Guide Pheromones for the rest of his life!

But before his resolve had fully hardened, Xin Lan suddenly walked over.

To keep a low profile and grow stronger, although it wasn't necessary, she still pressed an index finger to Kui Sha's forehead.

The next second, an intensely rich scent of lily of the valley filled his nose, while his Mental Landscape, which no other guide had ever entered, was abruptly pierced by a surge of powerful mental energy.

In that instant, he even forgot where he was and what he was doing. His eyes glazed over, and he became utterly intoxicated by the naturally sweet lily-of-the-valley scent of the Guide Pheromones.

He wanted to savor them and discover what was so different about these Guide Pheromones that had captivated him the first time he smelled them.

But before he had taken more than a couple of sniffs, someone suddenly slapped him hard across the face several times in succession, forcibly bringing him back to his senses.

"Hey, wake up. The soothing's over. Go call the next person in."

"Huh? That fast?"

Kui Sha blurted out the question, and only when he heard his own voice did he belatedly realize that the restraints on his hands had been opened.

The pretty but cold and taciturn Miss Guide wasn't even looking at him now. She simply waved a hand in dismissal, signaling him to hurry out.

Kui Sha: ...

He touched his head, which no longer hurt, and then his chest, where his heart had begun pounding at some point. A suspicious blush suddenly appeared on his face.

"Miss Guide, may I kiss the back of your hand? I don't mean anything else by it. I just want to express my thanks. Thanks to your purification and soothing, my headaches are much better."

He came before the desk and knelt on one knee, bowing his head and holding out a hand with great reverence, asking only that Xin Lan give him a chance to express his gratitude.

But Xin Lan refused outright without even looking at him.

"No. Now that the soothing's done, hurry out. Don't waste the others' time."

"..."

In the end, Kui Sha left with a heart full of unspoken feelings.

He regretted not having had more opportunity to express his admiration and respect for Miss Guide, but he hadn't given up.

He thought that perhaps Miss Guide only seemed so cold because she was decisive and kind. After all, she was rushing him out only so the others could receive purification and soothing sooner.

How kind she was.

Cold on the outside, warm on the inside, with the heart of a saint.

He would definitely book another appointment with her!

"Hey, is your soothing over? What's the new Miss Guide like?"

Not far from the soothing room, a sentinel with an androgynous face and long pink hair suddenly stepped in front of him.

Kui Sha had never seen him before and was a little puzzled. "You are?"

"I'm the third sentinel booked for purification today. I just saw you go in. Come on, tell me, what's the new Miss Guide like? Her rank is so high, she must be really bad too, right? Looking at that dreamy, distracted face of yours, did she put you through the wringer?"

His words brought back Kui Sha's memory of the exhilarating feeling after his Mental Landscape was purified and Xin Lan's cold, merciless eyes.

Kui Sha's ears turned bright red, and his voice began to stammer.

"It-it was all right. Miss Guide is very nice. She-she didn't torment me. I was the one who..."

"Really? Then is her mental energy rank really S-rank? What did it feel like when she purified and soothed you?"

The pink-haired sentinel continued asking questions. Kui Sha assumed he was worried about encountering a perverted guide, just as he had been, and earnestly reassured him.

"Don't worry, Miss Guide's rank is the real deal. When she purified me, I not only felt comfortable all over, but I didn't feel like I was going to go into a rampage at all. You can go see her without worrying. She's amazing!"

Kui Sha gave the pink-haired sentinel a final pat on the shoulder and left with a spring in his step, looking thoroughly refreshed.

The pink-haired sentinel watched him leave, the corners of his mouth rising wildly as a sinister, feverish light suddenly flashed in his gray-blue eyes.

"Is that so? That's wonderful."