So Cold, I Love You So Much

"A-Lan, you're amazing. Those whirlpools were so troublesome, but you dealt with them all. I'm falling more and more in love with you. So what do I have to do to become your exclusive sentinel?"

"That depends on how you behave."

At her answer, steam began rising from Mo Yilai's head again.

He swept back his long grayish-pink hair, which had begun to clump together. His Mental Landscape had been purified, and he felt refreshed, so he immediately pressed his advantage.

"Really? So if I behave well enough, I can become your exclusive sentinel?"

Xin Lan's expression grew a little complicated.

Uh, how should I put this?

This little pink-haired guy not only talks a lot, but has quite the imagination too.

"I never said that."

She gave him no chance to indulge his fantasies.

Mo Yilai, however, seemed to have expected her denial. He pretended not to hear it, then knelt and bent forward in front of her, tilting his head and rubbing his face against her hand again.

"I know you're cold on the outside but warm on the inside, A-Lan. You like me. I know you do."

"A-Lan, touch my face, like you did just now. You just purified my Mental Landscape, and my body and soul both seem to be craving your closeness."

"I like you so much, so, so much. Please take pity on me and touch my face for just one minute, okay? Half a minute would do. I like you so much..."

Having gotten his way, the chatterbox became even chattier, spouting sweet nothings one after another.

Xin Lan patiently stroked his face for half a minute. The moment the time was up, she raised her foot and kicked him aside.

"All right. Go out and call the next person in."

Mo Yilai showed no surprise at being kicked away without warning. Instead, her decisive manner captivated him so much that he found it even harder to look away.

He held the spot where she had kicked him, his face glowing with infatuation.

"A-Lan, you're so cold... But why do I still like you so much? Do you think there's something wrong with my brain? Some illness that leaves me unable to walk away whenever I see you?"

Xin Lan said, "Get lost."

"Okay! As you command!"

The infatuated look vanished from Mo Yilai's face in an instant. In just a few seconds, he darted to the door and struck his most handsome pose.

"Your baby Yilai is leaving now. If you miss me, A-Lan, remember to call me anytime. Whatever I'm doing, I'll pick up right away!"

Xin Lan ignored him.

Mo Yilai had no choice but to leave reluctantly.

But just as he walked out of the Sanctuary's main entrance, Mo Xiao, who had been investigating alien spies and Free Alliance infiltrators, suddenly seemed to notice something.

He twitched his nose, and after confirming that the departing sentinel was indeed trailing a strong scent that belonged exclusively to Xin Lan, he immediately set down the documents in his hands and headed for the soothing room.

Knock, knock-

There was another knock at the soothing room door. Thinking the fourth sentinel had arrived, Xin Lan told him to come in without even looking up.

When she finished counting the zeroes in her assets, she looked up and saw that the person who had entered was actually Mo Xiao.

"What brings you here? I don't remember you making an appointment."

She frowned, a little puzzled.

From the empty spaces where tools had been on the left wall, Mo Xiao had already made a rough guess at what had happened in the soothing room not long ago.

But he was still reluctant to believe it.

"Guide Xin Lan, I remember the precautions I sent you clearly mentioned the possible consequences of deep linking."

"Mm, and? What are you trying to say?"

Xin Lan looked him straight in the eye without the slightest attempt to look away, even seeming faintly provocative.

Mo Xiao's expression froze, and for a moment, he was also somewhat surprised by his own rash behavior.

Yes, what did I come here to say?

Tell her she shouldn't have done it? Or ask her not to?

Either way, he was in no position to say it now.

He had no right.

"Sorry, I was rash. I just thought the sentinel who left a moment ago looked familiar. He looks a lot like the leader of an organization that once abducted several guides."

"Really? Then why didn't you just arrest him and interrogate him? Why did you come to me?"

Xin Lan looked at him with a mocking smile. "Or did the usually calm and meticulous administrator come rushing to me without even confirming his identity simply because he didn't want me deep linking with other sentinels... Were you jealous?"

Her intuition was always so sharp, and her words so blunt that they left no room for even a roundabout explanation.

For once, Mo Xiao found himself somewhat at a loss for words after being challenged.

But he quickly composed himself and put his polite, proper mask back on.

"Perhaps a little, but I really did come to disturb your work so abruptly out of concern for your safety. Please forgive me."

"So you're saying you don't mind me deep linking with other sentinels?"

Xin Lan gave him no opening, pressing the attack.

The smile on Mo Xiao's face stiffened, though his tone remained gentle.

"Of course. Guides are free to choose whom they deep link with. No one has the right to interfere, and naturally, neither do I."

"Oh, since you have no right to interfere, what are you still doing here? Go on back. And there's no need to come 'remind' me again."

Xin Lan watched him with a teasing look. "After all, apart from Chi Ming and the other three, you should know better than anyone whether I could be abducted, shouldn't you, Administrator?"

Indeed, her psychic power could attack anyone indiscriminately, whether sentinel or guide.

Even they, as SSS-ranks, were unable to resist her. What in this world could hurt her besides pollutants and mutants?

Faced with her mocking words, Mo Xiao immediately realized how clumsy the excuse he had just made was.

The tips of his ears grew slightly warm, and he could only bow to her again.

"Sorry, Guide Xin Lan. I was too rash. Please forgive me. From now on, I won't disturb you unannounced unless it's official business."

He closed the door properly behind him as he left.

But Xin Lan had clearly noticed how the tips of his ears had abruptly turned red when she exposed what was on his mind.

Does this silver-haired man not know how pale he is?

Apart from his uniform, everything about him was strikingly pale. Those two red spots on the tips of his ears were quite conspicuous; she had noticed them without even looking closely at his ears.

His mouth is probably the most stubborn part of his whole body.

Xin Lan snorted, quickly put him out of her mind, and resumed work.

The four sentinels after that were more obedient. Even though she was so intent on seeing the little Azure Dragon and the damned fox that she wasn't gentle during purification, none of them made a sound. Before leaving, they even said excitedly that they would book appointments again next time.

Xin Lan ignored them all. Having treated the required number of people, she immediately shut the soothing room door, got into her hovercar, and made a quick getaway.

She had plenty of time today. Maybe she could even restore the damned fox's consciousness.

She just didn't know whether it had died.

If that fox really had died, she would be taking a huge loss.

After all, it had been the final lot her auction house had sold for a staggering price. Even if she couldn't turn it back into a human, she could at least take it back and auction it off again.

Maybe it would fetch an even higher price next time!

At the thought that the damned fox might bring her over a hundred billion in minutes someday, Xin Lan deeply regretted not giving it a little treatment last night.

Who could have imagined that yesterday she had been an utterly ordinary guide with no background, and today she would suddenly become the leader of the Free Alliance?

Indeed, no amount of money could buy foresight.

Over a hundred billion! Please, whatever you do, don't die...