A Well-Behaved Child Worthy of Her Affection

Wu Xi was forced to tilt his head back and look at her face, his left cheek burning. But there was no trace of humiliation in his pale gray eyes at having been slapped. Instead, her soft touch sent his heart pounding wildly.

It was like a great fire had suddenly been lit on an Arctic glacier.

It left his heart burning with unbearable restlessness.

His brows relaxed, and he couldn't help narrowing his eyes and obediently nuzzling her hand. "All right, Miss Guide. I'll remember that."

Xin Lan patted his cheek encouragingly. It felt nice, so she gave it another hard pinch before letting go.

"Good. Only good children who listen get rewards."

Paying no more attention to the child who had made a mistake, she got up and walked over to the black leather sofa, its surface softly gleaming and smooth to the touch.

The enormous anaconda slithered onto the sofa after her and let her arrange him however she pleased. In the end, she leaned against his body like a long bolster and rested his head in her lap, stroking it idly.

"Chi Ming, come here."

Chi Ming obediently came over and knelt on one knee before her. Though his head was lowered, shared sensation sent occasional shudders through his body, and he was thrilled beyond measure.

Xin Lan leaned against the cool snake body and raised her dark eyes, making no attempt to hide her appreciation of his powerfully wild physique.

But after how forward Wu Xi had been, Chi Ming seemed a little reserved by comparison.

She thought for a moment, then asked, "Do you have a suit?"

"Yes!"

"Put it on and let me see."

Sentinels fought often, so they wore combat uniforms most of the time.

But they occasionally wore suits to important events, so he had one too.

It had simply been so long since he'd worn it that he didn't know if it still fit.

Chi Ming swiftly changed into his most expensive custom-made suit.

But he had built considerably more muscle since then, so the suit that had once fit perfectly was now especially tight.

The shirt underneath in particular was so tight that he could barely fasten the buttons over his chest.

After finally getting dressed, he met Xin Lan's gaze and instinctively straightened up and drew a deep breath, holding himself rigid.

"Come here and unbutton your vest."

Chi Ming's physique was as wild as his looks.

Sure enough, the moment he undid his vest, the tightly constricted shirt sprang outward as if in relief.

What a fine, sturdy body!

Xin Lan's lips curved with pleasure as she leaned back.

"Are you wearing shirt stays and sleeve garters?"

She reclined against his spirit beast, her slender fingers tapping idly against the snake's body. The gesture was casual but enticing.

Chi Ming took a deep breath and nodded, doing his best to ignore the tickling sensation at his waist. "Yes, I am."

"Good boy."

Xin Lan liked children who were obedient and honest.

So she decided to give him a little reward.

"Take off your jacket and vest, then come here."

Chi Ming obediently did as he was told. Without needing her to spell it out, he spread his legs and knelt before her, even crossing his hands behind him to support himself.

In that position, his shirt, held down by the shirt stays, looked as though it might really burst.

Xin Lan kindly lifted his tie and undid two buttons for him.

"How did you train? Your body's in such good shape."

A smile played on her lips, and her dark eyes curved like crescent moons. She only gave him a casual glance, yet it made Chi Ming blush and his heart race.

Xin Lan chuckled and reached out to press a finger against the shirt that had been forced open.

"Feels nice, too."

Chi Ming's face was burning red, though it was hard to tell against his tan skin.

Watching from the side, Wu Xi was practically dying of envy.

Damn it!

Stinking snake! Shameless snake! That slutty snake trailing black smoke!

He wanted Miss Guide to touch him too!

"What's your rampage level?"

Just as Chi Ming was losing himself in the moment, and the anaconda had raised his golden eyes and begun flicking his tongue incessantly, Xin Lan suddenly asked a serious question that had nothing to do with any of it.

Wu Xi, practically drooling with envy, froze. Chi Ming also jolted out of his daze.

"It's at 93%."

"...That high? Aren't you afraid of dying?"

"No. I have Lanlan now."

Just look at him. Good boys really were lovable, saying nothing but things she liked to hear.

Once a sentinel's rampage level reached 95%, they would go into a rampage and begin mutating, then be locked up to await execution.

Yet at such a critical moment, he could still calmly play dress-up with her.

No wonder people said there were so many lunatics in K9 District. They were apparently dancing on the brink all year round.

Xin Lan gave his pectoral a hard pinch, then released her mental power into his mental landscape.

What came into view was a long, winding, expansive river, completely tainted by thick black filth.

Xin Lan stood on the mottled ground beside the river. Above her, several European-style structures shaped like arched bridges were covered in black thorns. There was even slime, seemingly alive, slowly drooping and stretching downward, as though it wanted to corrupt her, the intruder, as well.

His spirit beast had always lived in such a dark, disgusting place, yet he was still so clean and well-behaved when he came out. It was truly heartbreaking.

Xin Lan wouldn't let her good, adorable pet suffer. She quickly wrapped her mental power around the disgusting filth and set about purifying it in one sweeping effort.

She had assumed that the difficulty of purifying sentinels one level apart wouldn't differ all that much.

But the reality was somewhat beyond her expectations.

After ten minutes, she had only managed to purify half of it.

Now that was a first.

During the apocalypse, she had long since trained her mental power to the highest level. Her three-part combination of control, disruption and attack had been effective in nearly every situation, and she had never failed.

She hadn't expected her first attempt at using mental power to purify an SSS-rank sentinel in this world to go so poorly.

Though she could have purified it all in one go if she had been patient, Xin Lan wasn't that self-sacrificing.

Her enthusiasm had always been short-lived, and she did everything according to her mood.

So, after getting a rough idea of her current purification abilities, she promptly withdrew her mental power and leaned back against the anaconda's cool body, not bothering to continue.

"I'm a little tired, so I've purified half for now. We'll talk about the rest later. How do you feel?"

She picked up a washed grape and popped it into her mouth, her tone casual. Though she said she was tired, she showed no signs of fatigue or dizziness. If anything, she seemed to have a great appetite.

Wu Xi stared dumbfounded.

Good grief! Was Miss Guide really only S-rank? Weren't guides supposed to have trouble soothing higher-ranked sentinels? Especially ones two ranks above them?

Yet she had just purified half of an SSS-rank sentinel's 93% rampage level that easily?

Was that right?

Was that even scientific?

Wu Xi's eyes widened in shock, and Chi Ming was equally stunned.

He slowly opened his eyes. His pupils had turned completely vertical from the intense comfort and excitement, and his body kept trembling as most of his rampaging mental power was soothed.

It took him quite a while to find his voice, but he could no longer suppress his fervent attachment to her as he had before. Even every pore of his body and every strand of mental power were crying out madly to get closer to her!

"Lanlan, I feel wonderful now! It's like I've been given a new life!"

"You saved me, Lanlan. May I ask to hug you? Or kiss the back of your hand?"

He braced both hands on the floor, gripping the carpet tightly. His voice was husky, and the way he looked at her was full of longing and infatuation, utterly unlike the obedient, restrained Chi Ming from before.

Like an honest man who had suddenly drunk some bad liquor.

Xin Lan looked at Wu Xi in confusion. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's probably become more dependent on you and more in love with you because this was his first deep link with you, so he especially wants to be close to you."

Wu Xi's voice was full of envy, jealousy and resentment, but he didn't dare complain about Xin Lan. He could only gaze enviously at the dazed Chi Ming, screaming inwardly.

Ahhh!

He was dying of envy! That damned snake was so lucky!

Xin Lan frowned, somewhat surprised. "That was a deep link? Doesn't that make him my exclusive sentinel?"

She opened her wristband and checked her information, but Chi Ming's name wasn't listed under exclusive sentinels.

Seeing that she really didn't understand, Wu Xi hurried to explain.

"There are two kinds of deep links: mental links and physical links."

"Mental links are relatively fragile and only last for a short time. But once a sentinel and a guide form a physical link, they're bound together for life and can't be separated. If either one dies, the other will suffer a painful mental backlash."

"So only a sentinel bound through a physical link counts as an exclusive sentinel. An exclusive sentinel will defend their guide to the death and never betray them."