Ni Ji does weight training on the dormitory floor.
With fingers placed on the ground and legs stretched straight in the air, do standard Russian push-ups with a heavy load on the shoulders and back.
The lines of the arm muscles and shoulder blade muscles were beautifully stretched, and the sweat on the forehead dripped down, forming a small pool on the floor.
A virtual screen popped up on the personal terminal beside him. What was playing was not music or tactical knowledge, but a video on how to make desserts.
"You have changed, you have fallen, you have forgotten all your blood feuds."
The pale dagger was placed next to Ni Ji's hand. There was a crack on the bone-white handle, and it made a strange, mocking sound.
Ni Ji didn't say anything, but he contracted and stretched his arm muscles to support the rise and fall of his body.
"Have you forgotten them all? You don't want revenge anymore? Now all you want is a warm blanket under the moon and stars every day, right?"
"Can you sleep at night? Those dead people are still looking at you."
Ni Ji's emotions did not fluctuate in his weird and sarcastic tone.
He stretched his arms straight, using his strong core strength to keep his body parallel to the ground, and his legs steady, "You wouldn't understand."
Dagger was enraged, and his tone suddenly rose.
"What do you mean I don't understand? I have lived hundreds of years longer than you. Didn't you just fall in love with that guide? You are busy spreading your wings all day long. You haven't given me blood for a long time. Where is my blood? Give me blood now!"
"Before, I didn't really want revenge. I just didn't want to live anymore." Ni Ji continued to train, sweat dripping down and soaking the ground. "But now it's different. I really want to avenge them and do something."
He didn't say what he was going to do. But Yaodao's tone dropped, and he muttered quietly, "Who would believe it?"
In fact, it believed it. Although it was a monster, it had followed Ni Ji closely for a long time, drank countless of Ni Ji's blood, and watched Ni Ji running around every day. It was the creature that knew what Ni Ji was going to do best and understood Ni Ji's heart the best.
This guy has changed. He values his life more and becomes busier. He has deeper and more far-reaching plans in his mind, and his heart is more determined. He rushes to accompany the guide for training every morning, collects and studies materials in the afternoon, and quietly hangs out with some sentries in the White Tower at night. He is very busy and fulfilled.
But in this way, the chance of drinking blood becomes less.
"What about my blood? No matter what, you still have to give me blood. I want lots and lots of it. I want you to be covered in blood."
Ni Ji was silent for a while, "We will go to the place without pupils soon."
"Hmph, going with that guide, that Kraken, interesting. In fact, I've always wanted to taste her blood."
"If you touch her once, I will break you." Ni Ji said this in a flat voice, with steady movements of his hands.
But the dagger shrank back. It knew that this guy was a little crazy at heart. It was okay to say a few words at ordinary times, but it was the most terrifying when he spoke in this tone.
Dagger was scared and no longer dared to talk about this topic. The room fell silent. Only the breathing of the sentry during training and the sweet and moving voice of the food host in the video could be heard.
"Boil the sugar until it becomes a beautiful golden color~~, this kind of sugar will sweeten your heart."
After a moment, the hungry dagger began to murmur again.
"You dare to like someone like me? You might lose your head tomorrow for the things you want to do, and you still think you can live forever."
Ni Ji: “…”
"I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that you just like it yourself and you don't want her to know."
Ni Ji: “…”
"Train with her, accompany her to the most dangerous places, and grow with her. When you are gone one day in the future, she will still have plenty of sentinels."
Ni Ji: “…”
“Hehehe, thinking about it this way, I’m actually looking forward to that day. On the day you die tragically, I can drink all your blood. By the way, I can help you see who the Kraken will choose to be her exclusive sentinel. Hehehehe.”
Ni Ji frowned, supported himself on the ground with one hand, bit off the glove on the other hand, and grasped the pale blade. The thin blade cut his finger. He licked a little red blood, gurgling it. Finally, he was satisfied and stopped talking nonsense.
The room fell silent again, and the sweet voice of the food host rang out from the virtual screen.
"Now, I will teach you how to make delicious sweet and sour fish~~~."
There was some noise coming from the street below.
The distance was actually quite far, but with the sentinel's keen hearing he could clearly hear what was happening.
There was the sound of a car engine, the sound of messy footsteps from military boots, and the scream of a little girl.
Ni Ji walked to the balcony, took a look, put on his shoes, grabbed his knife, turned over and jumped down from the tall building.
A military vehicle was parked at the corner of the street with its door open. Several sentries wearing the uniforms of the Public Security Bureau stood beside the vehicle. One of them was pulling the little girl who was delivering the coal briquettes onto the vehicle.
"I'm not a guide, I'm not a guide. I don't want to go to the White Pagoda." The little girl, her face covered in coal dust, kicked and hit, struggled and rolled around, and refused to get on the bus.
"Hiding the identity of newly converted Sentinels and Guides is a serious crime. The last time you replaced your own blood, it was already illegal. If you weren't a Guide, you would have been in jail long ago. Stop it and get in the car with us."
"I won't go. My grandfather is sick and lying at home alone with no one to take care of him. I won't go, I won't go." The girl, with tears and snot on her face and covered in coal dust, rubbed herself against the sentry.
"It's so dirty, can someone come and help me?" The sentry who was pulling her was very disgusted and advised her impatiently, "When we get to the White Tower, we will feed you with good food and drink, wear beautiful clothes, and marry a noble when you grow up. Don't live a good life. Why are you still thinking about your beggar grandfather?"
The other sentries just laughed and watched, "Since you've got your hands dirty, you should handle it. It's as black as coal, and no one wants to touch it."
"I won't go. I want to go home. I want to go home. I just want to be with my grandpa." The little girl, who was as black as coal, had sharp teeth. She bit the sentry's hand hard and took the moment when the sentry let go of her hand in pain to slip away.
It was a pity that she was just a young child, a newly differentiated guide, how could she possibly escape from the hands of a sentinel.
The sentry reached out his hand, grabbed her by her hair, swung his arm and slapped the six or seven-year-old girl to the ground.
"How dare you bite me, little bastard? I sent you to enjoy yourself, but you still don't know what's good for you. Is the White Tower a place where you can go whenever you want or not? If you run away, not only you and your grandfather, but also the rest of us will suffer."
He raised his foot and kicked the little body curled up on the ground.
His foot was caught by another military boot, which tripped and stepped on him neatly, and the sound of bones breaking filled the air.
The sentry screamed with his teeth bared.
Several sentries who were watching the excitement by the car jumped up and angrily surrounded Ni Ji who was coming down from the upstairs.
Ni Ji was wearing boots and military pants, and only a black vest soaked with sweat, and holding an inconspicuous dagger in his hand.
He was tall and thin, without any identification armband.
But someone soon recognized him.
"Ni Ji. He used to work in our Public Security Department, and now he has been promoted to the Royal Guard." The man whispered to his companions, "He is very strong and not easy to mess with."
The title of the Royal Guard made several low-ranking sentinels in the Public Security Department feel a little taboo. The ruthless skill of the man who dropped from the sky and cut off people's hands and feet without saying a word made them feel that the man in front of them was not easy to mess with.
Ni Ji pulled the little girl up from the ground.
The girl who delivered the coal briquettes had half of her face swollen, but she didn't cry. She stood behind Ni Ji with tears in her eyes and biting her lips.
"Give her some time and let her go home to say goodbye," said Ni Ji.
"You are a member of the guard team, why do you care about the affairs of our public security department?" A sentry wanted to complain, but was immediately stopped by the people around him. The sentries were very sensitive and could sense the gap between the opponent's strength and their own from the aura and pressure.
"Captain Ni." The sentry who first recognized Ni Ji stepped forward. "It's not that I don't give you face. It's just that this girl is very cunning. Although she is young, she not only dared to replace the blood sampled for inspection, but also ran away once. We were afraid that she would run away."
The little girl lowered her head and whispered, "I won't run away. I'll go back to see grandpa."
At this age, she already knows that crying and acting like a spoiled brat are useless, and knows how to judge the situation and not cause trouble. She is so smart that it makes people feel distressed.
"What if she runs away? Will you be responsible?" the sentry with a broken leg shouted with a grin.
"What does it have to do with me if he runs away? Are you so incompetent that you can't even take care of such a young child?" Ni Ji's eyes were as cold as a glacier, arrogant and unreasonable.
In this world, the most feared thing is the powerful and unreasonable people. You can't beat them, and there's no place to reason with them.
The sentries had to suppress their temper and send the girl home.
Ni Ji stood on the roof, looking at the alley below.
The alley was damp and cold, with no sunlight coming in. Huge piles of garbage formed a mountain, and flies and cockroaches were everywhere.
The little girl with thin arms and legs was walking alone in the damp and dim alley. Not far behind her, several sentries were guarding the entrance of the alley, their long shadows dragging on the street like monsters.
The girl standing next to the garbage dump raised her head and secretly glanced at Ni Ji on the roof.
That look triggered Ni Ji's memories.
He remembered that many years ago, on a snowy winter day, when he was young, he had stood on a roof like this and saw the young guide sitting next to the garbage dump.
At that time, many sentinels were mobilized to search for the guide who escaped from the White Tower, but only I found her.
At that time, he still couldn't understand why the guides who lived in the White Tower, who had no worries about food and clothing, lived a rich life and were the treasures of the empire, would want to escape? This caused them to rush around in the ice and snow.
But now I understand.
They are just prisoners, but they are imprisoned in a more gorgeous cage under false pretenses.
The little girl delivering coal briquettes arrived at her home. The house was narrow, with a tattered door lintel, but it was her home. It was the small world where she and her only relative depended on each other.
There was no light in the room, and the corners were filled with collected waste.
A tattered TV that was probably picked up from a scrapyard was on. The palm-sized screen was flashing with a flickering white light, and it was playing a scene of a royal princess meeting with the new students of the Guidance Academy.
The princess, who symbolizes the royal family, was wearing a jeweled dress and standing with the little guides in exquisite gowns, with cheerful and noisy music playing in the background.
Opposite the TV was a rusty iron bunk bed. The pale light from the screen could not illuminate this place. One could only vaguely see a hunched figure curled up on the dark lower bunk, motionless.
"Grandpa?" The girl called softly, with a hint of grievance in her cautious voice, "I'm back."
Ni Ji on the roof suddenly frowned.
Something is wrong.
It's too quiet.
The sentinel's powerful perception spreads.
The little room was so quiet.
There was no other sound except the noise from the TV.
There is no heartbeat or breathing, no breath of a living person.
Ni Ji's heart sank. Soon, he heard a small cry in the dark room.
It wasn't the kind of crying that sounded loud, but rather like a kitten, holding its breath in its chest and lungs, sobbing softly and breathlessly.
He was just a six-year-old child. He lived tenaciously and struggled hard, but he still lost his only relative.
During all these years at the sentry post, Ni Ji had witnessed countless human tragedies.
But no matter how many times you experience this kind of thing, you can never get used to it.
The sentries who followed knocked on the broken door and said, "Don't cry, since the person is gone, there is no need to waste time. Come with us to the White Tower to enjoy life."
They even wrinkled their noses and said, "What a stinky smell. What a smell."
The next moment, a huge, shrill scream rang out.
It was a sharp cry in silence, without any real sound, spreading out from the hut like a shock wave. All the sentries present, including Ni Ji on the roof, felt a strong stabbing pain in their heads.
A raw, uncontrollable, psychic attack.
Several low-ranking sentries covered their heads and wailed.
Ni Ji jumped down from a high place and saw a big bird with white flames burning all over its body, flying out of the house with a long tail.
Its newborn appearance had not yet been finalized, and its features were unclear. It flew in the air with trembling wings, pale flames burning all over its body. It raised its neck and wailed towards the sky, and its blurry figure disintegrated and disappeared.
It is the child's immature spirit.
Several sentries from the Sheriff's Office staggered to their feet, brought the unconscious little guide out of the house, and stuffed him into the car.
"This is the first time I've seen such a fierce guide."
"Aren't the guides in the White Tower very gentle people?"
"I'm so unlucky. This is the first time I've encountered such a powerful guy. My head hurts so much."
The sentries in the security office drove away cursing.
Ni Ji stood in the dim alley, clenched his fists, and watched the car that had received the guide drive towards the distant White Pagoda with exhaust rising.
All guides in the empire must belong to the White Tower and be registered. No one is allowed to hide them or conceal them.
Except for nobles, no one can leave the White Tower before reaching adulthood.
This was something Ni Ji was powerless and had no choice.
The car was driving so fast that it disappeared from sight in the blink of an eye.
Ni Ji turned around and entered the dim and narrow house.
The old man's cold body lay on the small iron bed, his back bent, with strips of curled tape stuck to his fingers that had fallen on the edge of the bed.
The tattered TV in front of the bed was still playing some programs.
The pale light from the TV screen flickered on the old man's dead face.
Ni Ji looked at that face.
Having been on the battlefield for so many years, he has seen countless deaths.
Whether a person died of illness or an accident, nothing could escape the sentinel's keen eyes.
The announcer's sweet and moving voice echoed in the dim hut. "Guides are the companions of sentinels and the treasures of the empire. Let us take care of these gentle and beautiful guides like we take care of flowers."
Ni Ji's face darkened and his brows were deeply furrowed.
(End of this chapter)