Xia Ye didn’t answer.

The only sound in the room was their breathing.

It was deathly quiet—so quiet, in fact, that it felt as though the space were completely insulated from the outside world, shutting out every trace of ambient noise. His breathing mingled with Chi Zhou’s, both unnervingly clear in the stillness.

A vague, delicate tension seemed to be taking root between them.

Xia Ye disliked the uncertainty of it and abruptly changed the subject. “It’s so quiet. Where are we?”

Chi Zhou chuckled softly, as if he saw right through him, and answered with effortless composure. “The Special Operations Department’s safe house in Longgu Town.”

He patted Xia Ye on the back. “Don’t worry. You’re safe here.”

The mattress slowly regained its shape as Chi Zhou stood up. Xia Ye sensed his movement, then heard him walk across the room. His footsteps were measured and rhythmic, followed by the sound of water being poured into a glass.

Chi Zhou handed him the glass. “Drink some water. You’ve been coughing terribly.”

The glass felt slightly warm to the touch, its contents at the perfect drinking temperature.

The warm water soothed Xia Ye’s parched throat and brought him a little relief.

“Thank you,” he murmured.

“What are you thanking me for?” Chi Zhou replied carelessly. “Were you having a nightmare just now?”

Xia Ye fell silent for a moment, uncertain whether he should tell him.

The dream had been bizarre. The dense fog and the girl who resembled his sister, yet wasn’t quite her, clearly hinted at something deeper.

He knew Chi Zhou was a man of unwavering integrity: the Alliance’s hope, humanity’s savior, and the ruthless Sentinel who showed extraterrestrial organisms no mercy. These were the things that defined Chi Zhou’s life, and Xia Ye had no idea how he would react to what had happened.

Don’t hesitate. Kill it.

Would Chi Zhou still say those words to him?

Xia Ye didn’t know.

“…It wasn’t exactly a nightmare,” he said.

“Is that so?”

Chi Zhou’s tone was casual, but a note of indulgence lay beneath it. He clearly knew Xia Ye wasn’t telling him the whole truth, yet he tactfully changed the subject.

“Can you see now?”

Xia Ye shook his head. “No.”

The lights were on, and Chi Zhou held up five fingers, waving them in front of Xia Ye’s face.

Xia Ye didn’t react. His clear eyes stayed vacant, staring at something distant beyond Chi Zhou.

“You can’t see anything at all?” Chi Zhou’s tone changed. “That doesn’t make sense.”

Xia Ye, on the other hand, had begun to calm down. It wasn’t because he had grown accustomed to the darkness, but because he had a vague feeling that his blindness might have something to do with Xia Zhi.

The dream had raised too many questions. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to find the answers.

After all, if his only remaining family was itself the problem…

Then he was willing to remain in the dark.

—

“Excessive mental power expenditure can temporarily disrupt the body’s organs. In theory, this kind of blindness should recover fairly quickly.” Chi Zhou raised his wrist and checked the time again. “It’s already been thirty-five hours. This isn’t normal.”

His voice was no longer entirely calm. Xia Ye could hear the anxiety beneath it.

A trace of guilt stirred within him.

He had told plenty of harmless lies at the orphanage, but he had never felt this way before. Most of the time, he simply didn’t care what other people thought.

Only now did Xia Ye realise something.

He was making Chi Zhou worry about him.

“I’m fine,” Xia Ye said, forcing himself to speak. “It’s nothing serious.”

Chi Zhou didn’t answer. His sharp gaze remained fixed on Xia Ye, studying him from head to toe.

An awkward silence settled over the room.

Xia Ye could almost feel Chi Zhou’s gaze as something tangible, sweeping carefully over every inch of him. His hair, forehead, lips, shoulders, and wrists—all of him seemed to be under scrutiny.

Without realising it, Xia Ye began to breathe more slowly.

Chi Zhou hadn’t released any mental power. He was simply looking at Xia Ye, observing him as one human being might observe another, yet even that was enough to make Xia Ye nervous.

After a moment, Chi Zhou let out a soft, derisive laugh. “Little liar.”

His voice was so light that it brushed against Xia Ye’s ear like a feather.

Xia Ye was certain he had been seen through.

“Xia Ye, what did I tell you?” Chi Zhou asked, sitting down beside him. “Don’t doubt me.”

Xia Ye felt Chi Zhou take his hand. His dry, warm palm enclosed Xia Ye’s, offering a quiet kind of reassurance.

“I’m your teammate,” Chi Zhou said. “I’m willing to entrust my life to you. I hope you understand that.”

Xia Ye murmured a quiet “En.”

“Although the Alliance hasn’t officially recognised our arrangement… and it’s not quite the same as what other people have,” Chi Zhou continued slowly, “I’m your Sentinel. At least for now.”

“You provide a mental shield for me, and I protect your safety. That’s how sentinels and guides work together.”

His mental domain suddenly expanded, enveloping Xia Ye within it.

“Xia Ye, if you need to, you can enter my mental domain.”

Xia Ye’s eyes widened. His fingers tightened involuntarily until his nails dug into his palms.

He understood what this meant.

A sentinel’s mental domain was the most important part of them, and also the most vulnerable.

Xia Ye lowered his voice. “Won’t you regret it?”

“No.” Chi Zhou’s answer was unwavering. “If you need to, I have no problem with it.”

Xia Ye’s breathing grew heavier.

As a Dark Guide, he could enter a sentinel’s mental domain more easily than an ordinary guide could.

Chi Zhou’s domain lay open before him without the slightest obstruction. If Xia Ye wished, he could cross its boundaries and gain absolute control over Chi Zhou.

For Chi Zhou, this was the ultimate demonstration of sincerity: complete, unconditional trust, with nothing held back.

“Why?” Xia Ye asked. “We aren’t even that close.”

Chi Zhou seemed to chuckle, though Xia Ye couldn’t be certain. “Xia Ye, has anyone ever told you that you’re like a cat?”

Xia Ye said nothing. He wished he could see Chi Zhou’s expression at that moment, but he couldn’t.

“I’m not as fragile as you think. Letting you into my domain doesn’t mean all that much.” Chi Zhou sounded perfectly at ease. “I just want you to understand that there’s someone in this world you can trust. You don’t have to feel burdened by it.”

Xia Ye gave a soft acknowledgement.

“Really, you don’t want to try?” Chi Zhou asked with a laugh. “Being my guide should be pretty interesting.”

Something that had once seemed indestructible was beginning to melt.

Chi Zhou’s trust was sincere and burning, like a flame he found almost impossible to resist.

Now Xia Ye understood why so many people regarded Chi Zhou as their faith.

Compared with the idealised figure in the Alliance’s propaganda films, the real Chi Zhou seemed even more like an incarnation of a god.

But Xia Ye didn’t want to lose himself in that feeling.

He shook his head.

“I don’t want to.”

—

Xia Ye turned his head away and finally spoke about his dream. “I really did have a nightmare.”

Hearing that, Chi Zhou’s expression grew more serious.

“You saw thick fog in your dream, with countless fireballs falling from the sky?” he asked to confirm.

“Yes.” Xia Ye recalled every detail carefully. “There were lots of unfinished buildings along both sides of the road. The place felt familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I had seen it before.”

He described the buildings to Chi Zhou. The latter remained silent for a long time.

Eventually, Chi Zhou spoke. “Let me tell you what that place was.”

“What place?” Xia Ye asked.

“During the District Twelve contamination incident, there was a stretch of fog just like that in the core contamination zone.”

Chi Zhou’s explanation was brief and to the point.

“Nothing grew in the core contamination zone. All the plants had withered, and whenever the fog rolled in, the animals would desperately flee, only to be swallowed by it anyway. It was a fog that devoured everything.”

“I once encountered someone who had escaped from it. Most of the skin on his face had melted away, exposing the bone in places. He said that fog ate people.”

Chi Zhou’s voice was faint, as though it came from somewhere far away.

He had to speak about the place this way to keep himself calm enough to tell Xia Ye what had happened there.

“The Colonel and I led a team into the fog. That’s where I first encountered the Leader.”

Xia Ye unconsciously bit his lower lip, a familiar habit whenever he was nervous.

“What happened next?” he asked softly.

“Back then, the Leader was still a little ball of fluff, barely capable of fighting. The Colonel captured it fairly quickly,” Chi Zhou explained. “But it didn’t help. That fog was a cradle the [Queen] had created for the Leader. Once the Leader was captured, the fog went berserk.”

“The Colonel’s entire squad was wiped out. I dragged him into Prometheus’s c0ckpit, and that was the only reason he survived.”

Each word seemed wrenched from Chi Zhou’s very bones, carrying a bone-deep chill.

“The Colonel’s guide died in the battle, and he nearly went berserk himself. You know what happened afterwards. The Colonel withdrew from the world and turned to alcohol for company.”

Xia Ye’s fingernails dug deep into his palms. The sharp pain brought him an unprecedented clarity of mind.

In his dream, Xia Zhi had walked into the fog of her own accord. He already knew what that meant.

His younger sister might not be entirely his sister anymore.

“Chi Zhou.” Xia Ye spoke each word deliberately. “Can I really trust you?”

Chi Zhou’s mental domain unfolded before him, and through that action, he gave Xia Ye his answer.

Faced with Chi Zhou’s complete candour, Xia Ye finally decided to take a desperate risk.

“After killing the Leader, I received some of its memories.”

He spoke slowly.

“Those memories were related to its planet. They were all…bizarre. I can’t even describe what I saw.”

“Mm.” Chi Zhou’s voice remained calm. “And then?”

“At first, I thought it was some kind of mental attack. But the memories never disappeared. Then I dreamed of Xia Zhi walking into that fog.”

Bewilderment tinged Xia Ye’s voice. “I don’t know what’s happening. I think…those might be Xia Zhi’s memories. I remember sneaking her out of the orphanage once to buy candy on the commercial street. The Leader couldn’t possibly know such specific details.”

“I remember what you told me about the District Twelve contamination incident. Your sister lost her eyesight during the contamination, didn’t she?” Chi Zhou asked.

Xia Ye noticed something peculiar about his choice of words. He had said she lost her eyesight, rather than simply saying she had gone blind. Xia Ye suspected Chi Zhou knew something he hadn’t revealed.

He nodded. “Yes. She was seriously injured, but she recovered overnight. Even the doctors called it a miracle.”

Chi Zhou’s voice softened. “That sort of thing really is rare.”

“I always thought my memories were completely accurate, but I’ve realised I was wrong.”

Xia Ye lowered his head. When Chi Zhou looked at him, he noticed that Xia Ye’s fingers were trembling slightly.

“I remember Xia Zhi only coming up to my shoulder. But in that dream, she was almost as tall as me,” Xia Ye said. “And I’ve remembered something else.”

The words were difficult to say. It took nearly all his strength to reveal a secret he’d buried for years.

“Xia Zhi and I are twins.”

Chi Zhou reached out and took his fingertips in his hand.

“Chi Zhou.”

Xia Ye called his name, his sightless eyes fixed on him. Those usually cool, indifferent eyes were now filled with fear.

“Tell me. Is my younger sister a monster?”

“Am I…a monster?”

The Author’s Note:

I really want to drop a hint, but I’m also so afraid of spoiling you all! _(:з」∠)_
Anyway, don’t worry too much! This is just a sweet little romance fluff, really! I promise!

 

I’ll do my best to write a little more! But don’t get your hopes up too much (…). My cervical spine problems have flared up again recently, and my neck hurts so much that I can’t write for very long each day. _(:з」∠)_

Support the author by buying the author’s works and/or throw some bombs~
(It’s very easy to buy for jjwxc because they support Paypal payments~)

We have a discord server for those who want to receive an update ping and various announcements~
Join here ^^

And please buy me some kofi if you like the translation~

Also leave some ratings if you like this series here~