Xin Linhua notices something.
The sentinels and guides are afraid of the youth and the institute seems hesitant on assigning him a guide. They believe– they know he’ll kill the guide!
If it were anyone else, they might have insisted on the pairing, but Xin Linhua is the son of a behemoth family, dare they say the favorite son. If he dies, it won’t go down easily.
Forget about his brothers for a minute, his father will make sure the institute gives him a good explanation.
If it were his past life, Xin Linhua would have turned the other way, he doesn’t do team spirit.
He has died once, hating humanity and avoiding the people who might have cared about him all in the name of ’protecting himself’. The one human he trusted ended up plunging a knife into his back, literally and figuratively.
In this new life, he’s not doing that. He has something he didn’t in his past life– a father who loves him and two brothers who are powerful sentinels. He hasn’t met them yet, but the memories are clear as day.
He doesn’t trust them either, he trusts no one, but despite all his wariness, it became his downfall. All that...he’s leaving everything behind. New life, new identity, craziest personality unlock.
So what if the Sentinel assigned to him is crazy? Kill him? Ah! He has faced death and kicked it in the shin once, what’s a little sentinel with a blindfold and delicate features that he can’t deal with!?
"Director, don’t force my hands."
The youth declares, turning away from the crowd.
"Hey..." Xin Linhua raises his head "I don’t know what the fuck happened to you, but it’s adorable to think you can kill me."
Xin Linhua unfolds him arms, long gone is his smile and carefree expression. He seems angry, a bit livid.
He descends from the platform, his posture is straight and determined as he walks towards the youth.
One, two, three, he ascends the stairs, one step after another, passing through rows of seats before stopping short from the youth.
He shoves his hands into his pockets, his eyes fixating on the youth before him.
"Kill me?" His tone is teasing "You? You can barely see, you walk around with that ass hat attitude and blindfold. Yaras?, you have courage, I give you that. I love a challenge and unfortunately for you, I’m accepting this pairing. Kill me if you can."
The place is silent. Dead silent. If a leaf falls, the impact of it colliding with the sand is bound to resonate through the large stadium.
Ever since the youth got here, there has been only one person who could talk to him and that person is director Chen. Even the man sometimes finds it hard to communicate with the youth.
The first person to ever talk to the youth like that is none other than Xin Linhua! No one– not even the dead guides he had killed, the sentinels he had crippled, could talk to him like that. Yet, an F-Rank guide just threatened him! Not just anyone, Xin Linhua, the defect!
"You seem young." Xin Linhua tilts his head "I’m definitely older than you, you can call me Xiong-ge from now on."
This time, the place erupts in an uproar. That’s it! They’ve seen it all now! They’ve really witnessed different wonders of the world in just one afternoon!
First, he fought with someone higher than he, got beat up but he turned the tide by breaking off his engagement.
Then he got paired with the blindfolded youth, one who has a deep and unfathomable hatred for guides and humanity in total.
Now, only did he agree to the pairing, he downright threatened the youth to agree, even asking him to call him Xiong-ge!?
Director Chen watches from his position. He doesn’t seem to have any intentions of breaking off the standstill. If anything, curiosity weaves into his heart.
"You’re getting ahead of yourself." The youth’s cold voice echoes "You’ll end up dead, like the rest of them."
"Woah." Xin Linhua chuckles "You know, only one person has ever threatened to kill me and succeeded. I don’t plan on letting history repeat itself. Besides, curiosity is a dangerous thing. I either end up satisfied or burned. Luckily for me, death is a companion I’ve faced once, gambling is a path every human has to take in life. Wanna guess what I’ll do next?"
"Xin Linhua." Director Chen cuts in "If he–"
"No." Xin Linhua suddenly turns irritated "I want him. I’m a defect, but somehow my weak and non-existing wave lengths match his. In this situation, I’m afraid Yaras? has no say in this matter."
All eyes on him. Yaras?? The hell is that? They haven’t heard of the youth being called such a name before. Did Xin Linhua literally just give the youth a nickname on the spot!?
"Soft, pale, fragile, young, so unfortunate." Xin Linhua turns to youth "It’s already a headache to deal with people, and you have to be weak. But nevertheless, I have to take responsibility for you, don’t I?"
Xin Linhua turns, his back to the quiet youth. He faces the director.
"Director, since my pairing went well, I’ll be retiring to my room."
"Actually..." The director hesitates "It’ll be best if you relocate."
"Uhn?" Xin Linhua blinks "Are you kicking me out?"
"Of course not." The man rubs his temples "Your sentinel is extremely unstable right now, he’s been receiving medical guiding and his body won’t last long. Your wavelength may match his, but I’m not sure how effective your guiding is. You two have to live together."
The stadium goes quiet. Xin Linhua blinks rapidly like he couldn’t process those words.
Move in? Together? With the youth? He literally just bluffed his way out of getting slimed out of existence and the director wants them to live together!? Is he an enemy or something!?
"Well..." Xin Linhua ponders "If that’s what the institution laws say, who am I to disagree? I guess I can move to his place."
Xin Linhua finally turns back to the youth. He leans in, his voice low and soft.
"Yaras?... let’s try not to kill each other, okay? Also, I don’t know what happened between you and the other guides before me, but I won’t cross any lines. Hollow’s honor."
He pulls back, flashes a smile, shoves his hands in his pocket and lets out a soft laugh. He walks out.
"Yaras?. Your Xiong-ge will be with you shortly. Don’t miss me too much."