Chapter 101: A Guardian at the Door, Who Could It Be?
"Look, Major General Qi is heading over..."
"Who’s he going to see?"
"Looks like... Yun Sheng?"
"Aren’t there rumors that Major General Qi likes Lin Yueyao? What’s he doing looking for Yun Sheng now?"
The hushed whispers were like a stone tossed into a lake, the ripples spreading rapidly.
Countless gazes—curious, probing, envious, and jealous—all focused squarely on Yun Sheng.
Li Wen, standing beside Yun Sheng, froze for a moment. Her eyes darted back and forth between the approaching Qi Yao and Yun Sheng, her face a mask of shock and juicy gossip.
Yun Sheng stiffened, alarm bells ringing in her mind.
’What is Qi Yao trying to do, in front of everyone?’
Qi Yao stopped about two paces in front of Yun Sheng. He looked down at her slightly, a gentle and pleasant smile on his face.
"Miss Yun, have you collected all your gear? If you’re missing anything, you can let me know. Aunt Su and Yue Yao knew I was leading this mission, so they both specifically asked me to make sure I look after you.
The field environment is complex, and you’ve only recently arrived at the Tower. If you run into any problems or difficulties, you can contact me through your terminal at any time."
For a dignified Major General, the lead guide for this field exercise, to so openly express "special care" for a particular trainee in front of everyone was tantamount to holding Yun Sheng’s feet to the fire.
Yun Sheng sneered inwardly, but she didn’t dare let a trace of it show on her face.
With all eyes on her, she couldn’t be rude, nor could she show any resistance. That would only make the situation worse.
She raised her head to meet Qi Yao’s gaze, her expression a mixture of gratitude for his concern and a hint of being overwhelmed by the favor.
"Thank you for your concern, Major General Qi. I’ve collected everything. My mother is naturally a little overprotective of the daughter she just got back, which is why she took advantage of your acquaintance with Sister Yue Yao to make such a presumptuous request. Please don’t worry about it."
Her attitude was respectful and her tone grateful. No fault could be found, yet she had also drawn a clear line between them.
A flicker of something passed through Qi Yao’s eyes, but the gentle smile on his face didn’t falter, as if he had anticipated her response all along.
He nodded, his tone still mild. "You’re too kind, Miss Yun. Looking after trainees is part of my duty."
After that, he casually added a few general reminders about the field exercise, then turned and calmly walked away.
Once he was gone, the air seemed to flow again, but the gazes directed at Yun Sheng grew even more complex.
"Hmph. Easy for her to say."
"Exactly. Playing innocent after getting an advantage."
"Major General Qi himself offered, and she’s the one putting on airs."
"Who knows if she’s just feigning retreat to advance, putting on an act..."
A few unconcealed scoffs and hushed remarks drifted over from different directions.
Li Wen turned to Yun Sheng, her tone teasing. "Yun Sheng, do you have any idea how many single guides in our Tower have their eyes on a ’prime catch’ like Major General Qi?"
She leaned in close, almost whispering.
"General Bai Ye is the War God in the clouds. Everyone admires him, but they all think it’s hopeless. The distance is just too great. But Major General Qi is different!
He’s powerful, from a good family, handsome, and most importantly, he’s always so gentle and approachable. It feels like if you just try hard enough, you might actually get close to him...
After he showed you so much concern in public just now, I bet there are going to be a lot of people who are secretly sour and jealous of you."
Listening to Li Wen’s half-joking, half-serious words, the knot of tension in Yun Sheng’s chest tightened.
Li Wen was right. Qi Yao showing her concern so openly was far more troublesome than any secret scheming could have been.
She discreetly adjusted the strap of her backpack, her gaze sweeping over the overt and covert glances from those around her, her mind crystal clear.
’This field exercise has been a battlefield from the moment we arrived at the assembly point.’
’And for me, there’s no retreat!’
After the group assignments were randomly announced, Li Wen was assigned to a different sequence by the system. She wasn’t in the same group as Yun Sheng and naturally boarded a different transport vehicle.
Following the instructions on her terminal, Yun Sheng found the vehicle for Group Three.
It was a medium-sized military transport vehicle with a fairly spacious interior. Hard bench seats lined both sides, with room for about a dozen people.
As she stepped onto the vehicle’s running board with her gear bag, the low hum of conversation inside abruptly stopped, as if someone had hit a pause button.
A dozen or so pairs of eyes shot toward her—some curious, some scrutinizing, some sizing her up, and a few that were clearly cold and distant.
Yun Sheng didn’t pause. Her expression calm, she walked inside and scanned the interior.
There were still a few empty spots, but most of the "adjacent seats" were occupied by backpacks or deliberately outstretched legs. All that remained was a window seat in the back corner and an uncomfortable spot up front near the door.
Without much hesitation, she headed straight for the back corner.
The spot was out of the way, but at least it was by a window, offering a relatively private view.
Just as she was passing a middle row of seats, a female trainee with short hair seemed to "accidentally" stretch her foot out, blocking the aisle.
Yun Sheng paused, sidestepped the obstacle without a word, and continued toward the back.
The female trainee pursed her lips, pulled her foot back, and exchanged a knowing glance with her companion before letting out a quiet sneer.
"She’s good at pretending."
The voice wasn’t loud, but it was clear enough in the quiet vehicle.
Yun Sheng acted as if she hadn’t heard. She walked to the back corner, placed her backpack on the floor, and sat down, seemingly oblivious to the subtle atmosphere in the vehicle.
The vehicle started up, its engine letting out a low rumble as it slowly pulled out of the base.
Conversation started up again inside, but it was mostly confined to small cliques of people who already knew each other. No one initiated a conversation with Yun Sheng in her corner; in fact, they deliberately, if subtly, excluded her.
"Did you hear? This time, the random grouping seems to have scattered all the lowest-rated trainees."
"Buffer Zone 10 is no joke. I heard that even after last year’s cleanup, there were still traces of C-level contaminants that slipped through the cracks..."
"What’s there to be afraid of? We have combat Sentinels with us. Besides, if something really happens, the Sentinels will definitely protect the High Level guides first. As for those who drag everyone down..."
"Tsk, speaking of dragging people down, don’t we have someone on this vehicle who got in through connections? Major General Qi himself was just looking out for her."
"Shh, keep it down! Even though her awakening failed and she barely scraped an F-level, her backing is solid."
"It must be nice to have an S-Class guide for a sister!"
Low laughter followed, accompanied by a few glances, some subtle and some not, toward the back of the vehicle.
Yun Sheng leaned against the cold wall of the vehicle as the scenery outside flew backward.
She heard the gossip and felt the isolation perfectly clearly, but her face remained expressionless.
This level of ostracism was within her expectations.
Qi Yao’s public "concern" had acted as a catalyst, magnifying her already awkward situation several times over.
Yun Sheng was mentally prepared, so she didn’t pay it much mind. She simply closed her eyes and focused, sinking part of her consciousness into her spiritual landscape to continue trying to understand and simulate the tutorial Si Jin had left for her.
After practicing this simulation for a while, the screen of the simple personal terminal on her wrist—newly issued just for communication during this field exercise—suddenly lit up with a faint vibration.
It wasn’t a public channel notification.
Yun Sheng opened her eyes and looked down at the screen.
A default, plain white profile picture with no identifying marks had popped up with a short message.
Hello, I am the combat Sentinel assigned to Group Three. According to the group assignments, I will be primarily responsible for security and crisis response in your area during the field exercise. For ease of emergency contact, please add this communication code. Please reply to confirm receipt.
Each group was assigned a combat Sentinel for protection; this had been mentioned in a previous notice.
But why wasn’t this sent as a public channel announcement? Why was it sent to her individually?