Chapter 125: Heart in Turmoil
The kisses trailed from the corners of her lips to her jaw, then journeyed down, lingering once more on her fair, slender neck.
Bai Ye seemed to be doing it on purpose. Each kiss was slower and heavier than the last, as if he were measuring every inch of her skin with his lips.
Yun Sheng’s breathing grew more and more chaotic.
The cracks in Bai Ye’s spiritual landscape were healing at a visible rate, the rampaging power calming inch by inch under her soothing touch.
But at the same time, his spiritual power wound tighter and tighter around her, as if intending to trap her forever in this tangled web.
The hands roaming over her body also grew more and more restless.
His fingertips grazed the side of her waist, sending shivers through her.
They traced her spine, and her body tensed involuntarily.
They traced...
"Ngh..."
She couldn’t help but let out a muffled grunt.
Bai Ye’s movements paused for a moment, then he let out a low chuckle. The sound vibrated against her ear, so hot it made her scalp tingle.
"Here?"
he asked, his fingertips gently pressing the spot he had just traced.
Yun Sheng bit her lip, saying nothing.
So he pressed again.
"...You!"
She finally couldn’t help but protest, but her voice was impossibly soft.
He didn’t tease her anymore.
He just held her tighter and kissed her deeper.
The moment his rampaging spiritual power finally calmed completely, Bai Ye let out a long breath, as if he had at last been freed from a long ordeal.
In his spiritual landscape, the last major crack slowly closed. The once-frenzied power, now like a tamed tide, quietly circled her spiritual power.
’Finally, he’s more or less soothed...’
Before Yun Sheng could even breathe a sigh of relief, she realized her clothes had been disheveled and pushed aside.
The red marks trailed from her neck down to her collarbone, and from her collarbone further down, disappearing beneath the fabric.
Her entire body felt like a marked territory, every inch of her skin burning.
Her face instantly started to burn.
She shoved him away!
Bai Ye stumbled back a step from her push, his eyes still holding a lingering satisfaction and astonishment.
But Yun Sheng didn’t dare to look at him.
She fumbled to button her clothes, one by one, her fingertips trembling. Her cheeks were hot enough to fry an egg.
She didn’t say a single word.
She brutally ripped her consciousness out of the dream space!
The next second, Yun Sheng’s eyes flew open.
In the dim light of the tent, she gasped for air, her chest heaving violently, her forehead covered in fine beads of sweat.
Her heart was pounding in her chest, threatening to leap out of her throat.
Her cheeks were terrifyingly hot.
The simple cot beneath her shook violently from the force of her sitting up, the metal frame letting out a harsh SCREECH that was exceptionally clear in the quiet tent.
In the communal sleeping area where ten people were crammed together, when one bed moved, the ones next to it trembled as well.
"Mmm... what’s wrong?"
someone next to her mumbled drowsily.
"Who is it? Not sleeping in the middle of the night..."
The sound of rustling and turning came from a few other cots.
Yun Sheng froze, not daring to move again.
She held her breath and waited a while. Only when the mumbling gradually subsided and the sounds of shifting stopped did she slowly exhale.
’I can’t get back to sleep.’
She leaned against the head of the bed, closed her eyes, and tried to sink her consciousness into her spiritual landscape.
Deep within her spiritual landscape, the strands of spiritual power belonging to Bai Ye seemed to sense her touch and immediately coiled around her of their own accord.
Gentle, clinging, nuzzling softly against her, as if seeking affection or vying for favor.
With just a thought from her, that power would flow obediently, with incredible smoothness.
Yun Sheng tried to coalesce her spiritual power into thin needles. Almost instantly, three thin needles formed in her consciousness, more than twice as fast as before and far more solid and sharp.
The power Bai Ye had fed back to her was now truly hers to command.
Meanwhile, the spiritual power belonging to Si Jin was unusually quiet, lying dormant in the depths of her spiritual landscape like a slumbering beast, showing no signs of activity for the time being.
Her own spiritual power... had also become much more solid.
Her spiritual power, once as fine as silk threads, now felt nourished, becoming more resilient and full. With a slight stir, she could sense things much farther away.
Yun Sheng felt all this in a daze, images uncontrollably surfacing in her mind.
The kisses, the touches, the low, husky voice by her ear.
Bai Ye’s spiritual power seemed to sense her emotions, coiling around her and nuzzling her again with a sort of indescribable joy.
Yun Sheng’s face instantly started to burn again.
Her heart began to race once more, so fast it felt like it would burst from her chest.
She quickly raised a hand to cover her face. The skin her palm touched was terrifyingly hot.
She took a deep breath.
And another.
Only when the restless feeling was gradually pushed back down into the depths of her heart did she slowly lower her hand and open her eyes.
The tent was still dim.
In the distance, she could faintly hear the footsteps of a Sentinel on patrol.
She lay back down, staring at the ceiling of the tent as countless thoughts flashed through her mind.
’The deeper my entanglement with them in the dream space, the more I gain.’
’It’s just, Bai Ye...’
She bit her lip, not daring to think about it any further.
...
The next morning, the sound of a whistle calling for assembly came from outside the tent.
Yun Sheng opened her eyes, realizing she had actually dozed off for a while.
On the cots beside her, Cheng Nian and Li Wen were already packing their things.
"Yun Sheng, you’re awake?" Cheng Nian looked back at her. "Get up, quick. They said we have to assemble. There’s a new schedule for today."
Yun Sheng grunted in acknowledgment and sat up.
Morning light streamed in through the gaps in the tent, falling on her and carrying the uniquely crisp air of the wilderness.
Yun Sheng rubbed her eyes, got up, tidied herself up a bit, and followed Cheng Nian and Li Wen out of the tent.
In the center of the clearing, Qi Yao was already standing there, accompanied by several Sentinel Captains.
He still had that same gentle and composed demeanor. His gaze swept over the crowd, paused on Yun Sheng for less than a second, and then moved on.
"Everyone, quiet down." His voice wasn’t loud, but it reached everyone’s ears clearly. "With last night’s emergency evacuation, you’ve all witnessed the dangers of this area. But field combat training doesn’t stop just because it’s dangerous. On the contrary, the more dangerous it is, the more you need to train."
He paused and signaled for his adjutant to distribute the mission sheets.
"Starting today, you will be divided into squads to carry out reconnaissance missions around the encampment. Each squad will have six members, accompanied by two B-level Sentinels for supervision and protection. Your mission is to survey the terrain of the designated area, mark traces of contaminant activity, and collect usable resources. Your performance will be counted toward your final assessment."
The squad lists were announced shortly after.
Yun Sheng squeezed closer to take a look, and her brow twitched slightly.
Six-person squad: Yun Sheng, Cheng Nian, Li Wen, Zhao Qian, Zhou Ying, He Yi.
Accompanying Sentinels: Guo Kai, Ma Yu.
He Yi was a quiet, taciturn boy. He usually kept a low profile, but it was said his scores in practical combat class were always excellent.
Right now, he was standing at the edge of the crowd, head down, checking his gear, as if he couldn’t care less who was in his squad.
Zhao Qian stared at the list, her expression growing uglier by the second.
Yun Sheng, Cheng Nian, and Li Wen were clearly a clique. Zhou Ying had always been cold and unapproachable, and He Yi was a total introvert.
In this squad, she was actually the one left isolated and helpless!
’If we run into danger, who’s going to look out for me?’
The more Zhao Qian thought about it, the angrier she got, and she couldn’t stop herself from speaking up: "How were these squads assigned? I request a transfer!"