Chapter 79: Shared Senses?! So the One She Petted and Hugged Was Si Jin?
Si Jin didn’t answer right away.
He simply lifted his eyes, extremely slowly.
His eyes, their natural sapphire blue hidden by his disguise, now appeared exceptionally deep and dark as they met Yun Sheng’s gaze.
Si Jin’s gaze swept over her face inch by inch, passing over her worried, furrowed brow, her wide, innocent eyes, and her lips, which were slightly parted as if she wanted to ask something...
Finally, it landed on the fingertips she had resting lightly on the puppy’s belly.
The stare was so searing that a chill ran down Yun Sheng’s spine for no reason, and she instinctively wanted to pull her hand back.
"I’m... fine."
Si Jin finally spoke, his voice even hoarser than before, each word seemingly forced from between his teeth.
"Put it down," he commanded, his voice laced with an indescribable severity. "Now."
Startled by his sudden change in tone and the look in his eyes, Yun Sheng almost reflexively placed the puppy in her arms gently back on the floor.
The moment the little guy’s paws touched the ground, it shot back into Si Jin’s body with a WHOOSH and vanished.
Only the two of them were left in the room, standing face to face.
The atmosphere was even more tense and bizarre than it had been before the puppy appeared.
Si Jin took a step forward.
Just one step.
Yet Yun Sheng felt as if an invisible force had seized her by the throat, stifling her breath. She subconsciously took half a step back.
The backs of her calves brushed against the edge of the armchair behind her. There was nowhere left to retreat.
"It seems the soothing was quite effective. So effective that you... forgot what we were actually supposed to be doing."
Si Jin leaned in slightly, closing the distance between them. An aura of aggression, restrained yet growing ever more intense, washed over her.
"Or perhaps, you were actually using this method to... deliberately stall for time? Or maybe, to deliberately provoke me and distract me?"
’Provoke?!’
Yun Sheng’s cheeks instantly burned, but it was more from a sense of bewildered indignation at being wrongly accused.
She understood the surface meaning of the word, but when had she ever provoked him?
’Didn’t I just hug and pet his spiritual body?!’
"I didn’t! How did I provoke you? I didn’t even touch you!"
Si Jin looked at Yun Sheng’s utterly clueless and indignant expression, a flicker of something almost absurd passing through his deep eyes.
He watched her in silence for two seconds, then suddenly let out a short, cold laugh.
"Hah! Don’t tell me you don’t know that a Sentinel’s and guide’s spiritual body shares sensations with their physical body?"
’Sensory sharing?!’
Those two words struck her like a clap of thunder.
She froze completely.
’The original book never mentioned this, and none of the primers on Sentinels and guides she had browsed on the Star Network ever brought it up either!’
’Which meant... everything she had just done to the puppy.’
’Petting its head, nuzzling its nose, rubbing its belly, and even her fingertips accidentally grazing that most sensitive area...’
’Si Jin had felt it all?!’
That realization seared her nerve endings like a red-hot branding iron.
Her cheeks, ears, neck, and every inch of exposed skin instantly flushed crimson.
An overwhelming wave of shame and embarrassment washed over her, threatening to drown her completely.
"I... I..." She opened her mouth, blood rushing to her face as her eyes darted about, completely unable to meet Si Jin’s gaze again. "I really... didn’t know... I’m sorry..."
Yun Sheng’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, filled with obvious panic and embarrassment. All of her earlier self-righteous confidence had vanished.
"Didn’t know?" Si Jin repeated the two words, his tone unreadable. "That’s... a decent excuse."
"I..." Yun Sheng was at a loss for words, unable to defend herself.
Seeing her face so mortified it looked like it might start bleeding, the darkness swirling in Si Jin’s eyes seemed to settle slightly, but the faint sense of pressure he exuded did not dissipate.
After a suffocating silence, Si Jin spoke again.
"Fine, let’s just say you really didn’t know. Now, the soothing is over, and you’re out of excuses. So, can I examine it now? Or do you have other reasons?"
Yun Sheng’s heart clenched.
’It’s happening!’
’The moment of truth is finally here!’
Si Jin clearly hadn’t forgotten his original purpose, and after that little incident, his patience seemed to have run out.
Yun Sheng’s mind raced as she intentionally glanced at the time displayed on her optical computer.
Nearly thirty minutes had passed since Si Jin entered her room.
’She’d been alone in her room with a strange man for so long. How could her mother, Su Wan, be so at ease?’
’Wouldn’t a normal parent find an excuse to knock and check on the situation?’
Yun Sheng had been trying to stall for time, partly to let her spiritual landscape digest things on its own, and partly in the hopes that Su Wan would come knocking.
But now...
’Should she make up an excuse, like "we’ve been in here too long, my family will get suspicious," and ask Si Jin to leave and come back another day?’
But looking at Si Jin’s obviously impatient face, and remembering the mortifying blunder from just now, she didn’t have the courage to make another excuse.
Just as Yun Sheng was caught in a dilemma, a sudden KNOCK KNOCK at the door sounded like a voice from heaven.
She shot her head up and looked toward the closed door, her eyes instantly flashing with irrepressible surprise and relief. Even her tense body relaxed slightly.
’Finally... they’re here!’
’Whoever it is, their timing is perfect!’
A flicker of annoyance at being interrupted flashed through Si Jin’s eyes, an emotion like an undercurrent beneath a sheet of ice, gone in an instant.
He straightened up, increasing the uncomfortably close distance between them, and turned his gaze toward the door, his expression unreadable.
Su Wan’s voice soon came from outside the door.
"Shengsheng, Ah Ye is here with people from the Tower’s investigation team. They’re in the living room downstairs. It’s a routine inquiry about Chen Hao’s disappearance a few days ago, and they need your cooperation. If you and Mr. Lin are about finished talking, please... come down as soon as you can."
’Bai Ye? The Tower’s investigation team?’
Recalling how forcefully Bai Ye had tried to grab her in her dream last night... Yun Sheng felt a chill crawl up her spine.
’This was definitely not a simple "routine inquiry."’
Bai Ye coming to her door personally with the investigation team meant the investigation had officially been escalated, and... the suspicion was most likely now directed squarely at her.
’Did they find some clue?’
She subconsciously looked at Si Jin.
Si Jin’s eyes narrowed slightly, like an alert predator.
But he quickly regained his composure, even giving Yun Sheng a reassuring look.
"Don’t panic. Regarding Chen Hao, they won’t find any direct evidence pointing to you, much less me."
His tone was firm, carrying a steadiness born from weathering countless storms, and it strangely soothed the panic rising in Yun Sheng’s heart.
"So... should we go down first?"
However, when Si Jin heard her eager proposal to "escape," not only did he not nod in agreement, he even let out a low, enigmatic laugh.
He didn’t back away. Instead, he leaned in toward her again.
"Go down? What for? I haven’t... examined your spiritual landscape yet."
Si Jin deliberately emphasized the word "examine," his heavy gaze locked on Yun Sheng’s suddenly rigid face.
"As for the one downstairs... didn’t you say you wanted to see that high-and-mighty War God get even more upset? Letting him cool his heels, giving him a taste of the cold shoulder, wouldn’t that be nice?"