Chapter 107: An Inexplicable Sense of Familiarity, Where Had She Seen Him?
White Tiger’s gaze lingered on Yun Sheng’s face for two seconds.
It was a very short time.
So short that no one else noticed. So short that Yun Sheng almost thought she’d imagined it.
The next second, a screeching cry came from the direction of the hillside again.
The pollutants that had retreated hadn’t given up. New dark figures surged from the edge of the gray mist.
Split Ridge Lizards, corrosive worms, Bone-piercing Vines—as if driven by some unseen will, they regrouped and pressed forward once more.
White Tiger quickly raised his hand.
Spiritual Blades shot out like a torrential downpour. The bodies of pollutants fell one after another, hitting the ground with dull thuds.
His powerful Spiritual Force Field crushed any pollutant that tried to get close, leaving only corpses in its wake.
And all this took less than a minute!
The area before them fell completely silent.
Only the wind remained, sweeping across the chaotic scene and kicking up wisps of burnt dust.
"COUGH... COUGH COUGH..." The guide propped himself up from the ground, coughing up a mouthful of blood. He stared blankly at the dark gray figure’s back. "Are... Are you a combat Sentinel from the Tower? What unit... Where are the other reinforcements?"
White Tiger didn’t turn around. His voice, muffled by his mask, was low and steady. "White Tiger, combat Sentinel of the Third Squad. The other reinforcements are on their way. I arrived first."
The guide opened his mouth, as if to ask another question, but a pained grunt from his assistant guide broke his train of thought.
He quickly turned and knelt, beginning to examine the assistant’s arm, which had been burned by corrosive slime.
"We have an injured person in need of urgent care! A medkit! Does anyone have a medkit?"
"Over here! I have hemostatic agent..."
"Someone give me a hand! Let’s get him behind the rocks, out of the wind!"
The students scrambled over to help.
Some rummaged for medkits, some tore open sterile gauze, and others helped their fallen companions to their feet...
"Everyone, fall back behind the rocks! There’s cover there! Don’t stay exposed in the open!"
Cheng Nian took the initiative to direct them. Her voice still trembled, but she had regained some of her composure.
In twos and threes, the crowd began moving toward the cluster of rocks where Yun Sheng was hiding.
Yun Sheng didn’t move.
She leaned against the edge of the rock wall, watching the dark gray figure.
He took no part in the rescue, nor did he speak to anyone. He simply stood silently at the periphery of the crowd, like a newly sheathed sword, his killing intent not yet fully withdrawn.
Then, he started walking toward her.
Slowly.
His steps were steady, with no superfluous movements.
Soon, he stopped three paces in front of Yun Sheng.
Yun Sheng’s eyelashes trembled slightly. She thanked him softly, "Thank you for arriving in time."
White Tiger didn’t answer immediately.
The mask hid all his expressions, revealing only a pair of deep, cold eyes.
A few seconds later, he spoke. "Five minutes. I wasn’t late."
His voice was somewhat muffled by the mask, yet it carried an almost stubborn emphasis.
Yun Sheng was taken aback.
She lowered her gaze, the corners of her lips twitching almost imperceptibly, as if she was about to smile.
"...Mm."
Yun Sheng stared at the insignia on White Tiger’s chest for two seconds, then glanced at the mask that covered most of his face.
He had a tall, slender build. His voice, muffled by the mask, was cold, steady, and economical with words.
She was certain she had never seen this person before.
But when he gazed at her silently from three paces away, a strange sense of familiarity washed over her without warning.
’Could I have seen him at the Tower before?’
Yun Sheng tried her best to remember, but nothing came to mind.
The top-tier Sentinels she had met were few and far between, and none of them matched the figure before her.
"...You’re injured."
White Tiger’s voice broke her out of her daze.
Yun Sheng looked down, following his gaze to her right hand.
At some point, a long, thin cut had been sliced open by sharp stones in the webbing between her thumb and index finger. The blood had already congealed into a dark red scab.
"It’s a small wound. Nothing serious."
She subconsciously hid her hand behind her back.
White Tiger didn’t move.
But the line of his jaw, visible at the edge of his mask, tensed for a moment, as if in restraint, or perhaps as if he were choosing his words.
"...Clean it up," he said, his voice a few notches lower.
Yun Sheng looked up at him.
His eyes were still as calm as a deep pool, betraying no emotion. Yet, in those overly plain words, she seemed to hear a hint of concern he was trying desperately to hide.
"Yun Sheng, your hand is hurt? Let me see, quick."
Cheng Nian came jogging over with a medkit. Without another word, she grabbed Yun Sheng’s hand and bent down to look for a disinfectant swab.
"Don’t move, don’t move. I’ll disinfect it for you. You have to treat a cut like this right away. It’ll be a real problem if it gets infected!"
She chattered on, but her movements were gentle.
Yun Sheng let her fuss, but her gaze traveled over Cheng Nian’s shoulder to the gray figure who had already retreated to the edge of the rocks.
Watching his back, that indescribable sense of familiarity was like a drop of ink falling into still water, spreading out in soft, lingering wisps that refused to fade.
’White Tiger...’
’Who is he, really?’
’Why did he single me out?’
Before she could find an answer, the low roar of engines suddenly echoed from the distance.
Two military transport vehicles burst through the thin gray mist, kicking up dust as they drove into the chaotic, messy clearing.
The cargo bay of the first vehicle was empty, its side door wide open. It was here to pick them up.
The second was filled with fully-armed combat Sentinels. Several waves of spiritual power, like an undercurrent, instantly washed over the entire area.
"It’s reinforcements! The reinforcements are here!"
"They’re finally here..."
The students’ frayed nerves, stretched to their absolute limit, suddenly slackened. Some slid down the rock face to sit, others let out long sighs of relief, and a few were on the verge of tears.
The guide staggered to his feet and went to meet the Sentinel Captain who had just disembarked. The complicated look on his face was finally replaced by one of pure relief.
But before he had taken two steps, the captain walked straight past him and stopped before the gray figure.
"Sir." The captain’s voice was low, his posture tense, the standard stance of a subordinate reporting to a superior. "We received your coordinates, Sir. The Third Squad’s reinforcements are in position."
’Sir?’
The guide froze, a flash of astonishment on his face.
White Tiger tilted his head slightly, his voice faint. "Pay me no mind. Proceed with your established plan."
"Yes, Sir."
The captain didn’t ask any further questions or introduce him. He just gave a crisp acknowledgment, then turned to coordinate with the guide.
The two men walked quickly toward the transport full of Sentinels, quietly discussing the subsequent defensive deployment and evacuation order.
White Tiger withdrew his gaze and continued to stand silently at the edge of the crowd.
Yun Sheng watched him, her eyes narrowing slightly.
She had heard the Sentinel Captain call White Tiger "Sir," and she had seen the captain’s posture in his presence. That was absolutely not the way one treated an ordinary accompanying Sentinel.
She stared at White Tiger for a few seconds, then suddenly walked straight toward him.
Soon, Yun Sheng came to a stop in front of him. Before she could speak, White Tiger suddenly looked toward the gray mist in the distance, which had not yet fully dispersed.
"A High-Level pollutant is heading this way."
Yun Sheng followed his gaze.
The next second, a red light flashed on the captain’s communicator, and he whipped his head around.
"All units, attention! Southwest direction, abnormal energy fluctuations are intensifying and approaching our position! Everyone board the vehicle immediately! We must rendezvous with the main force now!"
The guide’s face changed, and he also shouted, "Get on! Everyone get on the vehicle, now!"
The students, like a startled flock of birds, stumbled and scrambled toward the empty transport vehicle.
Cheng Nian was pushed forward by the crowd, but she didn’t forget to turn and shout to Yun Sheng.
"Yun Sheng, hurry!"
Yun Sheng called back an acknowledgment, subconsciously glanced at White Tiger, then quickened her pace toward the transport.
She had only taken two steps when she stopped abruptly.
From deep within her spiritual landscape, a sharp, stabbing pain erupted without warning, as if countless ice needles were simultaneously piercing her, driving from the center of her forehead all the way to the back of her skull.
She let out a muffled groan, her face turning deathly pale. Her feet felt as if they were stepping on cotton, too weak to support any weight.
Her body slumped sideways.