FI CH 28

Chapter 28: The Sentinel-Guide Prohibition (I)

By the time they left the training grounds, Bai Hua had already calmed down. Maybe he hadn’t realized it in the heat of the moment, but once he came back to his senses, he still couldn’t believe what he and Kurosawa had just done.

He never imagined that the secret he had hidden for over ten years would end up being exposed in such a way—and even more shocking, it was so easily accepted by someone else.

Most importantly, Kurosawa’s attitude—and that kiss—had clearly gone beyond the usual soothing methods between a guide and a sentinel.

Bai Hua was certain Kurosawa had hinted at and even seduced him, but he hadn’t rejected it. When he heard those words, he couldn’t deny… he was truly moved.

But Bai Hua hadn’t let Kurosawa’s actions completely cloud his judgment. He had always understood his situation—understood the universal hostility toward Dark Sentinels. He had never complained about the idea of spending his entire life alone.

It was only now he realized—he still longed for someone else’s acceptance and understanding.

Perhaps Kurosawa was affected by emotional resonance, or maybe it was just a moment of impulse—but even so, it was enough. Bai Hua already felt comforted.

Along the way, the two of them stayed silent. Perhaps they both needed time to sort out their thoughts.

It wasn’t until Kurosawa turned toward the other fork in the road that Bai Hua looked at him in confusion.

“You need to go to the hospital,” Kurosawa said firmly, leaving no room for refusal. “Your dosage… it’s too much.”

Bai Hua already knew this matter couldn’t be hidden much longer, but hearing Kurosawa say it like that still warmed his heart.

Kurosawa only glanced at him once, but it was like he already saw through his thoughts. He added, “Bai Hua, no matter what you’re thinking right now, I’m serious. I’m not the kind of person who gambles with my future. Since I’ve chosen you, I’m not letting go that easily.”

Bai Hua wasn’t stupid. Thinking back on everything, it wasn’t hard to realize—this whole training session Kurosawa had arranged had a hint of testing him. But it was also true that Kurosawa genuinely wanted to earn his trust. He just didn’t know how long Kurosawa had been planning this.

Bai Hua had always found Kurosawa hard to read—and this was precisely why. Every step Kurosawa took, he would make clear what he was going to do next, yet his mind always seemed ten steps ahead. His thoughts ran deep, unfathomably so.

Maybe Bai Hua’s wariness of Kurosawa wasn’t just because he was afraid of being exposed. Perhaps, part of it came from being unsettled by this very trait. But no matter how cautious he had been, things still ended up like this.

“You really know what you’re doing?” he asked.

“Of course,” Kurosawa smiled. “I’m not the type to kiss just anyone. Besides, you kissed me back.”

Realizing the conversation was veering off again, Bai Hua had no choice but to shift the topic.

“Do you always know what you want?”

“Yes. I just follow my instincts—there’s no need for confusion,” Kurosawa said. “I know what you’re worried about, and I’m not asking you to decide anything right now. From this point on, you can see for yourself whether I mean what I say.”

That sounded exactly like Kurosawa—never one to avoid problems, always facing them head-on.

Bai Hua didn’t respond. He knew Kurosawa didn’t need him to. A man with that much confidence had no fear of rejection.

When Bai Hua checked his pheromone levels again, the readings had already reached a dangerous threshold. This meant that within the next week—or even months—there was a high chance of triggering heat.

If it were a standard sentinel-guide pair, suppressant pheromones might be enough to keep it in check. But with their compatibility rate being so high, the suppressants were beginning to lose effectiveness. In such cases, the hospital was required to report the pair to the Sentinel-Guide Association and impose a mission ban until the pair bonded.

Bai Hua had already guessed this might happen, but even so, receiving confirmation still left him feeling anxious. His relationship with Kurosawa was currently hanging in an awkward limbo—and this kind of news only cornered him further, giving him no way out.

Kurosawa, however, didn’t make a big deal out of it. He calmly handled the required paperwork and then asked as if it were a casual matter, “Wanna go check on the other four?”

Hearing that, Bai Hua let out a subtle sigh of relief and nodded. The problems he couldn’t fix, he didn’t want to think about for now anyway.

Since the group had separated in the rainforest, the two of them hadn’t seen their four teammates again. Though they had been busy, the main reason for the delay was that while the others hadn’t sustained serious injuries, their wounds had shown no signs of healing. Everyone had thought it wasn’t a big deal and didn’t pay much attention at first.

That was until recently, when the four began showing symptoms of fever. They were then urgently recalled by the hospital for observation.

Bai Hua and Kurosawa had only learned of this from the guild in recent days, being preoccupied with training. So since they were already at the hospital, they decided to check in on their teammates.

But the situation was more serious than they expected—three of the four had been placed in isolation and couldn’t receive visitors. Only An Shi had recovered from the fever, his wounds slowly beginning to heal, ruling out signs of bacterial infection for now.

Bai Hua had known An Shi for a long time. He had once seen him recover step by step from near-fatal injuries. So the moment he heard about this situation, he immediately knew something wasn’t right.

Ability users possessed remarkable healing capabilities and stronger immunity than ordinary people. A simple bacterial infection would never take this long to heal…

Bai Hua recalled that when they were captured by Lin Yuan in the rainforest, he seemed to overhear them mention something about a plan. And when he remembered how they were lured there using Jing He, a terrible sense of foreboding crept in.

He was certain the three of them had gone into the rainforest with a purpose. And if this was what they were truly after…

Kurosawa seemed to have reached the same conclusion.

The two exchanged a glance, then quickened their pace toward An Shi’s hospital room.

An Shi was lying in bed with an IV drip attached to his wrist. When he saw the two enter, he said, “You finally came.”

Bai Hua immediately asked, “Do you know what’s going on?”

An Shi replied, “I don’t know the exact cause. But I’m certain this is a virus targeting ability users.”

Kurosawa, sensing that he had more to say, took a seat alongside Bai Hua on the chairs beside the bed.

An Shi continued, “It started with wounds that wouldn’t fully heal. A few days later, our emotions began to spiral out of control—there were signs of slipping into berserk mode, and even guide pheromones didn’t help. Then the fever began… These symptoms should sound familiar to you.”

That sentence struck a chord in Bai Hua’s memory. Right before they’d departed for the rainforest, a sentinel had suddenly gone berserk and attacked someone. So it hadn’t just been a random incident…

Kurosawa picked up on his thoughts and asked, “What about the others?”

An Shi answered, “The other two are stable now, but I heard Wei Yang is stuck in a chaotic state.”

Kurosawa nodded slowly.

Then An Shi looked at Kurosawa again and said, “But you can’t go. You won’t be able to help. We don’t yet know whether this virus is contagious—you can’t take that risk.”

An Shi’s judgment was spot-on. Until the situation was confirmed, no one should recklessly put themselves in danger.

Bai Hua had always known An Shi to be a calm and level-headed person. Still, hearing him say this, he couldn’t help but feel a little surprised. If he remembered correctly, back in the rainforest, Wei Yang had clearly shown feelings for An Shi—everyone had seen it. Though Bai Hua didn’t know whether they had continued to stay in touch after the rainforest mission, seeing An Shi now…

An Shi’s demeanor didn’t seem affected in the slightest.

Since he was still under observation, the two of them couldn’t stay in the room for too long. After exchanging the important information, they were quickly ushered out.

On the way back, Bai Hua was still deep in thought about the situation.

Kurosawa noticed his absentmindedness and asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Bai Hua now knew there was no point hiding his thoughts from Kurosawa, so he simply said, “You know about Wei Yang and…?”

“I do,” Kurosawa seemed to already know what Bai Hua was getting at. “Why bring it up now?”

“Just curious.”

“Whether things are going well between them or not, it’s their business,” Kurosawa said. “But you don’t have time to worry about other people. What you should be most concerned about right now—is yourself.”

Just moments ago, the Sentinel-Guide Association had officially issued the prohibition.

They were now banned from taking on any missions.

(To be continued…)