Guide Her to Nowhere (NPH) - Chapter 9: Please Soothe Me
Chapter 9: Please Soothe Me
Indeed, it was an accident.
Yi Jin had actually intended to “coincidentally” encounter Qu Tang in the elevator today, but upon hearing from Qu Tang that she had resigned to Grandma Li, he thought Qu Tang must have been frightened by him.
So while the elevator was still descending, Yi Jin changed his mind and detoured into the stairwell.
To suppress his urges, he had specifically closed the door to the eighth-floor stairwell, but he didn’t expect Qu Tang to come down the stairs.
All his restraint broke the moment he saw Qu Tang, and without much thought, he made the decision: he wouldn’t let her run away.
He had already let her go, but she was the one who barged in.
“Is it to hide from me? I’m sorry for troubling you.”
Qu Tang was not buying his act. “If it was an accident, can I leave now?”
“Wait.” Yi Jin approached Qu Tang, slightly hesitant. “I’d like to ask you a favor.”
“Sorry, I’m in a hurry.” The Sentinel’s proximity was too oppressive, and Qu Tang shifted her feet, planning to slip past him, but the latter easily blocked her path with his long arm.
Time and again, and again, even Qu Tang’s good temper had its limits.
She looked up at Yi Jin, her gaze openly expressing annoyance and anger. “What do you want, when will you stop?”
Perhaps her recent experiences had been too unpleasant, or maybe it was because this Sentinel, unlike Shi Xi, actually showed her some respect, Qu Tang dropped the long-cultivated facade of weakness and obedience, revealing the claws of a lonely end-of-the-world girl.
Yi Jin’s fingers curled slightly. “I really just want to ask you a favor, with no ill intent.”
“No ill intent?” Qu Tang’s tone was sharp. “No ill intent, you, a Sentinel, trapping me in the corridor? No ill intent, and you’ll still block me from leaving when I’ve clearly refused to help?”
“Because only you can help me, I don’t want to miss this chance, and I can’t miss it.” Yi Jin stepped closer, close enough for Qu Tang to clearly see the unease swirling in his blue eyes. “My spirit beast is about to go out of control.”
Qu Tang was slightly taken aback. She hadn’t expected this Sentinel’s condition to be so dire, as he had seemed relatively stable.
A Sentinel’s spirit beast going out of control was as dangerous as a mutant of the same level, and even if the Sentinel could be soothed, their spirit beast would still suffer irreversible damage.
Yi Jin brought his right hand up to Qu Tang’s face, his palm broad and strong, and it trembled slightly as it made contact.
“I don’t know why, but your presence has a calming effect on me, so I’m asking you…” Yi Jin’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his voice dropping to almost a mere whisper, “Please soothe me.”
The robust Sentinel had Qu Tang trapped between himself and the wall, and she was enveloped in the Sentinel’s aura, exuding an aggressive hormonal scent.
Qu Tang had never used a Guide’s empathic abilities before, but at this moment, without even needing to empathize, she could feel the brutality that was about to erupt from the Sentinel.
“You should go find a Guide.”
“I’m not in the White Tower’s roster, I can only apply for a public Guide, but the White Tower has scheduled my soothing session for two days from now, and I’m afraid I can’t wait that long.”
“Please.” Beads of sweat had formed on Yi Jin’s forehead, some coalescing and rolling down his skin.
He was suffering greatly from the restraint.
Qu Tang turned her face, evading Yi Jin’s palm. “I’m not a Guide, I can’t soothe you.”
“You don’t have to do anything,” Yi Jin paused, “Just let me smell your presence, to temporarily stabilize my restless spirit beast.”
For two people who had only met twice and didn’t even know each other’s names, this was rather intimate.
“You could’ve forced me, why did you ask for my consent?” Qu Tang asked.
He was a Sentinel, at least a second-class citizen, and could have forced her by either strength or status, but he didn’t.
Yi Jin paused for a moment, then chuckled ruefully, seemingly not expecting Qu Tang to be pondering this now.
“This is the bare minimum of respect.” Yi Jin paused again. “But to be honest, if you still refuse, I will force you.”
“I’m sorry.”
Between losing control and forcing Qu Tang, he had already made his choice once. Since heaven had given him a second chance to choose, of course he would unhesitatingly pick the latter option.
Facing life and death, he couldn’t be a saint.
Qu Tang felt a heaviness in her chest.
He had given her the most basic respect, and had even frankly told her his determination. In this world of clear class divisions, it was indeed rare for a Sentinel to do so. But did that mean she should be grateful and obedient?
Why should she?
“I can help you, but I have a condition.”