The Guide Always Wants to Run (GL) - Chapter 18

Qin Xiao believed she had already been very careful with her steps. At dawn, they would board the fastest civilian ship to depart, and by then, there would be no better chance to escape. Tonight was the best opportunity.

Lady Luo emerged step by step from the shadows, her expression grim as she stared at her. “Aya, it is dangerous to come out alone so late at night.”

Qin Xiao quickly calculated in her mind. Within seconds, she came to a rather discouraging conclusion: given how frail this body was, she probably could not defeat the woman in front of her.

Since she could not win, she had to surrender.

“Lady Luo, I do not want to return to Mercury Star so soon.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

Lady Luo approached her quickly. Medusa flicked her tongue but did not retreat. Instead, the snake coiled itself around her even tighter. It was said Quantum beasts shared a bond with their masters, and Qin Xiao was sure that the woman had already started to suspect her.

She had no choice but to speak softly in Aya’s tone. “Lady Luo, I need to go to Capital Star to find someone.”

Lady Luo’s beautiful peach blossom eyes held no warmth. Coldly, she studied Qin Xiao. “Aya, you have always been obedient. Come back with me quietly. I can pretend that nothing happened tonight, all right?”

Qin Xiao lowered her head in resignation. “Fine, but you must promise not to tell my mother.”

Lady Luo’s expression softened. Her Medusa, previously wrapped around Qin Xiao, relaxed and slithered off to the grass to play. “Of course not. Aya, we should head back. If Eva finds out you are missing, she will be upset.”

Qin Xiao drooped her head like a wilted flower and took one step forward symbolically. Then, in a flash, she spun on her heel and bolted. Her speed was astounding.

However…

Lady Luo’s eyes remained cold as she watched the fleeing figure. “Medusa.”

Qin Xiao had no idea where she was going. This body had never seen the outside world. She had spent most of her life in treatment pods or in suspended animation due to the beast transformation that occurred every five years. As a child, she had no playmates and lived in constant fear of someone discovering her secret. She had been raised as an ordinary person, and not even the basic concepts of sentinels and guides existed in her mind.

Lady Luo had been right. The original Aya was too obedient. If told to go east, she would never go west. If told to turn north, she would never consider the south.

But she was not Aya.

Hissssss—

At the sound of hissing, she knew without turning around that the woman had caught up. Her breathing became labored, her heart pounded furiously, and her legs felt like they were made of lead. Every cell in her body screamed that she could run no farther.

She turned and nearly kissed Medusa on the nose.

“Get away from me!”

“Disappeared for a few days, and your temper has grown.”

Lady Luo was always composed, never in a hurry. Qin Xiao found that demeanor especially annoying. She acted like she had everything figured out. Gasping for breath with her hands on her knees, Qin Xiao had just opened her mouth to retort when the figure standing several meters away suddenly appeared right in front of her. A hand closed around her throat.

“Who are you really?” Lady Luo’s tone was as cold as the eternal snow atop a mountain.

Qin Xiao let out a derisive laugh. She had been exposed.

Lady Luo’s grip tightened, and Qin Xiao felt as if all the air in her lungs had been sucked out. She struggled, to no avail. Desperately, she tried to channel the tiny amount of spiritual energy she had absorbed on the ruined planet. After a long moment, it finally stirred.

Catching Lady Luo off guard, she punched toward her temple. As if anticipating the move, Lady Luo caught her fist with her free hand.

Bang!

Crack!

The hand around Qin Xiao’s throat loosened. Her knees gave out and she collapsed to the ground. All her strength seemed to vanish.

Lady Luo had not escaped unscathed. Though she blocked the attack, she had underestimated its power. Her arm had been fractured, and half her face was bruised. A trickle of bl00d slid from the corner of her mouth.

Her cold eyes fixed on Qin Xiao like countless Medusas staring her down. Qin Xiao gasped for breath. “Killing me won’t help. Aya is already dead.”

Lady Luo’s steps abruptly halted. “Aya is dead?”

Over the past few days, Qin Xiao had sensed how much Eva loved her child. No mother ever disliked her own child. Even with Aya’s grotesque beast form, Eva had still held her like a treasure. Only someone who truly loved Aya could have done that. Qin Xiao had struggled for days and still could not bring herself to tell Eva the truth.

“Aya’s body could not withstand the poison. She suffered.”

Lady Luo’s gaze remained cold. “So, you killed her.”

Such wild imagination. If I could freely take over another body, would I have picked one this useless?

Qin Xiao rolled her eyes. “Aya wasn’t killed by me. Believe it or not, there is no benefit in her death for me. On the contrary, I’m now trapped in this body. If you are set on killing me, at least make it quick.”

Maybe if my soul slips out, I can go find a better body. Qin Xiao consoled herself with the idea.

Lady Luo chuckled darkly. “You think I won’t kill you?”

Qin Xiao replied indifferently, “Of course, you will. You are Lady Luo. You love Eva, not Aya. If Aya is dead, Eva might grieve for a while, but you can comfort her and use that chance to win her heart.”

Lady Luo fell silent.

Suddenly, she smiled with a sinister expression. “You just said you are trapped in this body. What exactly are you?”

Qin Xiao felt insulted. That sounded like a curse. She replied in defiance, “Lady Luo, you have two choices. First, you kill me and go back to tell Eva that Aya is dead. Second, you let me go and in front of Eva, I will always be Aya.”

With a sharp twist and a cracking sound, Lady Luo reset her broken arm. She flexed her hand. “I have a third option. Take you back and study what exactly you are.”

Dear heavens, she is a lunatic.

Qin Xiao stared behind her with feigned horror. “Mom… Mom!”

Lady Luo jerked her head around. The street behind her was empty.

When she turned back, the girl who had been gasping for breath had vanished.

“Quick on her feet, I’ll give her that.”

Qin Xiao hated this weak body. The little bit of energy she had gathered was gone again, leaving her completely drained. Crouching low, she darted through alleyways, trying to figure out how to shake Lady Luo off.

Why had she been discovered when she had been so careful?

She had barely taken a step before Lady Luo followed. Even outside the pharmacy room earlier…

Sentinels. Physically enhanced. Sharpened senses.

Qin Xiao suddenly recalled Eva’s lesson. “Enhanced senses. Could she have detected my breathing?”

What if that was the case?

For the first time, Qin Xiao grasped the power of a sentinel. If they were that sharp, it made sense how she was tracked. Holding her breath, she crept in the opposite direction of the ship’s dock. She remembered a large body of water in that area, perhaps a river or maybe the sea.

She nearly suffocated before the vast waters appeared before her eyes. Without hesitation, she dove in. Relying on instinct, she swam far out before surfacing to take a breath. Then she ducked beneath the surface again, watching the shore.

A few minutes later, a tall figure appeared on the riverbank. That hateful Medusa was slithering nearby. Qin Xiao’s heart pounded wildly.

If that snake goes in the water, I’m doomed.

Luckily, Medusa stayed put. After lingering for a while, Lady Luo left.

Qin Xiao remained perfectly still.

As expected, the woman returned.

Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest. She had no idea how long she waited. Only when she was on the brink of collapse did Lady Luo finally leave for good.

Even then, Qin Xiao waited. At last, she emerged, gasping for air.

She had escaped death by a hair’s breadth.

Having shaken Lady Luo, she allowed herself a sigh of relief and began to swim back.

Suddenly, something wrapped around her ankle and dragged her underwater.

Caught off guard, she swallowed a mouthful of water. Salty tears mingled with the burn in her throat. In the hazy water, she caught a glimpse of a long strap binding her leg. She bent down to untie it, but the tighter she pulled, the more it constricted. The thing wrapped around her ankle kept dragging her deeper.

In just a few breaths, the shore became distant.

Her strength was nearly gone. Her struggles felt hopeless.

She stared up at the moonlight turning into a distant speck, just like the small light inside her.

This time, I am really going to die!

At death’s door, her thoughts turned to her beloved cauldron. Resentment surged into resolve. Instead of undoing the strap, she yanked it hard. All the strength she had left, even the pain in her dantian, was poured into that pull.

Snap!

Whoosh!

The calm water exploded like a boiling pot. A painful, inhuman wail echoed through the night. Something flung her violently through the air.

The moonlight shone brightly once more.

That was the last thought Qin Xiao had.