The Guide Always Wants to Run (GL) - Chapter 21

“What are you all doing? Contact the Guide Academy now. There is a wild guide here, and he looks like he’s in bad shape.”

“Don’t hurt him! He’s too young.”

“Get out of the way!”

…

Within the cordoned-off area, a young boy who looked far too immature had curled into himself on the ground. His face was flushed bright red, his eyes appeared dazed, and the front of his shirt had been yanked open. One of his sleeves was torn to shreds. His shoes had been kicked off outside the perimeter, and his pants were in even worse shape since one leg looked like it had been clawed into stripes. He looked utterly disheveled.

Beside him lay a snow-white little rabbit. The rabbit had curled up in the boy’s arms, trembling all over, with only a small puff of a tail peeking out.

Several sentinels were holding the line before him, but a few others whose mental compatibility with him seemed high had lost control and were forcing their way in. Their eyes were veiled in a mist of dark red. Conflict erupted between the two groups, and with barely a word, fists began to fly.

By the time Qin Xiao arrived, she saw a male sentinel slyly slip through an opening. He scooped the curled-up boy into his arms, pressed his face close to the boy’s, and murmured with indulgent delight, “So sweet.”

His Quantum beast, a black bear, nudged the rabbit playing dead on the ground. With a gentle shove of its nose, it flipped the trembling rabbit belly-up and then began to toy with it using one oversized paw. The little rabbit let out a quiet splat and vanished.

“Hey, he’s in the middle of awakening. Don’t scare him. Oh, what a delicious scent. It’s too much.”

“He’s mine!”

“Move! That guide is mine—”

“Rrgh! All of you, get lost!”

Qin Xiao’s face turned dark. Watching several sentinels brawling over a single guide left her feeling physically unwell.

Thankfully, the chaos didn’t last long. A group of operatives descended from above and swiftly tranquilized the brawling sentinels. Moments later, several people in white coats rushed in and carefully carried off the boy who was rolling on the ground clutching his head.

The entire spectacle had flared up fast and vanished just as quickly.

Qin Xiao, on the other hand, was left shaken. After the crowd dispersed, her legs gave out and she dropped to the ground. She blamed it on this body’s pathetic weakness rather than the mental trauma the scene had just inflicted.

“Qin Xiao, why are you sitting there in a daze? We need to find Brother Li.”

“Help me up.”

When she stood, her body still felt soft and unsteady. Damn this fragile body. She cursed inwardly, dragging Eva and Lady Luo into her tirade. If not for today, she might never have truly understood what it meant to be a guide.

Retracing their steps, they asked around and eventually found Brother Li’s location. His actual name was Brother Li, and he made a living on West Street selling polished beads.

When he saw Yu Jing, he immediately came forward, his face wreathed in a sycophantic grin.

Qin Xiao’s gaze dropped to his feet. She noticed a green fish tail swaying happily. Compared to Yu Jing’s tail, this one was duller in color and not nearly as attractive.

Two fish…

Brother Li’s eyes locked on Yu Jing. “Little Jingjing, you’re so smart. I was worried you might’ve gotten lost.”

Yu Jing gave Qin Xiao a tug. “Brother Li, this is the friend I mentioned. Can you help her get an identity?”

Brother Li looked Qin Xiao up and down, then suspiciously pulled Yu Jing aside. “Little Jingjing, who is this person? You’ve only been on Capital Star a few days and already made a new friend? Don’t tell me you ran into trouble! I’m warning you, people on Capital Star are shady. You must not let anyone in on your secrets, got it?”

Yu Jing bobbed her head like a pecking chick. She couldn’t exactly spill the secrets of the Sea King’s misdeeds, so she pleaded, “Brother Li, Qin Xiao isn’t a bad person. Please help her out, alright?”

Qin Xiao calmly watched them whispering, but every word was clear to her. For some reason, she could hear all sorts of distant and nearby sounds now, a cacophony pressing into her mind until her head nearly split.

Still, this carp spirit seemed quite protective of this silly little fish. So… the yao now strut about openly in the human world?

Though he wasn’t fully reassured, Brother Li agreed to help. As he led them to get a fake ID made, he pestered Qin Xiao with questions like a census officer.

She answered plainly and then, unable to resist, asked about guides. “Brother Li, you seem very knowledgeable. Earlier, when Yu Jing and I arrived, we saw a bunch of men in a fight. Is West Street always this chaotic?”

Yu Jing looked intrigued, her eyes shining. “I heard them shout ‘wild guide’. Were they fighting over food or something?”

Qin Xiao: …

Flattered by Qin Xiao and spurred on by Little Jingjing’s curiosity, the carp spirit got a bit carried away. “Little Jingjing, guides aren’t food. They’re more like…” He shot Qin Xiao a glance, then whispered in Yu Jing’s ear, “Females. Those who can bear children.”

Qin Xiao: !!!

Her entire face turned black.

Yu Jing stared, stunned. It took her a while to respond. “That guide from earlier… they looked really pretty. I saw lots of males, men, running toward them. They seemed really desperate.”

Brother Li shook his head. “Capital Star folks are… different. To find a guide, sentinels rely on spiritual compatibility. The higher the match, the stronger the sense. So when one is discovered, they all scramble. The government has strict regulations on guides. There’s even a renowned Guide Academy here, its protection level on par with the royal family.”

Yu Jing asked, “Why are they so heavily regulated?”

Brother Li, who had lived on Capital Star for years, had seen this happen many times. “Guides are rare here. A lot of sentinels can’t find one, so when they do, they go mad.”

Yu Jing was too frightened by this brutal world to speak. She remained silent the rest of the way.

Qin Xiao also fell into a brooding silence, her expression darkening.

Brother Li noticed their silence and assumed he had scared them. He quickly changed to a lighter tone. “Actually, matches arranged by the Empire between sentinels and guides tend to be really loving. And the newest version of the ‘Guide Protection Law’ even added a clause granting guides the right to choose freely. It’s much better than before.”

Yu Jing: …

Qin Xiao: …

The ID station wasn’t far. It was in a side alley off West Street, marked by a very low doorframe. Anyone over one meter sixty had to duck to enter.

Brother Li led them inside and paid in credit coins. One man looked up at them, then settled his eyes on Qin Xiao. “Name, age. Fill it in here.”

Qin Xiao took the item he tossed over. It fit neatly in her palm. Fortunately, Eva had been thorough in teaching her, or she’d have been a useless mess. She quickly filled in the required information, left her fingerprint and image, then waited patiently.

An hour later, the man brought out a chip smaller than a thumb. “Come here.”

He grabbed Qin Xiao’s arm and swiftly implanted the chip just beneath her skin. She felt a slight sting, the chip flickered briefly, then vanished. “Done.”

Brother Li bowed and thanked him profusely, then led the two women out.

On the return trip, Qin Xiao and Yu Jing boarded another maglev train. Qin Xiao spent the whole ride examining the chip in her wrist. It contained her name, age, and several fabricated details input earlier. It could also be linked to her Star Network virtual account and her bank account…

After fiddling with it for a while, she realized she was just another unemployed drifter.

Unlike before, Yu Jing stayed quiet the entire ride, her eyes blankly focused on something in the distance.

“Passengers, please note: next stop is Aige Street. Those disembarking, please prepare your belongings. Thank you for riding with us.”

The train’s announcement played three times. Qin Xiao noticed Yu Jing didn’t react to the famed food street and couldn’t be bothered to nudge her. Her attention had already shifted to the screen on the right.

A breaking news segment was flashing across the display.

“Princess Yuzhu has returned early from Sunstar and personally offered condolences to the families affected by the spaceship tragedy. She expressed deep sorrow. In addition, Her Highness commented on the recent royal ‘scandal’ and power struggle. Projecting now.”

The screen switched to a sea of projections. Soon, a beautifully refined face filled the broadcast, appearing across every screen on Capital Star.

“The claims about the crown prince being held hostage by pirates are utter nonsense. The Flash Raid pirates have always been sewer rats, a disgrace to the Empire. Their words cannot be trusted. My royal parents are deeply in love. There is no third party. There is no illegitimate child…”

“Ow! That hurts!”

Yu Jing snapped out of her daze, yelping as Qin Xiao pinched her. She followed Qin Xiao’s gaze to the screen and saw Yuzhu’s face.

“Wow, she’s really pretty. Who is that?”

Qin Xiao murmured, “Ah Qin.”