The Guide Always Wants to Run (GL) - Chapter 46

The Tarpo Forest only occupied a small part of the dense jungle. After parting ways with Brother Mi and the others, Qin Xiao and Yan Ningjin walked for a while and soon got lost within the forest. Staring at the layered ridges of trees, Qin Xiao saw golden stars flashing before her eyes. After circling around several times, she finally gave up and plopped down on the overgrown ground in frustration. “I need a break. I’m not walking anymore.”

Yan Ningjin inspected the surroundings, then carefully unfolded an old, hand-drawn map. “We’re now at the southernmost edge of the jungle. When we left the Tarpo Forest, Wu Yu and the others headed north. If we want to catch up, we have to cross the Duyuan River and then the Celestial Spring Pool.”

Qin Xiao hooked an arm around Yan Ningjin’s shoulder like an old friend. Her breath warmed the side of Yan Ningjin’s face, distracting her. Qin Xiao glanced at the intricate hand-drawn map. “Yan Yan, Wu Yu and the others didn’t go north. They went east.”

The hint of affection stirring in Yan Ningjin was instantly washed away by surprise. She looked at her lively little Guide. “…What?”

Qin Xiao took a round marble from her pocket and tossed it into the air a few times. The nearby Tuan Tuan crouched tightly beside her, his amber eyes tracking the ball until they turned slightly cross-eyed.

Yan Ningjin sighed, disapproving. “Xiao Xiao.”

Qin Xiao tossed the ball a few more times, catching it precisely each time. She seemed to anticipate Yan Ningjin’s question and answered lazily, “I marked them with two spiritual imprints. I just checked. They’re headed east.”

This was the first time Yan Ningjin had heard of a “spiritual imprint.” She repeated it, unsure. “Spiritual imprint?”

Qin Xiao puffed up her cheeks. “It’s a kind of invisible marker.”

More accurately, it was a technique derived from her bl00d arts, similar in effect to a bl00d seal. Wu Yu and the Lang brothers were her first test subjects. After checking just now, she was certain they were moving east. “Trust me. Head east.”

Yan Ningjin’s deep black eyes stayed fixed on the animated girl before her. If she hadn’t seen the beast form of this little Guide on that desolate planet, she would never have connected her to that… little beast. Yet after spending so much time together, the similarities between Qin Xiao and that creature were becoming more obvious. She couldn’t help but believe. “Xiao Xiao, you—” She hesitated, then asked the question that had been on her mind. “How did you know Wu Yu and the others’ beast forms?”

Qin Xiao thought she wouldn’t be asked, but seeing the concern in Yan Ningjin’s eyes, she answered after only a brief pause. “I can tell you, but don’t tell anyone else.”

Her body had always been strange. Even before awakening as a Guide, she could see many things, probably their true forms. She deliberately lowered her voice to a whisper. “I just happened to glance at them.”

Yan Ningjin was confused for a moment, then suddenly recalled how the little beast had stared at Tuan Tuan on that abandoned planet. “So back then you hadn’t awakened as a Guide either, and you just happened to see Tuan Tuan?”

That had certainly been a ridiculous misunderstanding.

Back then, Qin Xiao had assumed Tuan Tuan was Yan Ningjin’s summoned beast. She coughed. “Maybe Tuan Tuan and I are fated. That’s why I saw him. Right, Tuan Tuan?”

Tuan Tuan nudged Qin Xiao’s palm with his furry head.

Yan Ningjin’s expression grew more serious. After a pause, she said solemnly, “Xiao Xiao, from now on, don’t mention this to anyone. Even if you see something, don’t show it.”

Qin Xiao understood the danger of standing out. If it weren’t Yan Ningjin, she wouldn’t have revealed so much. After cooperating several times, she had figured out Yan Ningjin’s temperament well.

They rested for a bit and discussed the dangers they might encounter heading east.

Yan Ningjin noticed that the little Guide showed no fear of the forest. On the contrary, she strolled as if it were her backyard. She even threw the marble on the ground and started whipping it forward, forcing it to roll. This completely defied the usual intimacy between Guides and their Quantum beasts.

It was Tuan Tuan who acted like a mother hen, circling the marble constantly from left to right, full of worry.

“Tuan Tuan, don’t spoil Hunqiu. It needs exercise. Let it roll on its own.”

The puffball made no complaints. Instead, it rolled faster and kept changing colors like a tiny light bulb.

Yan Ningjin kept a close watch, afraid the palm-sized creature might roll away or disappear. “Xiao Xiao, you shouldn’t treat it like this. It’s still young. It’s just a cub.”

Yan Ningjin had lectured Qin Xiao many times about Quantum beast care. They had serious disagreements on how to treat their companion beasts. Qin Xiao was convinced that the doughy creature born from the colorful crystal she had swallowed couldn’t possibly be weak. So she kept finding new ways to toughen the pufball.

“Ah~~~”

The sensual moan caught Yan Ningjin off guard. Her lightsaber instantly appeared in her hand as she yanked Qin Xiao behind her protectively. “Xiao Xiao, be careful.”

Qin Xiao laughed so hard she almost couldn’t breathe.

Before Yan Ningjin could react, the puffball let out another melodious “Haa~~~”

Tuan Tuan and Yan Ningjin were stunned. The little ball rolled back and forth on the ground, occasionally letting out more gasping moans like a three-part musical.

It took a while for Yan Ningjin to choke out a word. “This—”

Qin Xiao scooped up the puffball with a sigh of frustration. “It only knows how to say three words. It can’t quite manage two-word combinations yet.”

Even the tone mimicked hers exactly.

After her laugh, Qin Xiao grew serious. “Hunqiu is warning us. There’s danger ahead.”

Yan Ningjin raised a brow. “Did you teach it that?”

Qin Xiao blinked once, then twice, then wisely changed the subject. “Yan Yan, I think the place ahead is where the Hongmeng Flower grows. How should we collect it?”

The map clearly marked the eastern part of the jungle as a danger zone filled with Hongmeng Flowers and a swamp. The swamp could trap people, and the surrounding flowers were deadly.

Unfortunately, one of the ingredients Qin Xiao needed was the Hongmeng Flower.

Even before reaching the swamp, they could already smell a powerful fragrance. Just one whiff from afar made them dizzy and weak.

Qin Xiao used a breath-holding technique. If she were still at her Nascent Soul level, she could have held it for a full incense stick’s time. Now, she could barely manage a third of that. Once she inhaled again, she would definitely absorb a lot of the flower’s scent.

Yan Ningjin said without hesitation, “I’ll go. You can fly Aiwei’er low to pick me up.”

Qin Xiao shook her head. “You’re faster than me, but overexposure to the flower’s scent causes hallucinations. That could be a problem. Also, there are probably hidden people waiting to strike.”

With her fragile body, she couldn’t handle it.

She hated to admit it, but she knew her limits. “I’ll go. I can hold my breath for about five minutes.”

Yan Ningjin knew this was the best option, though it hurt to send Qin Xiao in, just like on the abandoned planet when she had let the little beast face danger alone. She opened her mouth but ended up only saying, “Be careful.”

Before leaving, Qin Xiao bargained. “If I succeed in getting the Hongmeng Flower, you’ll come with me to other planets to search for energy crystals.”

Yan Ningjin laughed helplessly but agreed quickly. “Alright.”

Qin Xiao added, “Whatever I find is mine.”

The puffball bounced high in protest, but she slapped it down with her other hand. Its objection was overruled.

Yan Ningjin’s eyes softened. She stepped forward and brushed loose strands of hair from Qin Xiao’s face. “Everything is yours.”

Qin Xiao actually saw a trace of warmth in Yan Ningjin’s eyes that reminded her of Ah Qin. She quickly shook her head and stuffed Hunqiu into her pocket. “Let’s go, Hunqiu. We might even find a treasure in that swamp.”

A round head peeked from her pocket, seemingly peeking out.

As she walked through the forest, Qin Xiao expanded her sensory threads. She detected two hidden groups but not Wu Yu or the Lang brothers. “That’s strange.”

The Hongmeng Flowers were just a few meters ahead, but to reach them, she had to cross the swamp.

She examined the surrounding trees and saw they were ordinary ones, not Tarpo Trees. She clicked her tongue in slight disappointment, then picked a tree with no one hiding in it and climbed up easily, surprising the hidden ambushers.

Yan Ningjin, with her sharp eyesight, could see everything clearly. She was amazed and amused by her little Guide’s skillful tree-climbing.

Qin Xiao reached the top quickly. She tested a branch’s strength, then made an astonishing move. Holding the trunk, she pulled the branch down until she dangled over the swamp. Just as her feet nearly touched the mire, she flipped upside down and swiftly grabbed one, two, three… five flowers.

With her arms full, she was ready to stop.

What puzzled her was that the hidden observers hadn’t moved. Her instincts screamed something was wrong. She gestured to Yan Ningjin, who was preparing to pilot Aiwei’er, to hold off.

Standing atop the tree, she surveyed the swamp.

After holding her breath a few times, the swamp began to bubble like boiling water. A sharp object slowly emerged. She could sense the hidden people growing restless. Her gamble had been correct.

They were all here because of a treasure.

Her heart raced with greed and excitement. She wanted to leap down and grab the item right away, but her treasure-hunting experience warned her that the first to rush in usually died first.

The flowers’ scent made her vision blur. She even felt like the branch under her feet turned into a writhing python.

“Damn.”

The hallucinations had begun.

She pinched herself hard, clearing her vision for a moment. But soon, she hallucinated again. The object emerging from the swamp looked like her Dreambringer Gentleman’s Flute.

She pinched her leg until it bruised, but the vision remained. She could only curse silently.

While she was dazed, the two hidden groups revealed their true intent and charged toward the swamp treasure. One group was from their own star system, and the other from the Zerg system.

Some of the Zergs shifted into their original forms, their claws slashing at the wooden star adventurers. It was a bloodbath.

Qin Xiao wiped her eyes. The scene cleared slightly, except for the central object in the swamp, which remained unchanged.

She froze.

That was no hallucination.

They were fighting over her flute.

“Yan Yan!”

She shouted so loudly that the fighting paused. Then she leaped, gripping a branch between her legs and diving toward the swamp like everyone else.

A Zerg adventurer dove at her mid-air.

Yes, his target was Qin Xiao.

Seeing this from her mech, Yan Ningjin immediately ordered, “Fire the particle cannon.”

Qin Xiao felt danger and instinctively leaped into the swamp. The Zerg was blasted away by Aiwei’er’s cannon without even a scream.

Qin Xiao felt a wave of heat pass her face. She lunged for the treasure, but it shifted just enough to avoid her muddy hand.

Qin Xiao: …

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