The Heartthrob Guide: Dodder of S-Class Sentinels

Chapter 87 Day and Night Game 1 (asking for monthly ticket)

Lin Nan and the others still cannot see the outside world's comments.

She sat on the snow leopard's back and moved quickly through the forest.

Since this was her first time riding such a large beast, and there was no object like a saddle on the snow leopard for her to grab and hold on to, she couldn't help feeling a little nervous. She could only lower her body as much as possible, tightly grasp the hair on the back of the snow leopard's neck with both hands, and bury herself in it.

The wind whistled in her ears, making her hair fly wildly and blocking her vision.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to maintain her balance in the strong wind and swaying, and tried her best not to let her body touch the man with a strong presence behind her.

Renault also bent slightly, his tall upper body slightly enveloping the girl in his arms, shielding her from the surrounding air currents and turbulence. Whenever they encountered a rugged, bumpy road, he would reach out his hand just in time to support her, ensuring that the two of them would not be thrown off by the violent shaking.

The young man's heart is broad and warm, with a soothing power.

"It's just ahead, just across this cliff."

Ronnie rode on the vice-captain's spirit body, pointed to a cliff in front of him, and spoke loudly.

His voice was a little dissipated in the whistling wind.

Lin Nan looked in the direction Ronnie pointed, and not far ahead, he saw a cliff more than ten meters wide. The cliff looked like a wound cleaved by a sharp blade, bottomless. The cliffs on either side were sheer, like blades. Tenacious thorns and twisted vines grew on the cliffs, swaying in the wind like a monster with bared fangs and claws.

No way, do I have to jump over here?

When Lin Nan thought of this, his body, which had finally relaxed, tensed up again.

"Guide Lin, I'm sorry."

Renault whispered something in Lin Nan's ear, then pressed his chest against her, lowered himself slightly, and put one arm around her waist, pressing her tightly between himself and the spirit body.

Lin Nan could feel the warmth from the other person's body seeping in through his clothes.

Facing the cliff, the snow leopard did not slow down. Instead, it sped up as it got closer, until it was only inches away from the edge of the cliff. Its agile limbs were like powerful springs, accumulating energy for an explosion.

At this critical moment, the snow leopard suddenly jumped up, its whole body bounced high, and drew a graceful and thrilling arc in the air.

"what--"

Lin Nan couldn't help but scream. Her body was unbalanced for a moment and she was almost thrown away by this force. The person behind her hugged her tightly in time and held her in his arms.

Finally, as the snow leopard's front paws landed steadily on the ground on the opposite bank, the powerful impact caused its hind legs to plow two deep grooves on the ground.

Lin Nan only felt his body shake violently, and then the snow leopard ran as it cushioned its movement after landing.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw the familiar yet unfamiliar forest scenery before her, and then she realized that they had successfully crossed the cliff.

After they came over, the rest of the Cheetah teammates also came over.

Cheetahs have extremely explosive speed and jumping ability, so jumping over such a cliff is no problem at all.

"There used to be a bridge here, but now I don't know where it goes." Ronnie explained, then pointed to the front of the path and said, "We're here. Going downhill from here is our village."

"Be on guard!" Renault gave the order after hearing it.

In an instant, the teammates behind him were well-trained and ready to fight at any time, with their mental strength fully activated.

Lin Nan also extended his spiritual body forward from underground, adjusted his five senses to the most sensitive level, and paid close attention to every move around him.

only--

They walked for a long time, and along the way they did not encounter the ferocious alien species like they did last night. The surroundings were abnormally quiet, with only the light footsteps of their group.

This seems to be an ordinary winding road, connecting this village deep in the mountains with the outside world.

Lush trees grow on both sides of the path, and sunlight shines through the gaps between the leaves, creating patches of mottled light and shadow.

Occasionally, you can see some unknown wild flowers swaying gently in the breeze, emitting a faint fragrance.

If it weren't for the huge black fog hanging over the village, constantly reminding them that this was a dangerous polluted area, Lin Nan would almost think that this was a peaceful and tranquil paradise.

The black fog was like a thick ink stain, pressing heavily on the village, with its edges rolling and surging like a dormant giant beast, ready to devour everything at any time.

They were already approaching the very center of the forest, and had expected that beneath the black fog there would be an extremely terrifying and miserable scene.

Unexpectedly, when we got closer, we found that under the black fog, there was such an ordinary and peaceful scene.

The houses are arranged quietly in an orderly manner, and the bluestone-paved paths meander through them. There are also some small vegetable gardens carefully tended by the villagers on the side of the road, and the tender green vegetables sway gently in the breeze.

However, this seemingly ordinary place exudes an indescribable weirdness. There is no crowing of chickens or barking of dogs, and no villagers are seen. The entire village is as quiet as a dead zone forgotten by time.

"Is the king beast really in this place?" The sentry behind him had already become suspicious.

But no one present could answer him.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Nan's relaxed voice finally rang out. She looked at the deputy captain's spirit body, and saw Ronnie, who was also lost in thought, and said, "Congratulations! You're finally home."

go home--

These two words seemed to have some magical power, gently striking Ronnie's heartstrings.

He was startled for a moment, then came to his senses. His gaze shifted from the familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar village scenery in the distance to Lin Nan's smiling face.

In an instant, Ronnie's eyes turned slightly red, and he felt mixed emotions.

He nodded heavily and said with a smile, "Thank you, Guide Lin."

That’s right, he finally “came home”.

Since the pollution came, he could never return home.

There was no one in the village. Ronnie walked in front to lead the way. He passed by rows of houses on the familiar road and came straight to a two-story building.

The door was not closed, so he pushed it open and went in. The house was not big, but it was cleaned and decorated very warmly and cleanly, as if the owner of the house had always lived here and never left.

"Please sit down and rest for a while. I'll go boil some water."

Ronnie said as he moved out all the chairs in the room. The room, which was not particularly spacious to begin with, seemed even more cramped with a dozen tall people squeezed into it.

[It's strange, there's no alien smell here.]

[There's nothing nearby.]

【Where are they hiding? 】

[This is weird…]

The vines were chattering underground.

A village without any villagers in a polluted area is a very suspicious place in any suspense novel.

But unfortunately, this suspicious place does not pose any threat.

"Those monsters came out at night yesterday, so maybe we have to wait until night," said the deputy captain.

"It seems that this polluted area is safe during the day, and the monsters won't come out."

"So what do we do next?"

"Wait." Renault said.

Every contaminated area has its own rules. As long as humans who enter strictly abide by these rules, they can live in peace.

However, these rules are often bizarre and incomprehensible, and some even go beyond the scope of human common sense. Some people cannot accept these rules and become completely mentally ill, crazy, and eventually polluted and assimilated.

As it stands, the polluted area of ​​Sunset Forest is dangerous at night but there is really no danger during the day.

"Guide Lin, have some water."

Ronnie had already boiled a pot of hot water and brought it over.

Everyone was actually a little resistant to the food and water in the contaminated area, because no one knew whether these things were also contaminated. Lin Nan extended his mental power to explore and saw that it was just ordinary things, so he took it and drank it slowly.

Seeing this, the other sentinels also let down their guard. Because of the alien incident last night, they didn't get a good rest the whole night and their minds were in a tense state. Now, after drinking a cup of hot water, they felt a little relieved.

Just at this moment, there was a noise outside the house, and the gate of the courtyard was pushed open again.

The sentries immediately became alert. Years of training allowed them to react quickly. Each of them found a place to hide in the house. In the blink of an eye, the people who were originally crowded in the room disappeared without a trace.

This makes people admire the concealment ability of these sentinels.

Renault protected Lin Nan and Ronnie behind him and hid in the innermost cabinet.

At some point, a man and a woman appeared in the yard.

"The conscription troops are coming soon. Father, have you prepared all the food?"

"It's all over. Hey, after working hard for a whole year, there's nothing left in the end."

The two of them chattered as if they were an ordinary couple who had just returned home from working in the fields, and walked into the house one after the other.

The sentry hiding behind the door had secretly drawn his weapon and was staring at the couple's every move. If he saw anything unusual, he would rush forward.

But the couple seemed to be completely unaware of it. They didn't even notice the sudden appearance of more than a dozen used water cups in the room.

They each started doing their own things with expressionless faces.

The woman was busy at the stove, washing vegetables and rice. Her movements were skillful but a little tired.

Her hands stirred mechanically in the water, each movement as if rehearsed countless times and performed without thinking, but her eyes were empty, as if she was just a body repeating the movements mechanically.

The man sat aside, chatting about farm matters, and occasionally stood up to help the woman pass something.

"I went to count the food in the warehouse again today. Sigh, I don't know if it can survive this winter."

His voice was flat, without a trace of emotion, as if he was reciting a line that had nothing to do with him.

The couple's behavior was so normal that if it weren't for the look of unconsciousness on their faces, everyone would have thought they were just an ordinary farming couple who had finished a day's work and were calmly preparing dinner.

However, the weirdness behind this seemingly ordinary thing makes the sentinels hiding in the dark increasingly uneasy.

But no one acted rashly.

At this time, the woman who had been cutting vegetables suddenly stood up and slowly walked towards the cabinet where Lin Nan and the other three were hiding.

Lin Nan watched the woman approaching through the gap in the cabinet. Beads of sweat gradually appeared on his palms and his heart began to beat wildly with nervousness. Renault and Ronnie beside him held their breath, ready to fight at any time.

With a "creak", the cabinet door opened, and the woman faced her with a pale and eerie face and no expression.

At such a close distance, Lin Nan could finally see her face clearly. She was an ordinary woman, dressed in a rough cloth with some unwashed mud stains still lingering on the corners. Time had carved deep wrinkles into her face, and her skin was dark. Her cracked lips were slightly parted, but no sound came out.

Her eyes were empty, as if she had lost her soul, staring straight into the cabinet, and that look made people feel creepy.

It seemed like a long time had passed before the woman finally moved. She raised her hand, reached into the cabinet, jumped over Lin Nan's profile, and picked up an old apron hanging there, as if she didn't see the three people inside. Then she closed the cabinet door, turned around and walked back to the stove.

"This is the only piece of clothing I have... Xiao Ni will be back soon, so I can't be too sloppy..."

Lin Nan guessed the identities of the two people and glanced at Ronnie. Sure enough, he saw that the blood had drained out of the young man's face, as if all the life had been sucked out of him.

The hidden sentry slowly came out from the secret corner. There was a group of people standing in the house, but the couple seemed not to see them and just minded their own business.

At this time, a sentry couldn't help but say: "They seem to completely ignore our existence."

"What should we do next, Captain?"

"Don't alarm them, observe first." Renault whispered. The deputy captain received the order and led the others out carefully.

What’s going on? How come he suddenly appeared?
Lin Nan stretched out the vines, but didn't sense any emotions from them.

The lack of emotions means these are not normal living people.

Ronnie stood silently beside the couple and didn't speak for a long time.

When the woman was picking up potatoes, she accidentally dropped one.

When Ronnie saw it, he almost subconsciously picked it up from the ground and handed it to her, his movements so skillful as if he had done it many times before.

Seeing the vegetables he handed over, the woman stiffened for a moment. She slowly turned her head, her empty eyes looking somewhere unknown, her face still expressionless.

"I don't know how Xiao Ni is doing in school. Is anyone bullying him?"

The woman muttered to herself, but ultimately did not take the thing from the boy's hand...

Leaving Ronnie alone in the room, Lin Nan and Renault went outside.

The village, which was deserted just now, suddenly had people appearing.

The villagers coming and going on the path all had expressionless faces, empty eyes, and moved mechanically.

They were either holding firewood or carrying buckets of water, but there was no communication between them. Lin Nan and Renault just stood in the middle of the road without attracting anyone's attention. The whole village was so quiet that only footsteps and occasional dog barking could be heard.

The two chapters are merged into one and published together.

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(End of this chapter)