The Heartthrob Guide: Dodder of S-Class Sentinels

Chapter 88 Day and Night Game 2
"Captain, it seems someone is coming from outside the village." At this time, the deputy captain seemed to have seen something and shouted from a position not far from the village entrance.

Renault listened and asked, "Is it the other teams participating in the competition?"

Because their team had Ronnie leading the way, they were naturally a little faster than the other teams. Judging from their walking speed, the others should have found this place by now.

"They don't look like them. They are a group of personal guards in armor."

As soon as the deputy captain finished speaking, someone in the village shouted, "The collection team is here!"

These villagers, who were like puppets and in a daze, now had a slightly different reaction.

"The collection team is here and they need to move everything out."

"The harvest this year was not good, so this year will be difficult again."

"When will this damn tax be paid?"

"..."

The villagers murmured to themselves as they continued to move things out of their homes. Before long, the doorways of every household were filled with prepared supplies.

Soldiers in mighty armor began collecting things from house to house, carrying bag after bag of supplies to their own cars.

For those families who paid the required number, the tax collectors simply crossed their names off the roster, but for those families whose number was insufficient, the soldiers beat them up without saying a word.

The villagers' frail bodies were powerless to withstand the violence and they could only curl up on the ground in pain, screaming miserably.

After the fight, the soldiers directed their men to rush into the homes of these people, rummage through their drawers and steal everything valuable.

Lin Nan felt that the scene before him was like watching a shoddy cutscene. The producers didn't even do a good job of making the NPC's facial expressions before showing these images.

These unknown things that look like "humans" but have absolutely no self-awareness are constantly performing a deliberately choreographed drama in front of them.

Lin Nan was somewhat familiar with this scene. When the original owner was a child, he was fostered in a relative's home and lived a similar life.

In this era, the nobles monopolized most of the resources. The center of the main city and the civilian areas on the periphery were two completely different worlds. If in the main city, you could still see some products of civilization left over from history, then in the more peripheral civilian areas, the living standards of human beings there were comparable to the poorest times of the old century.

Many commoners do not have their own land and shops. These are the assets of the nobles. Commoners can only rent them from these nobles and then pay high taxes every year.

Through these means, the nobles controlled the vast majority of humanity. As a result, in this world, the poor became poorer and the rich became richer. The social gap continued to widen, causing a series of tragedies.

Lin Nan deeply felt that if she had not differentiated herself into a guide, she would still be stuck in the quagmire.

"If I remember correctly, these are the private guards of Duke Ned's family." Renault noticed the badges on the chests of these tax collectors.

He was also a noble, and every family had its own private armed guards. The Ned family was familiar with them, and he recognized their symbol at a glance.

"Before this forest became a polluted area, it was the private property of the nobility?"

Lin Nan was a little shocked. There was such a big forest.

"If it were someone else, I might not believe it, but if it were the Ned family, I might not believe it..." Renault narrowed his eyes slightly, a thoughtful look on his face.

Because his family had a top guide who was chosen as the future Crown Princess, Duke Ned had always been favored by the Queen. It was not impossible for him to privately own such a vast forest resource.

After all, even small nobles like them, who were neither rich nor poor, owned their own land and manors. In this age of universal military service, no one bothered to manage and cultivate land. If it were to be contaminated one day, the loss would outweigh the gain. Therefore, the value of land in this era became extremely cheap.

They rented these assets to civilians. For these ordinary people, having land to farm was their only chance to survive in this troubled time. For the nobles, it was the best of both worlds as they didn't have to worry about the management of the business and could reap the profits at the same time.

Soon, the soldiers arrived at Ronnie's parents' house.

Seeing that nothing was ready outside the house, the leading soldier knocked on the door impatiently.

Ronnie's parents came out immediately.

"It's time, why haven't you prepared anything yet?" This was what the leading soldier said.

"Right away, right away. My husband and I just came back from the fields." Ronnie's father said this, and then he started moving things from home like other villagers. The food appeared at the doorstep as if by magic.

The soldier counted the quantity several times, but the number did not match the bill.

"Why are there so many missing?!" the soldier asked.

"I'm really sorry. My child went to school this year and needed money to go out, so I used it to exchange some of the money. We will double the amount next year."

"How dare you take the Duke's supplies and sell them privately? You're so bold! Have you forgotten whose land you're farming on?"

"I dare not, I dare not. It's just that there is a reason. My child..." Ronnie's father was knocked to the ground by a punch from the soldier before he could finish his words.

"Stop talking nonsense! If you can't pay this year's share, there's no point in saying anything!"

The soldier spat, and the spit landed not far from Ronnie's father's head.

Ronnie's father was lying on the ground, groaning in pain, his hands tightly covering his abdomen, curled up into a ball.

The woman beside him saw this and anxiously helped him up, crying, "Daddy, what happened to you..."

The woman's voice was clearly filled with fear and trembling, but her face remained expressionless.

There's something weird everywhere.

Lin Nan couldn't sense the normal ups and downs of these people's emotions, which meant that these people were no longer human at all, and might not even be called monsters...

Lin Nan looked at the scene in front of him quietly. Suddenly, a shadow passed across the sky. The sun was about to disappear, and night fell again, like a huge black curtain, covering the whole world tightly.

The village, which had just been filled with the shouting of soldiers, the pleading of villagers, and the crashing of items being looted, all came to an abrupt halt, as if someone had pressed the pause button.

The surroundings instantly returned to a dead silence, so quiet that it was creepy.

The transition from day to night was so fast that it really caught people off guard.

"Captain, night is coming." The deputy captain and his men had returned to Renault's side. They looked at the motionless villagers vigilantly and said.

"Hide quickly."

Renault exclaimed in surprise, because he heard that sparse, creepy sound again.

It seemed like something was about to emerge from the ground in groups.

But where to hide?

There are villagers all around here. "Everyone, come up quickly."

At this time, Ronnie called them from the second-floor window of his house.

Seeing this, Renault picked up Lin Nan like a gentleman, exerted force with his legs, jumped into the room.

Others followed suit and jumped up.

The moment it became completely dark, Ronnie quickly closed the doors and windows.

"This is my room, everyone stay here first." Ronnie said.

The night was quiet, and Lin Nan heard the sparse sounds becoming more and more frequent. No one dared to speak anymore, and they held their breath and paid attention to the movements outside the house.

It seemed as if something was gradually taking shape, and a huge body appeared outside the window.

Its outline was vague in the darkness, and its specific shape was difficult to distinguish. One could only vaguely see that it had thick limbs, like some kind of ancient giant beast.

"Da da da--"

There were heavy footsteps slowly approaching them, and something like a head hesitated and swayed outside Lin Nan and their room.

Everyone's heart instantly rose to their throat, as if it would jump out of their throat in the next second.

Through the gaps in the window, they could smell a disgusting stench coming from the thing, as if a tomb that had been sealed for many years had suddenly been opened.

"Is Xiao Ni back?"

Suddenly a familiar voice was heard outside the house.

That was Ronnie's mother's voice, with a hint of expectation and confusion, which seemed particularly abrupt in this strange night.

"Well..." After persisting for an entire afternoon, Ronnie finally couldn't hold back his tears.

Hot tears slid down his tired and dusty cheeks and dripped onto the back of his clenched hands.

He covered his mouth tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force, as if only in this way could he hold back the pain and despair that was about to burst forth, and prevent his voice from being heard out.

A weak person is always cautious wherever he goes. Even if his inner world is about to collapse, he has no right to vent in the face of this cruel reality.

The monster outside the window was getting closer and closer. A kind of dreamy and disorganized whisper kept coming from outside. When the sentries in the house heard this sound, they covered their ears as if they were hit by an invisible force.

Here it comes again, that tingling feeling as if my head is pierced by steel bars!
Lin Nan's five senses were more acute than the sentry's. The humming sound of the metal was like a sharp file, frantically grinding back and forth in her mind for a long time. The sound was high-pitched and sharp, as if it could shred every inch of her nerves!

It was exactly the same as what she heard in Urd's mental picture...

Lin Nan pinched her calf hard, and the pain prevented her from fainting so quickly. Her eyes slowly lit up, and her spirit body was summoned out. Dozens of vines wandered silently in the air, slowly affecting everything around them. She adjusted her auditory perception system to the lowest level, and finally those whispering sounds in her dreams could no longer affect her.

Someone around him has already fallen down, and the cheetah sentinels with slightly lower mental levels have been affected by the monsters outside the window. The sentinels are tough and can withstand beatings, but they cannot withstand any mental torture. This is their weakness.

Lin Nan tried to stretch out the vines and gently touch the heads of everyone present, and also adjusted the sensitivity of their sensing systems to the lowest level. Gradually, the sound pollution slowly lost its effect.

The monster outside the window had already approached the window door. Something was pushing it frantically from outside. Under this brute force, the fragile wooden window made a "crack" sound, and the sharp sound of broken glass and the dull sound of broken frame were intertwined.

When Ronnie closed the windows and doors, he also pulled the curtains. At this moment, a wind with a smell of decay blew in from outside, cold and gloomy, blowing up a corner of the curtains.

Everyone's gaze was drawn involuntarily to the scene outside the pitch-black house, where a glaringly pale face suddenly appeared. It was as white as the lingering winter snow, devoid of a trace of blood, and looked eerie against the backdrop of darkness.

"Is Xiao Ni back?"

The gentle voice of a woman sounded faintly again.

Her tone was so careful and gentle, like a mother who had been waiting for her child to return, full of affection and longing.

However, in stark contrast to the gentle tone, the face was extremely cold and expressionless, and there was an indescribable chill in the eyes that made people shudder.

Renault, who had recovered a little, collapsed to the ground with his limbs limp. He was gasping for breath and cold sweat was pouring down his body.

But even though he was like this, he still didn't forget to protect Lin Nan behind him. It was in the nature of a sentinel to protect his guide. He whispered, "We've been discovered."

"She's looking for me. I'll stay and deal with her. You guys leave now!"

Ronnie also came to her side, his eyes were red and there were still tears in the corners of his eyes.

He stared at the familiar and longing face outside the window, and slowly drew the knife from his waist.

At this moment, a gentle hand held his hand and pushed his knife back.

"..."

Lin Nan said something softly, then slowly stood up.

However, the sentry, whose hearing was blocked, could not hear anything clearly. He only saw that the girl who was hiding behind him suddenly walked in front of him.

A faint green light emanated from her body, and dozens of vine spirits spread out. These vines seemed to possess a consciousness of their own. They stretched and swayed, drawing graceful and mysterious arcs through the air with Lin Nan as the center, slowly spreading outward. Wherever they touched, the air seemed to be stained with a faint green.

The tip of the branch quickly captured the monster's outward emotions.

"No." Lin Nan's gentle voice rang out in the house, "Your child hasn't come home yet."

The alien that was about to rush in paused, and in an instant all the suffocating buzzing sounds stopped, and the whole world returned to darkness and silence.

I don't know how long it was before the person outside the window whispered, "So that's how it is. You haven't come back yet?"

"Yes, let's look somewhere else..."

After hearing this, the dark "hand" finally retracted, and the monster turned around woodenly and slowly left.

"If I remember correctly, he's going home today." He muttered dejectedly as he walked. "This kid must have gone to play with Xiao He first. They have the best relationship... With so many guards here today, I don't know if they'll bump into him..."

Thank you all for your monthly tickets and recommendation tickets.

The lights and gates are officially turned off during the holiday!

Everyone go to bed early.

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(End of this chapter)