Chapter 197: You’re So Good to Him, It Makes Me Both Envious and Jealous

Chapter 197: Chapter 197: You’re So Good to Him, It Makes Me Both Envious and Jealous

Yun Sheng froze.

The grip on her wrist was searingly hot and tight. When she looked at Xing Che, his face was taut, and his gaze was terrifyingly cold.

Her heart leaped into her throat, and she immediately whipped her head around to look at Cheng Nian and Li Wen.

"Get over here! Come to me!"

No one could predict what was about to happen, but it would be safer, at least, by Xing Che’s side.

Cheng Nian and Li Wen exchanged a glance and moved to Yun Sheng’s side without a word.

They had witnessed Xing Che’s strength and knew that with him around, it was at least safer than anywhere else.

Zhou Ying hesitated for a moment, then pulled Zhao Qian along with her.

He Yi shielded the girls, his eyes warily scanning their surroundings.

Seeing this, Guo Kai and Ma Yu quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

They had just been hit by that spiritual attack. Their spiritual landscapes were still reeling, and they were already struggling just to resist the pressure radiating from Qi Yao.

Protecting the Preparatory Guides was their duty. They had been pushing themselves to stay vigilant, terrified that another contaminant would leap from the shadows.

Now that Xing Che had taken it upon himself to protect them, they could finally free up their hands to deal with other threats.

Ma Yu used his blade for support as he stood up. He walked over to Guo Kai and asked in a low voice, "Brother Guo, how are you holding up?"

Guo Kai wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and shook his head without a word, his gaze fixed heavily in Qi Yao’s direction.

Qi Yao was half-kneeling on the ground, his spiritual power rippling out from him in waves like an uncontrollable tide.

The Sentinels who had been closest to him were blasted by his spiritual power. Their faces turned deathly pale as they staggered back several steps.

An empty circle now formed around him. No one dared approach—not because they didn’t want to, but because the spiritual pressure was so immense they couldn’t get close.

"This can’t go on!" Zhao Heng said urgently, his voice tight and hoarse. "We have to cross this open ground as fast as possible and get back to camp!"

The surrounding Sentinels all nodded in unison.

Qi Yao’s condition was critical. He had to get back to camp and find a guide to soothe him immediately, or the consequences would be unthinkable!

Zhao Heng quickly ordered a few Sentinels to surround Qi Yao, preventing him from harming their own men if his condition deteriorated.

He then hurried over to Xing Che and said in a low voice, "The Junior General is in a bad way. We have to get back to camp immediately. Do you... do you have a plan?"

This open field ahead might be hiding an extremely High-Level contaminant that specializes in spiritual attacks.

And no one could guarantee there weren’t other High-Level contaminants besides that one.

Charging in blindly would be suicide.

That was why Zhao Heng had no choice but to turn to Xing Che. After all, he was the one who had stopped them and warned them not to proceed in the first place.

Xing Che narrowed his eyes slightly. He glanced at Zhao Heng, then back at the open field, his brow furrowing even more deeply.

"There is no good solution. We either charge, or we wait."

"Wait? Wait for what?" Zhao Heng asked hesitantly.

But Xing Che didn’t answer. Instead, he turned to look at Yun Sheng.

The moment Yun Sheng met his gaze, her heart skipped a beat.

’When he said ’wait,’ he couldn’t possibly mean waiting for Si Jin to make a move, could he?’

’Based on what I know of Si Jin, even if he left, he wouldn’t have gone far. He must still be protecting me from the shadows.’

’Besides, I can still sense the faint, intermittent presence of the little wolf.’

Seeing Xing Che remain silent, Zhao Heng grew more anxious. Just as he was about to press the issue, a new wave of sonic attacks hit them.

The shrill shrieks came one after another. The surrounding Sentinels’ faces quickly turned ashen. Those already injured, like Guo Kai, staggered and nearly collapsed.

The attack provoked Qi Yao again. The spiritual power around him erupted like a violent torrent, bursting forth continuously.

Animalistic roars erupted from his throat. His eyes were completely bloodshot; he was about to lose his last shred of sanity.

Yun Sheng saw that Cheng Nian and the others also looked terrible. While they weren’t affected by the sonic attack, they could barely resist Qi Yao’s spiritual pressure.

Her brow furrowed. She quickly gathered several tendrils of spiritual power at her fingertips and sent them silently streaking toward Qi Yao.

’If my spiritual power can soothe Bai Ye and Si Jin, it can definitely help Qi Yao too!’

Just as she expected, the moment her spiritual power made contact with Qi Yao’s, his whole body shuddered, and the overflowing energy seemed to freeze for an instant.

Seeing it was working, Yun Sheng gathered a few more tendrils and sent them over.

Qi Yao’s condition improved visibly.

No one else noticed the anomaly. They just assumed Qi Yao had managed to suppress his own rampaging spiritual power.

Only Xing Che sensed the familiar spiritual power fluctuation, and the hand gripping Yun Sheng’s wrist suddenly tightened.

He lowered his voice, "You..."

"Cover for me!" Yun Sheng cut him off, her voice low but incredibly decisive.

Xing Che’s pupils shrank slightly.

The next second, his own spiritual power rippled outward like an invisible curtain, silently enveloping and concealing the fluctuations of Yun Sheng’s.

No one around them noticed a thing. Only Yun Sheng felt that gentle yet powerful force steadily supporting her, hiding every last tendril of her spiritual power completely.

Under Xing Che’s cover, Yun Sheng channeled a few more tendrils of spiritual power.

The rampaging spiritual power around Qi Yao quieted down bit by bit, as if being gently smoothed by a tender hand.

He pushed himself up with his blade, swaying on his feet before barely managing to steady himself.

But those eyes, still tinged with blood, looked straight in Yun Sheng and Xing Che’s direction.

Yun Sheng lowered her gaze and leaned closer to Xing Che. With her head bowed and her fingers twisting the hem of her sleeve, she put on the perfect image of someone terrified.

She had acted for two reasons: one, to protect Cheng Nian and the others, and two, to prevent Si Jin from actually showing himself to help.

Running into Si Jin before could be passed off as a coincidence. If he showed up to help again, no one would think much of it in the heat of the moment, but afterward... who knew what conclusions they might draw.

She didn’t want to cause trouble for herself, nor did she want to cause trouble for Si Jin.

Seeing her lean over on her own initiative, Xing Che simply reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist.

A searing heat spread from her waist. Yun Sheng instinctively looked up and glared at him.

Xing Che met her gaze and said sourly, "So Shengsheng would rather expose her special ability than have that Dark Sentinel risk revealing himself. You’re so good to him. So good it makes me envious and jealous."

His words left Yun Sheng speechless. She wanted to push him away but feared the large movement would attract attention.

She gritted her teeth and said in a low voice, "Shut up."

Xing Che didn’t get angry. The arm around her waist tightened slightly as he leaned close to her ear, his voice tinged with hurt.

"I helped cover for you, and I don’t even get a single word of thanks?"

Yun Sheng ignored him, her gaze going past his shoulder to glance at Qi Yao.

Qi Yao had already looked away and was leaning on his blade, speaking to Zhao Heng about something.

She let out a quiet sigh of relief, but the unease in her heart didn’t fade.

’The longer we’re delayed here, the worse it is for us!’

Thinking of this, Yun Sheng suddenly looked at Xing Che, her expression serious. She said, enunciating each word, "Xing Che, I have an idea. I need your help."