CH 42

Si Di did get a little hurt, but it wasn’t too bad. His wounds would have already healed by the time the ship docked later. The cause of his injury was none other than Si Chu’s arrival, his excitement causing him to rush over from a distance and pounce on Si Di. As a result, Si Di tumbled to the ground, his elbow scraping against the rugged rocks by the shore.

In an instant, Si Di’s arm had two patches of scraped skin, oozing blood. In the past, if it wasn’t an injury involving flying intestines, he wouldn’t have given it a second thought. However, this time, Si Di acted a bit strangely. When the onboard medical staff diagnosed Si Chu and Ye Feiran, he stood by, arms crossed, leaning against the door frame, observing for a long time. Eventually, when others voiced their doubts, he extended his scraped right forearm and said, “Could you please bandage this for me?”

The nurse: “…”

The nurse disinfected it with iodine and pulled out two large band-aids from her pocket. Si Di stared at these two band-aids, clearly unsatisfied. The young nurse, puzzled, withdrew her hand: “Captain Si?”

Ten minutes later, the legend of the tower, the stern-faced, iron-blooded sentinel, the former captain of the Storm Squad, Si Di, emerged from the medical room holding his right arm wrapped in several layers of bandages, a serious waste of medical resources. Si Chu had been sitting in the cabin, eating a chocolate bar to replenish his energy when he saw his brother in such a state. He was terrified, thinking he had broken his brother’s arm.

“Dogs can’t eat chocolate,” Si Di walked over and exchanged the items in his brother’s hand for ginger brown sugar water. “Once we get to shore, tell Xiao Zhenyun that I got injured. Got it?”

As he said this, he casually tossed the chocolate bar to Tian Lu, the deer, who lowered its head in confusion, sniffed it, licked it, and didn’t seem to fancy it much. 

Si Chu, who lost his chocolate, “…”

The Czech wolfdog, who also can’t eat chocolate, “…”

Tai Ji, of the same family as the wolfdog, and can’t eat chocolate, “…”

While Si Chu might be a bit simple-minded, he wasn’t really stupid. Even if he didn’t understand what Si Di was trying to do at that moment, with a bit of thinking time, he could probably figure it out. Although he might have misunderstood, he thought seriously, ‘Could it be that Ye Feiran really guessed correctly? Is there a rift in the relationship between my brother and my little uncle? Does my brother doubt whether my uncle is sincere to him, so he plans to use this injury to check his reaction…

Is it that Xiao Jiali? Is he deliberately trying to seduce my little uncle? Pretending to have amnesia and moving into my uncle’s house, taking advantage of his sympathy, and being a third party? It doesn’t look like a good thing! ‘

“Bro, don’t worry. I’ll go back and beat up Xiao Jiali.” Si Chu said angrily, “I’ll get revenge for you!”

Si Di: “?”

As the number one solid supporter of the ‘little uncle x brother CP’, Si Chu, exhausted his lifetime of acting skills, upon landing, he showed a look of concern, self-blame, anxiety, and a hint of guilt to Xiao Zhenyun. He hadn’t expected to hear Xiao Zhenyun curse just halfway through the lie he had made up.

This was the first time Si Chu had heard his usually gentle uncle, who was as elegant as the moon and pine, utter a curse word. He was genuinely stunned for a moment. Turning to see Xiao Zhenyun already pushing his wheelchair alone towards Si Di, Si Chu suddenly felt very happy and said to Ye Feiran, “Did you hear that? My little uncle is so worried that he’s already cussing people out. He really cares about my brother. Why are you still speculating about their relationship? It’s baseless.”

“…I hope that’s the case,” Ye Feiran didn’t argue. Although he still found Xiao Zhenyun’s behavior strange, his subconscious reactions wouldn’t be faked. At least it didn’t seem like Xiao Zhenyun was insincere about his feelings for Si Di. So maybe he didn’t need to dwell on minor details. After all, everyone has their own secrets…

On Si Di’s arm, the bandage wrapped around it looked incredibly exaggerated, as if he had suffered a bone fracture. Xiao Zhenyun furrowed his brows as he watched Si Di cover his arm with a windbreaker to relax. “What happened?”

“Accident…hiss” Si Di pretended to wince as he moved, pulling at his wound, making his shoulder tense up with pain.

Xiao Zhenyun was looking at his right arm genuinely concerned, but when he heard that groan, he quickly realized what was going on. He glanced at Si Di’s eyes and said, “Why did the nurse wrap it so thick? Aren’t you feeling hot?”

Back on the deserted island, Si Di had endured severe injuries, with his wrist genuinely broken, not uttering a word of pain or even a twitch. Now, he was acting as if a little wind caused him excruciating pain. Who was he trying to fool?

“You’re no fun at all,” Si Di, who had only enjoyed ‘Xiao Zhenyun’s care for 10 seconds,’ criticized.

Since he couldn’t deceive anyone, Si Di soon removed the bandage after returning to Xiao Zhenyun’s room. While halfway there, an employee from the logistics department, responsible for accommodation, saw him, waved, and was about to ask if he needed a room. However, he was taken aback as Si Di turned and confidently entered the vice-chairman’s room.

“…”

“???”

For a sentinel, a minor scrape on the forearm didn’t even count as an injury, but Xiao Zhenyun still thought like an ordinary person, so he was taken aback when he saw the cut and blood. He was amazed at his own miscalculation, “Is it that serious?”

Si Di was about to put on his coat, but upon hearing Xiao Zhenyun’s words, he turned around. He gazed at Xiao Zhenyun’s wheelchair as it slowly rolled into the bedroom, and he took out a basic first aid kit. He then rolled back to Si Di. 

Si Di was no fool, and there was no hint of him reaching for the medical kit. He sat on the sofa, pushed up his sleeve, and presented the wound to Xiao Zhenyun, eagerly awaiting his care.

Tian Lu watched from the side, thinking that he was quite familiar with this situation, extending his tongue and wanting to lick the wound. Xiao Zhenyun used his hand to keep Tian Lu away, and meticulously used cotton swabs and iodine to disinfect Si Di’s wound.

He gently pressed the cotton ball onto the wound, and Si Di sat up straight. From his perspective, he could see Xiao Zhenyun’s long eyelashes, a straight nose, and pale lips, while his bony hands held the slender cotton swab with great care, making sure not to hurt him.

“You don’t have to be so careful,” he said. “Sentinels don’t mind pain.”

“Who was it that woke me up three times in the middle of the night because of pain?” Xiao Zhenyun closed the first aid kit.

Si Di smiled as he put everything back in its place and then pushed Xiao Zhenyun downstairs for lunch.

Initially, Xiao Zhenyun thought that since Si Chu and Ye Feiran had been rescued, Si Di would leave soon to continue his own affairs. However, he had practically finished his work earlier, only leaving some loose ends. Because of Si Chu’s situation, he decided to leave earlier. His other colleagues had taken on the remaining tasks, relieving him of the need to return.

During lunch, Si Di’s return to the spotlight after months of leave attracted many colleagues’ attention, especially among the leadership. As an S-level sentinel with a history of mental breakdowns, he was always a hot topic in the Union, especially now that he appears so composed and stable. Although he still wears a collar and a restraint ring, his spiritual condition is very stable. Anyone who knew his identity would take a detour to look at him more closely.

After some chit-chat and laughter, Si Di quickly obtained the examiner’s exemption qualification and assumed office. Two days later, alongside Si Chu, he arrived at the examination site to make things difficult for the candidates over the next couple of days.

Xiao Zhenyun shared the bad news with Xiao Nian, who could only fume helplessly from afar. Surprisingly, the administrator had already grown accustomed to such occurrences and replied casually, “Doesn’t matter. Since Xiao Jiali is going to participate in the simulation, having these two troublemakers take each other down might just resolve everything.”

Xiao Zhenyun did not believe that the World administrator would easily give up. But thinking about it, the recent plots have been completed well, so even if there were slight mistakes in the future, the administrator would be able to keep a calm mind.

Two days later, Chairman Xiao Jingfeng arrived at the examination area. At the pre-exam rally, he delivered an inspiring speech, followed by representatives of the examiners and candidates taking their oaths on stage. This time, Xiao Zhenyun didn’t have to sit up on the podium, so he relaxed among the members of the publicity team, playing a casual match-three game on his terminal.

Inexplicably, he suddenly felt a burning gaze. He turned his head and met the amber eyes of Xiao Jiali in the candidate’s area. The little bird had clearly spotted him long ago, and Xiao Jiali had been watching him intently for some time. As their eyes met, Xiao Jiali greeted him with a surprised smile, raising his hands in a subtle wave.

Seated next to him was probably his newly acquainted sentinel buddy, with a head adorned by striking yellow-black spotted patterns. It seemed like his spirit form was a leopard. The leopard sentinel looked at Xiao Jiali with a puzzled expression, and his gaze followed Xiao Jiali’s towards a white-clad guide who glanced their way. His thick black hair casually pulled back and draped over one shoulder, his smoky blue eyes faintly tinged with purple due to the lighting, exuding an air of mystery and nobility. Just by sitting there, he turned everyone else into mere background, even the most common guide uniform he wore appeared to be high-end designer attire for a top-tier banquet.

The leopard sentinel couldn’t help but chuckle and waved hello to Xiao Zhenyun, as if they were old pals, then immediately asked in a hushed tone, “Who’s that? Don’t tell me he’s your guide.”

“How is that possible?” Xiao Jiali quickly shook his head, “Don’t you recognize him? He’s quite famous in the tower…”

“I don’t recognize him… but it’s normal for someone looking like that to be famous,” the leopard sentinel sneaked another glance at Xiao Zhenyun, as the guide had already averted his gaze. His profile remained perfectly flawless, “What’s his spirit form? Can I pursue him?”

“Deer,” Xiao Jiali hesitated, “No one can stop a sentinel from pursuing a guide, but I advise against it. He already has mutual interest with another sentinel.”

“Young hatchling, you’ve been a sentinel for too short a time,” the leopard sentinel said with feigned wisdom, his long, patterned tail swaying behind him, “You don’t understand the cruelty of our kind’s courtship. Mutual interest means nothing; only a permanent bonding is the real deal. Before that, any actions are permitted, after all, bonding is irreversible, and there’s no room for regret. Why give up a lifetime of happiness over some trivial moral concerns?”

“Uh…” Xiao Jiali lowered his head, “Examiner Si Di is watching us.”

“Oh, was my voice too loud?”

“No, it’s because he’s that Sentinel.”

“…” 

The leopard sentinel’s tail curled around the chair leg silently.

A few seconds after Xiao Jiali’s gaze disappeared, Xiao Zhenyun felt another burning gaze from a different direction, but when he looked up to capture it, he couldn’t find the person.

He lowered his head, confused, and coincidentally received a message from Si Di: Trouble makers.

Xiao Zhenyun: ?

Si Di: Watch me deduct all these little rascals’ scores.

Xiao Zhenyun: ??

Deduct away, Xiao Zhenyun thought, it’s not my points that will be deducted anyway.

After the mobilization assembly, there was an hour of preparation time. At precisely half-past eight in the morning, the simulated combat began.

Aside from scoring the students based on live broadcast footage from numerous remote cameras, some examiners entered the examination area to engage in direct combat or cooperation with the students, providing close-up assessments of their performance. Students humorously referred to these examiners as ‘real-life NPCs.’

In the original text, Si Chu and Ye Feiran played the roles of these real-life NPCs, standing on the opposite side of the students, engaging in intellectual battles and fierce exchanges, showing mutual respect. After this, the outstanding students whose names appeared in the plot naturally became Si Chu’s friends and became a significant asset in helping him form his own team within the union in the future.

What Xiao Nian feared the most was that Si Di’s addition during the simulation would change this significant plotline, causing irreversible consequences. After all, with Si Di still alive and well, his name within the guild was far more prominent than Si Chu’s. With the Storm Team about to be rebuilt, if he set his sights on these students, who would become the future cornerstone of the team, it would be crystal clear whose olive branch they would accept in days to come, wouldn’t it?

Xiao Zhenyun smiled faintly and replied: I think so too.

Xiao Nian: ?

Xiao Nian: Why are you so proud? Pleased with yourself?

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