Help! I Do Not Want to Guide a Disaster

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

Xinyuan watched the heavy airship glide into the hangar, its landing thrusters hissing as it settled onto the metal plating.

Within minutes, Kaiwen, Su Zheng, Duan Ze, and Pei Luo walked out, heading straight toward him, but Xinyuan could barely focus. A strange, suffocating tightness was squeezing his chest.

Wenzhi is just asleep. He told himself but it wasn’t enough to push that feeling away.

"So, is it finally time to wipe the Capital off the map?" Su Zheng asked, an amused smirk playing on her lips as she approached.

"They did try to wipe us out first," Xinyuan replied, his voice sounding distant, even to his own ears.

"I still can’t believe Yanjing is just... gone," Kaiwen muttered, shaking his head.

"There were so many mutated beasts on our way back. We barely made it through the perimeter." Duan Ze sighed, and Kaiwen leaned his weight against him fondly.

Pei Luo scanned the hangar, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Where’s Wenzhi?"

"Probably asleep in our quarters," Xinyuan said, his eyes drifting toward the rows of stealth jets currently being prepped by teams of Espers, Guides, and elite mercenary squads.

"Got it," Pei Luo began walking toward the exit, with Duan Ze quickly following close behind.

The moment they were out of earshot, Su Zheng and Kaiwen immediately leaned in, their faces lighting up as they blinked expectantly at Xinyuan.

"Soooooo?" Su Zheng dragged out, her voice dripping with anticipation. "How did it go?"

Xinyuan slowly raised his left hand, letting the light catch the sleek metallic band on his finger.

Kaiwen gasped, immediately throwing his arms around the Esper in a massive, crushing hug that caught Xinyuan completely off guard, slapping him hard on the back. "You actually did it!"

He broke the embrace, laughing heartily, while Xinyuan let out a chuckle. Su Zheng practically swooned beside them. "Congratulations! Now, with that beautiful energy, let’s go blow up the Capital!"

She spun on her heel, marching eagerly toward the boarding ramp of the lead jet. Within minutes, the squadron was fully loaded.

As the massive steel hangar doors sealed shut behind the rising jets, the upper dome slid open, and the jets shot upward, roaring straight into the dense, suffocating red miasma of the zone. The dome automatically locked back into place behind them.

Soon, the jets tore through the dark; everyone onboard remained on high alert, scanning the clouds for any mutated Dovos. Kaiwen and Su Zheng stayed close to Xinyuan, their excitement still bubbling over.

"So, how did you actually propose?"

"Was it during a guiding session?"

"Was it super intense?"

"It’s nice to see your nerves finally relaxed for once."

They pelted him with questions, their voices filled with genuine joy for him. But Xinyuan could barely hear them.

Deep inside his chest, there was a sudden, terrifying slipping feeling. He couldn’t comprehend it. It was like a thread was slowly unraveling. And then, it started to hurt.

No. No, no, no.

The silence in the bond wasn’t the quiet of sleep anymore. It was too quiet.

Suddenly, the whispers Wenzhi had spent months soothing began to claw their way back to the surface. It had been so long since he had heard them, but now they were scratching at his skull.

"Xinyuan?" Su Zheng’s excited grin instantly melted away as she noticed the way the color had completely drained from his face. "Are you okay?"

"No," Xinyuan breathed.

The air in his lungs felt like glass. He staggered backward, pressing his back hard against the metal wall of the jet’s cabin to keep his knees from buckling.

"I need to go back," he gasped out, his eyes wide with a sudden, overwhelming panic. "I have to go back to Wenzhi. Right now."

Kaiwen’s expression turned dead serious. "Go. We will handle the strike on the Capital."

Xinyuan parted his lips to reply, but before he could speak, the sharp vibration of his phone rattled in his pocket. He pulled it out and the screen lit up.

Freckles.

Xinyuan’s eyes widened. He swiped the screen and pressed the phone tightly to his ear.

"I thought you were resting, freckles," he said, his voice a low, urgent murmur.

The line was met with a chilling silence.

Xinyuan’s brow furrowed, his heart hammering against his ribs. "Freckles?"

"I’m not... I can’t sleep," Wenzhi’s voice finally came through the speaker.

Xinyuan let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, a soft, relieved smile briefly touching his lips. "I’m coming back. Su Zheng and Kaiwen are going to handle the rest."

"I went out. I took a filter mask, so I am fine."

Xinyuan’s smile vanished instantly. Every muscle in his body locked up. "Oh?"

"Yes, I went to Yanjing. To our old place," Wenzhi’s voice continued on the other end, smooth but strangely forced. "You should come. Let’s reminisce."

Xinyuan’s grip on the phone tightened. He closed his eyes, his jaw clenching. Beside him, Kaiwen and Su Zheng exchanged tense looks.

"Okay," Xinyuan said, his voice dangerously quiet. "I’ll be right there."

The line went dead immediately.

Xinyuan slowly lowered the phone, staring blankly at the dark screen.

"What’s wrong?" Kaiwen asked, his voice sharp with concern.

"I don’t know. But that wasn’t Wenzhi."

"Huh?" Su Zheng arched a brow.

The voices in Xinyuan’s mind were getting louder. "I need to go."

"I’m coming with you," Su Zheng insisted, stepping up beside him without a second of hesitation.

"I’ll make sure the Capital gets blown to hell," Kaiwen said, his expression grim.

Both Xinyuan and Su Zheng gave a curt nod. In the next second, their mist swallowed them whole, teleporting them out of the roaring jet cabin.

They materialized in the ruins of Yanjing City.

The once-thriving city was a rubbled wasteland. The thick, blood-red miasma of the Red Zone hung heavy in the air, limiting visibility to mere yards.

From the shadows of the collapsed buildings came the echoing, guttural snarls, growls, and high-pitched screeches of mutated beasts roaming the rubble.

Xinyuan and Su Zheng stood in the middle of the cracked asphalt street that led toward Wenzhi and Xinyuan’s old apartment.

Without Wenzhi, Xinyuan’s body was instinctively absorbing the red mist like a sponge, his dark chain tattoos pulsing with a faint crimson glow.

Su Zheng took a step back. "Xinyuan, this is a trap."

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