The days of being pursued by countless Sentinels were far from pleasant.
The two of them encountered endless pursuers along the way, escaping only by the skin of their teeth each time.
A combination of a High-level Guide and a Mid-level Sentinel simply wasn’t enough in this Sentinel world.
Those chasing after the God-Given Relic were at least High-level Sentinels at minimum.
Their only chance at survival was that everyone else had their own agendas, playing mind games with each other while simultaneously hunting them down, leaving just a sliver of breathing room.
Every time, Hu Feng was gravely injured.
Her healing skills could barely keep up with the speed at which he got hurt.
One day, she made a sudden decision.
“Hu Feng, I’ve decided to hand over the God-Given Relic.”
Hu Feng closed his eyes.
“Zhugao, it’s too late.”
From the moment the silver light of the God-Given Relic fell upon her, it was already too late.
Everyone knew she had received the blessing of the God-Given Relic.
What would they guess she had obtained?
Why did she deserve to possess it?
Even if the God-Given Relic left her, the Warrant of Pursuit wouldn’t disappear.
Because she once possessed it.
Ning Li clearly understood this too.
In fact, she herself didn’t particularly care.
The God-Given Relic was something she picked up; whatever happened afterward, she could accept.
Because it was her own choice.
But Hu Feng didn’t gain any benefit from it, and was dragged into an irreversible abyss because of her.
She caused the trouble, but it was always him who bore it with her.
“Hu Feng, try it again.”
Hu Feng tried.
But unfortunately, the Cube seemed to have gone into hibernation, showing not the slightest reaction.
Yet Hu Feng was quite calm about this, his expression relaxed, still able to joke with Ning Li.
“Maybe I’m just not the destined one it’s waiting for.”
“But the destined one wants you to receive the blessing of the God-Given Relic too.”
A deep sorrow shrouded Ning Li’s eyes.
She didn’t know why, but she felt as if she’d known this feeling before, as if Hu Feng had once given everything for her.
They were going to die.
Ning Li was well aware of this.
She began frantically reviewing everything she’d done since picking up the God-Given Relic.
She should have been more cautious.
She should have waited until it was absolutely safe before showing off to Hu Feng.
Who could have known that the sunlight that day would just happen to shine on the God-Given Relic, and that the light would be caught by someone familiar watching from the shadows?
Perhaps that child had been observing her and Hu Feng all along.
If she had another chance, she would definitely do better.
“I’ve already received its blessing,” Hu Feng said.
If it were just him, perhaps he’d never come across the God-Given Relic his whole life, let alone hold it in his own hands.
Just being able to feel its warmth was enough.
“I’m sorry, Hu Feng. I dragged you into this.”
“It’s all right. Actually, I’m quite happy.”
Ning Li thought Hu Feng was just comforting her.
Who could be happy while being hunted?
They were being pursued by all Sentinels and Guides, living each day under indescribable pressure.
In her rare moments of sleep, Ning Li dreamt only of being hunted.
Hu Feng knew Ning Li didn’t believe him, but during this time, he truly was happy.
He didn’t know how to tell her, but to him, it was a unique and precious experience.
His life had been far too monotonous.
Frontlines, forbidden zones.
Other than that, it was as if there was nothing else.
His life was really bland—day after day, just dealing with Aberrants.
Though his mother was romantic and passionate, he hadn’t inherited any of that.
Perhaps he’d only inherited the rigid seriousness of his biological father.
Looking back on his twenty-four years of life, he could hardly recall any interesting moments.
Aside from studying, it was just Aberrants—so dull to the extreme.
Yet during this period as Hu Feng, he could easily pick out those little fragments of interesting life.
Walking the beach with Ning Li was fun.
Panning for gold with Ning Li was fun.
Searching for ways to use the God-Given Relic with Ning Li was fun.
Even being on the Warrant of Pursuit with Ning Li was fun.
He’d never thought he’d end up on a wanted list one day, all because of a God-Given Relic.
Not everyone got the experience of being wanted by the whole world.
Hu Feng’s life might be short, but it was certainly exciting enough.
“We’re going to die together again,” Ning Li said, pausing in surprise.
Why had she said “again”?
“You won’t die,” Hu Feng whispered.
But the wind scattered his words, and Ning Li didn’t hear them.
Ning Li and Hu Feng were found in District 52.
More than thirty High-level Sentinels had come.
They really thought highly of them.
Among the more than thirty Sentinels, of course, was Ran Fo.
Ning Li deliberately tried to stir things up.
“There’s only one God-Given Relic, but there are more than thirty of you. How will you split it?”
Unfortunately, no one took the bait, so Ning Li couldn’t even sow discord.
Ran Fo must have made some kind of promise ahead of time, making his group the most united among all the pursuers.
“You two are really good at running, crossing more than twenty Districts.”
“Tsk tsk, Zhugao, you’ve advanced from a Mid-level Guide to a High-level Guide, haven’t you? If you were still Mid-level, you couldn’t have escaped this far.”
“This God-Given Relic seems able to raise the upper limit for Guides and Sentinels.”
“It’s a good thing.”
“Ran, your sister has hope now!”
Ran Fo looked down at the two desperate fugitives, his voice icy.
“Any last words before you die?”
Hu Feng smiled calmly.
He picked up the coveted Cube, the God-Given Relic, and tossed it into his mouth as if it were a piece of candy, then swallowed it nonchalantly.
The God-Given Relic that everyone else treasured so much was lighter than a feather in his hands.
“Hu Feng! Are you looking to die?!”
Hu Feng said, “I’m your target. Let her go.”
Only then did Ning Li remember—after asking Hu Feng to try the God-Given Relic, he hadn’t given it back to her.
Her mind had been too preoccupied, and she’d overlooked this.
So he’d intended to take everyone down with him from the very start?
Ning Li grabbed his arm.
“I’m not leaving.”
Ran Fo’s eyes flashed with fury as he waved a hand.
“Let Zhugao go. Now that the God-Given Relic is with Hu Feng, Zhugao is no longer important—or rather, temporarily unimportant.”
Then Ran Fo looked at Hu Feng.
“Because of what you’ve done, you’ll die horribly. Wouldn’t it be better to hand over the God-Given Relic? Why do something so pointless?”
No one cared whether attacking Hu Feng would damage the God-Given Relic he had swallowed.
Hu Feng was as good as dead.
If the outcome was already decided, Hu Feng didn’t care how he died.
He only cared if Zhugao could survive.
“Zhugao, go!”
“I won’t!”
The Spirit Dolphin grew from a tiny creature to several meters in size.
With a cry, it tossed Ning Li onto its back and carried her away at top speed towards another District.
Ran Fo raised his hand, his tone cold.
“Do it!”
“Don’t!!!”
“Hu Feng!!!”
Countless skills rained down on Hu Feng.
The battered Spirit Dolphin beneath him raised its head and let out a long cry, full of regret and sorrow.
That long lament echoed through the sky, as if it were the Spirit Dolphin’s final wail.
This road had been so hard.
They had been hunted by countless people.
Both were at the end of their rope, but Ning Li was still faring better than Hu Feng.
He had always shielded her.
In their rare moments of respite, Hu Feng would share interesting stories, and Ning Li would tell him tales from her past.
Supporting each other, even being hunted was less despairing.
But this road had finally reached its end.
The pitch-black, bouncy, soft, and slick-feeling dolphin was about to dissolve.
Ning Li knew it was because Hu Feng’s mental sea was scattering.
Every Sentinel experienced this just before death.
Before the Spirit Dolphin vanished, Ning Li leapt from its back ahead of time.
Hu Feng had been blasted dozens of meters away by the skills of more than thirty Sentinels, and the spot where she landed was precisely where he was.
With the superior eyesight of a High-level Guide, Ning Li saw the shock, confusion, and disbelief in Hu Feng’s beautiful eyes.
It’s all right.
Since this started with her, let her end it.
In those days on the run, if it had only been her, there would’ve been no point in going on.
She didn’t want to run anymore.
If there’s a next time…
If there is, she would do much better!
“Zhugao!”
Ning Li’s mental sea expanded madly.
Her memories pulled at her with wild force.
One moment she was Guide Zhugao, fighting Aberrants on the shore of District 77.
The next, she was Ning Li, a student at the Guide Academy of the Borderlands.
One moment, she’d found the God-Given Relic.
The next, she was attending class at the Guide Academy of the Borderlands.
One moment, it was a Cube-shaped God-Given Relic.
The next, it was a spherical one.
The Cube-shaped God-Given Relic only existed in the dream woven by the Samsara Sphere.
Only the Samsara Sphere was Ning Li’s true God-Given Relic.
When the Samsara Sphere once again fell into Ning Li’s palm, her memories completely returned.
She remembered—she was Ning Li.
To gain power, she used the God-Given Relic once more—
—the Samsara Sphere.
During those days as Zhugao, she and Hu Feng had fought Aberrants on the District 77 coast for over a month.
All those days and nights of battle, the experience gained, the relentless skill usage—all of it returned to her.
How wonderful.
She was stronger again.
[Master, your mental sea has gotten so much bigger!]
[Master, what did you do?]
“I fought for over a month, and then spent another three months on the run under the Warrant of Pursuit.”
So becoming stronger was only natural.
It turned out that whole hard journey could be summed up in a few words.
[On the run?]
[Why were you on the run?]
Ning Li didn’t answer Xiao Hei’s string of questions.
She lifted her gaze and looked into the trembling eyes of Yin Que.
They had died together again, in District 52, surrounded by more than thirty High-level Sentinels and one Top-level Sentinel.
Ran Fo hadn’t held back.
Nor did they need him to.
They were strangers to begin with.
Yin Que looked at Ning Li seriously.
“Why didn’t you run?”
He was asking—why didn’t Zhugao run at the end?
She clearly could have.
She could have survived.
Ning Li shrugged carelessly.
“Because I didn’t want to.”
She didn’t even know how she’d endured those three months on the run.
Maybe it was out of sheer stubbornness, maybe she just hoped she’d get promoted to a Top-level Guide.
But in truth, she had always known the most important reason.
That was Hu Feng had always been by her side.
Because he was there, the escape was not so hopeless.
When Ning Li fell into a warm and tight embrace, she murmured,
“Yin Que, we’re both still alive. That’s wonderful.”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.