First Interstellar Guide Chapter 114: Extra 15: Parallel World; Late Night Rendezvous

Chapter 114: Extra 15: Parallel World; Late Night Rendezvous

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

At half past eleven the next night, Xie Ran once again burrowed from his hideout to the adjacent Sentinel Academy. Sure enough, Lu Zexuan was waiting for him on the other side of the isolation wall. Seeing Xie Ran’s furry head emerge from underground, Lu Zexuan reluctantly pulled him forward, asking, “You weren’t discovered, were you?”

Xie Ran replied, “Don’t worry, everyone was asleep. My fox has invisibility abilities, so we won’t be detected.”

Lu Zexuan breathed a sigh of relief, leading Xie Ran to a corner of the woods and finding a rock to sit on.

Xie Ran looked at Lu Zexuan, expressing concern, “What about you? Sentinels have sharp hearing. Won’t your roommates notice you sneaking out of the dorm?”

Lu Zexuan reassured him, “It’s fine, I only came out after my roommates were asleep.”

The two exchanged glances. At that time, they were still young and hadn’t considered the issue of “early romance”, feeling only the excitement of meeting secretly in the woods late at night. Xie Ran shook the dust off his hair and asked, “You promised to be my practice model last night, right?”

Lu Zexuan replied, “Of course I did. How do you want to practice?”

Excitedly, Xie Ran extended his mental tendrils, “Let’s start with the basics. I want to understand your mental landscape first.”

Lu Zexuan nodded and adjusted his breathing to cooperate with Xie Ran.

When he was very young, he had been sealed by his mother. At that time, he was too young, and his memories had become fuzzy. Apart from his mother, no guide had entered his mental landscape. Now, being touched by a guide in a conscious state, Lu Zexuan couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous.

Xie Ran’s red mental tendrils gently touched his forehead, seemingly carrying a warm temperature. Lu Zexuan straightened his back, waiting for his mental landscape to be invaded by the guide. However, after waiting for a while, nothing happened. The two stared at each other, puzzled.

After a while, Lu Zexuan asked, “Why haven’t you entered yet?”

Xie Ran’s ears turned slightly red, “The mental barrier of an S-class sentinel is too thick. My healing abilities aren’t strong enough to break through at the moment! By the way, why is your defense barrier so strong? Can’t you ease up a bit and let me try to break through?”

This “if I can’t beat you, I’ll cheat” attitude was just like when they were kids.

Back then, when they played badminton together, if Xie Ran couldn’t catch Lu Zexuan’s shots, he would boldly say: Can’t you let me win?

Thinking back to those days, Lu Zexuan’s lips couldn’t help but curve slightly, “I thought you were going to challenge how to break through the mental barrier of an S-class sentinel. Did you fail the challenge?”

Xie Ran complained, “If I used my attacking tendrils, of course, I could break through successfully. But I’m afraid of hurting you. My talent is in attack, and my healing ability is only at a B level.”

So that’s it. Xie Ran was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to control the severity when practicing with a real sentinel for the first time and might hurt Lu Zexuan. Therefore, he didn’t dare to use his attacking ability to break through the barrier. Although he was daring and even dared to dig a hole, he had principles and wouldn’t hurt people indiscriminately. Especially when Lu Zexuan was willing to trust him and be his “practice model”, he couldn’t bear to hurt Lu Zexuan’s mental landscape.

Listening to his straightforward words, Lu Zexuan’s heart warmed, and he voluntarily lowered his guard, “Alright, try now.”

Xie Ran tried to break through again, and this time, the layers of barriers outside the mental landscape disappeared in an instant. Xie Ran’s mental tendrils smoothly entered Lu Zexuan’s mental landscape, and the fox also appeared at the foot of the snowy mountain.

Xie Ran looked at the scene in front of him in shock, “Is your landscape a snowy mountain?”

The towering and majestic snowy mountain, stretching endlessly. Lu Zexuan’s mental landscape was much larger than the school’s intelligent robots.

The voice of Lu Zexuan sounded in the mental world, “This is the home I created for the White Eagle. What do you think?”

Xie Ran praised, “It’s magnificent.” He wandered around the foot of the snowy mountain and asked, “Can I go inside?”

Lu Zexuan said, “Of course.”

Xie Ran took the fox and walked into the depths of the snowy mountain. There were many memories of Lu Zexuan here, and many of them were clearly related to Xie Ran. For example, at their first meeting at the military department’s annual conference, Xie Ran hid under the table to sneakily eat chicken legs, his mouth smeared with sauce, and even pulled Lu Zexuan to eat together. Like when they were kids, they built a starship model together, and the entire process was completely remembered by Lu Zexuan. There was also the time they went to the amusement park, when they held each other’s hands tightly on the roller coaster.

Back then, they ate together every day, went to the library together, played basketball, and climbed mountains together… Looking at these familiar memory bubbles, filled with memories of them, Xie Ran felt warm inside and couldn’t help but softly say, “You remember these childhood things so clearly?”

Lu Zexuan said seriously, “You’re my best friend. We grew up together from childhood. It’s normal to remember these things, right?”

Xie Ran smiled, “True, there are also many memories of you in my mental landscape.”

The first time entering a sentinel’s mental landscape, Xie Ran was full of curiosity about everything. Lu Zexuan generously opened his mental world to him, allowing him to play and explore as he wished. They were still young and didn’t know what it meant for a sentinel to completely open their mental world to a guide.

The snowy mountain in front of them soared into the clouds. Xie Ran couldn’t climb it, so he said, “Can you take me to the top of the mountain?”

Lu Zexuan said, “I haven’t evolved flying abilities yet. Let White Eagle take us up.”

White Eagle immediately spread its wings and took Xie Ran and Lu Zexuan to the highest peak of the mountain.

The sunlight fell on the snowy ground, reflecting dazzling golden rays. The snow-covered mountains stretched endlessly, surrounded by white mist, like a fairyland on earth. Xie Ran couldn’t help but marvel, “The mountaintop is so beautiful. It’s the first time I’ve seen such a magnificent snow scene.”

Lu Zexuan said, “If you want to see it in the future, just let me know.”

When Xie Ran heard this, he suddenly felt extremely happy—having a sentinel willing to open their mental landscape to him and promising that he could come in anytime to see. This feeling of being trusted was really nice. However, Lu Zexuan’s unconditional trust must be unique.

Thinking of this, Xie Ran couldn’t help but emphasize, “You can’t let other guides casually see your mental landscape.”

Lu Zexuan said, “Don’t worry, I won’t be defenseless against other guides. Even S-class guides can’t break through my mental barrier. Only you, insisting on cheating and making me lower my guard, did I let you in.”

Xie Ran argued, “What do you mean cheating? It’s a reasonable request.”

Lu Zexuan, “…” Do you think it’s reasonable for someone to dig a hole to sneak into the Sentinel academy, find an S-class sentinel to practice healing abilities, fail to break through the opponent’s mental barrier, and then ask the opponent to remove the barrier?  Lu Zexuan was speechless. However, seeing Xie Ran’s embarrassed look, he didn’t pursue these details.

The two stayed in the woods for an hour until half past one in the morning when Xie Ran burrowed back into the ground.

In the following days, they would secretly meet near the isolation wall in the woods every night.

Xie Ran became more and more familiar with Lu Zexuan’s mental landscape and even attempted some simple mental guidance on Lu Zexuan. Since Lu Zexuan was completely defenseless against him, although Xie Ran’s healing ability was only at a B level, guiding Lu Zexuan’s mental landscape was very smooth.

It was also the first time Lu Zexuan felt so comfortable being treated by a guide. The chaotic mist in his mental landscape was dispelled layer by layer, and his entire brain became extremely clear and bright. It was like a gentle breeze had blown away all the cluttered thoughts, leaving Lu Zexuan’s heart extremely calm and peaceful.

If only Ranran could be his bonded guide.

The sudden thought startled Lu Zexuan—Xie Ran was just curious, practicing healing skills with him. Ranran’s strongest ability was in attack, and he would definitely inherit the Starlight Legion in the future. How could he possibly stay by his side and be his exclusive healing guide?

Thinking of this, Lu Zexuan felt a little lost. After they grew up, they couldn’t be as intimate as they were now, could they?

Time passed quickly, and they met secretly in the woods every night when it was quiet. Xie Ran’s fox had invisibility abilities, and Lu Zexuan was very cautious, so the hideout remained undiscovered.

Xie Ran’s healing abilities improved by leaps and bounds, and he even learned some simple combat techniques from Lu Zexuan. And Xie Ran also taught Lu Zexuan many memory techniques, helping him quickly memorize theoretical knowledge to prepare for exams.

Three months after the start of the school year, Xie Ran had completed all the courses in the guide academy, and Lu Zexuan had completed all the courses in the sentinel academy.

One night, Xie Ran suddenly suggested, “I understand everything the teacher taught. Continuing classes feels like a waste of time. How about we apply to take the graduation exam early?”

Lu Zexuan was surprised, “Early exam? It’s only been three months since school started. Will the school approve?”

Xie Ran said, “Every student has different talents. Students with S-class talents and those with C-class talents have very different learning progress. There have been people in the past who finished all the courses in a year, or even six months, and graduated early. If we pass the exam in three months, it would be breaking a record. I think as long as we write the application sincerely, the school should approve it.”

Lu Zexuan thought about it. Recently, although he attended classes on time every day, he understood everything the teachers taught, and it felt like a waste of time to stay awake and listen to things he had already mastered. If they could graduate early, he could apply to military school ahead of time, and then he could go to the same school as Ranran.

Lu Zexuan said, “Okay, let’s submit the application together. Can you teach me how to write it?”

“No problem, I’ll write a template, and you can make some changes.” Xie Ran paused and asked curiously, “By the way, which school do you plan to apply for after graduating from the Sanctuary?”

Lu Zexuan replied, “The Federal First Military Academy. How about you?”

Xie Ran smiled, “Me too. Then, we can be classmates again.”

It was a common decision for the descendants of Generals to apply to military school. Thinking about being classmates again in the future made both of them happy.

After returning, they wrote the application for early exams together. The school leaders were well aware that these two outstanding students had already completed all the courses of the Sanctuary phase. After some discussion, the application was finally approved.

Xie Ran and Lu Zexuan both graduated with full marks in all subjects, becoming legendary students in the history of the Sanctuary. Until the day of graduation, no one discovered the hole Xie Ran dug at the school. The hole hidden under the isolation wall and many nights of secret meetings became secrets known only to the two of them.