Chapter 4: Soothing
Cui Danqin was saying all kinds of technical terms—so technical that Song Nanxi felt completely lost the entire time.
What is she even talking about? No clue. Whatever, as long as I get to pet the little snow leopard.
“Did you understand any of that?” Cui Danqin suddenly asked.
Song Nanxi slowly looked away. “Um… not really.”
“No problem. Let’s just skip to hands-on experience and learn by doing.” Cui Danqin waved to Fang Yinnian, who was standing at the door so tense it looked like he was standing guard.
“Captain Fang, please come in.”
“Yes.”
Song Nanxi watched him sit across from her, and then—
Cui Danqin grabbed both of their hands and overlapped them!
The unfamiliar touch made Fang Yinnian jolt like he’d been shocked and practically leap from his chair.
Song Nanxi looked at Cui Danqin. “What is this for?”
Cui Danqin answered casually, “Appropriate physical contact helps you enter his mental domain.”
“Is Captain Fang reacting this way because he’s never had physical contact before?”
Fang Yinnian took a step back. “No… I just don’t think physical contact is necessary.”
Cui Danqin frowned. “Hm? Then how did you get soothed in the past?”
“Just by allowing the other person into the shallow level of my mental domain,” Fang Yinnian said, lips pressed together. “Touch isn’t needed.”
Cui Danqin muttered, “No wonder the soothing results were always poor. I thought it was because of too big a gap in spiritual strength.”
Song Nanxi straightened. “So what do I need to do?”
“Force your way in,” Cui Danqin said, popping a candy in her mouth. She mumbled around it, “Without physical contact, it’s like taking a dump and stopping halfway—just painful and frustrating.”
“Ah?” Song Nanxi was stunned. “I feel like I don’t understand anymore.”
Cui Danqin handed her a candy. “Don’t stress about it. It’s not a big deal, totally normal.”
“You mean… force?” Song Nanxi couldn’t believe what she heard. Was it really that intense? Are all guides like this?
“Ha ha, just kidding,” Cui Danqin laughed twice. “Let’s get down to business. First, you need to close your eyes and communicate with him—Fang Yinnian. He needs to open his mental domain to you. You’ll see a door, pushing it open leads you inside his mental domain. But this door isn’t easy to push—like I said, the shallow mental domain is just the area outside this door.”
“What do I do after I go inside?” Song Nanxi thought it actually sounded pretty simple.
“Nothing at all,” Cui Danqin said matter-of-factly. “The sentinels will come to you because they need you. They’ll figure things out on their own. You just need to be there. How long you can stay inside depends on your mental compatibility—the higher it is, the longer you can stay, the lower, the shorter.”
“So… should I start now?” Song Nanxi tilted her head and looked past Cui Danqin to Fang Yinnian behind her. “Our mental compatibility is pretty high.”
“I know… I… I’ll do my best to cooperate,” Fang Yinnian said hesitantly.
Cui Danqin shrugged. “He’ll be your best practice candidate. Alright, I’ll leave you two some space. And no rush on the rest of the process—you can take your time figuring it out.” She waved off casually and left the soothing room.
Only Song Nanxi and Fang Yinnian remained in the quiet space, exchanging looks. “Fang… Captain, can I call you that?”
“No need, just call me by my name. Names exist to be called,” Fang Yinnian said, sitting opposite her. “Let’s start.”
“Okay.”
Closing her eyes, Song Nanxi faced a void. Suddenly, she realized finding the door was harder than she thought. She opened her eyes abruptly. “How do I find the door?”
Fang Yinnian opened his mouth to speak but stayed silent. After a moment of hesitation, he said, “Sorry to offend, but I think I need to have some physical contact with you. It’ll help you find the… door faster.”
“Okay,” Song Nanxi said, indifferent. “As long as you don’t mind, I don’t mind.”
Fang Yinnian’s Adam’s apple moved up and down nervously. Honestly, he longed to touch her. His spiritual form fully accepted her, and he naturally liked her, but he always worried his actions might be too forward.
Before Fang Yinnian could make a move, Song Nanxi grabbed his hand. “Is this okay?”
“It is,” Fang Yinnian said, looking at their hands clasped together. “Now close your eyes.”
This time, Song Nanxi quickly saw the illogical door appear before her. She stepped forward and pushed the door open with force.
Fang Yinnian let out a muffled groan. Unsure if she heard correctly, Song Nanxi cautiously asked, “Fang Yinnian, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, keep going.”
Song Nanxi pushed harder, and the door swung wide open. She saw snowflakes filling the sky, but mixed in with them were black specks, making the snow on the ground look dirty and grimy.
Her feet sank into the snow with a crunching sound. She hadn’t expected this mental domain to feel so real.
What now? Should she just wait here?
A white figure darted quickly and, in an instant, appeared in front of Song Nanxi. It spread its limbs and leapt into her arms.
The little snow leopard was heavy. Even though Song Nanxi had braced herself, she still fell to the ground with it. She couldn’t help but laugh, “You’re so enthusiastic—we’ve only been apart for a few hours.”
Its big tail wrapped tightly around Song Nanxi’s wrist, unwilling to let go. Its head rubbed against her hand, inviting her to pet it.
Song Nanxi lowered her head, absorbed in stroking the “cat,” and didn’t notice the green vines behind her. The vines were a fresh light green, spreading outward and burrowing into the ground. The surrounding blackness vanished as the vines spread, replaced by deeper shades of green.
The little snow leopard suddenly turned its head to meet the vines. One vine stopped moving and swayed left and right, greeting it. The snow leopard tilted its head and let out a soft “ying” in reply, then rubbed even harder against Song Nanxi. At this point, it was less like Song Nanxi petting the snow leopard, and more like the snow leopard petting her.
Realizing this, Song Nanxi simply lay down on the ground and let the snow leopard do as it pleased.
Fang Yinnian’s teeth itched as if he wanted to bite something, but sadly, he had no tail. In that mental domain, he was both master and not master. At least for now, his spiritual form wanted to monopolize Song Nanxi.
His heavy mind gradually cleared. The fog that had clouded his thoughts lifted. The longer Song Nanxi stayed in the mental domain, the more relaxed Fang Yinnian felt.
His reason began to crumble, and all he wanted was to get closer to the source of his comfort.
Fang Yinnian pulled Song Nanxi into his arms, gripping her hand tightly with one hand and holding her shoulder with the other. He bent down, inhaled deeply at her neck, and suddenly bit into her shoulder.