Chapter 112 – Sentinel & Guide: Becoming Your Exclusive Guide – Tang Tang’s Runaway (02)
Herslet stood at Bai Tang’s bedroom door for quite a while. Only after confirming that Bai Tang wouldn’t call him back did he finally turn and head downstairs.
“Herslet is here,” Bai Tang’s mother said as she had just returned home and bumped into Herslet.
“Madam Bai.” Herslet bowed slightly in greeting.
“Tang Tang didn’t come to see you off?”
Upstairs, Bai Tang heard the conversation between his mother and Herslet and suddenly remembered that, in the original novel, the final straw that broke Bai Tang was the betrayal of his parents.
How could they not understand the temperament of the child they raised? The original Bai Tang was, at most, a bit spoiled and willful. He had never really done anything bad. If you really had to pin something on him, it would probably be the time he lied online about still being engaged to Herslett, even after the engagement had already been annulled.
“They basically sold their child under the pressure of public opinion…” the system muttered resentfully.
In truth, the Bai family wasn’t in dire straits. Although they were in business, their ancestors had military honors. Otherwise, how could they have formed a marriage alliance with the Shelley family, who controlled the Alliance’s Third Guard Corps?
Still, their family foundation was indeed weaker than that of many in the Shelley clan. In the end, the Bai family yielded to greater forces and chose to abandon Bai Tang.
In the beginning, Bai Tang’s parents treated the original host quite well, but in the end, they still gave him up. Bai Tang didn’t hold a grudge against them. While sacrificing the pawn to protect the king was the rational move, he still couldn’t bring himself to like his parents. Don’t ask why—he was simply spoiled before and used to getting his way.
This world was a high-tech future society, where everyone’s fingerprint served as their identity. The Bai family was wealthy thanks to their business, so Bai Tang never lacked for money. His monthly allowance alone never dipped below six figures.
Even after all of the original host’s past spending, he still had about seventy million left. As long as he didn’t spend lavishly on useless things like before, that would be enough for Bai Tang to live freely for the next ten years.
Yes, Bai Tang had a grand plan—to run away from home. He wasn’t the original host. Although he had the original’s memories, he didn’t share the same emotional attachment to the family. Besides, he knew the plot of the original story—who could have any affection for people who would eventually abandon them? Still, he didn’t plan to seek revenge or anything.
Bai Tang packed his clothes and belongings into a small dimensional pouch. With empty hands, just like always, he greeted the servants and walked out the door.
Once he reached the bustling main street, Bai Tang suddenly felt a little lost. What exactly was he supposed to do now that he’d run away?
As he pondered this, a sweet and rich aroma drifted over—it was the smell of roasted chestnuts.
Bai Tang stepped into the shop and sweetly said to the young shop assistant, “Hello, could I have an order of roasted chestnuts?”
It was mid-afternoon, and sunlight streamed in through the glass door at an angle, casting a soft glow on Bai Tang’s fair skin. His crescent-shaped eyes curved with a smile, and in that moment, he seemed wrapped in a halo of light. To the shop assistant, it was as if an angel was smiling at her.
“Sure, here you go,” she said, a little dazed. She nearly forgot to ask for payment—Bai Tang had to take the initiative and ask for the price, or she might’ve ended up paying for it out of her own pocket.
“Please come again!” Though she was dying to pinch Bai Tang’s soft, dewy cheeks to see if they were really as tender as they looked, her professionalism won out. She held back and simply watched the “angel” walk farther and farther away.
Bai Tang found a cool, shaded spot to sit down. He and the system shared the roasted chestnuts, taking turns eating one each. When they finished, the system wiped its mouth and offered a review.
“The food in this world isn’t that impressive—nowhere near as delicious as the last world’s.”
Bai Tang’s eyes lit up. He excitedly turned to the system. “I’ve got it! Let’s open a snack shop—just sell treats. We can make sugar-roasted chestnuts, salted cashews, candied hawthorn skewers… Qiu’er, quick, bring out the recipe book!”
“You got it~” The system, already drooling at Bai Tang’s list, dove headfirst into the library to search for recipes.
After quite a while, the system pulled out an old, dusty book from the bottom of the stack. It brushed off the dust and said, “Ta-da! With this, we’ll definitely be able to make traditional-style candied hawthorn skewers!”
The system loved candied hawthorn skewers the most.
In the second world, it had bought two large warehouses of them and had already eaten through half of one.
Once they had their goal in mind, the system took out a map and, after discussing it with Bai Tang for quite some time, decided to open a shop in a neighboring city. Since the male and female leads were in this city, Bai Tang didn’t want to run into the female lead.
As for Herslet, if he was still the male lead who liked Bai Tang, he would probably do whatever it took to chase him down. This way, Bai Tang could avoid Simona and also stay far enough from the male and female leads to focus on his task. It was a win-win.
The system, grinning with excitement, held the booklet given by the Prime Minister’s wife that contained valuable tips, ready to finally put it to use. “We have the chance now—let’s make the most of it!”
Meanwhile, Simona, who was in pain after the system had “cursed” her with a voodoo-like spell, quietly mourned her fate.
That night, when the clock struck midnight, Bai Tang still hadn’t returned home, and the Bai family finally began to sense that something was wrong.
Bai Tang had never been late. Even if he were to stay overnight at the Shelley family, he would always inform them well in advance.
Worried, Bai Tang’s mother sent someone to the Shelley residence to ask if Bai Tang was staying there.
Late at night, in a study filled with frustration over how to appease the director, Herslet heard the news from the Bai family’s servant and felt his heart racing wildly.
He stood up suddenly, his tall figure exuding a powerful, commanding presence. “You said Tang Tang left at three in the afternoon and still hasn’t returned?”
The servant, shaking under the pressure from the sentinel’s aura, trembled and said, “Yes… yes.”
“Did he say where he was going?”
“No… no…” The trembling servant felt weak and helpless. He was just an ordinary person and couldn’t withstand the overwhelming power of the sentinel.
Earlier that afternoon, the young man had been crying in sadness. Where could he have gone? With his emotions so unstable, could he have run away crying?
Herslet seemed to see Bai Tang, heartbroken over the fake annulment letter, wiping away tears as he ran down the road. He was intercepted and knocked out by someone waiting on the roadside.
Bai Tang had been kidnapped! Bai Tang was crying! And those people were most likely trying to achieve some hidden goal, deliberately forging the annulment letter to make Bai Tang so heartbroken that he would leave the house alone, giving them the perfect opportunity to kidnap him and fulfill their ulterior motives.
Thinking of this, Herslet could no longer sit still. Ignoring the servant who was nearly fainting from the pressure of his sentinel aura, he grabbed his coat and rushed out the door.
To find Bai Tang as quickly as possible, Herslet used his investigative skills to simulate the route Bai Tang most likely took.
He first arrived at the Bai residence and started from the front gate.
Herslet reached the fork in the road where Bai Tang would usually take the wide, well-traveled path, but his instincts told him that Bai Tang had chosen a smaller path. Left or right? It was hard to decide—one path was a habit, while the other was just a gut feeling.
If he chose the wrong path, it would waste time and put Bai Tang in more danger.
Herslet was filled with anxiety, and even his spirit beast could sense his unease.
The white wolf, like a guide dog, ran to sniff both paths. It had played with a squirrel earlier that afternoon and remembered the squirrel’s scent.
At that moment, Herslet stepped forward with long strides and took the smaller path on the right. He could feel it—Bai Tang had gone this way.
The white wolf eagerly trotted along behind him. “Master, hurry! I need to rescue my little squirrel!”
Meanwhile, Bai Tang, who was being thought of by so many, was lying on a bed in a hotel in the neighboring city, staring blankly with his big round eyes.
“Qiu’er, I can’t sleep.”
Bai Tang curled up in his usual sleeping position, trying to fall asleep quickly.
“Did you drink too much milk tea tonight?” The system didn’t need sleep and usually entertained itself when Bai Tang rested, like now, watching the drama Big Family Rivalry playing in front of him.
“It’s not that… I just feel like something’s missing. It’s so uncomfortable.” Bai Tang sneezed, feeling a little cold. In the past, he used to sleep with his old partner holding him, and it felt so warm.
The system had just walked over to the window and was about to close it when suddenly, a shadow appeared at the street corner, followed by a dog.
The figure moved so quickly that in the blink of an eye, it disappeared without a trace. But being the system, its perception function alerted it: D*mn, the male lead has arrived!
“Tang Tang, Tang Tang, Level 1 alert—Herslet is here!” the system buzzed, flashing red lights.
“What?” Bai Tang hadn’t reacted yet when the door to his hotel room was violently forced open.
The loud noise completely startled Bai Tang, and any sleepiness he had was immediately gone.
Herslet stormed into the room. The room looked like a typical hotel setup, with no sign of any kidnappers. Instead, Bai Tang was curled up on the bed, shivering under the blanket. His round eyes stared timidly at the door, and his spirit beast, the little squirrel, was showing its teeth in a defensive stance.
“Tang Tang, are you okay?” Herslet couldn’t sense any danger, but Bai Tang was shaking. He moved forward and wrapped both Bai Tang and the blanket in his arms, the warmth filling the emptiness in his heart that had lasted all night.
“Um, young master Shelley , this door…” The hotel owner, who had followed him in, awkwardly glanced at the broken door.
“You broke it, you pay,” Bai Tang’s first words were a sharp retort at Herslet.
His voice, soft and smooth like milk, was sweet and velvety. Herslet couldn’t help but stare at the boy in his arms. Without looking back, he tossed a card at the owner.
In this world, many wealthy people would carry a few cards for tips or to show off.
“Okay, okay.” The hotel owner’s face lit up with a smile as he happily went downstairs to transfer the money.
“Why did you run away? Why aren’t you going home?” Herslet’s tone was gentle as he watched Bai Tang yawn, his eyes leaking a few tears from the drowsiness, and he felt a sudden impulse to lick them away.
“None of your business.” Bai Tang was happy. It had only been half a day, and Herslet had already found him.
Back in his familiar embrace, Bai Tang was feeling drowsy. Before the hotel owner could come to change his room, his little head began to droop slowly.
The spirit beast, the little squirrel, was influenced by its master’s mood. Its tail, which had been sweeping back and forth, came to a stop as it lay at the side of the bed, looking as if it couldn’t decide whether to sleep or not.
This was a great deal for the white wolf. The white wolf loved the little squirrel, though it wasn’t clear why—he just liked it the moment he saw it.
The white wolf’s large and muscular body moved gracefully. He curled his tail around the little squirrel and placed it on his soft belly, which he never showed to others. The little squirrel lifted its eyelids to glance at him, then hopped onto the wolf’s belly and adjusted into the most comfortable sleeping position before closing its eyes.
The white wolf was satisfied. The little squirrel liked his belly, so he decided that he would get the squirrel to sleep on his belly as much as possible in the future.
Herslet, watching the heartwarming scene with the two spirit beasts, shifted his gaze to the boy who had already fallen asleep, his expression full of deep affection.
Spirit beasts were the most representative of their masters’ feelings, so did this mean that after the annulment letter incident, Tang Tang still liked him?
“Snow…”
The hotel owner had prepared two rooms for Herslet. He had just started speaking when a single look from Herslet stopped him.
Herslet carried the curled-up boy into the new room and gently placed him on the bed.
The moonlight lazily streamed in, casting a soft glow on the boy’s sleeping face, pure and beautiful like a spirit.
Hersltt leaned to the side, propping himself up. The boy turned over and, without missing a beat, landed in his arms, finding the spot on his shoulder. The boy made a little sound, snuggling into his arm, and drifted into a deep sleep.
This was the first time Bai Tang had actively gotten close to him. Herslet’s heart raced, almost leaping out of his throat.
He didn’t understand why, in the past, he had felt nothing for the boy, but today, suddenly, he cared. Seeing his tears made his heart ache, hearing about his disappearance made him want to destroy the world, and the joy he felt when he found him was overwhelming. Even when the boy cursed, it seemed so cute.
Herslet was a person with strong convictions. It was the first time he was thankful that his family had arranged Bai Tang for him. The annulment letter was fake—Bai Tang was still his fiancée and would one day be his little wife.
Thinking of this, Herslet’s chest burned with excitement—a wonderfully fitting word.
He kissed Bai Tang’s forehead gently, whispering, “Goodnight, my future little wife.”
Author’s Note:
Don’t ask why I’m updating the story at 3 AM. The answer is insomnia, so I got up and started writing.
Recently, my biological clock has been messed up, and I can’t sleep until three or four in the morning. Still, I forced myself to sleep after tossing and turning for who knows how long. Bai Tang has to wake up for work again. This week, I’ve had a lot of overtime—almost always finishing work after 11 PM. It’s really tough for me~