Chapter 113 – Sentinel & Guide: Becoming Your Exclusive Guide – The Little Rascal and The Big Rascal (03)
The first ray of morning sunlight filtered through the glass into the room. The piercing light made the sleeping boy let out a disgruntled “Mmm,” pulling the blanket over his head.
Herslet was worried Bai Tang might suffocate, so he gently tugged the blanket down. The boy mumbled something incomprehensible and, once enveloped in darkness again, unconsciously nuzzled against the warm chest, letting out a satisfied sigh.
Herslet’s heart melted. His boy was unfairly adorable.
Nestled in that familiar embrace, Bai Tang slept soundly. It wasn’t until the sun was already high in the sky that he stretched lazily and woke up.
Still dazed from sleep, Bai Tang poked the firm muscles in front of him and thought to himself, Since when did Ah Nian get so ripped?
A deep male voice came from above. “Awake?”
Bai Tang looked up to see Herslet’s familiar yet unfamiliar handsome face enlarged before him. The male lead of this world looked about 70% similar to Min Gunian. But because he was a Sentinel, his physical fitness was far superior to Min Gunian’s, who was just an ordinary human—he was stronger and more built.
“Mmm~ You’re poking me,” Bai Tang murmured, sensitively aware of a certain… change. A very familiar kind of change.
And that’s the thing—men in the morning shouldn’t be teased. Bai Tang, however, continued playing around, having a great time.
Herslet’s voice turned hoarse with desire. “Tang Tang, let’s get married.”
“!!!” The system was shocked.
Before Bai Tang could react, he heard the system cry out, “You can’t agree, Tang Tang…”
The system pleaded earnestly, “Tang Tang, we made a plan last night—to achieve something great!”
That “great thing” was opening a shop.
Bai Tang’s mind cleared instantly. He mustn’t fall too quickly into Herslet’s tender embrace. Like Qiu’er had said—if something changed one day, if the male lead fell out of love, or if the male lead was replaced and was no longer his man, he wouldn’t even have the skills to survive.
“I don’t want to.” Bai Tang firmly rejected him.
“Why? Because I want to be good to you.” Herslet grabbed Bai Tang’s fingers and kissed them one by one.
A tingling soreness spread from his fingertips to his heart, soft and electric. Just as he was about to pull his hand back, his eyes met Herslett’s gaze, filled with affection.
The boy’s cheeks turned a tempting shade of red from embarrassment, making Herslett’s heart stir. He slowly lowered his head.
Suddenly, two small hands pressed against his chest and pushed him away.
“You didn’t even realize someone set you up. I don’t believe that.” Bai Tang grew angry just thinking about it.
The female president, Simona, had used Herslet’s name as an excuse to slap him, and he hadn’t even gotten revenge yet. And the male lead in front of him had been an accomplice—an accomplice!
The teachers at school always said, Don’t pick up things from the street. Didn’t Herslet understand that? And yet he went around picking up people.
Uh-oh, someone’s headed for the “chasing wife, crematorium” arc~ The system gloated.
Let the male lead suffer a bit—he thinks a few sweet words in every world are enough to get married, huh?
“I’ll find out who did it,” Herslet promised Bai Tang.
But Bai Tang still refused to go home. Based on the original host’s memories, the Bai family was quite strict. Going back meant being disciplined again, and the lazy little squirrel had no patience for all those rules and restrictions.
Bai Tang refused to return with Herslet, and even his spirit animal—the little squirrel—started showing hostility toward the white wolf. It kicked the white wolf once and bounced happily back to its master’s side.
The white wolf drooped its head, heartbroken at the squirrel’s “use and toss” behavior, and began to complain to its master.
It’s all your fault. If it weren’t for you, the squirrel wouldn’t be ignoring me.
Herslet felt a bit wronged. He followed Bai Tang around, watching as the boy smiled so brightly at others and easily rented a storefront.
That smile should be mine! Herslet was jealous.
The boy hadn’t smiled at him even once, yet he beamed so cheerfully at strangers.
You—what do you think you’re doing? Are you trying to steal my fiancée?
Herslet followed behind Bai Tang, radiating cold air. A Guide could hide their presence and blend in with ordinary people if they wanted, but a Sentinel couldn’t. The innate energy within their bodies was beyond their control.
With this giant block of ice trailing behind him, Bai Tang was repeatedly rejected while trying to purchase supplies and renovation materials for his shop. Who knew whether the Sentinel following him might be an enemy? What if doing business with the boy brought trouble later on?!
Frustrated, Bai Tang turned around and snapped at Herslet, “Stop following me already~!”
His voice was soft and sweet, completely lacking any threat—more like a baby kitten trying to act fierce just to get attention.
“Protecting my fiancée is my duty,” Herslet replied, completely unmoved, speaking with the formal tone of someone just doing his job. His attitude made Bai Tang so angry he could stomp his feet.
“Because of you, no one wants to do business with me! I just want to open a shop, but you’re trying to lock me up, shut me away—you’re such a jerk…” By the end, the boy’s voice wavered and was thick with tears.
Herslet was stunned, but a man’s instinct told him—comfort him, fast.
“It’s my fault. What kind of shop does Tang Tang want to open?” Herslet gently wiped Bai Tang’s tears. His delicate little nose was red, adorably so, and Herslet couldn’t help but kiss it.
“I want to open a snack shop. I want to buy candied hawthorn. You—you won’t make it for me, so I—I’ll just make it myself…” the boy sobbed, his crying only getting worse the more Herslett tried to soothe him.
Back then, Min Gunian spoiled him completely, always giving him what he wanted. All Herslet]t ever thought about was locking him up and marrying him.
Honestly, Min Gunian was just as bad—his head was full of dirty thoughts and he only ever wanted to stay home doing adult things, the system grumbled inwardly.
Herslet was at a total loss. He had no idea how to console the boy. He’d faced dangerous criminals on missions before, but none of them made him feel this helpless.
It took a long time, but finally Bai Tang stopped crying. Herslet breathed a sigh of relief.
The boy seemed more prone to tears than before—and somehow, even more endearing.
“As an apology, how about I go with you to buy materials and help with the renovations, okay?”
Bai Tang hiccuped through his sniffles.
It’s not like we’re spending our own money, the system egged him on. If someone wants to be a sucker and pay for it all, we might as well take advantage.
Bai Tang didn’t have much of a concept of money. Since Qiu’er said it was fine, he figured he might as well agree.
He nodded, and Herslet finally let out a long breath—Thank goodness, the little ancestor has stopped crying.
Herslet naturally reached out and took Bai Tang’s hand in his. Soft and smooth, it fit perfectly in just one of his large palms.
Bai Tang looked adorably soft and easy to bully at first glance, but none of the shopkeepers dared to overcharge him—even though he was the one doing the buying—because standing right next to him was a fierce-looking Sentinel. No one wanted to risk provoking him.
Before long, Bai Tang had bought everything on his shopping list.
Back at the store, he mixed water into the latex paint, planning to paint the walls his favorite shade of green.
Herslet was tall, strong, and free labor—no reason not to make use of that. The system was already wondering how to make the male lead work for free.
When Herslet saw the boy struggling to carry the heavy bucket of water, he wordlessly took it from him.
Hmm, knows his place. One point added for cooperation, the system noted in its little notebook.
Herslet had already started painting the walls and wouldn’t let Bai Tang help, so with nothing to do, Bai Tang watched the fine dust float lazily through the air and suddenly had a playful idea. He folded a paper hat.
“Here~ for you.”
Herslet lowered his head as the boy smiled sweetly and held up a triangle-shaped paper hat.
He crouched down. “It’s hard for me to put it on. Can I trouble Tang Tang to help?”
“Sure~” Bai Tang agreed cheerfully, then mischievously placed the hat so it covered Herslet’s eyes.
Blinded by the paper hat, Herslet enjoyed how Bai Tang was finally relaxed enough to joke and play with him, so he played along. “I can’t see, Tang Tang. Help me take it off.”
“Nope~” Bai Tang giggled and ran away.
Herslet pretended he really couldn’t see and stumbled forward, reaching in Bai Tang’s direction.
“Tang Tang, where are you?”
“I’m over here!” Bai Tang said proudly, watching Herslett bumble around and laughing gleefully.
Suddenly, the spirit animal—White Wolf—appeared, wanting to guide its master.
“You’re not allowed to help him!” Bai Tang shouted, stopping the white wolf in its tracks.
The spirit animal, Little Squirrel, also popped its head out and scurried toward a corner, squeaking, “Zhi zhi zhi!”
The White Wolf, seeing its beloved Little Squirrel appear, was instantly torn.
Should it stay loyal to its master and risk upsetting both the squirrel and its squirrel’s master? Or should it run off to play with the squirrel and ditch its master?
The White Wolf began counting on its claws: the master counts as one, the Little Squirrel plus the squirrel’s master make one plus one equals two. Two is greater than one. Two is better than one.
Having reasoned it out, the White Wolf decisively abandoned Herslet and dashed toward the Little Squirrel. The two fluffy creatures tumbled around on the ground, playing happily.
Just then, a round paper tube lay on the floor—Herslet was about to step on it and would surely trip.
Bai Tang rushed over to pick it up, but as he looked up, his head bumped straight into the bucket of latex paint Herslet was holding.
“Ah—ouch!”
The paint bucket toppled.
“Tang Tang—!” Herslet quickly pulled Bai Tang aside, wrapping his arms around him. The bucket crashed to the floor, but thankfully didn’t hit anyone.
Green paint splattered onto Bai Tang’s hands. Rubbing the sore spot on his head with lingering fear, he left a streak of green in his dark hair.
Herslet laughed, his chest rumbling with the sound.
Pressed against him, Bai Tang looked up in confusion and touched his cheek. “Is there something on my face?”
Well, there was now. His pale face now bore a few green fingerprints.
“There wasn’t before—there is now,” Herslet replied honestly, ruffling Bai Tang’s hair. The paint dried surprisingly fast.
It finally dawned on Bai Tang that he’d been tricked. Pouting, he seized the moment. As Herslet reached out again to touch his hair, Bai Tang smeared green paint all over his face—both palm and back of his hand.
Now they were both a mess. Neither one could laugh at the other.
Herslet froze for a moment, then saw Bai Tang smugly lift his little chin in triumph. With a playful glint in his eye, Herslet smeared green paint onto the other side of Bai Tang’s pale cheek.
“You little rascal~”
“Ah! You’re the big bad one!” Bai Tang launched a counterattack, both hands smeared with green paint as he lunged at Herslet.
“You can’t escape now…”
“Ah! My hair—you’re done for! I’m mad now—take this!”
The tall one and the short one burst into a full-blown paint war inside the tiny shop, laughing and playing without a care. The unfinished walls bloomed with splotches of color like abstract flowers.
White Wolf quickly grabbed the Little Squirrel in its mouth and leapt behind the counter with agile movements.
Ah, stupid master, don’t let those paint balls hit us! If it stains our fur, it won’t come out—we’ll have to get shaved…
Author’s Note:
I have exams tomorrow and the day after, so I won’t be able to check my phone and reply to everyone all the time~ My birthday is in a few days—next week! I’ll post extra updates on the day as a celebration~ Let’s all celebrate together!!!