A young man with fiery red hair, unbound and wild, scrambled across the checkered wooden floor on all fours, moving like some bizarre creature from a fever dream.
His quarry?
A fluffy, four-legged terror—a young husky, hell-bent on chaos.
In just one day, these pint-sized beasts had reduced the mighty Guardian of the Empire to this undignified state.
“Gotcha, you little rascal!”
Xing Chen lunged, snatching the husky by the scruff of its neck and tossing it back into its cage, slamming the door shut with a satisfying click.
“Phew, I’m beat,” he panted, collapsing for a moment’s reprieve.
But no sooner had he exhaled than a telltale clack echoed from the cage.
The door swung open, and a chorus of “mew mew” erupted as a swarm of kittens spilled out.
“Oh no, I forgot to lock it!”
Panic surged through Xing Chen.
He darted like a shrimp on a sizzling skillet, scooping up a pink-and-white kitten in one hand, then lunging to nab a vibrant green tabby with the other.
Back into the cage they went, his hands working like a baker kneading dough, pushing back furry heads as they poked out, determined to escape.
‘Why? Why does a shapeshifted qilin only get two hands? Why didn’t I keep the instincts of my four-legged form?’
These were the frantic thoughts racing through Xing Chen’s mind.
After a grueling battle, he finally corralled the kittens, and the rented apartment fell into a fleeting silence.
Then he made his fatal mistake: he forgot to secure the lock.
The moment he paused to catch his breath, the kittens seized their chance, bursting free once more.
‘Exhausted. Done. Why did I sign up for this?’
The great Four Symbols Guardian of the Empire, undone by a gaggle of tiny animals.
If this hit the news, he’d be the laughingstock of the realm for weeks.
Sprawled on the floor in a worn T-shirt, Xing Chen lay defeated, kittens crawling over him like ants on a picnic.
He pondered why he’d stayed in this backwater town of Wagner, all because of Captain Shang’s cryptic words.
If Shang’s talk of “good fortune” meant finding a saintess untainted by the Church’s puppet strings, then yes, that was worth something.
With the bishop still absent, Xing Chen’s duty was to watch over Noi until the old man returned to hand off responsibilities.
After that, he’d resume his quest for his clan’s relics—artifacts imbued with the memories and powers of the immortal kin, preserved in their final moments.
The last of his kind, Xing Chen had vowed to carry their dreams, to weave their unfulfilled wishes into reality.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Three polite raps at the door jolted him from his thoughts.
Groaning, Xing Chen dragged himself up, muttering, “Hold on, let me grab a sip of water.”
The voice outside snapped with urgency.
“Mr. Xing Chen! Noi’s been kidnapped! No time to waste—open the door now!”
Xing Chen froze, then bolted to fling the door wide.
A black-haired youth in a windbreaker stood in the hallway, his damp curls flecked with sand and carrying the faint scent of the sea.
“You’re Lyte, right? Come in, tell me everything.”
Xing Chen stepped aside, nudging a curious kitten back with his slippered foot as Lyte entered.
A low-tier hero abandoning the northern empire’s trials to come to the remote southern town of Wagner, seeking a nun confirmed as a saintess just a day ago?
Suspicious didn’t begin to cover it.
Xing Chen, intent on using Noi for his own plans, had tapped his vast network as a Four Symbols Guardian to dig into Lyte’s background.
What he uncovered was unexpected: this unassuming hero was the newly anointed Chosen One, cozy with the empire’s grand princess and personally trained in swordsmanship by the Black Tortoise himself.
Impressive titles, sure, but Noi was too critical to risk.
For a week, Xing Chen had schemed to drive Lyte away, to eliminate any threat.
Now, it seemed, opportunity had knocked.
“Mr. Xing Chen, it’s urgent, so I’ll keep it short,” Lyte said, calmly placing a kitten that had climbed his leg back into the cage.
His earlier agitation had faded, the hero’s power gradually purging the chaotic influence of foreign magic, though it took time to quiet his restless thoughts.
From Lyte’s account, Xing Chen learned that Shang had deliberately delayed him while Noi was taken to Central Park.
The kidnappers’ motives were unclear.
“Oh, so you’re the hero who broke through boundaries and tangled with Shang?” Xing Chen recalled Shang mentioning a formidable low-tier hero he’d met outside a goblin camp.
To think it was Lyte.
It struck him as amusing—three men, himself included, drawn to this small town for Noi, orbiting her like moths to a flame.
“That’s me,” Lyte admitted.
“But that’s not important. Noi needs your help, Mr. Xing Chen. As a Four Symbols Guardian, you’re her best shot at rescue.”
Lyte’s desires could sway him, but they didn’t control him.
After hearing Noi’s words at Andy’s villa, his resolve had solidified: he’d do everything to shape her into a true saintess.
Unless pushed to the brink, he’d never raise his sword against her.
“I’ll help,” Xing Chen said, “but I have a small request.”
Lyte’s brow furrowed.
‘A Guardian needing my help?’
As if reading his confusion, Xing Chen gestured at the kittens scampering toward Lyte, a wry smile on his face.
With the hero’s innate charm, Lyte swiftly rounded up the furry escapees, securing them in their cages.
This time, Xing Chen learned his lesson, locking each door with extra care, wary of another breakout.
Problem solved, the two men didn’t dawdle.
Slamming the apartment door shut, they channeled their boundary-breaking skills, magic surging around them to boost their speed.
Like he had with the bishop, Xing Chen reached for the telescope Simon had lent him to scout Central Park, only to realize—cursing under his breath—that he’d loaned it to the bishop and hadn’t gotten it back.
The park was a few minutes away, and though they could move faster by pushing their limits, both men saw this as a chance to size each other up.
“Lyte Montis, that’s your name, right?” Xing Chen said as they dashed side by side, their magic slicing through the air like blades.
“You were the one spying on us from the tree during the divine ceremony a week ago, weren’t you?”
Lyte met the question head-on.
“That was me.”
“What’s your game in Wagner? Who sent you?”
“…A noble I dueled in the capital swore to send people after me in the north, so I came here to train.”
The noble, smitten with the grand princess, had indeed made that threat.
But Lyte wasn’t intimidated.
In his past life, he’d turned hired mercenaries into stepping stones.
Even if he couldn’t win, his status as the Chosen One and the Black Tortoise’s apprentice wasn’t just for show—a mere noble couldn’t touch him.
Xing Chen, sharp as ever, saw through the bravado.
With magic swirling around them, his molten gaze fixed on Lyte, who avoided his eyes.
“Didn’t peg you for being a coward. Once this is over, I’ll ask the bishop to send you packing. No need to interrupt your precious training.”
The words carried a barbed edge, a challenge laced with threat.
But Lyte, no longer the hotheaded hero of his youth, didn’t take the bait.
His growth had tempered him, and he refused to give Xing Chen an opening.
“Mr. Xing Chen, why are you so fixated on Noi? She’s just an ordinary nun. What’s your angle?”
Xing Chen chuckled, his tone dripping with disdain.
“I like her, that’s why. She’s fascinating—beautiful, graceful, with a pure charm that’s just my type. Is that reason enough?”
He squinted at Lyte, pressing on.
“Besides, I can handle her. Can you? After this, you should steer clear. A new hero like you should be out adventuring, not wasting away in this speck of a town.”
Xing Chen kept Noi’s saintess status under wraps, leveraging his authority as a Guardian.
Who he chose to pursue wasn’t some low-tier hero’s business, Chosen One or not.
Crossing a Guardian before coming into his power was a bad move.
Lyte felt no pressure, only a flicker of jealousy—a gnawing fear of losing Noi to another.
“I couldn’t make it in the capital, so I came here looking for a simple girl to marry. I chose Noi not just because I like her, but because we’re mutually in love.”
He emphasized those last words, staking his claim to protect her, even if it meant clashing with a Guardian.
“Plenty of women in the capital are smitten with you,” Xing Chen shot back.
“Can’t you wait to return in triumph and pick one then?”
“Sorry, I’m desperate to fall in love, to feel what it’s like. I can’t wait another moment, so I chose Noi as my first love.”
“What, so you’ll drag her into your harem when you return to the capital? Think she’d be thrilled to know you’re planning that?”
“That’s between us,” Lyte said, his smile cold as frost, devoid of warmth.
He’d always been a purist when it came to love, dreaming of one partner for life.
This conviction, buried for so long, had been stirred by the foreign magic’s influence, forcing him to confront his past life’s memories.
They were a cage of thorns—reaching for Noi would leave him bloodied, but as long as she didn’t betray his duty, his desire to protect her wouldn’t waver.