Chapter 46 Your Mother Was the Greatest Guide

"Knock, knock..." Wen Li lightly tapped on the door panel.

A middle-aged sentinel opened the door, and upon realizing that Wen Li was not one of the club's regular staff, his gaze turned guarded.

"Who are you?" the sentinel asked.

Pei Xinghe stepped out from behind Wen Li to explain that they were here looking for the Guide Meng Wantang.

The sentinel's expression remained wary.

"Do you have an invitation?"

Of course, Wen Li did not have an invitation, so she had no choice but to state her mother's name.

As soon as her voice fell, a weak voice came from inside the room.

"Isabella's daughter!"

"Quick, let her in."

The sentinel scanned Wen Li thoroughly, and upon confirming she carried no weapons, allowed her to enter.

The room was extremely dim, and the air was thick with the scent of decaying fruit.

Wen Li could not help coughing softly, and the weak voice immediately spoke with a tone full of apology.

"I'm sorry. I've been in here so long I can't smell anything anymore. 0652, turn on the ventilation system."

Using the faint light nearby, Wen Li managed to make out the middle-aged woman sitting in a wheelchair.

Her hair was a withered, ghostly white, and though only forty years old, she looked like an elderly woman in her twilight years.

"Guide Meng, hello." Wen Li squatted on one knee beside the wheelchair, not a trace of disdain in her eyes.

Her white pupils were as gentle as a milk lamb's.

The woman raised a hand to stroke her delicate cheek, her eye sockets gradually filling with tears.

"Good child, you've had a hard time."

Wen Li did not speak, watching the weak, panting Guide before her with a gentle smile.

"Meng Wantang is my daughter, and that sentinel outside is my husband."

She stretched out a skeletal hand and, with trembling fingers, drew a well-preserved letter from the left breast pocket of her clothes.

"This is what your mother left for you. Remember to keep it on you at all times."

She gazed at Wen Li's face with deep nostalgia; the striking resemblance finally broke the dam of tears in her eyes.

"I... I failed your mother... Child, you must remember, your mother was the greatest Guide."

"You must... you must fulfill her wish, all right? You must..."

The woman's breathing was extremely unstable, and Wen Li hurriedly used her spiritual power to soothe her, standing up to embrace her and promising softly.

"I will definitely do it, please rest assured!"

The woman wept uncontrollably, in her trance mistaking Wen Li for her mother, and offered a weak smile.

Even now, one could trace the fine contours of her brows to see that she had once been a remarkably beautiful Guide. It was just a pity...

***

The middle-aged sentinel turned off the ventilation system and carried his wife upstairs to the bedroom for treatment.

When everything had stabilized, the man brought a nervous Wen Li back downstairs.

The sentinel poured a cup of tea and handed it to Wen Li.

"I'm very sorry to let you—"

Wen Li shook her head and said, "There's no need to apologize, sir. Auntie was a friend of my mother's, and this is only right."

The middle-aged man sighed and recounted the origin of the story to her.

His wife, Susie Shamir, was a Guide at the Federal Experimental Center and a close friend of Wen Li's mother.

Through a twist of fate, the experimental center had sent the two of them to the club to retrieve data.

On their return journey, Susie noticed that Isabella looked extremely flustered as she hurried back with a stack of data.

Unfortunately, they ran into a group of federal terrorists.

To rescue Susie, who had been captured, Isabella had no choice but to fight those sentinels desperately.

In the end, her mother was forcibly linked and dragged away, and her whereabouts remained unknown to this day.

Susie begged her family to investigate, until one day, her husband found his wife lying unconscious by a stream.

From then on, Susie's mind remained clouded, often rambling incoherently. Her body aged rapidly, and she could no longer control her spiritual power.

Her daughter, Meng Wantang, was an offense-type Guide in the Western Theater of Operations. At her mother's insistent demand, Meng Wantang had used her identity information to register at the club.

He had stayed by his wife's side all this time, waiting for Wen Li's arrival.

The blonde girl's expression was deeply sorrowful, and for a moment, she did not know what to say.

The sentinel comforted her, saying not everyone was willing to be a frog boiled in warm water.

Susie was willing, and she was overjoyed to see how exceptional Wen Li had become.

Wen Li clenched her fists, recalling the Guide's tear-stained, vexed appearance.

A sense of powerlessness washed over her once more.

"Girl, don't come to the club anymore... At least not until your wings are fully grown. When that day comes, all the mysteries will be unraveled."

The sentinel took out a photograph. A red-haired girl in military uniform stared unsmilingly into the lens.

"This is my daughter, Meng Wantang. She works in the Western Theater of Operations. The information she holds might be able to help you."

Wen Li took it, suddenly realizing there were no high-tech electronic devices in the room, save for a smart butler assisting with operations.

The sentinel didn't even have a optical computer.

The middle-aged man bared the scars on his arm and said, "Surveillance. So, do not rely on your optical computer."

"The club's Star Project is nearing its end. I only hope everything comes in time."

Outside the door, heavy knocking suddenly rang out, every single thud striking against Wen Li's heart.

"Mr. An Kui says he needs to see Miss Wen," a strange sentinel's voice echoed from outside.

***

The sentinel shoved the necklace into Wen Li's hand and handed her the exquisite gift box he had kept behind him.

"Go. Act anxious when the item is snatched away."

The voice outside grew extremely impatient, hammering heavily on the door a few more times.

When the door opened, Wen Li carefully shielded the gift box in her arms.

In the distance, Pei Xinghe was being guarded. Sure enough, the knocking sentinel snatched the gift box straight out of her hands.

"Let me hold that for you. Mr. An Kui has an urgent matter to discuss with you."

The girl immediately reached out anxiously to grab the gift box back, her expression looking as though she were about to cry.

"Give it back to me! This is what my mother left behind for me."

The girl's tearful expression delighted the sentinel, who playfully held the gift box high out of reach with a sadistic sense of amusement.

"Who knows if it's some kind of dangerous item? I'll hold onto it for safekeeping first."

The middle-aged man inside the room stepped forward to help, but was kicked to the ground by the sentinel.

"Get lost! Can't you see I'm busy here?"

Wen Li helped the middle-aged man up, glaring angrily at the sentinel.

Knowing he had gone a bit too far, the sentinel and his subordinates escorted Wen Li and her companions down to the underground laboratory.

Pei Xinghe immediately lodged a complaint, grievance dripping from her voice.

"Mr. An Kui, won't you do something about these sentinels? He was practically bullying Wen Li to death."

Wen Li, whose gift had been stolen, had red-rimmed eyes, her cheeks flushed from crying too hard.

Without the protection of the Alpha squad, she shrank into a small figure, looking up at the sentinels with fear.

An Kui said angrily, "Who made Guide Wen cry? If this keeps up, you needn't bother staying at the club."

The leading sentinel immediately explained that he was only worried the gift in Wen Li's hands might be dangerous and was kindly holding it for safekeeping.

He made sure to emphasize to An Kui that the gift was something left behind by her mother.

Hearing this, An Kui smoothly smoothed things over for the sentinel without batting an eye.

"Guide Wen, please don't take offense. The club must ensure the absolute safety of its Guides—this is for your own good."

The subtext was clear: the belongings left by Wen Li's mother would undoubtedly be confiscated, and this was also a veiled reminder of Yue Li's rampage last month.

The young Guide nodded in understanding and said no more.

Pei Xinghe still wanted to argue her case, but the moment she heard that Wen Li was hungry, she dropped the matter entirely.

Wen Li had accomplished nothing during the visiting day. As she parted ways with Pei Xinghe, she grabbed the other girl's hand and said,

"Yezi, if possible, I want you to see the world outside. Next time I invite you, you must come out, understand?"

Seeing Wen Li's solemn expression, Pei Xinghe nodded in agreement.