Help! I Do Not Want to Guide a Disaster

Chapter 142: Detests The Start Of A New Day

The next morning, Xinyuan woke up early with the goal of tracking down something for him and Wenzhi to eat. As he stepped out into the hallway, a rich, inviting scent wafted from the kitchen.

He followed it, only to find Su Zheng slumped on the counter. She looked like the absolute definition of a non-morning person who had been violently dragged out of bed; her long white hair hung loose and messy over her shoulders, and her purple eyes were dull and dry with sleep.

Pei Luo was the one actively moving around the stove, and both of them turned their heads when Xinyuan walked into the room.

Pei Luo gave him a brief, tight nod. "Shao Xinyuan."

Su Zheng offered nothing more than a lazy, barely-there wave of her hand. Pei Luo reached over to the coffee machine, filled a mug with dark, steaming liquid, and handed it directly to her.

Xinyuan eyed the setup. "There’s coffee. Can I make some for Wenzhi?" he asked quickly.

"Knock yourself out," Pei Luo said, turning back to the sizzling pan.

Su Zheng took a languid, slow sip of her fresh coffee, staring blankly at the wall before turning her head toward the hallway. "Are you going for the test today?"

"Yes, but you need to rest. Only I can go," Pei Luo replied, his voice firm. "They just need my blood anyway."

They spoke back and forth completely naturally, not caring in the slightest that Xinyuan was standing right there. Honestly, Xinyuan didn’t give a damn about whatever secret agenda or tests they were whispering about either. His entire focus was on meticulously fixing Wenzhi’s coffee exactly the way his Guide liked it.

"Oh, Shao Xinyuan," Su Zheng’s raspy voice suddenly cut through the quiet, her eyes on him as he poured the hot coffee into a mug. "I heard a rumor that Wenzhi is an S-rank Guide now."

Xinyuan turned to face her, his expression completely blank and unfazed. "Yes, he is."

Pei Luo stopped mid-motion, his shoulders locking up in genuine shock. He whipped his head around. "Wait, it’s actually true? We found the data trace, but we thought it was forged or encrypted to mislead."

Internally, Xinyuan was thoroughly pissed off by the volume of high-level intelligence these two possessed about him and Wenzhi. He didn’t trust them, and having them walk around with this kind of intimate knowledge felt like a massive liability they could exploit at any moment.

"It’s not a forge," Xinyuan said flatly.

"So, is he like... evolving specifically to match your energy?" Su Zheng asked, leaning forward on the counter, a spark of scientific curiosity bleeding into her eyes. "So he can finally guide you without the threat of a total fatality?"

This time, Xinyuan didn’t respond at all, keeping his lips pressed into a hard, unreadable line.

Su Zheng blinked at the cold silence, then let out a low, amused laugh. "The only reason I am asking, Xinyuan, is because my Luo’er just spontaneously jumped from a C-rank all the way up to an A-rank Guide."

Xinyuan was genuinely caught off guard this time. His brows knit together. "Really?"

"Yeah. It seems like it only happens to Guides who possess near-perfect compatibility with the Disaster-class Espers they are guiding," Su Zheng explained, swirling the remains of her coffee. "It’s incredibly rare. Normal Guides and Espers who rank up usually just experience a standard, gradual increase in their natural energy reserves. But a dramatic jump like this? It’s a completely different biological reaction."

Xinyuan blinked at the two of them, the pieces suddenly clicking in his mind. "You two are..."

"Married!" Su Zheng chirped with sudden, bright excitement.

Pei Luo offered a soft, quiet smile from the stove. Xinyuan managed a somewhat nervous, polite smile back. "Congratulations."

"Oh, thank you!" Su Zheng waved her hand at him in a thoroughly prideful gesture, deliberately flashing a modest but polished ring on her finger. "We just figured, why the hell not? The world is ending soon anyway, so we might as well make the best of it before we suddenly drop dead."

The words hit Xinyuan like a physical blow. A sudden, tight knot formed in his chest as he thought back to his conversation with Wenzhi the previous night. He swallowed hard. "Yes. True."

Right at that moment, the door to the hallway creaked open. Wenzhi shuffled into the kitchen, his hair looking like a bird’s nest. He was aggressively rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, letting out a massive, exhausted yawn.

"Wenzhi," Pei Luo called out, greeting him with a nod, while Su Zheng beamed at his entrance. "Looks like someone detests the start of a new day."

"I highly appreciate the brutal accuracy of those words," Wenzhi mumbled in the middle of another yawn.

He walked straight over to Xinyuan, who automatically held out the freshly prepared mug. Wenzhi didn’t even hesitate, taking a slow, long sip of the hot coffee, letting the caffeine ground him.

Xinyuan watched him wake up, a quiet warmth settling over his irritation from earlier, before he turned back to help Pei Luo finish up the breakfast platters.

A few minutes later, Kaiwen and Duan Ze finally emerged from their room. The cramped kitchen instantly became loud and lively as everyone gathered around the food, but Xinyuan found himself retreating deep into his own head.

He was going to propose. The determination was there, heavy and solid in his chest, but the sudden anxiety was entirely new. What if Wenzhi rejects me because it’s too soon? But with the world collapsing, nothing is actually too soon, right? What if...

Xinyuan forcibly cut off his own train of thought. He was overthinking this into a disaster.

Grabbing his own plate, Xinyuan walked out of the kitchen and into the living room to get some space. Within seconds, Su Zheng slipped out after him, followed closely by Kaiwen. They moved into the center of the room, and Su Zheng immediately marched right up to Xinyuan, peering closely at his face.

"What is with that dark expression, Shao Xinyuan?" she asked, her purple eyes darting across his features. "Are you seriously worried Pei Luo might poison Wenzhi’s food? Trust me, he won’t. He genuinely likes Wenzhi. They were good friends before everything went to hell, after all."

The reassurance didn’t do anything to change Xinyuan’s mood, mostly because the thought of poison hadn’t even crossed his mind.

Kaiwen threw himself onto the worn couch, leaning back against the cushions with a comfortable sigh. He glanced up at Xinyuan, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. "He probably wants to propose to Wenzhi. That’s why he looks like he’s solving a complex math equation."

Xinyuan shot him a sharp, startled look. "How the hell do you know?"

Kaiwen’s smirk instantly vanished, his eyes widening in genuine surprise. He sat up a little straighter. "Wait... you actually want to propose to him? I was just joking."

Su Zheng burst out laughing, clapping her hands together in delight. "Oh, this is perfect! Do not worry at all, Shao Xinyuan. I am officially on the case, and I am going to help you."