The River Flows East, Part Two: Sentinel and Guide

A peaceful, ordinary life has become a distant, blurred memory for Jiang Liu, the Tang Empire's chief Guide.

The war between the Tang and West Turkic empires ended, barely, at a terrible cost.

During the war, Jiang Liu lost his home, his family, his mentors, and his comrades. In the final battle, his Sentinel partner, Dizang, with whom he was mentally bonded, also disappeared without a trace, leaving no remains behind.

Desperate, Jiang Liu searched every patch of scorched earth on the battlefield, but could not find even the slightest trace of his partner.

Then, three years later, the leader of the West Turkic Empire, a Dark Sentinel who had come to sign a peace treaty, stood before Jiang Liu.

To his horror, Jiang Liu discovered that the enemy of the Tang Empire, the West Turkic Dark Sentinel, had exactly the same face as his partner, Dizang.

No one knows what happened between Jiang Liu and the Dark Sentinel that day.

Afterward, a fragile peace settled between the Tang and West Turkic empires.

And Jiang Liu, chief Guide of the Tang Empire, became a bonded Guide without a partner.

No one knows who Jiang Liu's Sentinel partner is. Bored gossips online darkly speculate, and the fact that Jiang Liu disappears for a few days every three months for no apparent reason gives them plenty of fuel for their rumors.

Jiang Liu never argues or offers an explanation. He buries himself in the work of governing the empire. He is the prime minister's aide and the principal of the Central Sentinel-Guide Academy. His life has only one purpose: to preserve this costly peace for the people of Tang.

But reality is silently destroying even that hope.

A strange phenomenon is occurring all over the world: the proportion of people awakening as Sentinels is rising rapidly.

Several small countries in the Tang Empire's western regions have collapsed after Sentinel riots, caused by their inability to calm their Sentinels.

At the same time, the Dark Sentinels of the West Turkic Empire are quietly appearing among the people of Tang in another form.

Jiang Liu realizes in despair that he must face this powerful and terrifying Dark Sentinel once again.

At this moment, a wild monkey brimming with vitality appears by Jiang Liu's side: Sun Yao, a new student at the Central Sentinel-Guide Academy, an unruly problem child and an S-rank Sentinel.

"Principal Jiang, come with me. Stop worrying about those people and all those problems! Look at the life you've been living all these years!"

"Jiang Liu, come with me. I can let you and Dizang live happily together. We are the strongest Sentinel and the strongest Guide. Together, we can reshape the world into a better place."

The plot is very complex, with lots of foreshadowing. The romance is understated early on, and the story is a slow burn.

If you can guess the final truth, the author admits defeat.

The story has a prequel, which mainly explains the origins of Jiang Liu's Sentinel, Dizang. It is not necessary to read it to enjoy this story.

Note: The story takes place in a second civilization, after the first human civilization was destroyed. Some countries use names borrowed from ancient states, mainly to make their geographical locations easier to understand. For example, Tang, West Turkic, and Europa. Can you guess where they are just from their names? All the other continents on Earth were turned into uninhabitable wastelands during the war that destroyed the first civilization.

This story has no connection to history. Please do not draw parallels.

Prequel: The River Flows East

Theme: Live your own life independently, without relying on anyone else.