Part 2
“I have no interest in you; you simply walked into the line of fire. I have been tracking the trail of that token you retrieved.”
Li Yi looked at him in confusion.
“After we get on the island, give it to Shu Ci. He will honor the promise in the letter and let you continue your research.”
Lu Wanqing said no more. He pressed his temples, turned, and left.
Li Yi looked at Lu Wanqing’s retreating figure, lost in thought. When he returned to the cabin, he saw Yi Xingshui taking up two beds with her body and clothes. He turned to go to the empty room next door.
But he was suddenly grabbed by her.
“What are you two hiding from me? We haven’t seen each other for years; people who didn’t even talk before are now speaking in riddles?”
“It’s nothing.” Li Yi came back to his senses and fell silent for a moment. “Lu Wanqing’s rut… is it coming soon?”
Sensitivity, aggressive language, and a suppressive force that was usually hard for Betas like them to feel.
“You noticed it too?”
Yi Xingshui rolled her eyes and wrapped the quilt tighter.
“He’s courting death. He studied medicine himself, yet he violently injected so many suppressants. His internal system is already unregulated. One look and you can tell he didn’t isolate and recuperate properly.”
Li Yi frowned. “Doesn’t he have a legal partner?”
“You’d have to ask him. He has such a big, living wife right next to him, yet he won’t mark him and relies entirely on endurance. Now, he probably can’t suppress it anymore, and he can’t fully ride it out on his own… You know that ruts are heavily influenced by physical condition.”
Li Yi was dumbfounded.
Was this really the top student of their entire department from back then? Every step he took was violating a doctor’s taboos.
“He deserves it. He was fierce with me just now and threatened to throw me into the sea, so I’m not going to remind him.”
“…”
It’s a good thing I wasn’t from the same mentorship group as you two, Li Yi thought silently.
Setting foot on Dragon Spine Island again, the mood was vastly different from before.
Under the management of the operating company, the island’s infrastructure had been completely revitalized. The main building, full of futuristic technology, looked exceptionally impressive in the sunlight.
Shu Ci went to the top floor, pulled up Shu Changze’s data program, and had the island’s service robots arrange food, clothing, and accommodation for the two guests. When he walked out, he saw Lu Wanqing sitting casually on the long staircase outside the main building.
His long legs were spread apart, elbows resting on his knees with a slight curve, looking like a living statue propping itself up before his eyes.
Shu Ci leaned down, reached out to wrap his arms around Lu Wanqing’s neck, and released his pheromones to guard against any counterattack, while pressing his entire body against the man’s broad back.
Since it was his island and they were the only two AO (Alpha/Omega) present—everyone else being Beta—he could release his scent however he wanted.
The usually sharp Lu Wanqing seemed to have a moment of sluggishness. It wasn’t until Shu Ci put his full weight on his back that he reacted.
“Don’t mess around.”
Lu Wanqing felt the warm cheek approaching the side of his face. His heart skipped two heavy beats. When he snapped back to reality, he realized his own pheromones had already been lured out by him.
Voice hoarse, he closed his eyes, trying his best to calm his mood and wrestle with his restless pheromones, attempting to pull them back.
The energy in the air entangled and trembled.
Shu Ci hung onto his back, manipulating his pheromones with ease, firmly controlling every branching strand of Lu Wanqing’s chaotic scent.
“Dr. Li gave me a stone just now. It sounds like a token left by someone connected to Shu Changze, but he said you were also tracking this thing.”
Shu Ci’s voice was like a Siren’s song to the Alpha in this moment, bewitching the youth at sea to fall and drown.
Lu Wanqing’s throat tightened. He hoisted the person on his back up with force, walked down the steps to the square in front of the main building, and stopped.
“The coordinate point embedded in the ground. The place you stood when you inherited it.”
He raised a hand to press against his trembling vocal cords, suppressing a pant of desire, and took a deep breath.
“It’s from the Far-flung Regions—specifically, a crystal extract mined in the Seventh District. There are nine in the entire world. Two of them have unknown personal ownership.”
Shu Ci jumped down from his back, squatted on the ground, and compared the coordinate marker with the one Li Yi gave him.
They did indeed look like the same material.
“I checked it out when I came back last time. One of them flowed abroad and was kept in a pawnshop. I only received intelligence before boarding the ship that Li Yi had retrieved it.”
“In other words, both are here now!” Shu Ci realized.
But soon he frowned again. “But why would Shu Changze go to such great lengths for these things? Or is there really something wrong with his death?”
“The Shu family never made Mr. Shu Changze’s cause of death public. Very few people have seen the materials related to his illness and passing. You are new to all this and have many things to consider; you probably haven’t had time to think about these things.”
Lu Wanqing’s heart gave another jump. Holding his forehead, he said hoarsely, “You… put your pheromones away first.”
“Shu Ci… be obedient.”
Shu Ci saw him pursing his lips in endurance, his pupils contracting and trembling violently. The feigned calm in his voice was laced with a hint of a sob, and it felt inexplicably familiar.
It was just like that day they fell into the sea—the way he held him tightly, enduring the pain of rejection just to be close to him.
Ah, this blockhead.
“Lu Wanqing, even at a time like this, what are you thinking about?” He released his pheromones, approaching with familiar ease.
Unexpectedly, Lu Wanqing took a step back, stared fixedly at his neck for two seconds, then abruptly looked away. He bypassed Shu Ci and stumbled toward the shore.
He had already lost control once; he couldn’t let it happen a second time.
If he really hurt him, he would blame himself for the rest of his life.
“You… don’t worry about me.” Lu Wanqing struggled forward, his steps hurried.
Shu Ci’s pheromones followed him closely, but Lu didn’t dare to forcefully strip them away, terrified that the energy fluctuation would clash with Shu Ci.
Shu Ci laughed out of anger. If you’re so tough, then don’t get tangled in my pheromones.
He crossed his arms and straightened up, decisively retracting his pheromones. He shouted, “Fine, I won’t worry about you. Let’s get a divorce right now. Whoever wants to deal with you can deal with you.”
As soon as the words fell, the scent of plum blossoms vanished from the air.
The Alpha stood frozen in place, his back looking momentarily desolate. He slowly looked back, glancing at Shu Ci.
Within the deep blue of his eyes, there were strands of unreadable light.
All the surging emotions in his eyes, at the moment of eruption, suddenly turned back and vanished rapidly from Shu Ci’s field of vision.
“…Is this person so stubborn that even reverse psychology doesn’t work?”
Shu Ci blinked and slowly followed behind Lu Wanqing. Seeing him board the boat that was still docked at the shore—the one they had arrived in—Shu Ci sighed.
He rolled up his sleeves and used his clearance to swipe onto the boat.
This time, he didn’t deliberately seduce him, afraid of triggering an even stronger rebellion from Lu Wanqing. He simply weaved through the spreading Alpha pheromones, following the direction of the flow, and walked inside.
He stopped at the door of the room where he had rested over the past few days. The violent energy vibration inside felt like it was about to blow the door off its hinges.
He pulled the door open. There was no one inside.
Only the wardrobe door shook.
“Lu Wanqing, I know what you’re thinking. The 1% marking will hurt both of us, I get it.”
He walked to the wardrobe door and crouched down slightly.
“I’m not asking you to mark me, but is admitting your own heart, admitting that you like me, really that difficult?”
From inside the wardrobe came a… heavily suppressed, low growl.
Shu Ci’s eyelid twitched. He knocked on the door.
“I’m going to count to three. If you open the door, we remain legal partners. If you don’t, we go our separate ways from here on out. You choose.”
“Thump—”
“Thump—”
“Thump—”
After three knocks, Shu Ci fell silent. Just as he was about to turn around, he suddenly heard a creak.
The door opened.
General Lu, beloved by the people of the Seventh District, was squeezed amidst Shu Ci’s clothes. He was clutching the tie Shu Ci had worn yesterday, which was now bound tightly around his own hands, his lips pressed against it.
“…So, my understanding is that you have absolutely no desire to divorce, correct?”
Shu Ci asked softly, but received no response.
Stepping closer, he discovered that the light was gone from Lu Wanqing’s eyes. Veins were bulging everywhere, and his skin was flushed red.
Seeing Shu Ci approach, he released the tie from his mouth, bit onto the hem of Shu Ci’s shirt, and worked his way up inch by inch, before forcefully dragging him into his arms.
“Holy sh*t, watch your teeth!”
Shu Ci tumbled into the wardrobe with him.
The Alpha locked inside the wardrobe, eyes rimmed with red, had already lost his reason.
Within his own self-imposed restraints, his hands and feet remained well-behaved, but his lips devoutly swept across the neck that was now within reach, and kissed it.
“Ah Ci, mine.”
Author’s Note:
Shu Ci: I hate that you’re such a blockhead, ahhh!
Old Lu: Wifey, wifey, mine, mine (Rut breakdown state ver.)
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