Chapter 10
The person in his arms trembled incessantly, pressing closer to his chest as if seeking security.
Lu Wanqing tightened his arms, lifting him slightly.
A tingling sensation, like countless needles, pricked where his back, waist, and the backs of his thighs touched Shu Ci’s. The closer he got, the clearer the pain of their low physiological compatibility became.
Fortunately, he was always able to endure pain; long-lasting or short-lived, it made no difference.
It was just… that the person in his arms would suffer.
Lu Wanqing lowered his gaze, raindrops rolling down his eyelashes and onto Shu Ci’s ear.
“Uncomfortable…” Shu Ci murmured with his eyes closed.
He instinctively clung to Lu Wanqing’s shoulder muscles, but seemed to quickly realize he might hurt him, his fingertips trembling before he released his grip.
“Hold on tight, I don’t mind,” Lu Wanqing said in a low voice.
His large hand covered Shu Ci’s, pulling his hand back and pressing it firmly against his shoulder.
For ordinary AO couples, an alpha only needs to release their pheromones to guide and greatly soothe the omega, alleviating their pain.
But even the slightest touch between them caused discomfort. Releasing pheromones wouldn’t alleviate their pain; instead, it would worsen their negative feelings.
So, Lu Wanqing controlled his pheromones, circling them around Shu Ci, maintaining a perfect distance from Shu Ci’s faint jasmine scent. He enveloped Shu Ci protectively, but couldn’t get too close.
If clinging to him would make him feel better, he could endure it.
“Sounds like married life is going pretty well. Why the long face when you got back from the registry office?” The superior’s voice crackled through the wireless headset, quite noisy.
“Listen, you need to prepare for the Dragonthorn Island mission in advance. Remember to soothe your partner’s emotions before you leave, understand?”
“…”
“You’re so distracted. Go get busy. We’ll talk when you report back on the airport mission.”
The superior hung up. Lu Wanqing breathed a sigh of relief.
He looked at Shu Ci, feeling a headache coming on.
He couldn’t keep holding him in the rain. He didn’t have a car. Should he snatch one from Gu Lanzhu’s bodyguards?
…But that would violate regulations.
As he was pondering, a chilling killing intent erupted.
The bodyguards stationed outside the Shu residence, receiving Gu Lanzhu’s orders, swarmed towards them.
——Even if they had to kill that Alpha, they had to get the person back.
This ruthless order had an unspoken subtext: otherwise, you’ll be the ones who die.
The tranquil lake in Lu Wanqing’s eyes instantly froze into ice.
He increased his grip slightly, shielding Shu Ci from the overwhelming killing intent while simultaneously locking onto every threat around them.
“Am I… too heavy?” The person in his arms whispered softly.
“No,” Lu Wanqing said calmly.
As the words fell, a black-clad bodyguard silently fell to the ground behind them.
“Turn right, over there!” Shen Ti sat in his car, pointing with difficulty towards the rain curtain.
Shu Ci had kept his real-time location on for him. Unable to rest easy, he followed, only to be overwhelmed by the intense pheromones upon arrival.
Driving closer, Shen Ti saw this scene:
The ground was littered with sprawled bodyguards in black, and in the center, a single alpha stood, his shirt soaked, holding someone and stepping through the rain.
Pheromones formed a solid barrier around the two, firmly blocking the encroaching pheromonal fangs in the air.
The barrier was crystal clear, and if the raindrops hadn’t abruptly changed direction as they fell, it would have been invisible.
Shen Ti was shocked. The official statement was that humans currently lacked the ability to materialize pheromones. What had he just seen?
The next second, Lu Wanqing walked to the car and gently placed the drenched Shu Ci inside.
The rain continued to fall, as if everything was Shen Ti’s hallucination.
The next morning, Shu Ci woke up with aching muscles.
Shen Ti immediately called the family doctor. Nothing was wrong; they said it was probably fatigue and stress, and advised him to rest.
Shu Ci thought the soreness was probably the result of resisting Gu Lanzhu’s pheromones with all his might.
He suddenly didn’t want to criticize the original owner anymore.
Having experienced the fear of almost having his mind controlled and his physiological compatibility overriding his will, he had more empathy for the original owner.
The plot’s progression couldn’t be entirely attributed to his gentle and weak personality or to Stockholm Syndrome developed after abuse.
The so-called 100% match of a destined couple was clearly a chopping block above his head. As long as Gu Lanzhu wanted, anywhere could be his hunting ground.
“Where’s Lu Wanqing?”
“I knew you’d ask about him.” Shen Ti pointed to the bedside table. “He left you a message.”
Shu Ci reached out and picked up his phone; there was an unread message from “Husband.”
He looked at those two words, his eyelids twitching.
Although he called him “cheap husband” in his heart, he hadn’t actually accepted him as his partner, and he knew Lu Wanqing felt the same.
He raised his hand and changed the contact name to “Lu Wanqing.”
In the book, he was an unnamed tool; he didn’t even have a name in the original owner’s contact list. But for Shu Ci, he was the light that rescued him twice from Gu Lanzhu’s clutches, his temporary safe haven in a foreign land.
Lu Wanqing should be Lu Wanqing, not just a label.
To his surprise, Lu Wanqing’s message was warmer than his silent expression.
[Limited off-duty time, sorry I couldn’t wait for you to wake up.]
[There aren’t many supplies at home, and the security on Juqing Road isn’t good. Why don’t you stay at Mr. Shen’s for a while? We can discuss moving next time I have leave.]
[I’m in closed training recently. Communication with family is allowed from 9 pm to 10 pm every night.]
Shu Ci read it twice. He could tell from the words that his guess about Lu Wanqing’s identity was largely correct – a military figure who could communicate directly with the Marshal.
“What did he say? You look unimpressed.” Shen Ti teased him.
“Just… reporting his schedule?”
“Didn’t he ask about Gu Lanzhu?”
“No.” Shu Ci scanned the message again. It didn’t mention him at all. “He doesn’t seem to care.”
Lu Wanqing couldn’t have failed to notice that his wife almost got swept away by Gu Lanzhu’s pheromones. But he hadn’t even raised an eyebrow the entire time.
However, this didn’t bother Shu Ci.
It was more convenient for him to solve the karmic debt with Gu Lanzhu if he could get along peacefully with Lu Wanqing. His indifferent attitude was just right.
After all, it was better than that baffling possessiveness and furious rage.
At this moment, in the top-floor office of the Gu Corporation building, Gu Lanzhu’s red eyes were filled with rage, the ballpoint pen in his hand crushed to pieces.
The screen displayed footage taken by the bodyguards yesterday.
They couldn’t even get close, only managing to follow and record video.
In the heavy rain, the little jasmine was carefully held in someone’s arms, all the way to the home of Duke Cui’s son. That Alpha practically never left his side, carrying him into the house.
Jealousy and possessiveness overwhelmed Gu Lanzhu.
That was his husband? No, soon he wouldn’t be.
“Bang! Bang!”
At the training base, a group of elite alphas were around Lu Wanqing one second, and the next they were sprawled on the ground. Cui You instinctively supported his waist.
“Next group.” Lu Wanqing turned, his voice calm.
Ten minutes later, Cui You, rubbing his side, limped to the rest area. Lu Wanqing, however, hadn’t even caught his breath and was already calling for another team.
He tugged at his collar, acting nonchalant. “This training is insane!”
His fellow soldiers knew he was a Cui family member, an heir to a title, but even that status was treated equally in front of Lu Wanqing, stirring a bit of sympathy.
“The Dragonthorn Island mission selection is imminent. More training is a good thing. It’s a blessing to have General Lu as your sparring partner, otherwise, you’ll never find this kind of pressure in your whole life. You should know from your airport experience; what we face is difficult to handle.”
Cui You shook his head: “I mean Lu Wanqing. He hasn’t rested all day after returning, isn’t he tired?”
“Normal. Our routine training is just a warm-up for General Lu; he has a separate training room. I heard that people usually go in whole, and come out covered in blood.”
Cui You couldn’t imagine the scene.
The others left one by one, but he remained at the training ground watching Lu Wanqing.
Lu Wanqing thought he had something to say, perhaps about the allocation of Dragonthorn Island mission spots, and let Cui You follow him into the changing room.
Communication time had arrived, and the base’s connection to the outside world opened.
Lu Wanqing unbuttoned his training uniform with one hand and swiped his phone with the other.
He glanced at Cui You, seeing his hesitation. Multitasking, he said, “Speak up if you have something to say.”
Cui You scratched his head: “I thought you were going to individual training, I wanted to witness it. Judging by this, are you going straight back to rest?”
Lu Wanqing had already removed his training uniform and changed into his sharp uniform.
He closed the cabinet door: “I was going to.”
Cui You questioned: “And then?”
Lu Wanqing looked down at his phone.
He had just received two messages from Shu Ci.
One was like a short essay, explaining the ins and outs of his relationship with Gu Lanzhu exceptionally clearly.
The other was very short.
[You were also in the rain yesterday. Please take care of yourself during training, don’t get sick or injured.]
“There’s no and then.” Lu Wanqing took a screenshot of the message. “I decided to train another day.”