Chapter 68: “I am… Du Xun’s wife.”
As the blue liquid was pushed halfway in.
A short dagger sliced through the air, carrying a fierce, killing intent, aimed directly at the long-haired Alpha’s face.
The long-haired Alpha looked up and saw a figure on the roof opposite.
In the next second, an oppressive S5 pheromone swept across the entire area!
The devastating pheromone enveloped everything like a tidal wave, instantly controlling everyone present.
Just as Jiang Yuening had said.
No one could withstand the submission demanded by his pheromones.
The S5 rank meant absolute suppression.
Shen Zhuo stood high above, in the still wind, lowering his gaze, which was as thick and ruthless as blood.
His murderous aura was as terrifying as a demon from hell.
The long-haired Alpha remained unmoved, smiling as he looked at Shen Zhuo.
Pheromone suppression had no effect on him.
Just as Shen Zhuo leaped off the roof and rushed toward him, the Alpha sped up, pushing the syringe into Du Xun’s neck, then retreated back into the room.
Shen Zhuo wanted to chase after him, but was stopped by Du Xun’s sideways glance.
Those usually calm eyes contracted sharply upon seeing Shen Zhuo.
“Don’t go!”
The two words were spoken quickly and urgently.
Shen Zhuo clenched his fingers, immediately turning back to support Du Xun, his voice rasping out uncontrollably:
“How are you? What did he inject you with?!”
Du Xun gave a tired smile.
“I’m fine, don’t wor…”
Before the man could finish, he grunted and fell backward.
Shen Zhuo’s heart lurched.
“Du Xun!”
His fingers went numb, the sensation spreading to the back of his head.
Reacting quickly, he caught the man in his arms, turning back to scream:
“Doctor!!”
.
3:00 AM.
Shen Zhuo stood outside the operating room, feeling cold.
It wasn’t until Ai Li held his hand that he realized he had been trembling.
“It’ll be okay, it’ll be okay.” Ai Li rubbed his arm up and down.
Chu Baixian leaned against the wall as well, his expression serious.
After a long while, he finally said to Shen Zhuo:
“At least it wasn’t a banned drug for gland modification.”
Shen Zhuo’s eyes flickered slightly.
Chu Baixian reached up to touch the gland at the back of his neck, his voice quiet with self-mockery:
“That drug was purple and had a pungent smell.”
Shen Zhuo remembered Du Xun telling him that Chu Baixian used to be an Alpha.
“You…” Shen Zhuo’s voice was hoarse, almost unrecognizable. He paused before continuing, “Is it because of that?”
Chu Baixian looked up at him, offering no answer.
He waved his hand, put his hands in his pockets, and prepared to leave:
“If you need anything, call me. I’m going back to clean up the mess he left behind.”
Chu Baixian didn’t stop walking:
“Some matters regarding the military academy have been handed over to Ji Weishen. If anything happens at the school, you can go to him.”
Watching Chu Baixian walk further away.
All Shen Zhuo could hear was the pounding of his own heart.
Every second was torture.
Even more excruciating than waiting for his blood to drain away in his past life.
Du Xun had no family; the only person who could be called family was Shen Zhuo.
So when the doctor issued the critical condition notice, only Shen Zhuo could step forward.
Shen Zhuo’s mind went blank for a moment.
He felt utterly lost.
The cause of critical condition was severe shock caused by high-voltage electric shock to the gland.
And an unknown substance injected into the bloodstream.
“I…” Shen Zhuo’s eyes were so sore he could barely see the person in front of him, forcing himself to stay calm:
“I’ll sign.”
The doctor asked routinely: “You are the patient’s…?”
Shen Zhuo took out the marriage certificate from his chest pocket, trying to keep his voice steady:
“I am… his wife.”
behind him, Ai Li’s eyes widened.
They were already married?
Shen Zhuo had written his name countless times.
But this time, every stroke felt like a nail driving Du Xun onto a cross.
After writing, the lines of the two characters trembled uncontrollably.
Shen Zhuo put down the pen and looked at Ai Li, his eyes hollow and lifeless.
This person had stayed up with him, his eyes red.
“You should go back first. I can stay here by myself.”
“No.” Ai Li refused firmly. “How can you stay alone?”
He patted Shen Zhuo’s shoulder. “Uncle Shen and Uncle Ning aren’t here. If anything happens, at least I’m here.”
Just as he finished speaking, Ai Li’s phone rang.
After taking the call, his face, already pale from staying up late, lost even more color.
He looked at Shen Zhuo, his lips trembling.
He didn’t know if he should tell him the news now.
Shen Zhuo looked up, staring unblinkingly at the three blood-red words: “In Surgery.”
In his vision, everything around him darkened.
The clock, the heartbeat, the footsteps…
Everything stopped.
Shen Zhuo felt as if those three words were gradually expanding, crushing him under their weight.
The crimson light swallowed everything around him.
Everything else turned into a smear of black in the abyss, drowning out even the last bit of light in his peripheral vision.
“Shen Zhuo!”
Shen Zhuo snapped back to reality.
Ai Li slapped him hard. “Rest for a bit. Staying up for three hours, your pupils are dilating.”
Shen Zhuo closed his eyes and rubbed his face.
He shook his head.
“I want to be with him.” The boy opened his eyes, the whites completely bloodshot. “When he wakes up, he’ll definitely want to see me.”
After saying that, he glanced at Ai Li.
“Is there something you want to tell me?”
Ai Li pressed his lips together. After a long time, he decided he shouldn’t hide this from his childhood friend.
“There’s bad news about the 36 hostages. Do you want to hear it?”
Shen Zhuo’s throat moved, swallowing with difficulty.
He sat firmly on the cold chair nearby.
“Go ahead.”
“The first piece of bad news is that three people had just finished gland removal surgery before being rescued.”
“When the military rushed in, they had already lost too much blood…”
The rest didn’t need to be said.
Shen Zhuo’s eyes darkened, mixed with an icy coldness.
“What else?”
Ai Li was silent for a moment.
He held Shen Zhuo’s hand supportively.
“Yu Xueying…”
“He was one of those three.”
Shen Zhuo’s heart skipped a beat.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, he suddenly looked up, speaking slowly, his malice heavy and tangible:
“Their glands… where are they?”
Ai Li shook his head: “Ji Weishen told me they’re still tracking them. The security level for this matter is very high, we don’t have the authority to investigate.”
“I remember Yu Xueying once said he wanted to defeat me.”
Shen Zhuo’s voice was so low it seemed to take all his strength to speak.
But the unprecedented cold light in his pitch-black pupils made even Ai Li beside him feel a chill:
“They at least have to go home intact.”
Ai Li’s hand, intending to press down on Shen Zhuo’s, stopped mid-air and landed on his shoulder instead.
He unwrapped a lollipop and handed it to Shen Zhuo, then unwrapped one for himself.
The lollipops clinked together.
“I’ll go with you.”
He smiled, his blue eyes surging like ocean waves:
“Whatever you want to do, I’ll risk my life to accompany you. You can trust me with your back.”
Years of mutual understanding meant they didn’t need to say much.
Shen Zhuo lowered his eyes and put the lollipop in his mouth.
They waited a while longer until 5:00 AM, when Shen Zhuo sent Ai Li back to the dorm to catch up on sleep.
Shen Zhuo stood alone in the empty hospital corridor.
The golden light of sunrise slanted through the window onto the boy.
His shadow extended from the brightness at his feet into the dark shadows.
Shen Zhuo inadvertently saw his shadow and his reflection in the corridor glass.
He suddenly seemed to understand that look in Du Xun’s eyes.
Like a wandering soul locked in the mortal world.
——
5:27 AM.
The light above the operating room finally turned green.
The door opened, and a hospital bed was wheeled out.
Shen Zhuo immediately rushed forward, seeing Du Xun’s bloodless face on the bed, breathing weakly with the help of a ventilator.
Shen Zhuo’s eyes and nose stung, nearly starting to cry in front of everyone.
The doctor had Du Xun wheeled to the ward first.
He told Shen Zhuo: “The patient is temporarily out of danger.”
Before Shen Zhuo could breathe a sigh of relief, he continued:
“But your husband’s rank is too high. After his gland was stimulated by high-voltage current, it suffered a certain degree of damage.”
Shen Zhuo’s heart tightened, biting his lip until the taste of blood filled his mouth.
“He can recover through long-term care.” The doctor instructed, “It’s best not to let him do high-intensity work recently, otherwise his gland won’t be able to handle it.”
“Also, regarding suppressants, ordinary ones can’t be used.”
Shen Zhuo nodded solemnly: “I understand.”
“The drug injected into him seems to be a newly developed banned substance. It’s been sent to the lab for testing, but we don’t know if there will be results. You need to be mentally prepared for this.”
Shen Zhuo continued to nod.
“A nurse will tell you about the precautions.” The doctor signaled that Shen Zhuo could go to the ward.
Not being in the ICU allowed Shen Zhuo to finally breathe a slight sigh of relief.
Returning to the ward, as soon as his gaze fell on the hospital bed, Shen Zhuo’s heart couldn’t help but ache.
He had never seen Du Xun look so fragile.
His eyelashes were lowered, the cold, hard expression on his face completely gone.
He was pale and weak.
Like a piece of paper so fragile it would break at a touch.
Shen Zhuo reached out and rubbed the man’s cheek.
“Du Xun.”
“Du Xun…”
Seeming to realize his voice was choking up.
The boy steadied himself, releasing all the pheromones from his gland.
S5 high-level soothing pheromones.
Just a little bit could reduce his partner’s pain.
Now, Shen Zhuo, like Du Xun that day.
Gave all the soothing pheromones in his gland.
The scent of night-blooming cereus in the air was so thick it almost solidified.
Until his gland was empty, and his body, which had held on for half the night, was teetering.
Shen Zhuo leaned close to the edge of the bed, the piercing beep of the ECG monitor in his ears, his vision blurring.
Du Xun wouldn’t want him to cry.
So he had to hold it back.
Waiting for the first moment Du Xun saw him, he must be smiling.
“Wake up soon.”
“I know, you want to see me.”
“Du Xun, look at me, okay?”
“…”
Shen Zhuo’s nose stung, and his entire chest began to ache.
“Bad alpha.”
“Bastard Du Xun.”
“If you don’t wake up, I… I’m leaving.”
Noticing the man’s eyebrows subconsciously furrowing, Shen Zhuo immediately corrected himself, carefully bypassing the equipment to touch his fingers:
“I was lying, I won’t leave.”
The boy bent down, pressing his dry lips to the man’s forehead.
“Shen Zhuo is Du Xun’s wife, I told them.”
“So Shen Zhuo will never leave Du Xun.”
His voice was very soft, hoarse and painful:
“Never.”
Just then, the ward door was pushed open without warning.
Shen Zhuo turned his head in surprise, his face instantly darkening.
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