Yu Zhiling seemed like he still wanted to come closer. Without even turning his head, Shi Qi struck him and warned harshly, “Get lost!”
His elbow hit Yu Zhiling hard in the stomach. Yu Zhiling groaned and doubled over from the pain.
Omegas in heat could influence each other. Shi Qi hadn’t shown any abnormal reactions yet, probably because he had an Alpha’s mark on him.
Even so, a single mark alone wouldn’t hold out for too long.
Yu Zhiling held his stomach, sucking in a sharp breath. “Fine, I won’t come any closer.”
That hit was brutal. No mercy at all.
Shi Qi couldn’t be bothered to waste words with him and turned his gaze toward the storage cabinet containing the suppressants.
Because of their argument, Yu Zhiling’s pheromones had grown even stronger. The detection device in the room began to issue a warning alarm. The light changed from the safe green to yellow, and then to orange-red, reminding the Omega in heat to inject a suppressant as soon as possible.
Damn it.
The cabinet’s password was the same as the door lock, so he couldn’t forcibly give Yu Zhiling the injection. At the very least, he needed him to stop the heat and suppress the source of the pheromones.
Thinking this, Shi Qi looked away and tentatively moved his fingers.
A long time had passed, but his body didn’t feel sore or hot like it usually did before heat. It felt no different than usual. A flicker of surprise crept into Shi Qi’s mind.
Strange.
Even with Shang Sui’s mark on him, Yu Zhiling’s pheromones were this intense, and they were in such a cramped space. Logically, he should have been affected at least a little.
But he felt like his mind had detached, coldly observing another Omega in heat, as if it were something that had nothing to do with him.
Was it because of glandular deterioration? But back when Lin Yan went into heat, he had definitely been affected.
Could it be that his condition had worsened to the point where he could no longer feel Yu Zhiling’s pheromones at all?
Whatever the reason, this damn illness was, for once, doing him a huge favor.
Shi Qi silently retreated a step and shrank into a corner.
Yu Zhiling was likely delaying the suppressant, waiting for Shi Qi to enter heat as well. Approaching him recklessly might trigger something dangerous.
With no better option, Shi Qi could only try to keep as far away from him as possible.
–
After great effort and hardship, Lin Yan finally threw up everything and felt immensely lighter.
Coming out of the restroom, he rinsed his mouth with mouthwash. Seeing no one around, he sent Shi Qi a message.
Yanyan: [You two already headed over? How’s it going? Did he get the suppressant yet?]
Yanyan: [Hello?]
…
Yanyan: [Shi Qi, pick up your phone!]
After waiting a long time without a reply, Lin Yan called Yu Zhiling directly but still got no response.
Sensing something was wrong, he quickly contacted Qin Shuhe.
“Yes?”
“Is Shang Sui with you? Give him the phone!”
Lin Yan’s voice revealed undisguised urgency. Qin Shuhe didn’t ask questions and handed the phone over immediately.
Shang Sui’s voice came from the other end. “What happened?”
“Shi Qi and Yu Zhiling are missing!”
“There’s something I haven’t been able to say—I’ve always had a feeling Yu Zhiling might like him. Just now, Yu Zhiling entered heat, and they probably went to the safehouse, but now I can’t reach either of them. I’m worried Shi Qi might be affected by being with him.”
Lin Yan quickly explained the situation, then asked, “Shi Qi still has your mark. Can you sense roughly where he is?”
–
Seeing Shi Qi curled up silently in the corner, Yu Zhiling suddenly stepped forward and once again approached him.
A look of wariness flashed in Shi Qi’s eyes, and his body tensed.
Just as he thought Yu Zhiling was about to make a move, the other unexpectedly dropped to his knees in front of him.
Yu Zhiling reached out pleadingly, trying to touch Shi Qi’s arm. When that was avoided, he even tried to rub against his leg.
“Please, I really like you. Just have a little pity on me.”
“……”
“Shang Sui is an Alpha. I’m an Omega—he won’t find out.”
“And besides, a lot of Alphas don’t mind when Omegas are with other Omegas. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen so many times. He might even find it exciting and love you more—”
Shi Qi couldn’t listen anymore and kicked Yu Zhiling in the chest.
He was so furious his temples were throbbing. He’d used his full strength in that kick, and Yu Zhiling was sent flying. The small safehouse didn’t have much room to begin with, and Yu Zhiling’s body slammed heavily against the wall.
He couldn’t stop himself from breaking into a violent fit of coughing, and blood quickly appeared at the corner of his mouth.
“…You can hit me. If it’ll help you vent your anger, I’m willing to do anything.” Yu Zhiling wiped the blood away with the back of his hand and coughed as he spoke. “Besides, you’re stuck here. Just try it with me, okay?”
“My technique is really good, and I’m the one on top. It’s not like being with an Alpha. Omegas understand each other. I’ll definitely make you feel good.”
Shi Qi finally opened his mouth, his eyes filled with clear disgust. “Why did you become like this?”
Yu Zhiling stared at him in a daze.
Compared to hitting or yelling, this cold indifference hurt even more. In the past, he was always the one who cast others aside. He believed he was so irresistible that even if he got in the way of someone else’s relationship, he’d still be accepted.
What made it harder to understand was that Shi Qi hadn’t shown any sign of being affected by his pheromones, and there wasn’t even the slightest hint of entering heat.
Why? Did Shi Qi hate him that much, enough to suppress his physiological instincts?
After a long pause, Yu Zhiling finally said in a low voice, “Maybe I’ve always been like this.”
Shi Qi ignored him, but Yu Zhiling seemed agitated and kept talking on his own.
“So no matter what I do, you’d never consider me, is that it?”
“You like that Alpha that much?”
The colder Shi Qi was, the more Yu Zhiling fell apart. In the end, he couldn’t hold it in anymore, and with a trembling voice, asked the question buried deep in his heart, “Do you regret saving me back then?”
Shi Qi didn’t answer the question, but said coldly instead, “Tell me the password now, and I’ll pretend none of this ever happened.”
As if delivering a verdict, he looked at Yu Zhiling, who was kneeling on the floor. “We won’t see each other again. I won’t come after you.”
He didn’t regret saving Yu Zhiling.
No matter who it had been that day, he would’ve helped.
Even though what had happened now was disgusting, he hadn’t been forced into heat and hadn’t been harmed.
Whatever Yu Zhiling had intended to do, it was now he who had taken the hit, bloodied by Shi Qi’s kick.
Considering how many years they’d known each other… if it ended here, then so be it.
Suddenly, a loud thud came from outside the door. The soundproofing in the safehouse was excellent, and under normal circumstances, it was nearly impossible to hear anything from outside. Likewise, people outside wouldn’t hear anything inside.
For a sound that loud to break through, whatever was going on out there had to be chaos.
But Yu Zhiling no longer had the attention to spare. Staring at Shi Qi’s icy face, an intense sense of unwillingness surged within him.
Confession, seduction, kneeling, and begging… he had done everything he could.
He still remembered what had happened to that investor before, which was why the most he dared do was trap Shi Qi here. He wouldn’t risk actually forcing him.
He had originally planned to use his pheromones to induce Shi Qi into heat, hoping they would end up having sex in a half-coerced way, but Shi Qi wasn’t affected in the slightest. His greatest advantage had lost all effectiveness without warning.
Shi Qi was giving him a way out, and the smart thing to do was to take it.
Yu Zhiling forced down his reluctance and answered quietly, “The password is the day we first met.”
Shi Qi had had enough of this kind of game and said flatly, “Say the numbers. I don’t remember the date.”
“…”
Yu Zhiling gave a self-deprecating laugh and recited the numbers.
Just as Shi Qi was about to enter the password, the door suddenly began to tremble violently.
To ensure user safety, the safehouse’s door and password lock were made of special composite metal. In theory, it should’ve been almost impossible to break in from the outside by hand.
Realizing something was wrong, Shi Qi immediately stepped back.
Once, twice—
The noise outside grew louder, making it feel as if the entire building were shaking. In the next second, the door lock was violently kicked open, and alarm sirens blared sharply from both inside and out!
When he saw the figure who had entered, Shi Qi’s mind went blank for a moment.
“Why are you…”
Unfamiliar pheromones filled the air, heavy with intense desire. Shang Sui quickly realized what had happened here.
After confirming that Shi Qi was unharmed, his eyes slowly moved to Yu Zhiling.
The Alpha’s light brown pupils narrowed like a serpent’s slit eyes, radiating a kind of primitive, almost bloodthirsty calm.
Shang Sui said word by word, “You really have a death wish.”
Under the immense pressure, Yu Zhiling trembled all over. His body convulsed, and the chest where Shi Qi had kicked him throbbed with sharp pain. With a retch, he coughed up a large pool of blood.
He coughed and cried at the same time, his throat producing rough wheezing sounds, like a broken bellows.
Shi Qi hadn’t expected such a strong reaction from him; he looked like he was about to die. For a moment, Shi Qi was frozen in place.
Yu Zhiling finally came back to his senses from that horrifying aura and suddenly realized something was wrong.
By all logic, the pheromone concentration in the room had already hit the limit. Any normal Alpha opening that door should have immediately lost control. Even if he didn’t pounce on him, his first instinct absolutely wouldn’t have been to attack.
“I get it now…!”
Yu Zhiling stared at Shang Sui like he was seeing something incredibly rare and terrifying. “You’re an Alpha with a special rut, aren’t you?”
Only Alphas with special ruts could remain unaffected when an Omega went into heat. Except for more powerful Alphas, pheromones had no effect on them whatsoever.
Everything connected in his mind. Yu Zhiling turned to look at Shi Qi. “You have his mark, that’s why you were immune to me the whole time. Because a special rut Alpha… What was the word? Superior beings? Ha! What a joke! …They’re just a bunch of monsters who can’t control themselves!”
Seeing that Shi Qi looked just as lost, Yu Zhiling suddenly burst out laughing, as if he had discovered something utterly absurd.
All the reluctance from earlier turned into intense malice. He stared at Shi Qi with a nearly pitying gaze.
“What now, Xiao Qi?”
“Something this terrifying, and you don’t even seem to know a thing about it.”
Author’s note: It’s here!
This chapter is too long, but I felt like there was no good place to break it, so I pushed through and finished it. 😎
