ISMW Chapter 27

“Oh my, what is he here for? You were so close to sleeping foot-to-foot with Yu Chen, and now he’s ruined it all,” the system grumbled in Yun Xunlan’s mind, asking, “Mu Xingyu isn’t here to help you complete tasks again, is he? But we have Yu Chen now. Besides, his timing is off. If he really wants to help, tell him to come back after midnight when the daily tasks refresh.”

 

Yun Xunlan quickly dispelled the system’s unrealistic thoughts: “He’s not Yu Chen, he won’t listen to me. And…”

 

“He hasn’t helped me complete tasks since three years ago.”

 

In the first fifteen years of Yun Xunlan’s current life, most of the daily tasks issued by the system were “helped” to completion by Mu Xingyu.

 

This was also why Jian Wenxi extremely disliked Mu Xingyu—once, Jian Wenxi accidentally witnessed Mu Xingyu helping him complete a daily task.

 

Jian Wenxi was shocked and immediately wanted to report to Yun Xunguang. It took Yun Xunlan a long time to persuade him not to. But from then on, Mu Xingyu became the primary object of hatred for the usually good-tempered Jian Wenxi. Whenever they met, he would speak sarcastically to Mu Xingyu, either with veiled insults or indirect criticisms, never able to talk normally with Mu Xingyu.

 

Mu Xingyu wouldn’t scold Jian Wenxi, but he would go even further in excessively “helping” Yun Xunlan complete daily tasks.

 

Yun Xunlan was indifferent to this situation. He only listened to the first sentence of Mu Xingyu helping him complete the daily task; whatever Mu Xingyu said afterward, he ignored completely, letting Mu Xingyu talk as he pleased.

 

When Mu Xingyu finished, Yun Xunlan would leave to do his own things. Apart from this, they had almost no other interaction.

 

Yun Xunlan didn’t care about what Mu Xingyu cared about, liked, or disliked, and Mu Xingyu seemed to treat him the same way. They lived together in the North Palace, nominally “brothers,” yet were as unfamiliar with each other as strangers.

 

This “balance” continued until it was broken three years ago.

 

From a certain day three years ago, Mu Xingyu inexplicably stopped helping Yun Xunlan complete daily tasks.

 

Later, when Mu Xingyu went to the border battlefield, Yun Xunlan couldn’t even see him anymore and had to start completing daily tasks by searching for negative comments about himself online.

 

However, even though it was much harder to complete daily tasks this way, Yun Xunlan never missed the days when Mu Xingyu was around.

 

—Not even once.

 

This was true even before Yu Chen came along, and with Yu Chen now, it was even less likely for him to miss those days.

 

Now, Yun Xunlan, like the system’s first words, wanted to understand what exactly Mu Xingyu was here for.

 

Could it be that Mu Xingyu was going to help him complete daily tasks again?

 

That scene wouldn’t be pretty, so Yun Xunlan had asked Yu Chen to leave the study, to avoid it for now.

 

However, Mu Xingyu didn’t seem to have that intention. Instead, he kept mentioning Jian Wenxi, with whom he had always been at odds: “I heard that at your birthday banquet, you personally said that you and Jian Wenxi would always… only be good friends?”

 

Yun Xunlan nodded: “Yes.”

 

Mu Xingyu asked again: “You won’t be together with him?”

 

Yun Xunlan understood that it was difficult for people in this world to believe that only friendship could exist between an alpha and an omega. So he explained seriously to Mu Xingyu: “What kind of ‘together’?”

 

“If you mean as lovers or a couple, then never.”

 

“I will only be by his side forever as a ‘friend’, giving him any help he needs. Wenxi feels the same way about me.”

 

Unfortunately, Mu Xingyu’s sensitive and suspicious nature meant he only absorbed a few words from Yun Xunlan’s long explanation.

 

He persisted in his suspicions, bringing out what he considered strong evidence: “But your compatibility… is very high.”

 

All alphas and omegas understood how intense the pheromone attraction from high compatibility could be.

 

That kind of resonance, seemingly from the depths of the soul, was hard to resist.

 

It could burn away all reason and thought, making humans behave like ugly beasts in heat, falling and drowning, endlessly sinking into the depths of desire.

 

“So what if the compatibility is high?”

 

Yun Xunlan countered Mu Xingyu’s statement: “Royal Brother, you should know that for our family, compatibility is completely insignificant.”

 

His dad He Chubai had high compatibility with his ex-husband Jian Chexiao, but they ended up divorced; his father Yun Qihe had extremely low compatibility with He Chubai, yet Yun Qihe accompanied He Chubai to the end of his life; and his royal sister Yun Xunguang was with a beta, where compatibility wasn’t even a factor.

 

Even when Jian Chexiao tried to persuade him to marry Jian Wenxi, he never mentioned the word “compatibility” because Jian Chexiao knew all too well that compatibility could only influence the body, not the soul.

 

“It’s not important,” Yun Xunlan told Mu Xingyu. “I will never fall in love with someone because of compatibility.”

 

When Mu Xingyu heard the first part of Yun Xunlan’s statement, his tightly furrowed brows relaxed for a moment, only to furrow even more tightly after hearing the latter part.

 

He pressed his lips together, silent for a few seconds, then his voice suddenly became very soft: “What if that person… is your destined one?”

 

—100% perfect compatibility, like a fated other half decreed by destiny, would you not fall in love with them either?

 

Yun Xunlan was about to say no.

 

But the system let out an “Oh?” and interjected: “Your destined one? Isn’t that Yu Chen?”

 

Yun Xunlan was at a loss for words: “…Little Hermit, we’re both alphas.”

 

Even if Yu Chen had an attraction to him comparable to that of a destined one, he still wasn’t truly his destined mate.

 

“So what if you’re both alphas? An alpha can be your destined one too. Besides, it doesn’t matter, right? You haven’t fallen in love with Yu Chen, have you?” the system pointed out bluntly. “You only love his mouth.”

 

Yun Xunlan admitted: “Indeed.”

 

So in response to Mu Xingyu’s question, he could confidently answer “No.”

 

However, due to the system’s interruption, Yun Xunlan couldn’t immediately give this answer, and Mu Xingyu once again took his brief silence as confirmation.

 

Then, without any warning, Mu Xingyu abruptly changed the subject: “When my susceptible period ends, I’ll be returning to the border battlefield.”

 

Yun Xunlan followed his lead, responding with a universal phrase: “Mm, Royal Brother, you’ve worked hard.”

 

“Lanlan.”

 

Mu Xingyu called his nickname.

 

Yun Xunlan looked towards Mu Xingyu at the sound, seeing a faint light he couldn’t understand slowly swirling in those jade-like eyes.

 

“No matter what… rest assured, I will definitely reclaim the lost first border line, and continue to…” Mu Xingyu paused, “fight all the way to the Insectoid home planet.”

 

Yun Xunlan didn’t catch what he said in the middle and didn’t care, continuing with another universal response: “Mm, all citizens of the Galactic Empire will be proud of you, Royal Brother.”

 

“I’m not doing it for them… never mind.”

 

Mu Xingyu fell silent, giving Yun Xunlan a faint smile: “It’s late, go back to your bedroom and rest well. Good night.”

 

“He has the nerve to tell you to rest well! Without him, you and Yu Chen would have been sleeping together and resting so much better by now.” The system lamented, bemoaning Yun Xunlan’s missed opportunity to sleep foot-to-foot with Yu Chen. “Without Yu Chen by your side, how will you sleep soundly?”

 

Yun Xunlan couldn’t help but feel regretful as well.

 

But a missed opportunity was missed. Moreover, Mu Xingyu looked like he was going to escort him back to his bedroom and wouldn’t leave until he saw that door close, leaving Yun Xunlan no chance to invite Yu Chen to sleep with him again.

 

The system suggested: “Why don’t you go back to your bedroom first, and after Mu Xingyu leaves, you can open the door and quietly pull Yu Chen in to sleep?”

 

Why does this sound like an affair?

 

Just as Yun Xunlan was about to reply to the system saying “That’s not quite appropriate,” his light brain bracelet suddenly rang.

 

Yu Chen, standing guard outside the study, was feeling very irritated.

 

He didn’t know exactly what he was irritated about, but he was—ever since Mu Xingyu asked “Whose pheromones can affect you?” and mentioned Jian Wenxi’s name, and Yun Xunlan not only didn’t answer directly but also asked him to leave the study, he had been irritated, even more than during his susceptible period.

 

 

He listened to the unique silence of the night around him, but his mind couldn’t calm down at all. One question kept running through his head: What were Yun Xunlan and Mu Xingyu talking about?

 

Were they discussing compatibility with Jian Wenxi, which was why he needed to step out for a moment?

 

If that was indeed the case, then he certainly needed to leave.

 

But even though he wasn’t eavesdropping, Yu Chen could roughly guess that Yun Xunlan and Jian Wenxi’s compatibility must be very high. Otherwise, Mu Xingyu wouldn’t have mentioned it with such certainty—because he believed that Jian Wenxi’s pheromones would affect Yun Xunlan.

 

And this kind of influence could only be achieved with high compatibility.

 

Thinking about this, Yu Chen’s mood became even more irritable.

 

—Yun. Xun. Lan.

 

He lowered his eyelashes and silently mouthed the name of the Galactic Empire’s Third Prince.

 

This name was known to everyone in the Galactic Empire, but in reality, Yun Xunlan had only appeared in public a few times. However, his appearance was so stunning, like a dazzling giant star burning in the universe. Anyone who saw him once would be captured by his gravity, becoming a tidally locked satellite, forever unable to change their orientation facing him.

 

Therefore, Yun Xunlan was destined to be the center of public opinion.

 

Even though he rarely appeared in public, there were countless rumors about him within the Empire.

 

One rumor left a deep impression on Yu Chen.

 

That rumor said that despite Yun Xunlan’s proper appearance, he was quite promiscuous in private.

 

Yu Chen used to scoff at such talk, but now he wanted to ask Yun Xunlan: You say Jian Wenxi is your lifelong good friend, and that I’m your long-admired confidant. Would you invite him to share a blanket with you like you invited me?

 

If you would, are you really just good friends?

 

If you wouldn’t, then why did you invite me?

 

Just as Yu Chen was getting so agitated that his pheromones were about to become disordered and he was about to enter another susceptible period, his light brain bracelet on his right wrist suddenly vibrated.

 

After becoming an elite guard, Yu Chen’s bracelet, like Pei Xingting’s, was connected to Yun Xunlan’s light brain AI system. If anything unusual happened to Yun Xunlan’s body, they would receive real-time notifications.

 

Now Yu Chen’s bracelet was issuing an order, saying that the light brain AI had detected bleeding in Yun Xunlan’s body. The AI requested that the guard closest to Yun Xunlan immediately go to check on his condition.

 

Bleeding?

 

Yu Chen was stunned for a very brief moment before immediately rushing into the study.

 

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