Under the influence of a fellow Alpha’s pheromones, most would lose all rationality and become savage beasts.
Even though Jiang Yi was merely an immature pup in this Alpha’s eyes, her excessively high pheromone concentration still made her a prime target.
In the darkness, the female Alpha locked onto Jiang Yi’s scent, let out a cold laugh, and swung the knife in her hand toward Jiang Yi.
She lunged!
Jiang Yi heard the blade slicing through the air in the night and sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the attack.
Under the pale moonlight, the two clashed in the dark. After several exchanges, the Alpha finally lost patience and charged at Jiang Yi with the knife.
At that moment, the moonlight climbed the treetops, illuminating everything clearly in Jiang Yi’s vision.
Seizing the opportunity, Jiang Yi grabbed the female Alpha’s wrist, yanked her forward, and slammed her onto the ground with a powerful throw.
With a heavy thud, Jiang Yi used all her strength to pin the Alpha down.
Silence enveloped the forest—no words, only ragged breaths and frantic panting echoing through the trees.
The female Alpha tightened her grip on the knife, trying to stab at Jiang Yi’s throat.
Jiang Yi held her firmly, then drove her knee hard between the Alpha’s legs.
“Ahhh!” The Alpha’s agonized scream pierced the night as she curled up in pain, her grip on the knife loosening.
Jiang Yi seized the chance to snatch the blade. She stood quickly, knife in hand, and glared down at the Alpha with icy resolve.
Her body was already weakening, drenched in sweat, yet her grip on the knife remained steady.
Jiang Yi watched as the Alpha staggered to her feet, her own expression turning ruthless. Without hesitation, she plunged the knife downward—straight between the Alpha’s legs—then twisted it sharply.
“AAAHHH!”
Another bloodcurdling scream tore through the air. The Alpha collapsed, her face deathly pale, her eyes burning with hatred as she glared at Jiang Yi.
Jiang Yi knew an Alpha’s weak points. She knew this one wouldn’t be able to harm Jiang Sixian anymore.
Exhaustion washed over her, her hands trembling around the knife. She glanced at the writhing Alpha, breathing heavily.
The air was thick with her ragged gasps. She steadied herself for a moment, then turned and stumbled back the way she had come.
After running all night and fighting two grown adults, Jiang Yi was barely holding on. Staggering through the darkness, she muttered under her breath, “Jiang Sixian… just wait a little longer… Jiang Sixian…”
Just a little longer, and she’d make it back.
The thought of Jiang Sixian waiting for her kept her moving forward, no matter what lay ahead.
She knew she’d been gone too long. Jiang Sixian was alone by the roadside—even with the streetlights, she must be terrified.
She might be a little older than Jiang Yi, but she was still just a girl not yet eighteen. Compared to Jiang Yi, who had already died once, Jiang Sixian had far less experience. Could she really endure this?
The night was so dark. She must be scared.
The memory of Jiang Sixian’s tear-filled eyes when she left made Jiang Yi’s chest tighten. If she took any longer, would Jiang Sixian cry herself sick?
Jiang Yi’s body was exhausted, but her mind was startlingly clear—even exhilarated. She thought about Jiang Sixian’s confession, and her heart swelled with joy.
She even considered—if she really did die young—she should just marry Jiang Sixian right away, start their relationship early, have kids early…
Jiang Yi scrambled up a steep slope on all fours, but her foot slipped on loose gravel. Her already weakened body lost balance, and she tumbled backward, rolling down the slope until—
SPLASH.
She plunged into the river, consciousness fading fast…
In a daze, Jiang Yi mustered the last of her strength and surfaced. Spotting a floating log nearby, she clung to it, gasping for air, hoping to rest before swimming ashore.
But the moment she relaxed, her body refused to move. Darkness swallowed her.
Instinct alone kept her arms locked around the log as she drifted downstream, deeper into the mountains…
Her body remained trapped in sleep, unable to wake, as if she were trapped in an endless dream…
In the dream, she returned to her grandmother’s house—to those two years that felt like imprisonment. She attended her grandmother’s funeral, then took what little remained of her family’s possessions and enlisted in the military.
In the dream, everything was painfully vivid. She could feel the scorching sun during training, the sweat that never seemed to stop pouring.
She wore heavy body armor, a helmet, and trudged through dense, humid jungles. Drug traffickers fled toward the border, and her unit gave chase—until a gunshot shattered the silence, and the killing began.
Bullets whizzed toward her. Then—”Look out!”—someone tackled her to the ground. A bullet tore through her comrade’s neck, blood spraying across Jiang Yi’s face. She lay there, staring up at the dense canopy, sunlight barely piercing through.
She reached out, horrified, at the woman lying atop her, choking on blood as she tried to speak: “Xu… Xu…”
But when Jiang Yi opened her mouth, all that came out was blood. The metallic stench of death filled her lungs. She pressed her hands against Sister Xu’s gushing wound, trapped in a nightmare she couldn’t escape.
Over and over, she relived that moment—death and blood clinging to her. Even though she had died once before, facing her comrade’s death was still unbearable.
But she knew she had to wake up. She had responsibilities.
She remembered clearly—Sister Xu had a bedridden mother, a wife married less than three years, and a frail younger sister.
Their family survived on Sister Xu’s military pay. Even with the hefty compensation for her sacrifice, it would barely cover her mother’s medical bills.
She was someone’s daughter, someone’s wife, someone’s sister. She had died saving Jiang Yi—a person with no one. From that moment, Jiang Yi understood: Sister Xu’s burdens had fallen onto her shoulders.
Wake up, Jiang Yi.
Jiang Yi, wake up.
You still have a sister-in-law to support, a sick younger sister to care for. You still have… you still have…
You still have a Jiang Sixian who waited six years for you…
Like a drowning woman fighting for air, Jiang Yi struggled toward the surface. When she finally broke through, her eyes flew open.
Her vision blurred. Her head spun. She stared blankly at the white ceiling, confused about where she was.
Then—
Someone slammed into her, throwing her back onto the bed. A woman clung to her desperately, her Omega scent enveloping Jiang Yi, pulling her fully into consciousness.
Jiang Yi turned her head and saw the woman pressed against her chest, her voice trembling with tears: “Jiang Yi… Jiang Yi…”
Cold droplets slid down Jiang Yi’s collar. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around the woman, stroking her hair gently. “Don’t cry… don’t cry…”
Jiang Sixian lifted her head, her eyes red-rimmed and swollen. “I thought… you wouldn’t wake up…”
She must have been crying for a long time—her voice was hoarse. Jiang Yi stared up at her tear-streaked face, her mind struggling to catch up.
Fragments of memories surged forward like a tidal wave. She began recalling her third encounter with Jiang Sixian in their youth.
She vaguely remembered certain phrases—words full of temptation.
“Jiang Sixian pressed against her, whispering: Just treat it like a one-night stand…”
Jiang Yi remembered—this was what Jiang Sixian had said when they reunited.
“She pinned Jiang Sixian down, made her press against a stuffed bear, and teased: Does it feel better if you don’t look at my face?”
Jiang Yi also remembered—she had played out this exact ridiculous scenario not long ago.
Jiang Yi shuddered, staring at Jiang Sixian, her face deathly pale. Suddenly, she remembered why she had avoided Jiang Sixian as a teenager.
She had thought she transmigrated into an R-18 novel—one where Jiang Sixian was the wealthy female lead who kept a stand-in lover.
On Jiang Sixian’s twenty-fourth birthday, she would meet her destined partner—the stand-in—and force her into all sorts of indecent acts.
As for Jiang Yi? She was the doomed white moonlight who died young.
To escape that fate, Jiang Yi avoided Jiang Sixian without knowing how she would die—only to end up entangled with her anyway.
Jiang Yi’s face cycled between red and white. She stared blankly at Jiang Sixian, her mind torn between memories of her younger self—jealous, sulky, petty—and the version of herself now—spiteful, refusing to let Jiang Sixian finish during sex.
She was on the verge of a breakdown.
What kind of nonsense was this?! Turns out, she hadn’t died at twenty! She’d just had an accident before eighteen, leading to everything that came after.
Falling into the river, losing her memory, getting kidnapped, joining the military, then becoming her own “stand-in”?
No, no—Jiang Sixian never saw her as a stand-in. Jiang Yi had been the one overthinking it, the one being stubborn, the one who deserved this.
Jiang Yi was furious. If she’d known this would happen, she would’ve married Jiang Sixian as a teenager! She wouldn’t have recklessly lured that Alpha away!
Ah! She was going insane! What kind of soap opera life was this?!
Could she still track down the author of that R-18 novel and curse them out? Because of that damn book, she’d wasted six years! Six years!
She never should have doubted, never should have believed the book, never should have cared! She never should have… made Jiang Sixian wait six years!
Six years—seventy-two heats. How had Jiang Sixian endured them alone after being marked by her?
Jiang Yi wanted to strangle her younger self for being so stupid.
She was so angry she could scream! It was all her own fault!
Jiang Yi held Jiang Sixian tightly, her mind a battlefield of regret. Jiang Sixian, noticing her silence, looked up worriedly. She bit her lip and whispered, “Jiang Yi…”
Jiang Yi snapped back to reality. “Hm?”
Tears pooled in Jiang Sixian’s eyes, threatening to spill. She cupped Jiang Yi’s face and asked softly, “Did you… did you forget me again?”
Jiang Yi gazed up at her—at features more mature than in their youth, at eyes more timid and fearful than before—and felt her heart twist.
She remembered Jiang Sixian looking at her exactly like this the night she left—obedient, frightened, like a wounded animal.
How could she have been so dense? How could she ever think Jiang Sixian would see her as a stand-in? Just because their bodies were similar, would Jiang Sixian really sleep with her? No way.
She had recognized Jiang Yi all along. She knew Jiang Yi wouldn’t believe her, so she took it slow.
Jiang Yi’s emotions churned violently. She cradled Jiang Sixian’s face and said solemnly, “I could never forget.”
Jiang Sixian… Jiang Sixian was the only dream her younger self ever had.
Jiang Yi pulled Jiang Sixian close and kissed her fiercely.
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