An S-rank’s pheromones were no joke. Just as the crowd realized what was happening, a passing alpha charged over as if possessed. But as he got closer, he smelled another powerful alpha pheromone mixed in with the delicious omega scent. Tsk, orchid. How damn effeminate. The alpha felt a wave of disgust. Just as he was about to spit, he caught sight of several bodyguards slowly closing in.
He swallowed hard and, knowing what was good for him, raised his hands. “I just… I smelled wrong. It wasn’t on purpose. Really, I’ll leave right now.”
Before the burly men and women could reply, the man bolted. It was proof that an alpha’s explosive power was indeed top-notch.
But the bodyguards hadn’t surrounded them just to catch one suicidal alpha. The lead, a female beta, lifted Tang Jianxi, who was leaning against the car door gasping for breath, then turned to the still-dazed Yun Chuji and said, “Follow us.”
Yun Chuji followed them back to her own home. Aside from needing her optical computer to open the door, she hardly felt like the owner at all.
What made her feel even less like the owner was being locked in her own room by her guest. There were eight bodyguards outside the door and an omega wildly releasing pheromones inside. Yun Chuji felt a sense of déjà vu, but this was much worse than last time—there hadn’t been so many guards at the door then.
Yun Chuji subconsciously clutched her clothes. It shouldn’t come to that, she thought.
But just then, Tang Jianxi, who had been lying on the bed, suddenly sat up. With lightning speed, she pulled Yun Chuji, who was standing by the bed, down onto it and then draped herself over her.
As Yun Chuji was panicking about her virtue, she heard a ripping sound—the inhibitor patch had been torn off.
Tang Jianxi pressed intimately against her gland, her nostrils flaring as she greedily inhaled the alpha’s pheromones.
I feel a bit like an incense burner, Yun Chuji mocked herself inwardly, sighing in relief. She secretly clutched her clothes again. That was a scare. She thought Tang Jianxi was going to do that again.
But right now, Tang Jianxi truly needed alpha pheromones. Years of pheromone imbalance had erupted into a severe condition when she had willfully interrupted her heat. Medication could solve it, but Xie Xiaoxiao had said that since she had an alpha, she might as well use her. After all, for any gland-related illness an omega might have, alpha pheromones were a panacea. Tang Jianxi had accepted Xie Xiaoxiao’s suggestion. She was willing to produce an alpha slave contract, so making the other party a walking medicine dispenser was nothing.
Besides, she wasn’t actually in heat. One of the symptoms of severe pheromone imbalance was the random, massive release of pheromones, accompanied by a heat-like daze.
But… she seemed to be genuinely going into heat now.
Damn it, she’d forgotten that after a deep marking, an alpha’s pheromones had a much stronger effect on an omega. That blasted Xie Xiaoxiao didn’t even remind me!
At that moment, in a lab working a 996 schedule, Xie Xiaoxiao sneezed. She wiped her face casually and bent down to continue washing test tubes. Before turning on the faucet, a thought of her distant friend popped into her head. “By now, Tang Jianxi should have turned that alpha into her alpha slave.”
“My, my, I never thought someone as pure and pristine as Tang Jianxi could be so wild in private.”
Dr. Xie let out a long, admiring sigh. To be honest, she had been truly shocked when she saw the contract Tang Jianxi had drafted. She had seen some pictures; generally, alphas who accepted such contracts came with their own dark rooms and bite guards—in short, it was all very dark, very risqué.
But the scene her dear friend was facing at this moment was far from risqué. As it turned out, she had overestimated Tang Jianxi. She wasn’t playing that wild at all.
In fact, when she tried to play a little wilder, tried to push aside the clothes of the alpha beneath her, she met with an undeniable resistance.
“…”
“Miss Tang, we agreed. Three meters.”
“…”
Tang Jianxi was stunned.
How had this situation been twisted into one where she looked like she was taking advantage of someone?
I’m an omega, aren’t I? An omega forcing an alpha isn’t even a crime—because something like that would never happen!
Tang Jianxi admitted her dignity had been trampled, thoroughly. So, she forcefully flipped Yun Chuji over, pointed to a certain part of her body, and sneered, “What’s with the innocent act?”
Yun Chuji wanted to explain that she wasn’t acting innocent, she was innocent. And if she had any trace of impurity, it was because Tang Jianxi had corrupted her.
But she was too shy right now.
All she could do was flip herself back over.
Her face was buried in the thick quilt, her voice muffled by the heavy fabric and cotton. “I won’t say anything more. You can just… absorb. But, the clothes… I want to keep one layer on.”
Tang Jianxi ignored her, viciously burying her head back in its original position.
Damn it, I really am taking advantage of her!
After a long, long time, Tang Jianxi rolled off Yun Chuji. She steadied her breathing, her voice cold but unable to hide its fluster, like a john refusing to pay after the deed. “I’ll be more careful about keeping my distance next time.”
“Mm.”
Yun Chuji’s voice was faint and aggrieved.
Tang Jianxi couldn’t take it anymore.
“How did an alpha like you ever have the guts to drug me in the first place?”
She had now completely given up on the idea that Yun Chuji was faking it. It was impossible to feign something like this; it was beyond human imagination.
As for the possibility that Yun Chuji was genuinely insane—that was also impossible. Even madness didn’t look like this. It was too… unaggressive.
Yun Chuji was silent for a moment, then answered faintly, “That is naturally because I am no longer the Yun Chuji of before.”
Hearing this, Tang Jianxi froze in the middle of getting off the bed. She turned back, a guess popping into her head. “Are you a second personality?”
This kind of madness did seem rather unaggressive. The little mental figure in Tang Jianxi’s mind stroked its chin and came to an expert conclusion.
“What is a second personality?” Yun Chuji tried to access her memories and finally understood what Tang Jianxi meant. She suddenly felt uncertain about the words she was about to say. “I was born in the Great Liang Dynasty. After an accidental death, I came to this place. I am not the original owner’s second personality.”
Will she believe me? Yun Chuji was apprehensive. This era was so scientific; they probably scoffed at such tales of ghosts and spirits.
Tang Jianxi seemed to understand and nodded. Just as Yun Chuji was about to rejoice, she said, “So that’s the backstory for this personality? Thinks she’s an ancient person, huh. Ah, no wonder you talk so strangely.”
“You don’t believe me?” Yun Chuji’s eyes immediately reddened with grievance. It had taken so much for her to say it. She turned her head away, her voice choked with sobs. “Fine, if you don’t believe me, then don’t. Just think of me as that mad, foolish person.”
If it weren’t for the fact that they had been intimate, and that she would have to spend the rest of her life with this person, why would she have revealed her secret so readily!
But she… she didn’t believe her!
Psychologically, Yun Chuji was just a teenage girl. Although people in ancient times matured early, before marriage, most girls—unless they lived in hardship—were excessively simple and naive, sheltered from the storms of life. But she had suffered one accident after another, and now she was struggling to survive alone in this strange world. If it weren’t for Miss Tang’s illness needing her, Yun Chuji really wanted to just die again.
Even though death was terrifying, it was better than this slow, agonizing torment!
Even though she tried to hide it, the sound of tears hitting the quilt was distinct, striking Tang Jianxi’s heart with alarm.
She immediately said something she hadn’t said since she was seven years old: “I was wrong, I’m sorry!”
The sound of crying finally subsided. She breathed a sigh of relief. It was so strange. Why did being with this person always make her feel like she was the one bullying her? It had been the same that morning when they woke up.
Seriously, what kind of constitution was this!
This just went to show how barren this era’s dissemination of pre-modern culture was. If Tang Jianxi had even a slight understanding of the innocent and simple qualities of ancient women and the culture of the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, she would have had a better handle on the situation, instead of having to humbly and continuously apologize.
“I was wrong, I was really wrong.”
“I shouldn’t have said that.”
“I didn’t mean you were mad or foolish, it’s just… you have to give me some time to process. I don’t even know what the Great Liang Dynasty is.”
This last sentence caught Yun Chuji’s attention. She turned her head, her expression incredulous. “My Great Liang unified three hundred years of chaos. His Majesty is wise and sagacious, the people live and work in peace and contentment. It is an unprecedented golden age in all of history, and you don’t know of it?”
Wow. As a citizen of the Hall Dynasty, which had entered the era of unified interstellar civilization three hundred years ago, Tang Jianxi had to admit she had never met a living nationalist before.
Well, now she had.
So, either this second personality’s character setting was incredibly detailed, or the person before her was an ancient who had crawled out of the river of time from thousands of years ago. Tang Jianxi rubbed her temples. The person before her was still glaring stubbornly, her face streaked with tears. It was a rather heart-wrenching sight.
Her heart softened inexplicably. “Alright, then tell me about the Great Liang.”
Tang Jianxi thought, if the person in front of her wasn’t the one who drugged her, then making her sign such an outrageous contract, charging her what was practically an astronomical rent for a university student, and being arrogant and sarcastic from start to finish—that was indeed a bit much.
Although she had been hurt too, that wasn’t a reason to blame an innocent person.
And so, that night, they didn’t leave the room. Of course, they didn’t do anything improper. It was just Tang Jianxi listening to an ancient person tell old stories. The ancient person herself didn’t know much; what little she knew was gleaned from conversations overheard from the men in her family who studied. So, often, halfway through her story, this ancient person would have to look up information on her optical computer. Unfortunately, the information on the optical computer was also incomplete. The ancient person was quite frustrated, but she maintained the demeanor of a well-bred young lady, softly recounting her happy childhood and girlhood, proving that the Great Liang was indeed a very good Great Liang.
When Yun Chuji finally paused, Tang Jianxi posed her question. “So, how did you die?”
“…”
“Suicide.”
“Why did you commit suicide?”
“If I didn’t, I would have lost my virtue.”
Tang Jianxi now understood why Yun Chuji had been so fixated on her virtue that morning.
She rolled onto her back on the bed, letting out a comfortable moan, then said, “Then this place is better than the Great Liang. Although omegas also have it tough, at least they don’t have to kill themselves after being marked.”
Besides, she really didn’t think a childhood spent confined at home could be all that happy.
Yun Chuji fell silent, not replying.
She got up from the bed and walked toward the door.
“It’s time to leave,” she said.
