Chapter 39
With plenty of entertainment available, life was no longer as monotonous. After six days of continuous rain, the weather finally cleared. The autumn sun wasn’t strong, and the muddy ground would take days to dry.
Shi Nuo stayed inside. He didn’t want to go out and get his shoes covered in mud, and with plenty of food, there was no need to gather vegetables.
Long Xu had filled the pit it had created, so there was no danger of accidentally falling in.
The wind, carrying the scent of damp earth and vegetation, blew in through the open door.
Shi Nuo had moved the sofa to the window and was sitting there, reading a comic book, a glass of water nestled between his legs and the cushions.
Hugh had separated the adult comics, placing them on a separate shelf. He would occasionally pick one up and browse through it, even using it as…inspiration, and Shi Nuo, too embarrassed to object, would simply lower his head, his ears burning, and endure the Alpha’s attentions.
The separate shelf had its advantages. Shi Nuo wouldn’t accidentally pick up one of those explicit comics and be forced to confront their graphic content.
As for the hundred physical books Hugh had brought back, he hadn’t had time to read them yet. Compared to the colorful comics, movies, and TV shows, physical books weren’t as appealing.
The same applied to Hugh.
Suddenly remembering that the books were from the black market, Shi Nuo put down his comic book.
If Hugh woke up and they were reading together, he might be subjected to one of those…questionable books.
He quickly went to the bookshelf and began examining the books, starting from the top shelf.
As expected, the black market bookstores had no restrictions, and many of the books, despite their innocuous titles, contained explicit content that made Shi Nuo blush.
Some even had illustrations, beautifully drawn and detailed, but depicting scenes that wouldn’t be found in ordinary books.
A stack of books quickly piled up beside him. After checking them all, he counted twenty-three, a significant portion, though not as bad as the comics.
He stared at the stack of books, wondering what to do with them. Should he throw them away?
They were books, and discarding them seemed wasteful, especially here, where any form of reading material was precious.
But he couldn’t hide them. Hugh had a habit of periodically checking every corner of the house, patrolling his territory. Even if he hid them, they would be found, making things even more awkward.
And the sudden absence of twenty-three books from the bookshelf would be noticeable.
He looked at the bookshelf again.
Sometimes, the most obvious hiding place was the one most easily overlooked.
He rearranged the books, placing the twenty-three adult books on the bottom shelf.
Their titles were all innocuous, and no one would suspect their explicit content.
Hugh didn’t seem to enjoy reading and didn’t usually browse the bookshelves.
Shi Nuo was still uneasy and rearranged the books again, trying to make the bottom shelf look less conspicuous. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but he felt the books on the bottom shelf stood out even more now.
After much deliberation, he suddenly remembered that Hugh didn’t like bending down. The adult comics had been moved to the top shelf. As for the bottom shelf, with Hugh’s usual laziness, he probably wouldn’t bother looking there.
This thought reassured him, and feeling slightly tired, he decided not to dwell on it any longer.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating a patch of the rug. Shi Nuo glanced at the time: eleven-thirty. He hadn’t realized he had spent almost two hours rearranging the bookshelf.
His stomach rumbled, and he went to the kitchen.
A bowl of hot seafood noodles, savory and fragrant, with tender, sweet shellfish, was a comforting meal.
Ten days later.
Early morning. A thick mist blanketed the world.
Shi Nuo opened his eyes. The bedroom was filled with the scent of lotus blossoms, the temperature control system unable to fully counteract the chill emanating from the Alpha’s pheromones. He was curled up under the thin blanket.
A warmth gradually spread against his back, the contrast between the cold pheromones and the heat emanating from the Alpha’s body making him slightly dazed.
After Hugh fell asleep, he had covered him with a thin blanket, just enough to cover his entire body. But sometimes, Hugh’s body temperature would rise, and he would kick off the blanket, like now.
Fortunately, his own blanket hadn’t been stolen.
Hugh’s temperature continued to rise, his pheromones surging and fluctuating, filling the bedroom with their dominant presence.
Having grown accustomed to being marked almost daily, his body now saturated with the Alpha’s pheromones, the sudden absence of the temporary mark for ten days made him feel strangely…off. Even though the room was filled with Hugh’s scent, it wasn’t enough.
The strongest concentration of Alpha pheromones was from Hugh Elvis himself.
Shi Nuo felt a strange dryness, a sense of unease, but it was bearable. The cold lotus fragrance, with its subtle hint of moisture, calmed his restlessness.
He gently moved Hugh’s arm from his waist, pulled back the blanket, and was about to sit up when he was suddenly pulled back into the Alpha’s embrace.
Without the blanket between them, only a thin layer of fabric separated their skin.
The sleeping Alpha, sensing the warmth of the Omega’s body, even in his sleep, his turbulent pheromones suddenly calmed.
Hugh’s physiological response made Shi Nuo instantly embarrassed.
He tried to move away, to free himself from the Alpha’s embrace, which was usually loose and easy to escape, but now it was tight, almost constricting. He shifted his body slightly, trying to create some distance.
But every movement only pressed him closer against the Alpha, his body reacting involuntarily, and a wave of shame washed over him. Even though they were alone, and Hugh, still asleep, wouldn’t know, he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.
He didn’t dare move. Fortunately, it was only a brief physiological response, subsiding after about ten minutes.
Every minute, every second, was an eternity. As soon as Hugh’s grip loosened, Shi Nuo carefully rolled out of his embrace and escaped.
Leaving the bedroom, he glanced back at the sleeping Alpha, relieved to see his breathing even, the blanket no longer rumpled.
He avoided the bedroom for the rest of the day.
Hugh’s vital signs were normal, as he had said before hibernating. The absorption and transformation process was gradual, without any major fluctuations.
The autumn sun was mild, the midday temperature pleasant.
Shi Nuo lay on the edge of the rug in the living room, the sunlight streaming in through the window, warming his skin. He felt a pleasant drowsiness creeping in.
The sun was warm, the world outside quiet, only the soft rustling of the grass in the wind, a peaceful, languid atmosphere that Hugh would have enjoyed. If he were in his beast form, he would be lying in a sunny spot by the window, dozing contentedly.
Shi Nuo suddenly opened his eyes, his mind blank for a moment.
The familiar Alpha pheromones lingered in the house, creating a comforting atmosphere. He turned on his side, rested his head on his hand, and closed his eyes again.
The planet slowly rotated, the sun and moon silently taking their turns in the sky above.
On the twentieth day of Hugh’s hibernation, the leaves turned brown and brittle, falling from the trees, carried by the wind.
The fourth month of autumn had arrived, the transition to late autumn seamless and almost imperceptible.
A massive mecha stood on a mountainside, its hundred-meter-tall form an imposing presence, the dark gray metal looking even colder against the backdrop of the bleak forest.
Long Xu’s blue mechanical eyes scanned the surroundings, its thermal imaging system tracking Shi Nuo’s movements even when he was hidden behind the trees, its gaze never leaving him.
Unlike the last time Hugh had brought him here, the abundance of fruit had waned. Many had been eaten, and the remaining ones were either dried and withered or rotting, the ground covered in decaying fruit, hidden beneath a thick layer of fallen leaves, waiting to decompose and nourish the new growth in the spring, a continuous cycle of life and death.
Shi Nuo carried his buckets, his feet sinking into the soft layer of fallen leaves, a branch in his hand as he searched for mushrooms.
The mushroom season had passed, the temperature and humidity no longer suitable. He had been searching for a while and had only found three edible yellow mushrooms, none of the delicious light green ones.
Perhaps the tastier varieties required more specific conditions.
The late autumn air was cold, and Shi Nuo wore a thick jacket and pants. The temperature in the mountains was lower than on the plains, the crisp air refreshing.
He was on a relatively gentle slope, not venturing too deep into the forest, and Long Xu’s presence was a constant reassurance. Wherever he went, he could see the mecha’s head or body towering above the trees.
The animals were making their final preparations for winter, and he occasionally heard rustling sounds as they scurried nearby.
He wasn’t afraid. The permanent bond meant he carried Hugh’s scent, and although it wasn’t as strong as before, it was still a deterrent. And his greatest protection now was Long Xu.
The giant mecha, silent and imposing, was a reliable guardian.
On their first trip here, he had seen a large, fat bear from Long Xu’s cockpit. The mecha hadn’t engaged, and the bear, sensing danger, had quickly fled as the massive machine approached.
Long Xu’s long-range sensors had tracked the bear’s movements as it retreated deeper into the mountains, confirming it wasn’t a threat, before turning its attention back to Shi Nuo.
The leaf-covered ground was slippery, and Shi Nuo, looking down at the three mushrooms in his bucket, decided that was enough. They were quite large and would be enough for a stir-fry.
He dropped the branch he had been using to search for mushrooms and looked up. “Long Xu, let’s go back,” he called out.
“Wait,” the mecha didn’t immediately reach for him but turned its attention elsewhere.
Shi Nuo waited patiently, curious. Did mechas also have things they wanted?
The massive metal hand reached into the forest, and when it emerged, it held a whole tree.
Shi Nuo saw that the tree was covered in large, brown, spiky balls. Long Xu even shook the roots, sending dirt flying.
The large tree looked like a sapling in the mecha’s hand.
“Chestnuts. Ripe. Non-toxic,” Long Xu explained, then reached down with its other hand, its two massive fingers gently lifting Shi Nuo and placing him on its shoulder.
Ten minutes later, Shi Nuo stood by the front door, looking up at the tall chestnut tree.
