Fortunately, Professor Zhang came out.
As he descended the stairs, he greeted Pei Yao. “Good evening, General Pei.”
Pei Yao turned his head slightly and waved at Professor Zhang on the stairs. “Dr. Zhang, thanks for taking care of things these past few days.”
Professor Zhang reached the first floor with a smile. “You’re too kind.”
He glanced around. “Where’s Mingyuan?”
“Right here.” Fu Mingyuan emerged from the kitchen, cradling the back of Zhang Yunli’s head and leaning down—
Mu Chenxing quickly averted his eyes, only to meet Pei Yao’s amused gaze.
He returned a forced smile.
“Fu Mingyuan!!” Professor Zhang’s voice rang out. “We have a guest at home!!”
“Oh.”
“Ahem.” Zhang Yunli walked over. “Sorry, you must think we’re ridiculous.”
Pei Yao drawled lazily, “Ridiculous? Nah. But it might just… stimulate me.”
Zhang Yunli: “…”
Changing the subject, “I’ve already tidied up the guest room on the third floor. It’s right above Xingxing’s room.”
Mu Chenxing: “?”
Why emphasize it’s above my room?
Pei Yao nodded. “Appreciate it.”
Zhang Yunli hesitated, then asked, “Are you sure you don’t need any Suppressants?”
Pei Yao chuckled softly. “No thanks. Better to avoid them if I can—those old fogies in the Military District already warned me.”
Zhang Yunli: “But your current condition…” He glanced at the bewildered Mu Chenxing, his meaning clear. “Xingxing’s just a first-year student.”
Pei Yao smiled. “Sounds like you don’t trust me much, Dr. Zhang.”
Zhang Yunli’s hairs stood on end as he took a step back. “No—”
“That’s enough.” Fu Mingyuan pulled Zhang Yunli against him by the shoulder, staring coldly at Pei Yao. “Don’t take your frustration out on my partner.”
Pei Yao tsked and withdrew his gaze, turning it back to Mu Chenxing.
Zhang Yunli let out a breath of relief.
Fu Mingyuan patted him. “You take the student up to rest first.”
“Right.” Zhang Yunli called to Mu Chenxing. “They’re discussing business here. Go back to your room and study.”
Mu Chenxing nodded, pocketed his Holo-Screen, and stood.
“Good night, Principal… Good night, Admiral.”
Fu Mingyuan nodded and stepped aside.
But Pei Yao didn’t budge, just stared at him intently.
Mu Chenxing pretended not to notice, eyes straight ahead as he passed Pei Yao and headed toward Zhang Yunli.
As he reached the long sofa where Pei Yao sat, a refreshing cool aura rose from the floor, coiling up from his ankles and enveloping him in an instant.
Mu Chenxing’s steps faltered.
The next second, the aura vanished without a trace, as if it had all been his imagination.
Even so, that one moment spooked the other two.
“Pei Yao!” Fu Mingyuan barked.
“Xingxing, over here!” Zhang Yunli called.
Mu Chenxing hurriedly stepped forward, letting Zhang Yunli pull him behind him before glancing at Pei Yao on the sofa.
Pei Yao was looking right at him, a smile on his face. “Just a little joke… Good night~”
Mu Chenxing: “…”
He turned away and followed the nervous Zhang Yunli upstairs.
His room was in the second-floor guest area, complete with its own bathroom.
Zhang Yunli connected his wristband to the villa’s network and instructed, “Food and drinks are on the first floor—help yourself if you need anything. Don’t go up to the third floor.“
Mu Chenxing got it. “Because General Pei is on the third floor?”
“Yeah.” Zhang Yunli looked apologetic. “You’re still young. I didn’t want you interacting with him more than necessary. But Pei Yao just took in your Pheromones, so he’s in a heightened stress state right now. A regular Alpha could tough it out, but he’s an Admiral, and he has several conferences on Central Star these next few days. Mingyuan wanted me to send you away for a bit tonight, but you happened to be home, so he brought Pei Yao over instead.”
Mu Chenxing recalled what a heightened stress state was—this was an Alpha’s unique aftereffect triggered by interactions with various Omega Pheromones. The higher an Alpha’s Pheromone Level, the more intense the state.
That was why, that afternoon in the Medical Building when he’d just bitten Pei Yao, Fu Mingyuan and the others had kept their distance and told him not to leave Pei Yao’s side.
But…
Mu Chenxing was puzzled. “Isn’t the heightened stress state supposed to last only two to five hours at most? Eight or nine tops?”
Zhang Yunli: “…That’s the average. The kind that gets averaged down after exposure to thousands of people.”
Mu Chenxing: “…”
Zhang Yunli: “Anyway, he’ll be staying here nights for the next few days. Don’t worry—Pei Yao’s the type who can tough out a Heat Period. He won’t do anything. Mingyuan and I will protect you.”
He hesitated, then added, “Lock your door and windows at night.”
Mu Chenxing: “…”
He didn’t need to say that last part. I was feeling fine until then.
Zhang Yunli patted Mu Chenxing’s shoulder. “With him here, the Pheromones he left on you will fade faster. Think of it as helping yourself.”
Mu Chenxing frowned. “Won’t him being here just increase the concentration?”
Zhang Yunli looked troubled. “It involves Pheromone signal transmission and some theories on heightened stress states. Long story short: if you’re within his safe range, his stress eases up. Once his stress eases, the Pheromones on you sense it and dissipate faster.”
Mu Chenxing: “…Got it.”
Zhang Yunli gave a few more instructions—like how he’d be at work tinkering with experiments tomorrow, so Mu Chenxing should stay in the villa and not go out, finish his homework on time, etc. Before leaving, he reminded him again to lock the door and windows, then departed with evident worry.
Mu Chenxing: “…”
He’d already sparred with an Alpha before—one at the bottom of the first-year Military Academy rankings.
He’d even exchanged a few moves with Pei Yao… and it had felt like playing house with someone indulging him.
So he knew damn well the gap between them—or rather, he didn’t know it. He only knew he had zero chance of winning against Pei Yao.
The moment Zhang Yunli left, Mu Chenxing didn’t hesitate. He locked the door and windows immediately.
Zhang Yunli had said each room had its own air purification system to prevent Pheromones from leaking around—no need to worry about breathing them in.
Then he started studying.
Fortunately, the university courses didn’t overlap much with his previous ones. After more than a month of cramming, he could now study independently without starting from basic concepts. Things went a bit faster.
But with midterms after the school celebration, he didn’t dare slack off. He wished he could split every hour in half. Pei Yao? Forgotten in a blink.
During this, Zhang Yunli brought him a bottle of water and some fruit. Seeing him memorizing textbooks, he didn’t linger.
He studied until past 11 p.m., when Tong Xiao and the others pinged him in the group chat. Only then did he snap out of it.
After chatting with his dormmates, he brushed his teeth and washed up in the bathroom, then crashed into bed.
October weather was mild, the villa district quiet, and the bed far softer and comfier than the school’s. With his rock-solid biological clock, Mu Chenxing drifted off quickly.
When the refreshing cool aura coiled upward, he thought it was a dream. He groped for the blanket, pulling it over his stomach.
In his haze, he seemed to hear a soft chuckle, very close—like it was just a wall away—
Mu Chenxing jolted awake. Eyes still shut, his hand shot under the pillow—
Nothing there.
Cold sweat beaded as he sat up, scanning warily.
The cool aura swirled around him, and something patted his head.
Mu Chenxing: “?”
“Pei Yao.” Fu Mingyuan’s voice came from outside the window. “What the hell are you doing?”
Mu Chenxing followed the sound to the curtained window.
“What?” Pei Yao replied. “Can’t I sit outside at night at your place?”
Fu Mingyuan: “…Who the hell sits on a streetlamp like a normal person?”
Pei Yao: “I’m not a normal person.”
Mu Chenxing: “…”
Streetlamp…
No wonder one voice was right by the window, the other farther off.
He didn’t need to look to picture Fu Mingyuan’s deadpan expression.
Hesitating, he rolled out of bed, barefoot and silent, to the window.
The cool aura shadowed him.
Ignoring it, Mu Chenxing peeked through a corner of the curtain.
Zhang Yunli’s villa had a garden, and his window faced it. He’d even reviewed his books out there that evening, but he hadn’t noticed the stylishly elevated streetlamp right below.
Right now, Pei Yao perched high on it, right knee bent, still in his daytime shirt and military pants but without the jacket.
Fu Mingyuan, in pajamas, stood a few steps away, craning his neck up at him.
A low chuckle drifted in.
Mu Chenxing startled and dropped the curtain.
But he heard Pei Yao say, “Fine night like this, and you’re not back with your partner? Standing here to watch the garden with me?”
Fu Mingyuan: “…I don’t care if you’re garden-gazing. I just won’t let anything happen to my student in my house.”
Pei Yao tsked. “You already let me stay. Don’t care where I crash—as long as you won’t take the fall.”
Fu Mingyuan: “So you’ll take it yourself?”
“…He hasn’t even hit his Heat Period. I’m not that much of a beast.”
Fu Mingyuan: “But you’ve been holding back for 37 years.”
“…I don’t go into Heat the moment I’m born, asshole.”
Fu Mingyuan: “You really not going back?”
Pei Yao’s tone turned irritated. “If I really went for it, you couldn’t stop me. Get lost.”
Fu Mingyuan: “…”
Silence fell outside.
After a while with no sounds, Mu Chenxing peeked again.
Fu Mingyuan was gone. Pei Yao still sat there, knee up, back to the window. The slim streetlamp looked ready to snap under his tall frame.
The cool aura still swirled around him.
Suddenly, the young man on the lamp raised a hand and activated a Holo-Screen in the dim glow.
Instantly, Mu Chenxing’s wristband buzzed.
He checked the message—
Pei Yao: Still up? Want me to sing you a lullaby?
Mu Chenxing: “…”
Old rogue through and through.
Glancing at the figure on the streetlamp… He pursed his lips and replied: You asleep yet?
Pei Yao: I like nature. Great view from here.
Mu Chenxing’s lips quirked.
Then enjoy it slowly.
Master of nature in such elegant spirits—bet you’re a great painter too. Looking forward to your masterpiece tomorrow.
Pei Yao: …
Mu Chenxing glanced out; Pei Yao stared at his screen, unmoving. He couldn’t help a low chuckle.
Heading to bed. Night.
Pei Yao: Night.
Mu Chenxing eyed the silhouette one last time, dropped the curtain, climbed into bed, and slept.
The soft cool aura wrapped around him, lulling him into a sound sleep till dawn.
The next day.
Mu Chenxing woke to his usual biological clock. The villa was dead quiet.
He blanked for a moment, then lifted his arm and sniffed.
The faint cool aura lingered, same as yesterday afternoon.
He hopped out of bed and drew the curtains—
Sunlight flooded the garden, vibrant with flowers. The artistic streetlamp below gleamed prettily.
But no one was there.
The tall youth from last night, knee bent and back turned, felt like a hallucination—or a fleeting dream.
Mu Chenxing hesitated, then opened his wristband’s messages:
…Not a dream, huh.
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