ITF Chapter35

The horse convoy had been traveling for three consecutive days, and Bai Heting hadn’t eaten anything substantial at the banquet. Before bed, Su Xingchuan ordered some filling desserts and hot mulled wine to be sent to his bedroom.

The discomfort in his stomach was finally alleviated a bit, but the alcohol quickly rushed to his head as well.

Bai Heting pushed open the window to get some fresh air, only to shiver in the chilly spring breeze.

He still hadn’t fully readapted to the temperature of a northern spring night.

Yet, there was actually a faint trace of a sharp, alcoholic scent wrapped within this night wind.

This scent didn’t come from the red wine he held in his hand, but rather…

Bai Heting gripped the window frame with one hand while leaning his head out to look down.

“What are you standing there for?” He asked the solitary figure in the courtyard.

Moonlight spilled across that strikingly handsome face, accentuating its sharp, well-defined contours.

Luo Congye looked up at him, his expression serious, yet tinged with a bit of confusion.

It was only after asking a second time that Bai Heting realized—his bedroom was a full twenty meters above the ground. With the volume he had just used to speak, Luo Congye wouldn’t be able to hear him clearly.

But if he shouted loudly, he would likely call over every guard in the entire mansion.

The wine sloshed and spilled slightly as he moved, staining the dark gold velvet curtains.

Bai Heting let out a helpless sigh.

He really never expected that one day he would actually do something so foolish.

*

The person at the window had left.

Luo Congye stomped hard on his dejected-looking shadow on the ground.

The general had sought him out of his own accord after returning to the capital. This was clearly the exact scenario he had dreamed of in his youth, yet he had completely messed it up.

He obviously could have chosen a much smarter response or simply stuck to his guns and claimed he “didn’t know.”

Yet, of all things, he had thrown out such an insinuating remark.

What was even more ridiculous was that he really was hiding something from the general.

He was awful.

While Luo Congye was still wallowing in self-pity, an object suddenly tumbled down and landed right by his feet.

He looked up toward the window, only just noticing that Bai Heting had reappeared there at some unknown point.

He bent down and picked up the crumpled ball of paper from the ground, slowly smoothing it out bit by bit. Under the pale moonlight, he unfolded it carefully and read the writing on it.

It was a line of elegant, fluid ink strokes. Perhaps because it had been written in too much of a hurry, a few droplets of ink had splattered across the snow-white paper.

It was Bai Heting’s handwriting—”What are you standing there for?”

*

The figure downstairs vanished from his line of sight.

The ground outside was bathed in a lonely, clear radiance. Bai Heting lingered by the window for a short moment, and only after draining the very last sip of his wine did he slowly close the window.

At that exact same moment, however, his bedroom door was flung wide open.

The chill of the spring night coupled with the heavy, rich aroma of tequila flooded into the room without a shred of reason. Bai Heting turned his head in astonishment, only to find the young man who had just been standing his penalty watch out in the courtyard now standing right at the entrance of his bedroom.

“Why wasn’t it great?” Luo Congye asked, entirely out of the blue.

It took Bai Heting a moment to piece together what he was actually asking about.

He turned fully around and leaned his back against the window, his voice sharpening into a reprimand. “Who gave you permission to enter my bedroom without authorization?”

Luo Congye raised his hand, holding up the smoothed-out piece of paper right in front of his face.

“If I hadn’t come up to respond, I would’ve been punished anyway.” He replied stiffly and matter-of-factly.

That was true enough.

Bai Heting conceded the logic.

Luo Congye refolded the paper, tucked it back into his pocket, shut the door behind him, and asked once more, “Did something happen to you when you were in the south?”

“Do I have to report my whereabouts to you now?” Bai Heting had no desire to discuss those utterly commonplace, dry, and tedious matters. He set his empty wine glass down on the small table beside the bed and said, “I’m tired.”

Luo Congye wanted to press further, but Bai Heting had already climbed into bed and even drawn the bed curtains closed.

He could only say in a muffled voice, “Then please get some rest first.”

“I said,” Bai Heting flung the bed curtains back open while glaring at him to emphasize every syllable, “I. Am. Tired.”

It took Luo Congye a short moment to realize what he actually meant by that.

He tilted his head back and let out a sigh, speaking with utter helplessness, “You really are…”

Never once considering his feelings.

“What?” Bai Heting asked.

“It’s nothing.”

Luo Congye lowered his head and started removing his jacket. Bai Heting released the bed curtains and settled himself back securely onto the bed. It wasn’t long before Luo Congye climbed in as well before slipping beneath the wool blanket and pulling him into a firm embrace from behind.

Bai Heting had to admit that Luo Congye’s mother had been right—a hug truly was an excellent remedy for curing exhaustion. A wave of drowsiness swept over him amid the deeply soothing, comforting pheromones, and his consciousness soon began to blur and grow hazy.

In that state halfway between sleep and waking, he heard the person behind him speak, “Let me go back to the guard corps.”

“Why?” His drowsiness vanished into thin air.

“You can use suppressants now, so there’s no need for me to stay here anymore—”

“I can’t,” Bai Heting interrupted him. “I’ve tried them. The suppressants are still ineffective.”

The moment the words left his mouth, he suddenly remembered—the new type of suppressant was, in fact, effective.

But that was a black-market item circulating privately, an unreliable substance that hadn’t even been verified by the medical academy yet…

Luo Congye propped himself up on an elbow while looking down at him in confusion. “But didn’t you use one right before you left?”

During Bai Heting’s last heat before his departure, he hadn’t summoned him; he had used a suppressant instead. Luo Congye had originally wanted to use that opportunity to convince Bai Heting to take him south together, but in the end, Bai Heting hadn’t sought him out at all.

“Yes,” Bai Heting said. “You find it strange too, don’t you? The suppressant Zhou Chengbei injected me with was indeed effective. Did he ever talk to you about the new suppressants?”

Luo Congye’s mind went entirely blank.

Domestic research on suppressant tolerance was still at a very basic stage, but he couldn’t bring himself to believe that Zhou Chengbei hadn’t tampered with things behind the scenes.

He tightened his hold fiercely, making Bai Heting’s breathing tighten. Bai Heting seized his wrist and tried to pry it off, snapping sharply, “Don’t choke me.”

Luo Congye tried his absolute best to suppress his emotions, but his breathing was heavy and his voice sounded hoarse, “Did you encounter danger?”

Bai Heting looked into his eyes.

It was as if he had accidentally flipped a switch; that calm, restrained, machine-like Luo Congye had vanished in an instant.

Luo Congye frowned again and pressed, “Were you hurt?”

Bai Heting dithered for a second.

He hadn’t seen this version of Luo Congye in so long that he was temporarily unaccustomed to it.

At the time, they had just captured a castle, and some stubbornly resisting Omegas were still hiding in the shadows. The suppressants hadn’t taken effect as expected, and in his weakened state, he had inadvertently been hit by a stray arrow. Fortunately, it struck his armor; it was a close call, but no real harm was done.

Still, that month without the new suppressants had indeed been a bit rough…

His hesitant, stop-and-start demeanor only made Luo Congye panic even more.

Without waiting for Bai Heting to answer, Luo Congye yanked down the collar of his nightrobe to check him for any new wounds.

“What kind of madness is possessing you!” Bai Heting immediately shoved him away.

Luo Congye pulled him back into his embrace once more.

He had promised the general that he would never let him get hurt because of him again.

Yet he had hidden Zhou Chengbei’s true identity, causing the general to let his guard down and fall into danger.

His promise was practically worthless.

“I told you, don’t choke me.” Bai Heting could barely draw a breath. Unable to pry the arms open, he could only curse testily, “Do you want me to beat you?”

Luo Congye pressed his forehead against Bai Heting’s back. Only after a long pause did he whisper, “I am in agony.”

“What are you in agony for?” The one being choked to the point of near suffocation was the one truly in agony.

Luo Congye loosened his grip slightly, his voice sounding entirely drained of strength, weak and lifeless.

“Being with you causes me nothing but agony.”

It was a completely unexpected answer.

In his shock, Bai Heting turned his head around. “What did you say?”

Luo Congye looked at him and asked, “Why did you call me up here?”

Ridiculous.

“Who called you up?” Bai Heting warned him, “Don’t use your pheromones to suppress me.”

Luo Congye completely ignored the warning and pressed on, “Why did you come looking for me at dinner? Why did you bring me back here? Why did you…”

He paused for a very long time before finishing the sentence in a low whisper, “…save me?”

Bai Heting was left dumbfounded. After a long silence, he spat out a harsh curse, “You ungrateful brat.”

A moment ago, he couldn’t breathe from being squeezed; now he couldn’t breathe from sheer rage. “If you say one more word, I really will slaughter you.”

The tequila pheromones surged like heavy, rolling storm clouds.

And the center of that storm was Luo Congye’s chest.

He was holding a person whom he could never truly possess in his arms.

Even when their hearts beat nakedly against one another, he would never get a response from that heart.

Every instance of lovemaking was a torment; every climax was a desperate struggle against an Alpha’s instinct to mark.

The general was so intelligent. He had seen right through Luo Congye’s loyalty long ago, which was why he exposed his most vulnerable self to him.

He knew Luo Congye would obey blindly. He knew he could be summoned and dismissed at a moment’s notice.

He was so intelligent, there was no way he couldn’t see…

“Then slaughter me.” Luo Congye raised his hand to cup Bai Heting’s chin, tilted his head up, and forced a kiss upon his lips.

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