Chapter 52: Differentiation

Fifty percent probability.

Xu Lin’s gland had lain dormant for many years. Extracting enough fluid from a withered seed was an arduous task.

From the few vials of blood Qin Yu had drawn from Xu Lin’s neck, Ji Jinxuan had ultimately managed to extract only 8 milliliters of faint pheromones.

“That’s all we can get.”

“If we draw more, Mr. Xu Lin’s body won’t be able to handle it. His gland is already unusual. If we’re too aggressive with it, his life could be in danger.”

These 8 milliliters of pheromone extract were all Ji Jinxuan could obtain.

He wanted to keep Xu Lin.

So Xu Lin had to differentiate into an Omega.

An Omega with extremely high compatibility with him.

Xu Lin’s gland fluid was scarce. Before this precious 8 milliliters of pheromone extract ran out, he had to succeed.

To increase their compatibility, Ji Jinxuan, ignoring Qin Yu’s warnings, extracted his own pheromones and mixed them with Xu Lin’s extract to formulate a reagent.

A reagent with a compatibility rate exceeding seventy percent would be considered qualified.

Injecting the reagent directly into the back of Xu Lin’s neck was the most effective and safest method. The reagent would remain in Xu Lin’s gland, and when the gland matured and Xu Lin differentiated, he would become the Omega most compatible with Ji Jinxuan.

But Xu Lin could not withstand that procedure.

Ji Jinxuan did not want to put Xu Lin at that risk.

So instead, he injected all of those reagents whose effectiveness was still unknown directly into his own gland.

An S-grade gland was not easily damaged.

He had understood that since childhood. He was used to this kind of experimentation.

If there were no adverse reactions after the injection, he would then bite Xu Lin’s neck himself, injecting the pheromones that had already fused within his own gland into Xu Lin’s.

Ji Jinxuan’s own high-grade pheromones, combined with medication to stimulate Xu Lin’s gland growth, and finally the reagent to increase their compatibility.

Everything was prepared.

Xu Lin’s differentiation was only a matter of time.

Xu Lin knew something was wrong with him.

After Ji Jinxuan had held him down and bitten him hard that time, the back of Xu Lin’s neck had swollen completely.

He could feel something pulsing inside—like a pocket of air slowly swelling under his skin, pressing against his blood vessels and flesh, as if trying to burst through.

His whole body felt weak, as if run over by a vehicle. He could barely lift his limbs, let alone find the strength to speak.

Xu Lin began to sleep day and night.

No good dreams. No nightmares. Just unconscious sleep, his soul drifting outside his body like a kite carried by the wind.

Occasionally, he would wake up.

Every time he opened his eyes, he saw Ji Jinxuan. Ji Jinxuan would either be feeding him medicine or biting the back of his neck.

Xu Lin was in pain everywhere.

Ji Jinxuan’s voice buzzed faintly by his nearly deaf ears.

“Hold on a little longer. It’ll be over soon. Everything will be fine.”

Was he comforting Xu Lin? Not really. It sounded more like he was comforting himself.

He kissed away the tears that streamed down Xu Lin’s cheeks from the pain, then kissed his lips, still tasting of medicine.

“Once you’re better, I’ll take you out.

“Where do you want to go? You want to go home, right? Okay. I’ll go with you. You can introduce your teacher and friends to me, alright?”

He stroked Xu Lin’s cheek, speaking of his hopes for the future, “We’ll have a grand wedding. We’ll invite everyone. Let them all see you. See me. Xu Lin, you will be my Omega. And I will always be your Alpha.

“We’ll belong only to each other.”

Xu Lin did not know how many days passed in this haze. One day, when he woke up, he was alone in the room.

His body was burning. He was terribly thirsty. His throat was so hoarse he could not make a sound.

He needed water.

He must have a fever, he thought.

He braced himself and got out of bed. His head was heavy, his feet unsteady. He leaned against the wall, unable to stand straight, his legs trembling as he made his way to the bathroom.

He was dying of thirst. He could not even wait to go downstairs. He turned on the bathroom faucet and gulped down tap water. The cold liquid went down his throat, stayed in his stomach for two seconds, and instead of quenching the unbearable heat, a wave of nausea surged up. He threw it all back up.

He clutched his cramping stomach and fell to his knees.

The faucet continued to run.

He could not stay on his knees. He collapsed to the floor, his thin body curling up like a shrimp. Cold sweat soaked his clothes.

Xu Lin gritted his teeth, but could not stop the sobs escaping his throat.

He felt as if countless invisible insects were crawling, swimming, gnawing through his blood vessels—numbing, itching.

He could not call out. He could not even stand. His vision blurred. The pain was driving him mad. In his agony, he banged his forehead against the floor.

Soon, he heard hurried footsteps approaching.

Then he was lifted forcefully from the ground.

It was Ji Jinxuan.

Through his doubled vision, he glimpsed Ji Jinxuan’s panicked expression, and the shattered remains of a medicine bowl on the floor.

Xu Lin was placed on the bed. In his delirium, he pushed at Ji Jinxuan’s fingers pressing against his neck.

“It hurts…”

He heard Ji Jinxuan say, “I know it hurts. Just bear it a little longer.”

He could not bear it. He could not endure it.

Xu Lin had never felt such pain.

“Cut it out, cut it out…” Xu Lin hated the thing in his neck that was causing him so much pain. He grabbed Ji Jinxuan’s hand, forgetting everything in his daze, and begged, “Cut out whatever’s inside. It hurts so much. I can’t take it anymore…”

He instinctively pushed against Ji Jinxuan, who was holding him down. Vaguely, he saw another person enter and hand something to Ji Jinxuan.

“Painkiller.”

It was Qin Yu’s voice.

An ant bit his arm. Just one bite, and then it was gone.

Ji Jinxuan pulled him into his arms, patting his back rhythmically. He kissed Xu Lin’s forehead and murmured soothingly, “Almost there, almost there.”

Almost there.

When would it be done?

Xu Lin did not know.

His forehead, from banging it on the floor, was scraped raw.

Ji Jinxuan carefully disinfected and treated the wound.

Xu Lin drifted in and out of sleep. Whenever he opened his eyes, this was what he saw most often—Ji Jinxuan taking care of him, as if nothing had ever happened.

For a moment, Xu Lin lost the will to argue with him.

His lips dry, his voice barely a whisper, Xu Lin said, “Stop this.”

Ji Jinxuan paused and met his eyes.

Xu Lin seemed to understand what he was going through, yet also understood nothing. He was just a person lost in a forest, unable to find the way out, begging Ji Jinxuan not to lead him deeper into the woods.

“I want to go home.” A tear slipped from the corner of Xu Lin’s eye, fell, and was absorbed by the pillow.

Ji Jinxuan lowered his head and kissed his eyelid. His lips were wet with Xu Lin’s tears, glistening.

He said nothing.

Xu Lin’s fever lasted a week. One night after the week had passed, Xu Lin opened his eyes.

Before his eyes were fully open, his nose was filled with a floral scent.

An intense floral scent.

It flooded into his nostrils, burrowing into his organs, into his bones.

It pulled at him, drew him in.

Xu Lin unconsciously grabbed the blanket and brought it to his nose, inhaling. He caught some of the scent, but it was not enough. He grabbed the pillow and hugged it close. These things all carried the smell, but soon, Xu Lin was not satisfied. He wanted something stronger. The source of the floral scent.

Click.

He heard a soft sound.

The sound of a door locking.

He poked half his head out from under the blanket, squinting. Only then did he see a figure standing behind the door.

He did not know how long they had been there.

Xu Lin sniffed the air. The floral scent seemed even stronger.

The figure approached him. The closer they came, the more the smell seemed to take on substance, nearly blinding Xu Lin.

His eyelashes fluttered weakly as he watched the person reach the bed.

Ji Jinxuan placed one knee on the mattress, leaned down, and gently pulled away the blanket and the pillow Xu Lin had been holding.

Xu Lin’s thin pajamas were soaked through with sweat, nearly transparent. Ji Jinxuan slowly unbuttoned them.

He gazed into Xu Lin’s dazed eyes, his fingers brushing the back of his neck. His fingertips traced the slight swelling there. Xu Lin shuddered but did not pull away.

Inside was Xu Lin’s fully matured gland.

Ji Jinxuan’s lips curved upward.

He lowered his head and kissed Xu Lin.

Xu Lin did not resist or push him away like before. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Ji Jinxuan’s neck and responded to him, accepted him.

Ji Jinxuan was overjoyed.

One by one, garments fell to the floor. The only sound in the room was the creaking of the bed.

Xu Lin curled beneath him, an unnatural flush on his face, his lips slightly parted, his breathing uneven.

Ji Jinxuan moved suddenly at a certain point. Xu Lin opened his mouth as if to cry out, but no sound came. His neck arched back, the blue veins beneath his pale skin standing out.

Trembling, Xu Lin was on the verge of passing out.

Ji Jinxuan turned him over, lowered his head, and bit down on the back of Xu Lin’s neck.

But the moment his teeth broke through the skin and sank into the gland, Ji Jinxuan’s body abruptly stiffened, as if someone had punched him hard in the stomach. His limbs shook violently.

His eyes wide, he lifted his head and stared at Xu Lin’s neck. The color drained from his face, leaving it deathly pale.

Xu Lin was not fully conscious. The sudden release of the pressure on his neck made him instinctively turn his head to look at the person behind him.

He did not know what had happened.

Ji Jinxuan loomed over him, his pupils filled with shock and disbelief.

But the next second, he frowned and bit down again.

He bit hard, making Xu Lin’s scalp tingle. Before Xu Lin could cry out in pain, a muffled grunt escaped Ji Jinxuan’s lips. His eyes were squeezed shut, his arms around Xu Lin trembling as if he were enduring immense agony. Yet he still bit down on Xu Lin’s gland with desperate determination.

Again and again.

“It hurts… stop…”

Xu Lin could not take it anymore. He reached back to push at Ji Jinxuan’s waist. Ji Jinxuan would not let go.

Silently, he buried his face in Xu Lin’s neck, obsessively biting his gland over and over.

Xu Lin passed out.

When he woke again, the first thing he felt was his body falling apart.

There was not a single spot on him that felt at ease. It took him several tries to sit up in bed. The strange sensation all over his body immediately made him remember everything.

He startled and raised his hand to touch his neck.

It was cold.

Around his neck was a collar.

A collar meant only for Omegas.

Xu Lin’s pupils contracted sharply. He looked up.

Ji Jinxuan.

Ji Jinxuan sat on a chair at the foot of the bed, leaning back, his hands resting naturally on his knees, his wrists hanging limp.

He stared expressionlessly at the awake Xu Lin.

Xu Lin saw the listlessness in his eyes as if he had suffered a heavy blow. His face was dark, his spirit depleted.

A weary gloom hung over him.