Chapter 24: When you want honey water…

Translator: Abo Dammen

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Case One: The Phantom Sniper

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The bathroom was filled with thick steam, the light hazy.

The tiled walls were covered in a white mist. Water droplets crawled down the grout lines, converging into small reflective puddles at the edge of the bathtub.

Xu Pei sat quietly in the bathtub filled with warm water, arms crossed, frowning, completely absorbed in thought. Clearly, this physical discomfort was different from the last time. It was just fatigue and heaviness, more like a fever than a heat. 

In other words, Xu Pei’s fever hadn’t actually recovered.

So, sniffing He Yixun to alleviate the discomfort was like using morphine. It merely numbed the central nervous system, treating the symptoms but not the root cause. Once the effect wore off, the condition would recur.

Squelch, squelch.

The sound of a mop dragging back and forth on the floor penetrated the quiet bathroom. 

It was He Yixun cleaning up Xu Pei’s…

Damn, I really want to die.

Serious thinking couldn’t erase the freshly formed memories. The bathroom seemed to still retain that cloyingly sweet scent.

Xu Pei’s thoughts were in chaos. He slid down, submerging his nose below the water surface, blocking his most sharp sense. 

Even if the fever kept recurring, it was just a normal illness. Why would it cause both his gland and reproductive tract to continuously secrete fluid?

Thinking back, the last time he entered a dry heat was also after turning off the scent blocker. Could it be that in this world without pheromones, the blocker couldn’t be turned off casually either?

Outside, He Yixun was mopping for the second time. That repetitive sound was like death by a thousand cuts to Xu Pei.

Why mop twice? Did he really leak that much earlier? 

Or did He Yixun have OCD and disliked Xu Pei’s… stuff had dirtied his floor…

Closing his eyes, he plunged his head completely underwater. Xu Pei pointlessly blew bubbles, just to disperse the overwhelming shame.

If it really was because of the blocker, then it made sense.

Traveling to another world, his pheromones were inherently unstable. Turning the blocker on and off randomly worsened the situation. During the day, to reduce the discomfort of the fever, Xu Pei had left the blocker off for long periods to better smell He Yixun’s scent. 

And this was probably the main cause of his body’s current condition.

Xu Pei emerged from the water and took a breath of the humid air.

The sounds outside had disappeared at some point. Thank goodness, He Yixun was finally done mopping.

But from further away, the sound of shaking fabric came. If Xu Pei wasn’t mistaken, He Yixun seemed to be changing the bedsheets. 

So his fluids had gotten on the bed too.

Even more reason to die!

Couldn’t this person be less diligent? He should have just left it for Xu Pei to clean up himself!

Xu Pei submerged his head underwater again. After all, underwater, he couldn’t hear, see, or smell anything. 

Alright, stop getting distracted.

The first dry heat was itself a pseudo-heat. And this time, only leaking fluid without needing physical stimulation could be defined as a quasi-heat.

If Professor Xu’s deduction was correct, the consequence of randomly switching the blocker on and off was the appearance of symptoms that weren’t a full heat but resembled one.

A sudden knock sounded at the door. He Yixun’s voice came from outside. “I’m getting the hairdryer.” 

Xu Pei emerged from the water and replied, “Oh.”

Only after He Yixun opened the door and came in did he remember to ask, “What do you need the hairdryer for?”

“The mattress is wet too,” He Yixun said, not looking at Xu Pei. He took the hairdryer and left directly. “I ordered a new mattress. It’ll arrive in a couple of days.”

Xu Pei: “……” 

Was there any medicine that could make him lose this memory?

Hiding in the bathroom forever wasn’t an option.

Xu Pei put on his dried underwear, slipped on the new T-shirt He Yixun had given him, and dawdled out of the bathroom, hoping to sneak into the bedroom while He Yixun wasn’t paying attention. But in this open-plan loft with no walls, being invisible was really difficult.

“Is your body better?” He Yixun, sitting on the living room sofa, asked. 

Xu Pei’s steps halted. He hummed vaguely and prepared to make his escape, but then He Yixun added, “I contacted a cosmologist who might be able to figure out your dimension traveling situation. But meeting him is troublesome, it requires a lot of procedures.”

“Oh.” Xu Pei was grateful to He Yixun for doing this, but he really wasn’t in the mood for conversation. He kept his head down and continued towards the bedroom.

“Come here,” He Yixun directly called out to the ghost floating past him. “I still have some things to confirm with you.”

The escape attempt failed. 

Officer He’s tone was quite serious, making Xu Pei feel like he’d been caught doing something wrong.

But on second thought, what had he done wrong?

At most, he just felt a bit sorry for making He Yixun clean the room and change the mattress.

“Confirm what?” Xu Pei sat down on the sofa. 

He Yixun crossed his legs and scrutinized Xu Pei. “What other lies have you told?”

“I haven’t lied,” Professor Xu felt utterly wronged. “About me not having testicles, wasn’t that your own inference?”

He Yixun lowered his gaze and thought for a moment. “Yes.”

“And about me not being able to ejaculate, that was also your own assumptions,” Xu Pei shrugged. “I never said I couldn’t.” 

He Yixun: “……”

Recalling it, that seemed true.

Seeing He Yixun’s expression soften slightly, Xu Pei relaxed. Leaning back against the sofa, he casually crossed his legs. “And you’re interrogating me, Officer? I’ve been behaving. If you can catch me with my pants down, I’ll take your surname.”

The originally loose hem of his shirt could have covered his groin area. Unfortunately, Xu Pei wasn’t used to being a ‘proper gentleman’ yet. Crossing his legs like that exposed the white underwear that had just dried. 

The petite cute thing was right inside.

He Yixun calmly shifted his gaze away. “Why didn’t you deny it then?”

“Too troublesome,” said Xu Pei. “Many things can’t be explained clearly in just a sentence or two.”

“Then I’ll ask the questions. You answer yes or no,” said He Yixun. 

Xu Pei was truly glad he had chosen a research position over a teaching one. Otherwise, dealing with a student as endlessly curious as He Yixun would give him a headache. However, this method of questioning was somewhat acceptable, as it only required a one-word answer.

Considering he had indeed caused trouble for He Yixun, Xu Pei said, “Go ahead, ask.”

“Is your pheromone honey-scented?”

Xu Pei: …. 

He actually smelled it?

Can a Muggle smell his scent too?

“Yes,” Xu Pei confirmed.

“Do you need someone else’s help every time you go into heat?” 

Huh?

What kind of question is that?

“No,” said Xu Pei.

“You rely on masturbation?” 

“No!!!”

No good, can’t just answer yes or no.

“We have something called inhibitors where I’m from. They can help an omega get through their heat without needing an alpha’s help.”

“I see,” He Yixun nodded. Xu Pei felt that if He Yixun had a little notebook, he would immediately jot down this new piece of knowledge. “Do you use inhibitors every time?” 

“Yes…” It slipped out before he realized something was off. “Why are you asking this?”

“I’m curious.” He Yixun said it with absolute confidence, and asked as if it were the most normal question in the world, “Does your lower body also flow with honey?”

Xu Pei rolled his eyes. “Do you want to taste it and find out?”

“I was just thinking, since you can secrete honey, then when you want to drink honey water, could you…” 

Xu Pei: ?

“Why don’t you just have me open a shop and sell honey?” Xu Pei was rendered speechless by He Yixun’s train of thought. “The human tongue can only perceive sweetness. The reason you think you’re drinking honey is because your sense of smell is at work.

“So, it’s not me secreting honey, it’s that my pheromones are honey-scented.”

“Is that so.” He Yixun fell silent briefly, then suddenly stood up and moved closer to Xu Pei. 

Xu Pei had to lean back, staring blankly at He Yixun. “What are you doing?”

He Yixun placed his hands on the back of the sofa, trapping Xu Pei in the space between his chest and the sofa. Then he leaned close to Xu Pei’s neck and sniffed. He pulled back, presumably having smelled nothing, then leaned in again, burying his nose in the hollow of Xu Pei’s neck, just like Xu Pei often did to him, and took at least three deep breaths.

The warm breath against his neck made Xu Pei blink in a daze, staring into the air.

If this were back home, and any alpha dared do this to him, he would have kicked them in the crotch long ago! 

“I smell it,” He Yixun lifted his head and looked at Xu Pei. “Very, very faint.”

The previously feisty Professor Xu suddenly started stammering. “O-of course. You naturally can’t smell pheromones.”

Xu Pei’s expression was clearly odd. He Yixun asked curiously, “Why is your face red?”

“I’ve been in the bath too long,” Xu Pei pushed He Yixun away. “I’m going to sleep.” 

“Wait,” He Yixun stopped him. “Send your measurements to my phone.”

Professor Xu was shocked. “Wait, your curiosity is just too much, isn’t it?”

He Yixun: “…..”

“There’s a press conference at the police station in a few days. I’ll have someone make you a suit.” After saying this, He Yixun glanced at Xu Pei’s bare thighs and added, “And get you some changes of clothes.” 

Xu Pei’s attention was caught by the first part. “What does the press conference have to do with me?”

“The Ma Jing case,” said He Yixun. “Li Menglan requested it.”

So that was it. It was less of a press conference and more of a prelude to victory.

“You should go,” Xu Pei hesitantly said. “I don’t want to go.” 

“No, you were the one who solved the case,” said He Yixun. “It’s best if you go.”

Xu Pei’s deduction was correct. The cause of his physical discomfort was indeed the fever. He stopped ‘absorbing’ He Yixun, took his medicine properly, and was basically recovered within three days. The suit He Yixun had custom-made for Xu Pei was altered based on his measurements from a ready-made garment, so it didn’t take much time and arrived the day before the press conference.

It was a conservative black suit with no special design, the kind Xu Pei would wear to an academic conference.

While cutting off the tags, he asked, “What’s the purchasing power of thirty thousand here?” 

He Yixun was buttoning his shirt and replied somewhat absently, “About the same as a mattress.”

The new mattress had arrived this morning. Unfortunately, Xu Pei was already recovered and had lost his bed privileges.

“You’re stating the obvious,” Xu Pei complained. “How am I supposed to know if your mattress is expensive or cheap?”

He Yixun tucked his shirt into his trousers and said, “The monthly living expenses for an average family of three here are around ten to fifteen thousand.” 

Xu Pei’s first thought was, ‘That’s similar to back home.’

Then he immediately realized: the mattress plus the suit meant He Yixun had spent on him an amount equivalent to two months of his salary.

The guilt of freeloading suddenly intensified.

“Are you ready?” He Yixun asked. “We can leave if you are.” 

Xu Pei snapped out of his guilt, and then he saw He Yixun wearing his police uniform.

He had seen it before on the police station’s bulletin board, but on that distorted poster, the police uniform looked like it was pasted on with paper, completely lacking the texture it had when worn by a real person.

Paired with He Yixun’s unsmiling face, the person standing before him really looked like an ascetic military officer.

“Your promotional poster should be re-shot,” Professor Xu commented. 

The press conference was held in the police station’s multi-purpose hall. When Xu Pei walked in and discovered his seat was actually on the stage, facing the densely packed media below, he turned around and tried to leave without another word.

“What’s wrong?” He Yixun grabbed Xu Pei’s arm and asked.

“What do you mean by this?” Surrounded by the media, Xu Pei raised his chin slightly, pointing at the row of name cards on the stage, and asked while keeping his voice down. “Why aren’t you going up there?”

The name cards included leaders from the police station and the city government, as well as Xu Pei. His title was ‘Expert Consultant’, but there was no He Yixun. 

“I told you, you’re the one who deserves the credit. They can just ask you any questions they have,” said He Yixun.

So that’s why he insisted on dragging me here. Turns out he doesn’t want to go up himself. Xu Pei lowered his voice and hissed, “Then why did you dress so handsome today? For a fashion show?!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than a journalist suddenly approached He Yixun and said, “Officer He, recently some netizens have been spontaneously apologizing to you. You must have something you’d like to say to everyone too, right? Can we schedule an exclusive interview?”

Another journalist also came over. “Officer He, you should do it with us. We’ll put it on the front page. The theme will be ‘The Silent Guardian of Binshi’.” 

Xu Pei didn’t pay much attention to online matters. He hadn’t expected that solving Ma Jing’s case would lead to such a reversal in He Yixun’s public perception.

Seeing the Police Chief arrive, yet many journalists’ cameras were still focused on He Yixun, Xu Pei suddenly understood a little. If He Yixun were to go on stage, the journalists’ questions would likely all revolve around the news concerning him.

“No,” He Yixun refused straightforwardly. He leaned closer to Xu Pei and said in a low voice, “I’ll wait for you in the office.”

“Wait, you…” How can you just leave me here? 

Xu Pei instinctively grabbed He Yixun’s sleeve. But just then, a wave of message notification sounds suddenly erupted throughout the hall.

The journalists all looked at their phones. Some looked shocked upon seeing the news, others had grave expressions. Almost all the journalists stood up from their chairs—some making calls, others grabbing cameras—and rushed out in a hurry.

Police Chief Shao Hui clearly found this strange. He asked into the microphone, “What’s going on?”

Someone who looked like an assistant went over and whispered a few words into Shao Hui’s ear. He also showed a shocked expression. “Really?” 

“What happened?” Xu Pei couldn’t help but ask. Judging by the commotion, it seemed like some major news had broken somewhere.

By this time, He Yixun had already taken out his phone and was browsing the breaking news. He said with his usual flat reaction, “The Chief Justice is dead.”

Author’s Feed:

We’re about to enter the second case. The second case leans towards social mystery, and is a transitional case. Afterwards, Officer He will go to the ABO world.