Chapter 62: The Great Evolution

Translator: Abo Dammen

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Case Four: Sicilian Defense

Beep. The keypad unlocked. The moment the door was pushed open, the warmth from the underfloor heating swept over them. The quiet, empty house was like a freshly vacated bed, still retaining the owner’s warmth. Even though the two had been away for a long time, it felt as if they had only stepped out briefly.

The entryway light turned on, its soft light illuminating the familiar outlines. Two pairs of slippers were neatly placed together, silently welcoming their owners home.

Xu Pei took off his shoes and socks, completely ignoring the slippers’ expectation, and walked barefoot on the floor towards the living room’s floor-to-ceiling window. The city lights flowed like a galaxy beneath his feet. In the distance, the glass curtain walls of skyscrapers shimmered with neon lights. 

It was also a bustling city nightscape, but the architectural styles were completely different. Seeing the visible “Binshi character logo, the sense of reality of having returned increased a few more notches.

The smart home system sensed the homeowner’s return and, according to its program, brightened the living room lights. The reflection of a figure appeared in the floor-to-ceiling window behind him. He Yixun was neatly arranging the shoes Xu Pei had taken off, picking up the socks casually stuffed inside, and taking off his own damp coat. “Give me your clothes,” he said. “I’ll wash them.”

Xu Pei was so tired he didn’t even have the strength to take off his clothes.

It wasn’t just tiredness; his body felt very weak, like running a marathon right after recovering from a serious illness, overdrawing several days’ worth of physical strength. 

He desperately needed a hot shower. Lifting his weary hands, he took off his outerwear. “Your savior is going to monopolize your bathroom.”

A certain order-sensitive individual had strict plans even for shower order. It wasn’t about who got there first. If they both needed to shower, they would usually decide the order based on the situation.

Today’s situation was more complex. Judging by his degree of weakness, Xu Pei should go first; judging by degree of dirtiness, He Yixun should go first.

Xu Pei simply took out his get-out-of-jail-free card. It worked even better than he imagined. He Yixun didn’t comment, only flatly said, “Mm.” 

Dragging his heavy body into the bathroom, he turned on the hot water switch. The strong water pressure pounded his back like countless tiny needles, pricking) his stiff muscles. But gradually, his skin began to turn red and hot. The hot water washed over his shoulders and back, also washing away the fatigue.

He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, letting the hot water directly hit his face. The faint pain stimulated his drowsy brain. His thoughts inevitably began to spread.

Property prices in Nucheng were extremely expensive, every inch worth gold. The research institute’s bachelor apartments had government subsidies. After qualifying, one could buy them at half the market price. Xu Pei had still saved for a long time to afford the down payment.

The renovation focused on practicality. The place he had put the most effort into arranging was the study. Although he didn’t spend much time at home, every corner retained his lifestyle. 

If the police in Nucheng declared him dead, he wondered what would happen to his home?

The lab was gone. The thing that concerned Xu Pei the most now was his little nest.

But one must always look forward.

Fortunately, a nest isn’t a person, so it wasn’t that hard to give up after all. 

Xu Pei turned off the water, wrapped himself in a towel, and went to the bathroom vanity. He saw one electric toothbrush and one manual toothbrush hanging side by side in the wall organizer. They looked somewhat awkward because they were different types. If he hadn’t been planning to stay for long initially, He Yixun probably wouldn’t have allowed this sight.

Next, they could switch to two electric toothbrushes.

Opening the mirrored cabinet, skincare products, razors, and other items were neatly arranged. Everywhere bore He Yixun’s shadow.

Actually, living with He Yixun wasn’t bad. He might as well consider this as him starting a new chapter in life. 

Coming out of the bathroom, Xu Pei knowing his way perfectly headed towards the bedroom and once again took out his get-out-of-jail-free card. “Your savior is going to monopolize your bed.”

“Mm.” He Yixun still had no objection. “You sleep first.”

He had thought that being this exhausted, Xu Pei would fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Who knew that the moment he closed his eyes, the events of the day would appear in his mind like a rapid sequence.

If He Yixun hadn’t stayed for him, he would probably have been forced to marry Zhan Gao; 

If He Yixun hadn’t given him a blood transfusion, he would probably be dead;

If He Yixun hadn’t taken him to escape, he would probably have been imprisoned by Zhan Gao indefinitely;

If he and He Yixun hadn’t stopped Zhen Li, perhaps the entire future would have changed…

Too many ‘ifs’. His thoughts spread uncontrollably. 

Xu Pei simply couldn’t sleep. He looked towards the living room where He Yixun, already showered, was dealing with work. “Aren’t you going to sleep yet?”

“Right away,” He Yixun answered. “I need to make some plans.”

“I can’t sleep,” Xu Pei cooed.

The hand typing on the keyboard stopped abruptly. He Yixun closed his laptop, came to the bedroom, lifted the quilt, and lay down beside Xu Pei. 

During Xu Pei’s heat period, the two had slept embraced every day, and such behavior seemed to have become a habit.

“Still not feeling well?” He Yixun asked.

“A bit.” Xu Pei pillowed his head on He Yixun’s arm, moved closer to his neck, and sniffed. Only after smelling that pleasant juniper scent did his mind settle down.

There was a question He Yixun had wanted to ask for a long time. “Do I really have a scent on me?” 

“You do.” The puppy-like nose tip nuzzled against He Yixun’s neck. “It’s the scent of juniper, but without pheromones. More like a perfume.”

He Yixun reiterated, “I don’t wear perfume.”

“I know,” said Xu Pei. “It could also be that your body secretes some hormone that smells like juniper.”

He Yixun tucked in his chin and sniffed himself. He didn’t smell the juniper Xu Pei mentioned, but he did catch a familiar sweet scent. 

“I think I can smell your pheromones,” said He Yixun uncertainly.

“No way.” Xu Pei lifted his head to look at He Yixun. From this distance, he could see He Yixun had just shaved, his chin looked very clean. “What’s it like?”

“Honey scent. And then…” He Yixun turned his head, leaned closer to Xu Pei, and sniffed. “…You feel very ‘at ease’ right now.”

Huh? 

Xu Pei bolted upright abruptly. “You can really smell it?”

“At ease” isn’t a smell, but He Yixun could perceive this emotion.

“Have I mutated?”

“No, I get it.” Xu Pei lay back down on He Yixun’s arm. “Because you marked me, we’ve formed a deeper connection, so you can ‘smell’ my pheromones.” 

But it was still incredible.

“What exactly is a ‘mark’?” He Yixun asked.

“You can understand it as a biological binding,” Xu Pei explained. “I thought about it later. Simply injecting alpha pheromones into the gland plus a blood transfusion probably isn’t enough to complete a mark. But I had just gone through my heat period, and my reproductive cavity was full of your semen. So, with several factors combined, my body got bound to you.”

“I want to look at your gland,” said He Yixun. 

Xu Pei turned over and pulled down the back of his collar. “Is it very red?”

He Yixun reached out a finger and gently touched it. The butterfly, as if summoned, turned an even more vivid and delicate red. A strange tingling sensation spread through He Yixun’s chest. His heart felt as if soaked in warm water, the warmth flowing through his blood vessels to his limbs.

Xu Pei could feel the breath on the back of his neck was scorching hot, tickling his gland. He turned to lie on his back, blocking He Yixun’s view. “Your savior commands you…” not to look anymore.

The latter part of the sentence was swallowed by He Yixun’s kiss between their lips and teeth. 

Their lips touched, breaths intertwined, warm and moist.

After a good while, He Yixun released Xu Pei, who had gone all soft and limp. “No need to keep emphasizing ‘savior’.”

“Just say ‘I’. It still has the same effect with me.”

I want to monopolize your bathroom. 

I want to monopolize your bed.

I command you to do such and such.

As long as it was something Xu Pei said, it held weight with He Yixun.

Before, He Yixun always thought things like heat and marking were the acts of savages. Now he took back that thought. 

This was simply the greatest evolution.

Xu Pei understood that He Yixun was granting him special privileges. His cheeks flushed crimson, and he covered the lower half of his face with the quilt. “Oh.”

He Yixun stretched his arm, took his phone from the nightstand, and opened an online document. “We need to make plans soon.”

He was just making plans earlier, and he’s still doing it after lying down. Xu Pei curiously leaned over. “What plans?” 

“The first thing is to get you a formal identity,” He Yixun stated. “I’ve already thought it through. We can claim you have amnesia. Getting a temporary citizen ID shouldn’t be difficult.

“The second thing, do you want to work? Or I can just provide for you directly.”

“No,” Xu Pei said. “Just get me a consultant position at the police station for now.”

“Fine.” He Yixun noted it down in the document. “If you still want to engage in research work, I can also contact a laboratory for you.” 

Unlike He Yixun, who was accustomed to planning everything in advance, Xu Pei hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. He looked somewhat blankly at the ceiling and said, “Let me think about it.”

“And the third matter.” He Yixun’s tone became more solemn. “We need to consult a specialist in reproduction.”

Xu Pei: “Why?”

“If we are to have puppies, we need to prepare in advance.” 

Xu Pei: “…”

He’s really thinking far ahead.

Seeing He Yixun making arrangements methodically and with precision, Xu Pei found himself getting swept along by his rhythm. But it turned out this guy wasn’t thinking about serious business at all. “Can you solve the immediate matters first? What about Lin Mei?”

Hearing Lin Mei’s name, He Yixun grew quiet. He let out a breath. “I’ll go see her another day.” 

Using the temporal fragment to convict Lin Mei was impossible.

Shao Hui wouldn’t testify either. This case had thoroughly reached a dead end, becoming a thorn in He Yixun’s heart.

Xu Pei hadn’t deliberately brought up Lin Mei when the mood was good. He rolled from lying on his back to facing He Yixun. “There’s no need to rush, either.”

He Yixun: “Mm.” 

The two were quiet for a while. Seeing that Xu Pei showed no intention of sleeping, He Yixun asked, “Why are you looking at me?”

Xu Pei had mentally prepared himself, expecting an answer he might not like. “Are we together, He Yixun?”

He Yixun didn’t see the need for such a question. “Of course. You are my omega.”

“Then, do you like me?” 

Xu Pei absolutely had to ask this question. He’d been marked by He Yixun in a blur, did he not even deserve a confession?

“I don’t know,” He Yixun replied quickly.

…Okay. As expected, an unsatisfactory answer.

“But it seems I can’t lose you.” To the degree that just the thought would drive him insane. He Yixun didn’t voice the latter part. 

Getting a satisfactory-enough reply, Xu Pei curved the corners of his mouth up slightly and rolled back onto his back. “Going to sleep.”

“Xu Pei.” He Yixun stopped the one who clearly didn’t understand the principle of courtesy demands reciprocity. This time, it was his turn to ask. “Do you like me?”

The answer was certainly yes, but Xu Pei couldn’t quite explain why, or at which moment he had started liking He Yixun.

Perhaps it was when he discovered on the cruise ship that He Yixun was also a pitiable soul, or perhaps it was during the Night Charm case when he saw He Yixun show a trace of human warmth for the first time. But thinking back, rather than a change in his heart, it seemed like Xu Pei’s body had become dependent on He Yixun first. 

“I don’t know,” Xu Pei said, mimicking He Yixun. “But my body seems unable to do without you.”

He Yixun was silent for a moment.

“I understand,” he said slowly. “You like having sex with me.”

…You understand again, do you? 

Xu Pei smiled through gritted teeth. “Yeah, I really like having sex with you.”

He Yixun fell silent again, his expression thoughtful.

“Let’s wait until you’re in better health.”

“That’s not what I meant!”