Chapter 68: 93% Compatibility

Ji Jinxuan stood four or five meters away, watching them from a distance.

Li Mu was startled by the sudden appearance, and Xu Lin as well. He almost instinctively turned his head away, avoiding any chance of meeting Ji Jinxuan’s gaze.

The wind stopped. The rustling leaves fell silent. An eerie stillness descended.

Li Mu glanced back at Xu Lin, catching a subtle shift in his expression. He paused thoughtfully, then took the initiative to greet Ji Jinxuan. “Chief Ji.”

Ji Jinxuan did not respond. His eyes remained fixed on Xu Lin. That focused gaze made Li Mu’s heart pound. Without quite knowing why, he took a small step to the right, his tall frame blocking Xu Lin behind him.

Only when he could no longer see Xu Lin did Ji Jinxuan’s gaze finally settle on Li Mu.

He walked toward them.

At the sound of his footsteps, Xu Lin’s hair stood on end. He wanted nothing more than to run, but his feet were rooted to the ground.

The few meters felt like an eternity.

The footsteps stopped. Ji Jinxuan stood before them—or rather, before Li Mu.

They were of similar height, eye to eye.

Neither spoke.

Xu Lin bit the inside of his cheek and slowly lifted his gaze, peering over Li Mu’s shoulder. He unexpectedly met Ji Jinxuan’s eyes. In less than a second, he looked away, as if burned.

Ji Jinxuan turned to Li Mu, and after two seconds, a smile curved at the corners of his mouth. “Hello.”

He was pleasant.

Xu Lin was stunned.

One did not slap a smiling face. Li Mu could hardly turn away. He continued the conversation, matching Ji Jinxuan’s tone. “Chief Ji, are you alone? If you’d like a tour, wouldn’t it be easier with someone to accompany you?”

“No need, just a casual stroll.” Ji Jinxuan’s eyes drifted back to Xu Lin as he spoke. “I happened to run into you two.”

“There aren’t many Omegas in the military district. I remember you.” He said this directly to Xu Lin, pretending they had never met.

Xu Lin did not answer.

Li Mu was surprised. This was the first time he had seen Xu Lin behave so rudely toward someone. He was more certain than ever that there was history between this Alpha and Xu Lin.

Unfazed by the snub, Ji Jinxuan spoke slowly. “During this morning’s exam, you left in a hurry. There’s something you forgot. Would you mind coming with me to pick it up?”

Xu Lin’s heart skipped. “I can’t. It’s not convenient.”

Li Mu quickly offered, “What is it? I can get it for him.”

Ji Jinxuan glanced at him, a faint smile on his lips, his tone casual. “It’s a personal Omega medication. An Alpha like you shouldn’t handle it.”

Li Mu hesitated. “But—”

Ji Jinxuan looked at Xu Lin. “You can’t be so irresponsible with your own health.”

Xu Lin was silent. It seemed he could not avoid this. He supposed he would have to face it sooner or later. Ji Jinxuan would not dare do anything to him here.

He said to Li Mu, “Li-ge, go ahead.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No.”

Since Xu Lin insisted, Li Mu could only relent, glancing back repeatedly as he left.

Now it was just the two of them.

Once Li Mu was out of sight, Xu Lin said flatly, “Let’s go.”

Ji Jinxuan turned and led the way, Xu Lin following two meters behind.

He followed Ji Jinxuan to a clinic, apparently temporarily used as Ji Jinxuan’s office. The thought that Ji Jinxuan would be here for a month made Xu Lin uneasy. Unfortunately, he had no missions coming up. At least on a mission, he could get away.

He was lost in thought, his mind wandering.

He heard a faint rustling. Ji Jinxuan, his back to him, was searching through the medicine cabinet.

Xu Lin had expected Ji Jinxuan to be lying—that picking up something was just an excuse. He had steeled himself for the possibility of Ji Jinxuan causing trouble. But Ji Jinxuan seemed genuine, only wanting to give him something he had forgotten.

Xu Lin waited.

Click. The cabinet door closed softly.

Ji Jinxuan turned and handed him a bottle of pills, pale yellow tablets inside a clear container. “Since this is your first time using XH3, I was worried you might not tolerate it well. You should take this alongside it, to be safe.” Ji Jinxuan said, “You left too quickly this morning. I didn’t have a chance to give it to you.”

Xu Lin did not bother to explain why he had left so fast. Ji Jinxuan should know.

He took the bottle. As he did, Ji Jinxuan’s fingers brushed—he seemed to want to touch him. Xu Lin recoiled sharply.

Ji Jinxuan froze, a wry smile flickering across his face. “Don’t be so afraid of me. I won’t do anything to you.”

Xu Lin took the medicine and turned to leave. But as he did, Ji Jinxuan spoke from behind him. “Long time no see, Xu Lin.”

He stopped.

“Do you still remember me?”

Xu Lin did not turn around. Frozen, he remained silent. Finally, deciding not to answer, he walked to the door and pulled it open. He had barely cracked it open when a gust of wind came from behind.

Bang!

The door, open only a crack, slammed shut again. Xu Lin’s hand was still on the handle, the impact vibrating through his palm.

Ji Jinxuan’s arms were braced against the door, trapping Xu Lin between them and the space of his chest. Xu Lin was instantly enveloped by Ji Jinxuan’s scent, his pheromones.

His breath was hot against the back of Xu Lin’s neck, sending a shiver down his spine.

“Ji Jinxuan!” Old, painful memories surged to the surface. He instinctively pushed against Ji Jinxuan’s chest, shouting, “Don’t you dare lose it!”

Ji Jinxuan looked down at him, then at the hands pushing against his chest. His breath was uneven. He saw the barely concealed panic in Xu Lin’s eyes, the fear he was trying to hide. He saw Xu Lin’s hand reach for the back of his own neck.

Ji Jinxuan blinked. Then he smiled. “What did you think I was going to do?”

Xu Lin stared at him, dazed. The cold darkness that had flickered across Ji Jinxuan’s face moments before seemed like a trick of his anxious mind.

Ji Jinxuan reached out, took Xu Lin’s hand, pressed down the door handle, and opened it.

He held the door open for him.

“I’ll be here for the next month. If you feel any discomfort, you can come find me anytime.”

He repeated, “Don’t worry. I won’t do anything to you.”

Xu Lin would not dare come find him again. He left without looking back.

After Xu Lin was gone, Ji Jinxuan closed the door. He stood alone, his straight back slumping slightly. After a long moment, he raised his hand, covering his mouth and nose. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and greedily breathed in the lingering traces of Xu Lin’s scent on his fingers.

Three years. He had worked so hard and finally seen him again.

After leaving District Thirteen, he had not gone back. All he had taken was one of Xu Lin’s old shirts. But after all this time, the scent had long since faded.

Once he knew Zhuang Xun was helping Xu Lin, Ji Jinxuan had followed the trail and finally found his whereabouts. But just as Xu Lin had offered his pheromones to escape to this place, getting here had not been easy. Zhuang Xun refused to help him. He had to find his own way.

Two years—an eternity to him. He had worked so hard, and finally, under this new identity, he had entered this place and could get close to Xu Lin.

The pheromones Xu Lin had left him were almost gone. Only a last bit remained, and he would not use it. Every time his heat came, he endured it without medication. Without Xu Lin’s pheromones, his body inevitably deteriorated, but Ji Jinxuan ignored everyone’s advice. Like that old shirt, he could not bear to let it go.

Twenty milliliters of pheromones. He had made them last three years.

He pulled off the white glove on his right hand. On his ring finger was the wild goose feather ring, the sapphire sparkling brightly. It was clearly well cared for.

But more striking was the hideous scar on the back of his hand. A wound from a blade, repeatedly reopened and healed, leaving raised, keloid tissue.

Ji Jinxuan sat down at his desk, carefully removed the ring from his finger, placed it on a tissue, and set it aside. Then he opened a drawer, took out a dagger, and reversed his grip. He raised it, brought it down, and pierced clean through his right palm.

Blood flowed.

He smiled, satisfied.

But two seconds later, the smile faded.

He pulled out the dagger, leaned back in his chair, and held the bloody blade before his eyes. Its cold gleam reflected in his own cold, dark gaze. Blood dripped onto his cheek, sliding down his skin and disappearing into the hair by his ear.

[Li-ge.]

So intimate.

Three days later, the medical reports came out.

When Xu Lin went to pick up his report, he inevitably ran into Ji Jinxuan again. Since their unpleasant encounter in the clinic, he had tried to stay out of sight, avoiding any place where he might cross paths with Ji Jinxuan.

Though Ji Jinxuan seemed different from before, and had not made any scenes when they were alone, Xu Lin did not want to take any chances.

He just had to get through this month.

He picked up his report and leaned against the wall to read it. There was also a pheromone compatibility form for his team, which Li Mu, as team captain, was supposed to collect. Xu Lin waited for him.

A shadow fell over the paper. He looked up.

It was not Li Mu.

Ji Jinxuan had appeared before him again, still in his white coat, right hand gloved, smiling. “How is it? Have you used the suppressant? Any side effects?”

Xu Lin lowered his head and continued reading. He did not answer, but Ji Jinxuan did not leave. After a few minutes, Xu Lin replied, “No.”

“Good. If anything feels off, be sure to tell me.”

Annoying. Ji Jinxuan could see he was annoying Xu Lin, but he pretended not to notice, keeping up the conversation.

“If it feels off, I’ll just have to deal with it,” Xu Lin said impatiently. “People adjust to medicine. Medicine doesn’t adjust to people. What’s the point of telling you? Would the medicine change for me?”

Ji Jinxuan answered without hesitation, “It can.”

Xu Lin was stunned, caught off guard.

“It was made for you—” Ji Jinxuan’s words were cut off by a commotion in the distance.

Both of them looked over.

In the middle of the crowd was Li Mu, staring at a form in disbelief. A group surrounded him, exclaiming loudly.

Fang Rong especially looked as if he had just seen something incredible.

Within seconds, everyone around Li Mu turned to look at Xu Lin.

Confused, Xu Lin had no idea what was going on.

Fang Rong shouted, “Xu Lin! Come look at this! This is insane!”

Xu Lin thought something might be wrong with Li Mu’s results, so he walked over. “What is it?”

Among the exams was a test that specifically checked Alpha and Omega pheromone compatibility. If two individuals had high compatibility, it was specially marked on the report.

“Look!”

Fang Rong, excited, shoved the two forms in front of Xu Lin. One was Li Mu’s report. The other was Xu Lin’s.

Fang Rong announced, “You and the captain have 93% pheromone compatibility! Holy crap, I’ve never seen such a high score! You two are destined!”

His voice carried, drawing even more attention.

Li Mu’s ears turned red.

Xu Lin stopped in his tracks.

And in the distance, Ji Jinxuan’s eyes widened in shock. His hands clenched into fists so tightly his knuckles cracked.

A spot of blood darkened the white glove.