"Everything is permitted"

As dusk settled, the sky turned a somber, steely gray.

The heavy iron gates opened to both sides, and the black car slowly drove in, dropped off the person, and left immediately.

Du Pianjian looked around and saw a gray-green landscape. Dense ivy climbed the fence, and when it moved in the wind, it sounded like the deliberately suppressed breathing of a spy.

He pushed open the heavy oak door, and unexpectedly, there was a musty smell and dust. Suddenly, the view opened up before him. The foyer, which was nearly ten meters high, resembled a small chapel. The columns on both sides converged upwards, and the ribbed vaults extended from the capitals. The dome was inlaid with stained glass, which allowed the setting sun to shine in obliquely, projecting the dusty biblical stories onto the gray-white marble floor.

A red carpet lies beneath their feet, a code of conduct for killing, a blood-red path leading to the man-made tunnels of abduction, winding across the ground like blood vessels, inviting guests to plunge headlong into the heart of their master.

Du Pianjian walked up to the music room on the first floor. A golden harp stood in the southeast corner of the room, with sheet music scattered on the floor and footprints on the fingering marked in pencil. There were also a few musical notes next to it, as if the previous moment had been abruptly interrupted by his arrival.

The red carpet turned smoothly, pointing to another door in the room. Du Pianjian walked over the paper on the floor, went straight up the corridor to the second floor, and the room at the end was a study. The window was wide open, the white gauze curtains swayed slightly, and an open book sat on the bronze wooden table. A leaf bookmark prevented the wind from turning the pages, as if the person reading had just left.

Du Pianjian approached, placed her finger on the book, and picked up the bookmark, on which were crookedly engraved words: "We are all lovers who are not in control of our own destiny."

Du Pianjian froze, her fingers trembling slightly. Looking at the book, beneath the words obscured by the bookmark, wavy underlines in pencil proclaimed: My clothes are clean, my conscience is transparent; that's enough.

It's Don Quixote.

He pulled out a chair and sat down, turning the pages one by one. His pencil wrote many ugly characters, but the meaning behind them was all beautiful fantasy.

From the first page to the last, the marks, both deep and shallow, tell of how much readers once cherished it, and how it was still being turned over until the very last second before leaving.

Du Pianjian put the leaf back in its original place, picked up the book, and continued walking.

The entire villa seemed to have been put on pause; there were traces of life everywhere, but no one could be seen anywhere.

The red carpet event concluded in the bedroom.

There were obvious signs of repair on the walls, and the window glass was of varying ages. Du Pianjian walked to the dressing table, and the mirror reflected his face. Despite the repeated interrogations, he did not look tired, only slightly sleepy.

It was Yu Zou's pheromones that shared his health and life.

Du Pianjian could feel her own pheromones surging wildly within her body, while Yu Zou's pheromones followed closely beside her, trying to guide her to the right place.

He touched the tips of his hair; the last time he had short hair was in high school.

Should I grow my hair long again?

Du Pianjian thought.

"Aren't you going to thank your brother?"

Another face slowly turned into the mirror, gentle and gentlemanly, smiling at him and raising a glass of red wine. The glimmer of light in Du Pianjian's eyes was quickly extinguished, and he turned to ask, "What are you referring to?"

“Both.” Luo Zangqi walked in, placing two wine glasses on the half-moon cabinet by the door, his manner familiar and casual. “Getting you out of prison, and…”

Luo Zangqi spoke only halfway, but his words carried a deeper meaning.

Du Pianjian did not take the bait: "I am innocent."

"You will be sentenced to ten years in prison for intentional homicide. The police can't find the murderer, so they have to pin the crime on you." Luo Zangqi handed the wine glass in his hand to Du Pianjian.

"Doesn't this prove my innocence?"

“Honey, you admitted to the police yourself that you stabbed Chi Hengxun.” Luo Zangrui said helplessly, but he didn’t want to help at this point. “How did you get into such a mess in just a few days?”

Luo Zangqi handed the wine cup to Du Pianjian again.

"I won't drink." Du Pianjian didn't even bother to glance at her.

"Don't be such a spoilsport, just think of it as a celebration of your newfound freedom."

Du Pianjian hummed through his throat: "Freedom? Here?"

“I believe the environment here is a hundred times better than that of a prison. If my partner is in trouble, I will naturally lend a hand. Ten years, I really can’t bear to see you spend ten years in prison.”

"If you send someone else, aren't you afraid of being exposed?"

"With Yu Long's technology, even if it doesn't look exactly like him, it can be made to look exactly the same. Have you forgotten?"

Du Pianjian remained silent. Luo Zangrui's eyes scanned the room from top to bottom before noticing the book in his hand. He placed his wine cup on the table and reached for it, but Du Pianjian dodged his hand. Luo Zangrui withdrew his hand and smiled, "Truly mother and son. How did you find out?"

“‘The spine of the book feels just like you; touching it is like touching you.’ I’ve seen countless quotes like this on my dad’s bookshelf.”

Luo Zangrui's eyes softened, as if he were reminiscing: "Indeed, Tan Zhenjing's ugly handwriting is unforgettable. Would you like to see your mother?"

"She can't possibly be alive."

From the moment Du Pianjian saw the writing, he knew this was the place where Luo Zangqi and Guan Tan Zhen Jing were located. And at the moment Du Junchang chose to take revenge at any cost, he also realized that his mother had already been confirmed dead long before that.

"Yes, she's been gone for many years."

Luo Zangrui activated his bracelet, and an image was projected onto the white wall opposite. The melody started playing first, followed by the camera panning across the screen. A bohemian-style white dress, with a colorful embroidered cape half-draped over her shoulders.

The female Omega had a young and beautiful face, and her shoulder-length black hair shone like satin in the sunlight. Her fingers casually swept across the golden strings of a harp, and music flowed out like water, seemingly about to take shape in the stillness.

As the segment ended, Tan Zhenjing opened his eyes, his dark pupils identical to Du Pianjian's, and said to the camera, "How was it?"

The tone was less like an inquiry and more like a provocation.

After a few rounds of applause, Luo Zangrui's voice rang out: "As expected of the chief."

Judging from her expression, Tan Zhenjing was not satisfied with this flattery. She turned her head to look out the window, a red light swirling in her necklace. The camera shakily approached, fingers appearing in the frame, brushing aside the black hair at the back of her neck, revealing overlapping wounds—some stab wounds, some bite marks. Tan Zhenjing neither dodged nor avoided the camera, her back to it, her expression unseen, only her tone indifferent: "Luo Zangqi is here, aren't you leaving?"

Luo Zangrui's fingers froze beside the bite mark as he pitifully asked, "Do you want me to leave?"

The silence stretched on until Tan Zhenjing sped up the clock again: "Let's go..."

The video abruptly ended. Du Pianjian didn't miss Tan Zhenjing's actions; the fleeting smile as he turned his head clearly indicated that he had something to say, but it was cut off.

“Zhenjing loves me. It’s just a pity that I don’t have the power to take her away.” Luo Zangrui swirled his wine glass, then drank it all in one gulp. He walked to the bedside, measured the space, and sat down, looking at the head of the bed, where it seemed that Tan Zhenjing was lying.

“After my older brother found out that Zhenjing liked me, he was furious. The two of them argued, and Zhenjing pushed my older brother for my sake, almost causing him to lose an eye. My older brother, who was controlled by pheromones, lost his mind and stabbed Zhenjing to death with a knife.” Luo Zangrui touched the corner of his smooth eye, his voice growing softer and softer, “He is here too, with a scar that will be left forever.”

"I still remember, the moment the door opened, the pheromones mingling in the room felt like they were sealing away cigarette ash and corpses with birch tar." Luo Zangqi took another sip, the burning, throat-sealing sensation seeming to travel back through time to him. "My older brother sat there, covering his eyes, blood dripping from his fingertips. His hand, adorned with a ruby ​​ring, held a knife, which was also dripping blood, pooling into two puddles on the floor. Zhenjing lay motionless on the floor, and I felt like a corpse myself."

"Xiao Rui," Luo Zangqi called him then, and then asked, "Who gave you your pheromones?"

Luo Zangrui shuddered, stood up from the bed, walked to the window, opened it, took several deep breaths, and then said, "My elder brother regretted it deeply and had no choice but to take her glands and place them on other Omegas, but that's not the real way. I also regret it; she once begged me for help and longed for my protection. I was powerless to take her away, nor could I mark her."

"And when I learned of your existence, I understood that it was God who gave me the opportunity to reclaim my past regrets." Luo Zangqi turned around, his gaze fixed intently on Du Pianjian. Du Pianjian leaned against the dressing table, his hands slowly opening and closing, the book in his hands opening and closing, seemingly oblivious to Luo Zangrui's heartfelt confession.

"A single note?"

"You killed Chi Hengxun."

The frustration of being ignored was replaced by a smile. He should have said insincerely, "How could it be me?" But faced with Du Pianjian's words, he suddenly felt an urge to reveal his true self.

Yes, Luo Zangqi is dead.

He is the first person under the surname Luo.

“Yes, he was meddling. Dean Kong was in dire need of glands from high-level Alphas for experiments. If it weren’t for his inferiority complex, which allowed A11101 to escape, the addictive substance that could control Alphas would have been developed long ago!” Luo Zangqi’s eyes gleamed. He swirled the liquor in his hand, spilling a few drops onto his sleeve, which were instantly absorbed. “How tragic it is to be born an Alpha or an Omega. How difficult it is to find a compatible partner. With the addictive substance, regardless of whether a compatible partner truly exists in the world, or whether one can actually find one, one can experience this feeling of compatibility and do as one pleases. This life would not have been in vain.”

"A single sheet of paper! Do you know what that feels like? Can Yu Zou give you that? Can Chi Hengxun give you that?" Luo Zangqi approached Du Pianjian. "Even if they could, I could do it ten times, a hundred times!"

Du Pianjian asked coldly, "What does she like about you?"

"What?"

"My mother. Tan Zhenjing. Physically, she is 100% compatible with Luo Zangqi, and spiritually, she is 100% compatible with Du Junchang. What does she like about you?" Du Pianjian saw Luo Zangrui's stunned expression and realized that he had never thought about this question.

What does he like about you?

Previously, Du Pianjian had never thought about this question. If you want something, you get it; there's no point in thinking about why you want it. It wasn't until he saw Yu Zou, who had come back from the dead, with Mu Hanjiao that he began to wonder, what did he like about him?

Gentle? Cute?

To exploit, to betray.

“What you like about me, she likes about me.” Luo Zangqi sat on the bed, the bed trembling slightly under his weight, and looked at Du Pianjian with a leisurely air.

This was the highest praise for him, enough to prove that he was stronger than them all, stronger than those who were in accord with Tan Zhenjing, making her go against her body's instincts to approach him and submit to him.

And now, Du Pianjian will continue to prove this point.

Luo Zangrui said, "Alright, turn down the bracelet and give me some of your pheromones. You want mine too, right?"

Du Pianjian slowly lowered the bracelet, and Luo Zangqi was ready to experience it, but he was stunned the moment he smelled it. His pupils were so wide that they almost bulged out. As expected, the warm, sweet and slightly intoxicating woody scent did not arrive.

Carbonated bubbles exploded before his eyes, the sharp stinging sensation like water splashing into his eyes, mixed with the burnt smell of a short circuit in a circuit board and the metallic fumes—a signal flare announcing the start of conflict.

This couldn't possibly be the power that a short-term mark could unleash. Luo Zangqi's throat was so dry it was cracking, and the air he inhaled was instantly absorbed into his parched throat, unable to reach his lungs. He said incredulously, "You've been permanently marked?"

Du Pianjian remained silent, breathing steadily, and looked down indifferently.

"who?!"

As Du Pianjian slowly approached, Luo Zangrui felt even more breathless. His neck burned and stung, as if he had been thrown onto a red-hot iron plate. He roared uncontrollably, "Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer!"

Du Pianjian walked past him at a steady pace, sat down on the sofa opposite him, and looked at him with a leisurely chin in her hand: "You're fifty percent right. My attitude towards you is indeed the same as my mother's."

Luo Zangrui covered his face in pain, but Du Pianjian's words in his splitting head became clearer and clearer, like needles pricking him.

"That is, using you to fight like dogs."