Chapter 48: Night Rain Tour
The imperial capital became deserted on a rainy night. The usually bustling streets were now only occupied by one or two cars passing by occasionally.
The sky and earth were vast, rain and fog were falling, tall buildings stood tall, and there were no pedestrians in sight. It seemed as if they were the only two people left in the world.
But it is also possible that Huo Shizhen specifically chose a wide and remote street to drive on.
Lin Guantang looked out the window, watching the familiar streets recede inch by inch, and unfamiliar scenes come into view inch by inch. The brightly lit high-rise buildings were not all square long boxes. Instead, each had its own characteristics, and some even had quite strange shapes. The layers of bright lights reflected what looked like a huge three-dimensional artistic still life.
There are also some huge sculptures or dolls standing in the misty rain. It is shocking enough to see them during the day, and there is a unique experience of vastness and solemnity on a rainy night. You may even feel that they will come alive and walk over in the next second.
Huo Shizhen drove quite steadily, controlling the speed precisely. He didn't drive so slowly as if there was something wrong, but drove just fast enough for Lin Guantang to take a closer look at the buildings and scenery along the way. From time to time, he would ask some related questions with a tone of surprise or excitement. Huo Shizhen answered in a good-tempered manner, but his tone was flat and his sentences were short. Sometimes he spoke with his habitual sharp tongue, and it sounded as if he was impatient with the questions and just responded casually.
Lin Guantang was not a tactless person. Normally, if he saw others getting impatient because he talked too much, he would keep quiet. But for some reason, perhaps it was the experience at the tea party that aroused his emotions, or perhaps it was his first night tour of the imperial capital, which made Lin Guantang particularly excited. He was not scared off by Huo Shizhen's sharp tongue, but asked more questions more frequently.
Anyway, Huo Shizhen didn't say anything to tell him to shut up, so he just pretended not to notice any impatience in his tone.
Finally, the car stopped next to a bridge across the river. The huge steel behemoth looked even colder and more majestic in the rain and fog. The lights on did not diminish its momentum in the slightest. Instead, the bridge looked like a terrifying monster.
Two people got out of the car, each holding an umbrella, and walked towards the sidewalk of the bridge, one in front and one behind, and finally stopped at the top of the bridge.
The deserted bridge makes the human figures look even smaller, but when you turn around and look down at the river, you can see the lights shining in the river. As the rain drops, sparkling water droplets dance in the river, like countless colorful gems piling up and flowing in the river. The mist is lingering, which makes the scene in front of you look ancient and mysterious, as if you are looking at a mysterious treasure cave from an old era that has been deposited for a long time.
Or should it be the Treasure River that is only available on rainy nights - so did Huo Shizhen bring me here specially to see it?
After all, Lin Guantang had never heard of the existence of this place.
Thinking of this, Lin Guantang couldn't help but withdraw his gaze from the beautiful scene in front of him, and raised his head to look at the person next to him. However, the umbrella blocked his view, and he could only see Huo Shizhen's black windbreaker and long silver hair. Lin Guantang felt a little irritated and had some unsatisfied thoughts, so he shouted:
"Senior."
Huo Shizhen turned and looked at him. Against the backdrop of the pitch-black night and the steel bridge, his long silver hair danced in the air. His brown eyes looked down coldly, making him look like a demon king transformed by the darkness.
It's not a nickname given by the military academy students as a joke, but the kind of demon king in the legend who really devours human lives.
Therefore, Lin Guantang, who had such speculation, should be frightened.
Lin Guantang did feel his heart beating fast, but he was absolutely sure that it was not because of fear. Otherwise, he should have fled at this moment instead of staring straight into Huo Shizhen's eyes. He even wanted to go a step further and reach out to hook Huo Shizhen's long silver hair that was flying onto his face.
But Huo Shizhen looked at him coldly like a devil, without any emotion in his eyes, as if he was just a blade of grass by the roadside. This made Lin Guantang afraid and he did not dare to put his idea into action.
He felt an indescribable sense of grievance again - even though he repeatedly reminded himself that he and Huo Shizhen were currently just simple friends, and although he called him senior, they were not actually even alumni.
But, but...
But is it really true that he is unwilling to show even a little bit of friendly emotion?
Lin Guantang felt that he should also be cold and ruthless, but when he spoke, there was obvious disappointment in his expression:
"Senior, did you bring me here on purpose?"
This is really a nonsense question.
If I didn't come here on purpose, what else could it be? It can't be that my car broke down here. Instead of staying in the car bored, I might as well go out for a walk and get some fresh air.
But looking at Lin Guantang's shaky body and the blue eyes looking straight at him——
Or it would be more appropriate to say that she was staring at him infatuatedly. Her eyes, which were usually pure enough, now seemed to have melted and were filled with a hazy mist.
It wasn't just his eyes, but his entire body was shrouded in the hazy light and shadow of rain and fog, and his entire body seemed to emit a soft glow, like an angel or the Son of God descending to the human world.
Huo Shizhen had never had any special worship for things like angels and gods. It was just a vague imagination. But at this moment, he felt that these existences that only existed in his imagination had become concrete.
This made Huo Shizhen feel empathy for others, which was rare. He gave up his harsh words and just said calmly:
"You're in heat."
Lin Guantang: ...
Lin Guantang blinked slowly once, then again, his confused mind spinning around before he realized that when Huo Shizhen said these words, he wasn't saying he was being sentimental, but was objectively stating his current state.
I don't know when, but the air was filled with a scent like jasmine, but it was washed away by the rain and fog, so it was not so obvious.
Hot-headed, emotional, restless, inexplicably dependent on the alpha, wanting physical contact...
Common symptoms of estrus flooded into Lin Guantang's mind like pieces of paper, and he suddenly realized that the reason he felt so excited tonight was because the estrus period had arrived.
If that's the case, then doesn't it mean that he ran out to find Huo Shizhen because of his emotions, or even tracing back to an earlier time, the estrus period had already quietly arrived.
He thought that everything that happened tonight was just a product of his emotions, but Senior Huo had obviously realized that something was wrong with him a long time ago. Maybe he noticed something unusual from the first moment they met.
Huh? Wait a minute—
If that's the case, why did Huo Shizhen bring him out?
No, no... Compared to this problem, there seems to be another more urgent issue that needs to be considered, which is -
What would happen if an omega in estrus and an S-level alpha were in the same place in such a desolate place with no buildings around?
Marking seems unavoidable, the only difference is whether it will be permanent or a temporary emergency mark.
So let’s run away!
This thought flashed through Lin Guantang's mind, but in the end he still followed Huo Shizhen back to the car and just sat in the back seat.
Lin Guantang's heart was beating fast, especially when Huo Shizhen leaned towards him, which made his heart stop beating. He subconsciously reached out and pressed his hand on Huo Shizhen's shoulder.
I instinctively wanted to refuse, but when I actually touched his shoulder and felt the touch of his muscles through the thin fabric, I couldn't seem to have the heart to push him away.
There were still some scattered silver hairs stuck between his fingers and clothes. Lin Guantang stared at the messy hair for two seconds, but still couldn't help but bend his fingers and scratch those strands of hair.
In a way, this is a very dangerous situation. Lin Guantang was distracted and thought that his senior's hair was as smooth as he imagined and felt very good.
In less than a minute, the long hair was pulled out from between his fingers. Feeling reluctant, Lin Guantang subconsciously reached out and grabbed the slightly bent hair ends.
As Lin Guantang's fingers fell, the long hair was also pulled down, so Huo Shizhen, who was sitting up straight, felt his scalp tighten slightly. Following the weak pulling force, he saw the end of the hair held in Lin Guantang's hand. His eyes narrowed, revealing a dangerous signal.
Huo Shizhen felt unhappy - it was not directed at Lin Guantang, but he was annoyed and even disgusted by someone touching his hair.
In my past life, no matter what the purpose was, it was inevitable that I would have to fight with others in close combat.
Perhaps it was some kind of innate primitive gene that prompted different opponents to come up with the same idea at the same time - thinking that long hair was a weakness, and then trying to pull his hair to achieve some kind of purpose of grasping the weakness.
Although being caught by the hair would indeed give Huo Shizhen a headache, it would also trigger his even stronger anger and tyranny. Therefore, without exception, anyone who pulled their hair was beaten up by him. It could only be said that they deserved it.
Huo Shizhen gradually developed a sense of crisis that grabbing his hair was equivalent to a provocation, and he subconsciously wanted to fight back.
However, why bother with O who is in estrus and subconsciously seeking comfort?
Huo Shizhen stared at Lin Guantang's snow-white fingers entwined with her long silver hair for a few seconds, then looked away as if nothing had happened and picked up the silver-white box he had just taken out from Lin Guantang's position.
He pushed the front seat forward a little to make enough space, propped up a table, and then put the box on it and opened it. Along with the curling of cold air and smoke, neatly stacked medicines and disposable syringes appeared in front of him.
Huo Shizhen skillfully picked up the syringe and drew the medicine. He took off his gloves and asked Lin Guantang to extend his wrist. While injecting the inhibitor, he said:
"Highly effective estrus-relieving and suppressing mixture. It takes effect in three minutes and will completely suppress all signs of estrus in half an hour. The effect will last for twelve hours. You can then take estrus-specific medication within at least eight hours and at most fifteen hours. Have you requested medication to relieve estrus?"
"Go get it from the medical room tomorrow, it should be in time."
Lin Guantang answered casually, looking down at the cold liquid being injected into his arm through the slender needle. His eyes involuntarily fell on the fingers holding his wrist. They were vigorous and powerful, yet so pale as death, which reminded Lin Guantang of the legendary vampires who never see the light of day.
But Huo Shizhen did not bite his neck like a vampire, but gave him the acupuncture calmly.
This made Lin Guantang feel lucky that Huo Shizhen was so calm, otherwise he would not know what to do. It was also the first time he realized that his wrist was so thin. Huo Shizhen's fingers could still hold a lot of space left after clenching it. If he forced it down, he would have no chance of winning.
The injection of the medicine was completed, and the next step was to wait for it to take effect. After packing up his things, Huo Shizhen leaned back and closed his eyes to doze. Lin Guantang had no intention of closing his eyes to sleep. He subconsciously tangle the hair in his hands and said something else:
"Is this the senior's car? Are these things always kept in the car?"
“It’s just a necessary crisis prevention measure.”
After a pause, Huo Shizhen added slowly:
"But usually, someone will take care of it, and we've never allowed people with AO during special periods to get into cars and pollute the air."
They actually called it a crisis, polluting the air... Although it sounds like they have equal contempt for AOs who can't control the release of pheromones, and in some ways it is quite equal treatment, but no matter how you think about it, it feels too harsh.
Do you also think my pheromones smell bad? After all, the scent of jasmine is not considered bad... Lin Guantang rarely doubted his life, but think about it, except for some people who were surprised that his pheromones were not from crabapple but jasmine, no one said that his pheromones smelled bad.
So there must be something wrong with the senior's sense of smell.
Also, he said something about never letting AOs in special periods get on the bus before... He didn't want me to say that I was honored to be the first person to receive this honor, so I should be grateful.
Lin Guantang silently complained in his heart.
But to be honest, it seems that I really didn't smell any scent of Huo Shizhen's pheromones from beginning to end.
As this thought occurred to him, Lin Guantang sniffed, sniffing the air with what he thought was an effortless effort. Since the rain had subsided considerably, he had opened the window. Now, apart from the lingering rain, the scent of river water, the earthy odor from the soaked ground, and the pheromones emanating from Lin Guantang himself, there was no other scent.
Could it be that the senior's pheromone is one of the first three, or is it true that he didn't emit a single pheromone at all - is his self-control really that strong?
Or maybe there is another truth.
For example, Huo Shizhen is actually a beta or something like that...
Lin Guantang glanced at Huo Shizhen's face as he closed his eyes and fell asleep. He cautiously moved closer to him with the lightest and slowest movements, wanting to quietly get close to the back of his neck and smell whether not a single pheromone had been leaked.
He thought his movements were subtle enough to be inaudible, but to Huo Shizhen, they were obvious.
Especially when Lin Guantang got close to the neck, the warm - or perhaps it should be said that the slightly hot breath passed through the layers of hair and turned into a sticky and stuffy heat when it reached the neck.
It's hard to get him to pretend he didn't notice.
Especially for places like the neck, it is even more impossible to remain indifferent and allow people to approach.
So when Lin Guantang sniffed it but found nothing and was about to retreat the same way with a puzzled expression, he opened his eyes without warning, and scared Lin Guantang so much that he suddenly stood still and just stared at him with his eyes open.
That can be said to be a very close distance, the aura of each other can blend, and the radiating lines of the pupils can be seen clearly.
Being caught red-handed is always a little embarrassing.
Lin Guantang looked away guiltily and looked out the window seriously, as if he was leaning over just to take a look at the scenery outside. He said:
"The rain seems to have stopped completely."
Then he sat back down as if nothing had happened, which made Huo Shizhen laugh at his self-deception, but he was too lazy to expose him.
But it wasn't like nothing really happened. Huo Shizhen wanted to ignore it, but Lin Guantang couldn't let go of the question in his mind, just like a kitten scratching its heart. He was even more curious and finally couldn't help asking:
"Senior, can I ask you a rather offensive question?"
Huo Shizhen said calmly:
"If you feel offended, don't ask."
Lin Guantang immediately changed his way of speaking:
"What if I don't find it offensive?"
Huo Shizhen: ...
Seeing that Huo Shizhen did not deny it, Lin Guantang asked quietly:
"Is the senior a beta?"
Without waiting for Huo Shizhen to speak, he muttered to himself:
"If you're not a beta, why can't I smell your pheromones?"
Huo Shizhen's cold answer:
"It seems that estrus does affect the performance of IQ. If you were still sober, you wouldn't ask such a stupid question."
Lin Guantang: ...
It's as if the alpha susceptible period won't affect IQ...
Lin Guantang muttered in response, very dissatisfied with this evaluation, but think about it, facing O in estrus, Huo Shizhen did not leak out any pheromones at all the time, maybe the senior who was in a susceptible period could still maintain his calm demeanor.
Although Lin Guantang's voice of complaint was very low, Huo Shizhen still heard it. He couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth, thinking that it was silly and cute - or maybe he was really too tolerant today, so Lin Guantang asked such a question.
The blending of AO pheromones would only make Lin Guantang's mind more confused, his emotions surging, and he would completely sink into the bottomless vortex of bliss in pursuit of physical pleasure.
Even without asking, he knew that was definitely not what Lin Guantang wanted when he was awake. Being dominated and indulged by pheromones like an animal was not something Huo Shizhen was interested in.
Half an hour later, Lin Guantang finally came to his senses and gave up on playing with Huo Shizhen's hair like a cat playing with a ball of yarn, but at the same time, he was overwhelmed by a feeling of social doom.
The return journey was much faster. Lin Guantang finally came back to his senses from his ostrich-like escapist mentality, and felt that his nerves had been baptized, making him feel that his relationship with Senior Huo had become much closer - mainly because he had completely given up the emotion called reserve in front of Huo Shizhen.
Watching the scenery passing quickly outside the window, he seriously asked again why Huo Shizhen took him out for a night tour of the imperial capital.
If you had noticed that he was in heat a long time ago, you should not have brought him out in the first place. If you brought him out because you knew he was in heat, then generally speaking you had bad intentions and wanted to temporarily mark him or something, but you didn't do anything. It can't be that you brought him out just to show off your strong self-control in front of him.
That also makes no sense.
In fact, Huo Shizhen’s idea was very simple - if he wanted to do something, he would just do it.
When Huo Shizhen first saw Lin Guantang standing on the roadside through the window, he smelled something unusual. He should have let Lin Guantang go back to O Hospital, but at that moment, when he saw Lin Guantang's excited, expectant, and somewhat aggrieved expression, he couldn't bring himself to let him go back alone.
That's why Luo Fan was asked to get out of the car - after all, Luo Fan was also an alpha, and it was not safe for him to stay in the car.
Huo Shizhen's original plan was to just take people for a walk and then go back, but when he looked at the dense rain and fog outside the window, he thought of the rain and fog scenery on the cross-river bridge. The bridge was completed not long ago and not many people knew about it, so even fewer people knew what kind of wonderful scenes would happen in such dense rain and fog.
Perhaps in the near future, it will become a new popular tourist attraction in the imperial capital, so take people there to see it while it is still unknown.
But Huo Shizhen was too lazy to explain so much, so his answer was -
"Why, didn't you come out to me to buy time for them? I just chose to fulfill your wish. After all, you completed the mission quite well, so this is considered a reward for successfully completing it."
Lin Guantang: ...
Lin Guantang thought for a moment before digging out from his memory something that had been forgotten deep in his mind.
It seemed, probably, as if—while he and his senior were taking a rainy night drive, there was a group of people in the military academy who were cleaning up all night in order to clean up the mess before the great devil Huo returned to school...
Now, more than half an hour, even an hour or two has passed since Senior Sikong said that Huo Shizhen had returned to school.
In a sense, Lin Guantang did act as a good man without leaving his name, and he won the opportunity for the military cadets to destroy the evidence.
But - he certainly didn't run out to look for someone for this purpose!
"I really only came out because I wanted to see you."
After saying this, Lin Guantang felt a little uncomfortable. It felt strange, as if he was just being too enthusiastic and really liked to throw himself at her… So he added, trying to cover up the truth:
"After all, I have to return the brooch I borrowed from you."
After finishing speaking, Lin Guantang was about to reach out to take off the brooch on his clothes, but when he touched a flat piece of cloth, he suddenly remembered that he had changed out of his school uniform after returning to the dormitory. Now he was wearing an ordinary pullover and pants, with the brooch still hanging on his school uniform.
Lin Guantang froze as if a disc had been stuck, then he looked straight ahead, his heart breaking, yet he managed to maintain a calm exterior and said:
"Tomorrow, tomorrow I will return the brooch to you."
Then he heard a faint chuckle coming from the driver's seat.
You're not thinking he's looking for an excuse to embezzle the money or something like that - it's not like he forgot on purpose!
Lin Guantang turned his head and glared at him.
Huo Shizhen tapped his fingers on the steering wheel twice, suppressing his smile and saying:
"There's no point in asking for something back once you've given it away. If you really can't afford it, then consider it extra compensation for your hard work part-time. Do with it as you please without asking for my opinion. If it gives you nightmares, then keep it in the store."
That wouldn't be a nightmare.
Lin Guantang said "oh". Since Huo Shizhen didn't plan to take it back, it would be too obvious to keep it in the store. So after thinking about it, he decided to put the brooch in the box and put it away after returning. After all, it was the first gift he received since he came to the imperial capital that belonged to him completely and he could do whatever he wanted with it.
Maybe I will receive more gifts in the future, but the meaning will be different.
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