SDT 31

Chapter 31: The Pond

The victim fell silent for a moment and then asked Yu Xiaowen in return.

“Shall we talk about it here?”

“…”

Yu Xiaowen’s brain had become numb from exhaustion today, and it seemed that it had only just begun to revive, reacting to what would happen in a little while.

His fingers clenched the seam of his pants, and he turned his head to look at the gate of the Municipal Bureau.

Then he turned back, and a flush of red dyed his face. He softly instructed the victim, “You wait for me for a moment.”

Yu Xiaowen ran back to the police station. He walked into the office, went to the umbrella stand in the corner of the wall, and took an umbrella. Two seconds later, he picked up another one. He turned his head and said to Chen Zihan, “Team leader, I am going out for a bit, and I will come back right away.”

Chen Zihan nodded to him, “Do not come back. Go home and sleep. How many days has it been since you went home?”

“Then I am leaving.”

He went to the changing room again and opened his own locker. He examined himself in the small mirror on the locker door, straightened his hair, and took out some ointment and bandages.

He walked back to the entrance once more and saw that the victim was still maintaining the posture of gazing into the distance while looking this way. Yu Xiaowen felt that this person had been keeping this posture all along, as if his head had not moved at all.

This delusion made Yu Xiaowen’s arms feel slightly warm, and it also allowed his suppressed emotions to improve once again. He opened the umbrella and quickly ran over. He first held his own umbrella to shelter the two of them from the rain above their heads.

“Doctor Lu, I feel that you might really give birth to puppies in the future.” There was a hint of amusement in his voice as he teased the victim.

The victim frowned: “Forget everything I said that day.”

“Oh. Which day? You surely do not keep a record by day of the words you said to the commander, do you?”

“…” The victim’s mouth turned into a straight line.

Yu Xiaowen reached out and handed the other umbrella to the other party. The victim took the umbrella and immediately retreated a step as if to draw a clear boundary, then opened it.

He took out the ointment and bandages again, and the victim lowered his head to look.

Yu Xiaowen: “These are the medicines I usually use. You look too bad. I’ll give them to you first.”

Under the shadow of the umbrella, he lifted his head and once again observed the victim’s injury.

“You got beaten up by someone… You’re a doctor doing experiments, and you don’t have to go to the battlefield. Can’t they just let you off a bit?”

The victim held the umbrella and did not speak.

Yu Xiaowen opened a bandage and handed it to the other party, “First, put this on the wound at the corner of your mouth. Take the bruise ointment back yourself and apply it before sleeping.”

The victim took the bandage and applied it to the corner of his mouth. Yu Xiaowen helped the other party to adjust the edge of the wound a bit straighter and pressed it firmly. Then he handed the remaining medicine to the other party. When the other party reacted and prepared to take it, Yu Xiaowen withdrew the medicine.

This time, it was not really to deliberately tease the victim for fun, but because he had just said that Lu Kongyun was a doctor, he suddenly realized that the director of the biology department would certainly have medicine that was ten thousand times better than his own. His own was somewhat superfluous.

“You should still use your own medicine, Doctor Lu.” He said.

“I will go directly back to the training ground in a little while. Thank you.” The victim said, and then took the ointment from Yu Xiaowen’s hand.

The other party was indeed a doctor; the precision of his fingertips was very high, and even in the darkness, he accurately grasped it without touching Yu Xiaowen’s palm at all.

Yu Xiaowen’s smile deepened, “You are still a bit more adorable during your rut.”

The victim said, “Don’t mention that matter again.”

“How about we, cough… go to Xiangmang Park?” Yu Xiaowen withdrew his hand. “There’s a pond there, perfect for us.”

…

“Major Jia, why are there only two people left in your dormitory?” The dormitory administrator officer seemed unaware of what had happened during the day, so he asked during the inspection.

Lu Renjia did not want to tell the other party for the hundredth time that his surname was Lu. He only stood at attention and answered him, “The two of them fought. One went to the hospital, and the other went to accompany him.”

The administrator was shocked, “…Ding Kai does not value his life? He dares to hit anyone.”

“It was the opposite. He was the one who was hit.” Lu Renjia answered.

“…” The administrator left.

After a while, he stepped in again and asked, “Then will they come back tonight? If not, it needs to be reported.”

Then he softly prompted, “Tonight, superior leaders from the military department are coming down for a surprise inspection of the interviews and tests. It is very important. Be prepared. Remember to notify Colonel Lu.”

“Okay, I will tell him.”

Lu Renjia turned around and glanced at the incestuous lunatic on the opposite bed who was staring at the photos on his phone. Based on the interactions over this period of time, he knew that this lunatic, when looking at photos of his brother-wife, would block out all other perceptions of the world and enter a state of deep meditation like an old monk in seclusion. Even if the other three people in the same room were messing around right in front of him, he would not lift his head to look.

“Dai Lushan.” So Lu Renjia called him by his full name.

Only then did the other party lift his head to look at him.

“Ding Kai definitely will not come back. You call Lu Kongyun and ask.”

Dai Lushan said, “Why should I call?”

Lu Renjia paused, “Why can you not call?”

Dai Lushan said, “I am not familiar with him. Aren’t you very familiar with him? You are always flattering him from front to back every day. Should you not seize this kind of opportunity?”

Lu Renjia suppressed his anger and said, “…My wife has a list of Alphas permitted for me to communicate with, and Lu Kongyun is not on the list; it requires reporting. If it is convenient for you, hurry up and call, and talk less nonsense.”

Dai Lushan looked puzzled for a moment, then seemed to understand the implication. This Lu Renjia must have “made a mistake” and been caught, so now he was under strict control by his family.

He raised the corner of his mouth and snorted contemptuously.

Lu Renjia was annoyed. He had been enduring the perverted and disgusting behavior of this madman for a while, and now he was being snorted by such a person. He said, “What the hell are you snorting about? Heh, you wish your wife would control you, but your wife would probably wish for you to cheat so he could stay far away from you. Who could endure being visually assaulted by you this lunatic every day? How about I call your brother first?”

Dai Lushan said, “…”

He got out of bed and cracked his knuckles.

…

Dormitory A208 was empty tonight. No one made it for the superior’s surprise inspection interview.

Naturally, no one called Lu Kongyun to notify him of this matter.

…

There was a park behind the police station. There were quite a few people at the entrance, many who had finished dinner and come out for a stroll, to walk dogs, or to take children for a walk. But as one went further inside, the number of people began to decrease. When they reached the pond that Yu Xiaowen had mentioned, there were no figures in sight.

“There used to be couples who would have secret rendezvous here.” He lowered his voice in a fitting manner and explained to the victim, “Three months ago, a love murder case occurred here, so the popularity has declined, and no one comes here at night at all.”

The victim said, “….”

Yu Xiaowen pointed again to a pavilion not far from the stone steps, issuing an order, “Go over there.”

They stepped over the slippery stone steps, and the two of them sat down in the pavilion. There was a social distance of one person between them in the middle.

Small ground lights had been installed in the bushes here, white with a tinge of green, casting a hazy giant shadow of grass. The pond was a piece of dead silence; one could only hear the faint sounds of rain falling on the plants, and occasionally, strange animal calls from who knows where, sometimes faint, sometimes shrill.

The scenery was very nice, very nice; the air was fresh, the flowers and plants quiet. Only the two of them.

Only the two of them.

…Then, the silence between these two people, who should have had nothing in common, nothing to talk about, was blatantly left to the ground, unnoticed and spread out wide.

The victim turned his head to look at him, “Why have you been staring at me all along?”

“…Who is staring at you? I just cannot see you.” Yu Xiaowen immediately withdrew the fingers that had been crawling restlessly on the bench and snapped the wristband on his wrist.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Yu Xiaowen said, “Well, that case, it was one I handled. Do you want to hear about it?”

The victim said, “The love murder case from three months ago here?”

Yu Xiaowen said, “Or if you want to directly say the answer to the bet… you can say it too.”

After a while, the victim said, “You tell it.”

Yu Xiaowen softly exhaled in the darkness. He cleared his throat and said mysteriously, “This case is a bit bizarre. At that time, Xu Jie had just come to be my intern police officer…”

“The Alpha’s spouse was a Beta, but later met his destined Omega. On the day of the incident, the Beta called and asked him out for a talk, but ended up pushing him into the pond… Later, when the police went to the Beta’s house, they found that she had burned herself to death a few days ago.” A woman’s voice was heard in the distance, only clear because of the silence. “So, the original wife died and took the unfaithful man with her. Right here.” 

“Do not say it anymore.” Another male voice was trembling, “Why did you bring me here?”

“If you ever have a mistress, I will take you away even in death.” The woman said, “I want you to promise, in front of this fierce ghost, to be loyal to me. Even if our pheromones do not match, you will love only me forever.”

“…You are crazy! How would a normal person bring their boyfriend to such an unlucky haunted place for a date? You are crazy! Even without a mistress, I want to break up with you!” The man’s voice was loud but weak, and the sound of footsteps quickly ran far away.

The woman hurriedly chased after him, “Darling…”

Silence returned. 

It got even quieter.

“…” After a while, Yu Xiaowen scratched his face and let out an awkward hum, “There is no such thing as a ghost. Actually, it was the Omega who killed the Alpha, because he discovered that he was wavering, that he had marked her but had no intention at all of breaking up with his spouse Beta. The deceased’s phone call was fabricated, because the Omega did not know that the Beta had already been dead for several days. That is how it was. An emotional tragedy… but the bad luck cannot be blamed on the pond, right.”

Small ground lights had been installed in the bushes here, white with a tinge of green, casting a hazy giant shadow of grass. The pond was a piece of dead silence; one could only hear the faint sounds of rain falling on the plants, and occasionally, strange animal calls from who knows where, sometimes faint, sometimes even fainter.

Yu Xiaowen felt that police officers were not suited for falling in love.

Yu Xiaowen said, “We should still leave.”

The victim said, “This love murder case is a very typical case of ABO relationships.”

Yu Xiaowen said, “Hm?”

After a while, the victim said, “Perhaps the Alpha initially did indeed hope to have an emotional relationship with the compatible Beta, but in the end, the body still wanted to mark its own possession. Actually, it is better not to challenge the Alpha’s nature from the beginning. Because emotions may change, but animalistic instincts will never change.”

“That makes sense. I want to remember this sentence.” Yu Xiaowen agreed, “Doctor Lu always speaks so rationally. If only I had half of what you have.”

“You are you, and I am me.” The victim said, “You do not need to be like me.”

“…Then I can counsel my friend.” Yu Xiaowen said, “I have a friend who, although he is an Omega, has some problem with his body so he cannot be marked. What should he do in this situation?”

The victim thought for a moment and answered, “He can go check whether it is congenital or due to illness, and whether it can be cured. If it is not treated, he will indeed have a hard time finding a faithful partner who accepts him on an animalistic level. Because an Alpha cannot mark him, and a Beta cannot soothe him during his heat. It is a difficult mode for both sides.”

Yu Xiaowen said, “It is congenital. It is a glandular problem accompanying a reproductive cavity issue, incurable.”

“…” The victim turned his head, seeming to look in his direction, but his gaze was ambiguous.

Yu Xiaowen said, “I think my friend is really unlucky. You see, a Beta cannot be marked by people, but he also will not go into heat from Alphas’ pheromones. This Omega cannot be marked, so he will always go into heat from the pheromones of any Alpha. You are right; neither A nor B will want him. He is simply at the bottom of the ecological chain.”

Yu Xiaowen spread his hands as if he were an outsider and sighed, “The scent is also unpleasant, better if it did not exist. Ha, but he can fantasize even more than a normal intact person.”

After a while, the victim asked, “Is that so? What does he want?”

Yu Xiaowen thought for a moment and answered with a smile, “How would I know? I am not that close to him.”

“Probably no one will ever know,” Yu Xiaowen said.

Silence.

Until the moon came out.

The victim instructed Yu Xiaowen, “Tell your friend not to attempt glandular surgery. The current technology is still not mature, and the adverse consequences far exceed imagination.”

Yu Xiaowen swung his calves and toes, stirring the moonlight that fell around the victim. “Don’t worry. He won’t. He doesn’t care.”

“Oh,” the victim looked down, then said after a moment, “That’s good.”

This scientific doctor, with a compassionate heart, spoke with a touch of medical fervor. “If necessary, I’ll find relevant information for you in the future. You can show it to your friends.”

“In the future?” Yu Xiaowen tilted his shoulder and leaned closer, “Did we not agree that after the last order, we would no longer contact each other? Is this not what you wanted? Of course, I would not trouble you again over someone else’s matter. Even if you are the best medical expert I know, haha.”

Their eyes met.

Yu Xiaowen pursed his lips. He pulled out his phone, brought up the color screen, and placed it between them. He then slid across the bench, legs crossed, facing the victim.

“Let’s get down to business. Tell me your answer.” 

Because of his sitting position, to avoid bumping into the victim, his knees were propped up and stretched out. The rain stopped, but the raindrops from the pavilion eaves seeped into his thighs, leaving a damp and cool feeling.

The victim lowered his head, and his palm slowly slid over the side of his leg, gathering it inward to avoid the water line from the eaves. Yu Xiaowen discovered that the victim’s hand had become not cold at some point, but very hot, and it could quickly transmit the sensation to him through the wet part of his pants.