SDT 6

Chapter 6  Alright

The blackmailer lowered his head. His brows furrowed, and his eyes looked dazed and absent-minded.

Lu Kongyun thought, “Why did you come to me?” If the question involved complicated causes and effects, it might be hard for the blackmailer to explain in his current state.

So he changed the way he asked.

He leaned closer and asked again, word by word, “Yu Xiaowen. What’s your purpose in coming to me?”

The blackmailer: “…”

The blackmailer was still in heat. But because the truth serum had a calming effect, his breathing wasn’t that messy, and his movements weren’t that restless. His desire showed in another form, through deep breaths and the redness on his neck.

Lu Kongyun looked at him and simplified the question again. “What do you want?”

Another tear fell on his pants.

He exhaled and answered in a strained voice, “I want you.”

Lu Kongyun waited.

Waited for him to continue.

When the other still didn’t speak, he prompted again, “What do you want me to do? You can say it.”

The blackmailer lifted his head in a daze. “I want you.”

Lu Kongyun waited a little longer, but the man stopped there again, never finishing the sentence.

Normally, someone injected with truth serum would obediently answer the interrogator’s questions. But there were also those with strong mental control. When asked about something their subconscious didn’t want to answer, they built walls and couldn’t say it.

People with that kind of discipline were usually professionally trained soldiers or agents.

Although Yu Xiaowen wasn’t from a special unit, he was still a police officer, and he might’ve had that kind of training.

Lu Kongyun changed the question.

“Did we have some kind of conflict before? Did I ever do something wrong to you…” he watched the man’s face for a change, “something I should apologize for?”

The blackmailer said, “No… you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“…..”

Lu Kongyun said, “Then why’re you doing this to me?”

“Because I’m sick…” the blackmailer answered.

“……………………”

…This guy wasn’t simple. Lu Kongyun came to that conclusion.

The blackmailer had very strong control over his consciousness. He still wanted to keep playing this little mind game and wouldn’t show his hand.

Lu Kongyun stared at the man whose purpose was still a mystery, trying to find a clue. Then he noticed the man was trembling.

He was shivering because he’d gotten wet in the rain.

Discomfort affected the drug’s effect too, since people only relaxed when their body felt at ease.

So Lu Kongyun stood up, took off his latex gloves, and turned on the heater. Then he went to the bathroom, grabbed a bath towel, came back, and stood in front of the blackmailer. He draped the towel over the man’s head and started drying his hair.

“I underestimated you. You’re impressive,” he said casually.

After a moment, the blackmailer murmured, “Yu Xiaowen’s impressive. Solved a lot of big cases… got lots of awards. He’s not that bad either…”

Lu Kongyun: “.”

Lu Kongyun: “Oh.”

He slowly rubbed the man’s hair and the flushed skin of his neck.

The blackmailer looked up at him from under the towel with pale eyes. This time, he didn’t look like a sly cat, but a cat in heat.

Lu Kongyun pinched the back of his neck and made him lower his head.

He’d been careless, treating him like an ordinary officer and going straight for key questions. It seemed he needed to handle this interrogation properly.

He asked, “Yu Xiaowen, what do you like to eat?”

“Seafood flavor. Instant noodles…”

“Why seafood-flavored instant noodles, not actual seafood?”

“It’s the same. No need to spend more money.”

“You were just eating seafood earlier.”

“Because… I wanted to treat you.”

Lu Kongyun said, “I was the one treating you. And you were the only one eating. You kept pouring drinks for me.”

The blackmailer went silent for a few seconds. Lu Kongyun watched his face and noticed a barely visible smile.

“So next time, you’ll treat me, alright?” Lu Kongyun said.

“…Yeah.” The blackmailer seemed much more relaxed now that he’d warmed up. He loosened up and lightly moved his head under the towel with Lu Kongyun’s motions. His breathing got quicker too.

His face rested against the towel, clearly enjoying its warmth and softness.

“I like you…”

Lu Kongyun looked at the water on his neck, slid the towel inside his open collar, and wiped downward. He saw a scar below the blackmailer’s collarbone. A gunshot wound. Not from a handgun, but from a type of rifle commonly used by mercenaries. The burn marks around the scar were clear.

He looked away. “You still want seafood next time?”

“Anything’s fine,” the blackmailer said.

“Then let’s have crab again.”

“Okay.”

“How many legs does a crab have?”

“Eight.”

“When’s your birthday?”

“February 14.”

“What’s the countdown password for the video?”

The man under the towel froze. His eyes looked into the distance, as if recalling something.

After a while, his fingers started to move too.

“58.”

“5664.”

There was a notepad on the table. Lu Kongyun opened it, picked up a pen, and wrote it down.

“986.”

“Say it again.” Lu Kongyun looked at the numbers he’d written and told him to repeat.

“58.”

“5664.”

“986.”

Lu Kongyun reached into the blackmailer’s pocket and pulled out his phone. It was an old model, with a cracked corner on the screen. He unlocked it with the man’s fingerprint, scrolled slowly, and found a clock app. He tapped it, and sure enough, a countdown was running.

It showed 5 hours and 34 minutes left. Below it was a “cancel” button. When he pressed it, a password box popped up.

But before typing, he hesitated.

He remembered that every time the blackmailer reset the timer, he typed the password quickly, smoothly, without a pause.

But when he’d said those numbers earlier, he’d stuttered, recalling them from memory.

That didn’t match. Something was wrong.

Holding the phone, Lu Kongyun asked, “What happens if the password’s wrong?”

“Auto-upload…” the blackmailer answered.

“…..”

Lu Kongyun studied him. The blackmailer’s eyes were unfocused, tears clinging to the corners. He was in heat, completely unreadable.

In that condition, could he really be faking and trying to mislead the interrogator?

Was that possible?

Lu Kongyun felt like he was being played. His emotions were slipping again.

He said coldly, “Yu Xiaowen, if you trick me and that video gets leaked, Lu Qingchuan will kill you tomorrow.”

“Life… whatever…”

The blackmailer opened his mouth. A line of saliva nearly slipped out.

Lu Kongyun picked up tweezers, clamped a cotton ball, and shoved it into his mouth, stirring roughly in revenge. The man whimpered twice. When Lu Kongyun tried to pull the cotton back out, the blackmailer bit the tweezers, eyes red, staring straight at him.

“…Open your mouth.”

The blackmailer let go.

Lu Kongyun pulled out the soaked cotton ball and tossed it into the trash.

The blackmailer watched his fingers leave and started to look restless.

“I feel awful.”

“Yes,” Lu Kongyun said, “I know.”

“…Kiss me,” the blackmailer said.

Lu Kongyun stopped moving.

“Is that an order?”

The blackmailer squirmed, moving up and down on the chair.

Lu Kongyun studied him. Judging by the state he was in, the heat must’ve reached its peak.

There were still over five hours left on the countdown, so Lu Kongyun wasn’t in a hurry to grant that “order.”

He said, “Answer my questions seriously, and I might consider kissing you.”

The blackmailer didn’t reply. He just looked at him, lips parting slightly, the wet tip of his tongue slipping out.

The heavy scent of pheromones made Lu Kongyun uncomfortable. He licked his canine tooth.

“Why didn’t you blackmail Lu Qingchuan directly?”

“I feel awful.”

“Answer me,” Lu Kongyun said coldly.

The blackmailer sniffled and said, “Why would I blackmail a military committee member? That’s dangerous.”

Lu Kongyun said, “…And I’m not dangerous? I’ve a rank too. How am I not dangerous?”

“Kiss me.” The blackmailer’s tears fell like a broken string. “Order!”

Lu Kongyun: “…”

Lu Kongyun: “Answer first.”

“You! Hold me. Do it with me.” The blackmailer started crying. “Order.”

“.” Lu Kongyun’s brows twitched. “What’re you saying…”

“Do all the positions from the movies with me.”

Lu Kongyun: “…Stop talking.”

“Holding me while doing it makes it easier to get preg—”

Lu Kongyun stood up, walked to the bathroom, rummaged through the bin, found a dark red suppressant patch, then came back and slapped it on the back of the man’s neck. He then prepared the antidote for the truth serum and injected it.

….

The truth serum mostly worked on the subconscious, like a dream. When the dream ended, everything in it became blurry and unreal.

Yu Xiaowen opened his eyes and felt much calmer. He lifted his head and saw Lu Kongyun sitting across from him, staring at him.

Dr. Lu still looked composed. His fingers were interlocked in front of him, his handsome features fitting perfectly as the first thing someone saw when waking up.

Only his clenched jaw made his jawline look even harder.

Yu Xiaowen watched him for a bit, then said, “Dr. Lu really lives up to his reputation. Your sedative works great. I feel much better now.”

Lu Kongyun didn’t respond.

Yu Xiaowen saw his phone placed on the table and immediately understood why Lu Kongyun looked so grim.

He chuckled lightly. “So, Dr. Lu, while I was calm, did you figure out the countdown? Even if you did, it’s useless. I told you that already.”

His phone rang on the table.

He said, “Come over and untie me. I need to take this call.”

Lu Kongyun didn’t move until the ringing stopped.

Yu Xiaowen said, “I asked my colleague to pick me up. If I don’t answer, he’ll keep calling.”

Lu Kongyun’s eyes flickered.

Sure enough, the phone rang again.

Lu Kongyun picked it up, turned on speaker, set it beside him, and silently loosened the straps on Yu Xiaowen’s wrists.

“Brother, I’m at Funan Street. Where’re you?” a voice came through, it was Xu Jie.

Yu Xiaowen cleared his throat, trying to make his hoarse, nasal voice sound normal. “Oh, wait a bit, I’ll come over.”

“…..” Xu Jie paused for a few seconds, lowered his voice. “I can come get you if you tell me where you are.”

“It’s fine, I can walk there. Just wait, I’ll be there soon. Bye.”

“Brother, is it happening again?” Xu Jie asked.

Yu Xiaowen: “…Huh?”

“You can call me… to help you.” Xu Jie’s voice dropped even lower. “I’m single, clean, discreet. My pheromone’s milk tea scent… you like that, right? It’s not good to keep relying on medicine.”

Lu Kongyun lifted his eyes toward Yu Xiaowen.

Yu Xiaowen felt that gaze and said casually, “What’re you saying, I’m fine… cough, mind your business! I’ll be there soon. Bye.”

“Brother, is it because you like the team leader?” Xu Jie said. “But he only likes women. He even said you act like a strong Alpha.”

“Strong…” Yu Xiaowen glanced at the cold-faced doctor beside him, his face heating up. He felt his pride hit the floor and got angry. “Your dad likes the team leader! Your sister’s the strong Alpha! I told you to hang up, didn’t you hear me?”

Xu Jie immediately hung up.

“Damn it.” Yu Xiaowen cursed again after ending the call. His wrists were free now. He rubbed them, grabbed the chair, and stood up. His body still carried a faint residue of heat, but it was under control.

Lu Kongyun said, “You called him earlier at the pavilion?”

“Yeah.” Yu Xiaowen opened his phone and checked the countdown app. The time and display hadn’t changed.

He chuckled.

“Dr. Lu, don’t waste your effort. I told you… obeying me is your only choice.”

He walked to the door and looked up at the sky. The rain had stopped. When he turned back, Lu Kongyun lowered his gaze at him. “How long’re you planning to toy with me like this?”

“Not long,” Yu Xiaowen said. “Maybe soon. Sooner than you think.”

….

That night, it was already past the victim’s usual bedtime, but the man still hadn’t sent his “Good night, sweetheart.”

So Yu Xiaowen frowned at the chat log, ready to send a screenshot of the countdown to remind him.

Just then, a message popped up. It was from the victim.

Lu Kongyun: Did you let that Alpha help you?