SDT 68

Chapter 68 Shijia City

Dai Lanshan completed his mission and did not have much time to stay with them. Once they were delivered to Shijia City in S Country, he hurried back to Manjing.

The rest of the journey would be up to Lu Kongyun and Yu Xiaowen to handle on their own. They’d first transfer to a bus from Shijia City to the village. Beyond that, Yu Xiaowen knew the way. He could lead the way.

While in the city, Yu Xiaowen insisted Lu Kongyun receive treatment first. But a member of the Lu family suddenly showing up at a local hospital for gunshot wounds could cause trouble.

During his time as a police officer, Yu Xiaowen happened to know of an old doctor in this border town who specialized in treating injuries for underworld figures. The doctor’s medical skills were exceptional, he only accepted payment, and never asked questions. Yu Xiaowen insisted on taking Lu Kongyun to see this doctor to have his wound treated.

The old doctor examined the wound, glanced at Yu Xiaowen, then addressed Lu Kongyun: “The back wound is extensive, with burn injuries. We still need to remove the bullet and debride the wound. General anesthesia will be required.”

Lu Kongyun glanced at Yu Xiaowen and said, “It’s not necessary.”

“You do!” Yu Xiaowen insisted urgently. “From my experience, surgeries under general anesthesia always recover much faster than those under local anesthesia, because local anesthesia still causes pain.”

“What experience are you discussing with the doctor?” Lu Kongyun asked.

Yu Xiaowen to the old doctor: “Give him general anesthesia!”

Lu Kongyun stepped out first, then quickly returned, handing Yu Xiaowen a pair of handcuffs.

“…” Yu Xiaowen obediently cuffed the two of them together.

In the old doctor’s operating room, just before losing consciousness, Lu Kongyun said, “I hid the key. You won’t find it.”

As the old doctor debrided the wound, Yu Xiaowen sat beside the operating table, his face pale as he clasped the patient’s hand.

The old doctor glanced at the two hands, cuffed together and clasped together, but said nothing, focusing solely on his work.

The sound of scissors clipping and gauze being tossed made Yu Xiaowen’s legs go weak. He mustered all his courage but couldn’t bring himself to look. He recalled the time he’d been shot, he hadn’t been this scared then.

And honestly, it wasn’t so bad, just the shoulder. Based on experience, there really wasn’t much risk. Last time he got shot, he nearly didn’t make it.

Yeah, yeah… It’s fine, it’s fine. Isn’t he doing way better than me? I was fine afterward, let alone him, he’s an Alpha with elite physical conditioning.

…But Lu Kongyun is different from him. He should be sitting in a lab, flipping through files and enjoying the air conditioning. Not in some border clinic, handcuffed while having to endure a bullet extraction and gunshot wound debriding.

At this thought, Yu Xiaowen instinctively glanced in that direction.

The moment he caught sight of that bloody mess, he turned his head back and stifled a wail that sounded like an alarm. He covered his face with his other arm to muffle the sound. After a moment, he sniffled and asked the old doctor, “He couldn’t have heard it, right?”

“He won’t. Neither will I.” The old doctor glanced at him and continued his work.

Yu Xiaowen tried to calm himself.

“…You really haven’t changed a bit. Still so professional.”

After a moment, he felt better. He spoke, half to himself, “A few years back, I came here from another province to make an arrest. I caught the criminal outside your clinic. I’d planned to take him in before his treatment, but figured we’d have to cover the costs anyway since he’d need treatment back home. So I waited until after his session to arrest him. You probably don’t remember me.”

“I don’t remember you,” the old doctor said.

He tossed a blood-soaked gauze pad onto the tray as he spoke. “But I remember him.”

Yu Xiaowen froze for a moment, then relaxed. Even if Lu Kongyun wasn’t as visible as his father, it was perfectly normal to have seen him if one followed the news closely.

As he pondered whether to remind the old doctor to keep this confidential, the old doctor added, “These past two years, he’s been coming to Shijia quite often.”

Yu Xiaowen’s eyes stopped darting around as he fixed his gaze on the old doctor.

The old doctor: “At first, he was looking for people. Later, he was looking for clues. Anything at all, he’d collect it all.”

The old doctor glanced at Yu Xiaowen again before lowering his head to resume his work.

“Looks like he’s found someone now.”

……

When Lu Kongyun awoke, he had already been moved to a bed. Instinctively, he lifted his handcuffed arm to look. The hand on the other end of the cuffs was still there. He stared at that hand. It was slimmer than his own, easily fitting into his palm. Perhaps from holding his hand too long, his palm felt a warm, damp sensation.

He turned his head to look at the owner of the hand. He was already asleep, slumped over the edge of the bed. Sensing his movement, he stirred awake and asked in a hoarse, weary voice: “…You’re awake? How do you feel? Thirsty?”

Looking out the window, the sky had already grown dark.

Looks like we’ll have to head into the mountains tomorrow.

Lu Kongyun sighed and said, “The key is under the canna lily outside the clinic.”

With Yu Xiaowen’s support, he stood up, and the two walked together to retrieve the key from beneath the canna lily. After crouching down, Yu Xiaowen took charge of digging up the soil while Lu Kongyun watched. Then they stood up. After Yu Xiaowen unlocked the handcuffs, he placed both the cuffs and the keys into the pocket of Lu Kongyun’s good hand, making them easily accessible for his next use.

“Mm-hmm.” Yu Xiaowen patted his pocket and looked up at Lu Kongyun with a knowing smile. “All set.”

Lu Kongyun handed him the phone. “Order takeout.”

After eating a light meal of chicken soup noodles, the two prepared to rest, planning to head into the mountains early the next morning.

The doctor had a guest room where they could stay. It was very basic: an old wooden table with cardboard shims under the legs, two plastic stools stacked together, and two narrow single beds.

Yu Xiaowen searched for the light switch for ages before finally spotting a vintage pull cord at the foot of the bed. He tugged it, plunging the room into complete darkness.

Then he crawled back, found his pillow, and lay down.

“Rest well,” he said. “Good night.”

Lu Kongyun: “Good night.”

Yu Xiaowen thought there wouldn’t be a reply, but Lu Kongyun actually spoke. His response came quickly, as if it were an instinctive reaction.

Late into the night, Lu Kongyun felt someone approach his side. They traced the edge of the bed, then carefully slipped onto the narrow mattress without even brushing against him.

The bed was too small, so the other person lay down vertically.

Lu Kongyun “…What are you doing?”

Yu Xiaowen stood by the bedside and said, “I’m afraid of touching your wound.”

“……”

“Then why did you come over?”

Yu Xiaowen: “Dr. Lu, could you give me some pheromones?”

Yu Xiaowen received no response, so she slowly murmured again, “We’re both wearing the wristbands anyway. It’s fine.”

“You really like my pheromones, don’t you?” Lu Kongyun said.

Yu Xiaowen responded quickly, clearly with a prepared line: “I feel like building a nest now too. So I want some scent.”

Lu Kongyun: “…An Omega knows what nesting means.”

Yu Xiaowen: “Of course they do. Just like puppies, they feel secure wherever their owner’s scent lingers, as if their owner is nearby, caring for and protecting them. Omegas have that need too.”

“Then you should go to your owner to get pheromones.”

Yu Xiaowen: “I… just let me smell it.”

He was being stubborn.

After a while.

“Do you enjoy this kind of ambiguous intimacy?” Lu Kongyun said.

In the darkness, Yu Xiaowen sensed the other person had turned to face him. Warm breath brushed against his face, sending a wave of heat through his body and making his toes curl.

“‘Go live happily with someone else later, but for now, let’s get wild together.’ Yeah, that’s right. That’s exactly how you entered my life two years ago. You always thought this was fine, didn’t you? As long as you’re happy? What about me? The first time in the car, you threatened me to release pheromones for you. Am I some kind of pheromones canister?”

Yu Xiaowen’s voice carried regret: “Of course not! …I was wrong.”

“Stop apologizing. You apologize every day, as if I’ve been bullying you all along. Anyway, once this case is closed, we’ll have no connection left. Whatever happened before is settled. I promised you.”

After a pause, Lu Kongyun added, “Now get back into your own bed. If you want something, deal with it yourself.”

Yu Xiaowen fell silent for a moment.

Yu Xiaowen: “You might not believe it, but I want you to know. I’m not just targeting you because of your pheromones.”

Lu Kongyun sensed the other person had sighed softly before speaking.

Yu Xiaowen’s voice was always sweet when he spoke softly. Especially when he deliberately adopted a slow, ingratiating tone: “Back in school, I got into a fight and ended up covered in trash and sour milk. That day, I saw you for the first time through the glass window, and I felt my soul purified. After coming inside, you even let me wash up and gave me your medicine to use, so my body was purified too. From that moment on, whenever I smell your scent, I feel comfortable, as if my entire being has been cleansed.”

Lu Kongyun remained silent.

Yu Xiaowen: “The reason I couldn’t resist blackmailing you two years ago was probably because I missed that life so desperately. But I can never go back, and I’ll never be happy again. I’m about to walk the path to the underworld, miserable and alone. And you are the deepest memory from my once-happy days. I really… miss those times so much.”

“I genuinely adored you when I was little. It was real. And two years ago, it was real too. I want you to know that even though I’m a blackmailer, in this one aspect, I never deceived you.”

“But you don’t anymore,” Lu Kongyun said.

Now, I love you.

But Yu Xiaowen didn’t say it out loud.

If he ended up in prison, the distance between him and Lu Kongyun would be greater than that between S and M. So vast it would separate them into two worlds, one in heaven, the other in hell.

Even if he avoided prison, they would never inhabit the same world. Had he not forcibly imposed the principle that the dead hold greater weight, he and the other would have remained parallel lines forever.

Now, Yu Xiaowen couldn’t even muster the nerve to speak truths.

Lu Kongyun was right, Yu Xiaowen had just barged into someone else’s perfectly good life. He’d never once considered taking responsibility for the lies he’d told. It was as if blackmailing had been nothing more than his own deathbed revelry, a game meant only for him to play.

But for the first time, he realized that some people, though as distant as clouds on the horizon, weren’t really as empty as those distant clouds. In places you never truly understood, there always lay a heart full of sincerity, one that took things very seriously. To start playing games with such a heart without taking responsibility was especially cruel. It couldn’t be covered up with so-called secret admiration.

“Lu Kongyun, there isn’t a single person in this world who doesn’t like you,” he said, controlling his voice. “I just wanted to tell you, you’re truly wonderful. I wanted to tell you that. Someday, the right person will say those words to you. But the wrong one saying them now, it’s never fake.”

He groped his way back to his own bed.

But after a while, Yu Xiaowen caught that faint, sweet scent of happiness.

His eyes began to feel sore and swollen.

He drew in a dramatic breath: “Your scent is so pure! Smelling it feels like walking for ages and finally coming home.”

He fought back a sob, his voice cheerful in the darkness. “Thank you. Thank you for bringing me home.”