Chapter 60

Shi Qi slowly opened her eyes, gazing blankly at the ceiling.

It was like waking from a long, languid dream. The heat within her body had subsided, the insatiable desire of her Heat Phase finally sated.

Correspondingly, her limbs felt limp and boneless, utterly drained of strength.

She blinked, trying to move.

With the motion came a slight sound from her ankles, something heavy and unyielding trapping her on the bed.

Hmm?

Shi Qi lifted a hand with effort, pushing aside the fluffy, soft duvet, and immediately widened her eyes in disbelief.

Metal chains coiled like snakes around her straight, slender legs, the inky black a stark contrast against her snowy white skin.

As if afraid she might get hurt, Shi Qi had a pair of fluffy Snowy White Anklet wrapped around her ankles, the shackles fastened just outside them to keep the hard metal inner surface from touching her skin directly.

A Golden Bell was attached to each anklet, emitting crisp, clear chimes with her movements.

The fragmented tinkling of bells abruptly shattered the eerie scene. Shi Qi shook her head as if coming back to herself and looked at her ankles again.

Not a dream.

Why was she wearing something like this?

"Awake?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Shi Qi turned her head.

Shang Sui pushed the door open and walked toward her while drying his hair. The Alpha had just showered, his damp long hair spilling over the back of his neck, his eyes beneath his fringe exceptionally bright, his whole body exuding a lazy, sated aura.

Shi Qi asked immediately, "Why is this here?"

Her memories of the Heat Phase were fragmented and chaotic. She had no recollection of the chains on her feet and instinctively turned to Shang Sui for help.

Shang Sui saw her push the covers aside and look up at him.

Shi Qi wore only a wine-red silk sleeping robe, her legs slightly bent. Her thighs and calves were covered in meticulous kiss marks, trails of crimson blooming like peach blossoms across snow.

Shang Sui's gaze involuntarily halted.

Realizing his heart was racing, that he was inevitably becoming aroused, Shang Sui pinched his fingertips, forcing himself to sober up.

No.

He'd given Shi Qi a Temporary Mark last night and promised her that was the end of it, that they wouldn't go further.

An Alpha's physiology, compared to an Omega's, was more suited for invasion and conquest, with greater explosive power and endurance. Compared to the average Alpha, his constitution was even more unique, even harder to satisfy.

Shi Qi had been fierce at first, driven by instinct, clinging to him and demanding more, but later couldn't take it and started begging for mercy.

At the most intense point, she'd been so dazed she tried to crawl off the bed like she was escaping. If he hadn't been quick-eyed and caught her, Shi Qi would have tumbled straight onto the carpet.

He'd deliberately teased her then, leaving her suspended right at the edge of the bed, not stopping.

Remembering how Shi Qi had later clung to him, arms and legs wrapped around him for a sense of security, Shang Sui's eyelids twitched slightly, an unholy fire rising within him.

Coming to his senses, he cursed inwardly.

Fuck, stop thinking about it.

Receiving no answer after a long moment, Shi Qi tilted her head and called out, puzzled, "Shang Sui?"

The Alpha, hearing his name, shifted his gaze to the chains and then naturally looked at Shi Qi.

Freshly awakened, the Omega's platinum-blonde hair was a mess, but it didn't affect her beauty in the slightest; a couple of stray strands sticking up made her look particularly innocent.

Seeing that Shi Qi seemed to have temporarily forgotten the scenes from her Heat Phase, Shang Sui tossed the towel he'd been drying his hair with aside.

"Can't you tell, Xiao Qi? You're trapped here, can't go anywhere."

He walked slowly to the bedside, his gaze fixed on Shi Qi. "It's easy to be found in Qi Jiang. In a few days I'll take you back to the Capital City, or abroad. I'll find a safe, beautiful place and hide you away."

Shi Qi's large, bright eyes shimmered, as if pondering whether his words were true or false.

Shang Sui softened his voice. "I'll definitely take good care of you."

"After a while, you'll slowly forget everyone else. You'll see only me every day, speak only to me."

As he spoke the last part, he bent down and reached out to lift Shi Qi's face.

Shi Qi looked into his deep-set eyes and saw turbulent desire swirling within.

A moment later, Shi Qi spoke, ordering him, "Then you go find a chain too, lock yourself together with me."

"Hmm...?"

As if he hadn't expected her to say that, Shang Sui was stunned for a moment, then agreed with a smile. "Alright."

Shi Qi pursed her lips, unsure if she was aggrieved or speechless.

Shang Sui reached out and smoothed her slightly disheveled hair. "You don't believe me?"

"Stop acting, I remember now." Shi Qi bluntly exposed him. "I put the chains on myself."

Fragmented images flashed through her mind one after another. Shi Qi tried to piece them together and finally roughly reconstructed the earlier scene.

She had clung to Shang Sui, demanding, stumbling all the way from the dining table to the bedroom. In the latter half of her Heat Phase, the master bedroom had become a chaotic mess.

On the third day, they moved to the guest room. Upon entering, Shi Qi noticed heavy, sturdy chains placed inside.

She asked Shang Sui and learned that not long after that night six years ago, he had specially ordered custom alloy chains. Even though he didn't live here anymore, as if to make up for past mistakes, he left these unbreakable shackles in the house.

"So..." Remembering how he had locked himself in the Art Studio during his Sensitivity Period, Shi Qi finally realized. "All these years you've used chains to trap yourself... was it because of me?"

Shang Sui immediately denied it. "Just my habit. Has nothing to do with you."

Even if he had once believed he'd done something wrong during his Sensitivity Period that caused Shi Qi to leave, ultimately using the chains was his own choice. He couldn't shift the responsibility onto Shi Qi.

"Really, I wanted it this way myself." Seeing her keep her eyes lowered, seeming in low spirits, Shang Sui tried to comfort her. "Besides, I discussed it with Shen Qianyu. We'll use other methods to get through my Sensitivity Period in the future, won't need them anymore."

Shi Qi suddenly looked up. "Were you very afraid?"

"......"

Not waiting for Shang Sui to speak, Shi Qi walked over to the dark, heavy chain.

She reached out, grabbed the chain, and under Shang Sui's astonished gaze, decisively fastened the shackle around her own ankle:

"Then there's no need to be afraid. I won't leave you."

Shang Sui opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end looked at her with an inscrutable expression.

Shi Qi watched him walk toward her step by step. They had only turned on a small lamp when entering the guest room. The Alpha's tall figure almost blotted out all the light source, his always-smiling eyes sweeping inch by inch over Shi Qi's face.

His previously steady Pheromone spilled out of control. Shang Sui's gaze was dark and burning, like a flame smoldering in the depths.

Seeing him on the verge of losing control, Shi Qi actually felt a vague sense of pleasure rise in her heart.

"There's another one," Shi Qi said. "You fasten it yourself."

Shang Sui took the shackle and half-knelt before her.

The shackles he had once loathed were now imbued with an entirely different meaning. He lifted his eyes; Shi Qi was watching him intently.

He grasped Shi Qi's slender ankle; she cooperated, lifting her leg with his force.

Shang Sui paused his movement and suddenly said, "You seem too good to me."

"Alphas are all very good at pushing their luck. Even among them, I'm very greedy. If you always indulge me like this..." he said, half-serious, half-joking, "...maybe one day I'll completely lose control in front of you."

Perhaps because of his personality, or perhaps because Shi Qi was a treasure he'd lost and regained, even he could feel that his feelings for her were mixed with an abnormal obsession, intense and uncontrollable.

"Then try." Shi Qi said flatly. "Try and see if I can manage you."

The wrist that had been loosely circling her ankle suddenly tightened. Shi Qi raised an eyebrow slightly.

Gone mad?

Click—

The shackle was fastened around Shi Qi's left ankle as well.

The specially-made alloy chain was heavier than imagined, almost like being nailed in place. Before she could adjust, someone shoved her hard.

She was forced onto the bed. The impact was so strong her chained legs kicked briefly in the air. The Alpha's mountainous weight pressed down on her simultaneously. Shang Sui used his knee to pry her legs apart, looking down at her from above.

Shi Qi couldn't help but curve her eyes into a smile.

She reached out, her fingers tracing from his high brow bone down his nose bridge, then lightly touching the teardrop mole at the corner of Shang Sui's eye.

As if what she faced was not an Alpha whose Pheromone was on the verge of exploding, whose expression hovered at the edge of madness, but a toy she could manipulate at will.

"You're doing this on purpose?" Shang Sui saw she actually had the leisure to touch him and didn't know whether to count it as provocation or a death-defying seduction.

He licked his teeth, almost wanting to fuck Shi Qi to death right there on the bed. "What good does driving me crazy do for you?"

Shi Qi instead showed a look of novelty.

So a single casual word or action from her could easily make Shang Sui lose his reason.

The Alpha she liked, liked her this much.

"Don't know," Shi Qi said cheerfully, telling the truth. "I just think it's interesting."

……

……

"Remembered?" Seeing her expression, Shang Sui stopped deliberately scaring her and instead gestured to the shackles on her feet. "Shall I take them off for you?"

The nape of Shi Qi's neck grew faintly warm. Another person's Pheromone lingered inside her body, giving off a cloyingly sweet scent.

Last night Shang Sui had given her a Temporary Mark, ending her Heat Phase.

Marking between an A and O could connect their bodies. Through the mark, she seemed able to sense a bit of the Alpha's emotions too.

Shang Sui seemed to really like seeing her trapped, reluctant to remove them.

Shi Qi simply went along with him. "Not for now."

Probably because it was their first time, Shang Sui had been very attentive to her feelings throughout.

Except for that night when he was pushed to lose control, Shang Sui had done his best to serve her, to satisfy and please her.

Since he liked her being locked up, she'd wait a little longer.

Consider it a reward for Shang Sui's good performance.

Hearing her answer, Shang Sui's eyes flickered. "Then shall I apply the medicine for you?"

Shi Qi nodded, propping herself up to sit half-upright among the pillows, then bent her knees to make it easier for the other person to get onto the bed.

Shang Sui used a Solid Gelatin Drug on her, which would slowly melt with body heat.

During the application, the cool sensation made Shi Qi struggle slightly. The chains on her feet rustled softly with her movements.

Shi Qi frowned slightly, showing some resistance to the medicine.

"Uncomfortable." The mark on her body made her instinctively feel dependent on Shang Sui, and she made a willful demand. "Kiss me."

The Alpha obediently leaned over, lowering his head to take her lips.

Shi Qi couldn't help but reach out her arms, about to wrap them around his shoulders, only then noticing that her arms also bore lingering marks like peach blossoms.

Just how many kiss marks had Shang Sui left on her?

But soon, Shi Qi had no time to think further.

The soft, yielding sensation in her mouth made her whole body go limp. Shang Sui hooked her into the kiss, his agile fingers sliding up her spine, expertly finding the spot most comfortable for Shi Qi, stroking slowly.

Shi Qi relaxed unconsciously as the medicine gradually melted.

She mumbled drowsily, "So much water."

Sticky. Didn't like it.

Shang Sui chuckled, implying something. "This isn't much at all now."

Last night, toward the end, Shi Qi had been incoherent, babbling that she wanted to eat honey.

Even though she couldn't swallow anything down, she'd clung to him demanding food, like some seductive spirit that would only appear in a certain kind of erotic dream.

Seeing her look of confusion, Shang Sui lightly licked the Omega's full lips. "You were like a little fountain last night."

Shi Qi was baffled. "I wasn't on any medicine last night."

Shang Sui couldn't stop laughing, the corners of his eyes and brows seeming tinged with springtime color.

Shi Qi stared at him blankly, as if mesmerized, the scent of Lily of the Valley spilling out uncontrollably.

After a long moment, Shi Qi suddenly felt something was off.

Her brain, addled by his beauty, turned slowly, realizing that Shang Sui laughing so beautifully was actually making a dirty joke at her expense. Shi Qi pushed him angrily. "What kind of filthy stuff is in your head!"

Shang Sui didn't resist, letting himself fall back.

The belt of his sleeping robe was tied loosely and soon came undone. Shi Qi then noticed he had quite a few scratch marks on him, extending from his broad shoulders all the way down to his taut abdomen.

A few seemed to have broken the skin.

Shi Qi looked several times, feeling somewhat guilty.

Noticing her gaze, Shang Sui immediately seized the opportunity. "Xiao Qi is so rough, you hurt me."

Even though she understood he was most likely feigning weakness, Shi Qi still said, "Then I'll apply medicine for you too? Is there something for scratches?"

"No need," Shang Sui said. "You just kiss them all better and they won't hurt."

Shi Qi gave him an indescribable look, her lips moving slightly. Shang Sui guessed she probably wanted to ask if he was sick.

But in the end, Shi Qi said nothing.

Such a good child.

Thinking this, Shang Sui's gaze shifted, his attention unconsciously drawn to the shackles on Shi Qi's legs.

He reached out and tugged on them, commenting cheerfully, "Kitty leash."

"……" Psycho.

She ignored him, but Shang Sui got into it, using the chain to loop around her leg, then lightly drawing circles on the skin of her calf. "Kitty baby, what kind of leash do you like? How about red next time? It'll look good against your skin tone."

Shang Sui's tone was sticky-sweet, reminding Shi Qi of the comments under her social media accounts.

Before she was in a relationship, most fans called her 'baby' this and 'baby' that, occasionally asking what color sack she preferred.

"Depends on my mood," Shi Qi said. "If you can make me happy next time, then it's up to you."

Shi Qi added, "If it weren't you, I wouldn't want to be trapped by something like this."

Shang Sui's fingers stilled. He looked up at her.

The previous morbid intensity faded, as if pierced by Shi Qi's casually spoken words. Shang Sui's eyes grew moist. "Xiao Qi..."

Shang Sui's emotions had been exceptionally abundant since early morning, capable of performing a one-man play all by himself.

Shi Qi really couldn't deal with him anymore and lay back. "I want to sleep a little more."

She lifted her leg and lightly hooked the Alpha's shoulder, both like a coquettish gesture and a command. "Come up, sleep with me."

Shang Sui obediently agreed.

His hair wasn't completely dry yet. Unlike Shi Qi, he didn't lie down fully but reclined beside her.

As if he knew exactly what Shi Qi liked, Shang Sui knowingly let out a trace of sweet, luxuriant Pheromone, then swept an arm around her and drew her whole body into his embrace.

Shi Qi nestled into his arms and suddenly thought of something. "Tell me, how are Shen Qianyu and Jiang Yan doing now?"

Shen Qianyu had helped with such a big favor. Shi Qi couldn't help murmuring, "Wonder if they've made up."

"You're quite concerned." Shang Sui smiled. "Sleep first. When you wake up I'll go ask."

Shi Qi nodded, burying her head in his chest, listening to his steady, strong heartbeat.

Shang Sui patted her back intermittently, gently lulling Shi Qi to sleep.

His attention had been entirely on Shi Qi before, he hadn't had time to worry about other people's affairs.

Thinking about it now, Shi Qi had sent Jiang Yan Shen Qianyu's address five days ago. That night happened to be a thunderstorm.

One has to say.

Shi Qi really did send Shen Qianyu a huge gift.

-

A deafening clap of thunder tore through the silence, the indoor scene briefly turning black and white.

Shen Qianyu tried to pour himself a drink but saw no movement for a long moment. Belatedly, he realized the bottle beside his hand was empty.

He rubbed his temples and only then saw several empty whiskey bottles lined up on the table.

He rarely drank to excess. These past days, having cut off contact with Jiang Yan, he'd had no choice but to numb his nerves with alcohol.

Perhaps because of the detestable thunderstorm outside, or perhaps because his mood had sunk to its lowest point, memories buried deep in his mind surfaced uncontrollably.

Eight years ago, he and his mother were traveling in Haicheng. While descending the mountain, they were suddenly caught in a downpour. Someone proactively pulled their car over to the roadside.

The car owner was a middle-aged man with a scholarly appearance, seeming like a Beta. His speech and demeanor exuded a strange affinity, easily gaining others' trust.

Shen Qianyu later learned that man was the perpetrator of the Haicheng Serial Killings.

That bizarre affinity was the result of Mind Manipulation.

Normally he wouldn't easily trust strangers, but that day, he had muddle-headedly gotten into the car with his mother.

When he woke again, he was bound hand and foot with hemp rope, locked in a basement, his mother unconscious beside him. He faintly heard the roar of thunder outside.

He seemed to have been injected with some sedative drug, his mind not entirely clear. He could only see a dim yellow light not far away and two figures confronting each other.

"Choose one of the two. Just chop off any one of their fingers, and I'll let them live one more day."

The voice speaking sounded somewhat familiar. Shen Qianyu realized it was the car owner who had given them a ride.

Unlike the gentle, refined manner he had worn before, his tone now surged with agitation and excitement. Catching the Pheromone on the verge of exploding, Shen Qianyu finally realized the other man was an Alpha disguised as a Beta.

"A full ten fingers. This mother and son can live ten more days. How about it? A good deal, right!"

The other figure seemed to be a youth. Shen Qianyu heard him constantly refusing, but was pressed step by step. The Alpha grabbed his shoulders and coaxed persuasively:

"You're their great benefactor, helping extend their lives. They'll thank you even in death!"

The Alpha's Pheromone was overbearing, carrying the stench of rotting flesh tinged with blood. Even at a certain distance, it made the skin crawl with cold.

Crushed under the pressure of the Pheromone, the boy finally broke down and cried, ‘Don't touch them. Chop off my hand instead!’

"As a fellow Alpha, I won't harm you." The Alpha paused briefly. "But if you're unwilling, I can only kill them."

The youth's voice trembled. "...No, you can't!!"

"Shall we ask their opinion?" The Alpha said with a laugh. "Would they prefer to have a finger chopped off, or just die like this?"

Seeing him silent, the Alpha suddenly raised his voice, cold and fanatical. "Ask them! Young master, not everyone is as high and mighty as you, born with the right to decide others' life and death!"

"As the ones being slaughtered, they've always had no choice before."

Shen Qianyu vaguely sensed someone approaching step by step, splashing bone-chilling cold water on his face.

He was forced awake, barely able to make out the surrounding scene.

He heard the Alpha finish the second half of his sentence. "Of course, we can occasionally listen to what these guys are thinking."

Someone grabbed him by the hair. The Alpha treated him like livestock, without a shred of pity, his demonic eyes sweeping over Shen Qianyu's face. "Kid, what's your choice?"

More than speaking to him, the Alpha seemed to be pressuring the other person.

Not far away, the boy had gone pale under the suppression of the Pheromone. He knelt on the ground, a thread of blood at the corner of his mouth.

Their eyes met. In the youth's eyes, Shen Qianyu saw suppressed fury and despair on the verge of explosion.

That was his first time seeing Shang Sui.

……

……

Ding-dong, ding-dong—

Someone was pressing the doorbell outside, knocking on the door while shouting:

"Shang Sui? Shang Sui, are you in there?"

Getting no response after a long while, and unable to get through on the phone, Jiang Yan finally said angrily, "How come this guy isn't answering his phone? So rude!"

He grumbled furiously. The door was abruptly pulled open from inside.

Jiang Yan said joyfully, "You finally opened—"

Seeing clearly who it was, his expression froze.

Jiang Yan and Shen Qianyu stared at each other for a moment, feeling goosebumps rise all over his body.

Before he could step back, his arm was seized in a tight grip.

Shen Qianyu's Pheromone was mixed with the heavy smell of alcohol, and the cool, restrained scent of guaiac wood carried a fanatic fervor on the verge of losing control.

Lightning tore through the night sky in the darkness, thunder rumbling incessantly.

Shen Qianyu stared at him unblinkingly, then suddenly smiled.

To deliver himself right to the doorstep on this detested thunderstorm night...

Truly a huge gift.

Jiang Yan, his wrist seized, unable to escape, could only greet him stiffly:

"Uh, good evening?"