Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Shi Jian’s eyes were bloodshot, his legs dangling without purchase, his hands desperately clawing at Yu Chen’s wrists. His breathing grew erratic, his vision flickering in and out of darkness. The pheromones, uncontrollably released under rank suppression, wavered as unstably as he did.

He could barely breathe…

In the suffocating haze, Shi Jian saw the culprit smirk, chin tilted, a malicious glint in his eyes as he taunted, “Even a cat I caught would thrash harder than you. And you—tsk, what’s the point of struggling, you defective product? Let’s just say… you really have no grasp of your place. Seems I need to teach you that, in the face of absolute pheromone rank suppression, no matter how noble your status, you’ll still submit to me, body and soul.”

“In… your… *cough*… dreams…”

Xu Bai’s expression shifted. “Yu Chen, you—”

A slightly overweight Alpha suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention. “Even if you’re an A+ Alpha, you can’t treat someone who’s done nothing to you like this! He’s our classmate!”

Yu Chen turned, narrowing his eyes at the speaker. Shi Jian reacted a beat slower, straining to shift his gaze.

His friend paled in horror, yanking him back and whispering urgently, “Are you insane?! That’s the Crown Prince of the First Military Zone! Look around—who else dares speak up?!”

Yu Chen had made his entrance with such dominance that most had wisely slipped away. Only six or seven Alphas remained, yet none dared stand up for Shi Jian, turning a blind eye to what was happening. When Yu Chen’s gaze swept over the outspoken Alpha, they even took several steps back in unison, afraid of being implicated.

“Done nothing to me? If you don’t understand, don’t play the hero. You’re not me—how would you know if we have a grudge or not?” Yu Chen sneered, shoving Shi Jian aside and crossing his arms, relishing the sight of his humiliation. “Since we were kids… but never mind. A C-level Alpha like you, with no pedigree, no looks, and no skills—still trying to be a hero? Hahaha, more like a joke~”

“You—mmph—!”

“Nothing’s going on, nothing! We’re done here, we’ll leave right now! Won’t disturb you, Yu Chen!”

His friend forcibly clamped a hand over his mouth, dragging him away while bowing and scraping.

Yu Chen watched them leave with a predatory gleam in his eyes, as if he’d expected this outcome all along.

He then swept a glance over the remaining onlookers, his tone light but his words chilling. The others paled, casting pitying looks at the unfortunate Alpha who’d spoken up.

“Shi Jian and I go way back. Today’s just a little reunion, and I’ll be looking after him from now on. I trust no one has any objections?” Yu Chen turned his head, blowing dust off his shoulder as casually as if discussing the weather.

No one dared argue. They laughed awkwardly, hastily pulling on their clothes and scurrying away.

The vast bathhouse was now empty except for Yu Chen, Xu Bai, and Shi Jian. With no need for restraint, Yu Chen finally unleashed his A+ Alpha pheromones. Xu Bai couldn’t stop him, sighing inwardly—this pampered young master was in for a world of pain.

Shi Jian sat weakly in the cold water, his fingers pale and wrinkled, his pink lips drained of color, teeth chattering from the cold.

No… Get up.

Don’t lie there like a drowned rat.

Shi Jian forced himself to stand, each breath rasping through his bruised throat like sandpaper.

Before he could recover from the near-suffocation, a wave of smoldering timber pheromones crashed over him, explosive as wildfire. Shi Jian, who had been shivering from the cold, now burned as if feverish. His soaked clothes clung to his skin, revealing the flushed redness beneath.

The heat seemed to sear him from the inside out, his boiling blood surging until it gathered at his atrophied scent gland at the nape of his neck. The pain exploded in his skull, making him wish Yu Chen had just choked him to death earlier.

Shi Jian mustered every ounce of strength to endure the gnawing agony, but he could barely stay upright for more than a few seconds before collapsing back into the water, his body boneless under the rank suppression.

Yu Chen slid his hands into his pockets, looking down at the boy’s futile struggles with delight, his laughter echoing through the bathhouse.

Slowly, Shi Jian clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms until faint pink blood seeped out. He lifted his head from the cold water, his wet hair plastered to his forehead, obscuring his starlit eyes—but not the naked hatred and fury burning through them, directed squarely at the red-haired Alpha before him.

Every time Shi Jian nearly managed to stand, Yu Chen would maliciously release another wave of overpowering pheromones, hammering the struggling boy wave after wave, forcing him to flounder like driftwood. His aqua-blue hair clung to his face and back, floating like seaweed.

Xu Bai stared, stunned.

Shi Jian kept trying, only to fail and collapse back into the cold water each time, like a storm-tossed butterfly with rain-soaked wings, dying in the mud. He saw the dark red stains spreading on Shi Jian’s jeans from his bleeding knees, his scraped palms tingeing the water pink. The boy’s fair face was flushed unnaturally from the pheromones, his slender neck marred by a purpling bruise.

If it were anyone else, Xu Bai would’ve remained indifferent. But Shi Jian’s face was too beautiful, his waist too slender, his body still unfinished and boyish. Amidst the humiliation and pity, Xu Bai felt something else stir within him—something illicit.

He closed his eyes, blowing out a harsh breath. When he opened them again, his gaze burned with an inexplicable heat.

A sudden itch took hold of him—he wanted to experience Yu Chen’s perspective, to look down on the brought-low beauty from above. He even fantasized about being the one to reduce Shi Jian to this state.

Someone so beautiful, so noble… Who could resist dragging him down from his pedestal, forcing those innately seductive eyes to look up in submission? But as a mere lackey, Xu Bai could only vicariously indulge through Yu Chen, savoring the perverse thrill of tormenting such a fragile beauty.

“Cough… *cough*…”

Shi Jian finally gave up the futile struggle, leaning against the wall as he sat on the cold tiles, clawing at his last shreds of lucidity amidst the sea of scorching pheromones.

Xu Bai’s attention snapped back at the sound. He watched as Shi Jian weakly raised a hand, pointing at Yu Chen, and felt an inexplicable pang of disappointment.

“Me?” Yu Chen pointed at himself in feigned surprise, then crouched down with interest when Shi Jian didn’t retract the gesture. “What, finally learned your lesson? Ready to beg? Should’ve done this sooner—AHHHHHHH! FUCK—LET GO!!!”

A shriek that rattled the rafters burst out, but it couldn’t convey even a fraction of Yu Chen’s agony. Caught off guard, Shi Jian had lunged at him, clamping his jaws around the artery on his neck with terrifying force!

If not for Yu Chen’s quick reflex to block, the bite would’ve landed squarely on his carotid. Even so, Shi Jian’s fangs stabbed like daggers between Yu Chen’s right collarbones, blood flooding his mouth with a metallic tang that made him nauseous.

Yu Chen bellowed in agony, too afraid to provoke Shi Jian further lest the madman escalate. He could only keep releasing pheromones to suppress Shi Jian while snarling at Xu Bai, “Are you fucking blind?! Get him off me!!”

Xu Bai snapped out of his daze, murmuring an apology before wrapping his arms around Shi Jian’s willowy waist and yanking him away with brute strength.

Shi Jian fought like a cornered beast, his bloodshot eyes locked on Yu Chen, lips and teeth stained crimson. Against his bloodless pallor, he looked like a blood-drinking wraith, licking the droplets splattered near his eyes before curling his lips in disdain.

Yu Chen’s hands trembled with pain. Glancing at the wound, he saw his right collarbone shredded to ruin—only half a bite mark visible amidst the gore, deep enough to glimpse white bone. A chunk of flesh dangled precariously, nearly torn off entirely.

He had no doubt that, had Xu Bai not intervened, Shi Jian would’ve bitten through his own teeth just to rip that flesh free.

A cold sweat dripped down Yu Chen’s back at the sheer ferocity of the retaliation. Any other E-level Alpha would’ve long surrendered under such pheromone suppression—yet Shi Jian clung to his pride, he would rather break than bend.

For the first time, Yu Chen found himself thwarted by a defective he’d normally dismiss. As the only son of Yu Wei, he’d grown up getting everything he wanted. No matter how high someone’s status or genetic rank, they’d all groveled before him. The peerless Yu Chen had never been thwarted so repeatedly by anyone.

Rage burned in him, but so did an overwhelming desire to conquer. He wanted to break this highborn brat who’d always looked down on him, to see just how far he could push him.

Yu Chen’s excitement surged. He tore off the mangled flesh, tossing it aside with a pained hiss, yet grinning wildly at Shi Jian. “Your father shouldn’t have sent you to military school—shouldn’t have let you fall into my hands. You’re finished!”

Shi Jian spat a mouthful of blood onto Yu Chen’s face, his arctic-blue eyes icy, bloodstained lips parting like frost-kissed roses. “One day, I’ll make you kneel and beg to be my dog.”

Yu Chen scoffed. “With a face like yours, no wonder your delusions are so pretty.”

Before he could continue, a metronome-flat voice cut through the tension, drawing all three pairs of eyes.

Backlit by the light, a tall figure strode in.

Gu Shiyun, clad in a tailored black uniform and military boots, stopped before Yu Chen. Without looking up, he wrote a line in his disciplinary notebook, reciting robotically, “School Regulation 3, Clause 4: Students who gather to inflict unilateral harm or bullying via violence, pheromone suppression, or other means shall, for first-time offenses, receive a grade-wide reprimand, disqualification from all annual awards, and 24 hours of solitary confinement for reflection—”

As Yu Chen’s face twisted in a “Do you know who my father is?” glare, Gu Shiyun finally condescended to meet his gaze—his expression turning glacial. “Per regulations, I will report this violation to the academic office. Your immediate task is to proceed to confinement to serve the first penalty.”

Yu Chen scoffed. “The hell you think you are to order me around?!”

Xu Bai grabbed him and whispered, “Look at his shoulder insignia. He’s a second-year student, and the nameplate says Disciplinary Department Head. Not someone you want to cross.”

Upon hearing the words “Disciplinary Department,” Yu Chen knew he was up against it, so he changed his approach, arguing, “When did I gather a crowd?”

Gu Shiyun glanced at Xu Bai.

Xu Bai guiltily averted his gaze.

“…” Well, that did technically count as being an accomplice.

Yu Chen swallowed his anger and pointed at Shi Jian, who had been left weak and exhausted, then back at his own nasty wound. “This wasn’t a one-sided fight—both sides fought.”

Gu Shiyun looked at Shi Jian again.

The skinny kid was curled up in the corner, soaked and trembling, his chest rising faintly with shallow breaths. Sensing their gazes, he wearily lifted his eyelids and looked weakly at Gu Shiyun, cold water trickling down his pale, porcelain-like face.

Gu Shiyun: “He was defending himself.”