Chapter 56 Safe Return to School

Chapter 56: A Safe Return to Campus

If he'd had a choice, Ji Anzhi wouldn't have gone through the black market, but taking a detour through the suburbs was too conspicuous, and the slums were a maze. The black market exit he knew was on the other side, so he had no choice but to cross through it to get out.

The black market had more foot traffic at night than during the day. Ji Anzhi avoided the busiest main streets, opting instead for those with moderate traffic.

At one point, someone tried to rob him. Ji Anzhi didn't hold back, firing an energy shot directly. The would-be robber dropped, critically injured and out of the fight. Without any sentimental nonsense to spare for what happened to him afterward, Ji Anzhi stepped over him and continued on his way.

Of course, he still managed to purchase all the supplies he needed in the process. Having suffered so much, it would have been a complete waste if he hadn't even gotten the things he came for.

Fortunately, from then until he left the black market, Ji Anzhi didn't see any sign of his earlier tail. Safely boarding a hovercar, he quietly let out a sigh of relief. Feeling drowsiness creeping in again, he took out and swallowed another stimulant pill.

Since the other party hadn't continued the pursuit, their target was clearly not a woman, but a man.

When he arrived at the port, it was only 04:54. Ji Anzhi had to first purchase a ticket back to the Military Academy Star on the internal network. He rushed to a restroom, took off his hood and stored it back in his Space Bracelet, put on a petite hat and the pearl earrings left by his sister, and applied lipstick to cover his pale lips. Though not as stunning as Jian Fuxu, there was no way he could be mistaken for a boy—everyone would see a refined, aloof young woman.

Dressed like this, even Andrew might not recognize him.

Returning to the waiting area, Ji Anzhi sat down casually, bearing the two-hour wait.

At seven o'clock, Ji Anzhi boarded the starship bound for the Military Academy Star. There were only a handful of people on board, but every single one of them was a student of the First Military Academy, as these tickets could only be purchased on the academy's internal network.

Ji Anzhi could feel the probing gazes of those alphas. Without guessing, he knew it was the lingering scent of blood and the stench of death on him that had caught their attention. An alpha's nose was quite sharp.

Disguising himself as an aloof beta girl, Ji Anzhi sat alone in a secluded spot and sent a message to Chi Yan.

"Ji Anzhi: Are you there?"

A reply came a few minutes later.

"Chi Yan: What's up, Chief Ji?"

"Ji Anzhi: Where are you right now?"

"Chi Yan: In the academy dorm, just woke up"

"Ji Anzhi: Can I come to your dorm?"

"Chi Yan: Sure!"

"Chi Yan: Where are you, Chief Ji? I'll come pick you up! Betas can't enter the Omega dormitory area without an omega escort"

"Ji Anzhi: At the port, but I haven't arrived yet"

"Chi Yan: No problem! I'll be right there"

So when Ji Anzhi disembarked and entered the port exit, he immediately spotted that familiar little head glancing around, with Xiao Bai draped around his neck.

Chi Yan was diligently searching for Chief Ji's form, but unfortunately couldn't find him. His eyes automatically skipped over anyone who didn't look remotely like Ji Anzhi, so naturally, he didn't notice the girl in black walking towards him.

It wasn't until the other person stopped right in front of him that Chi Yan reacted, taking a step back fearfully, trembling but still politely asking, "Excuse me... is there something you need?"

Chi Yan heard a hoarse, weak voice, interrupted by a few coughs of discomfort. Chi Yan keenly detected the scent of blood and an indescribable odor...

This person seemed very familiar, but the voice was too rough to place, and the person before him was clearly a girl, so he didn't make the connection.

"I am Ji Anzhi."

These words shocked Chi Yan. He looked carefully at the girl standing before him, who was over ten centimeters taller than him. Even with the name, it took Chi Yan several stunned glances to connect the girl in front of him with Chief Ji.

Flustered, Chi Yan's volume suddenly rose several notches: "Ji... mmm!"

Chi Yan had only uttered the first word when Ji Anzhi stepped forward and covered his mouth, placing a finger before his own red lips, signaling Chi Yan to keep quiet.

Chi Yan could sense that Chief Ji was clearly not right—the smell of blood and that inexplicable foul odor, coupled with Chief Ji's hoarse, weak voice and the obviously unusual attire—something must have happened.

Chi Yan glanced at the people nearby; several had noticed them. Lowering his voice, Chi Yan asked, "Get in the car first?"

Ji Anzhi didn't speak, just nodded.

Chi Yan supported Ji Anzhi as they left the exit, heading to the roadside to hail a cab. Most students didn't choose to return on the last day, so automatic hovercars weren't in short supply around the port.

Once in the car, seeing that Ji Anzhi showed no intention of speaking, Chi Yan had to suppress his curiosity and worry. Arriving at his dorm, Chi Yan didn't have Chief Ji register via gene scan but did a manual registration instead. He put a monitoring bracelet on Chief Ji. If the wearer harbored malicious intent, the bracelet would instantly release the maximum electric current the body could withstand.

The omega sharing the dorm with Chi Yan, seeing him bring back a beta girl, couldn't hide his confusion and said, "Yanyan, is this your friend?"

Chi Yan nodded guiltily, his gaze somewhat evasive. As he led Chief Ji upstairs, he forced a smile and said, "We have something to discuss. I'll head upstairs to my room first, sorry."

Although the omega felt something was off, Chi Yan rarely brought a friend back to hang out. Assuming Chi Yan was worried he might mind, the omega said cheerfully, "No problem! My sister is going to call me later. You go on up, have fun!"

Touched, Chi Yan replied gently, "Hope your chat goes well," and supported Ji Anzhi as they slowly climbed the stairs. He could feel Chief Ji's steps becoming increasingly unsteady.

Back in the room, as soon as Chi Yan closed the door, Ji Anzhi could no longer hold on and collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily yet abnormally weak.

Chi Yan panicked instantly, quickly asking Chief Ji what was wrong. Ji Anzhi had already used three highly stimulating drugs earlier and couldn't use a fourth dose—a fourth would absolutely wreck his body.

Ji Anzhi only said he had used three high-dose, high-efficiency stimulants and had lost about 300cc of blood, asking Chi Yan for help.

Chi Yan didn't press for details on why Chief Ji was in this state. He hurriedly helped Chief Ji to the treatment pod, removed his clothes, accessories, and wig, even wiping off the lipstick, had Chief Ji lie down inside, closed the pod, injected the therapeutic nutrient solution, and activated the decomposition mode.

Decomposition mode could break down and absorb drug components in the blood. However, toward the end, Chi Yan discovered that one type of drug component was abnormal. This type of component was considered a prohibited drug even in the military academy, strictly controlled. The slightest mishap could cause death. More importantly, this drug couldn't be artificially expelled from the body; even the treatment pod couldn't decompose it. It could only wait for the body to metabolize it on its own. Given the concentration in Chief Ji's body, it would take at least three years, not to mention the high risk of symptoms like heart failure or asthma during that period. It could only treat the symptoms, not the root cause.

Even as a medical student at the military academy, one could only apply for it for research purposes. Why did Chief Ji have this drug component in his body?

Chi Yan lowered his gaze, deciding to set aside this component for now and restore Chief Ji's other indicators to normal.

So Chi Yan busied himself outside the treatment pod while Ji Anzhi slept inside. It wasn't until past 2 p.m. that Chi Yan finally resolved about ninety percent of the issues with Chief Ji's condition.

The remaining ten percent consisted of two problems: the prohibited drug component and the blood loss.

Treatment pods generally couldn't be forcibly opened; they could only be opened after the patient inside woke up. So Chi Yan watched Chief Ji quietly through the glass window.

Chief Ji's face looked much more haggard than when they parted at the end of the term. His hair, some strands long, some short, drifted scattered in the nutrient solution. Upon closer inspection, one could even see dirt and dark brown clots in it...

Chi Yan didn't dare imagine what Chief Ji had gone through to end up in such a terrible state. And that strange smell on Chief Ji at the port—Chi Yan suddenly remembered the source of that smell. It was the unique odor of corpses, something he had smelled before.

Chi Yan crouched on the floor, tears soaking his clothes.

...

It wasn't until 8 p.m. that Ji Anzhi gradually woke up. Chi Yan, who had been guarding the treatment pod, noticed and waited for the pod to process and drain the therapeutic and nutrient fluids before immediately opening it. He helped Chief Ji up and onto the wheelchair he had prepared.

Ji Anzhi had barely spoken all day, his throat dry and painful. Anticipating this, Chi Yan, before even speaking, brought over a cup of warm sugar water to soothe and moisten Chief Ji's throat.

Ji Anzhi didn't refuse. After drinking it, his throat felt much more comfortable. He took the initiative to thank him: "Xiao Yan, I've troubled you."

Chi Yan quickly replied, "No, no! Not at all, not at all!"

After saying that, Chi Yan cautiously probed, "Chief Ji, you... what exactly happened to you today? If it's inconvenient to talk about, it's okay!"

Chi Yan quickly added the last sentence, afraid of making things awkward for Chief Ji. Ji Anzhi could understand Chi Yan's thoughts—anyone in this situation would be curious.

Ji Anzhi told a half-truth: "Yesterday, someone was tracking me, probably people from my family. I didn’t want to go back with them, so I hid among a pile of corpses. To avoid being detected, I took something..."

Before Chief Ji could finish, Chi Yan was heartbroken. Hiding among a pile of corpses... To avoid detection by keen-sensed alphas, he'd have to make himself seem like a real corpse. Even maintaining that state for just an hour would cause immense pain and damage to the body. Even if he could make a full recovery, Chi Yan still felt deeply distressed for Chief Ji.

Chi Yan asked, his voice trembling, "So... Chief Ji, you took the banned drug?"

From the moment Ji Anzhi sent the message to Chi Yan, he had no intention of hiding this fact and nodded frankly.

Ji Anzhi expected Chi Yan to fret and scold him for taking the banned drug, or question why he didn’t seek help from others and resorted to such a dangerous method.

But Chi Yan said nothing, simply lowering his head quietly. But the tears falling on his hand revealed he wasn't as calm as he looked.

Ji Anzhi might have said that his experiences over the years had made him quite adept at the art of language. Yet, faced with an omega crying because of him, he was left speechless, unsure of what to say.

In the silence, Chi Yan was the first to stop crying. He turned away from Chief Ji to wipe his tears, not wanting Chief Ji to see his messed-up state or be forced to recall the ordeal.

Instead, Chi Yan hugged Chief Ji, clumsily comforting him: "It’s okay, it’s all over. I’ll make sure you get proper treatment, don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone, I promise, absolutely not, absolutely not..."

The last two sentences were not just for Chief Ji but also for himself, a reminder to remember.

Ji Anzhi hugged Chi Yan back. Messaging Chi Yan showed he still trusted him, at least somewhat. Some things couldn’t be shared with Chi Yan. If anything happened to him, the information Chi Yan knew would inevitably bring trouble to Chi Yan.

After the day’s ordeal, Chi Yan was worn out. In the end, he dozed off in Chief Ji's arms. Ji Anzhi only realized it when Chi Yan’s breathing evened out into the deep rhythm of sleep.

Since he couldn't stay the night, Ji Anzhi didn’t wake Chi Yan. He gently placed him on the bed, covered him with a blanket, then put on his dress and high heels, donned the wig and hat, adjusted the voice changer, and left Chi Yan’s room.

Chi Yan’s roommate was eating in the living room, curious about why Chi Yan hadn’t come down yet. He had even prepared meals for Chi Yan and his friend, going so far as to cook personally to welcome them and give them a surprise.

Seeing the beta girl Chi Yan had brought back come downstairs, the roommate noticed the two untouched meals. A cool female voice volunteered: "Chi Yan was quite excited today and got tired from playing. He’s sleeping now. He didn’t mean to skip dinner, sorry."

The omega hadn’t expected Chi Yan to have such a wild time that he’d be asleep by 8:30 p.m., but he understood. Sometimes when he brought friends over, they’d also play wildly. If not for the military academy’s rule against overnight stays, they could have partied all night!

The omega comforted Ji Anzhi and reminded him of the curfew, urging him to return quickly to avoid being caught by the discipline office.

After thanking him, Ji Anzhi took a hovercar. Before returning to his dorm, he went to the teaching building and changed out of his clothes in the restroom, putting on his casual wear and a hat to cover his messy, unkempt hairstyle. Only then did he dare to take a hovercar back to his dorm.

Back at the dorm, Ji Anzhi could tell from the lights that all three of his roommates were in their rooms. Relieved, he hurried upstairs to his own room.

Upon entering, Xiaoxue, encountering her caretaker returning after a night away for the first time, pounced on him the moment the door opened, whining loudly.

Worried about disturbing his roommates or revealing anything, Ji Anzhi quickly brought Xiaoxue inside to calm her down.

As it turned out, Ji Anzhi’s concern was justified. The second after he closed the door, Qi Yanshen from the next room opened his door and glanced down the hallway—he thought he’d heard Xiaoxue’s cries.

The military academy dorms had good soundproofing, but an S-rank alpha could still pick up some noise in a quiet environment if they listened carefully.

After Ji Anzhi left yesterday, Qi Yanshen hadn’t seen him all day and assumed he was out having fun. But today, when he messaged Ji Anzhi and received no reply, Qi Yanshen immediately sensed something was wrong.

Since they were just roommates, Qi Yanshen had no right to interfere with his private life. He planned to report to the military academy and his mother if Ji Anzhi still hadn’t appeared by the start of classes tomorrow, so they could search for him together.

From the recent noise and the information from the smart lock at Ji Anzhi’s door, Qi Yanshen knew Ji Anzhi had returned. He decided not to disturb him and planned to ask tomorrow.

But why was there a strange smell in the hallway?