Chapter 68

Chapter 68

Bai Sheng is the kind of alpha who loves to mock people and gives off an intense, oppressive vibe.

He let out a sneer and leaned in. As those words landed, the few young guys who had been trying to pull Xie Yu away stiffened up instantly.

Among these minor troublemakers, there are both alphas and betas.

Their pheromone levels as alphas were very low, and they'd already been startled a second ago by Bai Jin's slightly unstable pheromones. They were talking tough, but they were clearly about to make a run for it, until Xie Yu stopped them right in their tracks.

As Bai Sheng approached, this top-tier alpha in his prime with rock-stable pheromones was even more overwhelming than Bai Jin.

The once-refreshing mint smell suddenly turned into a numbing agent that made it hard to breathe.

Xie Yu was slightly affected; he couldn't help frowning and shot a discreet glance at Bai Sheng.

This new dad, who hasn't even been a father for a year and is getting more and more obsessed with his kid, looked like he was about to blow his top.

"The night market patrol will be here soon," Bai Sheng said.

"It's just a joke," the guy with the phone shot back. "Even if the cops show up, they can't do anything to us."

The crowd around them became noisy. They were affected too, but not as badly as those near Bai Jin.

"Do you even know this is disorderly conduct?!"

"How can you be such lowlifes?"

"Even the kid knows better. You guys have wasted your lives."

Bai Sheng grabbed the imitation pheromone bombs, took a handful, and smacked them right into the face of the guy who'd thrown them.

A few sharp pops as the bombs burst.

Everyone went quiet for a second.

Even if it doesn't affect stabilized alphas and omegas, these imitation pheromones still mess with your senses at high concentrations.

The guy yelped, covered his eyes, and started gasping, then stumbled and fell to the ground. The phone in his hand clattered to the ground and bounced a few times, and on the screen, the video was still recording and a background app was running, with all kinds of vulgar comments scrolling by.

"You think that's funny?" Bai Sheng looked down at him, shadows darkening his face, his voice lazy. His expression was hard to make out, but his eyes reflected the distant lights, revealing a cold, disgusted stare. "You said it was a joke, so why aren't you laughing?"

Xie Yu's expression remains unchanged.

He'd expected it. In fact, he couldn't help but grin as he asked, "Bai San, you're too soft these days. Why didn't you just break his arm?"

The few guys Xie Yu was blocking shuddered and stared at the two in horror.

They honestly had no idea. In their minds, they'd just bought some prank stuff, livestreamed it for tips. How did they end up messing with the wrong people?

For attention-seeking streamers like them, more conflict means more views. They'd pick out eye-catching people and stick to them like a wad of chewed-up gum—not harmful, just disgusting. It always worked.

Until now, that is.

Bai Sheng heard Xie Yu and turned to look at him.

He looked back and saw the little cub in Bai Jin's arms, already leaning forward to see him.

Bai Sheng forced down his anger, then smiled, no trace of his earlier terrifying mood.

"There's a kid here. You might not care, but I do."

Bai Sheng let out a soft sigh.

Xie Yu sensed something and thought, This can't be good.

Then Bai Sheng dropped a bombshell.

"Sorry, but if Nono sees this, he'll have nightmares. He'll wake up scared and I'll have to hold him for ages to get him back to sleep."

Xie Yu: ...

I should've kept my mouth shut.

Xie Yu wanted to slap himself.

How many times has Bai Sheng shown off in front of him? When will he learn?!

"Move aside—move aside—"

The crowd parted as federal police officers in uniform pushed through. They paused for a moment at the scene, then quickly started asking questions.

In a place like this, causing trouble on this scale could get them a few days in lockup for disorderly conduct.

At least it'd be some kind of justice.

The officers thought as much, and couldn't help glancing at the little cub in Bai Jin's arms.

The tiny cub was all puffed up, wiping his uncle's hand, and describing in a baby voice what those jerks had done.

Is this kid even real? He's too adorable!

No wonder the dad is so pissed.

"He smashed those on my face too, so we're even—"

The officers handcuffed them and cut them off impatiently.

"You've got some nerve. When you threw it at the kid, did you call it even? You said it was just a harmless prank, so him throwing it back is the same. The only difference is he aimed at you, while you caused trouble in a public night market! This is about your disorderly conduct, got it?"

"Yeah!"

"That's right!"

Bai Liang adjusted his glasses, stepped forward, and pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket. He picked up the leftover imitation pheromone bombs.

"One more thing. I'm filing a complaint."

Bai Liang takes out a business card, hands it over, and says, "I'm a professor of genetics and biology at Sheng'ang University. I specialize in pheromones and sudden genetic diseases. I just ran some pheromone experiments. I analyzed these—the imitation pheromones aren't just synthetic compounds; they also contain a trace amount of drugs not meant for regular use, specifically targeting alphas. My brother is eighteen and still in an unstable differentiation period. The dosage is small, but I have reasonable grounds to suspect they were trying to mess with my brother's differentiation stability."

Bai Liang handed over the bombs. "Please have these tested. Most university labs are shut down right now, so you'll probably need to send them to the city lab."

That made things a lot more serious.

Federal law gives the strongest protection to kids under thirteen and to the stability period after an alpha or omega's differentiation at eighteen.

Just the title of a professor from Sheng'ang University is enough to freak people out, let alone what he just said.

Those thugs and punks, who had thought they’d only get a few days in jail, immediately looked over in panic.

They figured the whole thing was over—once they got out of the police station, it would all be fine.

But… was it really?

Bai Sheng didn’t even look their way, but it was clear a lot of things don’t end just because they say so.

“What? No, I didn’t—we just bought them normally, we had no idea what was inside, we never opened them—”

The police officer accepted Bai Liang’s business card, his expression turning serious. He said they’d be in touch with any results, and that they should take Bai Jin to the hospital for a pheromone check-up.

Then, the police led the terrified thugs away. Beyond the crowd, a shadowy figure also quietly slipped away.

Bai Sheng was texting. After sending it, he looked down at the little cub gazing up at him.

Bai Jin’s arm had been drenched by the warm water from the cub’s water bottle. Frowning, he wiped it with a handkerchief, then felt a hand pat his shoulder—Bai Liang had walked back.

Bai Liang asked musingly, “You been making enemies lately?”

Bai Jin let out a frustrated “Ha?” and looked up, a look that said “You sure you want to ask that?”

Bai Liang: …

Bai Liang laughed. “Haha, fair enough. I should’ve asked, ‘Which day haven’t you made enemies?’”

Bai Jin snorted, then watched as Bai Sheng handed the strawberry craft from the vendor to Xiaobai Nuo.

Looking at his dad, who had just gone out to “fight,” the little cub’s eyes sparkled. He instinctively hugged the strawberry craft and said loudly, “Dad, you’re so cool!”

Bai Jin: … Hey, when I fight, it’s 'No fighting, don't cause trouble,' but when Bai Sheng does it, it's 'So cool'?!

You little hypocrite!

Bai Sheng crouched down, pinched his little cub’s cheek, and after just finishing a message to Cen Liu, mimicked the cub’s tone: “Nono, be brave.”

Then he pinched a bit harder.

“But next time, stay behind the adults. If you don’t, you’ll make Dad think your uncle’s already a cripple.”

Bai Sheng glanced over as he said it.

Bai Jin: !

Hey!!!

“Little Goldfish!”

The little cub suddenly remembered, hugged the big strawberry craft tight, and ran back to grab the goldfish bag he’d dropped in his panic.

The clear plastic bag was filled with oxygen. The little red goldfish was sleek and pretty, swishing its tail, looking peaceful and unharmed.

The cub sighed with relief.

Then he said softly, “Sorry, Little Goldfish, Nono just dropped you on the ground.”

As the little cub stood up holding the goldfish bag, Bai Jin, now cleaned up and his pheromones calmed, stood right behind him.

Looking down, his usual teasing attitude was gone. The teenager frowned slightly, and tugged at his collar, looking both restless and annoyed.

“Why didn’t you hide far away?”

He had already pushed the little cub away.

Like before, when you encounter something strange or scary—why not just hide far away first?

Those things wouldn’t keep coming up to this little cub and watching him get all flustered—unlike him.

Xiaobai Nuo looked at his uncle, still holding a lot of things. He hesitated for a moment, but the honest cub told the truth:

“Because Uncle is a bad guy.”

What?

Bai Jin raised an eyebrow.

The little cub said earnestly: “Uncle is a really, really bad guy who eats anything, takes everything, loves to tease Nono, eats Nono’s rice cakes, suddenly lifts Nono up high, and pretends to be a big monster to scare Nono.”

Bai Jin: …

Bai Jin: … Wait, take a breath. The people around us are looking at me weirdly!

I just asked one question, and you just went on a straight-up rant about me?!

Enjoying yourself, huh? Not even a pause!

Bai Jin made a strange sound, a “Ha,” then gritted his teeth and laughed—this cub had really made him laugh despite himself.

He wanted to reach out and ruffle the little one’s hair.

But then, the little cub continued.

“Because Uncle is a big bad guy, so he has to stay a big bad guy forever, don’t let anyone bully him. Nono heard Grandma say that Uncle is fragile right now, and it’ll take a long time to get better.”

So forget the uncle from the dream. Uncle should just keep being a big bad guy. Nono doesn’t think that big bad guy Uncle is that annoying at all.

Author’s note:

Cub: Gets smoother as he goes.

Uncle: You sure are enjoying cursing me out, aren’t you? [Facepalm]