Chapter 20: How Can You Smell the Pheromones?

Chapter 20: How Can You Smell the Scent of Pheromones?

After the IV drip, Bai Yeye felt a bit better and barely managed to drink two bowls of porridge.

The military doctor was worried he would kick off the blanket again at night, so he warned, "Close the window before sleeping, and behave—don’t kick the blanket off."

Bai Yeye lay weakly on the bed: "We dogs have trouble keeping our lower half in check."

Another young soldier snickered, "I think you can’t control your upper half either—you eat like there’s no tomorrow."

Bai Yeye’s eyes flared with anger, but before he could snap, Shen Yu shooed the others out: "Go check on Gu Yuankai. I’ll look after him here."

"Don’t go! Don’t go!"

But they had already slipped away.

The military doctor gave a few more instructions before heading off to rest. Shen Yu stepped forward and picked up Bai Yeye.

"What’s the deal? Not letting me rest, huh?" Bai Yeye lay limp in his arms, his eyes unhappy. Those alphas must have learned from Shen Yu—always picking on his tiny appetite.

"I’m taking you to my room to rest." He needed to keep an eye on Bai Yeye tonight, and it wasn’t convenient to handle things here.

Bai Yeye was also afraid of having a relapse of fever tonight, so he grumbled but didn’t resist.

He thought Shen Yu would make him sleep on the couch, but instead, Shen Yu placed him on the bed.

The bed was rock hard, not even a soft mattress in sight. The spoiled YeYe couldn’t take it: "Your bed is too hard. I don’t want to sleep here."

Shen Yu had often slept on the ground during campaigns, so he didn’t find it uncomfortable.

"Just suck it up for one night."

"No! Go get the cushion from my bed! Come on, please!" Bai Yeye’s bed had a special cushion that Bai Ruoshui had prepared for him, afraid he wouldn’t sleep comfortably.

Shen Yu brought the pink cushion over and placed it on his black bed—it looked completely mismatched.

Bai Yeye flopped onto it contentedly, ready to sleep. Shen Yu covered his round body with the blanket.

"Hey, what body wash do you use? Your bed smells amazing." Bai Yeye liked the scent on Shen Yu’s sheets and buried his face in them for a while.

When he got no response, he poked his head out to look at Shen Yu, only to find Shen Yu staring back at him.

"What’s your problem? You covered me yourself—can’t I even have a sniff?" Bai Yeye blinked his bright eyes in confusion.

Shen Yu raised an eyebrow: "How can you smell the scent on there?"

"Of course I can smell it!"

"There’s only the smell of pheromones on it." At the base, they used unscented detergents for both sheets and clothes. If there was a smell, it could only be pheromones.

Bai Yeye nervously tucked his paws in. He had forgotten that in his current form as a pet, he shouldn’t be able to smell pheromones.

Faced with Shen Yu’s scrutinizing gaze, Bai Yeye had a flash of inspiration: "What pheromones? That was me letting out a spicy five-spice fart."

"..." What nonsense was that?

"If you don’t believe me, I’ll fart another one for you to smell." Bai Yeye poked his round butt out from under the blanket.

Shen Yu pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Enough, go to sleep."

Bai Yeye let out a goofy laugh and pulled his butt back in: "Good night!"

He turned his back to Shen Yu, his back lightly sweating.

Given Shen Yu’s sharpness, his own few words probably wouldn’t fool him.

What if Shen Yu really found out?

Bai Yeye wasn’t really afraid that Shen Yu would hurt him once he knew who he was—he trusted that Shen Yu wasn’t that kind of person. What he was afraid of was that Shen Yu would send him away.

He still needed to stay and protect Brother Ruoshui… and he wanted to hang out with Shen Yu a bit more.

As he expected, Shen Yu indeed didn’t buy his nonsense. But right now, he had more important matters to deal with, so he set aside any suspicion about Bai Yeye’s identity for now.

The next day, Bai Yeye was brimming with energy. After wolfing down all the breakfast in the mess hall, he marched over to Gu Yuankai’s room to find him and play.

Shen Yu was usually busy, so Gu Yuankai would hang out with him instead.

But when he got to the door, it was packed with people, and everyone looked grim.

"What’s up? What’s up?"

"Shh, Yeye, go play somewhere else, okay? The Deputy General’s not doing well. He threw up blood this morning and passed out again."

"What! Didn’t he just have psychic damage yesterday?" Bai Yeye’s good mood instantly vanished. Wasn’t Gu Yuankai supposed to recover after sleeping it off?

"We don’t know what happened. The military doctor is diagnosing him now. Sigh."

Everyone treated each other like brothers, so it hurt when anyone was in trouble.

Soon, Shen Yu, who had come back early from the palace, strode to the door: "How is it?"

The military doctor came out drenched in sweat: "Not good. I’m useless—I can’t find the cause. We may need to ask the Prince Consort to come and see."

He’d initially suspected poison, but neither his medical expertise nor the advanced analyzers could identify the toxin.

Bai Ruoshui’s medical skills were exceptional. If even he couldn’t figure it out, then it was really hopeless.

Shen Yu immediately sent for Bai Ruoshui.

Bai Yeye quickly hid. If Bai Ruoshui spotted his wound, he’d definitely send him back.

Soon, Bai Ruoshui and Bai Yuanzhou rushed in with their medical kits.

"Greetings, Prince Consort."

Bai Ruoshui sat by Gu Yuankai’s bed: "Everyone step out for now. Crowding around him won’t help."

Everyone reluctantly stepped out to the doorway, leaving Shen Yu, the military doctor, and the hidden Bai Yeye inside.

Bai Ruoshui felt Gu Yuankai’s pulse, his gentle eyes growing more and more serious.

"What happened to him yesterday?"

"He and Yeye ran into a bunch of people that looked like zombies. But Yeye was fine, and he ended up like this." The veins on the back of Shen Yu’s hand popped out. If those people really caused this, he wouldn’t let the one behind them off the hook.

Bai Yeye shuddered. Why’d they have to drag his name into this!

"Take me to see those guys."

Bai Yuanzhou disagreed: "I saw them yesterday. Those people can no longer be called human. You'd better not go. Don't let it scare you."

"I have to go. If it's really what I think, then the situation is too grim. Please lead the way quickly, General Shen."

Shen Yu quickly led them out, and the military doctor hurried to follow.

Only the unconscious Gu Yuankai and Bai Yeye remained in the room. Bai Yeye crawled out from inside the cabinet, walked to Gu Yuankai's bedside, and looked at him. Bai Yeye's small, cotton-candy-like ears drooped weakly.

If only he had reacted a little faster yesterday, Gu Yuankai wouldn't have ended up like this.

"Ugh... ah!" The unconscious Gu Yuankai suddenly let out a pained cry. Bai Yeye was about to call for help, but then remembered something. He found a small knife, cut his own paw, and fed his bright red blood to Gu Yuankai.

The pain on Gu Yuankai's face quickly faded, and he returned to calm.

Bai Yeye quickly cleaned up the bloodstains on the knife, feeling nervous.

When he was young, he had accidentally swallowed the King of Poisons. Instead of dying, he gained blood that could cure all poisons. But this was a secret known only to his family and Bai Ruoshui's teacher. If it got out, he would be in even greater danger.

Bai Yeye had promised his family he would never use his blood to save anyone, but the situation was special now. He really couldn't bear to watch Gu Yuankai suffer. As long as no one saw, it would be fine, right?

----------------------------------------