Chapter 27: Losing Control

Chapter 27: Loss of Control

Xie Chi felt as though he had been trapped in a long, formless dream.

In the dream, he first tried desperately to stop the bleeding, but no matter what he did, the blood wouldn't stop. Then, inexplicably, he found himself on Yan Wanqiu's back, the other carrying him across a frozen, snow-covered plain, walking down a road that seemed to stretch on forever.

Then Ji Chou appeared.

Ji Chou held him, murmuring something, asking him to mark him.

What kind of husband refuses his wife when she's asking to be marked?

So even though his entire body ached, Xie Chi immediately opened his mouth and bit down.

If his body hadn't been so broken, he would've taken things further with his wife being this proactive.

And then—

Xie Chi opened his eyes, staring blankly at the white ceiling.

He was awake now.

Before Xie Chi could even figure out what was going on, the monitor beside him started blaring "beep, beep, beep."

Then a crowd of military medics filed in.

Xie Chi recognized that the one leading them was the same doctor who'd burst through the door with Yan Wanqiu last time and shoved a wooden block in his mouth.

"He's awake! He's awake!"

The doctor had dark circles under his eyes, but his face was lit up with barely concealed joy as he carefully helped Xie Chi sit up and began a full-body examination.

"Do you feel any pain anywhere? Do you remember who you are and what happened before? How's your arm? Can you lift it? What about your legs?"

"..."

Xie Chi sat there in a daze as the doctor examined him. After confirming he was perfectly fine, the doctor let out a sigh of relief: "Great, Captain Xie. Thanks to His Highness's quick treatment and the medicine he gave us, none of your tissue has necrotized, and there are no aftereffects. But the fracture in your right arm needs more time to heal. We'll keep you one more day for observation, then you can go."

"His Highness?" Xie Chi latched onto that. "Yan Wanqiu gave you the repair fluid?"

"Yes." The doctor nodded, quickly wrapping a bandage around his right arm to immobilize it.

Xie Chi frowned: "Then what did he use? His injuries weren't exactly minor either."

He'd only passed out from blood loss—his brain wasn't damaged. He still remembered everything that happened before he completely blacked out.

Yan Wanqiu might be petty and vicious, but this time he'd done everything right, carrying him out step by step. Calling it a life-saving act wasn't an exaggeration.

Xie Chi didn't care about much besides his wife, but he wasn't heartless enough to repay kindness with spite.

The doctors went quiet, exchanging glances. Finally, the lead doctor hesitated before speaking: "You were out for a whole day, so you might not know this yet. The Main Star Army coated their uniforms and weapons with pheromone toxin. His Highness's Pheromone Dysregulation Syndrome flared up again, worse than ever before. After carrying you back and tossing us the repair fluid, he locked himself in his palace. Anyone who gets close gets attacked by his pheromones. We still can't tell how badly he's hurt."

Yan Wanqiu had left in such a hurry that if he hadn't given them the repair fluid formula beforehand, they'd probably still be fumbling around trying to figure out how to use it.

Xie Chi froze.

He knew Yan Wanqiu was in bad shape, but not this bad.

The guy had fought through his pheromone dysregulation to carry him back.

He knew Yan Wanqiu killed without discrimination when his pheromone dysregulation hit.

The first time he met Yan Wanqiu, the guy had been on the verge of a pheromone dysregulation outbreak, and Xie Chi had nearly been crushed to death by his indiscriminate pheromone attacks.

Xie Chi pursed his lips and swung out of bed: "I'll go check on him. His condition right now probably won't allow him to hurt me. I'll go drag him out, and at the very least, force a bottle of repair fluid down his throat—by the way, what are our casualties?"

With Yan Wanqiu gone, Xie Chi, as captain of the Shadow Guard, was effectively second-in-command. The military doctor reported honestly: "We sent out three thousand troops. One hundred fifty-one dead, five hundred eighty seriously wounded, and over eighteen hundred lightly wounded. We're doing everything we can to save them."

Even with their new weapons, the Main Star Army was well-trained and had thrown their formation into chaos with electromagnetic cannons right from the start. Plus, a lot of their own people got hurt from using their weapons wrong. All things considered, this battle was a pyrrhic victory at best.

Upon hearing this, Xie Chi said directly: "Don't crowd around me. Go do your jobs. I'll send over three crates—six hundred bottles of repair fluid—shortly. Do everything you can to save the wounded."

At the news of that much repair fluid, hope lit up the exhausted doctors' eyes.

"Yes, Captain!"

.

After handing over the repair fluid, Xie Chi walked out with his right arm still in a sling, the doctors calling after him to "make sure to come back for a check-up tonight."

He'd been out for a full day. It was now evening of the second day. The sky was dark and overcast, and people in the camp hurried past with grim faces.

Xie Chi made a beeline for Yan Wanqiu's palace.

The moment he got near the palace, Xie Chi understood why the doctors couldn't even get close.

Yan Wanqiu's pheromones had completely gone haywire.

The aggressive cedar scent saturated the area around the palace, attacking every foolhardy intruder without discrimination. Even standing at the edge, Xie Chi felt his chest tighten and his breathing grow labored.

The soldiers who'd been stationed at the palace gates had also retreated further back. They'd been told Xie Chi was coming, so they didn't ask questions—just opened the gate for him.

A lot of people in the camp had seen Yan Wanqiu carry Xie Chi back covered in blood, so even though Xie Chi had been suspected and locked up before, everyone in camp had already accepted that he'd cleared his name and was back to being Yan Wanqiu's right-hand man.

Xie Chi took a deep breath, ripped off the annoying bandage, and tossed it into his storage space. After mentally preparing himself, he steeled his nerves and walked in.

If he had a choice, he wouldn't want to get near Yan Wanqiu right now either. As the only S-class alpha of this era, his pheromone rampage was enough to crush any alpha to death.

But aside from him, no one else in camp could get close to Yan Wanqiu.

The deeper he went, the more overwhelming the pheromone pressure became. Cold sweat broke out on Xie Chi's forehead. He felt like an invisible giant hand was gripping him, squeezing him bit by bit, with no way to fight back.

By the time he reached Yan Wanqiu's bedroom door, Xie Chi couldn't breathe.

He had no choice but to release a bit of his own pheromones, tearing through the thick cedar-scented pressure to carve out a little breathing room.

"BANG—!"

The second Xie Chi released his pheromones, the heavy stone door to Yan Wanqiu's bedchamber shuddered violently, as if something heavy had slammed into it.

"GET OUT!"

Yan Wanqiu's hoarse voice came from behind the stone door, his pheromone pressure sharp as a blade.

Xie Chi had just woken up, and for a moment, his legs nearly gave out. He steadied himself against the stone door and forced the words out: "Your Highness, it's me. I've brought repair fluid. I'm here to help you."

There was a pause from the other side, as if he were struggling to think.

A moment later, the pheromone pressure in the air eased considerably, and Yan Wanqiu's hesitant voice came from behind the stone door: "...Xie Chi?"

"Yeah, it's me." Xie Chi finally managed to breathe.

With the sound of that voice, the sound of unlocking came from behind the stone door.

Then, the stone door slowly opened.

Before Xie Chi could even step inside, a white figure lunged at him head-on.

Yan Wanqiu, like a beast trapped by its killing instinct, crashed almost directly into him, grabbing his neck and pinning him to the ground.

"What are you doing here?" Yan Wanqiu's eyes were bloodshot, his expression dark as he stared down at the black-haired youth beneath him. "Shouldn't you be off on your date with Yan Baiyue?"

Xie Chi gagged repeatedly as he was choked, struggling to pull a plain handgun out of his spatial ring. He kicked Yan Wanqiu in the stomach to shove him off, and seized the chance to grab Yan Wanqiu's throat with one hand while pressing the gun to his forehead with the other.

"Yan Baiyue... is already dead. I helped you kill him, Your Highness. Your Pheromone Dysregulation Syndrome is flaring up, messing with your memories." Xie Chi said between gasps.

Yan Wanqiu didn't respond, just staring at him darkly, like he was some kind of weird animal.

The cedar scent in the air grew thicker.

Yan Wanqiu's wound had split open again from the kick to his gut, blood seeping out.

Xie Chi didn't waste any time. After a quick explanation, he pulled a bottle of repair fluid from his spatial ring, popped Yan Wanqiu's jaw out of joint, and poured it straight down his throat.

"This is repair fluid, it can temporarily stabilize your injuries. I'll leave a few more bottles with the guards at the entrance—you can ask them for some once you're back to your senses. But I'd still recommend you go to the hospital for treatment once you're thinking clearly. Everyone at camp is worried about you."

Xie Chi said all this in one breath, and the repair fluid was gone.

He quickly snapped Yan Wanqiu's jaw back into place.

Yan Wanqiu held the repair fluid in his mouth, cheeks puffed out, still frowning at him without moving a muscle.

Xie Chi had no choice. He grabbed the back of Yan Wanqiu's neck with one hand, pressed his thumb against his jaw to force his mouth open, and used the fingers of his other hand to press on his Adam's apple.

"Sorry for the intrusion," Xie Chi said.

"Gulp—"

Yan Wanqiu swallowed instinctively, the warm repair fluid sliding down his throat.

After all that, Xie Chi let out a sigh of relief and started to back away.

But the next moment, Yan Wanqiu, who'd been completely dazed, suddenly lunged and grabbed his wrist in a death grip.

Like a beast driven purely by instinct, he bent down and sniffed at Xie Chi's neck.

So good.

It was the crisp, sharp scent of oranges.

Faint as it was, it still cut through the bloody haze clouding Yan Wanqiu's mind, giving him a moment of clarity.

The bullet hole in Yan Baiyue's forehead, the mining site, Yan Huishi's blue-green eyes, the electromagnetic cannon, and the black-haired youth sprawled weakly on his back, muttering fragments of words.

Fragmented memories flooded his mind, and Yan Wanqiu's head pounded with pain.

After a long moment, Yan Wanqiu's eyes cleared a little. He didn't make another move, and looked at Xie Chi with a hoarse voice: "...You're awake. Are you fully healed?"

Xie Chi was taken aback, wondering if repair fluid could actually fix pheromone dysregulation, but replied: "Just woke up. I think I'm fully healed, but they want to keep me under observation one more night before discharging me. I heard you weren't doing well, so I came to check on you. Are you back to your senses now?"

"Pretty much," Yan Wanqiu said, getting up unsteadily, forcing himself to pull away from the intoxicating pheromones.

"I'll rest a bit more. Don't worry, I'm not gonna die. Don't come looking for me again after this."

Xie Chi watched Yan Wanqiu's retreating figure with concern: "Want me to leave you another bottle of nutrient fluid?"

Yan Wanqiu turned his head, his narrow red eyes fixed on him, his voice dripping with mockery: "Generous now, huh? Last time I asked for a bottle of repair fluid, you acted like I was trying to bite a chunk out of your flesh."

"Different situations call for different measures. You saved me, and you haven't threatened me with my wife, so there's no reason for me to fight you." Xie Chi didn't want to argue with Yan Wanqiu while he was still suffering, so he pulled out a bottle of nutrient fluid and set it on the ground.

Yan Wanqiu froze.

His tone suddenly turned nasty: "If you're done talking, get the hell out."

Xie Chi set down the nutrient fluid, stood up without a word, and walked out.

Fine, he'd leave then.

Yan Wanqiu was still the same unpredictable Yan Wanqiu. Good thing he hadn't expected to be treated kindly anyway.

The fact that Yan Wanqiu hadn't fought him from one end of the hall to the other before being forced to drink the repair fluid was already surprisingly good-tempered for him.

After all, this was the Tyrant with a relapse of pheromone dysregulation—ten thousand times more volatile and cruel than your average tyrant.

Yan Wanqiu stared blankly at Xie Chi, who really did turn and leave without a word. He opened his mouth, but in the end, no words came out.

"Click."

Only when the palace gate clicked shut and Xie Chi was completely out of sight did Yan Wanqiu snap back to reality, realizing he was really gone.

That fresh orange scent was completely gone.

Yan Wanqiu looked at the lone bottle of nutrient fluid on the ground. After a long moment, he crouched down, opened it, and downed it in one go.

Maybe because Xie Chi had held it, the bottle still carried a faint trace of orange pheromones.

Yan Wanqiu brought the empty bottle to his nose and sniffed it.

The pheromones were so faint they were barely there, which only made him more restless.

Xie Chi had given him a temporary mark that day, but it had completely faded after a day.

Now that the manic killing intent had receded after Xie Chi's arrival, a deeper craving surged up uncontrollably.

His pheromone dysregulation hadn't calmed at all—it had just morphed into an almost mind-burning desire for Xie Chi.

He wanted Xie Chi.

After all their encounters, he'd become addicted to Xie Chi's pheromones, sinking deeper and deeper into that fresh orange scent.

But "Yan Wanqiu" had no reason to be with Xie Chi.

Yan Wanqiu felt like a parched traveler in the desert, desperately searching for even a drop of rain called "Xie Chi."

He charged recklessly into the locked guest bedroom, threw himself onto the bedding Xie Chi had given him, curled up tightly, and ground his canine teeth against the blanket.

After who knows how long, the faint orange scent caused his normally cold pine pheromones to soften completely, transforming into something entirely different and gentle.

Yan Wanqiu slowly lifted his red eyes and gazed toward the hospital.

.

Meanwhile.

Xie Chi, after stepping out of the palace, handed the repair fluid to the guards outside, added a few instructions, then re-bandaged himself and dutifully returned to the hospital.

When the doctors saw him emerge from Yan Wanqiu's palace, a group of them rushed over to examine him thoroughly. After confirming he had no injuries, they were surprised all over again.

"Actually, His Highness was quite reasonable this time—just as cranky as ever," Xie Chi said sincerely.

The doctors clearly didn't believe him, assuming he had merely dodged Yan Wanqiu's attacks. After finishing their checks, they went about their business.

Xie Chi had a moment to himself.

The ward he was in was reserved for senior members—fewer than ten people in the camp could stay here, and each room was a private suite.

Xie Chi sat on the bed, slowly finishing his hospital meal. After returning the tray, he unwrapped his bandages, freshened up, and lay back on the bed.

He had slept for too long and couldn't get back to sleep, so he simply stared at the ceiling, his mind wandering.

Since crossing over to this world, in order to survive and take care of his wife, Xie Chi had been busy every single day, often pulling all-nighters.

Now that he had nothing to do, his thoughts began to drift.

He first went over everything that had happened since he arrived.

He had gained a wife, killed Boss Ye, captured Shi Peijue, and killed Yan Baiyue—basically, whoever Yan Wanqiu wanted dead, Xie Chi would rush off to kill without hesitation.

As for the consequences of those kills or the ripple effects of his actions, Xie Chi never gave them a thought. His current mess was exactly the result of that oversight.

Xie Chi frowned in frustration, finally understanding the difference between being Yan Wanqiu's subordinate and being an assassin.

An assassin only needs to kill—each mission is independent, complete one and move on. But being Yan Wanqiu's subordinate was different. Everything he did changed the course of the future. Treating Yan Wanqiu like the StarNet AI that issued missions wasn't going to work anymore.

This was a real world, and even three thousand years ago, it was full of danger. He was already in the game, couldn't just watch from above—he needed to think step by step.

But—this sort of thing was something he was terrible at.

Xie Chi grabbed his hair.

The AI on his terminal couldn't fully replace his brain either. Just relaying his current situation to the AI would inevitably lose key details because of his own bias.

And he couldn't possibly ask Yan Wanqiu about everything—if Yan Wanqiu ever heard his plans for promotion, raises, and getting rid of his boss, he'd probably be torn apart within seconds.

"...Forget it."

Xie Chi helplessly gave up thinking for now, turning his mind to something else instead.

He thought back to his conversation with Yan Wanqiu in the mine.

Yan Wanqiu had said that's not how you date—that there was no such thing as a relationship built purely on throwing money around.

So how was dating supposed to work?

Xie Chi didn't understand.

He had never learned any of this, and since Ji Chou had so naturally agreed to be his wife, Xie Chi had assumed he was doing a great job—until Yan Wanqiu brought it up.

Turns out he hadn't gotten a single thing right.

His wife was way too soft on him. He had handled their relationship so messily, and yet she just put up with it without saying a word.

Thinking about this, Xie Chi was both confused and missing Ji Chou even more.

In his hazy memories, he thought he had seen Ji Chou right before he passed out.

But since he wasn't sure whether it was a dying hallucination or reality, and Yan Wanqiu was in the throes of Pheromone Dysregulation Syndrome—going to him demanding to see Ji Chou would be practically begging for death—Xie Chi hadn't gone looking for her right away.

Xie Chi whimpered and chewed on the blanket.

This time, he had been carried back with severe injuries. His wife must have been worried sick. She was always overthinking and worrying about him anyway—what if she stopped eating and lost weight because of him?

Oh, right—he had Ji Chou's contact now.

Xie Chi suddenly remembered.

He quickly sat up, reaching for his terminal to send Ji Chou a message to let her know he was safe.

But at that moment—

"Crash!"

The ward's glass window shattered with a crash.

Xie Chi rolled off the bed almost by muscle memory, his fingertip brushing his spatial ring as he pulled out a quantum gun and aimed it at the intruder.

When he saw who it was, Xie Chi went still.

In the moonlight and snow, a tall man in a black trench coat stood at the window, his white hair blown forward by the cold wind. Scattered snowflakes drifted into the room through the broken window, swirling around him.

He had burst in with the wind and snow.

The man wore a silver half-face mask, revealing only a sharp jawline, and deep black eyes stared intently at him.

Xie Chi's eyes went wide.

"...Wife?"