Chapter 40: Lu-ge... I'm Feeling Awful.

After a few minutes, Shao Ye couldn't stand the weird tension anymore.

He snapped, "How about we turn off the lights and I let out a few screams? Think we can fake it till we make it?"

Lu Zhanting furrowed his brows, irritated. "Too obvious, and the hidden cameras have night vision, you idiot."

Shao Ye cursed under his breath. Right. This was a shady motel in pirate territory. What the hell was he thinking?

Assholes.

Just as he was about to stew over it some more, a woman’s piercing scream sliced through the silence, followed by frantic footsteps.

Shao Ye froze. It had to be that Omega who was grabbed by Blackbeard earlier.

Without thinking, both men got up and slid toward the door, instinctively pressing their ears against it.

The woman screamed, "Help!" as she tried to run. But when she reached their door, she tripped.

Pain shot through her, but she couldn’t afford to fall.

She scrambled to get back up, only for the door next door to swing open.

Out stepped the tall guy and the tattooed one, blocking her escape.

"Don't! Let me go!" The woman wailed, her cries filled with panic and defeat.

Blackbeard came into view, unhurried, his steps slow and steady as he reached out and slammed her against the door. "Still think you can escape?"

Just as he was about to make his next move, the sound of a gunshot ripped through the air.

“Bang!”

A bullet shattered the door and hit Blackbeard square in the forehead.

The woman froze, her body locking in place. She couldn’t even breathe, staring down at the lifeless man slumped against the door.

That bullet... It had grazed her hair.

Then, the door behind her creaked open.

Lu Zhanxing stepped out, his face twisted into a grimace as though someone had ruined his fun.

He spoke with a cold, cutting edge in his voice, "You people are loud as hell. Trying to get work done here."

The tall guy and the tattooed one started shaking like leaves in a storm, panicked out of their minds. "My lord, please, forgive us. We'll take this noisy bitch out of here right now."

They started to move toward her, ready to drag her away.

She didn’t know who Lu Zhanxing was, but something in her gut told her he was probably the kind of guy who'd come through when things got messy.

With desperation in her eyes, she stared at him, tears streaming down her face. “Please, I beg you, save me!”

He took one look at her, then casually handed her the still-warm pistol in his hand.

At first, she hesitated, too scared to even touch it.

But Lu Zhanxing didn't flinch. He just said, "Here, this is the truth. Hold onto it tight, and you'll control your fate."

Something clicked. Her gaze hardened, sharp and determined.

Without another thought, she gripped the gun, raising it to aim straight at the two goons who'd been tormenting her.

For a second, they froze, not expecting her to pull that move. The moment the deadly weapon was aimed at them, those cocky bastards who'd been bullying her like they owned the world suddenly looked like they might shit themselves.

“Don’t do this… If you kill us, you’ll never walk out of this hotel alive!” one of them stammered.

But Lu Zhanxing? He just shut the door behind him and walked toward Shao Ye, unfazed.

Gunshots rang out in quick succession—“Bang! Bang!”—but his steps didn’t falter. Cool. Collected. Like none of it mattered.

Shao Ye, on the other hand, couldn’t help but tremble a little.

With a hint of melancholy, he muttered, “She won’t make it out. Even with the gun.”

Lu Zhanxing didn’t flinch, his voice unwavering. “But at least she fought for her rights and freedom with everything she had, all the way to the last moment. That kind of life has no regrets. That kind of death... now that has meaning, don’t you think?”

Shao Ye stood there, stunned. He’d never thought about life like that before. Growing up in the slums, surviving was the whole point—just hanging on, hoping for one more day.

Living to see another sunrise, that was his entire meaning.

But if it really came down to it—if he had to choose between being a living corpse and dying with some dignity? Yeah, he might just pick the latter.

A few moments later, the sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway.

Lu Zhanxing perked up, listening. He could hear the chatter. Something about how the guy he’d just killed, the Blackbeard, was part of a pirate crew, and now his “team” was coming for a piece of the action.

Shao Ye frowned. “What now? If they figure out who you are, we’re toast.”

Lu Zhanxing didn’t break a sweat. “Let them check. Pirates in a brothel, barely worth the trouble. I’ll handle it.”

Calmly, he pulled out a forged high-ranking officer’s ID from his coat pocket.

When the group of thugs showed up, all ready to make trouble, they saw the ID and immediately lost their swagger. One of them nearly dropped to his knees.

Without a word, they grabbed Blackbeard's body and slunk off, heads down, praying for mercy.

Then one of the goons suddenly froze. “Wait a second… the one in the room, he looks familiar.”

His buddy laughed. “Familiar? You’ve been with him already?”

“No, no, no. I’ve seen him before, I swear. Give me a sec... Oh! Wait, I remember! He’s the one the Alliance just put a bounty on! Pretty sure he’s some high-end Omega.”

The room went silent. That last statement dropped like a bomb.

The companions clearly didn’t believe it. One of them scoffed, “Man, you’ve got to be mistaken. You think top-tier Omegas are just walking around like some dime-a-dozen cabbage? In this remote place? No chance in hell.”

Another chimed in, “Yeah, the hotel front desk just said it, that ‘duck’ is basically a mobile disease factory—just a Beta, and a pretty fresh-looking one at that.”

But the one holding onto his theory wasn’t backing down. “No, this whole thing’s weird. Something’s off. You think high-ranking officers don’t have beautiful people thrown at them in the military? Why the hell would they blow so much cash just to hook up with a walking infection?”

Sure, this town was full of twisted people, but maybe the guy had a weird fetish? They couldn’t shake the doubt, though.

Then the skeptic struck again, “They’ve been in there for ages and haven’t even taken their clothes off—something’s up.”

His buddy asked, “So, what do we do? Should we barge in and interrogate them? What if it’s just some kink? Are we really gonna get shot for barging in?”

The guy stared at the shut door, then his eyes slid to the bullet hole in the wall, a smirk creeping across his face.

“I’ve got an idea. The door faces the bed. We can sneak a peek and figure out what’s really going on. And if it’s an Omega, they couldn’t possibly hide their pheromones in bed.”

Hearing this, Shao Ye felt like he might just lose it.

These bastards, they killed two eavesdroppers next door, and now they were coming straight at the door, like they were trying to peek in again?

Shao Ye didn’t even bother hiding his pheromones—his glands were defective, so he didn’t have any to release. But proving that… how the hell could he prove it?

His would-be assailants had already handed him the answer.

Shao Ye was stuck. “So, what do we do now?”

Lu Zhanxing looked at him, his gaze icy and intense. He took a deep breath and asked, “Do you trust me?”

His eyes, cold as the moon, seemed to pull Shao Ye in, filled with an unspoken tenderness, like he was casting some spell.

Lu Zhanxing had promised Shao Ye—he wouldn’t mark him without his consent. Shao Ye believed him, even though the two of them were tangled up naked together, Lu Zhanxing could still hold off on marking him.

But when Lu Zhanxing asked him that question, Shao Ye realized something crucial.

Before they left, Shao Ye had done things to the unconscious Lu Zhamxing, things Lu Zhanxing clearly didn’t remember.

So up until this point, Lu Zhanxing still thought Shao Ye wasn’t accepting their bond, and that’s why he wouldn’t mark him.

Shao Ye’s heart was torn—half victorious, half disappointed.

Victorious, because he didn’t have to face the awkwardness of Lu Zhanxing knowing how he felt; in his eyes, he was still the strong, unbothered man.

Disappointed, because he’d sacrificed so much, and Lu Zhixing didn’t even remember!

“I…” Shao Ye hesitated, but footsteps echoed at the door.

Lu Zhanxing pulled him onto the bed, fingers deftly working at his collar. The soft light from the lamp caught the sleek curve of his collarbone, and Shao Ye could feel his breath catch in his throat.

"Lu Zhanxing brushed his lips lightly against Shao Ye's neck, his voice low. 'Don't worry, trust me, I won't mark you.'

Outside, a bunch of nosey bastards were peering through the keyhole, their eyes wide.

The tall Alpha had stripped down to his waist, revealing a broad, muscular back.

The omega in front of him had also been stripped bare, but from this angle, all they could see were two long, pale legs dangling at his sides, completely hidden by the Alpha.

"Damn it, move over! I can't see anything from this angle," one of the voyeurs complained, scratching his head.

Another shoved him aside. "Get out of the way, I want to see too."

"Shhh! Quiet down, you guys."

Shao Ye was about to lose his mind.

Those damn peeping Toms outside seemed to be getting even more excited, and they showed no signs of leaving.

Lu Zhanxing was just going through the motions, pretending to be really into it.

But Shao Ye could feel the tension in him, like a coiled spring ready to snap.

Lu Zhanxing gently stroked his back, trying to calm him down. But every touch sent a shiver down Shao Ye's spine, making him feel more on edge than ever.

Suddenly, his body tensed, and a hot flush spread through him. A thick liquid began to leak out.

Shao Ye turned his face away in shame. Lu Zhanxing continued to grind against him, both of them gritting their teeth against the pain.

Lu Zhanxing's jasmine-scented pheromones filled the room. Shao Ye felt like he was being poisoned, and he was drawn to Lu Zhanxing like a moth to a flame.

His head was spinning, and he felt like he was floating.

He couldn't believe how much self-control Lu Zhanxing had. He said he wouldn't mark Shao Ye, and he was actually sticking to it. The guy was practically sweating bullets, and his forehead was all wrinkled up, but he still wouldn't go any deeper. Shao Ye had a crazy thought.

'Fuck it,' he thought. 'Why don't we just do it? This is torture.'

Shao Ye barely managed to force out a few words, "Lu... Lu Ge... I... I can't take it anymore."

Lu Zhanxing was already sweating like a pig, and Shao Ye was driving him crazy.

He panted, J"ust hold on a little longer. They'll leave soon."

Shao Ye was about to explode. Couldn't Lu Zhanxing see how much he needed him?

Shao Ye had always thought he was straight, but right now, Lu Zhanxing was making him question everything.

Was Lu Zhanxing really expecting Shao Ye to ask him to mark him?

Shao Ye grabbed Lu Zhanxing's shoulders, his fingers digging into the man's flesh.

In a voice barely above a whisper, he said, "Lu-ge... Maybe... maybe we should just do it."

———TN: Oh? Oh?? Oh, really? Are you serious right now? What’s going on here? Because, honestly, it sounds like you’re about to drop something huge, something that might make us both question everything. Let’s cut the crap—get to it already, no need for all that teasing and pretending like we don’t know what’s coming.