When the susceptibility period hit, emotions surged so fiercely and suddenly that Yin Sangyu buried his head in the bedding, feeling like the most pitiful person in the world.
He began listing why he was so pitiable.
From how he’d won battles, stealing all the spotlight from his imperial cousin, only to face suspicion and envy, forcing him to seek peace by hiding his edge, claiming injury to retire from the battlefield, likely destined to become a carefree, idle prince.
To how, years ago, a mosquito bit his face, and a stray dog on the street barked at him as he passed. The more he thought, the more tears welled up, though he held them back.
Sniffling, he told himself to be strong, but his phone rang at that moment.
Checking it, he saw it was his mother. He answered, his voice low and hoarse with a crying tone: “Hello, Mom.”
Hearing her son’s voice, Madam Zhu, experienced, said in surprise: “Why are you crying already? Isn’t your susceptibility period in two days?”
“I can’t come back yet and was going to remind you to take care of yourself during your susceptibility period.”
Yin Sangyu’s defenses finally broke. The tears he’d held back rolled down his cheeks one by one. A weeping beauty was quite a sight, but no one was there to appreciate it. Choking, he accused: “Y-You don’t even care about me. You don’t even remember my susceptibility period is today, sob… You’re just having fun on your own.”
“Oh, my darling, how could I not care about you? I’ve been busy and got the date wrong. Mommy apologizes, okay?” Madam Zhu’s heart ached, coaxing her nearly two-meter-tall alpha son like a child.
But Yin Sangyu, filled with disappointment, wouldn’t hear explanations. Heartbroken, he said: “It’s all lies. I’m not important at all.”
“No, you’re the most important in the whole world!”
Yin Sangyu sobbed for a while, unmoved by Madam Zhu’s coaxing. Then, for some reason, he feigned strength, drawing a line: “Enough, Madam Zhu. You don’t need to waste time on me anymore. Go find someone else to be your son.”
With that, he hung up with a snap, buried his face in the pillow, shoulders trembling with sorrow.
The system, never having seen such a scene, stayed silent as a chicken, fearing it would draw Yin Sangyu’s attention.
Yin Sangyu wallowed in his sorrow alone until the second evening of his susceptibility period.
The system, which hadn’t meant to disturb him, suddenly emitted a piercing alarm. Despite its mechanical tone, it conveyed panic with exclamation marks.
[Host! Disaster! The villain is about to ruin Top Four ahead of schedule!]
“What?”
Yin Sangyu lifted his head from his arms. His eyes, trailed by redness from crying, made his usually striking, beautiful face appear fragile yet alluringly charming.
The system paused, then shouted louder: [Host! Top Four is about to kill the villain in retaliation! Stop it now!]
Yin Sangyu sniffled, resentfully saying: “Let him be killed. What’s it got to do with me? It’s all just your wishful thinking.”
[Host!!!!]
Despite having no body, the system felt like it was losing its mind.
Xiao Muyi usually seemed gloomy and rigid, living like a silent shadow, unnoticed by others, and those who noticed him instinctively avoided him.
But if Xiao Muyi didn’t deliberately hide, straightening his hunched back, lifting his thick bangs, removing his plain, lensless black-framed glasses, and raising a practiced smile—
People would notice his refined, delicate beauty. His large eyes, with slightly upturned tails and long, curled lashes, held pure black pupils larger than most, easily appearing melancholic if unguarded.
Paired with flawless porcelain skin, a straight, slender nose, graceful pale pink lips, and a lean yet well-proportioned frame, he exuded an almost inhuman fragile beauty.
Such a being seemed destined to have his breath stolen, to be manipulated, displayed in a case for admiration.
For someone like him, approaching an alpha was effortless.
Things went smoothly. Seizing the moment, Xiao Muyi, with evasive eyes and shy restraint, approached Shen Ruifeng, speaking softly: “Hello, sir, could you help me with something?”
Xiao Muyi wasn’t short, standing at 1.8 meters, but next to a 1.9-meter alpha, he appeared petite.
Shen Ruifeng looked down at this bold little thing, noting his nervousness, a spark of heat stirring in his heart.
Unsure which family’s pet had wandered out, Shen Ruifeng was willing to take the bait if this was deliberate seduction. Such a rare gem was hard to come by.
He smiled gently: “What kind of help?”
Xiao Muyi nervously swallowed, too shy to speak, head bowed low, hands restlessly clasped and fidgeting: “I-I don’t have money…”
Shen Ruifeng understood, reaching to wrap an arm around Xiao Muyi’s slender waist, knowingly asking: “So what do you hope I’ll do?”
Xiao Muyi glanced at the broad hand on his waist, a flash of ferocity crossing his face, before saying timidly: “I hope… you’ll visit my home.”
Shen Ruifeng chuckled, leaning close to Xiao Muyi’s neck to inhale his pleasant scent. His sharp alpha senses caught a captivating fragrance, clouding his mind, igniting an inexplicable possessiveness, and he said with a hint of jealousy: “Tell me, how many people have you invited to your home?”
“You’re the first.”
Satisfied, Shen Ruifeng nodded: “From now on, just me is enough. Take me to your home.”
Xiao Muyi, suppressing revulsion, nodded.
With little effort, he dazed the lustful alpha, dealt with him cleanly, and transported him to the forest cabin.
Expressionlessly, Xiao Muyi bound Shen Ruifeng’s hands and feet with chains to pre-driven wooden stakes, then selected a spiral-textured drill from his array of little gifts.
The drill’s tip wasn’t sharp, requiring more force to pierce flesh, but a blunt tool amplified pain. Xiao Muyi tested its weight, his cold, lifeless gaze falling on Shen Ruifeng.
In the silent, uninhabited forest, a blood-curdling scream suddenly echoed, startling countless birds.
About half an hour later, Shen Ruifeng gasped in agony, covered in wounds, his bloodshot eyes glaring at Xiao Muyi, who was unhurriedly wiping blood from his hands.
Gone was Xiao Muyi’s earlier shy restraint, replaced by a chilling indifference. His tone flat, he asked: “You really aren’t Flying Little Rabbit?”
Shen Ruifeng gritted his teeth, cursing himself for mistaking a wild wolf for a kitten: “I told you countless times, I’m not! Check my phone!”
Xiao Muyi said: “I threw your phone away long ago.”
Not just the phone—Shen Ruifeng had not a thread left on him to prevent tracking.
“Then how can I prove it? I can prove it to you.” Shen Ruifeng, wrists chafed from struggling, subtly kept moving them.
Xiao Muyi sighed softly. Shen Ruifeng’s reactions didn’t seem fake, and he believed he’d mistaken the person.
“Alright, I know you’re not.”
Shen Ruifeng immediately said: “If you believe me, let me go.”
“Let you go? Why?”
Xiao Muyi tilted his head, asking oddly, then crouched to search for something.
Shen Ruifeng suddenly felt a jarring dissonance. The scene warped, the slender youth seeming to morph into a terrifying monster…
He blinked, and everything returned to normal. Shen Ruifeng said hoarsely: “Because you misunderstood me…”
“Does a misunderstanding mean I should let you go?”
In Shen Ruifeng’s widening eyes, Xiao Muyi slowly pulled a rusty saw from under the wooden bed.
The pale, lifeless youth said: “From the moment you entered, I never planned to let you leave.”
As Xiao Muyi approached, Shen Ruifeng, ignoring his blood loss, struggled more violently, shaking his head and shouting: “Don’t come closer! Stay away!”
But no matter his resistance, the saw’s teeth landed on his thigh. Xiao Muyi’s hand was steady, unwavering, though his strength was weak, prolonging the torment.
Shen Ruifeng screamed again, veins bulging on his forehead, but this time, he channeled all his strength into his bound wrists.
Finally, with a loud bang, the wooden stake snapped, freeing his hands.
Xiao Muyi had underestimated an alpha’s strength. Seeing the stake break, he didn’t hesitate, dropped the saw, and turned to flee, knowing he couldn’t match even an injured alpha.
But he was a step too slow. Shen Ruifeng grabbed him, pinning him to the ground.
Eyes bloodshot, Shen Ruifeng had no lingering interest in Xiao Muyi, only wanting to kill this heretic. Face contorted, he gripped Xiao Muyi’s neck tightly.
Xiao Muyi’s face flushed red, legs flailing, trying to pry Shen Ruifeng’s hands off but unable to budge them, leaving only scratches on the alpha’s arms.
Air in his lungs grew scarce, his vision flickering white. Uncontrollably, physiological tears streamed down, saliva dripped from his mouth, and his resistance weakened.
Facing death, Xiao Muyi wasn’t afraid, only regretful. He hadn’t done what he wanted, and the person he wanted to kill was still alive.
At the moment his consciousness was about to slip away, the weight on him suddenly lifted. Someone seemed to have burst in.
In a daze, he was lifted into someone’s arms, a voice tinged with a crying tone speaking in his ear, but he couldn’t make it out.