Rose Island wasn’t actually filled with roses; instead, it was entirely covered in feather flowers.
Legend has it that feather flowers are native to tropical rainforests. A single feather flower plant can bloom in several brightly colored hues, resembling feathers. In terms of size and color, they look just like the African broad-billed roller, making them exceptionally magical and beautiful.
A research expert had accidentally discovered that a certain component contained within the feather flowers could precisely counteract his lover’s adverse pheromones. Because of this, he introduced the seeds and cultivated them on a large scale. However, due to the different environment, most of the feather flowers only bloomed in blue, and their chemical components also changed, failing to achieve the ideal inhibitory effect once extracted.
Whether his lover’s pheromones were ever successfully resolved remains unknown, but the place blanketed in feather flowers has since been named “Rose Island” as a symbol of love. After changing hands multiple times, it was eventually purchased by Mu Xiao.
The Alphas and Omegas on the ship changed into black-and-white formal wear and dragged Luo Qingcheng off the ship to take photos and check in. He, however, was listless. The nausea had just slightly eased when that damn sleepiness swept over every single nerve like a dose of sleeping pills.
Whoever tried to support him didn’t matter; he just wanted to cling to anyone and fall fast asleep with his head covered.
[System]: So many people are here at the scene, and you can still sleep?
A mixed-race Alpha asked with concern, “Are you too tired?”
The extremely handsome Alpha reached out his hand, “Do you have hypersomnia? I’ll support you.”
“Don’t touch me.” Luo Qing’s footing was weak, his tone deep and low: “I can’t sleep. I still have very important things to do.”
“Luo Qingcheng, what took you so long to arrive!”
The newcomer’s voice was booming. He was wearing work clothes with an ID badge pinned to his chest. Luo Qingcheng looked closely at his name and only then remembered he was his shift supervisor. He watched as the supervisor pointed to the area on the right: “This section is the area you’re responsible for. The guests have all arrived, hurry over to the tea and beverage area.”
Seeing Luo Qingcheng daze off, the supervisor added another sentence: “Get your bowtie tied straight. Pay will be distributed right after today ends, and there will be an extra bonus if you do well.”
It turned out that the invitation letter was just meant to let him board the island smoothly; he was actually an informal temporary worker without a formal establishment. The Alphas on the side revealed awkward smiles.
A petite black figure suddenly darted out, but the palm aiming to slap Luo Qingcheng’s cheek was forcibly pulled back by someone. Just as Luo Qingcheng caught a glimpse of that person being Qiao Buyi, a tall figure blocked the space between them like a wall.
“Luo Qingcheng, you bitch! Using despicable means to frame Brother Qiao, someone like you has no qualifications to be on the island. Just wait, sooner or later someone will…”
It was Yan Xun. Qiao Buyi restrained Yan Xun from behind. Seeing that Luo Qingcheng had someone protecting him, his expression instantly darkened; this person should have been him to begin with.
“Qiao, this scum must be taught a lesson…”
This scene attracted many onlookers. Disregarding his pride, Yan Xun tried to break free from Qiao Buyi to land that unfulfilled slap, but ultimately he did not succeed.
That this scene would happen sooner or later was no surprise to Luo Qingcheng. Meeting Qiao Buyi’s eyes did not bring any sense of guilt; rather, the man with an intensely strong sense of oppression right in front of him was what surprised him.
He was wearing the same style of shirt and trousers as Luo Qingcheng, wearing a mask, and had a blue work badge hanging around his neck. This height difference felt so familiar, and his gaze beneath his tousled hair was half-obscured.
He hadn’t come to protect him. Because of his height paired with his supreme, cold-as-ice attitude, no employee wanted to be grouped with him, so the left-out Luo Qingcheng became his teammate.
He tossed his mask and work badge to Luo Qingcheng. A sense of familiarity made Luo Qingcheng subconsciously grab his hand.
“It’s you again?”
He stared at Luo Qingcheng’s slender fingers, with their distinct knuckles, neatly trimmed rounded nails, and skin so fair that the pale cyan veins on the back of his hand were clearly visible.
“?”
He stared at Luo Qingcheng’s hand for a full several dozen seconds, “You’ve been pickled in pheromones.”
His words swept past Luo Qingcheng’s ears like a long breeze.
Having mingled with a group of Alphas, how could he possibly have no scent? Yet Luo Qingcheng was a Beta and couldn’t smell pheromones at all.
Pulling himself together to look closer, the Alpha’s sleeves covered his wrist bones. There were no exquisite sandalwood beads, only white cloth gloves, and a black shirt pinned with a work badge: Temporary worker Jiang Heming.
“Sorry.” Luo Qingcheng’s exhausted expression flushed with apology.
His mask wrapped around a square peppermint candy. Luo Qingcheng hung up his work badge, straightened his bowtie, put on his white gloves, and said to Jiang Heming, who had been staring at him all along, “Thank you.”
Jiang Heming turned his face away and remained silent.
The onlookers were certain that the young master of the Yan family hadn’t slandered anyone, simply because a Beta possessed a face that was far too alluring to bees and butterflies.
“He is that rumored difficult and exciting duck king?”
“His demands are just like that blood-chicken beside him, not your kind of broiler chicken.”
“Aren’t you asking for a beating with what you just said!”
“You still refuse to admit it, completely lacking any situational awareness. He definitely wants to wash his hands and get ashore by entering the Sky-Reaching Group.”
…
Luo Qingcheng treated the gossip as wind passing the ear. Jiang Heming’s appearance was too similar to the baseball-cap Alpha, but there are many similar appearances in this world; his thoughts shouldn’t always dwell on that madman.
Since they were teammates, they coordinated to serve the guests in the tea area.
The bright sunlight spilled over the naturally falling bangs on Jiang Heming’s forehead, flashing with a golden luster. Filled with a strong urge to witness his true appearance, Luo Qingcheng unconsciously stretched out his slender fingers.
He hooked off his mask, and natural light shone upon his delicate skin.
His facial features and facial lines were tight and three-dimensional; his lips were neither too thick nor too thin, just right. His double eyelids were clear and natural, and his face possessed an extreme masculine charm. He looked to be in his early twenties, but his deep eyes were like burning fireballs that made people feel intimidated.
Without losing his composure and displaying great magnanimity, he put his mask back on, “Something the matter?”
Possessing a noble temperament and a tall, upright stature, he was the most charming Alpha worker Luo Qingcheng had ever seen. For a moment, forgetting to apologize for his own rudeness, Luo Qingcheng firmly remembered his eyes.
A Beta in the tea area accidentally knocked over a cup of water, and immediately slipped and fell onto the carpet amidst a chorus of gasps.
The two of them froze simultaneously as the person collapsed right to their right side.
“Is that the young master of the Ning family?”
“That young master of the Ning family whose engagement was annulled by the Xue family because he differentiated into a Beta?”
“Did you mistake the person? The young master of the Ning family never steps outside, why would he come to attend a funeral?”
The surrounding crowd chimed in one after another, and Jiang Heming stepped forward to check.
“Everyone disperse.” The person in charge of security brought over a doctor.
The crowd quickly dispersed because the funeral eulogy time was fast approaching.
Luo Qingcheng pressed close to Jiang Heming and whispered, “Has this anything to do with us?”
Jiang Heming looked at Luo Qingcheng with a complicated expression: “He… has a pregnancy pulse.”
“!? ” Luo Qingcheng’s mind suddenly conjured up the face of his rich second-generation classmate after death.
“A pregnancy pulse? You must be mistaken.” An Alpha nearby who had been eavesdropping, around thirty-some years old, chimed in, “Pregnant people cannot attend funerals.”
Luo Qingcheng turned his head and asked, “Why not?”
“Since ancient times, there has been this saying. Attending a funeral while pregnant brings bad luck.”
Luo Qingcheng slowly widened his eyes, then turned his head to ask Jiang Heming, “Do you have a traditional Chinese medicine qualification certificate?”
Jiang Heming’s deep eyes stared sharply over, “Are you doubting my diagnosis?”
Luo Qingcheng didn’t mean that at all. Instead, he felt that this person was much more sensitive to outsiders’ thoughts than ordinary people, and the danger of provoking him must be very high. He felt lingering fear over his unjustified removal of the man’s mask.
If this young master Ning was a transmigrator, which was highly probable: first, gathering limited pheromones out of fear that the mission would fail; second, definitely deeply rooted in rumors and already panicking; third, unmarried and pregnant.
Triple high pressure overwhelmed him beyond capacity, and he frightened himself into collapsing.
Watching young master Ning being carried away, and looking out over the mourning hall, there hung the portrait of the S-rank Alpha Mu Xiao. Beneath a black knitted leather hat was a fair, smooth chin, with lips covered so that only the lower lip remained. The intense black-and-white collision had an irresistible, soul-captivating quality. No one dared to look at it for long; even his aunt, uncle, and lawyer only focused on the guests.
Luo Qingcheng felt fortunate that the little tadpole belonged to Qiao Buyi, otherwise a second tyrant would be living in his belly.
Everyone at the venue received a testing test-strip. Arranged neatly in rows and columns were about a hundred people, all individuals of status and standing. Luo Qingcheng saw Huo Jing and his group, belatedly realizing that their gathering last night was a premeditated plot to fight for the inheritance.
Yet no matter how arrogant and haughty they were outside, at this moment they were all kneeling properly on kneeling mats, holding three sticks of incense that emitted wisps of blue smoke, blurring their features.
Above the mourning hall, the big screen scrolled and played the deeds of Mu Xiao’s brief life before stopping, replaced by the rules for the inheritance gifts set by Mu Xiao during his lifetime.
The lawyer announced on the spot once again: “Mr. Mu’s huge inheritance will be given to the person who cries the hardest, keeps vigil the longest, and burns the most incense before the spirit at the funeral. The time limit is 12 o’clock sharp. If any seizing occurs, it will be considered a foul, and the big screen will display the elimination. Everyone is kindly requested to mourn Mr. Mu from the bottom of their hearts.”
Upon completion, “Scoring test officially begins” popped up on the big screen. The falling electronic sound was like pressing the start key on a crazy, fatal game.
Among the more than one hundred people on the scene, none had ever seen Mu Xiao’s true face, nor had they received any grace from Mu Xiao. More than anything, they dreaded him, cursed him, and hated him. To say they sincerely bent their knees, wept, and wailed? There was none. If wishes could become images, the sky above should be paved with glittering wealth and supreme power.
However—
Wailing, roaring, and screaming poured down like a torrential rain falling from the sky, or like tears fighting on piano keys. Gunpowder smoke filled the air, with every tear killing a person. The melody was like an out-of-control running horse, iron cavalry trampling defeated generals, flesh and blood bursting forth, defeating violence with the most violent methods possible!
The banner of victory would always be planted atop a mountain of blood and bones. The roar, like a gale, beat the surrounding feather flowers wave after wave, and the lamentations were about to become a triumphal song welcoming victory.
Every time the big screen updated, the whole venue’s data emitted a beep like a nervous heartbeat. The tear-bombs and gunpowder smoke blew the heart into a red alert: So-and-so has committed a foul and is eliminated.
This was an absurd funeral, a grand funeral, an ugly funeral.
A sacred yet blood-stained war that was bound to weave a brilliant, violent spark of fireworks.
Mu Xiao used this display of human nature’s fireworks to bury his short life.
Luo Qingcheng was shocked. He felt as if he had been placed in the national college entrance examination, only to enter the exam room and discover he hadn’t received his admission ticket.
He had spared no effort collecting pheromones, yet he lost at the starting line!
The peppermint candy melted in his mouth, making him much more lucid. A stick of incense on the ground in front of the mourning hall abruptly entered his line of sight.
Luo Qingcheng no longer had the mental energy to dwell on matters of pride. He stepped forward quickly, picked it up, blew away the footprints left by someone stepping on it, and under the gaze of Mu Xiao’s uncle and aunt, solemnly lit it, offered the incense respectfully, and raised his eyes only to bump into Mu Xiao’s portrait.
Such a smooth and gracefully curved chin, the lower lip looking as though in some darkness, fiercely bit him. Where was that thick bloody stench overflowing from…
A four-year-old boy pulled his mother’s large hand: “Mom, who is he? He is sadly eating his own tears.”
His mother knitted her brows and said with sorrow: “Your older brother will certainly be very happy when he finds out.”
[System]: I’m dying of anxiety. Luo Qingcheng, why are you still daydreaming? Everyone else is trying their hardest to roar. How can you expect to win first place with such a stiff performance!
Luo Qingcheng had zoned out. He was anxious too, otherwise why would he have scurried over to pick up incense that someone else had stepped on to put on an act?
There was an hour and a half left until 12 o’clock sharp. Once team collaborations like Huo Jing’s were exposed, the transmigrators would also be unable to hold back.
Luo Qingcheng put on an act again: Don’t rush, opponents will laugh when they see it.
His abdomen honestly and productively gave him a sudden lash of discipline. Luo Qingcheng turned pale and subconsciously supported himself with one hand on the edge of the mourning hall.
Mu Xiao’s uncle was a middle-aged Beta man who had gained some weight. Catching sight of his very poor complexion, he stepped forward with concern: “Do you need me to call a doctor for you?”
Luo Qingcheng recovered slightly and indicated he was fine. Turning around and about to leave, a strong, sturdy hand steadied him. Raising his eyes to see it was Jiang Heming, he didn’t stand on ceremony: “Could I trouble you with one favor, exactly?”
With solemn brows and eyes, Jiang Heming walked back with him to the tea area. The deafening cries made him lower his head and lean close to Luo Qingcheng’s ear: “What did you say?”
Luo Qingcheng had no choice but to whisper into his ear: “Help me fetch a mirror.”
Jiang Heming looked back toward the mourning hall. There was no mirror in front of Mu Xiao’s mourning hall portrait; only a single solitary stick of incense was struggling to burn.
He didn’t ask what the mirror was for, as if anticipating something to happen, and asked softly: “Where is the mirror?”