“Alert—”
“Alert—”
“Bio-organism S1001 not detected—”
“…”
Snowy night, Gangzhou.
The alarm blared through the KM Biological Research Center, shattering the silence of the night.
He Muchen set down the research documents in his hands, removed his goggles, and stepped out of the laboratory, just as he ran into other researchers rushing over in a fluster.
“Team Leader He, something’s happened in Sector S—bio-organism S1001 has escaped.” The intern, encountering this situation for the first time, looked at a complete loss.
The man before him, however, was far more composed and steady.
He Muchen had won the International IBR First Prize in Natural Sciences two years prior, proposed the Theory of Successful Transgenic Gene Integration into Humans, and had devoted himself to developing this technology.
Without a word, the man quickened his pace toward Sector S.
Sector S housed rare bio-organisms, and the one that had escaped was the white peacock, numbered 1.
White peacocks were not uncommon in nature,
but this particular white peacock at the research institute defied the laws of nature in both its external characteristics and cellular research.
When Meng Qitang had first brought it back from Fog City, the white peacock had been pure white all over, radiating a soft glow.
It had simply been too badly injured.
He Muchen harbored an unusually intense fascination with this white peacock, observing its recovery day and night without rest, afraid that anything might affect the subsequent research.
Now the white peacock’s injuries had fully healed—yet it had vanished.
“Who was the last person to leave Sector S tonight?”
The interns exchanged glances and stated the fact, “Team Leader Meng was the last to leave.”
…
The snowy night was cold and crisp, and the red plum blossoms stood out even more brilliantly against the white snow, with a faint fragrance lingering in the air.
The vast research facility stood empty. In an instant, a streak of silver light descended, and a woman was set down steadily onto the ground.
Snowflakes drifted away with the wind, landing on the corners of her brows and eyes. A trace of chill crept in, and she stirred her lashes.
The moment she opened her eyes, her beauty rivaled the spring dawn.
Her amber-colored pupils were clear yet alluring, breathtakingly beautiful.
Meng Qitang propped herself up into a sitting position, feeling a dull ache at her brow.
The woman’s brows were like distant mountains painted in dark ink, her lips a touch of crimson, her skin as white as the snow of deep winter, and her raven-black hair tousled by the wind, brushing against her face with a slight tickle.
She tucked the stray strands behind her ears, revealing a faint red butterfly mark at the outer corner of her left eye.
It had been there since birth.
Her memories were somewhat jumbled. Meng Qitang pressed her lips together and caught sight of a ring of bright white peacock markings that had appeared around her wrist.
She lowered her gaze to examine it closely—it looked like snow-white peacock plumes, coiled around her wrist, seemingly seared into her skin.
Meng Qitang was still wearing the white lab coat from the KM Research Center, which meant what had happened in Sector S had not been a dream.
That white peacock had truly transformed into a human…
Honestly,
if it was going to become a spirit, fine—
but why did it have to do so right in front of her?
The research facility outside was in chaos, the sound of footsteps coming and going against the ceramic tiles making her head throb even more.
She simply stood up, trying to wash off the ring of peacock markings—but to no avail.
The woman furrowed her brows, a hint of faint worry between them, wondering how to deal with this thing.
Three seconds later, she calmly accepted the fact.
How was she supposed to know that this thing had appeared on her wrist when she woke up?
It had nothing to do with her.
With that thought, Meng Qitang calmly pushed open the door and headed toward Sector S.
She could hear the commotion in the lab from far away. All the research team leaders had rushed over, and a crowd was gathered around the shattered glass on the floor, murmuring among themselves.
“The glass is made of AM-III Material—harder than diamond. Could an injured peacock really break through glass that tough?”
“Just how bold is Team Leader Meng, letting the first batch of test subjects from S-Zone go free?”
“All of Team Leader He’s hard work over this period has gone to waste…”
“…”
The murmurs rose and fell one after another. Ruan Yi was the first to notice Meng Qitang’s arrival and charged up without a second word to berate her. “Meng Qitang, what exactly have you done?”
Facing her accusation, Meng Qitang remained completely unruffled.
She cast a light, dismissive glance at Ruan Yi, hesitating over whether to say it or not, but in the end she couldn’t hold back. “I haven’t done anything good, but I can kindly remind you—your fake eyelashes are crooked from all that huffing.”
“You!”
Ruan Yi hadn’t expected her to call it out in public like that to embarrass her. She was so furious she couldn’t get a word out and retreated to the side to fix her fake eyelashes.
He Muchen heard the commotion from over there, pushed through the crowd, and beckoned to Meng Qitang. “Team Leader Meng, come take a look.”
Meng Qitang casually tied up her dark hair. Fortunately, the research uniform had long sleeves, so no one could see the Peacock Mark on her wrist.
“Can you tell me what you did in S-Zone?” He Muchen’s voice was very calm, with no sign of anger toward her.
Her amber eyes were lively and sharp as she swept them across the scattered glass shards, finally spotting the logbook in the corner.
“Observed the white peacock’s various indicators as usual.”
He Muchen took the logbook and flipped through a few pages but found nothing unusual.
“Team Leader He, first of all, I’m a woman—I’m not Lu Zhishen…” She said this with pointed meaning, her gaze sweeping over the mess of shards on the floor.
Then Meng Qitang cast a faint look around at the people nearby and spoke unhurriedly. “Lu Zhishen uprooted a weeping willow with his bare hands. What? Do I look like I could uproot a weeping willow too?”
Everyone: …
Her implication was clear—she didn’t have that kind of strength to shatter the glass enclosure.
She was a victim too.
She’d been thrown clear across the room, hadn’t she?
For some unknown reason, all the surveillance cameras in S-Zone had failed. Aside from Meng Qitang, no one knew what had happened there not long ago.
When everyone expected He Muchen to continue interrogating Meng Qitang, the man only gave an order instead. “KM Research Center has issued a directive: full effort to retrieve biological specimen S1001.”
Not a single word about assigning blame.
…
The night was thick, and the snow was falling harder.
Meng Qitang ran into He Muchen as soon as she came out of the changing room. The man was in his casual clothes, standing at the door waiting for her.
Seeing her emerge, the stern expression on his face softened into something gentler. “Tangtang…”
She and He Muchen had been schoolmates from high school through university. Now He Muchen was twenty-seven, and Meng Qitang was twenty-five—both at the age for marriage. The institute director had been trying to play matchmaker between her and He Muchen.
Meng Qitang didn’t step forward. Instead, she looked around left and right.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Looking for Ruan Yi. She’ll come sniffing her way over soon enough.” The woman’s voice was soft, yet carried a distinct air of detachment.
She was cool and aloof, not wanting any unnecessary entanglement with him.
Sure enough, Ruan Yi arrived at the scene three minutes later.
Her high heels clicked against the ceramic tiles—her presence announced before she was even seen.
Ruan Yi had changed into a striking red knit dress, and her lipstick was a terrifying shade of red to match.
Meng Qitang instinctively drew in a sharp breath. Ruan Yi’s makeup and styling were still a bit too avant-garde for her taste.
“Muchen!” Ruan Yi called out to him joyfully, then caught sight of Meng Qitang not far away, her tone turning displeased. “Team Leader Meng, you’re here too. What a coincidence!”
“Not a coincidence,” Meng Qitang said as she opened her umbrella. “He’s waiting for you.”
With that, she left on her own without a care for He Muchen’s fate.
He Muchen tried to grab the woman’s arm, but she dodged away. He then turned back, staring at his own arm now held by Ruan Yi, and felt a headache coming on.
“Ruan Yi, please show some restraint.”
Ruan Yi refused to let go, her voice soft and sweet. “Muchen, the director said he’s quite optimistic about you and me.”
The director, who was in the middle of enjoying an opera, suddenly sneezed. He rubbed his nose. “Who’s talking about me?”
PS:
Both leads are pure and devoted to each other — Human-Deity Romance.
The white peacock is the one belonging to Boss Bai and Rose Yun at Royal Manor.
This story takes place after Boss Bai and Rose Yun have both taken form at Lingwu Snow Mountain.
A peacock! And he displays his tail! Once he falls for someone, he knows exactly how to charm — it’s irresistible!
Everyone has their own take on deities, and we can all shape characters into what we love. Please don’t come at me for that.
The female lead is no naive sweetheart, nor is she a saint. She’s chillingly composed, with a temperament as steady as a capybara.
As always, reading is a journey — anything you don’t understand early on will be explained later~
Now let’s pull up our little stools and watch our peacock deity Xu Bai and biology researcher Tangtang’s sweet love story together~
If you like it, add it to your bookshelf and follow along~ So you won’t miss any exciting content. Mwah!