Xin Hexue pursed his lips and smiled. "I thought Young Master Xi had been a genius since childhood."
Xi Zhengqing froze.
He didn't know why, but the way the young man addressed him sounded especially tender.
Xin Hexue's voice was always calm and soft. Xi Zhengqing had never seen him angry, and he always wore a faint smile when he spoke to people.
Only when he was aroused did his voice break apart, as though unable to withstand his ragged breathing. It seemed trapped in his throat, spilling out in low sounds that alternated between slow and hurried.
Xi Zhengqing had heard it many times. As Pei Guangji, in the study, the kitchen, and on the couch at his childhood friend's Halfway-Up-the-Mountain Villa, he had pinned Xin Hexue down and held his hands above his head. With passionate kisses alone, he could draw soft, breathless little gasps from him, his low moans seeming to carry a wet sound.
Two months ago, Xi Zhengqing's interest in Xin Hexue had been based solely on twisted desire. He had wanted to press Xin Hexue against the one-way glass, onto the marble island in the middle of the kitchen, or even in front of a mirror, and take him fiercely from behind or face-to-face, indulging in the pleasure of being able to control the young man's tears.
Now, Xi Zhengqing felt that his feelings had changed.
Rather than playing twisted games of desire, he wanted Xin Hexue and himself to become lovers who understood each other's hearts, so they could share more romantic moments.
Xi Zhengqing longed to have a few drinks with Xin Hexue on the balcony in the early hours, to gaze at the sky through a telescope. He also longed to take him fiercely after they became a little tipsy, pressing him against the piano keys and setting off a furious variation.
The more his feelings burned with love and desire, the more they resembled volcanic magma bursting through the earth, impossible to contain once unleashed.
His Adam's apple bobbed once with restraint. He asked Xin Hexue, "Would you like something to drink? The tea and juice here are both very good. The tea leaves are picked and processed at the plantation below the resort."
Xin Hexue smiled at him. "Anything is fine."
Xi Zhengqing said, "All right. Practice on your own for now and wait for me. I'll be right back."
After he left, the archery range grew even quieter.
The gentle expression on Xin Hexue's face turned cold again.
He raised his bow and nocked an arrow once more, his left arm taut. He aimed and released the string with his right hand, the sequence of movements smooth and fluid.
With a whoosh, the sound of the arrow cutting through the air pierced the spring day.
The arrow shot forward and struck the bull's-eye!
Only then did Xin Hexue's lips curve into a genuine smile, a dashing spirit shining in his features.
In the sunlight, his skin was dazzlingly white, like the brilliant, blinding foam by the sea.
[Qiu Yuan's Affection Points +2]
Xin Hexue lifted his eyes and turned his chin slightly, glancing outside the range.
The blond Alpha wore sunglasses. When he saw Xin Hexue look over and realized his spying had been discovered, he didn't look away. Instead, he broke into a dazzling grin.
Xin Hexue hadn't expected Qiu Yuan to be here.
He didn't know how long Qiu Yuan had been watching, but he didn't care.
When he looked up again, Qiu Yuan had already left.
Xin Hexue touched the bow and arrow.
It wasn't that he was bad at archery.
In his second life, the Six Arts of the Gentleman had been very important, especially for a ruler.
He couldn't hit a willow leaf from a hundred paces like a master archer, but on important spring hunts, when the herds were released into the royal hunting grounds, the emperor had to shoot the first arrow under the watchful eyes of all his ministers.
Xin Hexue had always been fiercely competitive. Even when he was still the crown prince of an asteroid, no matter how grueling his mecha training was or how pale and drenched in cold sweat he became, he would grit his teeth and carry on rather than collapse in front of his instructor.
In his second life, he had ascended the imperial throne. With all his ministers watching, Xin Hexue could not tolerate missing his shot.
He had not been familiar with the cold weapons of the old civilization, but fortunately, he had an uncle who was a military general.
Xin Hexue had a fair amount of talent. For physical reasons, he could not draw certain bows that required over a hundred jin of force, but a light, flexible bow could still bring down prey.
He stroked the bow and arrow, the smile still lingering on his lips.
Xi Zhengqing returned after being gone for some time.
He said to Xin Hexue, "Would you like to soak in the hot spring? There's a pool in the private bathing room, with a view of the bamboo forest all around. The tea is ready too."
Xin Hexue said, "All right."
The resort had an open-air public hot spring pool, and the guest rooms also had private baths in their back courtyards.
Mountains surrounded the room on three sides, and its floor-to-ceiling glass windows made it feel as though nothing separated it from the mountain forest.
The private bath was surrounded by a sea of bamboo, and a bamboo fence screened it from the outside to ensure privacy.
Pebbles lined the bottom, white mist filled the air, and a faint scent of sulfur hung around them.
After they took off their robes, they hung them on a bamboo rack beside the pool.
Xin Hexue leaned against the pool wall, the muscles that had tightened during archery relaxing.
Steam dampened the ends of his hair. With his dark hair and snowy skin, he looked like a piece of fine white jade kept warm.
Xi Zhengqing sat opposite him, his glasses clouded with white mist.
Xin Hexue glanced at him.
He leaned forward curiously. "Can you see clearly like that?"
He raised a hand and wiped the mist from Xi Zhengqing's lenses with the pads of his fingers.
A breathtakingly beautiful face came into Xi Zhengqing's view.
It was like clouds parting to reveal the moon.
Beyond the mist was a beauty even more capable than a mountain spirit of enchanting ordinary mortals.
Xin Hexue chuckled softly at him.
Xi Zhengqing thought his own reaction must have looked foolish, like that of an inexperienced young man.
A jade-white hand, its delicate, defined knuckles tinged pink, casually hooked onto Xi Zhengqing's frames and pulled his glasses off with a gentle tug.
Xin Hexue tilted his head. "You probably shouldn't wear glasses in a hot spring, should you?"
Xi Zhengqing said, "..."
Xi Zhengqing felt some regret. Since they weren't staying overnight, he had wanted to share a private bath with Xin Hexue and had booked only this one room. He shouldn't have done that.
During their past games of desire, whenever he was intimate with Xin Hexue, Xi Zhengqing had deliberately gone without his glasses to disguise himself as Pei Guangji.
Now he was just like Pavlov's dog.
After Xin Hexue took off his glasses, his little brother stood at attention in an instant.
Chapter 26: Face blindness (26)
Xin Hexue had leaned very close to take off his glasses. As he spoke, either of them only had to lean a little farther for their lips to meet.
Amid the transparent mist, besides the faint sulfur scent of the spring water, was the smell of the pheromones the Alpha released silently. The potent, aggressive musk permeated everything, enclosing the young man.
Yet the Beta remained completely unaware.
Betas had no glands, so he couldn't know that the Alpha's pheromones were growing stronger and stronger, as though clamoring madly to mark him.
But that would be futile too. Even if he marked him repeatedly in a frenzy, every trace of the scent would wash away in the bath. Outsiders would never know whether a Beta had a partner.
Betas were always free, always removed from the pheromone-driven impulses of Alphas and Omegas. Only love could bind a Beta willingly.
Even knowing this reality well, Xi Zhengqing could not help releasing his pheromones. It was a courtship behavior engraved in an Alpha's genes.
But now, faced with Xin Hexue, the musky pheromones were more like a wild and obscene animal fantasy born of the struggle between his humanity and his animal nature.
Xi Zhengqing wanted to take Xin Hexue's hand. After hesitating, he closed his large hand around Xin Hexue's wrist.
The delicate texture of the young man's skin pressed tightly against his palm.
It was damp and hot.
Xin Hexue looked up, feigning confusion. "Zhengqing, what's wrong? Your ears are so red. Are you feeling unwell? Are you having trouble adjusting to the hot spring? Are you a little dizzy?"
The words that had risen to Xi Zhengqing's lips circled on his tongue. Meeting Xin Hexue's clear eyes, he swallowed them back down.
It wasn't time yet.
Xi Zhengqing still wanted to maintain his composure as much as possible in front of Xin Hexue. In the meantime, he had to keep an appropriate distance between friends.
Even though whenever he faced Xin Hexue, he became like a dog in heat, his body running ahead while his mind chased after it.
He was a far cry from the Xi Group heir who frequented the company, the upper house, and charity galas.
Xi Zhengqing was growing less and less like himself.
He released Xin Hexue's wrist and took his glasses.
Xi Zhengqing said, "I'm all right. I just had lamb hot pot with my family last night, and it replenished my qi and blood a little too much. The hot spring is making me feel a bit uncomfortable. Would you like some fruit? I'll go get you some."
He rose and stepped out of the hot spring pool, water streaming from his body.
Unlike his image as a refined businessman in a suit, Xi Zhengqing was actually lean and muscular. The Alpha's strong body was like a wolf poised to spring. Though he wasn't exaggeratedly large, he had all the usual features: broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and eight-pack abs.
Fortunately, there was K. Otherwise, with the difference in their builds and stamina, sooner or later Xi Zhengqing would wear Xin Hexue to pieces during his rut.
Thinking this, Xin Hexue said to K, [The mechanical parts of his body are waterproof.]
The Xi Group's most advanced technology was already capable of producing bionic skin. Apart from being made of a different material, it was indistinguishable from human skin in both texture and appearance.
But Xi Zhengqing clearly hadn't completely covered his mechanically modified chest with bionic skin. He had deliberately left some traces of the modifications visible.
Blue-purple lines and mechanical structures ran over the serratus anterior muscles on the sides of his rib cage, with faint currents visible beneath them.
Xin Hexue rested against the edge, lying forward with his hands folded. He asked Xi Zhengqing, "Are you really all right?"
There was clearly another meaning behind the question.
Xi Zhengqing put on his robe and said with an air of propriety, "I'm fine."
The room-service robot brought fresh fruit. Xi Zhengqing set the fruit platter by the hot spring pool and glanced at his communicator. "Zuo Yongyan will probably be here soon. I'll go out and meet him."
Xin Hexue nodded. "All right."
After Xi Zhengqing left, Xin Hexue shifted position and leaned back against the pool wall in complete relaxation. A special therapeutic herbal sachet had been added to the water, giving it a faint herbal scent. Ripples lapped against him, and a subtle buoyancy supported his body from below.