Enigma

After Si Jinyan left, cold sweat had already seeped down Yao Di's back.

He stared in the direction Si Jinyan had gone, the panic in his eyes gradually replaced by gloom.

Just now.

Si Jinyan's eyes had overlapped with those terrifying, sinister beast eyes in Yao Di's memory. As Si Jinyan pressed forward step by step, when he was only a foot away, the thought that Si Jinyan might want to kill him had even flashed through Yao Di's mind.

Lu Jiu immediately realized Si Jinyan had lost control. He rushed over, pressed down on Si Jinyan's shoulder, and shouted his name, "Si Jinyan!?"

"Si Jinyan!!"

Si Jinyan's raised hand froze in midair. Yao Di had no idea what Si Jinyan intended to do, and his body instinctively retreated slightly.

Under Lu Jiu's sharp rebuke, the faint gold and black in Si Jinyan's eyes flickered briefly before his gaze finally returned to its calm black.

Si Jinyan lowered his eyes.

Anxious, Lu Jiu spread his fingers before Si Jinyan's eyes, trying to get his attention. "Si Jinyan? Can you hear me?"

Si Jinyan looked up and said calmly, "I heard you."

He pushed Lu Jiu's hand aside again and said flatly, "I'm fine."

Lu Jiu was clearly unconvinced. As Si Jinyan's attending physician, he knew better than anyone what Si Jinyan looked like when he lost control. "Then what was that just now?"

Si Jinyan did not answer. The hand that had been suspended in the air instead fell onto Yao Di's shoulder, and the muscles beneath his palm reflexively tensed.

Seeing that Si Jinyan's eyes had returned to normal, Yao Di remained somewhat wary. But he also realized how completely he had just disgraced himself. He straightened his back slightly, trying to put on the dignity expected of an emperor. "Si Jinyan, what do you want?"

Si Jinyan's brows furrowed slightly, as though he were suppressing something. In a low voice, he said, "I never cared what you did before. I'm not you, and I have no interest in the things you care about."

Si Jinyan did not care about power or status, nor did he want to keep playing childish political games with Yao Di.

Si Jinyan said slowly, "But stay out of my affairs. Don't touch what's mine. There won't be a next time."

As he spoke, an invisible pheromone pressure radiated outward from Si Jinyan. He had no intention of restraining it; he was even releasing it deliberately, and the atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive.

For an alpha to release pheromone pressure meant provocation and suppression. It could stir up aggression between alphas.

Yet Emperor Yao, along with Lu Jiu beside him, were both alphas, but neither reacted. More accurately, they could barely move.

Lu Jiu knew that Si Jinyan was truly angry this time.

Back when they had studied Si Jinyan's body, they had discovered something unusual. Si Jinyan did not belong to any of the three genders: alpha, beta, or omega. He existed outside them.

He did not fear alpha pheromones, was unaffected by them, could not be provoked by alphas, and had no reaction whatsoever to the pheromones of an omega in heat. Like a beta, he could ignore all pheromones, yet his functions were normal—indeed, even superior to those of a top-tier alpha.

He could also release an exceptionally unusual pheromone pressure. At the time, every researcher had been affected by it and had felt fear toward those pheromones. Unless they deliberately resisted, anyone approaching Si Jinyan would feel their limbs go weak while their body stiffened, making them unable to move.

While consulting rare cases and ancient records, the researchers had discovered that similar cases had once existed abroad. These people shared similar traits: they were unaffected by alphas, betas, and omegas, yet often stood above all three.

They had been placed into a new research category, collectively known as enigma.

After saying that, Si Jinyan left. Worried about his condition, Lu Jiu followed close behind and took his leave as well.

Yao Di stared in the direction Si Jinyan had gone, gritted his teeth, and slammed his clenched fist viciously onto the wooden desk with a loud bang.

Chi Li had vaguely overheard some of what Si Jinyan said afterward.

During that period of silence, Chi Li, standing outside the door, had no idea what had happened. He only saw Lu Jiu following closely behind Si Jinyan.

Lu Jiu insisted on giving Si Jinyan an examination, but Si Jinyan refused. Knowing he could not force him, Lu Jiu could only compromise. "Then I'll come find you later."

Si Jinyan took Chi Li and left the banquet directly, leaving the people behind them whispering among themselves.

After they returned, Si Jinyan did not mention a word about what had happened that night. Chi Li had nothing to ask either, so he obediently stayed by Si Jinyan's side.

A few days later, online discussion was drowned out by the rising popularity of other news. After some more time passed, almost no one mentioned the matter again.

Life in the residence returned to peace. Unlike before, Chi Li now had the freedom to go out. He tentatively told Si Jinyan that he wanted to leave the residence, and Si Jinyan approved after simply telling him to be careful.

This made it easier for Chi Li to receive omega masking injections and report information. During that time, Chi Li went to the old district for another omega masking injection. Yet only a few days after the shot, he entered another heat just as severe as the last one.

Similar to before, Chi Li's heat came fiercely and lasted a long time, continuing for nearly half a month. After this, Chi Li concluded that Si Jinyan's influence might have caused side effects in the medicine that had initially been stable.

Fortunately, the side effects could be endured by eating candy. Si Jinyan had Lu Jiu give Chi Li another examination, but the results were no different from before.

One day, several months later, Chi Li had just reported some information and left the old district when he sharply noticed someone following him. He had gone out alone, without any bodyguards.

Chi Li instinctively felt that they were not Si Jinyan's people.

A moment later, Chi Li discovered that more than one person was following him. On the road back to Si Jinyan's residence, those people appeared to have prepared an ambush in advance, trailing him at a steady distance.

Their objective was still unclear. While pretending not to notice them, Chi Li contacted Si Jinyan and had the driver take another route, hoping to shake them off.

The road leading to Si Jinyan's residence was already sparsely populated. At dusk, it was even more deserted. At that moment, three cars openly closed in on Chi Li's vehicle.

Through the window, Chi Li saw that the nearest car already had a gun trained on him. Yet he had nothing at hand to defend himself with.

By then, the driver had also noticed something was wrong. "Kid, do you think those cars are—"

Before the driver could finish speaking, a bullet pierced the window and shot into the backseat.

The driver cursed in terror and slammed on the brakes. Chi Li immediately said, "Don't stop!"

Chi Li had anticipated that bullet and successfully dodged it. It sank into the seat cushion beside him, filling the air with the smell of gunpowder and burning.

Another bullet came immediately after. Those people were no ordinary shooters. Dodging the first bullet might have been luck, but dodging the second could not be explained by luck alone.

Chi Li barely avoided it, and another scorched bullet hole appeared in the seat cushion.

Perhaps those people had noticed something. When they aimed at Chi Li again, they were slower than before.

Chi Li gritted his teeth and weighed his options for a moment. Falling into these people's hands carried greater unknowns and risks.

After two seconds of thought, Chi Li grabbed the driver by the collar and said quickly, "Get under the seat. Call the police. I'll shake them off."

The driver was merely an ordinary person who drove for a living. He had never seen anything like this. Before he had even recovered from the fright, Chi Li had already shoved his trembling body aside.

After Chi Li made a sharp turn with the car, the driver slammed into the door. Only then did he seem to come back to his senses. Looking at Chi Li, who was driving calmly, he asked in a shaky, panicked voice, "W-what's going on? What do we do...?"

Chi Li watched the cars as they closed in. He clenched his back teeth and could not help cursing internally. "Call the police!"

One of the cars suddenly rammed toward Chi Li in the driver's seat as though it had no regard for its own life. As it drew near, its window rolled down, and a barrage of bullets swept straight at Chi Li.

Chi Li hurriedly ducked down to avoid them. Of the two bullets, one grazed his face and the other his shoulder. A bloody mark immediately appeared on Chi Li's face, blood running down his cheek.

Chi Li could not be certain about the earlier bullets, but now his pupils trembled as he realized these people were after his life.

A figure flashed through Chi Li's mind.