Mo Lu felt a slightly rough, burning touch against the back of his neck and whipped around.
"Weisheng Tou!"
A green light flashed in Mo Lu's eyes.
The gland at the back of his neck grew warm, and a shudder ran through him.
"Young master... I'm sorry... I just... smelled your pheromones..."
Weisheng Tou abruptly withdrew his fingers and clenched his fist. The slightly downturned corners of his eyes made him look pitiful.
Mo Lu's scent, that cool white tea fragrance, curled around his nose in delicate strands. It stirred him so easily that he nearly lost his reason.
I want to mark him so badly.
So badly,
I want to mark him.
Beneath his long, thick lashes, Weisheng Tou's eyes brimmed with savage desire.
But...
"Young master... I'm sorry..."
Weisheng Tou lowered his head, his voice trembling slightly.
A drop of water fell from the ends of his hair. Only then did Mo Lu notice that Weisheng Tou had been caught in the rain.
Mo Lu pressed his lips together without a word.
He knew their pheromone compatibility was extremely high. It was already no small feat for Weisheng Tou to hold himself back.
But he still could not accept Weisheng Tou touching him so intimately.
Even less could he accept the fact that he actually wanted an Alpha to hold him in his arms.
"Weisheng Tou."
Mo Lu struggled to maintain his outward composure, his voice icy.
"I intended to ask you about these things back in my room. Since you have so little self-control, I'll ask you right here."
"Young master..." Weisheng Tou's fingertips trembled.
"You must have heard my conversation with Ye Liang."
Mo Lu's face was expressionless.
"...Yes."
He had heard it.
But just as Ye Liang had said, the Mo Family would find nothing even if they investigated.
Because the Empire would guard his secrets strictly.
Although the Mo Family had grown powerful enough to rival the Empire, they could not openly break with it and investigate him in defiance of its interference.
"Is there nothing you want to say? About your dealings with the Empire, for instance? Or why Xie Chaoheng knows you?"
Mo Lu stared intently at him.
Weisheng Tou gazed into Mo Lu's green, crystal-like eyes. After a long moment, he asked something entirely unrelated:
"...Young master, I've heard that the Mo Family has a Curse Technique that makes people tell the truth. Will you... cast that curse on me?"
"That depends on you."
There was no fluctuation in Mo Lu's voice.
"Young master, then could I tell you later?"
Weisheng Tou looked deeply into Mo Lu's eyes, profound love stirring in his gaze.
"I promise I will never do anything to betray you, young master."
Mo Lu watched him. After a long moment, he abruptly said in a hard, cold voice, "Understood. You may leave."
Although he had not cursed Weisheng Tou, his witch power could easily pick up on the slightest movements and expressions, as well as sense his breathing and heartbeat.
He knew Weisheng Tou's last words had come from the heart.
But what mattered most was not whether Weisheng Tou had lied in that final promise. It was that Mo Lu himself had panicked.
He could not understand what Weisheng Tou was thinking.
Weisheng Tou... why did he look at me like that?
Why do I feel as though Weisheng Tou likes me?
As though it isn't merely because our pheromones are so compatible, but because he truly likes me?
Mo Lu had never believed in love at first sight.
These past few days, for instance, although he had been unable to resist Weisheng Tou's closeness, he knew perfectly well that it was only a physical urge.
It was simply the inevitable result of compatible pheromones.
But the way Weisheng Tou had looked at him just now...
Mo Lu took a deep breath.
He did not want to know what Weisheng Tou was thinking.
It had nothing to do with him.
Too many people liked him. Not every one of them was worth taking to heart.
Mo Lu turned and left.
As for the Empire, Mo Lu was not worried in the slightest.
Even if Weisheng Tou really had been sent by the Empire, they could never achieve their objective.
Nor could they lay a finger on him.
The people of the Empire-the people of this entire world-knew absolutely nothing of the power of the Zhu You Technique.
Weisheng Tou watched Mo Lu's retreating figure and let out a soft breath.
He did not want to leave yet.
With light steps, Weisheng Tou slipped his tall frame nimbly into the darkness.
After returning to his room, Mo Lu changed out of his clothes and lay down on the bed.
It was still raining outside, and his thoughts were as chaotic as the rain.
That hand, its fingertips rough with calluses, had stroked his gland.
The gland Weisheng Tou had pressed was still hot, and that tingling sensation seemed to linger there.
Mo Lu rolled over, unable to calm down or feel the slightest hint of sleepiness.
He could not help thinking of Weisheng Tou in the Hidden Splendor Pool...
The rain outside grew increasingly frantic, pattering sharply against the leaves.
Mo Lu abruptly sat up and took two deep breaths.
He settled cross-legged and began reciting a little hurriedly:
"Let the heart be clear as water; let clear water be the heart.
No breeze stirs; no waves rise.
Alone amid secluded bamboo, sing long and play the zither..."
Weisheng Tou leaned casually outside Mo Lu's room, his head lowered as he listened to Mo Lu recite the Heart-Clearing Mantra. He could not keep the corners of his lips from rising.
His young master,
his Mo Lu,
his cool, proud Mo Lu,
was not as indifferent to him as he had imagined after all.
At that thought, the love and desire in Weisheng Tou's eyes became even harder to restrain. His smile exposed both sharp canine teeth.
After an unknown stretch of time, the room gradually fell quiet.
Mo Lu lay back down on the bed. To keep himself from thinking about those distracting things again, he even cast a Sleep Mantra on himself.
When Weisheng Tou heard the breathing inside the room grow steady, he picked the door open with a few easy movements and walked in.
Mo Lu looked very different from usual as he lay on the bed.
Without that icy gaze, his whole face looked softer and more delicate.
His nose was straight and high, the tiny mole at the corner of his eye especially endearing. His skin was smooth and fair, and his lips were an enticing pink.
Looking at him like this, one could tell at a glance that he was an Omega.
Weisheng Tou gazed at Mo Lu, utterly spellbound, his thumb gently stroking the outer corner of his eye.
His fingers traced Mo Lu's cheek, then slowly moved down to his neck.
"Mm..."
Mo Lu's brows knitted slightly in his sleep.
Weisheng Tou's hand paused.
But Mo Lu did not wake.
Only when he saw that Mo Lu showed no further reaction did he slowly lean down, his handsome face stopping just inches from Mo Lu's.
Weisheng Tou lowered his gaze to Mo Lu's lips, the longing in his eyes growing ever more evident.
The Mo Lu he yearned for carried that lovely white tea fragrance even on his breath. There was a faint astringency to it, but more than anything, it was a refreshing, cool scent.
It was so fresh that Weisheng Tou could almost touch the cool mountain spring water and hear the crisp patter of chilly rain against blades of grass.
It was nothing like his own fiery liquor scent.
"Mo Lu..."
Weisheng Tou murmured softly.
(Deleted)
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