Chapter 58: Shen Zhuo's Growing Power? / "Not Listening, Kiss Me."
The remaining guests were left to Ai Li.
Shen Zhuo returned to the manor with Du Xun first.
Sitting in the car, the man immediately pulled him into his arms, carefully inspecting the wound on his neck.
"Don't be so nervous, it's a minor thing."
Shen Zhuo lowered his head and saw that his collar was already sticky with blood.
Du Xun disinfected and applied medicine to the boy’s wound with the first aid kit from the car.
Shen Zhuo closed his eyes, pressing down on Du Xun’s hand as he examined the wound, and directly leaned his head onto Du Xun’s shoulder.
"Why did Xun Qiru have to die there?"
This was the only request Du Xun made after Shen Zhuo explained the entire plan — Xun Qiru had to die on the spot.
He didn’t know why Du Xun made such a decision, but he didn’t question it either.
This was why, at that moment, he pretended to faint and deliberately let Xun Qing make the move.
"Is it because he would interfere with your future plans?"
He knew Du Xun was cleaning up.
Not just the Xun family, but everyone in the political scene associated with Xun Qiru.
"Behind Xun Qiru are people we find hard to investigate."
Du Xun carefully cushioned the boy’s neck, avoiding pressure on the wound.
"Only by his death can we draw out those hiding in the shadows."
"Oh, I see," Shen Zhuo responded.
Du Xun fell silent.
When Shen Zhuo opened his eyes in confusion, Du Xun grasped the boy's hand.
"I'm sorry."
Shen Zhuo looked up. "For what?"
Du Xun gently rubbed his palm with his thumb.
"I let you get hurt."
Shen Zhuo was clearly by his side.
Yet, he still got hurt.
He knew how dangerous those people were.
He knew.
"It’s my fault."
Du Xun's voice was hoarse, and if you listened closely, there was a barely perceptible tremble.
The wound was so close to being fatal.
If it had been just a little deeper, Du Xun feared he would never forgive himself for the rest of his life.
Shen Zhuo said nothing, staring directly into the man’s guilty eyes.
"Sorry..."
Not hearing Shen Zhuo’s voice, Du Xun felt even more self-reproachful.
He carefully held him in his arms, not knowing what to say, only able to apologize.
"Sorry… I didn’t protect you well."
"Look at me." Shen Zhuo’s voice was calm.
Du Xun froze for a moment.
Shen Zhuo wasn’t surprised to see the deep guilt in his eyes.
The next moment.
A powerful burst of Shen Zhuo’s night-blooming cereus pheromones filled the cramped car, so intense that even Du Xun felt slightly uncomfortable.
This wasn’t a calming pheromone, nor was it for courtship.
It was aggressive.
Du Xun's eyes widened slightly.
His omega seemed… angry.
The soothing rosemary scent was instantly suppressed.
Just as Shen Zhuo had said before.
They were on the same level.
If they got serious, it was anyone’s guess whose pheromones would overpower whose.
"Darling..." Du Xun cupped his face, pecking his lips, "Baby, don’t be angry."
"Did you hurt me?"
Shen Zhuo pushed away his hand and grabbed Du Xun’s collar instead.
Du Xun followed his lead. "No."
Shen Zhuo: "Then why apologize?"
Du Xun: "I was worried..."
Shen Zhuo: "That’s all in your head. Dreams don’t count."
Du Xun nodded. "I understand now."
Only then did Shen Zhuo’s expression improve slightly.
After a moment—
Shen Zhuo: "You didn’t do anything to wrong me, did you?"
Du Xun replied seriously: "Of course not."
Shen Zhuo: "Then why apologize?"
Du Xun: "..."
Great.
We circled back again.
"Darling..."
Shen Zhuo stared at him, subtly toning down the oppressive pheromones while adding some calming ones.
Seeing Du Xun remain silent, Shen Zhuo didn’t want to forcefully listen to his thoughts either.
His hand slid from the collar to grab his lapel, pulling hard.
He forced Du Xun to lower his head so their eyes could meet.
He wasn’t good at comforting people.
But no matter what, he didn’t want his alpha to remain like this.
He wanted Du Xun to know that he could truly stand by his side.
"Even if I can’t move, my pheromones can still subdue them," Shen Zhuo said.
Du Xun lowered his eyes, seeing himself reflected in the boy’s gaze.
The part of himself he hated — the cowardly part.
"I..."
"Not listening," the boy interrupted, "Kiss me."
His butterfly-wing eyelashes half-covered his moist eyes, and he slightly raised his head, his lips brushing against the man’s chin.
Du Xun relaxed his brow, chuckling softly as his large, warm hand rubbed the boy’s waist before kissing him deeply.
The kiss was gentle yet impatient, pressing Shen Zhuo against the seat, holding him tightly.
Not until Shen Zhuo was limp in his arms, gasping for air, did Du Xun stop.
"In the future, I will be on the battlefield. I know what I’ll face."
Leaning into Du Xun’s embrace, Shen Zhuo panted slightly, his tone serious.
"I won’t die, so if I get hurt, don’t take all the blame on yourself."
"You’ve already done enough for me. Some things I need to do on my own."
"Don’t treat me like something fragile. I’m not a gem on display in any case."
He lifted his hand, touching the trembling lashes of his alpha.
"Understand?"
Du Xun held his hand, lowering his head to kiss his palm, his heart filled with tender love.
"I understand."
---
It wasn’t until they returned home that Shen Zhuo suddenly remembered something unusual he had heard when Xun Qiru died.
"I heard it."
Shen Zhuo recalled carefully. "Row 3, Seat 8. Row 6, Seat 4. And Row 11, Seat 12."
"Their thoughts were different when Xun Qiru died."
Du Xun looked at him, his eyes brightening.
"Your abilities have improved?"
Only then did Shen Zhuo remember. He hadn’t told anyone at Ares Military Academy, or even Du Xun, about this.
"Yes, I can hear a wider range now, starting from that day of the free combat."
"Ares doesn’t know about this, right?"
After receiving confirmation, Du Xun couldn’t help but ruffle the boy’s hair, genuinely happy for him.
"You did the right thing. Not all of them are trustworthy."
"Keep this enhanced differentiation ability a secret from everyone except your mentor and his wife."
The man’s gaze, filled with joy, also carried a hint of solemnity.
"You must be careful."
After the entry test at Ares Military Academy, Du Xun had been secretly investigating information about the underground trafficking organization.
He had even sent agents undercover.
Just this morning, Du Xun received a list of names from one of the undercover operatives.
It was a list of people targeted by gland hunters for capture or imminent abduction.
Among the hundreds of names, he saw Shen Zhuo’s.
There were two markings beside it.
One meant "difficult to capture, use special methods."
And the other—
"Killable."
This was one of the sources of Du Xun’s worries.
His omega wasn’t someone who wanted to be fully protected.
He wouldn’t go against Shen Zhuo’s wishes and imprison him under the guise of "doing it for his own good."
His treasure shouldn’t be bound by any chains.
Especially not chains coming from him.
He believed Shen Zhuo had the ability to protect himself.
But when facing those desperados, it was impossible for Du Xun not to worry.
However, this organization wasn’t easy to take down.
Their illegal profits might even have ties to government departments or the royal family.
To protect everyone on that list, there was only one way—
Take down the entire organization before they could act.
For this reason, Du Xun had spent four consecutive nights planning after Shen Zhuo fell asleep, including this morning when he coordinated the operation with Shen Zhuo’s bureau.
While they were dealing with Xun Qiru, the operation against the gland trafficking organization had already started.
But they were still missing the final key—an instigator.
The trigger to uproot everyone involved.
Shen Zhuo’s neck wound was carefully treated.
They applied a special healing ointment from the military.
By tomorrow, only a faint scar would remain.
There were still two and a half weeks before school started.
Shen Xuyin and Jiang Yuening reportedly needed a bit more time before they could return home.
Xia Dou, on the other hand, video-called him every day.
Though, after An purposely walked behind him holding a flowerpot during one of those calls, and Xia Dou exclaimed, "Why is that flower arranged like that?"—
Shen Zhuo directly gave Xia Dou’s number to An.
Even now, An was standing in the corner of the living room, holding his phone and protesting quietly in front of a painting.
"The painting you mentioned simply doesn’t match this place!"
Xia Dou’s voice chimed through the phone.
"My young master is so young, he should have something lively! The one you picked is so gloomy—who would like that?"
Shen Zhuo had to admit, this girl Xia Dou had some skill.
Since he arrived at the manor, he had never seen An so irritable.
To make An’s hair nearly stand on end—probably only Xia Dou could do that.
Ai Li, since the royal dance festival ended, had seen her reputation rise again.
She was probably busy chatting with Ji Weishen, which explained why she hadn’t contacted him as often lately.
Finally, there was Du Xun.
The man had been extremely busy these past two days.
Even though he said he was on leave, he hadn’t returned from the military for the past three days.
It wasn’t until the evening of the fourth day.
Shen Zhuo was in the collection room, playing with an intricately carved, hollowed-out small pistol.
An knocked on the door to inform him that Du Xun had returned.
The boy didn’t even have time to put on his slippers.
Hurriedly putting the gun back, he ran downstairs.
Du Xun was in the living room, taking off his military uniform jacket.
His well-built muscles were almost bursting through the buttons of his shirt.
"Du..."
Shen Zhuo had just lifted the corners of his mouth into a smile when he suddenly noticed the bandage wrapped around Du Xun’s arm.
Through the white shirt, spots of blood were visible.
"I’m back, darling."
Du Xun smiled as usual, but his eyes were red, filled with bloodshot veins like a spider’s web.
"What happened?" Shen Zhuo’s first thought was that Du Xun had been on a mission. "Weren’t you just commanding?"
The man put down his jacket and walked up to lift the boy, who was barefoot, placing him on the sofa.
"It’s nothing, just a little scrape."
His voice was the same as always—gentle and low—as he pinched his omega’s soft cheek and softly chided:
"Why aren’t you wearing shoes again?"
"What mission were you on?"
Shen Zhuo clung to Du Xun’s neck, and even after being placed on the sofa, he didn’t let go, narrowing his eyes.
"Don’t you dare lie to me."
Commanders were usually the least likely to get injured.
They rarely stood on the front lines of battle.
Because only when a commander was safe could a battle be won.
In Shen Zhuo’s memory, Du Xun had never been injured.
Du Xun, with his neck encircled by the boy, couldn’t straighten up, so he had no choice but to kneel in front of him in this posture.
"Today I..."
************
I love this ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
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