After Breaking Up with the Alpha Villain, I was Forcibly Marked - Chapter 29

“I am.”

Xing Yizhao nodded excitedly, directly confirming Gao Chang’s suspicion. Then, he looked toward his half-brother, a trace of half-hearted disappointment appearing on his face.

“I thought you knew already. Did Brother not tell you?”

Even though his gaze was fixed on Xing Xiyan, the words felt more intended for Gao Chang’s ears.

Gao Chang heard the subtle blame in his voice and couldn’t resist coming to Xing Xiyan’s defense. “It’s not a major matter anyway. It doesn’t matter whether I know or not.”

It was just a past that someone didn’t want others to know about. As long as it didn’t interfere with his conquest mission, what did it count for?

The gaze beneath Xing Xiyan’s fragmented bangs trembled slightly. His grip on the Alpha’s hand tightened instinctively. “He is an insignificant person. Senior does not need to know.”

As if wounded by their coldness, Xing Yizhao pouted. His thick, light-colored lashes flickered, and a wave of obvious grievance suddenly emanated from his features so similar to Xing Xiyan’s.

He lowered his eyes, his clear voice laced with a bit of a hitch. “Brother, you’re still blaming us. You’re blaming Father for not letting you return to the Royal Family, aren’t you…? Actually, he had his reasons for doing that. It’s not what you think!”

“I have nothing to say to your lot.”

Xing Xiyan’s face was indifferent. He was completely unmoved by Xing Yizhao’s attempt to play nice. Just as he had told Gao Chang, in his eyes, Xing Yizhao and the Royal Family behind him were nothing more than family members in name only. As for his nominal father, he had never felt a shred of so-called paternal affection from the man.

Even the number of times they had met was limited not even as frequent as the times Feike-li and the others had come to find trouble with him.

The only two meetings had occurred before he was sixteen and when he was ten. The first time, the man had denied the fact that he was his father with the words: “He doesn’t look like me.” The second time, he had negated the other half of Xing Xiyan’s bloodline with the words: “An ordinary person who failed to differentiate is not worthy of being a part of the Royal Family.”

Xing Yizhao’s brow furrowed, the look of grievance on his face deepening. “If you don’t want to consider us family, fine… but how can you speak of Father that way?”

“So, you came to find me to ask about the invitation?”

Sensing the subtle atmosphere of confrontation between the two, Gao Chang raised his voice, stepping forward to smooth things over. At his question, Xing Yizhao instantly lost interest in competing with his “useless brother.” Two patches of red cloud suddenly floated onto his porcelain-delicate, pampered face.

“I came to find you because I wanted to invite you personally. I also heard you were a student at the military academy and wanted to come see you.”

As he spoke, he naturally and purposefully reached out his hand, attempting to hook it around the Alpha’s arm. Gao Chang filtered out the suggestive ambiguity in his words and moved his hand away without a trace. “Sorry, I can’t attend.”

Having learned his lesson last time, he didn’t dare have any more physical contact with Xing Yizhao. Almost the moment the other reached out, he nimbly dodged, keeping himself out of reach.

Xing Yizhao saw the Alpha’s avoidance clearly, and his smile stiffened. “Can you really not come? Or is it that my sudden invitation has put pressure on you, and that’s why you don’t want to accept?”

Since his brief contact with the Alpha last time, he had been unable to forget the calming scent of cold bamboo on the man’s body. To that end, he had even commissioned several bamboo-based perfumes. Unfortunately, man-made substitutes could never compare to the original pheromones. Even if the scents were highly similar, they couldn’t provide him with a single bit of soothing effect.

Gao Chang’s brow furrowed. He felt the grip on his wrist become even heavier than before; the area was starting to go numb from lack of circulation. Is he annoyed because I’m taking too long with Xing Yizhao?

At this moment, Gao Chang’s only thought was how to avoid Xing Xiyan using this as an excuse to “deal” with him again. His attitude toward Xing Yizhao gradually shifted from basic politeness to perfunctory. He waved a hand. “If I can’t go, I can’t go…”

“Why not??”

Tears began to shimmer in the youth’s eyes.

A seductive, rich fragrance drifted out in threads, accompanying the youth’s questioning. Like invisible, colorless, yet incredibly resilient wires, they silently wound around the Alpha. Unfortunately, this time, his plan was intercepted.

Xing Xiyan, who had smelled the pheromones even before Gao Chang, instantly felt layers of frost freeze in his eyes. With a force that felt like it could crush Gao Chang’s wrist bone, he suddenly yanked the slow-to-react Alpha behind him.

“Holy shit! Give me a warning before you pull like that; I almost fell.”

Suddenly jerked a short distance away, Gao Chang was startled. He quickly grabbed the other’s shoulder to steady himself.

“If you don’t want to be locked up for a few more days, then behave!”

Xing Xiyan stared directly at his nominal brother, issuing a low warning to the Alpha beside him. Even though a Rutting Alpha was irritable and lost his reason like a little lion showing its claws, which stirred his desire to conquer the thought of the reason why Gao Chang fell into that state made a swarm of jealous thoughts erupt in an instant, gnawing at his nerves without end.

Gao Chang’s eyes went round. “You… noticed it too?” Xing Xiyan had actually guessed that Xing Yizhao’s pheromones had an effect on him.

Xing Xiyan suppressed the gloom in his eyes and gave a short grunt of affirmation. He hadn’t missed the way the Alpha had held his breath and intentionally dodged earlier.

Xing Yizhao, who had been watching the two closely, was stunned by their conversation. The moment he processed it, a surge of wild joy erupted in his heart. He hadn’t expected that his light testing that day would actually yield such a reward.

“Brother Gao Chang, I’ve heard… that the higher the compatibility between an Alpha and an Omega, the easier it is to generate a mental link and be influenced by each other’s pheromones.”

He tilted his head back, his smile shy. “Brother Gao Chang, I don’t know why, but every time I smell your pheromones, my mood becomes very good and I feel at peace. This feeling is truly different. I’ve always felt that the mental compatibility between us must be very, very high. Do you feel the same way?”

Hearing Xing Yizhao’s blatant hint, Gao Chang shot a quick glance at the person beside him. Xing Xiyan’s features even more elegant and sharp than his brother’s were dark, as if shrouded in a layer of ink that wouldn’t wash away.

I’m dead…

Gao Chang’s heart shook. He hurriedly denied it. “No, no, no, I didn’t think that at all.”

Xing Yizhao ignored him and spoke plainly: “I think we should perhaps do a pheromone compatibility test.”

Since he had investigated the Alpha’s background, he naturally hadn’t missed the “truth” behind the man’s frequent changes in boyfriends over the years. With the Alpha’s almost manic obsession with compatibility, as long as he took the initiative to propose a test, the other would be unable to refuse.

After hearing the suggestion, the Alpha indeed hesitated for a few seconds. “That… isn’t good, is it?”

“Do you really not want to know what my compatibility with you is?”

Xing Yizhao suppressed his dejection, slowing his speech and enunciating clearly. Almost every word struck a chord with what the Alpha was thinking.

“I do quite want to…”