After Differentiation, My Arch-nemesis Thinks I’m Fragrant - Chapter 52

At the moment they brushed past each other—

Shu Youzhan stood still, feeling a gust of sharp wind seem to scrape past her side. Belatedly, she lowered her eyes to look at the back of her hand, seeing a trail of blood slowly seeping out.

A diagonal scratch had appeared on the back of her hand.

She twitched her fingertips, realizing that the sensation of “wind” she had perceived was actually an illusion; in reality, it was because the cut was made so fast that it took a moment for her body to react, creating that impression.

She must have been cut during the earlier exchange with her opponent.

Seeing the change in her expression, the man—who had stopped not far away and just taken a punch to his slightly reddened chin—nonchalantly raised his hand. He revealed a shimmering sharpness at his fingertips. At first, Shu Youzhan thought he was carrying a blade, but looking closer, she realized his fingernails had been filed into sharp triangular points.

Now, a line of red showed beneath the nail of his index finger.

The thin Alpha raised his hand to his lips and smeared that small trace of blood onto them. Smelling the scent of the pheromones in Shu Youzhan’s blood, a look of intoxication appeared on his face:

“So fragrant.”

“It’s the kind of scent that makes people impulsive just by catching a whiff.”

“I wonder if it’s even more fragrant near the glands?”

Shu Youzhan was utterly disgusted by his actions; even the sound of his voice made her feel nauseous. She stood there with her hands hanging still. Because of her slender build and her status as an Omega, the crowd of onlookers couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of sympathy for her.

“Ugh, the quality of people from the Fringe Planets is really beyond words. This guy is using a test as a pretext to blatantly bully an Omega…”

“This Shu family member should just forfeit. Forget her—even the Alphas from before who faced this opponent gave up. I don’t even know how someone like this got to the Blue Planet.”

“Look at him, it looks like his next goal is to directly attack her gland area. A neck injury is too dangerous; she might even lose control of her pheromones. If an Omega proactively releases pheromones in a public place like this, they have to bear all the consequences alone.”

“Just forfeit. The opponent is equal to her in speed, and she can’t win by strength. She’s lost this match for sure.”

…

Whispered discussions broke out from the spectator areas surrounding the arena.

Zhao Qinglan stood at the very back row with her arms crossed, appearing momentarily deaf to the voices around her. Her deep black eyes were fixed solely on the high platform.

However, if an observant person looked closely, they would find that her palms were clenched into tight fists.

On the high platform.

Shu Youzhan didn’t have time to worry about the gazes of others. She stood there in silence for a long time before letting out a soft sigh, as if signaling something.

The Alpha standing diagonally across from her laughed and raised his hand again: “Wanting to give up? Don’t. Play with me a little longer—”

He rushed toward Shu Youzhan at high speed, his face twisted with an excited smile, intending to leave more marks on this favored Omega before she could admit defeat.

As expected,

Due to her disgust and fear of him, Shu Youzhan couldn’t dodge in time. Her blocking movements seemed hurried; she only raised her arms hastily, as if trying to protect her head and other vital areas, willing to accept another wound on her arm.

The Alpha smiled knowingly, not intending to let her have her way. This time, his strike was deep, enough to leave a wound that could reach the bone. He looked forward to seeing this fragile Omega in tears.

He moved away immediately after the attack, giving Shu Youzhan time to let her emotions brew.

At the same time, he raised his fingertips to his lips again. “Let me—”

Before he could finish the third word.

He realized something was wrong.

His nose didn’t catch a richer scent of blood.

Rustle…

A strange sound rose from behind him, like a bag of rice being sliced open, with white grains scattering across the floor. It was a fine, rustling noise.

The expressions of the audience below also changed.

The Alpha realized something was amiss. As he spun around abruptly to see clearly, only a dark shadow flashed across his vision—

Before the pain at the back of his neck could spread, he finally saw the source of that sound. After he had slashed Shu Youzhan’s sleeve, there was a dark green cloth bag underneath it, from which sand was continuously pouring out.

His knees buckled. Due to the sudden onset of pain, he couldn’t stand up for a moment.

The military school teacher acting as the referee blew the whistle, expressionlessly counting down “Three, two, one.” After the signal for Shu Youzhan’s victory went out, the Alpha’s eyes were wide open, as if he hadn’t yet processed his defeat.

Shu Youzhan didn’t even look at him. She simply removed the sandbag from her wrist—now useless and significantly deflated—and tossed it in front of him, saying casually:

“You’re not worthy of a person—”

“Make do with a sandbag instead. After all, you’re both the same type of trash.”

…

The area outside the ring was silent.

No one had recovered from this reversal.

One second, they thought Shu Youzhan was a certain loser, and the next, the victory was decided…

Someone finally snapped out of it and let out an exaggerated gasp: “Damn!”

Immediately following that, the crowd’s exclamations erupted like thunder:

“She was still holding back her strength?”

“How many of those weights was she wearing?”

“That looks like iron sand… that one must weigh five or six pounds?”

“From her wrist to her elbow, maybe ten pounds.”

“I’ve got goosebumps… no way, am I about to witness military school history?”

…

Just as some onlookers predicted.

After dealing with that malicious Alpha, the opponents Shu Youzhan encountered next were no match for her. Or perhaps, intimidated by the fact that she was still hiding her true strength, they hesitated, and in that moment of doubt, they couldn’t keep up with her speed.

Twelve matches.

Fifteen matches.

Eighteen matches.

She successively took off the remaining weights from her arms and legs.

She was only two matches away from a twenty-win streak.

Drip.

She leaned on her knees, panting heavily. When she looked up again, she saw her new opponent. The hair on her forehead was soaked with sweat, and when she raised her eyes, her pupils shrunk slightly.

Before coming here, Shu Youzhan had seriously researched the students taking the Imperial Military Academy exam. She knew which Alphas had outstanding strength and would have certainly been on the recommendation list if not for their family backgrounds.

The opponent for this match was one of them. This person had a lazy expression, but after stepping onto the platform, he made people vaguely feel a sense of threat without even intentionally releasing pheromones. Shu Youzhan’s vision blurred for a moment, and she forced herself to snap back to attention.

If she hadn’t just gone through eighteen matches, she would be confident in going head-to-head with him.

But now…

Shu Youzhan tried not to think about how high her probability of losing was. She did her best to calm her breathing in a short time and nodded to the other person, indicating they could start.

However, the boy stood there without moving: “You probably can’t maintain your original speed anymore, right? This state is really draining. Your performance has already been more excellent than most Alphas I’ve seen.”

Whew.

Shu Youzhan took advantage of the gap to steady her breathing. Since the opponent didn’t plan to attack yet, she would seize every chance to recover her stamina.

Only her deep brown eyes remained fixed on him.

This Alpha was named Zhou Shi. He was strong and well-built with balanced strength and speed. He had light-colored curly hair—unsure if it was dyed or natural—and stubble was already showing on his chin.

He looked like the type who didn’t sweat the small stuff.

“I’ve fought ten matches, and you’ve fought eighteen. Plus an Omega’s naturally weaker constitution compared to an Alpha, you should be at your limit right now,” Zhou Shi continued to calmly analyze her state.

Shu Youzhan thought he was trying to use psychological tactics, so she remained tense, staring him down with full alertness.

But then.

Zhou Shi looked her up and down a few more times, turned around, and walked off the platform. His back was crisp and decisive, and he even found time to wave to the referee and say: “I forfeit.”

Shu Youzhan: “???”

Her eyes widened. Before she could react, the boy who had already reached the bottom of the stage turned back to look at her: “Let’s save today’s match for later. I want to experience you at full strength. Let’s spar again in the future; I hope you won’t disappoint me.”

After saying this, the other party walked toward the next venue, leaving Shu Youzhan stunned on the stage, accepting her easiest victory of the day.

“Oh my.”

“This classmate has set a bad precedent. It makes things so awkward for the person who has to fight little classmate Shu next. If I fight, I look like a points-obsessed loser; if I don’t, I look like a coward. It’s truly agonizing.”

A smiling voice came from nearby.

Shu Youzhan turned her head and saw a boy with entirely white hair who had stepped onto the high platform at some point. It seemed he was her final opponent.

This person was also on the list in Shu Youzhan’s memory.

He was very strong.

She tightened her jaw and prepared herself once more. She saw the person take two more steps up, his eyes curving as he asked her: “Would little classmate Shu consider admitting defeat and letting me win? Faced with such a beautiful Omega, I find it hard to make a move.”

Shu Youzhan’s expression didn’t change: “No.”

Unless this person could beat her so she couldn’t stand up within ten seconds.

Or knock her off the platform.

Otherwise, she would absolutely not give up.

Hearing her answer, the boy rubbed his chin, looking somewhat troubled. He stood near the steps for a few seconds before suddenly smoothing his brow and looking at the referee: “I can’t be the only one with a headache—”

“More than that, I want to see the military school in chaos. If I forfeit this match too, little classmate Shu will be the person with the best physical test results this year. But she’s an Omega—will the military school actually admit her?”

The referee: “…”

He remained silent, pretending to be a wooden post.

The boy seemed to glean something from this. He whistled to himself, shoved his hands in his pockets, and started walking down again, looking like a troublemaker who loved creating problems for the school just to watch the show: “Then I’ll forfeit too.”

Shu Youzhan: “…”

She watched blankly as her final opponent ran off like that. After a moment, she chased to the edge of the platform and called out: “What is your name?”

“Zheng Bai.”

“I will remember this match. I’ll definitely come to ask for your guidance another day.”

The other party waved to her and walked away humming a song, looking relaxed as if he wasn’t there for an exam.

Soon after, the referee sighed and expressionlessly announced Shu Youzhan’s result of twenty consecutive victories. The girl, hearing her name, broke into a smile. She wanted to jump for joy, but because of the sudden relaxation, her knees went weak, and she sat directly down on the platform.

The surrounding students burst into good-natured laughter.

And there was endless discussion.

“Will she be the first Omega to enter our school?”

“Who knows? But we only acknowledge the strong, and she is indeed very strong.”

“She broke the limits of an Omega.”

“Psh… just good luck. If there were more challenges and she faced another opponent like the one in her eighth match, she’d be easy prey. No matter how strong an Omega is, isn’t that just the extent of it?”

“Where did this bitter lemon come from? Oh, not from this school. Never mind then.”

Among the countless voices, Shu Youzhan tried to get up from the platform; at the very least, she wanted to descend the stairs with dignity and let her legs go weak once she was outside the school gates. Just as she was about to push herself up again, a palm reached out to her from the edge of the platform.

The lines on the palm were exceptionally familiar.

Shu Youzhan blinked and saw the black figure who had walked to the base of the stage at some unknown time. She couldn’t help but smile again, unable to hold back her joy across this short distance.

Zhao Qinglan usually kept up her cool front in public, but seeing Shu Youzhan’s beaming face now, a warm light seeped into her ink-black eyes. She extended her hand a bit further. After Shu Youzhan’s sweat-dampened palm met hers, she used a steady pull to bring her down from the platform.

Shu Youzhan hadn’t recovered the strength in her legs and fell straight into her embrace.

A soft laugh came from above her head.

Shu Youzhan held onto her arm and took a few deep breaths before standing up tremulously. It was only her strong sense of self-respect that kept her from giving up and staying leaned against Zhao Qinglan.

She tilted her head back and boasted impatiently: “Am I impressive?”

Zhao Qinglan looked down at her.

A few seconds later, she smiled as well and said sincerely: “Impressive.”

Shu Youzhan continued to ask gleefully: “More impressive than you?”

Zhao Qinglan saw that the sweat on her brow hadn’t even been wiped away. She started to raise her hand, but noticing the surrounding students were watching them, and considering Shu Youzhan’s reputation, she slowly led her toward the exit, replying leisurely:

“More impressive than me.”

Her tone was full of indulgence.

Shu Youzhan couldn’t hide the curve of her lips. She felt that sharing her good news with Zhao Qinglan made the happiness double. She hummed and took it a step further:

“Then, should you consider marrying into my family in the future?”

Zhao Qinglan came to a sudden halt.

A teasing smile flickered in her eyes, like stars hanging high in the night sky. The trees along the military school’s path swayed, casting dappled shadows that danced over her deep black coat.

“As for marrying in or not…”

“Shouldn’t you give me a little ‘sweetness’ first to move me?”

Shu Youzhan realized she might be getting a bit carried away. She licked her lower lip, thinking about how to gloss over the “sweetness” part, when she saw Zhao Qinglan’s expression shift into a realization, as if suddenly remembering something. Her slightly husky voice rang out again:

“Just right. Didn’t we say this morning that you’d think about what to eat?”

“Can you tell me now, how do you plan to eat me?”