After Helping the Protagonist Escape From a Madman, I Became His Target [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 27

Shen Luyang finished handing out the bread rolls and placed two on Xie Weihan’s desk, though the man was nowhere to be found. He glanced at Shi Fan’s empty desk, and an inexplicable, sinking feeling began to take root in his gut.

At the same time.

The Arts Building, Multimedia Classroom.

Shi Fan knocked on the door. Only after hearing a calm “come in” did he push the door open and step inside.

The vast classroom held only Xie Weihan. He wasn’t standing at the front by the screen; instead, he stood with a relaxed posture by the window directly facing the door. He held an antique Western pocket watch in his hand, his slender fingers lightly tapping the casing. The sound seemed to pulse in time with a heartbeat, sending a faint tremor through the room.

His dark, sharp suit fitted him impeccably, the crisp lines of his shoulders flowing into his arms. The contrast between his cold, pale skin and the black tie was striking—an intersection of restraint and desire that threatened to overwhelm any curious onlooker.

Shi Fan felt a sudden, powerful, almost uncontrollable urge to get closer. He grit his teeth, forcing himself to stay back. After taking several deep breaths, he walked in but left the door open. “Teacher Xie, did you need something?”

Xie Weihan turned as if only just noticing him. The curve of his lips was as gentle as ever, yet it held no warmth. “Yes. I’ve run into a bit of trouble. Does Teacher Shi know how to adjust this?”

He looked with feigned frustration at the projection screen, which was currently covered in a mess of flickering stripes. Shi Fan blinked, surprised it was such a simple request. Thinking nothing of it, he closed the door and said, “I’ll give it a try.”

Xie Weihan’s smile remained fixed. “Much appreciated.”

Shi Fan did a quick check and found a minor glitch. However, when he tried his usual fixes, the screen only cleared up slightly. He pulled out his phone to search for other solutions.

Minutes ticked by. As if finding the silence too oppressive, Xie Weihan moved to stand directly behind Shi Fan. His voice was low and resonant. “Is it proving difficult, Teacher Shi?”

Shi Fan jumped. Because of the sudden proximity, his heart began to race. His cheeks flushed a deep red, though he seemed entirely unaware of it. Avoiding Xie Weihan’s gaze, he struggled to manage the strange physical reaction, managing only a strained reply: “It’s a bit complex, but I can fix it.”

Xie Weihan stepped half a pace closer, stopping just short of contact. His smile deepened, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Teacher Shi, you seem very uncomfortable.”

The hand holding the remote control was visibly trembling. Beads of sweat broke out on Shi Fan’s forehead as his consciousness was slowly swallowed by an irresistible force. He tried to fight it, but it was like an ant trying to topple a tree; he could only sink further.

Xie Weihan felt the scorching, roiling desire within himself. The feeling was familiar—the third time now. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes briefly. A specific face—one that always called out “Teacher Xie” with the warmth and intensity of a sunbeam—flashed in his mind. Under the touch of his pale fingers, that face would gradually become stained, weeping, pained, and ecstatic…

A second later, Xie Weihan opened his eyes. He curled his lips into a delighted smile and looked down at Shi Fan, who was curled in a heap on the floor, leaking pheromones everywhere.

As if afraid of staining his clothes with the scent, Xie Weihan stepped back half a pace. Yet, he considerately knelt down, watching the pathetic Shi Fan. His voice grew deep and mellow, tinged with a strange, rhythmic cadence.

“Did someone give you some kind of drug?”

A mental spike of pain was driven into Shi Fan’s desire-swept brain. He curled up in agony, but the voice compelled a raspy answer: “No…”

“What is your relationship with Shen Luyang?”

Shi Fan’s eyes were dazed and pained. He struggled to crawl toward Xie Weihan. “Co… colleagues… He helped me… blocked Duan Chen…”

Xie Weihan waited patiently, but no other answer came. He glanced toward the classroom door, then back down. He stepped away a second before Shi Fan could reach his leather shoes. His eyes held no emotion, as if he were looking at a worthless animal. He watched the scene like an improvised play and asked nonchalantly, “What are you feeling right now?”

Shi Fan lay powerless on the ground. “I want… I want to get close… let me—”

Suddenly, Shi Fan regained a sliver of clarity. He clutched his own throat in disbelief, staring up at Xie Weihan—the man who always presented a mask of cold restraint.

“You… what did you do to me?!”

Who was this person with the dark, bottomless eyes standing before him?

Xie Weihan looked at the pocket watch in his hand. His beautiful, almost bloodily exquisite face held a look of tender expectation unlike anything he had shown before. But Shi Fan let out a pained groan and slammed back into the floor. The S-class Alpha pheromones were attacking him.

The absolute, lethal suppression terrified him to his core, yet he still didn’t understand why this was happening.

Xie Weihan murmured softly, pressing a light kiss to the pocket watch. His long lashes half-veiled his cold, dark pupils, like a devout believer kissing his supreme deity. Or like a devil coaxing a god down from their pedestal with a gentle lure.

“Prove it to me, my angel.”

The pocket watch ticked—click, click—and with the final syllable of his sentence, a louder thud echoed.

The door was kicked open. Shen Luyang appeared at the entrance, breathless, his eyes frantically scanning the room. Xie Weihan subtly distanced himself from Shi Fan, masking the dizzying pleasure deep in his pupils. He said softly, “Teacher Shi?”

Hearing the voice, Shen Luyang sprinted to Xie Weihan’s side, checking him over from head to toe. “Are you okay, Teacher Xie?”

Only then did he catch the scent of Shi Fan’s pheromones. “Shi Fan—”

“I’m fine. Teacher Shi has had a sudden rut,” Xie Weihan said, his brow furrowing slightly in discomfort before he suppressed it. He apologized calmly. “I’m sorry. For some reason, I can’t get near him. Fang Yi is on his way.”

Sensing the man’s distress, Shen Luyang clumsily released his own pheromones, slowly and awkwardly directing them to surround Xie Weihan to shield him from the influence. While doing this, he knelt to help Shi Fan, only to find he had already fainted.

Fang Yi arrived, and seeing the state Shi Fan was in, he wanted to scream, “What the f—k,” but he didn’t dare. He shot a glare at Xie Weihan, who was leaning to the side, being fussed over by Shen Luyang like a piece of fragile amber. Fang Yi resigned himself to cleaning up the mess.

Ultimately, both Xie Weihan and Shi Fan were taken to the infirmary. Fang Yi gave Xie Weihan two perfunctory sprays of the buffer so he could play along with his “faint” in peace, then ran off to save the person who actually needed medical attention.

Shen Luyang still hadn’t quite recovered from the sprint. He had been in the middle of discussing teaching methods when the System had screamed in his head.

[Emergency Mission! Xie Weihan has developed murderous intent toward Shi Fan! Reason unknown!]

[Consequence: Shi Fan is murdered! Xie Weihan commits a crime, and the world-lines overlap!]

[Mission: Save Shi Fan and Xie Weihan.]

[Failure Penalty: World collapse.]

******

He had squeezed his half-finished milk pouch all over his desk and ran like his life depended on it to the classroom, only to see the exact opposite of what the System described.

At that moment, Fang Yi came out to get more medicine, mentioning offhandedly, “Teacher Shi’s ruts have been very frequent lately.”

Shen Luyang’s eyes flickered. He looked at the “unconscious” Xie Weihan on the bed with confusion. Shi Fan was just in a rut; there was no life-threatening danger. But the System wouldn’t lie about something like this, so the “murderous intent” must have been real.

A possibility struck him. Teacher Xie was a man of extreme self-control, but he had no concept of social rules. He might have been annoyed that Shi Fan kept triggering his ruts and chose the simplest, most brutal way to solve the problem: killing him.

The theory had holes, but it was the only explanation he had. Shen Luyang’s gaze hardened. He clenched his fists in an aftershock of fear and took a deep breath. He had been careless; he had almost let the entire world end.

The problem now was that because Xie Weihan had crippled the protagonist gong Duan Chen, Shi Fan had triggered a “Stockholm Syndrome” plot. He would inevitably keep approaching Xie Weihan, causing mutual ruts and massive fluctuations in affection levels, which in turn triggered Xie Weihan’s homicidal side.

How could he get Shi Fan to proactively keep a safe distance?

Fang Yi knocked on the door and called from the entrance, “Teacher Shi is awake. Want to come check on him?”

He needed to ask Xie Weihan what the hell was going on. Holy crap, please don’t let it be what I think it is. Why was a man who had been stable for years suddenly wanting to kill people?

Shen Luyang touched Xie Weihan’s forehead. Seeing it wasn’t hot, he stepped out.

Shi Fan was staring blankly at the infirmary ceiling, unable to remember why he was there.

“Teacher Shi? Feeling better?” Shen Luyang poked his head in, holding an orange he’d swiped from Fang Yi. He received a helpless smile from Shi Fan and walked in.

“Much better,” Shi Fan said, rubbing his temple. He frowned. “But… why am I here?”

Shen Luyang recalled Fang Yi’s words: if a rut is too intense without pheromone guidance, a blackout can occur. He sat down and began peeling the orange. “You went to the multimedia room to help Teacher Xie with the equipment and had a sudden rut. Don’t you remember?”

Shi Fan shook his head.

Shen Luyang remembered his objective. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Uh, Teacher Shi, actually, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Shi Fan looked at him with curiosity, a small smile touching his elegant face. He had a genuine friendly affection for Shen Luyang. No one could dislike a “little sun.”

“What is it?” Shi Fan asked softly.

Shen Luyang handed him the orange. His head was filled with a single thought: How do I get him away from Xie Weihan? Telling him their being together would destroy the world was a non-starter; no one would believe that.

“Teacher Shi,” Shen Luyang looked him in the eye and took a deep breath. He went for it. “Could you… keep your distance from Teacher Xie?”

“Huh?” Shi Fan was stunned. He instinctively asked, “Why?”

Shen Luyang closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were filled with a fierce, unwavering resolve. He clenched his fist and declared loudly, like he was taking an oath:

“Because I like Teacher Xie! I’m planning to pursue him!”

A shell-shocked Shi Fan: “Ah?”

Fang Yi, who had just reached the door: “What the f—k?!”

Support