Chapter 92: The Insecure Tsundere Canary Alpha

【Ding, task issued.】

【Please have the host lightly step on the task target, loom over her and pinch her neck while saying: Now, are you willing to be obediently locked up at home by me?】

“Huff~ huff~ huff~”

Jiang Li, panting heavily, had no attention to spare for the task that 123 had issued. Her frail body, after such prolonged running, was already growing weak. All her strength seemed to have been drained away.

Listening to the task pronounced in her ear, Jiang Li furrowed her brows in an ugly grimace. Squeezing the words out through gritted teeth amid her gasps, she muttered, “Insane task.”

She still had no idea where the person was locked up right now—no answer to that question—and now this task had to come along and make things even messier.

Leaning against the wall beside her, her usually ramrod-straight back was gradually bending now. Strands of hair draped down.

Her slender wrists trembled as they propped against the wall. Jiang Li regulated her breathing, her eyes shaking as she looked up at the remaining few steps of stairs. Just these left… to the place where Li Huan might be.

Her calf muscles quivered, and her heart pounded wildly, almost ready to leap out of her chest.

Simply climbing these last few steps felt like someone had seized her by the throat. Her bent knees seemed ready to buckle and send her crashing down the stairs at any second.

The T-shirt she had just changed into hung loosely against her protruding spine, starkly bony and jagged. Finally, Jiang Li crawled up to this floor.

Changing room… changing room…

Gritting her teeth, she moved forward as quickly as she could. Her voice, hoarse from lack of oxygen and the rushing wind, lost its usual soft allure. One raspy call after another summoned Li Huan’s presence.

“Li Huan, are you in here?”

“Li Huan!”

Her shouts echoed back and forth in the empty room, met with no reply.

Jiang Li stepped into the changing room—the one exclusive to their class. With everyone in class, the lights had naturally been switched off, leaving the space pitch black.

She flicked the light switch with a snap. The room was empty. Jiang Li’s face darkened further.

Damn it! Where the hell was Li Huan!

This was the last place she could think of, though. Jiang Li stubbornly combed through the room bit by bit, checking every possible hiding spot one by one.

At last, she reached the changing locker that was locked from the outside.

Jiang Li unlocked the outer latch and tried to push the door open, only to find it was also locked from the inside.

Her mind raced. Jiang Li shouted loudly through the door, “Li Huan! Are you in there?!”

She called out continuously for a good while, but there was no response from inside at all.

Maybe she wasn’t there. Or maybe the person had fainted and couldn’t respond.

Gritting her teeth, Jiang Li tried releasing a trace of her pheromones—threads as fine as needles, their epiphyllum scent blooming faintly. They slipped past the door, probing inward.

Jiang Li wanted to use her pheromones to see if she could draw out Li Huan’s own. If she was unconscious inside.

Even if the person had fainted, her pheromones would still react to Jiang Li’s, instinctively calling for help.

Wisp after wisp of epiphyllum scent ignored the barrier of the door, drilling straight toward the back of the neck of the person sitting on the floor. A hint of cedar drifted out in response.

In the pitch-black changing locker, the two faint scents gradually mingled, eliciting a reaction from both the person inside and the one outside.

Once she confirmed Li Huan was in there, Jiang Li lowered her gaze to the door locked from within. Then she turned and left.

The familiar footsteps sounded outside the door. The crisp rhythm echoed in her ears, gradually fading away, as if growing more distant.

She left.

Of course. Jiang Li must have sensed it… that she was right here inside. She had known Jiang Li was outside, yet she hadn’t even been willing to open the door.

Someone as ungrateful as her—surely Jiang Li must have thought the same back in the garden last time.

Unworthy. She was unworthy. She wouldn’t be with Jiang Li. She’d be discarded. She would definitely be thrown away.

A pair of lifeless black eyes stared at the floor, gloomy and heavy. She made no sound, no movement—not even the sound of her breathing could be heard.

The changing locker returned to its previous state once more: one person sitting in desolation.

In the midst of that utter darkness, a sharp, crisp “ding” rang out abruptly.

It was like a door found by someone imprisoned at the bottom of an endless sea, or a rope grasped by one fallen into a silent abyss. In any case, in this barren and desolate environment, it offered hope to a person on the brink of death.

The clear sound of a lock clicking open followed. The person sitting on the floor stirred ever so slightly.

The tightly locked door slowly creaked open. Light from outside gradually seeped into the darkness. A beam of stark white illumination slowly fell upon the figure huddled with her arms around her knees on the floor.

It really was her.

“Li Huan.” Jiang Li called softly.

She stepped forward. The tiny figure huddled with her legs drawn up immediately entered Jiang Li’s sight. Tall as she was, she now resembled a frightened little hedgehog curled into a ball.

Jiang Li’s brows knit tightly. Instinctively, she lifted her foot to pull Li Huan up—anything, as long as it wasn’t this.

She had barely taken a step when the small leather shoe squelched in the water on the floor.

Water? Where had water come from in the changing locker?

Jiang Li took another step—another splash. Narrowing her eyes, she examined Li Huan’s bedraggled state more closely. Her heart chilled. What else was there to misunderstand?

Locked in here by someone… who had even dumped water on her. The habitual gentleness in her brows turned icy. Her gaze swept meticulously over Li Huan.

The clothes she had worn out today were soaked through, clearly outlining the girl’s slender, fragile frame. Her arms were crossed over her knees, her soggy head bowed.

Even if Li Huan could leave this changing locker like this, it would only invite ridicule from anyone who saw her.

“Li Huan.” She called gently again.

The little hedgehog curled on the floor showed no reaction, as if she had completely retreated into her own sealed-off world. So small, sitting there on the ground without a sound.

Like wings deliberately broken by another, forever silenced, unable to fly again.

In all the time she had known her, Jiang Li had never seen Li Huan this silent.

She had always been aloof before, but not like this—like someone whose hopes had been shattered, her whole being emanating a desolate heaviness.

Even the pheromones that drew her in were listless and melancholic.

Ignoring the water underfoot, Jiang Li crouched directly in front of Li Huan. She firmly lifted the girl’s cheeks, refusing to let her keep hunching over her knees.

No matter if tears streamed down her face, no matter how bedraggled she was, no matter how heartbroken from the bullying—hiding and curling up like this was no way to be…

No matter how wretched Li Huan looked right now, Jiang Li would stay by her side. Because she had come to this world for Li Huan’s sake.

No matter what Li Huan became, this world’s Jiang Li revolved only around her.

So when those cheeks were lifted without resistance, revealing eyes even more swollen and red than they had been that morning, Jiang Li’s fingertips involuntarily contracted.

The crying she had denied that morning was now witnessed by Jiang Li’s own eyes.

Traces of dried tears lingered on her cheeks—perhaps she had never even wiped them. Fresh droplets trailed down her face, ultimately splattering onto Jiang Li’s wrist and dampening a small patch of skin.

She said nothing, merely wept in silence. Her expression was one of utter desolation.

After a moment of quiet, Jiang Li extended her fingertips and began meticulously wiping away the tear tracks on her face—smearing them off as they slid down, wiping again as they fell anew, over and over.

“It’s okay now. I’m here. No one will bully you again.”

The words had barely left her mouth when a faint voice echoed in the dim space, hoarse as it accused, “Liar.”

Faint as a mosquito’s buzz—if they hadn’t been so close, Jiang Li wouldn’t have caught that indictment at all.

With just those words spoken, Li Huan sealed her lips again. Even her breaths were faint. She let Jiang Li cradle her cheeks without further movement, reverting to her initial “mute” state.

Jiang Li’s eyes flickered with bewilderment and disbelief. She repeated the question, “Liar?”

What had she lied to Li Huan about?

Jiang Li wanted to ask more, but the other had become a locked gourd, silent as ever, curling into herself once more.

“I’m wet,” Li Huan said, dodging the embrace Jiang Li reached for. Seeing the stunned look on the woman’s face, she explained.

Her whole body was soaked, and she had been sitting here alone for so long—the dampness clinging to her must be heavy. She herself wouldn’t catch a cold with her constitution, but Jiang Li might.

Even with her thoughts in such turmoil now and a faint resentment simmering toward Jiang Li, Li Huan refused to let her get sick because of her.

Jiang Li gazed at Li Huan, who had pulled back a little. Stunned for just an instant, she heard the explanation the next second.

A corner of her heart sank. Jiang Li no longer tried to hug her. Instead, she firmly pulled the girl to her feet—an unexpectedly easy task. She simply gripped her wrist and tugged lightly, and up she came.

Despite the sweltering weather, the wrist in her grasp was as cold as if frozen solid, chilling her to the bone.

She needed a change of clothes. Staying in those soaked things would definitely lead to a cold. Jiang Li eyed the fabric clinging to Li Huan’s body, worry flashing in her eyes. She tossed out, “I’ll go get some clothes. You sit here and wait for me,” before turning away.

Behind her, those deep eyes watched her departure without a ripple.

Li Huan’s emotions were a tangled mess.

She had no idea if that SOS text had gone through, but Jiang Li had come.

She hadn’t given Jiang Li the location, yet the ragged breathing as Jiang Li entered the changing room told her exactly how she had found her.

With her frail body—one that couldn’t even handle a heavy dose of pheromones—Jiang Li had run all over searching for her, leaving herself breathless and disheveled.

The person who had declared at school that they must be “enemies,” who knew how many people she had asked to track her down.

When Jiang Li’s voice appeared in this silent room, a whirlwind of emotions battled in Li Huan’s heart.

“Really… such an annoyance.”

Jiang Li had come looking for her, and that made her happy.

Even after Jiang Li had laid down that rule forbidding her to get close, she had still kept tabs on her movements every moment. And because she was worried something had happened, she had pushed her weak body to the limit to find her.

On the other hand, because of those words Jiang Li had spoken before, a tiny spark of resentment had kindled in Li Huan. Yet that negligible grudge, upon seeing Jiang Li’s frantic search, transformed into a surge of delighted satisfaction.

See? Wasn’t she the one drawing lines between them? Wasn’t she the one saying no greetings, no clinging?

But when she went missing, didn’t she still come searching tooth and nail? Regretting it? Regretting not letting me stick to your side?

Just like they said—like a dog trailing after you, wherever you go, there I’d be.

Unable to bear you vanishing from my sight, wanting your eyes only on me, your heart untroubled by anyone else.

Only me. Only me. You can only have me.

With such thoughts churning, Li Huan’s stagnant mood gradually stirred. The cold blood in her body began to flow warmly again, and the listless pheromones at the back of her neck gained vitality.

“Eldest Miss Jiang’s dog, huh…” she murmured lowly.

She didn’t care what they had called her just now—even if they had cursed her as Jiang Li’s dog.

Alphas were born to be Omegas’ dogs, weren’t they?

The scent of an Omega’s pheromones—anytime, anywhere, with just a slip of self-control, they would tumble headlong for the Omega they loved.

For Li Huan, she only wanted to be Jiang Li’s dog.

It had nothing to do with some bullshit pheromone attraction, nothing to do with cowering before wealth and power. She would only feel moved by Jiang Li, only react because of her.

“I like you,” she whispered, lips parting slightly in the silent darkness, affirming her feelings quietly.

Those pitch-black eyes resembled a lake shrouded in thick fog during a downpour—plain yet hazy, impossible to read. The rims were faintly red from recent tears.

She looked so pitiful. Yet a low chuckle escaped her throat, laced with madness.

Her clothes clung icy cold to her body. The laughter echoing in the room was equally frigid. In the darkness, her black eyes gleamed unnaturally bright.

The familiar footsteps soon returned. Jiang Li hurried back into the changing room with clothes in hand.

“Take them off.”

Holding the dry clothes, Jiang Li eyed the wet ones still on Li Huan. She instructed her to remove them herself.

Li Huan stared fixedly at Jiang Li, unmoving. Jiang Li still held the clothes; she had no free hands to change her.

Realizing belatedly that she was supposed to undress herself, Li Huan silently stripped down completely in short order, standing naked before Jiang Li.

“Wait!”

Just as Li Huan’s fingertips hooked into her panties, apparently ready to remove those too, Jiang Li’s eyes widened in alarm. She hurriedly pressed her hand down, stopping the motion.

Li Huan didn’t let go. Looking at Jiang Li, she said calmly, “Aren’t I supposed to strip bare?”

She was confident in her figure; there was nothing she couldn’t show Jiang Li.

“I—I don’t have any underwear for you to change into.” Jiang Li held Li Huan’s hand in place, but the fabric beneath was unmistakably sodden. No helping it. “For now, just change the outer layers. We’ll head home right away.”

Li Huan decisively released her hand and extended the other to take the clothes Jiang Li offered.

She wanted to go home with Jiang Li—where no so-called suitors would see her again. Where Jiang Li would speak only to her.

By Jiang Li’s side, there would only be her to see. There would only be her.

As Li Huan changed off to the side, Jiang Li dragged over a chair, climbed onto it, and examined the bucket suspended overhead, secured by two taut ropes.

“They really came prepared.”

Li Huan stood behind Jiang Li, staring unblinkingly at her back as she studied the setup. Hearing Jiang Li’s words, she naturally followed up, “It was people Lou Ke sent.”

Tch, what a bastard of a male lead. Jiang Li turned around, her face openly displaying her disgust for Lou Ke.

Lately, the school gossip had been buzzing wildly. Instead of going after Zhou Chenyu, he had used his influence to bully Li Huan with this school harassment nonsense.

To think the male lead of this world would pull something like that—Jiang Li couldn’t help doubting if the World Consciousness specifically picked idiots to control.

“They said you wouldn’t care about me. Even if I got doused with water and insulted.”

A faint, ethereal voice rose from behind, tinged with accusation. The hem of her skirt fluttered like flower petals. Jiang Li turned around.

One high, one low: Jiang Li on the chair, looking down at Li Huan. The light obscured her facial expression, lending her an air of indifference.

Li Huan stared straight at Jiang Li.

Her pupils seemed to harbor a bottomless vortex, devouring all emotions and thoughts, leaving only endless darkness.

As she blinked softly, Jiang Li made out the unfallen teardrops clinging to her long lashes—each quiver a silent reproach of the past Jiang Li.

Recalling what Li Huan had said earlier, a pang of guilt stirred in Jiang Li. The corners of her brows drooped.

Right—because she had insisted on keeping Li Huan at arm’s length, those people had assumed she didn’t care. That’s why they dared bully her.

Watching the occasional droplet slide from her lashes, Jiang Li fished the handkerchief she had just pocketed from her skirt pocket and offered it to Li Huan. Her tone was soft, stripped of its usual vigor.

“Wipe them away, you poor thing.”

It was Jiang Li’s handkerchief.

Li Huan took it but didn’t wipe her face. Instead, she clutched it in her palm and lifted her gaze to Jiang Li, deliberately dangling her pair of red, swollen eyes before her.

“So, you’ll look out for me, right?” Li Huan asked, expectant, her eyes sparkling like a devotee awaiting a satisfying decree from her deity.

Hm?

A soft, boneless hand slowly caressed her neck. The icy skin met equally cold fingers, like two melting ice blocks pressed together. Her fingertips teased along the tendons.

Standing on the chair, Jiang Li leaned down slightly. The warmth of her palm rubbed at Li Huan’s neck, her voice still hoarse.

“So—”

“Now, are you willing to be obediently locked up at home by me?”