Chapter 35: ◎From now on, don’t come to Yancheng anymore.◎

People grow numb to pain, and Lu Yixue had experienced this over the past three days.

Or perhaps she convinced herself that it was a devotion, a sacrifice, something worthwhile, and her positive self-perception overcame and blocked out the pain.

In any case, aside from her heartache and pity for Pei Shijin, her own emotions remained fairly stable. Because Lu Yixue had used this opportunity to familiarize herself anew with Pei Shijin’s body.

She could now say with confidence that she knew it better than Pei Shijin herself did.

She knew every one of the thirty-six moles on that body like the back of her hand—their sizes and shapes were crystal clear in her mind.

She had made up for the neglect of the past few years.

In several moments, Lu Yixue even thought that the cold and ruthless Pei Shijin of before was no match for the beast who now had eyes and heart filled only with her.

Pei Shijin was awake, but not entirely so.

The memories of the three days in her susceptible period felt forcibly crammed into her mind, leaving her at a loss.

Especially those bandit-like, rogue actions she had committed against Lu Yixue—they made her wish she could travel back to those moments and spit on her past self to vent the stifling shame in her heart.

These were things she had done, yet not entirely her doing, but she still had to take responsibility for them.

Regret and shame weighed on her so heavily that she could barely breathe, and her self-loathing peaked in that instant.

She had once been immensely grateful for differentiating into an Alpha, achieving a 100% matching degree with Lu Yixue and helping her escape the shackles of her genetic illness.

But the complete loss of control during her susceptible period and the harm inflicted on Lu Yixue made Pei Shijin deeply realize that Alphas in susceptible periods were nothing but beasts who should be locked away in prisons.

If Lu Yixue hadn’t had the strength to restrain her, what might have happened? Pei Shijin didn’t even dare imagine it.

News of tigers and lions eating people cropped up every year, and so did stories of susceptible-period Alphas killing.

Alphas should wear electric shock collars at all times, zapping them into immobility the moment they lost control.

Her complex inner turmoil kept Pei Shijin from daring to open her eyes.

She could feel the sunlight shifting across her face and sense the passage of time.

The footsteps moving in the room and the low voices of conversation were all clear to her ears.

A sudden sting on the back of her hand—the sensation of the needle piercing skin and entering her vein was vivid.

Everything indicated that she was awake now and had to face the mess she had left behind.

“Why hasn’t she woken up yet today?” Lu Yixue muttered to herself. “Did I spray too much sedative yesterday?”

Yesterday…

Pei Shijin’s face instantly burned red. Yesterday, her body had regained some vitality, enough to fuel her feral outburst, continuing relentlessly even when Lu Yixue couldn’t take it anymore…

Just recalling it sent a thrilling rush through her nerves and body—an experience utterly new to the restrained Pei Shijin who had always focused solely on serving Lu Yixue.

Stop, stop, stop—why was she savoring it? Pei Shijin continued her self-reproach.

Suddenly, her right eyelid was pried open, and before she was ready, she locked eyes with Lu Yixue.

So haggard. Pei Shijin confronted the pain she had inflicted, and heartache and self-blame instantly overwhelmed her.

“I’m sorry.” A thousand words in her mind boiled down to one apology. Pei Shijin opened her other eye too, her gaze clear and filled with gentle sorrow.

The ferocity and beastliness that had clung to her were gone without a trace, as if the person from the past few days had been someone else entirely.

“You’re recovered?” Surprise lit up Lu Yixue’s brows and eyes. She asked in astonishment, but then frowned. “No, susceptible periods usually last five to seven days. It’s not even been four yet.”

“Are you trying to trick me into letting you go?” Lu Yixue pressed the call button for medical staff, remembering Dr. Feng’s warning.

“No, it’s not that,” Pei Shijin stammered, at a complete loss for how to prove herself. “I…”

Lu Yixue remained cautious—after all, this one had pretended to soften her heart just yesterday.

A swarm of doctors rushed in, with Dr. Feng trailing at the back.

Lu Yixue stepped aside to make space, moving to the rear so the experts could examine Pei Shijin.

Dr. Feng tiptoed to peer over, and Lu Yixue stood beside her, tense yet expectant.

Pei Shijin was utterly bewildered by the crowd, even more so upon seeing a familiar face. “Teacher… why are you here?”

“Invited for a consultation,” her university mentor said coolly, without a hint of familiarity. Only a occasional flicker of pain in her eyes betrayed that she hadn’t forgotten the promising student she had once hoped to nurture.

Pei Shijin licked her lips, wanting to say something but unsure what was appropriate.

Soon, though, she had no time to dwell—the doctors bombarded her with questions.

Pei Shijin focused intently to listen and respond.

After a round of inquiries, she was whisked off for various tests.

Lu Yixue stayed away from Pei Shijin, lingering at the back with Dr. Feng.

Pei Shijin had truly emerged from her susceptible period. Lu Yixue felt dazed, hardly able to believe it.

She touched her wrist—her bones still hadn’t fully healed. Her neck gland was wrapped in gauze; she brushed it, feeling a rough texture on her fingertips.

These all proved that the events of the past few days hadn’t been a dream—they had happened for real.

Frame by frame, Lu Yixue recalled Pei Shijin’s interactions with her after waking: that gentle, serene demeanor felt so unreal.

Some schools of thought held that the susceptible period revealed an Alpha’s true nature, while their everyday selves were masks restrained by upbringing, morality, and law—worn willingly or otherwise.

Much like the saying “in wine, truth.”

Lu Yixue’s mind held two starkly divided versions of Pei Shijin, and she struggled to reconcile them.

She had always thought Pei Shijin liked wearing qipaos, yet after leaving the Lu Family, she almost never did.

She had seen Pei Shijin as delicate and serene, but You Yi’s accounts painted a completely different picture.

Lu Yixue’s thoughts drifted back to Pei Shijin in that alley: skilled and ruthless in combat, honed in real fights without formal style.

All of this was what she had never seen.

It was as if Pei Shijin’s gentleness, elegance, poise, honesty, and silence were reserved solely for her.

Lu Yixue decided that once Pei Shijin was discharged, she would find a chance to open her heart and talk things through.

To create an opportunity for a fresh start.

Pei Shijin felt woozy; high mental focus meant rapid depletion. The tests requiring blood, saliva, urine samples, and pheromone release drained her physically too.

After three or four hours of examinations, her eyelids grew too heavy to lift.

The gland specialists took her data to discuss treatment, while Pei Shijin was returned to her room.

Suddenly, the room held only Pei Shijin, Lu Yixue, and two bodyguards.

“What do you want to eat?” Lu Yixue asked. She was hungry herself; the patient must be starving.

During the past few days without reason, meals had been decided by nutritionists, with Lu Yixue occasionally feeding her own food. Now that Pei Shijin was awake, it was time to ask.

Lu Yixue had been feeding Pei Shijin for days, so the question felt perfectly natural to her—but to Pei Shijin, it was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

It was so unfamiliar. Lu Yixue had always been self-willed, even dictatorial in a harsh light.

Like at banquets before, when she thought it was taking too long and prepared food for Pei Shijin without asking, just arranging it her way.

But none of that mattered—the key was that Lu Yixue was actually concerned about her meals.

Pei Shijin licked her lips, inwardly conflicted.

She had burdened Lu Yixue so much these days. Now that she was lucid, how could she let Lu Yixue continue caring for her?

To Lu Yixue, though, the silence seemed like refusal. Did Pei Shijin not want to eat with her, or dislike her choices?

“Do you remember what happened during the susceptible period?” Lu Yixue’s voice choked.

“I’m sorry.” Pei Shijin didn’t understand the sudden shift but apologized on instinct.

Lu Yixue gave a self-mocking curl of her lips. An apology meant she remembered—and even so, she planned to cut ties cleanly.

She had overthought it, been overly hopeful.

Perhaps in Pei Shijin’s eyes, her efforts these days were just a burden. Between two people set on breaking apart, no “favors” should exist.

“Tell them once you’ve decided,” she said, fleeing the suffocating room.

Pei Shijin stared blankly at Lu Yixue’s hasty retreat. Was it because she couldn’t face her “perpetrator”?

The debt she owed Lu Yixue probably couldn’t be repaid in a lifetime.

The least she could do was not annoy or hurt her in Lu Yixue’s presence.

Thereafter, Pei Shijin stayed in the hospital another five days.

Every afternoon, Lu Yixue brought the school-returning Lu Mingzhu to share dinner with Pei Shijin. Beyond that, Pei Shijin never saw her again.

The experts devised a treatment similar to Dr. Mo’s, focused on nurturing.

Western meds plus herbal meals and moxibustion—full-spectrum care, with recovery just a matter of time.

Some doctors suggested regular pheromone exchanges and fusions with Lu Yixue to aid gland recovery.

Pei Shijin refused. No need to hurt Lu Yixue for a slim chance of faster healing.

Everyone had their own duties and couldn’t stay in Yancheng orbiting her forever. Dr. Mo remained her primary physician, assisted by Dr. Feng.

Dr. Feng wanted Pei Shijin hospitalized long-term, but the condition didn’t impair eating or movement. Pei Shijin had her own work and couldn’t waste time here.

Moreover… this was the Lu Family hospital. Staying meant risking encounters with Lu Yixue.

She feared she might give in—after all, the susceptible period outburst… hadn’t been so bad… and Lu Yixue seemed able to accept it…

She wasn’t a good person.

They settled on weekly checkups, with Pei Shijin otherwise back at the Haicheng clinic for her internship.

Routine moxibustion could be handled by Song Zonghui or her senior sister.

The discharge date was set, but Pei Shijin kept the exact time secret.

Early one morning, she prepared to slip away quietly.

She had arrived empty-handed but now left with a large backpack.

Lu Yixue had bought her many things during her stay.

Pei Shijin had planned to leave with nothing, but she couldn’t bear to. Dr. Feng said Lu Yixue had picked them personally from the supermarket.

This was probably a once-in-a-lifetime kindness. Lu Yixue was too soft-hearted. Enduring the susceptible period with her had been painful enough, yet she still attended to her daily needs.

Pei Shijin couldn’t leave them behind.

The hospital was eerily quiet at six a.m., her footsteps light, undisturbed.

No one noticed her departure.

But just outside, a car pulled up before her.

Pei Shijin glanced at her ride-hailing app—still unbooked. What twist was this?

The rear window rolled down halfway, revealing Gao Ye’an in sunglasses.

Pei Shijin blinked, then realization dawned. She circled to the other side, opened the door, and got in.

“Yancheng North Station,” Pei Shijin said. “Thank you.”

The driver met her eyes in the rearview mirror; she smiled gratefully, and he smiled back. “Got it.”

With the driver addressed, Pei Shijin turned to Gao Ye’an. “Did you need something from me?”

Gao Ye’an pulled an envelope from her bag. “Lu Yixue asked me to give you this.”

Pei Shijin was stunned. Letter-writing wasn’t Lu Yixue’s style—she preferred efficient face-to-face talks.

But… maybe she didn’t want to see her. Pei Shijin told herself that.

“Thank you.” She took the envelope, caressing the edge cherishingly. She took several deep breaths for courage before opening it and drawing out the letter.

It was unmistakably Lu Yixue’s handwriting—sharp, bold, and beautiful.

But as Pei Shijin made out the words, her face drained of color in an instant.

She endured the heartache, reading each word one by one. Her gaze fell on the final two characters: “disgusting.”

Gao Ye’an’s eyes stared out the window, avoiding Pei Shijin’s reaction. Her tone was faint, yet carried an unquestionable authority. “If you want to see Mingzhu in the future, contact me. I’ll bring her to Haicheng to meet you.”

“I’ll arrange a suitable hospital for all your check-ups.”

“If you’re going on a business trip, let me know in advance.”

“From now on, don’t come to Yancheng anymore.”

After a long while, Pei Shijin softly murmured an “mm.”

She tilted her head back, but the tears simply wouldn’t stop.