Chapter 7
The Rose Goes Wild at the Birthday Banquet
After that kiss in the office, Huo Shaoyan ultimately took Qi Xing's fragile body—he had only recently gone through secondary-gender presentation—into consideration and gritted his teeth, forcing himself to hold back.
For the next six months, the two maintained a half-cohabiting arrangement that was both clingy and charged with relentless seduction.
Qi Xing's greatest pleasure each day was complaining about Huo Shaoyan's buzz cut, which was an eyesore no matter how he looked at it, while brazenly curling up in the CEO's arms and acting like his little tyrant.
As for Huo Shaoyan, he had started out helpless and restrained, but gradually fell into the deep affection in Qi Xing's eyes—eyes that held only him—and became more and more indulgent, with fewer and fewer limits.
Before they knew it, the day of Huo's father's sixtieth birthday celebration had arrived.
The birthday banquet was held at Starlight Hotel, the most luxurious seven-star hotel in the Imperial City. Business leaders and social elites from every field gathered there, surrounded by glittering lights and extravagant splendor.
Tang Wanrou had dragged Qi Xing out early that morning to pick out clothes. Now, Qi Xing wore a perfectly tailored midnight-blue velvet suit, the collar slightly open and setting off skin so fair it seemed to glow. His beautiful eyes shimmered, and the moment he entered the venue, he drew countless dazzled looks from Alphas, Omegas, and Betas alike.
Huo Shaoyan stood beside Qi Xing in designer formalwear. His buzz cut had long since grown out a little, making him look both strikingly handsome and steady.
He kept one arm around Qi Xing's waist without letting him stray an inch. The aggressive red-wine scent unique to a high-level Alpha seeped faintly into the air, as if announcing his claim over the entire room.
However, as the person in charge of Huo Corporation, Huo Shaoyan inevitably had to be taken by Old Master Huo to meet several prominent military and political figures.
“Shaoyan, go take care of business. A few ladies are calling for Godmother over there. I'll have some snacks in the lounge by myself. I'm hungry.” Under the table, Qi Xing secretly hooked a finger around Huo Shaoyan's and gave him a reassuring smile.
“Don't wander off. And stay especially far away from those shady Alphas.” Huo Shaoyan lowered his voice in warning. Reluctantly, he squeezed Qi Xing's soft palm before turning toward the head table.
The moment Huo Shaoyan left, Qi Xing picked up a glass of champagne and walked over to a sofa in the corner.
After cultivating for more than five hundred years, his soul was fully aware of every gaze around him. They were nothing more than envy and jealousy, and he didn't take them seriously at all.
He took a bored sip of champagne, but the moment the liquor touched his throat, he frowned slightly.
There was something in this drink… some ingredient that shouldn't have been there.
Before long, a scorching heat unrelated to a hangover shot up from his lower abdomen. Qi Xing's Omega body, having only recently presented, instinctively began to go limp. His blood felt as if it were boiling, and beneath the square scent-blocking patch on his nape, his sensitive scent gland began to throb frantically.
Drugged? A cold glint flashed through Qi Xing's eyes. He hadn't expected to encounter such a vulgar, low-handed trick in this world. He narrowed his eyes and rose with a touch of self-mockery, claiming he was going to the restroom as he made his way out of the venue with slightly unsteady steps.
The restroom at Starlight Hotel was exceptionally spacious and luxurious. The banquet was at its peak, and the corridor was completely deserted.
Qi Xing had just reached the marble sink and braced himself against the counter, gasping for breath, when the mirror reflected a fat, middle-aged Alpha standing behind him. The man wore designer clothes, but looked greasy from head to toe.
Seeing Qi Xing's flushed face and hazy eyes, the man's gaze filled with vile lust and greed.
“Well, well, isn't this the poor little thing the Huo family picked up? The famous little troublemaker? What is it—feeling pretty good?” Porkface chuckled nastily. As he released his Alpha pheromone, carrying the cheap, inferior scent of synthetic fragrance, he greedily reached out with his fat hand toward Qi Xing's exquisite face. “Huo Shaoyan doesn't want you and left you here all alone? Why don't you come with Big Brother? I'll make sure your big brother takes good care of you tonight—”
“Get lost.” Qi Xing couldn't even be bothered to look at him.
Although his cultivation was now less than a tenth of what it had been in his previous life, dealing with a waste-of-space Alpha lost in alcohol and sex was easier than stepping on an ant.
A split second before that fat hand touched his clothes, Qi Xing abruptly sidestepped and caught Porkface's thick wrist with precise, ruthless fingers.
“Ahhh!” Before the pig-slaughter scream could even leave the restroom, Qi Xing twisted his wrist with a burst of force and executed a clean, standard shoulder throw. With a heavy thud, the two-hundred-pound Porkface was sent flying, his entire body tracing an awkward arc through the air before crashing hard onto the marble floor.
Bang!
Porkface landed on the back of his head. He didn't even groan before passing out cold, sprawled flat on his back with all four limbs in the air.
“Disgusting.” Qi Xing dusted off his hands in distaste and hurriedly washed them, but those few movements exhausted the strength he already barely had under control.
The drug's effects rebounded violently after the exertion. Qi Xing lost his footing, slid down along the sink, and collapsed onto the floor, gasping uncontrollably.
His cheeks were now an unhealthy, brilliant red. Cold sweat slid from his forehead down his cheeks to his jaw. His long legs pressed tightly together in discomfort, and the slightly crooked scent-blocking patch on his nape finally gave out completely. Wave after wave of intensely alluring rose pheromone, enough to ensnare the soul, exploded outward like a landslide.
“Shaoyan…” Qi Xing murmured dazedly.
At the same time, inside the main banquet hall.
Huo Shaoyan had just finished making small talk with two officers. When he turned around, there was no sign of his little tyrant anywhere in the lounge.
His brow twitched violently. He reached out and grabbed Lin Zixiao, who was chatting with Shen Linfeng, his voice cold as ice. “Where's Qi Xing?”
The oppressive atmosphere made Lin Zixiao shudder. “Huh? Xingxing? I think I just saw him drink a glass of champagne General Manager Will brought over. Then he said he wasn't feeling well and went to the restroom…”
Will? That trash Alpha who was notorious for using young Omegas for pleasure? Huo Shaoyan's pupils contracted to pinpoints in an instant.
Without leaving behind a single word, the rich, terrifying red-wine pheromone around Huo Shaoyan could no longer be restrained. It erupted like a storm, forcing the surrounding Alphas and Betas to turn pale and retreat one after another.
Huo Shaoyan charged toward the restroom, his impossibly long legs carrying him like a madman.
He had just reached the silent corridor outside the restroom and hadn't even pushed open the carved double doors when a thick scent, nearly solid in its intensity and filled with deadly temptation and unease, slammed into every one of Huo Shaoyan's senses.
That scent… Qi Xing was losing control.
Huo Shaoyan's heart nearly stopped. He suddenly drove one foot forward and kicked the restroom doors open with all his strength!