Chapter 14
Pei Xixia’s brain crashed for an instant. What had she done for Lu Yimo to be this angry? Could Yan Songlan have sold her out?
Very quickly, she realized something was wrong. There was another scent in the air, one that was rushing through the crack beneath the door and seeping inside. The scent was very familiar. She had been forced to smell it not long ago.
Medicinal jasmine!
Lu Yimo… why had she suddenly entered a susceptible state?
Only then did Pei Xixia discover that her own skin was frighteningly red.
Belatedly, she realized what the “base note” of the bath bomb she had smelled just now was: musk gin. What kind of fragrance was that? It was clearly the scent of her own pheromones!
In this world, when an Alpha’s body temperature became too high, there was a certain risk that they would enter a false susceptible state, causing their pheromones to leak and affect nearby lower-rank Alphas and Omegas.
Because of that, in this world, anyone who wanted to enjoy a beach vacation or hot spring therapy had to make an appointment and register in advance, while also carrying strong suppressants with them in case of accidents.
But those were all very rare situations! How could a normal bath at home cause such a serious pheromone leak?
…Could there have been something wrong with that bath bomb?
Pei Xixia’s face darkened.
She felt as though she were a greedy little dog who had eaten something from a garbage heap and poisoned herself.
And she had even thought she had picked up some enormous bargain. Ha.
This Pei Xining’s room was truly a hiding place for filth!
In a panic, Pei Xixia stood up and grabbed a towel to wipe the water from her body, anxiously explaining, “Momo! I swear, I didn’t do it on purpose. I only used a bath bomb while taking a bath, but I had no idea it had this kind of effect! Don’t come in no matter what! The scent in here is very strong. You won’t be able to handle it!”
Outside the door, Lu Yimo’s movements stalled for a moment. Then came another vicious kick, shaking the doorframe as if it were about to break. “Do you think I’m stupid? With such a thick scent, if it really wasn’t intentional, you would have controlled it long ago! Do you dare say you didn’t do it on purpose?”
Pei Xixia truly felt wronged. It was true that she had smelled it, but how was she supposed to remember that it was her own scent? After all, Pei Xining was only an insignificant villain. That pheromone scent might even have been something she had randomly generated.
“I… I accidentally fell asleep and didn’t smell it, really!” Pei Xixia quickly put on her clothes. “Leave this place first. Stay far away and wait for me on the first floor. Put on a protective mask! I have strong suppressants. I’ll bring one down to you in a bit!”
Lu Yimo paused, then said fiercely in a hoarse voice, “You’d better be telling the truth.”
After that, the sound of footsteps slowly moved away.
Pei Xixia let out a breath of relief. She did not dare go out immediately, afraid that the scent would spread outside the door and trigger some other bad consequence. First, she turned on the exhaust fan, then dried her hair. Only after seeing the redness and heat on her skin gradually fade did she dare open the door.
She rushed into her room, opened the system control panel, found the strong suppressant in her inventory, and confirmed extraction.
A blinding silver light flashed, and a weight appeared in her palm. She quickly gripped it tightly and saw that a small light-blue test tube had appeared in her hand.
There was no explanatory text on the tube at all. It looked like a completely unregulated product.
There was no time to think about it. She held the tube and rushed downstairs.
In the air, the medicinal jasmine scent could not be called thick. It was not even as tense and sharp as it had been outside the bathroom door just now.
Lu Yimo was half leaning on the sofa in the first-floor central hall, her eyes slightly closed. The skin exposed beneath her mask looked especially pale. It was clearly summer, yet her body was tightly wrapped in a crocheted blanket.
Somehow, it felt different from last time’s symptoms.
Pei Xixia hurried forward, knelt beside her, and reached out to feel her forehead. The cold startled her.
Lu Yimo pushed her hand away and covered her own eyes with the back of her hand, as if she could not endure the glare of the chandelier. “Don’t touch me… Did you bring the medicine…”
Pei Xixia felt something was wrong. Wasn’t the symptom of a susceptible period supposed to be heat? But Lu Yimo was practically chilled through.
She hid the medicine behind her back, afraid that if the medicine did not match the symptoms, it might cause some side effect. Unexpectedly, Lu Yimo seemed to have X-ray vision. One second, her hand was still covering her eyes, and the next, she reached out with perfect accuracy, snatched the test tube from Pei Xixia’s hand, snapped it open from the top, and poured it into her mouth without the slightest hesitation.
She gave Pei Xixia no time to react at all.
Pei Xixia was frantic. “Are you sure you’re in heat? You’re just drinking it randomly?”
Lu Yimo barely opened her eyes into a slit and looked sharply at Pei Xixia, her throat hoarse. “I drank it, so I drank it. It can’t be worse than now.”
She had clearly sounded full of force outside the bathroom door just now, but now she was weak as a thread. Pei Xixia knew that Lu Yimo truly felt awful.
She regretted it beyond measure. She never should have used that bath bomb just because it seemed novel.
At this moment, Pei Xiyao also came downstairs pinching her nose. Seeing the two of them in such an ambiguous position on the sofa, her footsteps stopped and her face suddenly turned red. “I was wondering why a wave of heat suddenly hit me while I was doing my homework and made me restless. So it was you two being shameless! Publicly doing dirty things! Disturbing public order!”
Pei Xixia roared at her irritably, “Shut your mouth and go back to your room!”
Pei Xiyao sniffed and frowned unnaturally. “But the scent has changed now. It’s different from just now… It’s like… something like frozen soil and rust… Hiss, so cold! It’s the middle of summer, and you’re even covering yourself with a blanket…”
“Wait!” Pei Xiyao suddenly widened her eyes and pointed at Lu Yimo in terror. “Don’t tell me you have the legendary Ice-Fire Person Syndrome?”
“Ice… what?” Pei Xixia froze for a moment upon hearing the name of this illness, which sounded the same as a certain small game. She felt an unreal sense of having transmigrated.
Oh. She had indeed transmigrated.
“Do you not surf the internet? Pheromone Bidirectional Dysregulation Syndrome, also known as Ice-Fire Person Syndrome.” Pei Xiyao seemed very speechless at Pei Xixia’s internet speed and began explaining.
But her ability to express herself was really lacking, and it took her a long while to make things clear.
To put it simply, it was a pheromone disorder that occurred after an Omega’s body was damaged. It was greatly affected by external stimuli and was somewhat similar to bipolar disorder in the real world. When pheromones leaked outward, the Omega would enter heat, with symptoms somewhat similar to hypomania. When pheromones suddenly contracted, the Omega would become cold and afraid of the chill, with low mood and symptoms similar to a depressive phase.
It was an extremely serious mental illness with very strong destructive power, and the patient herself would also suffer greatly.
Looking at Lu Yimo’s pale face, Pei Xixia’s heart ached terribly. At the same time, a huge unease rose in the depths of her heart.
In the setting of her original book, there had been no specific term like “Pheromone Bidirectional Dysregulation Syndrome.” Lu Yimo had indeed suffered great stimulation mentally, but it had only been emotional instability under stress. Her body had not been damaged. It was equivalent to the difference between depressive emotions and clinical depression.
When her fellow students said she had a mental illness, it had only been to help her avoid conviction. It was not true.
But now, Lu Yimo was truly sick.
Combined with Yan Songlan’s self-awareness awakening, Pei Xixia felt that everything might not be as simple as she had imagined. This world had its own set of operating rules.
She did not seem like some creator of the world. Instead, she was more like a medium for turning the future’s direction, a prisoner trapped by her own fixed understanding.
Lu Yimo was like a piece of dry ice in a sublimating state, continuously spreading cold air and lowering the temperature around her. Her own mental state was also extremely low. Her expression was listless, her limbs were heavy and limp, and she let others handle her as they wished. She had completely lost the desire to communicate.
Pei Xixia suppressed the anxiety and unease in her heart. She helped Lu Yimo back to her own room, settled her on the bed, found a goose-down quilt to cover her, and tucked several hot-water bags under the blanket. She raised the air-conditioner temperature and went to cook turmeric coconut milk.
Lu Yimo only drank a few mouthfuls before she began retching.
Afraid that she might choke, Pei Xixia quickly moved it aside.
Worried that Lu Yimo’s mood would sink too low, Pei Xixia specially turned on the television and found a comedy variety show for her to watch.
Lu Yimo turned away from the direction of the television in disdain and curled up on her side. However, she did not tell Pei Xixia to turn it off, as if she did not mind hearing some background noise.
Pei Xixia pretended not to notice. After all, it would be even more awkward if the two of them just sat there dryly and let silence flow through the air.
The jokes in this variety show were not very frequent. After watching for a while, Pei Xixia’s eyelids began fighting each other.
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Yimo’s voice suddenly sounded by her ear, indifferent yet slightly weak. “I’m better now. You can leave.”
Pei Xixia’s shoulder trembled, and she could not help bumping her head. Only then did she realize that she had fallen asleep in a daze. She instinctively reached out, wanting to check Lu Yimo’s forehead again, but was pushed away without mercy.
“Are you done yet?”
Pei Xixia let out a breath of relief. From the looks of it, Lu Yimo had recovered.
She sincerely apologized again. “Momo, I’m really sorry. I didn’t expect it to cause such serious consequences. I swear to you, I truly didn’t know what that thing was. If I’m lying, I’ll—”
Lu Yimo interrupted her. “I’m very tired. I don’t want to listen anymore.”
Pei Xixia subconsciously glanced at the clock and realized it was already almost two o’clock. She hurriedly took her leave. “Then I won’t disturb you. Sleep properly. Tomorrow morning, we’ll go to the hospital together and see what exactly is going on.”
This time, Lu Yimo did not speak again.
The next day, the two of them went to the hospital and specially registered for a follow-up appointment.
Lu Yimo seemed somewhat avoidant about seeing doctors. She had remained silent the entire time in the car, and after entering the examination room, she became even more resistant. She kept defensively clutching her collar, her expression dim, unwilling to say even one more word.
It all depended on Pei Xixia, the culprit who had witnessed the whole process, to speak on her behalf.
After listening to Pei Xixia’s description, the doctor’s expression turned grave. “It is indeed very close to the symptoms of Pheromone Bidirectional Dysregulation Syndrome. Whether it is specifically that condition still depends on the lab results.”
He wrote out a lab order and handed it to Pei Xixia. Pei Xixia took it and saw that this test actually required drawing eight tubes of blood. Her hand shook in fright. Even a healthy person would be drawn into bad shape!
She could not help asking, “Doctor, about how many milliliters is eight tubes of blood? Our Momo is already physically weak, and she came this morning on an empty stomach. I’m afraid she won’t be able to take it.”
Upon hearing the words “eight tubes,” Lu Yimo’s shoulders clearly trembled slightly.
Could Lu Yimo be afraid of needles?
The doctor replied, “Around thirty milliliters. Don’t worry, this amount of blood drawn won’t harm the patient’s body. However, she may feel physically tired and sleepy over the next few days, so pay attention to dietary nourishment.”
Pei Xixia thanked the doctor and tentatively tried to take Lu Yimo’s hand. “Momo, shall we go get your blood drawn?”
Lu Yimo directly ignored Pei Xixia’s movement and walked up to the doctor. In a low voice, she asked, “Doctor, if I have this illness, can it be cured?”
The doctor considered his words. “Well, that depends on the individual. Optimistically speaking, there is a possibility of clinical recovery, but no matter what, lifelong medication will definitely be required.”
Lu Yimo turned to Pei Xixia. “Did you hear that?”
Pei Xixia did not understand right away. “What?”
Lu Yimo lowered her eyes, her expression dark and unreadable. Her words were brief and to the point. “It can’t be cured. I’m not treating it.”
After saying that, she turned and strode toward the door.
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