Chapter 47: Gu Xiujue
No one could beat him, and this beautiful, proud Omega would marry him? Huo Leishao lifted a brow. Excellent. He was confident in his fighting skills. “Do you mean it?” To prevent the Omega from going back on his word, he double-checked. “I need to be sure you are not messing with me.”
Li Dong stood below the ring and looked up at Huo Leishao. “My heat is coming soon, within this month. Do you think I am in the mood to joke?”
This kind of private matter, spoken from the lips of a shy Omega, was something Alphas and Betas were hearing for the first time.
The words themselves were seductive. Heat rose in Huo Leishao’s body at once, desire stirring. He wanted this different kind of Omega, wanted him very badly.
Swallowing sounds rippled through the crowd, as hot as if they had caught a whiff of an Omega’s pheromones.
Gu Xiujue raised his head. His skin felt feverish, especially where he had been touched just now, like those abs the Omega seemed to like.
“Good. I believe you,” Huo Leishao said. “So then, who wants to be first to challenge me?” He spread his arms to the charged crowd, absolutely sure of himself.
He knew everyone wanted to marry Chu Huanyan, but the conditions were right there in the open.
By any comprehensive measure, he, Huo Leishao, was the best choice on site.
If the others had any sense, they would not step up just to get beaten.
As for Gu Xiujue, ridiculous. Huo Leishao did not even see him as an opponent right now. He turned and said to his former lover, “Xiu, step down. We will talk about us later. I have more important business today.”
Maybe the other still loved him deeply and did not want to watch him win an Omega. But reality was reality. Love was not all of life.
Huo Leishao had feelings for Gu Xiujue, but they could not compare to the temptation of an Omega and the promise of children.
“Then that is too bad,” Gu Xiujue said, straightening away from the ropes. “I am sorry, I cannot step down.”
Hearing the male lead’s decision, Li Dong’s lips tipped up below the ring.
“What?” Huo Leishao said. What did it mean that his ex said he could not step down? He tried to persuade him. “Dear Xiu, do not spoil this for me at a time like this, even though I do feel for what you have gone through.” Everyone had to find his place in the world. The world was cruel.
If an adult could not accept reality, he would be a useless man forever.
“Oh, shut up, Huo Leishao,” Gu Xiujue said. “Free fighting is my strong suit. As I recall, back in training you never beat me.” He was that competitive. Even when he had liked the man, he went all out in practice.
But if his opponent was an Omega, he had no urge to win. If he lost, he lost, and that was that.
“I do not understand,” Huo Leishao said. “Why must you oppose me? Xiu, even if I do not marry Huanhuan, I will marry some other Omega.”
“That is enough,” Gu Xiujue said coolly. “I do not care who you marry.” He lifted a hand and pointed at Li Dong below the ring. “As long as it is not him.”
“What?!” Huo Leishao sounded genuinely surprised, as if he had heard something very funny. “No way, Xiu, are you going to fight me for an Omega? Are you sure?”
A disabled Beta daring to covet an Omega. How amusing.
He walked to the center of the ring with a strange expression. “I am going to be blunt and it will hurt, but Xiu, you are not qualified to compete with me.”
The arena went quiet. It was true. Everyone knew Gu Xiujue was not qualified to compete with an Alpha for an Omega.
“You two are too slow,” Li Dong called up. “If you are going to fight, then get on with it. Do not waste everyone’s time.” He had waited long enough and raised his voice. “Alpha or Beta, I do not care. As long as you are strong enough, you can marry me.”
“Whoa!” The ultra-handsome Omega’s declaration brought up a roar.
This kind of wild, sharp-edged Omega was one in ten thousand.
On the ring, both ex-lovers’ gazes landed on Li Dong in unison.
“He is very attractive,” Huo Leishao said with a confident sidelong look at his ex. “An Omega this exceptional belongs to me.”
Gu Xiujue said nothing. He stepped forward a few paces, bringing up his guard.
A rare major-general versus major-general. The crowd’s emotions blew sky-high and the cheers rolled.
Neil: “Live update! Major General Gu Xiujue and Major General Huo Leishao have started throwing down! That is right, they have torn the mask and are trading blows over an Omega! Oh! Major General Gu Xiujue just threw a kick toward Major General Huo Leishao’s, uh, groin. That is a bit much, but Huo Leishao dodges quick, blocks with his arm, and begins the counter!”
Two powerhouses in close combat had the audience’s blood on fire. They shouted themselves hoarse.
Watching up close, Li Dong had to admit these two were ferocious. No wonder they were major generals at such young ages. The talent was real, a level ordinary people could not reach.
By the end, the same two words looped through the spectators’ heads. Very strong, very strong, very strong.
On the ring, sweat flew and muscles surged, displaying the ultimate tough-guy style.
The intensity of the brawl sent Li Dong’s heart thundering with wave after wave of excitement.
“Dear Major General Gu!” the mischievous Omega called. “You are amazing! I will always support you.”
Gu Xiujue’s focus wavered for an instant, and he nearly took a punch from Huo Leishao. He forced himself back into concentration and met his ex’s improved form head-on.
“Give up, Xiu!” Huo Leishao shouted, face fierce and slick with sweat. “Even if you can dazzle the Omega for a moment, it will not change your disadvantage.”
A Beta coveting an Omega was, in itself, worthy of criticism in itself.
And the motives were impure.
“You do not need to harp on my flaws,” Gu Xiujue said. “This is a ring.” He drove his fist home hard. “Here, I only need to beat you. That makes me the strong one.”
The killing aura rolling off him shattered Huo Leishao’s brittle swagger. A chill of fear shot through him. When had Gu Xiujue become like this?
“Ugh,” Huo Leishao grunted as a fist landed flush on his face, then another sank into his gut. “Guh…” The pain twisted his expression, and the audience could feel it in their scalps.
“You're about to lose,” Gu Xiujue said. He drove an elbow down into his opponent’s back.
Huo Leishao dropped to his knees, catching himself on both hands. He looked shattered. Was this how badly he would lose? “Xiu…” Did the man hate him that much?
“I won,” Gu Xiujue said. He stepped back, dripping sweat, a dark smile cutting across his face as he looked over the crowd. “Anyone else want to challenge me? I don’t mind if you all come at me in rotation.”
What?
Li Dong’s excitement turned to ice. Male lead, are you glitched?
Sure enough, the crowd cheered. “Whoo! Whoo! rotation battle!” The ring master did not mind being challenged one after another.
Great. How could he say something like that?!
“But be careful of my revenge,” Gu Xiujue added, leaning against the ropes with an unrestrained, roguish smile “I am very petty. Let it be known.”
“!!!!” Frantically cheering for the male lead!
Too cool! Li Dong had never imagined the reserved, long-suffering male lead could have a side like this. It was so damn seductive he wanted to jump him.
His white shirt hung crookedly from one shoulder, a smooth shoulder bare. He did not care at all.
Li Dong wanted to climb up and dress him properly. Damn it, letting everyone else look for free.
“Xiu!” The cheerleader Omega was back online.
Gu Xiujue only smiled without a word, his slightly long black hair wet and tousled.
“I will challenge you!” An Alpha threw up a hand and sprang onto the ring. “Hello everyone, my name is Miki, an Alpha.” He flexed, showing off developed muscles. “I want to marry an Omega. If I do, I swear I will treat him well.”
The crowd: “Tsk.”
“Major General Gu Xiujue, please go easy on me,” Miki said. “Come on.” He raised his guard, brimming with confidence.
“Alright,” Gu Xiujue said. He swept his fringe back, wrung the sweat out of it, then pushed it up to bare a bold, handsome forehead.
Every motion oozed masculine charm.
The fight with Miki exploded at once.
Neil: “Here comes the breathtaking moment. Rotation battle begins. Major General Gu Xiujue, after his bold words, faces his second challenger. Can he make it out intact and hold on to his Omega? Next up… oh, Miki… my brother… oh, he…”
Thirty seconds later.
Neil: “Okay, that was a warm-up. Moving on to match three.”
“Xiu!” Li Dong’s scream was downright starstruck. So explosively cool! This fangirl is going to cry!
Gu Xiujue peeled off his soaked shirt and tossed it toward the Omega as naturally as could be.
Li Dong caught it, half laughing and half crying inside. He felt like he was getting better and better at playing the fangirl.
Before, he never would have believed he would yell like a hot-headed kid in public.
The problem was, the male lead clearly enjoyed it. The Omega’s admiration had let him loosen up and show himself.
Li Dong could only say, very good, that was how a person should live.
“Anyone else?” Gu Xiujue asked. “If no one comes up, this ring is mine.” Bare-chested, he leaned on the ropes and spoke down to the floor.
People looked at each other. Their emotions ran high, but no one climbed up.
“No one?” Gu Xiujue said. “Then I will take the win.” His eyes glinted, careless, as he prepared to step off the ring.
Stripped of his earlier reserve, this was who he really was, proud, arrogant, and compelling.
Forget the damn so-called fertility. Forget the damn so-called rules. He did not care.
“You are too full of yourself, Major General Gu.” An Alpha vaulted up. “I am your third challenger. Hopefully the last.”
“You are right, I hope the same,” Gu Xiujue said. It would be great if, after he beat this one, no one else came up.
“Xiu…” Li Dong fidgeted below the ring, afraid Gu Xiujue would run out of strength and lose this one. “Be careful. Do not get careless,” he murmured like a prayer.
The surrounding audience tensed their nerves, staring unblinkingly at the two clashing figures.
This wasn’t just a visual feast, but also a great learning opportunity.
Neil: “Oh, this challenger is strong. Looks like Major General Gu is going to pay for his arrogance. Challenger sweeps at the left leg, dodge. But a mistake! Major General Gu goes down, attacks the lower half, springs up again, a spinning kick. Beautiful! Pity it missed. The challenger’s arm strength is frightening. Oh, he has locked Major General Gu’s neck…”
For a long stretch Neil gave no commentary at all, because it was too dangerous. His heart was in his throat and he forgot to narrate.
People began to think the major general would lose badly. They held their breath and waited for the end.
“Xiu,” Li Dong clutched the ropes. “Do not give up.”
Gu Xiujue’s face was flushed where the challenger had him clamped.
“Give up, Major General Gu,” the challenger said. “I have more stamina than you. I do not mind dragging this out.”
“Is that so?” Gu Xiujue’s face was impassive. He knew if that were true, the man would not be talking.
He focused on angling his body and gathering strength, then drove his knee up hard into the challenger’s gut.
“Cough, cough.”
The instant the hold loosened, Gu Xiujue surged like a spear. The cold, ruthless ferocity he had brought home from the battlefield made everyone in the arena instinctively tuck their tails in terror.
“He has done it!!!” Neil shouted, his voice coming back to life. “Major General Gu Xiujue grabs the challenger by the hair and smashes their heads together. Oh! Everyone, please check if your skulls are still intact after watching that. I cannot go on. Too scary.”
“Xiu, that is enough,” Li Dong yelled as he climbed up and stepped into the circle. “The ring match ends here. I declare Major General Gu Xiujue the winner.”
Gu Xiujue halted mid-strike, heaving for breath, sweat running. “It is over?” The sharp light in his eyes ebbed and his usual face returned.
“Yes,” Li Dong said. “You won.” He took Gu Xiujue’s wrist, raised it high under the man’s startled gaze, and proclaimed, “The victorious Major General Gu. He must attend my coming-of-age in one week. What do you all say?”
The crowd roared at once. “Whoo! Beta!!!” A Beta won an Omega through a ring match… totally normal!
“Yes, he must attend.” In a world that worshiped strength, no one thought it was unfair. They knew only that the victor was strong.
The Omega would choose this Beta at his coming-of-age. They were wildly jealous.
“As for your coming-of-age, we will talk,” Gu Xiujue said. Hearing the thunder under the ring, his face had lost the easy smile. Reality settled back in and he quietly slipped his hand free.
“Do not be like that,” Li Dong said. He let go and rose on tiptoe to loop his arms around the man’s neck, then kissed him gently.
He had already noticed the male lead had a beautiful mouth, always kept in a tight, serious line.
“Xiu, you look great when you smile,” Li Dong said, parting his lips to deepen the kiss. “I was completely bewitched by you up on that ring. Really.”
The sudden kiss popped Gu Xiujue’s eyes wide, then he shut them fast. “Mm.” A single kiss drew a low, heated sound from him.
The sensitive Beta quieted down all over.
The world shrank to a single heartbeat, thump, thump.
He had kissed before, but he had never liked kissing Huo Leishao. It had always been so-so.
“Okay,” Li Dong said, keeping it to a taste and pulling back. “We have plenty of time.” Publicly showing off would draw envy. Better be careful.
So this was what kissing was supposed to be like. Gu Xiujue was still reeling, mind a mess, and lips tingling.
As expected, Li Dong saw Gu Xiujue’s cheeks flush, eyes full of disbelief.
“What, was that your first kiss?” Probably not.
“No,” Gu Xiujue said. “Let us leave here first.” He swept the surroundings with his eyes, took the shirt from Li Dong’s hands and shrugged it on, then caught the Omega by the wrist and led him off the ring.
The whole place was packed, yet the crowd parted for them on its own.
Jealous looks came from every direction. Gu Xiujue knew he had stoked public resentment. People felt more jealousy than blessing for him.
“What are you thinking?” Li Dong asked. “You won the ring.”
Hand in hand, Gu Xiujue walked quietly ahead without answering.
Faced with an uncommunicative gourd, Li Dong felt glum. Had he not been downright open on the ring just now?
Did he have a switch, where stepping off flipped him to shut-in mode?
“Come,” Gu Xiujue said. He brought Li Dong to a teleportation booth and picked a destination on the map.
“Major General Gu, no…” Li Dong corrected himself. “I do not want to call you Major General Gu. Can I call you Xiu?” He had been shouting it just now, loudly too.
“Mm,” Gu Xiujue nodded a little. “Of course.”
After answering, the tips of his ears went red.
Tsk tsk. When tough guys got shy, it was always fatal. Li Dong could not handle it. He let himself stare openly. The man was truly handsome.
Unlike normal men he had seen, this male lead felt like a perfect figure from a dream world. Power and beauty coexisted in him, something that only existed in human fantasy.
If this were not a novel world, a man like this would not exist.
Meeting such a beyond-imagination person for the first time, Li Dong could not help being drawn in by Gu Xiujue’s strength.
Like in that ring match just now. The storm inside him had been real.
He was glad that after such a long cycle of lifetimes, he could still continue with such drive and energy.
He had to thank everyone he’d met for this. Thank the male lead by his side.
“Xiu?” They arrived in a strange place.
“This is my space on the Star Net,” Gu Xiujue said. He opened the door and went in. Inside looked like his real-world home, the same clean, spare style.
In simple terms, it was empty. The chill could compete with a model home.
“Sit,” Gu Xiujue said. “It is a bit bare. I rarely come here.” Since he lived alone, even if he did come, he left almost no trace.
“It is fine,” Li Dong said. He looked around and then took a seat on a sofa. “Do you want to shower?” The Star Net felt real. Sweat was sweat, fatigue was fatigue. A hot shower would be comfortable.
“Sure,” Gu Xiujue said. “Wait here.” He lingered for a few seconds to make sure Li Dong was alright, then turned away.
Three minutes later, he came out with damp hair and only a pair of trousers on.
His abs pulled the eye. After you looked at his face, your gaze dropped straight down and got stuck on them.
As he towel-dried his hair, he glanced through his fringe and accidentally caught Li Dong’s frankly hungry stare. When he realized what the man was looking at, a hot, cramping sensation lit low in his belly, along with a subtle flicker of pleasure.
He likes me.
The idea was almost too much to bear.
Gu Xiujue took a few quiet deep breaths, then chose to angle his body to give Li Dong his good side, all smooth lines.
F**k…
Li Dong almost raised his hand to cover his nose. He learned today that you really could call a man sexy and sultry.
This was getting a bit insane.
Deliberate temptation.
In this world, anyone who did not bend was a hero.
Li Dong saluted him as a real man.
For those who were born bent, it was not necessarily a blessing.
In the last two worlds, Li Dong had gone with the flow, following his feelings. He did not guard himself against the male lead and thought it was no big deal whether he liked him or not.
He only had to hold to his beliefs and know what he was doing.
Yet in both worlds, he had fallen for the male lead. The pain of parting by death had been real.
Sometimes the longing crept up, soft and binding. He treasured those meaningful feelings.
But he was also a little afraid of falling for each new male lead, sending off one lover after another over the long years.
“What is wrong?” Gu Xiujue asked. He saw the Omega with a hand to his forehead and felt a twinge of worry. “Are you okay?” His hand reached out and then stopped halfway, suddenly pulled back.
“I am fine,” Li Dong said, lifting his head. “Just thinking about some things.” He tended to overthink, but in the instant he raised his head, many things became clear. He was Li Dong. There was nothing to fear.
“What are you thinking about?” Gu Xiujue asked. “If it is about your coming-of-age, I said it already. I am not suitable.” He avoided Li Dong’s eyes and kept toweling his hair.
“You were very much a man on that ring,” Li Dong said. “You were free that way.” He wanted everyone to be drawn to that charisma. So confident, unrestrained, and wild. Then stepping off the ring, he changed.
“That does not matter, Chu Huanyan. We should not keep seeing each other,” Gu Xiujue said. “You have a good family, and you can find a good Alpha in the future who can mark you.” A Beta could never give a permanent mark, and could not get an Omega pregnant. In marriage, he was a broken tool.
“If I say there is no such thing as suitable or not suitable, there is only like or not like, what is your answer?” Li Dong asked. He waved a hand in front of Gu Xiujue to make him look at him. “Do not think about suitability.”
“I do not like you. I do not,” Gu Xiujue said. “You have caused me a lot of trouble. I have forgiven you again and again. I hope this will end.”
When the week was up and the Omega married, that would be the end.
With such a hard refusal, pushing on would only be desperate chasing.
“Alright,” Li Dong said with a nod. He had been clearly rejected, but since the man had declared he no longer loved the scummy gong, maybe that was not a bad outcome. “Then can we still be friends? I am a chatterbox, you know.”
From here on, as long as he kept the male lead from throwing himself away for the scummy gong, the goal would be met.
“We will see,” Gu Xiujue said. “I will see you out.” He got up awkwardly, went back to the bedroom, and put on a shirt.
Poor male lead.
He was clearly moved.
Author’s Note:
Morning~
[In December, I am entering Dong-ge in a writing contest and need lots of nutrient solution. Please send me up the rankings. If we make top five, I will add more, more, and even more updates!]
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