Lop-Eared Guard

In the high seas of Nakhi, a luxury cruise ship remained stationary for two days. 

A black dot appeared in the distant sky; a helicopter painted with the peregrine falcon family’s emblem gradually approached, its huge propellers roaring as it descended onto the deck. A gush of air current rushed forward, causing the aristocrats who gathered on the deck to hold onto the brim of their hats.

A servant approached the ladder padded with tiger skin. Lu Shangjin slowly stepped down from the helicopter. Under the ink-black fox coat on his shoulders, he wore a tailored black suit. He took off his protective sunglasses and casually tossed it to the person who followed beside him.

A pair of cold eyes that seemed to always hold detest and disregard for anything revealed, deep and bottomless.

A row of bodyguards in black stood at the bottom. They nodded orderly and addressed, “Master Lu.”

Lu Shangjin looked straight ahead and walked towards the middle-aged alpha who was drinking tea under an umbrella on the deck. He bowed slightly to the elder and greeted, “Uncle.” 

The alpha, who was in his fifties, was leisurely listening to the melodious opera on the radio, holding a pen in his right hand as he sketched out annotations on an English book. He greeted Lu Shangjin warmly, “Xiao Jin, I thought you weren’t coming, haha.”

His hand did not stop as he exchanged greetings, even drawing a few strokes on the page and wrote a neat string of English words. He stuck a bookmark between and closed the book before putting it aside, then said with a warm smile, “Have a seat.” 

He was a first-grade differentiated spider alpha, with the J1 differentiative ability “Distraction control”. 

Yuan Mi hurriedly caught the protective goggles that Lu Shangjin threw over. He had followed Lu Shangjin for three years, and would usually come and go as called. In bed, he had practiced his Kung Fu pretty well to serve Lu Shangjin with both his top and bottom mouths; having a high degree of compatibility and even being able to make Lu Shangjin feel good, he could stay by his side for such a long time. 

As soon as he was discharged from the hospital, he was called by Lu Shangjin to come out. 

Several old friends of Lu Shangjin’s whom he was familiar with for many years knew that he had a genuine omega wife who was always in the palm of his hand. Hence, Yuan Mi was very suspicious when Lu Shangjin came to look for him. 

Whether Lu Shangjin held him in his palm or in his mouth, it had been a long time. After all, marriage could not compare to wild bees and butterflies. 

Yuan Mi had already thickened his skin and prepared to take on the position of a mistress and have a brutal and bloody quarrel with Lu Shangjin’s wife, but who would’ve thought that his wife didn’t argue with him, and instead allowed him to calmly be Lu Shangjin’s lover for three years.

It wasn’t until Lu Shangjin dragged him out of the hospital bed in fury and stepped on his stomach that he really understood; even if Lu Shangjin’s former wife Yan Yi, that hateful rabbit, had entered the cold palace, his position had still not wavered. 

It was Yuan Mi’s first time seeing such an imposing disposition out of a film set—

The muzzles of the bodyguards’ guns occasionally flashed, shining with cold light under the cuffs of their lapels. At a glance, the heavy and icy quality could not be compared to the artificial props he held before. 

A sense of panic submerged him from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. In the past, Yan Yi had always been the one who accompanied Lu Shangjin by his side, so he must have already been used to these kinds of scenes.

Yuan Mi schooled his features, feigning calmness as he followed Lu Shangjin down the helicopter, his trembling fingertips holding onto the crook of Lu Shangjin’s arm.

Even if Yuan Mi didn’t say a word, Lu Shangjin could feel that he was afraid. They were just coming to meet someone, what’s there to be afraid of? He thought that an omega who was used to seeing flashing lights and walking red carpets would be enough to steer the current state of the situation. 

Lu Shangjin frowned. When Yan Yi had stood beside him in a narrow-waisted black tuxedo, there was always an invisible cold aura emanating from the little omega. It would just have been the night before that Yan Yi covered his eyes with his rabbit ears and called out in a fragmented voice, “just like that”, “Jin ge be gentler…”, but then he could put on a front like he turned into a different person.

Smiling from ear to ear, Lu Jue came up and hugged Lu Shangjin, patting his back, “Passing one birthday means a year less, you might not be able to see me again next time.”

Lu Shangjin relaxed his slightly knitted brows. He hugged the spider alpha and said with a light smile, “How could that be? Uncle is in good health and may have boundless longevity.” 

He pursed his lips and whistled. A grey-backed peregrine falcon spread its wings from the beast’s cage in the helicopter. Letting out a vicious call, the massive peregrine falcon landed on Lu Shangjin’s half-raised forearm. 

“My dad trained it for several years and asked me to gift it to uncle for his birthday,” Lu Shangjin hooked his index finger and touched the raptor’s beak, unexpectedly receiving the ferocious peregrine falcon’s dependent response. 

Lu Jue laughed aloud, wanting to touch the peregrine falcon’s feathers, but was glanced at by the sharp bird eyes. The peregrine falcon stirred its wings and opened its knife-sharp beak, attempting to peck and bite Lu Jue’s finger. Lu Shangjin lifted his hand and held its head, gently stroking it, his tone deep, “Quiet.” 

Yuan Mi silently stood half a step away, afraid that this large bird would peck his eyes out. 

Lu Jue noticed that the person who accompanied Lu Shangjin’s side had changed. He looked up and down as he measured up this delicate omega, who was beautiful and glittering from head to toe like a star. He smiled meaningfully at Lu Shangjin, “This one is rather beautiful, but is lacking a bit of flavour.” 

Yuan Mi didn’t dare to respond, so he could only wait for Lu Shangjin to save him. 

Who would’ve thought that Lu Shangjin did not think it was worth saving him at all. He took a sip from the champagne brought over by the waiter, evidently unwilling to talk about this. 

However, Lu Jue made efforts to lead the conversation to this point, he didn’t want to end this topic so soon, so he took another tentative step with his words, “Why haven’t you brought that little rabbit you’ve doted on for many years?” 

At the right moment, the peregrine falcon let out a long whistling call. Soon after, Lu Shangjin lifted the corner of his lips slightly, “Yan Yi isn’t feeling well, he’s resting at home.”

Yuan Mi felt the sudden rise in tension from Lu Shangjin and he couldn’t help but shrink back beside him. After following Lu Shangjin for three years, he knew that the name “Yan Yi” was forbidden. Whenever Lu Shangjin heard anyone mention this name, his eyes would hold complex emotions, yet it’s not hatred. 

“Alright,” Lu Jue nodded. He led Lu Shangjin down a flight of stairs, still exchanging warm pleasantries as he recollected Lu Shangjin’s deceased biological father with him. 

“I sent someone to burn some paper money for your biological father a few days ago. If he were still around, he’d be so glad to know about your promising future.” 

Mentioning his biological father, Lu Shangjin’s hand silently clenched into a fist, gripping until his knuckles turned white. His biological father was a chameleon omega who had already passed away when Lu Shangjin was ten years old. 

Lu Shangjin only came here today for just one thing. 

    ——

A magnificent dome-shaped casino was hidden on the cruise ship. In the glorious and resplendent hall, elegant gentlemen and ladies piled up banknotes on the gambling table. The smell of cigars diffused in the air from the calm burning candle. Occasionally, the pungent smell of marijuana would slip into one’s nasal cavity. When they saw Lu Jue enter, they nodded in greeting one after another. 

Lu Jue sat opposite the gambling table, his ten fingers crossed to support his cheek. Separated by the dealing hand of the server wearing a dark red bowtie, his eyes squinted with a smile at Lu Shangjin. 

“Eh, I’ll deal twenty thousand first.” Lu Jue took out two stacks from the suitcase sent by the bodyguard and tossed them on the gambling table. 

“Jin ge.” Yuan Mi sat on Lu Shangjin’s lap and lit a cigarette for him. 

With drooping eyebrows and a cigarette in his mouth, Lu Shangjin appeared cold and sexually appealing. With the distinctively well-defined jointed fingers holding the cigarette, he loosened his tie. He then opened a poker card to look at it and raised his chin slightly, “Same.” 

Yuan Mi hastily opened the money case, took out two stacks and threw them onto the table. 

Lu Shangjin faintly spat out a white mist. He held Yuan Mi’s waist with one hand while putting the other on the table to dust off the ashes, “Uncle, I’m here for someone. I’ll just play two games.” 

Lu Jue continued to carry an extremely proud smile on his face, “Since you’ve come, play a while more with uncle, no need to rush.” 

Actually, the aristocrats present all knew that the Lu family had been splitting apart in recent years. At first, Lu Jue, whose glandular characteristics awakened as a spider, left the peregrine falcon family to develop separately, this was followed by Lu Shangjin’s deranged elevated encroachment on his father’s power. The shuffling disruptions indicated the thriving wild ambitions of the Lu family.

Lu Shangjin was no longer the beautiful young master who was protected by layers upon layers in the glass cabinet back then. His pair of hands dripped with fresh blood, and his heart had long been hardened to the point of not knowing how to move. 

Even the omega whom he once favoured the most by his side had changed to a different person. His petrified heart’s intentions had forgotten how to love others ardently with surging passion. 

Lu Shangjin found one of his father’s previous beta confidants who had fled abroad. Because he knew too much inside information, he had been sent abroad to retire, and could only rely on Lu Jue to bring him back. Otherwise, Lu Shangjin didn’t want to come here at all. 

After several rounds, the notes on the table piled up to five million yuan, plus a few cheques in the ten millions. 

Lu Shangjin’s gambling skills were exceptionally good, even having the J1 differentiative ability “extreme vision”. He just didn’t want to use it. 

Lu Jue didn’t care about winning or losing. He smiled and mentioned to Lu Shangjin, “There was news on the dark web a few days ago that Yan Yi’s glands have gone up to 2.5 billion US dollars. I’ve already caught the person you want. If you hand Yan Yi to me, that person is yours.” 

As long as he gets this beta, Lu Shangjin has various ways to pry out information from his mouth, thorough enough to bring Lu Lin down completely and can no longer have the power to control life and death over the Lu family. 

Lu Shangjin’s fingers stiffened, not even feeling the burn from the ashes that scattered on his fingertips. 

Lu Jue gave him some time to consider and smiled at his nephew. 

He had no reason to reject. Lu Jue continued to watch him. Lu Shangjin had arranged a gland replacement operation for Yan Yi, so the lop-eared rabbit’s A3 glands had no use to him anymore. 

Lu Shangjin coveted that lop-eared rabbit for so many years. In other words, any family who knew about the lop-eared rabbit A3 glands casted covetous eyes at him. As long as Yan Yi left Lu Shangjin’s power of influence, there would be thousands of gland hunters who would take him apart into a pile of ground meat— they were just afraid of Yan Yi as he was still the Lu family’s daughter in law. He was strong, but he wouldn’t be able to defeat thousands against one. Sooner or later, there will come a day where the oil in the lamp dries up. 

“My apologies,” Lu Shangjin crushed the cigarette butts, stroking Yuan Mi’s slender waist and lifted his gaze slightly, “Don’t get any ideas you shouldn’t have.” 

Suddenly, he pushed Yuan Mi aside. Lu Shangjin took out a Desert Eagle from Yuan Mi’s belt, loaded it up and aimed at one go. With a shot of gunfire, Lu Jue’s head exploded, blood splashing everywhere. 

The heavy barrel of the gun and the shock from the recoil did not make Lu Shangjin’s wrist tremble for even half a minute. 

The hall fell silent, the atmosphere suddenly dropping to a freezing point. 

Yuan Mi sat on the floor lifelessly with wide eyes, his cheeks splattered with warm heat. His legs had turned so soft that he couldn’t stand to support his body at all and could only sit there remaining still, seized with terror. He slowly shifted his stiff line of sight to Lu Shangjin’s face.  

Lu Shangjin held the gun with one hand and leaned slightly, his expression as cold and detached as ever. It seemed like it didn’t matter that a life had exploded in front of his eyes, and was instead just another boring fireworks blooming. 

The security and bodyguards of the entire cruise ship rushed to the casino hall. The aristocrats at the scene screamed and scurried out, uncontrollable pheromones spread chaotically. 

Lu Shangjin grabbed the collar of the security guard closest to him, gripped his hair and ruthlessly smashed him onto the gambling table. He took out two pistols from his gun belt, then rolled on the ground and stood on one knee. He hunched over and reached out to Yuan Mi, habitually flinging a gun to him and subconsciously shouted deeply, “Get over here!” 

As soon as the words were spoken, Yuan Mi lifted his head and his line of sight connected with Lu Shangjin’s. 

Yuan Mi was scared into a blank state. His trembling hands groped for the pistol in front of him. It was about a kilogram or two and he couldn’t hold it up at all, let alone know how to load it and pull the trigger. With a quivering look, he raised his watery eyes, crying out in fear, “J-Jin ge…” 

When their eyes connected, the expression in Lu Shangjin’s eyes extinguished, mixed with some confusion. 

At that moment, a voice in his heart suddenly told him, “This was not the face he wanted to see.” 

But in his heart, some things that had already been extinguished were trying to burn right then. 

There were countless beautiful, submissive, enchanting and considerate omegas, but there was only one who could give his absolute trust to him.  

The Desert Eagle in his hand carried a familiar temperature. 

Some dormant gland cells were waking up.