Title: 顶级掠食者 (Alpha Predator)
Author:水千丞 (ShuiQianCheng)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists :沈岱 (Shen Dai -MC), 瞿末予 (Qu Moyu -ML)
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Shen Dai’s grandmother and Qu Moyu are in the same hospital. The only difference is that one is in the intensive care unit and the other is in intensive care. Shen Dai thought about the two people he cared about upstairs and downstairs. His heart was hanging, every pinch of realistic pressure was mercilessly pressed on his shoulders. Somewhere in the depths of his soul, he was crying for help.
He felt that he should go see his grandmother but he was afraid that his current state of mind would make his grandmother even more worried. At this time, he received a call from the nanny, saying that Qiuqiu had been crying all night and he couldn’t be coaxed. So the nanny could only call him. He had no choice but to rush home.
Qiuqiu must have been a little frightened this time. He is just a child but he has to encounter such changes one after another. Under the influence of such and such alpha pheromones, he cannot speak or resist them. So he has to keep crying out of his discomfort. Shen Dai was deeply remorseful for not being able to protect his child. And it was entirely his fault.
Qiuqiu was held in Shen Dai’s arms. After feeling his pheromone, Qiuqiu’s emotions calmed down a little. He then fell asleep due to drowsiness.
Shen Dai checked the Internet and found that there was no media coverage of what happened in the past few days. Occasionally, there were some covert gossips on the platform but they did not cause a large-scale discussion. It seems that the public relations team of Xingzhou had dealt with it. Thinking that both You Xinghai and Qu Chengchen have been detained while Qu Moyu is lying in the hospital and hasn’t woken up yet, the company is likely to be covered in gossip all over the place. How exactly does Qu Shen plan to use this incident to his advantage and what purpose does he want to achieve? He felt cold thinking of the coldness of being able to be calculative at all times. He could only imagine what kind of education Qu Moyu had received.
After coaxing Qiuqiu to sleep, Shen Dai took a bath and returned to the hospital – he couldn’t eat, he couldn’t sleep, and he couldn’t stay at home comfortably.
When he went to see his grandmother, his grandmother was sleeping. Now, she is less and less awake. Sometimes she will forget a lot of things when she wakes up. Every time Shen Dai sees her, his grief increases.
Shen Qin pulled him aside impatiently: “Are you okay? How is Qiuqiu? I heard that Mr. Qu was injured and he was in the ward upstairs. Is it true? The bodyguards stopped me from going to see him.”
Shen Dai nodded tiredly.
“The injury, where is the injury? Is it serious?” Shen Qin’s voice began to tremble, “I heard, I heard, they say it’s at… his glands?”
Shen Dai said hoarsely: “Don’t ask. They want to keep it a secret.” Qu Shen has completely got this news. If the news of Qu Moyu’s gland injury spreads, there will be unpredictable dangers. The tiger is injured. The jackal will wait for an opportunity to strike.
Shen Qin’s expression changed from shock to rage: “You Xinghai… this beast who kills people with a thousand knives! What do I owe him? He wants to hurt me but also your family?! Why doesn’t he die? He’d better die in prison in this life!”
Shen Dai disdainfully implicated You Xinghai since he did not want Shen Qin to know too much.
Shen Qin’s eyes were red with excitement and his hatred was surging: “Mr. Qu will be fine. He is an S-class alpha!”
“Yes. He… will be fine.” Shen Dai whispered, “You take care of grandma, I will go see him.”
***
When he came to the VIP lounge, Liang Rui was really waiting there. She also seemed to have not slept all day and night and asked about Qiuqiu’s condition with a tired face.
“Qiuqiu fell asleep already. He was a little frightened, but he should be fine.” Shen Dai sat beside her, “Is he awake?”
Liang Rui nodded: “He woke up twice but he is not in a good shape. Tomorrow morning he should be able to be transferred to the general ward.”
Shen Dai let out a slow sigh of relief. Heclosed his eyes and leaned against the wall. He felt that his body was getting tired. Every muscle and bone was clamoring helplessly.
“He asked about you and Qiuqiu when he woke up.” Liang Rui sighed softly.
Shen Dai opened his eyes: “I asked the nanny to bring Qiuqiu over when he woke up.”
“What about you?”
“…I’ll just be here.”
After sitting for a few hours, the doctor came to inform them that Qu Moyu’s condition had stabilized. He had been transferred to the general ward. He is awake and could be visited.
The two looked at each other and Liang Rui said, “Go see him first. He wants to see you the most.”
Shen Dai’s heart beat faster than a drumbeat but his face looked calm. He got up and went upstairs with the doctor.
Shen Dai took a deep breath when he walked to Qu Moyu’s ward. His eyes were slightly warm. He sorted out his emotions and then pushed the door and walked in.
Qu Moyu is lying on a special hospital bed with a suspended neck so that he can lie down without touching the wound. He looks like a patient with spinal injuries on TV. His face was almost bloodless and his eyes were dull. That sickness and fragility looks on him stabbed Shen Dai’s heart.
Seeing Shen Dai, Qu Moyu moved his fingers and called softly, “Ah Dai.” His voice was hoarse and weak.
Every time Shen Dai took a step forward, it hurt him. It was like stepping on the tip of a knife. He couldn’t believe that the weak wounded person in front of him was the S-class alpha that he remembered as strong, ruthless and invincible. It seemed that Qu Moyu would not be injured, nor would he lose or even fall.
Qu Moyu squeezed the corners of his lips and smiled.
Shen Dai sat on the chair beside the bed and whispered, “Your surgery was successful. Qiuqiu is also fine.”
“What about you?” Qu Moyu looked at Shen Dai without blinking. His body was damaged. His mental power was also in a downturn, but his eyes gradually lit up when he saw Shen Dai.
“I’m fine too.” Shen Dai pursed his lips, “I’m responsible for this matter. You Xinghai and Qu Chengchen are one thing. But I also did something impulsive, putting both Qiuqiu and you in danger.”
Qu Moyu slowly grabbed Shen Dai’s hand: “This is not what I want to hear.”
“I…”
“The trick you used was because you wanted to deal with You Xingha. It is effective. And you have sufficient reasons to deal with him, The key to this matter is…” Qu Moyu gave a wry smile, “You didn’t trust me. If you told me of this plan, I could guarantee your safety and won’t let Qu Chengchen take advantage of it.”
Shen Dai was silent.
“It’s not your fault that you didn’t trust me. You think I’m unreliable so you have to solve the problem yourself. Even if the enemy you face is much stronger than you, you won’t ask me for help. It’s because of me. You have used up all your credit, right?”
Shen Dai lowered his head: “But you saved us this time.”
“So my score has risen a little bit.” Qu Moyu looked at Shen Dai, trying to determine his thoughts. “Is it still negative?”
Shen Dai only looked at Qu Moyu for half a second and then his eyes turned away unconsciously: “No matter what… thank you for saving us.”
“I saved my own wife and children, why shouldn’t I?”
“…”
“You know, when I realized that Qu Chengchen wanted to hurt my glands, I was afraid. But I had another idea at that time.”
Shen Dai felt that Qu Moyu had caught him with his hands tightened. He originally thought that Qu Moyu had no strength, but now he seems to be energetic again.
“I think I should try the pain when you didn’t use the anesthetic to wash off the ‘mark’.”
Shen Dai was shocked and looked at Qu Moyu in surprise.
“My mother told me about it.”
Shen Dai’s breathing was a little heavy and that was the memory he didn’t want to think of the most. It is a wound that never healed. Every time he thought of it, it was like the wound was still bloody.
“It really hurts. I’ve never felt so much pain in my life.” Qu Moyu’s eyes turned red, “How painful you must have been at that time.”
Shen Dai couldn’t tell what it was like. He lowered his voice as he said, “I did it for Qiuqiu. I don’t regret it. I never thought of asking you to repay it like this.”
“But I deserved it.” Qu Moyu stared deeply at Shen Dai, “Ah Dai, even if my glands function can’t recover and even if I became a beta, I don’t regret it either.”
Shen Dai’s eyes flickered. He looked into Qu Moyu’s eyes, trying to distinguish a bit of reality from them. But all that he saw was only bottomless affection.
Qu Moyu’s remarks gave Shen Dai a great shock. How important is the genetic tag of S-class alpha to Qu Moyu. It is needless to say that it is the pride of his life, the source of strength, the symbol of power and the pass to the peak. Any S-class alpha regarded this as the greatest glory in their life. If they lose this innate powerful energy, he is afraid that it will be more painful than death.
But Qu Moyu said that he didn’t regret that he almost lost his glands. And he is not just talking nonsense about it. An S-class alpha can easily dodge an ordinary alpha attack. The reason why his glands are injured is because he did not dodge the attack. He defied the instinct of his own self-defense mechanism, choosing to suffer damage or even losing the price of his glands. It was just to… save Shen Dai.
Shen Dai has been in a daze for the past two days. He was unable to sober up from the fact that Qu Moyu injured his own glands to save him. His memory, his experience, his cognition, and his judgment all told him again and again that Qu Moyu has no feelings. But he had injured his glands in order to save him. What this S-class alpha did wasn’t done for self-interest. He was showing his affection and showing his weakness to him. Qu Moyu’s behavior broke through all his presuppositions. He couldn’t imagine that there was anything or anyone in this world that would take the risk of losing his glands for him, but Qu Moyu did it for him.
This doesn’t seem to be the Qu Moyu he knew. He is used to facing the predatory S-class alpha who prioritizes interests, not the one who made a ‘deal’ that even he thought was not worthwhile. He was in a panic. Just as he couldn’t find the driving force that Qu Moyu needed him, now he couldn’t find the driving force for Qu Moyu to sacrifice himself for him. That was unless… unless… it was for the most obvious reason. The most understandable reason. It was because of what Qu Moyu had talked about so many times but he just couldn’t believe him.
He couldn’t believe that Qu Moyu might really have feelings for him after all.
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Next update: 2022.09.21
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*Translator’s note: SD’s heart is opening a crack. Lol. -K