Chapter 21 - Staying For The Night
Su Ling's body stiffened into a straight line. His hand that was grasping on Gu Liheng's hand unconsciously exerted more force. Because of emotional tension, his body wanted to emit pheromones but was blocked by the isolator, causing his neck to feel stuffy.
Gu Liheng glanced at the beasts around them, his voice was steady as he said, "They were attracted by the fragrance."
Worried that his voice would be too loud and startle the wild beast, Su Ling pressed himself against Gu Liheng's back and whispered, "Do you want me to put away the spiritual plants?"
Gu Liheng could feel a slightly hot and wet sensation from his back. A ticklish numbing sensation ran through his arm and went straight to the palm of his hand. His shoulder moved slightly.
"No, the moment the fragrance disappears, their attention will immediately shift to us."
Though they were wearing green camouflage uniforms, which have a good camouflage effect, but the spiritual plants were right next to them. With the beasts placing all of their attention on the spiritual plants, he and Su Ling would be very conspicuous if the spiritual plants suddenly disappear. Gu Liheng quickly made a decision, "After 10 seconds, I will throw out some compressed smoke spheres around us, and you take the opportunity to put away the spiritual plants. Then we will move to other places."
Su Ling uttered an ‘En’ as an acknowledgement. Then he raised his hand to touch the stud earring while staring at the spiritual plants.
A few seconds later, Gu Liheng said, “Now!"
The moment Gu Liheng finished speaking, many black pearl-like spheres suddenly appeared in his hands. He moved his feet slightly, then flung out the spheres in his hands to all directions. Instantly, thick white smoke rose around, and Su Ling quickly returned the spiritual plants to his space storage. Sounds from various beasts and chaotic footsteps could be heard from the smoke. After listened intently for a moment, Gu Liheng took out a gas mask to Su Ling and pulled Su Ling to continue walking south.
A moment later, the two of them reached the center of the smokescreen, and all the beasts had already run away. Surrounded by white smokes, they could not see anything except each other. However, this state only lasted for less than half a minute. They passed through the smoke, and their vision restored. It was messy around them, everywhere were scattered leaves and lower trees were bent; obviously caused by the beasts that had just run away.
Su Ling pulled down the mask and looked around. He could still see the animals running away in the far distance, he asked, "If I take out the spiritual plants again, the fragrance will attract them. What should I do?"
Gu Liheng: "Repeat the same thing again."
Su Ling looked up at him, his expression was calm and normal, and he was not nervous at all. That makes Su Ling curious, was it due to Gu Liheng having a steady state of mind or he just has an abnormal facial expression?
Su Ling: "Are you not afraid?"
Gu Liheng could hear Su Ling’s breathing rate a little faster than usual. His tone was calm as he replied, "Don't be afraid, we have enough equipment, and someone is ready to back up at any time. We are safe."
Su Ling patted his chest and tried to breathe evenly. He laughed and said, "Fortunately, I have you on this trip. I thought too simple of it and have underestimated the danger."
Gu Liheng: "You will still be well-prepared even if I don't come. Your plan was very meticulous."
After reading the travel plan, Gu Liheng knew that the young man could do this well, but he(SL) would need a lot of money to buy the supplies.
Continued to head south, they would take the spiritual plants out for at least 5 minutes every half an hour, and every time nearby beasts would approach to smell the fragrance. Su Ling was nervous at first, and after a few times, he became very calm.
As the light from the sky started to fade, the two found an open space not far from a water source and prepared to rest. Gu Liheng took out 2 green single tents, which were specially made to prevent moisture and insects. When Gu Liheng was setting up a tent, Su Ling said that he wanted to help but was stopped by Gu Liheng’s word saying, "You can go and prepare our food."
So Su Ling sat next to Gu Liheng and laid out 2 large and 1 small self-heating packed meals in front of him. While waiting for the food to be cooked, he watched Gu Liheng busying with the tents. Gu Liheng was very fast, he obviously knows the tent very well. In just a short while after the tents were set up, their meal is done as well.
Su Ling handed him 2 large packed meals and asked, "Is this enough?" He had long discovered that Gu Liheng's appetite is much larger than him. The size of this portion was prepared according to what Gu Liheng ate during lunch.
Gu Liheng took the boxes and replied, "It’s enough." Sitting down next to Su Ling, he looked over Su Ling's meal and added, "There is a lot of food, you can eat more."
Su Ling shook his head, "This is enough for me."
Gu Liheng opened his packed meal and said, "You are thin enough and do not need to control your intake of food."
Su Ling blinked, slightly embarrassed as he answered, "My appetite is only this big, I am not trying to lose weight."
Gu Liheng glanced at him, "That's good." He paused, his head tilted slightly, "I don't understand why Omega always wants to lose weight."
Su Ling moved his thin wrist, "I don't understand either." He tilted his head and smiled. "Probably because it might be easier to walk as the wind blows."
Gu Liheng's eyes lit up with a smile, and the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously, "A very interesting statement."
Su Ling squeezed his chopsticks hard and restrained the emotions in his eyes. He turned to look at his food and started mixing the side dishes with the rice. Then he asked with curved eyes, "Sounds reasonable, doesn't it?"
Su Ling felt that he acted quite naturally when he saw Gu Liheng's smile. But he was still worried that Gu Liheng would realize it himself, so he changed the subject, "There are different flavours of packed meals, which one do you like?"
Gu Liheng: "Either one is fine."
Su Ling tilted his head to look at him, and smiled like usual, "Not a picky eater, huh? What a good habit."
After the two of them had eaten, Gu Liheng went to bury their meal box and vegetable scraps.
The forest was very humid. Su Ling felt even warmer after dinner, and his fair complexion was red from the heat. He pulled down the zipper of his jacket and waved his hands to blow wind on his face. However, it was still very uncomfortable, especially the back of his neck. That was a normal reaction caused by the isolator being put on for a long time. Touching the back of his neck, Su Ling suddenly realized that Alpha would also need to take their isolator at night. If it is not because of the mutual attraction between Alpha and Omega, not sticking the isolator is better for the body.
Gu Liheng noticed his movement and said, "You should take off your isolator."
Su Ling: "You should take off yours too."
Gu Liheng: "I'm fine."
Su Ling didn't believe it, but he also knew Gu Liheng's concerns. After all, he would react to Gu Liheng's pheromone. Thinking for a while, Su Ling pointed to the left and said, "I'll go to the river to clean myself, then you can go when I come back." Both of them can relax during this period, and he really wants to wash. After what happened during the day, his body is sticky and uncomfortable.
"That’s very dangerous."
Su Ling: "I will bring weapons and repellent powder along. Plus, I will contact you if something happened." He paused before adding, "We can't always be in each other’s sight."
Gu Liheng thought about their gender and was convinced by Su Ling, "Okay."
Su Ling turned on the light function of his bracelet and headed to the water source with a bottle of powder spray in his hand. The water flow in the river was not wide, but it was very long. One can’t see the end of both sides with just a glance. The reflection of the trees on the water surface forms a dark spot, making it impossible to see the bottom of the water. Su Ling sprayed the repellent powder around, and the insects hidden in the grass scattered away quickly. At the river edge, Su Ling scooped up some water and observed; the water quality was good. He rolled up his sleeves, washed his hands, then bent over to wash his face, and felt much better. Next, he took off the isolator, wiped the back of his neck with a wrung wet towel. His eyes narrowed comfortably, and he heaved a long breath.
Soon, the smell of his pheromones wafted out. Su Ling wrinkled his nose and bent over to wash the towel. When he got up, the water surface flashed, his body stiffened, and he immediately looked at that direction. There was a pair of eyes, less than 2 meters away from him. At the next second, the eyes raised a bit from the water and exposed half of the creature’s body. That long mouth, sharp teeth, long tail, and wrinkled skin, although a little different from what he saw on Earth, that is clearly a crocodile!
Su Ling's eyes widened, and his heart instantly jumped to his throat. "AH!!!" He quickly backed away and his pheromone became stronger due to emotional ups and downs. The crocodile's long tail lifted up and slammed towards the water, which propelled its body forward like a cannonball and attacking him with its mouth open.
Su Ling couldn’t breathe. All of a sudden, the crocodile's huge body froze in the air, then turned 180 degrees in the air in a very complicated posture. It splashed back to the surface of the water, sped to the other side of the shore in a panic, and ran away like its life depended on it. At the same time, as if there’s a zoo in the river, a lot of animals suddenly appeared. They ran away in a panic, the water churned from the waves caused by the movements. Then tranquillity was restored in the blink of an eye.
Su Ling: "..." Why are they running away like they saw a ghost?
That caused his heart to tighten, is there a big one coming? As he was still thinking, footsteps came from behind him. Su Ling turned around and saw a beam of light shining at him. Then Gu Liheng strode to his side, "Are you injured anywhere?"
Su Ling shook his head, "No, I was just frightened..."
As he said, Su Ling noticed Gu Liheng’s sorry appearance. There were leaves and feathers from unknown birds on his shoulders, his clothes were wrinkled, and his black military boots were covered with dirt and grass scraps. Moreover, there were obvious animal footprints on his boots. Su Ling grabbed Gu Liheng’s wrist and asked, "What's wrong with you? Were you injured?"
Gu Liheng frowned slightly, "No, I hurried over when I heard your scream. Along the way, I met a lot of panicked animals and bumped into a few of them."
His appearance doesn’t look like ‘only’ a few animals bumped into him though.
Gu Liheng took a glance around, "What's the matter? Have you seen a wild beast?"
All the birds and insects around were gone. There seemed to be no other living thing except for the two of them, eerily quiet. Su Ling shook his head. He felt relieved and relaxed after seeing Gu Liheng. As soon as he relaxed, his attention returned to the present, and he realized something. It smells too bad! Frowning, he put the isolator back on his neck. The moment his hand left the back of his neck, Su Ling suddenly realized what he was doing and looked up at Gu Liheng.
Gu Liheng’s expression didn’t change a bit, as if he didn't smell anything. So he couldn't help asking, "Is there a problem with your sense of smell?"
Gu Liheng: "No."
Su Ling sighed, "You have a strong endurance," Then he looked around before adding, "I think the reason why those animals were acting strangely is because of my pheromone."