The Predators Have Landed

The traces of the person they were searching for were very close now.

So close that they were about to arrive at the place he had escaped to.

Breathing the same air as him.

Standing beneath the same sky.

They would ruthlessly end his two years of free-range wandering.

They would seize him tightly into their arms.

Drag him out of his comfort zone.

Lock him back into the sheepfold they had already prepared for him long ago.

“……”

Biqita removed his glasses and placed them aside, gently pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers.

Unable to suppress it, his thoughts also returned to that unbelievably chaotic day because of Rhine’s words.

The roar of helicopter blades.

The frantic shouts of medical staff.

The static crackling from communication radios.

The blood saturating the air.

That silver dessert fork lodged in Rhine’s eye socket—

Driven in so deeply that it quickly caused massive blood loss.

No one dared move recklessly.

Rhine had no choice but to remain with that ridiculous dessert fork sticking from his eye while being thrown onto a stretcher.

Throughout the entire process, Biqita remained beside him.

Whether because of genuine pathological twin empathy or psychological reasons, his own left eye had also begun throbbing violently.

Pressure built in the eye alongside blurring vision…

Amid the chaos, the helicopter doors slammed shut.

Judging from the expressions of the medical staff, Rhine’s condition had already gone far beyond merely “whether the eye could be saved.”

Everyone looked grave.

Yet after a brief moment of stillness finally emerged, Biqita’s blood-covered hand was grasped by another hand slick and sticky with blood.

“And him?”

Ignoring the horrified cries of the medics, the person on the stretcher tore off his oxygen mask.

As though he had anticipated this already, Biqita did not dramatically yell for his younger brother to put the oxygen mask back on like in some cliché television drama.

Instead, he curled his lips slightly and bent down closer to the face identical to his own.

“He escaped.”

Rhine softly responded with an “Oh.”

At this moment, every monitoring machine nearby screamed violently.

The absurd noise nearly drowned out even the medics’ cries.

Rhine’s eyelids trembled.

He still had not released Biqita’s hand.

The twins had always grown up as though they were one person.

Between them, there had never been anything resembling a “request”…

At least, not before.

“Biqita.
Don’t kill him.”

That was the final sentence Rhine spoke to his brother before falling unconscious.

The oxygen mask was forcibly replaced.

The surrounding chaos only intensified.

Yet amid the disorder, the unconscious Alpha on the stretcher and the twin crouching beside him instead became the only stillness in existence.

Biqita brushed back the hair on his brother’s forehead, matted together by blood.

“I know, Rhine.”

Biqita Sevi’s voice was unbelievably gentle.

“Don’t forget. I love him too.”

Thirty minutes later, as the plane truly began landing, the bathroom door finally opened.

The first person stumbling out was the Beta named Andy.

His eyes were red as though he had cried.

Visible tears had split the corners of his mouth from excessive stretching.

The expensive clothes on his body remained perfectly intact.

Even his belt still maintained the meticulous neatness it had possessed before boarding…

But those clothes had nonetheless been utterly ruined.

With every step he took, water squeezed out from the seams of his leather shoes.

Apparently he had been drenched beneath the showerhead.

At this moment, he resembled a drowned stray dog dragged from water.

Everyone in the cabin—including the flight crew—remained expressionless.

Clearly, they were accustomed to this.

In fact, when they saw Andy emerge wrapped in the scent of bitter sour-fruit pheromones, looking dazed and absent-minded, with his belt perfectly fastened and his nape smooth without any bite marks, they even pitied him slightly—

Another unfortunate temporary substitute.

Five minutes after Andy disappeared into the crew rest cabin, Rhine Sevi finally emerged wearing only a bathrobe.

The Alpha looked refreshed and invigorated.

The hazy excitement from when he first woke had vanished entirely.

Water still dripped from his hair as he snatched the folder containing the final unread page from his brother’s lap.

After skimming through it quickly, he snapped the folder shut with a smack.

“How much longer until we arrive?”

“If you hadn’t insisted on fooling around in the bathroom, we’d already be there by now.”

Biqita’s tone remained calm and steady, as though merely stating objective fact.

“I truly can’t imagine how I’d explain it if the person beside Mr. Zhao really turns out to be the person we’re searching for and he’s currently waiting for us at the airport.”

“Would I ask him to wait a little because Rhine is still locked inside the bathroom with someone less than ten percent similar to him while attempting to soothe urges with self-control inferior to a stray dog on the street?”

“……”

“Don’t drag me into your ruined reputation too, dear brother,” Biqita Sevi said affectionately.

“I can accompany you to every corner of the world, even hell itself.
But absolutely not through a crematorium wife-chasing arc.”

Deep within the mountains, no one sensed the approaching storm.

Wu Qie enjoyed two peaceful days.

The uproar over changing rooms seemed to have become nothing more than an overly complicated misunderstanding.

Thanks to the plumber’s efficient work, everything quickly settled back down.

Wu Qie merely noticed that the atmosphere between Zhao Shu and Pei Qingyu had become slightly strange…

For example, Zhao Shu guarded against Pei Qingyu like he was guarding against a thief.

Whether during post-match lectures or accidental encounters in the cafeteria, Pei Qingyu almost never managed to speak privately with Wu Qie because Zhao Shu always interfered.

—Completely unaware that the embarrassing misunderstanding caused by Zhao Shu recognizing the wrong person had already become known to the parties involved, Teacher Xiao Wu naturally never connected the matter to himself.

He merely assumed Zhao Shu was randomly losing his mind again.

That evening, after finishing an entire day of training work, rain once again began falling softly from the sky.

Teacher Xiao Wu returned to his room and shut the door behind him.

Escaping the oppressive atmosphere of being watched twenty-four hours a day finally allowed him to relax slightly.

The temperature dropped sharply.

The natural hot spring in the courtyard produced even denser white mist beneath the winter rain because of the clash between hot and cold.

Sheltering beneath the extended roof while comfortably soaking in the half of the spring untouched by rain, Wu Qie found himself in a decent mood.

So he picked up his phone, intending to ask Zhao Shu whether he had invented any new methods of tormenting people these past two days—

Only to receive messages from his ex-boyfriend the moment he entered WeChat.

Recently, Lan Yin’s relationship with his current boyfriend had been stable and passionate.

Every day consisted of yacht fishing or tropical island vacations.

He had been having so much fun he hadn’t bothered chatting with Wu Qie or complaining about his idiot Alpha boyfriend for a very long time.

But today, Lan Yin clearly had an overwhelming desire to talk.

Several unread messages arrived one after another.

Wu Qie clicked them open and discovered that the earliest messages were photos.

[Little Lan Yin: “Image” “Image” “Image”]

[Little Lan Yin: Cat Puffing Fur in Terror.JPG]

Then came textual screaming.

[Little Lan Yin: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH HOLY SHIT WHAT IS GOING ON???

DO YOU HAVE A TWIN BROTHER OR DID YOU NOT ACTUALLY GO HIDE IN THE MOUNTAINS TO COACH

BASKETBALL BUT SECRETLY GET PLASTIC SURGERY AND APPEAR HERE INSTEAD???]

Several more lines of “AAAAAAAH” spam followed.

Wu Qie raised a brow and opened the photos that had apparently shattered Lan Yin’s sanity.

The images appeared to depict some kind of business banquet.

The venue was the second-highest floor of the ultra-luxury hotel owned by Zhao Guipu that Wu Qie recognized immediately.

Crystal chandeliers shone brightly as daylight.

Elegantly dressed guests mingled and crossed paths.

At the very center stood Mr. Zhao himself.

In the photograph, Zhao Guipu had turned slightly sideways while speaking to a richly dressed middle-aged woman.

The polite business smile on his face remained flawless as always.

The difference was that, unlike most occasions where he attended alone, tonight someone rested within his arms.

Black hair.

A younger-looking suit.

A smooth flat neck.

A Beta.

Even Wu Qie froze momentarily upon seeing the image.

The Beta’s side profile tilted slightly upward, elegant nose sharp and refined.

If not for slight differences in skin tone, even Wu Qie himself would have believed he was looking at himself.

[Wu Qie: ?]

[Little Lan Yin: ……………………DOESN’T IT LOOK LIKE YOU?!]

[Wu Qie: What’s going on?]

[Little Lan Yin: Zhao Corporation has important guests tonight.

For once, the Zhao family head brought a male companion to the banquet.]

[Wu Qie: Who are they hosting?]

[Little Lan Yin: The guests haven’t arrived yet!]

[Wu Qie: …What kind of business event requires bringing a partner?

What kind of freak guest is this?

Can Mr. Zhao seriously never spend time around normal people in his entire life?]

[Little Lan Yin: That insult just dragged everyone here into it.

Especially me crouching nearby secretly trying to sneak a photo from different angles.

Honestly I sound even less like a “normal person.”]

[Wu Qie: Then please stay farther away from him and stop corrupting my future brother-in-law.]

[Little Lan Yin: ……]

[Little Lan Yin: Calling him “future brother-in-law” every sentence…

That’s not the point here!!!

The point is what the hell, I’m losing my mind, this person looks way too much like you?!!!!!!]

[Little Lan Yin: Why is your future brother-in-law finding a male companion who looks exactly like his future brother-in-law???!!!!]

[Wu Qie: ?]

[Little Lan Yin: I asked Zhang Gengxin what was going on and he told me to mind my own business!!!!]

[Little Lan Yin: How am I supposed to mind my own business when I have eyes???!!!!!]

[Little Lan Yin: What even is this???

Do all rich families play these games???

Don’t tell me the Zhao family head secretly has feelings for you but can’t have you so he found a substitute that looks like you while quietly treasuring you as his white moonlight—]

Wu Qie: “……”

He never knew his ex-boyfriend could type this quickly.

Back when they were close to breaking up, Lan Yin typed like his hands had fallen off and only knew how to send perfunctory emojis.

Now he still sent emojis—

But definitely not perfunctorily.

The “Panic.JPG” series had evolved from cats to dogs to marmots to capybaras to hippos.

Enough animals to open an entire panic zoo.

[Wu Qie: …I’m not dead though.]

[Little Lan Yin: ?]

[Wu Qie: What exactly would Zhao Guipu need to secretly treasure me as some white moonlight for?]

[Little Lan Yin: ???]

[Wu Qie: If he really liked me, he could just do it openly.
It’s not like I’d definitely resist.

Lan Yin seemed to fall silent for a full thirty seconds.

As if his silence itself were deafening.

Then he immediately resumed spamming keyboard-smash screaming.

[Little Lan Yin: ………………………PLEASE STOP TALKING, FUTURE BROTHER-IN-LAW!!!!

WHAT KIND OF INSANE STATEMENT IS THAT?!]

[Wu Qie: You were the one who started talking nonsense first.]

[Little Lan Yin: Is it really nonsense though?]

[Wu Qie: It is.]

Wu Qie: “……”

[Wu Qie: …Probably.]