I Really Didn't Intend to Pick Up the Black Lotus Omega - Chapter 11

Yu Qing didn’t need Jiang Nianyu to tell her; she could already see how unwell the girl was.

Jiang Nianyu’s slender figure sat in the sunlight, her oversized coat enveloping her like she had been isolated by the sun.

Or perhaps targeted by it.

Jiang Nianyu had completely collapsed against Yu Qing, every point of contact burning with alarming heat.

Her cheek rested against Yu Qing’s shoulder, the rough invisible bandage chafing against Yu Qing’s skin. With each friction, a hotter breath fell against her neck.

Even more unnerving, as Jiang Nianyu spoke, her teeth would occasionally brush against Yu Qing’s neck, barely there yet impossible to ignore.

After Omegas differentiated, their canines became slightly flatter than those of Alphas and Betas, mirroring their masters’ lack of inherent threat.

Yet this faint, phantom sensation was both impossible to ignore and maddeningly ticklish.

It was an indescribable feeling.

Yu Qing’s heart raced erratically.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that Jiang Nianyu’s posture was somehow wrong, and she instinctively wanted to pull away.

But if she fled, who else would Jiang Nianyu have to rely on?

Forcing her racing heart to calm, Yu Qing willed herself to remain composed.

Midsummer was long past the season for camellias to bloom, yet under the sun’s relentless glare, Jiang Nianyu was blooming uncontrollably.

If an Alpha were to enter the room now, they would surely lose control at the intoxicating scent.

Unfortunately, Yu Qing wasn’t an Alpha.

As a Beta, she couldn’t detect the scent in the room. Having transmigrated from another world, she lacked fundamental knowledge of this one and instinctively relied on her original world’s experiences when faced with unexpected situations.

“You have a fever. Let’s go to the hospital. I’ll call a car right away,” Yu Qing said, reaching for her phone on the counter.

But Jiang Nianyu grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

“No…”

Jiang Nianyu’s breathing grew heavier, her voice trembling. Her frail figure, enveloped in Yu Qing’s coat, held Yu Qing’s wrist with a grip that was both tenuous and desperate.

Yu Qing met Jiang Nianyu’s gaze. The girl’s usually cold eyes gradually softened, yet a stubborn glint remained.

Yu Qing froze, as if the rain from that night were crashing down on her again.

A critical hit.

Still believing Jiang Nianyu had a simple fever, Yu Qing insisted, “You’re sick. How can we not go to the hospital?”

We can’t.

Hearing this, Jiang Nianyu tightened her grip on Yu Qing’s wrist.

She didn’t understand what was happening to her. An unsettling horn blared in her mind, filling her with nameless anxiety.

She knew someone was looking for her at the hospital. The “old lady” the two men had mentioned felt like a threat.

If she went to the hospital, they would surely capture her.

Jiang Nianyu even suspected that Yu Qing hadn’t told her the truth about being caught in the chemical plant explosion.

Perhaps that explosion had something to do with her.

Selfish, greedy, and skilled at deception.

As Jiang Nianyu’s memories slowly returned, she realized she wasn’t as pure and innocent as she appeared.

Many unpleasant words could be found in her heart—it was a cave coiled with serpents, a damp lair untouched by the sun’s mercy.

Burning with fever, Jiang Nianyu felt a sudden wave of self-loathing. The deeper she thought, the more her anxiety swelled within her.

That day broke another summer heat record, the relentless sun driving the cicadas into a frenzy of buzzing.

Yet Jiang Nianyu was trembling.

Sunlight caught in her eyes, making them shimmer like the world’s smallest, most fragile lake.

Yu Qing watched her, her heart softening instantly.

It felt as though this woman had dragged her into her lake, leaving her powerless to resist.

“We won’t go to the hospital,” Yu Qing conceded. “I’ll take your temperature. Can you take some medicine and get some rest?”

As long as she didn’t have to go to the hospital, Jiang Nianyu could accept.

She nodded obediently, murmuring a weak “Okay,” and rose with Yu Qing’s help.

Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting dappled shadows of swaying trees across the staircase.

As Yu Qing guided Jiang Nianyu upstairs, she remained completely unaware that her scent was drifting, inch by inch, into Jiang Nianyu’s nostrils along with those shifting shadows.

Greed knows no bounds, seizing every opportunity. Jiang Nianyu’s composure had long since crumbled, spiraling out of control.

Her hand pressed against Yu Qing’s wrist, feeling the pulse of another person throbbing beneath her palm.

She wanted to keep Yu Qing’s coat, and even strip off the clothes Yu Qing was wearing right now.

She wanted to clutch everything that carried Yu Qing’s scent tightly in her arms.

Ideally, she wanted Yu Qing to hold her the way she had this morning.

“Yu Qing…”

“Don’t talk. Lie down.”

Jiang Nianyu’s lips parted slightly. Just as her fingers curled around Yu Qing’s wrist, Yu Qing’s hand closed around hers, gently guiding it back to the bed.

The movement wasn’t forceful, but devastatingly tender.

Jiang Nianyu didn’t know what Yu Qing was doing to her, yet she felt no resistance whatsoever.

When Yu Qing asked her to raise her arm, she obeyed. When Yu Qing handed her a cup and told her to drink, she took it and drank.

She was as docile as a rabbit, limp and pliant.

But a rabbit’s docility is merely a human construct.

The delicate fragrance of white camellias filled the room, while greed silently clung to Yu Qing’s body.

The herbal medicine tasted as bitter as a mouthful of dirt, causing Jiang Nianyu’s brow to furrow.

Yu Qing leaned in and slipped a piece of candy into her mouth.

The girl’s hands were slender and graceful, her bones clearly defined.

Jiang Nianyu’s vision was filled with close-ups of Yu Qing:

Yu Qing’s earnest, anxious eyes; Yu Qing’s water-stained fingers; Yu Qing’s neck, brushed by stray strands of hair; Yu Qing’s body temperature, radiating a constant, clean scent…

The clearer Jiang Nianyu’s vision became, the more she felt the heat within her body refusing to dissipate.

An endless stream of Yu Qing’s scent clung to her nostrils, sliding down her throat.

If only the glands behind my neck could also be touched…

“Feeling any better now?”

Just as Jiang Nianyu’s trembling hand, with a newfound resolve, reached out to slip between Yu Qing’s fingers, Yu Qing’s bright eyes flashed into her line of sight.

In the sweltering, humid summer heat, Jiang Nianyu was suddenly struck by an unprecedented chill.

Sharp-edged ice cubes, wrapped in soft cloths, were pressed against her forehead, hands, and feet, their icy coldness instantly suppressing the heat. Yu Qing’s ice pack pinned down Jiang Nianyu’s raised hand, preventing her fingertips from brushing against Yu Qing’s soft skin.

Should I say I feel better now?

Jiang Nianyu quietly assessed her condition. The oppressive heat had indeed been contained.

Yet for some reason, she felt that this method of relief was somehow… wrong.

Her body felt hollow, fiercely yearning to be filled with something, yet simultaneously overwhelmed by a sense of helpless disappointment.

“It’s not a severe fever. Just get some sleep.”

As Yu Qing spoke, she gently cupped Jiang Nianyu’s cheek with her hand.

Jiang Nianyu pressed her uninjured right cheek fully into Yu Qing’s palm, as if being cradled, as if something were slowly filling the void within her.

The nameless anxiety still lingered, but Yu Qing’s presence had restored a sense of calm.

Yu Qing’s voice seemed to possess a magical quality. One moment Jiang Nianyu was staring intently at her face, and the next, her eyelids were drooping, sleepiness suddenly overwhelming her.

The room fell silent, save for the deep, even breaths of Jiang Nianyu.

Pillowing her head on Yu Qing’s hand, Jiang Nianyu drifted off to sleep.

“Phew,” Yu Qing sighed in relief, watching the sleeping Jiang Nianyu.

Carefully, she withdrew her hand from beneath Jiang Nianyu’s cheek.

Sunlight streamed across her palm, still warm with Jiang Nianyu’s body heat.

So warm.

And carrying a faint, indescribable fragrance.

Are all Omega faces this soft?

And those lips…

For some reason, Yu Qing’s ears, hidden beneath her hair, suddenly flushed crimson.

Visibly flustered, she raised a hand to touch her neck, but the moment her fingers brushed the spot where Jiang Nianyu’s teeth had grazed her skin, the little dog head on her slippers began to bob up and down.

The sun silently observed the shadow on the staircase.

A Beta with clumsy coordination had tiptoed away, their limbs moving out of sync.

Groceries still lay scattered across the kitchen counter. As if trying to distract herself, Yu Qing immediately began putting them away after coming downstairs, forcing herself to “overthink” rationally.

Typically, a fever is the body’s defense mechanism against invaders. Yu Qing never imagined Jiang Nianyu’s amnesia was so severe that it had frightened her into a fever.

Yu Qing now thought that if the past memories couldn’t be recalled, so be it.

With her monthly subsidy of ten thousand yuan, even if the compensation from the factory explosion didn’t arrive soon, she could still support Jiang Nianyu.

We’ll just have to eat a little less, she thought.

Yu Qing vigorously stirred the clumped cold noodles in front of her with her chopsticks. Soon, they transformed back into a bowl of fresh, fragrant, and refreshing noodles.

Dusk slowly devoured half the sky’s light. Summer evenings always lingered longer than those of other seasons.

Jiang Nianyu drifted into a long, hazy sleep. When she awoke, the room was dim, and loneliness hovered like a mosquito rubbing its hands, ready to pounce on her vulnerability.

But Yu Qing entered Jiang Nianyu’s vision before loneliness could.

The floor lamp cast a soft, gentle glow, illuminating Yu Qing’s silhouette as she sat beside Jiang Nianyu’s bed.

The room was utterly silent, Yu Qing’s downward gaze filled with focused concentration.

The slow, deliberate rustle of turning pages filled Jiang Nianyu with a sense of peace.

“You’re awake?”

Jiang Nianyu couldn’t fathom how Yu Qing, so absorbed in her book, had noticed her stirring.

But as soon as Yu Qing saw she was awake, she immediately leaned closer.

“I just took your temperature. Your fever’s gone down. Do you still feel unwell?” Yu Qing asked.

Jiang Nianyu paused, carefully assessing her body, then shook her head.

The soft pillow pressed against her cheek, making her look both coolly elegant and adorably docile.

Yu Qing’s heart softened. She brought over the bowl of congee she had prepared earlier. “I made you some congee. Would you like some?”

Jiang Nianyu nodded.

But instead of reaching for the bowl herself, she opened her mouth, silently signaling Yu Qing to feed her.