[ABO] The Sparrow in the Threshold

During the first three days of the voyage, Silver Sparrow barely left his stateroom.

If he hadn't eaten all the food that Zhiyu sent in, Yin Ke would almost suspect that he was deliberately begging for death.He tried to knock on the door to go in and check the situation, but the cabin door was locked, and no matter what he said outside the door, there was no reply in a single word.

Until the afternoon of the fourth day, when they were only one day away from the west by boat, Yinque finally opened the door and appeared in front of everyone.Having not seen the sun for several days, Yinque's face was as pale as paper, his clothes were wrinkled, and his hair was not arranged; the thin and soft forehead hair covered his eyebrows, and his beautiful eyes were hidden in the shadows Down.

At that time, Yin Ke was sitting on the side of the boat, fishing boredly, when he heard the noise, he turned his head subconsciously, and saw the appearance of Silver Sparrow - not the arrogant and noble Omega in the past, but more casual, rebellious like fifteen or sixteen years old teenagers.

He lost interest in fishing in an instant. After stuffing the fishing rod to the sailor beside him, he walked quickly to Yinque: "...you are finally willing to come out? If you stay longer, mushrooms will grow on your body."

Yinque glanced at him: "There is nothing to do when you come out, what are you doing?"

"Come out to get some fresh air, don't you feel bored?"

"I just think you talk too much." Yinque said and looked away, then stopped on the side of the boat and looked at the distant sea, "Where is Zhiyu?"

"I'm cooking soup for you."

"Oh, so." The salty sea breeze made Silver Sparrow's hair fly, but he didn't care at all, and he didn't even bother to raise his hand to tidy it up.The dazzling sunlight made him squint his eyes involuntarily, and after looking at it for a while, he naturally opened his hands to Yin Ke.

"Huh?" Yin Ke didn't understand why.

"cigarette."

"My cigarettes are fruit-flavored. Are you sure you smoke? I'd better call Zhiyu over and let her serve you." Yin Ke said, "I don't know how to serve people."

"It's okay." Yinque just said, "I don't care anymore."

When he said this, Yin Ke felt for a subtle moment that what he was referring to was not smoke, but something invisible.It's just that Yin Ke was born with little interest in these things, and he never thought he was a sensitive person. He took out the cigarette case as he said, and took out two cigarettes skillfully: "Here."

Yinque took it wordlessly and put it in his mouth.

His eyes followed the cigarette, and finally landed on Yinque's thin, dry lips.Compared with the well-dressed Yinque in the capital, Yin Ke felt that the current Yinque could make his heart tighten more.His face was haggard from the several days of sailing, his cheekbones were more prominent than before, Yinque had probably lost weight, and his sharp chin made people feel distressed.The subtle desire to protect was aroused when he realized this - after landing, he must let the silver finch eat more.Thinking so, Yin Ke took out the lighter.

He blocked the wind with one hand, and rubbed the flint several times in succession to light the fire smoothly; before he could send the fire over, Yinque had already lowered his head, like his cronies, he stretched out his hand to cover it to light a cigarette.

"... I always feel that you have changed suddenly?" Yin Ke asked tentatively, "What are you thinking about when you're bored in the room these days?"

Yinque slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, and he smelled the sweetness of peaches in the smoke mixed with a trace of licorice: "...I didn't think about anything."

"It's fine if you don't want to say it, don't force it." Yin Ke said, "Tomorrow will arrive, do you have to tell me about the next plan?"

"It's nothing more than arriving, looking for someone, and then staying and resting... What else can I do?" Yinque faced the sea, but his eyes fell sideways on his face, "Speaking of which, what did you gain from Yin Qiansui?"

"Yin Qiansui has a lot of tricks, and I didn't get anything particularly useful... only a list."

"Ok?"

"I've checked all the names above, at least at the level of Marquis and above, most of them work in and around the capital, and there are several magistrates." Yin Ke turned around and leaned against the side of the boat with a cigarette in his mouth. , simply said to Yinque face to face, "Obviously, they are all officials who have contacts with him."

"Not bad, it's a harvest."

The climate in the west is almost the same as that of the capital, and there was only a heavy snowfall not long ago.They docked the next evening, boarded a carriage carrying passengers near the port, and headed for the first main city in the west.The journey was more boring than Yin Ke imagined. He fell asleep on the bumpy carriage. When he woke up, the carriage had stopped in front of a certain casino. Yinque and Zhiyu were outside the door, as if they were going to leave him alone. on the car.

"...you didn't call me?" He complained and hurriedly got out of the car, "Where is this?"

"'Red Moon Tower'." Yinque replied in a deep voice, standing in front of the door and casually adjusting the hem of her clothes.

"...I'm not blind, it's written on the signboard." Yin Ke said, "...Red Moon Tower, Red Leaf Pavilion...is that also your name?"

"I didn't take the Red Leaf Pavilion." During the conversation, Yinque had already stepped over the threshold, with an indifferent expression and no emotion, and said to the beautiful woman welcoming guests at the door, "Find the quietest place here, and serve the best wine." ...and then inform your boss that Yinque is visiting."

There are usually constant disputes in places like casinos. It is not uncommon to ask the boss to come over. People in the venue are not surprised, and they will not really invite the boss here on purpose. At most, let the manager handle it.But Yinque was too imposing, completely different from the western hillbillies in the casino; the two welcome guests were stunned, and the one who reacted first bowed slightly and saluted: "Please come with me——"

Their arrival attracted the attention of many gamblers, and some people whispered about these unfamiliar faces.

But Yinque seemed to be unable to feel it, raised her chin slightly, followed Yingbin up the stairs, and took a seat at the corner of the second floor.

Yin Ke sat down beside him unceremoniously, and the soft sofa made him fall for him in an instant: "...Unexpectedly, your people are already doing casino business in the west, isn't it developing very well?"

"I'm not surprised." Yinque smiled with the corners of his mouth hooked, and turned to look at Zhiyu standing behind him, "Sit down too and rest for a while."

"I am not tired."

Yinque didn't persuade her much, but let her stand.Soon a waiter served the wine, and when he was about to open it for them, Zhi Yu stopped him: "I'll do it."

Downstairs is very lively, gamblers are blitzed at the poker game, winners cheer loudly, losers wailing endlessly; the second floor is less crowded, most of them are drinking and gossiping with beautiful prostitutes here.The three of them were the only ones, and the exhaustion of the trip enveloped them. Yinque drank with her head drooping and wondered what she was thinking, and Yin Ke didn't have the energy to speak, so she leaned on the sofa and squinted at the gambling table below.

About half an hour later, the person Yinque wanted to meet finally arrived.

Cheng Huan still likes simple and clean suits. He has never seen Yinque wear other styles in the years he has been married; it is the same now, the face that has not been seen for a year has changed a lot, and the wrinkles at the end of the eyes are very obvious.He wore a slightly extravagant cloak under his arms, and when he stepped on the second floor, he looked eagerly at where the silver bird was, and then he got up quickly, and his leather boots made a "da da da" sound.

"Master!"

An exclamation immediately attracted the attention of the three of them. When Yinque turned his head and saw Cheng Huan's face clearly, the face that had been indifferent for many days finally showed some surprise.

"Cheng Huan..."

"Master, why didn't you inform me before you set off, so that I can arrange someone to meet you." Cheng Huan stood still in front of him, still keeping a certain distance as before, "I heard that the royal capital... "The second prince is sending people to look for me, right?" Yinque raised the corner of her mouth disdainfully, "Don't worry about this, I just arrived in the west and I'm a little tired."

"I will prepare the place when I receive the reply from the young master," Cheng Huan said, "Please follow me."

-

Yin Ke has never met Cheng Huan, maybe he has seen him before, but he doesn't remember his appearance.

But he could see this person's loyalty to Yinque, his eyes could fully express it; plus he also had the same surname "Cheng", maybe he was Yinque's relative?Although he had many questions, he didn't rush to ask.Cheng Huan's prepared residence was in a small three-story bungalow in the western outskirts of the city.Compared with the old houses of the Yin family and the married family, this is simply shabby, but for them today, it is already a good foothold - there are small courtyards at the front and back, and the surroundings are very quiet, separated from other houses. very far.

Cheng Huan personally drove them to the door of the bungalow. While briefly introducing the situation in the west, he kept paying attention to Yinque's expression, as if he cared whether he was satisfied: "... I will have the car ready, the driver If so, to be on the safe side, the young master should use his own people; the inhibitors are hard to get in the west, so I will do it as soon as possible, and strive to deliver them to the young master tomorrow."

While talking, they entered the house, Yinque shook his head, inspected the furnishings in the bungalow and said: "No need, it's no longer needed."

"Master..."

When he said this, Yin Ke could hardly hear any sadness or anger, he was just stating the objective fact: "I have been marked."

"..." Even though the married family has been destroyed, Cheng Huan still abides by his rules as a domestic servant and doesn't ask who the other party is.

Once the Omega is marked, the erotic period will be under the control of his Alpha.To be precise, only that one Alpha can affect him.But now there are countless mountains and rivers between Qianqiu and him, he will no longer smell that arrogant and domineering musky smell.

Yin Ke suddenly said: "Will it be good to wash it off? But I heard it will be very painful."

Cheng Huan's eyes flicked across his face in a hurry, and then returned to Yinque: "I will arrange a good person as soon as possible to wash off the mark for the young master..."

"No," Yinque said, "No need, it just happens to avoid the trouble of the hot period....Then I live on the third floor, and you can arrange the rooms on the second floor as you like."

"Don't be so anxious..." Yin Ke frowned and said to him, "Eat something before going to bed?"

"I'm not hungry."

After he finished speaking, he went upstairs without arranging anything else. The remaining three people looked at each other in blank dismay.Zhiyu took the lead and said: "My name is Zhiyu, and I am the attendant of Young Master Que."

"I've seen you before," Cheng Huan said, "Cheng Huan, the chief housekeeper of the Cheng family."

"...I won't talk about it, anyway, there is nothing to say." Yin Ke said, "It's better to wait for Yinque to introduce you."

-

Omega pushed open the door of a certain room, didn't even bother to turn on the light, and lay down on the bed in the dark.

It could be seen that Cheng Huan had carefully prepared it, maybe he hired a special person to clean it every day, the bedding was soft and comfortable, and there was a faint fragrance between the pillows.He was lying on his side with his legs curled up, unable to think about whether he should take off his accident clothes, or whether he should get into the quilt.

He opened his mouth slightly and took a deep breath.

Again.

This journey has been several times, and the strange chest tightness and depression will suddenly strike, making him feel suffocated and uncomfortable.

He couldn't help but grabbed the clothes on his chest, as if only by using external force to bind himself tightly could he slightly relieve the unprovoked pain in his body.It was as if someone was pinching his heart, someone was covering his mouth and nose...someone was holding him tightly.

"Hmm..." Even though he clenched his teeth, he let a small whimpering sound choke in his throat.

It was somewhat similar to how he and Yin Ke felt when they came out of the palace a few days ago. He knew where these discomforts came from, but he had no way to solve them.Perhaps at this moment, Qianqiu is lying on the bed where they once hugged and kissed, recalling his betrayal.

He can't confirm these, it's all based on conjecture.

And these imaginings, not only can't solve the pain at the moment, but the degree is sharply intensified when recalling the man's face.It was too late when he realized that he could no longer think about it. He was like a drowning man with a boulder stretched under his feet. What he was greeted was only the cold that penetrated into the bone marrow, and the increasingly fatal suffocation.He was sinking slowly.

During the chaos, Yinque remembered many things as clearly as yesterday.

The man was beside him, telling him as if he was loving him, that he would always protect him and be loyal to him.

"..." He panted heavily, not even realizing how much he wanted to see the man's face at this moment, "... Qianqiu..."

They seemed to be still in that narrow trap, as long as they turned around, they could see the worried face of the man.

So he really turned around and opened his eyes as if asking for help—there was nothing.A strange room, a strange wall, a strange pillow... There was no one around him, only gray and black loneliness shrouded behind him.

Yinque opened her eyes wide, stared blankly for a long time, then curled up even more, hugging her knees and trembling.