ABMSI Chapter 33

“Ahhhhh—!”

In that instant, the cold wind pierced through Duan Wei’s clothes, chilling him to the bone. His limbs flailed wildly in the air, instinctively trying to grab onto something—anything—but his hands met only emptiness.

His jacket and water bottle both slipped from his grasp, tumbling downward. Finally, his own body followed suit, meeting the ground in an intimate, bone-jarring embrace. His scream cut off abruptly.

Supporting himself on his hands, his knees aching from the fall, Duan Wei sat there for a long moment, dazed. When he finally lifted his head, he saw two people at the bottom of the pit staring straight at him.

Xu Jianian: “……”

Fu Duqiu: “……”

Duan Wei: “…What a coincidence.”

A brief silence hung in the air before Xu Jianian finally shut her gaping mouth, crouched down to see his face more clearly, and said, “Xiao Wei? You fell down here too?”

“I…”

Just as Duan Wei was about to explain, he noticed Fu Duqiu beside her holding a flashlight, his sharp gaze assessing him from head to toe. Those dark eyes were like blades that could cut through one’s defenses, and for a second Duan Wei’s brain simply froze.

He quickly turned his head away, his mind racing, and avoided Fu Duqiu’s eyes as he said, “They saw you guys didn’t come back for a while, so we split up to look for you. I… accidentally fell down.”

“You came alone?” Xu Jianian frowned slightly, not suspecting anything.

Duan Wei nodded. “Just me.”

Hearing that, Xu Jianian sighed, disappointed. “Then what should we do? There’s no signal here. Who knows if anyone will find us.”

Duan Wei sighed quietly to himself.

Of course, no one would.

Knowing the plot of the original story all too well, Duan Wei had already given up resisting. He turned his back to the other two, facing the wall, reflecting on what kind of touching level of stupidity had led him to fall down here.

And now what was this situation? The three of them together? Seriously?

He sighed again, then suddenly looked up at the pitch-dark opening of the pit above them and said to Fu Duqiu, “How about this—you let me sit on your shoulders, and you push me up?”

Since his cover was blown anyway, spending the night down here was worse than a failed plan where at least a few of them escaped.

“…If you were ten centimeters taller,” Fu Duqiu said flatly, “or if my arms were strong enough to lift your hundred-plus pounds of dead weight, and you could somehow use that to jump out, then—sure, maybe.”

Duan Wei followed his logic, thought for a while, and finally asked, cautiously, “So… should we try?”

“I refuse,” Fu Duqiu said coolly.

“Che…” Duan Wei muttered, pausing before snapping back, “You talk big, but the truth is—you just can’t do it.”

Fu Duqiu didn’t bother responding. He bent down to pick up the jacket and water bottle Duan Wei had dropped earlier. “These yours?”

At that moment, Duan Wei finally remembered. Taking them from him, he glanced at Xu Jianian, who was trembling slightly beside them, and handed her the jacket. “Here, wear this.”

It was already around eight or nine at night. The mountain air was far colder under the shroud of darkness, and the pit was damp and chilly. Xu Jianian had fallen not long ago and was already shivering.

She accepted the jacket, wrapping herself tightly in it. The beam of her flashlight was growing weaker by the minute.

Duan Wei tilted his head back, staring up at the sky. He felt like a frog trapped at the bottom of a well. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he shouted toward the opening, “Hello?! Is anyone there?! Help!”

He yelled for a while, but no one answered. Suddenly, Fu Duqiu said, “Save your breath. There’s a pile of leaves outside the pit—if anyone walks by, it’ll make noise.”

He paused, then looked at Duan Wei. “Speaking of which, when you came over, how come I didn’t hear anything?”

The moment the words left his mouth, Duan Wei fell silent. He looked at Fu Duqiu guiltily—thankfully, the fading flashlight made his expression hard to read.

He coughed a few times. “How should I know? Either I’m light as a feather, or you’re just not paying attention.”

Barely a few minutes after falling, Duan Wei had already told Fu Duqiu several times that he was “not good enough.” It was a miracle the man wasn’t furious yet—any other guy would’ve blown a fuse by now.

After a while, silence settled again. The three of them sat down on the ground. The bottom of the pit was fairly spacious—Xu Jianian and Fu Duqiu sat far apart, while Duan Wei sat in between them. As the chaos subsided, the chill began to sink in. He checked his phone—no signal, of course.

Just great…

When he looked up, the male and female leads were both staring silently upward, pretending the other didn’t exist. Duan Wei realized that his arrival had turned their intimate “man and woman trapped together” scene into an awkward three-person stalemate.

After thinking for a while, he said to Fu Duqiu, “Come sit closer.”

“Why?” Fu Duqiu looked at him.

Because Xu Jianian was sitting right next to him.

But Duan Wei wasn’t stupid enough to admit that, so he said, “Because it’s windy here. Too cold.”

Even if there was wind inside the pit, it would blow down from above—there was no escaping it.
Though Fu Duqiu said that indifferently, he still followed through, sitting between Duan Wei and Xu Jianian, and handed Duan Wei the remaining bottle of water.

The three sat in silence for a while.
Staring at his phone, which was now about as useful as a brick, Duan Wei—for the first time—truly appreciated how precious internet access was.
He aimlessly swiped at the dark screen for a bit before muttering to Fu Duqiu,
“What if no one finds us by tonight?”

According to the plot of the original story, the male and female leads were rescued only on the second day after falling into the pit.
But now that there were three of them down here, who knew if the storyline might change.

Sure enough, Fu Duqiu thought for a while before saying,
“The others have already started looking for us. If they can’t find us, they’ll contact the tour guide. Let’s wait a bit longer.”

Hearing that, Duan Wei sighed deeply—accepting his fate.

As the night deepened, the cold bit into him harder. He stood up and began hopping around to keep warm, trying to work up some heat.
Xu Jianian huddled in a corner, shivering despite the two jackets on her.
Fu Duqiu, however, sat perfectly still, watching Duan Wei bounce around in front of him without a word.

After about ten minutes, Duan Wei finally ran out of energy and plopped down again.
Fu Duqiu turned his head slightly—Xu Jianian’s face was still pale—and after a moment, he got up and walked toward her.

Watching the scene, Duan Wei’s heart leapt with excitement.
Yes! Hug her! Hold her! Come on, man—this is your moment!

But the next second, Fu Duqiu simply took off his coat and placed it over Xu Jianian’s shoulders before calmly sitting back down next to Duan Wei.

Sensing Duan Wei’s gaze, Fu Duqiu glanced sideways.
“What are you looking at?”

“Nothing.” Duan Wei shook his head, eyeing Fu Duqiu’s sweater. “Aren’t you cold?”

“Of course I’m cold.” Fu Duqiu said it so frankly it almost hurt.

“Then—” Duan Wei hadn’t finished when he noticed Fu Duqiu’s gaze drop to his own jacket.

Instantly understanding the implication, Duan Wei grabbed the hem of his clothes protectively.
“Don’t you dare.”

Fu Duqiu only chuckled and stayed silent.

After sitting there aimlessly for a while longer, fatigue crept in. Duan Wei felt sore and dizzy. He tried to stay awake, but eventually, his head drooped sideways—resting against Fu Duqiu’s shoulder as he drifted into sleep.

Fu Duqiu’s posture stiffened. He tilted his head slightly, eyes falling on the sleeping boy beside him.

Maybe it was exhaustion, maybe it was something else—but Duan Wei’s scent gland was quietly releasing pheromones. The fragrance was faint—barely noticeable unless you were close.
A subtle honey-orange scent lingered in the air, soft and misty like a wisp of cloud.

No one knew how long had passed before Duan Wei heard faint shouting through his sleep.
He jerked upright, eyes opening just as Fu Duqiu also stood up sharply.

Still groggy, Duan Wei heard Peng Yan’s voice echoing faintly from above.
He scrambled up at once and yelled toward the top of the pit, “Xiao Yanzi! Peng Yan!!”

His voice was hoarse, his head heavy and spinning, like he hadn’t rested at all. He thought it was just from standing up too fast and ignored it, turning to shake Xu Jianian awake.

Soon, Peng Yan’s head popped out over the edge, flashlight beam sweeping around.
“Holy crap! How big is this hole?!”

“Quit gawking and get us out!” Duan Wei shouted up, light shining down onto his face.

“Got it! I’ll go find a rope, hang tight!”

Peng Yan’s voice faded as he ran off.

Duan Wei sank back down, breathing heavily.
His face was pale—but with an odd flush beneath it. Then, a sharp pain spread across the back of his neck. His scent began leaking uncontrollably, flooding the space.
Even Xu Jianian—an Omega herself—caught the strong pheromone scent and frowned, moving closer.

“What’s wrong? Hey—”

Under the weak flashlight, she saw Duan Wei’s face and gasped.
“You… you look like—”

Duan Wei’s brows knitted. He had already guessed.
Grabbing Xu Jianian’s wrist, he rasped,
“Do you have… a suppressant?”

The discomfort, the heat, the scent—everything pointed to one thing.
At this awful place and this even worse time… his heat had arrived.

“I didn’t bring one! What do we do?!” Xu Jianian patted down her pockets frantically, finding nothing.

Fu Duqiu walked closer—and that single movement made Duan Wei’s entire body lurch toward him uncontrollably.
Fu Duqiu’s scent—clean, resinous pine—hit him like poison wine. For an Omega in heat, a high-grade Alpha’s pheromones were pure intoxication.

Still clinging to the last threads of reason, Duan Wei turned his head away and forced out,
“Don’t come any closer…”

Fu Duqiu said nothing.

At that moment, Peng Yan’s voice came again from above.
A thick rope dangled down. “Quick, one at a time! We’ll pull you up!”

Fu Duqiu turned to Xu Jianian. “You go first.”

“But—” She glanced worriedly at Duan Wei.

“He’s not going anywhere in that state,” Fu Duqiu said coolly.

It made sense. She could go up first, grab suppressants, and bring them down.
So she nodded, grabbing the rope with Fu Duqiu’s help.
Her hands were stiff from the cold, and it took a long while before the group above finally pulled her out.

Once she was gone, Fu Duqiu turned back to Duan Wei, who was now trembling, soaked in sweat.
“Can you move?” he asked.

Duan Wei gritted his teeth, forcing himself up despite the pain that tore through him.
His voice came out weak and husky, trembling with the telltale timbre of an Omega in heat—soft, aching, and dangerously seductive.

He instantly covered his mouth, took two steps—and his legs gave out.
But before he hit the ground, a cool, firm arm caught him.
That familiar pine scent enveloped him again, and every nerve in his body screamed to lean closer—to give in.

He fought it with all his strength, clinging to reason, as Fu Duqiu guided him toward the rope.

But his body kept trembling; his hands couldn’t grip anything.
After a few tries, he sank to the ground, gasping. The pain surged everywhere, unrelenting.
“I… I can’t move,” he stammered. “It hurts… it hurts so much…”

Fu Duqiu looked down at him, expression unreadable.
He’d had his suspicions since earlier that afternoon, when Duan Wei asked, “How did you come back?”—and those doubts had only deepened since finding him here.
Now, anger flickered behind his calm exterior.

The Alpha’s pheromones filled the air, suffocating.
Duan Wei clenched his teeth, clutching at Fu Duqiu’s neck, trying to steady himself.

The pain from the heat was almost unbearable. His body screamed for relief. Finally, after struggling for what felt like forever, he swallowed hard and whispered,
“Can you… mark me?”

God, it was torture.

Fu Duqiu looked down at him—neither agreeing nor refusing—still radiating that overwhelming Alpha scent.

When the silence dragged on, Duan Wei’s face turned even paler.
He was still barely rational; having asked once, he wouldn’t humiliate himself twice.
He tried to stand, wobbling unsteadily.

Suddenly, Fu Duqiu grabbed his wrists and said quietly,
“‘Even if I have to live on suppressants forever, I’ll never let anyone mark me,’ hmm?”

“…”

“‘Even if you beg me, I still wouldn’t bite you once,’ right?”

“…”

Fu Duqiu’s tone stayed calm. “Funny—I remember you also said I was ‘not capable’ twice tonight.”

Duan Wei froze, speechless. He hadn’t expected the top student to have such a sharp memory.
Even through the pain, his desire to be marked evaporated instantly.

He forced himself upright, wobbling on weak legs, and snapped,
“Fine! If you won’t, forget it. I’ll find Peng Yan instead!”

Fu Duqiu’s teasing expression vanished at once, replaced by something tangled and unreadable.

Meanwhile, Xu Jianian, now out of the pit, shouted anxiously,
“Quick! Xiao Wei’s gone into heat—I need to grab some suppressants!”

“What??” Peng Yan shouted, panicking. He shone his flashlight down. “Duan-ge, are you okay?!”

Maybe it was sheer stubbornness, but Duan Wei kept moving. He found the rope and called weakly upward,
“I’m fine! Pull me up!”

“Got it!” Peng Yan yelled back. He set down the flashlight and signaled to the others.

But before they could pull, a loud cry echoed from below—followed by a wave of potent pheromones.
The scent of high-grade Alpha pine washed over them, forcing even the Alphas above to their knees.

Peng Yan froze, fumbling for the flashlight—only to drop it.
The beam lit up the pit—but no trace of Fu Duqiu or Duan Wei could be seen.

“Hey! What’s going on down there? Say something!!”

A tense silence followed.

Then, from the darkness, Fu Duqiu’s voice came—low and steady:

“No need.”