Chapter 7

Having the scent of another insect on one's body naturally signified a claim of ownership—it meant he was taken.

It was perfectly normal for a female insect to carry a male insect's scent. They were delighted to be scented by male insects; it showed they had a male insect who wanted them and that they were highly desirable. Some single female insects even went to great lengths to get a little male pheromone scent on themselves, just to save face.

But if a male insect carried a female insect's scent, it meant he was telling the other insects: I love my consort very much; we've just had a passionate time together. Even if you come offering yourself, I don't have any spare "energy" for you. It also proved that the male insect's consort was intensely jealous and guarded his male master closely. Even after they became a household, any latecomers would probably end up in a real jam.

"Oh..." Xie Yanxing nodded repeatedly to show that he had learned something, then looked at the female insect appraisingly. "Que Rong..."

Que Rong immediately sensed something off in Xie Yanxing's gaze and instinctively took half a step back. "Young male master, you can't possibly... This is strange..."

"What's strange about it? Just let me get a little of your scent; we don't have to do anything intimate. Besides, wouldn't it lighten your workload a little?"

"It might not lighten it..." Que Rong hesitated. "Even if you carry my scent, you still smell..." He searched for the right words. "Full of vital essence. That won't reduce your admirers; it'll greatly increase them."

"Full of vital essence..." Xie Yanxing was astonished. "You can smell that?"

"Of course. It's an innate instinct of female insects." Que Rong's doubts kept mounting... He didn't even know that?

Naturally, Xie Yanxing did not. As an aside, a month ago, when he learned that male pheromones were emitted through a secretory area in the skin above the left collarbone, while the gland that produced them was in the lower right side of his abdomen, he had stared blankly for five or six seconds before asking from the depths of his soul, "Isn't that where the appendix is?!"

Good lord. A human appendix was actually an insectfolk pheromone gland?

Although Que Rong's explanation was reasoned and well-supported, and Xie Yanxing knew absolutely nothing about the subject, the outcome somehow still went Xie Yanxing's way. They found a secluded, deserted corner. Que Rong lightly swiped the back of his own neck, then covered Xie Yanxing's hand with his palm. His hand was hot and dry, while the back of Xie Yanxing's hand was cool—especially his fingertips, which were cool as congealed jade. The instant he covered it, warmth passed between them, making one instinctively want to clasp that uncut jade tightly.

Que Rong touched him only briefly and withdrew his hand without expression, watching Xie Yanxing rub his hands together as though applying hand cream.

The instant Xie Yanxing acquired his scent, Que Rong was suddenly seized by the illusion of possession, as though this person were already his. With it came a strange satisfaction and happiness. Que Rong drew a deep breath, suppressed his female insect instincts, and diligently followed behind Xie Yanxing.

Once they returned to the mall, Xie Yanxing discovered with delight that what they had done really was—utterly fucking useless.

Those who had been following still followed; those who had been hitting on him still hit on him. Their gazes were even more heated, practically spelling lewdness with their eyes. Xie Yanxing paused outside a gold and silver jewelry shop for barely half a minute. He was about to ask Que Rong what he thought of a rose-gold lotus anklet when he looked up and found Que Rong braced like a snarling hunting dog. Turning around, he saw more than ten female insects crowded beyond the glass wall beside them, plastered against it like zoo-goers watching monkeys, drooling over him... literally drooling. One female insect's saliva had actually dripped onto the floor.

"Are my male pheromones leaking?" Xie Yanxing instinctively touched his collarbone.

"...A little, just now."

"..." Xie Yanxing silently lowered his eyes toward Que Rong's crotch. Que Rong immediately turned sideways and gritted out, "No!"

Xie Yanxing helplessly cut his shopping spree short. On the ride home, he gazed gloomily out the window. "I had people pursue me before, too, but only now do I understand what it means to be an... insect heartthrob. It's awful. I'd wanted to go to the supermarket and buy food..."

"You can order delivery. It's no different from going to the supermarket yourself, and it's more convenient." Que Rong had already learned to automatically replace Xie Yanxing's "people" with "insects" in his head. He guessed it was a dialect from his hometown. It was easy to tell from Xie Yanxing's behavior and mannerisms that he was not a local insect from the Upper Planet. Que Rong figured he was either from the Outer-Ring Planet, the Fifth Planet, or one of the Fifth Planet's many chaotic natural satellites—some rustic insect dug out of who-knew-what backwater mountain hollow.

"Then you can sign for the delivery." Xie Yanxing said. "The last time I ordered food, the courier attacked me. I told him to leave it outside, but he said he had to confirm my signature. Through the peephole, he looked like such a conscientious employee—honest and pitiful. I'd just changed my pheromone-suppressant patch and thought everything was foolproof, but when I opened the door, he smelled the lingering male pheromones inside and immediately lost his mind."

Que Rong: "..." What a miserable insect.

Que Rong said, "Got it. Pick your ingredients, and I'll go out to collect them. If he dares lose his mind, I'll beat him until he gets his mind back."

Hearing that domineering, reassuring declaration of violence, Xie Yanxing smiled until his eyes curved into crescents, looking perfectly gentle, harmless, and at peace with the world. He nodded, then after a while mused to himself, "I really want to travel... There are living creatures on every one of the insectfolk system's Five Major Planets, so many landscapes I've never even heard of, but I can only stay cooped up at home. It's miserable."

"..." Que Rong felt there was something deeply off about that statement, though he could not put his finger on it. After thinking it over, he simply ignored the oddity.

Perhaps because Xie Yanxing carried his scent, Que Rong had lost some sense of distance. He even unconsciously followed Xie Yanxing's lead and comforted him: "You can choose places with fewer insects to travel to. Start somewhere nearby, then go farther afield. Or hide in plain sight and deliberately look for places packed with insects; then the female insects may not find you immediately. As for safety, I'll protect you. Unless there are more than five high-ranking female insects armed with firearms, no one can easily get the better of me."

Que Rong spoke of his own combat ability seriously and frankly, without a shred of exaggeration or arrogance—he was merely stating facts. Xie Yanxing nearly wanted to applaud him. He immediately decided, "When we get back, I'll look on Starnet for places like the ones you described. We'll set out tonight!"

"..." That really wasn't necessary.

......

Xie Yanxing lived on the third floor. There was only one apartment per floor, and the entire building was occupied by elderly female insects, who had no strength left even if they knew a beautiful male insect lived nearby.

The elevator doors opened, and Que Rong saw a young female insect crouching outside the apartment door with a suitcase at his feet. Que Rong deftly tossed aside the large and small packages he was carrying and struck first. Before Xie Yanxing could see anything clearly, Que Rong had already shot forward more than thirty feet and decisively pinned the unfamiliar female insect to the ground.

"Ahhh—" The stranger was startled and kicked wildly. "Help! Help—"

Que Rong's nose twitched. He frowned in confusion, then yanked down the collar hiding the female insect's nape. "Already mating-marked... a sub-female?"

"What's wrong with being a sub-female?!" The stranger seemed to have been struck where it hurt. Even with all four limbs firmly restrained, he still shouted, "Did sub-females eat your rice or something?!"

Xie Yanxing leaned closer curiously. "You are...?"

At the sight of the male insect, the unfamiliar sub-female calmed a little. "Are you Young Male Master Xie Yanxing?"

"That's me."

The sub-female immediately did his utmost to pull an ID card from his pocket. "I'm the life assistant MIPA assigned to you. I'm responsible for every aspect of your daily life, including but not limited to laundry, cooking, and cleaning. Anything you need, you can instruct me to do."

"..." Que Rong silently accepted the card. After confirming it was genuine, he nodded to Xie Yanxing.

"Oh!" Xie Yanxing was immediately delighted. "Hello, hello. Sorry for frightening you. What's your name?"

"...Qi Nuo." Xie Yanxing's excessive friendliness made Qi Nuo too embarrassed to continue taking issue with Que Rong. Que Rong had long since released him and even apologized. Qi Nuo instantly lost all his temper, straightened his clothes, and declared energetically, "I'm very happy to serve you for the next two months!"

The little sub-female with short light-brown hair was clearly a chatterbox. As he filled Xie Yanxing's refrigerator with ingredients, his mouth never stopped moving. "Actually, MIPA started looking for a life assistant for you ages ago, but your situation is too unusual. Very few mating-marked female insects are assigned to handle the daily affairs of an unmarried male insect who is not their male master. I'd been studying how to care for male insect babies under five, and I had to undergo another half month of crash training before MIPA sent me here..."

Xie Yanxing stood nearby holding a cup of hot water, listening with great interest. Que Rong, meanwhile, had slipped into the gym long ago, burning off the excess energy that three hours of shopping had failed to consume among the various machines.

"Don't laugh at me, but my male master is very good to me. His ability is rather limited, though; he only married four consorts, and our family is pretty poor. So he supports us going out to work and help support the household," Qi Nuo said. "I'm on call twenty-four hours a day, with only one training leave day a month."

It was Xie Yanxing's first time hearing of so-called training leave. He smiled and nodded.

After arranging the cleaning tools in the kitchen, balcony, bathroom, and other places exactly where they were easiest for him to use, Qi Nuo could not resist asking the question Que Rong had always wanted to ask but had not dared to: "Young male master, why won't you marry a consort?"

Without any ulterior motive, he asked, "In an ordinary male insect's household, my work and Major General Que Rong's would both be handled by his consorts. And if you have consorts, the government will provide you with a better, larger, safer home for free. If you're worried it will hurt your personal appeal and affect your future prospects, you don't even need to marry a primary consort; you only need to marry secondary consorts."

In the gym, Que Rong paused mid-rep. Even as he marveled at Qi Nuo's heedless willingness to say anything, he held his breath and pricked up his ears to listen for Xie Yanxing's answer outside.

...Why?

Xie Yanxing had no way to explain to them that he was a human from Earth, transported here a month ago to this unfamiliar planet. The Transit Bureau and Confidentiality Bureau responsible for such incidents on the Upper Planet had found him and taken him to a laboratory. After studying him, the staff said that large quantities of spacetime-storm particles remained in his body—the culprits behind his transit. Following a full half month of data analysis, Transit Bureau scientists concluded that he would very likely return to Earth in another two and a half months.

He had arrived on the Insect Planet at the end of November, meaning he would most likely return to Earth at the end of February.

So how could Xie Yanxing possibly mating-mark a female insect on the Insect Planet?

If he successfully returned to Earth two months later, what would happen to the female insect he had undergone mating training with? Because of his selfish act of only pursuing his own pleasure, that female insect would suffer through three years without male pheromones. And afterward, no other male insect would ever be willing to accept him.

"Hmm..." Xie Yanxing considered it, then offered an exceedingly unreliable answer. "Why don't you take a guess?"