Chapter 57

The accelerator roared and the van tore away. Xu Ze exchanged a glance with the Alpha beside him, and realized that the person Tang Feiyi truly wanted to take was not himself.

The Alpha dragged the Beta up from the ground and said quietly, 'We'll handle it.'

In the dim light of the streetlamp outside the building, Xu Ze saw the Alpha wearing an air-conduction earpiece. Xu Ze said nothing, asked nothing — he nodded, adjusted the bag on his shoulder, and walked back upstairs.

Back in his room, Xu Ze stood by the window and looked down at the street. Quiet, as usual. He pulled the curtain closed, took his Mobile Phone from his bag, and called the Sanatorium.

'Li Hu, it's Xu Ze. Sorry to bother you — has my grandmother eaten dinner?'

'Yes, she just ate, she's eating fruit now. What's going on?'

'Nothing, thank you for your trouble.'

Xu Ze sat down at his desk, opened his messages, and stared blankly at the text from Lu Heyang. He thought of the summer when Tang Feiyi had come to the Auto Repair Shop to find him, and how shortly after he left, Lu Heyang had called to tell him 'don't worry.' He thought too of how every time he visited the Sanatorium, the bodyguard of the patient in the next room was always seated outside his grandmother's ward.

So none of it was coincidence, and Lu Heyang's 'don't worry' had never been just a verbal reassurance. Xu Ze could guess why Lu Heyang had concealed it — if he had been upfront from the start, Xu Ze would have refused.

The screen dimmed; Xu Ze pressed it awake again. He stared at it for a few more seconds, then the interface suddenly shifted and a ringtone sounded — Xu Ze startled, and answered at once.

'Xu Ze.'

It had been so long since he'd heard Lu Heyang's voice that for a moment it felt unfamiliar. Xu Ze opened his mouth, as if there were many things he wanted to say, but in the end only managed a quiet 'Mm.'

'Are you hurt?' Lu Heyang asked.

'No,' Xu Ze said. 'It was probably Tang Feiyi's people.'

'Mm. They're already looking into it. Stay home, don't go looking for him on your own.'

'What will happen to the person who was kidnapped?'

Xu Ze understood Tang Feiyi's way of doing things, and knew his own question was redundant. At the Underground Club he had seen plenty of bodyguards and hired muscle — an employer never felt guilty over an underling's injuries, it was simply a contract: one paid, the other sold their life. But Xu Ze was not an employer. He had once, in essence, been one of those who sold their lives for money; now he was simply someone who had accepted a protection service without paying anything in return.

'He'll be fine — he's not the target. Don't worry, wait for my update.' Without waiting for Xu Ze to answer, Lu Heyang continued, 'I have class right away, I'll hang up now. Get some rest early.'

Anyone would feel it was too curt — the breath barely drawn before the mouth was covered over — but Xu Ze said at once, 'Okay.' Not wasting Lu Heyang a single second.

After hanging up, Xu Ze pulled an old notebook he used for drafts from the desk and began writing in a blank space.

1. You said he's not the target — then who is?

2. Are the bodyguards you arranged for me and my grandmother very expensive? Can you tell me how much?

3. He Wei said you don't remember things from childhood — why is that?

4. How much longer before you come back?

After writing them, Xu Ze stared at the notebook for a while. The pen tip drifted to the fourth question; he thought to cross it out, but in the end couldn't bring himself to.

He didn't know when Lu Heyang would call next, so he wrote down the questions he wanted to ask, one at a time — that way he wouldn't annoy Lu Heyang, nor take up too much of his time.

The Chengxi Warehouse blazed with light.

Tang Feiyi sat on an old sofa, idly flicking a lighter. At his feet lay an Alpha with his hands bound behind his back — face streaked with blood, eyes shut, not a twitch, impossible to tell whether he was alive or dead.

A few minutes later, the sound of a car came from outside the warehouse; two headlights swept a half-circle as the vehicle turned, then snapped off.

A leg stepped out of the night and into the bright warehouse — a tall Alpha in an old T-shirt, his arms bared below the sleeves dotted with a few long scars.

With a click, Tang Feiyi snapped the lighter shut, looked up, and sank back into the sofa. A smile — not surprised at all — rose on his face. 'Looks like tonight's wait wasn't wasted. Even Wen-ge showed up.'

He raised his foot and pressed it against the Alpha's cheek; the Alpha finally twitched, as if in a spasm.

Jiang Wen regarded Tang Feiyi with an even gaze. He had come alone, deep in the night, carrying no weapon — and yet just by standing there, Tang Feiyi's men around him tensed sharply, hands drifting to the guns tucked at the small of their backs.

The Alpha on the ground forced his eyes open; his lips moved, silently mouthing the word 'Da-ge.'

'Get up yourself,' Jiang Wen said calmly. 'The car door's open for you.'

Tang Feiyi withdrew his leg and lowered his eyes with unhurried composure, watching the Alpha scrape his forehead against the ground, bend his knees, and slowly rise — hunched, stumbling forward.

It took him a long time to reach Jiang Wen's side. Jiang Wen raised a hand to steady him. The Alpha hesitated, as if wanting to say something, but Jiang Wen tilted his head and said, 'Out.'

Once the Alpha had left the warehouse, Tang Feiyi yawned. 'Wen-ge is still so loyal — coming all this way for one little underling. No wonder they're more loyal to you than dogs.'

Jiang Wen glanced at him and turned to leave, but Tang Feiyi raised his voice: 'It's strange, though — the famous mercenary king of his day, how did he end up as a thug for a high schooler?'

'Thug is a stretch,' Jiang Wen said slowly. 'Cutting someone's hand tendons is a first for me too.'

His right wrist throbbed for no reason. Tang Feiyi's expression shifted, then he smiled again. 'Right — before, every job was a gun-in-hand, take-someone's-head kind of deal. What am I doing now? A waste of talent. I feel sorry for you.'

'No need to feel sorry.' Jiang Wen's gaze settled on Tang Feiyi's face, like a sniper's laser finding its target. 'There'll be other chances to take a head.'

That look could freeze a person's blood. Tang Feiyi no longer leaned back into the sofa; he leaned forward instead, his smile fading a little. 'Then I'll wait to see that day.'

From beginning to end, Tang Feiyi never mentioned the Beta who had been taken — as if, in his eyes, the life or death of an underling wasn't worth caring about.

Jiang Wen gave no further response and turned to leave the warehouse.

'The Lin Family…' Tang Feiyi watched Jiang Wen's retreating back and softly let two words fall from his mouth.

The haul this time was considerable — not only had he discovered that the bodyguards around Xu Ze came from the Lin Family, but he'd also drawn Jiang Wen out. Actually, Tang Feiyi should have thought of Lin Yumian long ago; it was just that Lu Heyang's Alpha father, as chairman of the council, held such a high position that he drew all the attention, making it easy to overlook his Omega father.

The Lin Family had always kept a low profile. Years ago, when Chairman Lin and his wife had died unexpectedly, the entire group had fallen into Lin Yumian's hands. Lin Yumian, the young head of the household, had long lived apart from his council-chairman husband on Luan Mountain — the marriage a show of unity only on the surface. It was the sort of gossip that should have been dug into, but it touched the political world, and no one dared gossip about the chairman; ordinary people heard not a whisper of it.

Jiang Wen walked to the car, where the back door was still standing open as he had left it. The Alpha was curled up in the back seat. Jiang Wen untied his hands, lifted his shirt to check the injuries, and asked, 'How is it?'

'I'm fine… one or two ribs broken.' The Alpha coughed a few times. 'Da-ge, you coming alone… was too risky.'

'Talk less.' Jiang Wen closed the car door, got into the driver's seat, and started the engine.

After driving for a stretch, his Mobile Phone vibrated; Jiang Wen answered.

'Uncle Wen, did you bring him back?'

'Mm, on the way back.'

'How bad is he hurt?'

'Not serious, he's fine.'

'Good, the hospital will contact you shortly. If you need anything else, tell me, I'll arrange it.'

'Understood.'

After hanging up, Jiang Wen asked, 'Did you hear that?'

'I heard.' The Alpha's voice was hoarse. 'It was my fault — I made a mistake the first time things went sideways.'

'Heal first, I'll punish you after.' Jiang Wen turned the steering wheel. 'Chairman Lin gave instructions — from now on, his orders come second.'

'First place is Lu Heyang. All of you, remember that.'

'Understood.'

Xu Ze had checked his Mobile Phone too many times today; He Wei asked if he was in love.

'…' Xu Ze didn't know how to answer. Being in love wouldn't necessarily make him stare at his phone like this.

He just wanted to know how that Alpha was doing, so he was waiting for Lu Heyang's text or call.

That phrase — 'he's not the target' — kept ringing in his head. Xu Ze didn't understand: if the Alpha wasn't the target, then who was Tang Feiyi trying to draw out? Lu Heyang?

Xu Ze thought of last semester — when Tang Feiyi had suspected him of colluding with Gu Yunchi to cheat him out of a bonus, and had pressed a cigarette to Xu Ze's skin in the stairwell. Lu Heyang had had his bodyguards knock Tang Feiyi out.

But Tang Feiyi clearly knew Lu Heyang's identity now — to retaliate against him over something like that, he wouldn't be so reckless and stupid.

So perhaps something more serious had happened — Xu Ze suddenly raised his head.

His hand. Tang Feiyi's hand.

The thought lasted only a moment before Xu Ze dismissed it. He didn't believe Lu Heyang would do something like that, nor had any reason to — Lu Heyang was so rational, so upright a person.

A little past seven in the evening, Xu Ze finally got the call from the rational, upright Lu Heyang. It was a domestic number; Xu Ze picked up quickly.

'He was brought back, in the early hours.' Lu Heyang got straight to the point the moment the line connected. 'He's at the hospital now, the injuries have been treated, he's fine.'

'Good.' Xu Ze exhaled.

He was about to ask something else, but Lu Heyang said, 'I'm almost at your place.'

Xu Ze stood up at once, pricked up his ears listening for sounds outside — no car — and asked, 'Almost there?'

'A few minutes. The road's hard to drive here, I'll hang up first.'

'Okay.'

After hanging up, Xu Ze stared at the phone for a few seconds, sat down, and before long stood again — went to the window and looked down. The street below was empty, no movement. Xu Ze felt as if something were missing from inside him, hollow and uneasy, with no idea where to look for it, so he could only stand there in a daze, turning in place.

Finally he grabbed the keys from the desk, opened the door, and ran downstairs.

He waited under the streetlamp for a minute or two. Then a flood of bright headlights swept around the corner. The car drew up in front of him; Xu Ze kept his eyes wide open, unblinking, though the interior was pitch-dark and he could see nothing.

The car door opened and Lu Heyang stepped out. He wore a black baseball cap, half his face pressed into shadow, only the sharp line of his jaw and chin visible. He was dressed in an ordinary black T-shirt and cargo pants — looked like training clothes, rough and clean-cut.

At first glance, Xu Ze sensed that Lu Heyang had changed — that particular stillness and presence honed under military-style discipline seemed to be quietly emerging from him.