Chapter 62

It had been months since his last visit, and the fighters in the backstage had been replaced by a batch of unfamiliar new faces. Xu Ze went to the changing room at the far end to take a look — the floor was littered with cigarette butts, bottles lay toppled every which way, and the table was strewn with strange syringes and reagent vials. The smell of smoke, of liquor, of drugs, mingled with all manner of Pheromones. Xu Ze's brow drew tight; a wave of nausea rose up in him at once. He shielded his mouth and nose with the back of his hand and turned toward the manager's office.

He had smelled these chaotic scents before, of course, but this urge to retch was something new. For a moment he could not tell whether it was simply the unfamiliarity of being away too long, or something else entirely.

With a feeling quite foreign to him, Xu Ze raised a hand and pressed it against his own lower abdomen. He had already bought the pregnancy test, but it seemed only now that Chi Jiahán's words were truly catching up with him. His expression began to drift into something lost.

He stood dazed and empty for a second or two, then dropped his hand, walked to the manager's office door, and knocked a few times.

'Come in.'

It was Tang Feiyi's voice. Xu Ze pushed the door open and went in.

The chair behind the desk was empty — the manager was not there. On the sofa beside it, Tang Feiyi was lounging at his ease, an Alpha cradled in his arms who looked quite young.

'Harder and harder to get a look at you these days.' Tang Feiyi took a drag on his cigar, tilted his head, and blew the smoke into the face of the Alpha beside him. 'See that? So long as you've got a thick enough face and can spread your legs, even being a dog at a rich man's feet is more comfortable than earning your own living.'

The Alpha studied Xu Ze's face. 'Still takes a face like that to pull it off, though.'

Xu Ze gave no reaction at all — no trace of insulted fury or humiliated anger. He asked calmly, 'What did you want to see me about?'

'Let's talk about your six hundred thousand in Breach of Contract Incident fees.' Tang Feiyi's hand moved idly over the Alpha's waist. 'Not that much, is it? Go back and shake your tail a few more times for your master — might just fall into your lap, easy as anything.'

Xu Ze said nothing. Tang Feiyi shot him a sidelong glance. 'Or else, same as before — come in once a week, fight until the contract period is up. Xu Ze, I've already given you plenty of face. Any other fighter who steps out of line gets half the treatment you do.'

'I'm not fighting anymore.' Without hesitation, Xu Ze gave his answer.

On his way to the backstage he had run into Xiao Feng, who had seemed startled and pulled Xu Ze aside to ask uneasily, 'Number 17, are you back to fight again?'

'It's getting more and more out of hand here — fighters die in the ring all the time now. Everyone's gone completely crazy.' Xiao Feng had seen plenty of how chaotic the Underground Club was, but his expression as he said it was still one of genuine terror. 'I don't think there are any normal people left in this place.'

Xu Ze said, 'Alright, thank you.'

He had never intended to come back in the first place. The Early Admission exams would be starting one after another very soon — this had always been the goal Xu Ze had quietly set for himself; otherwise he could have given up on his studies long ago and devoted himself entirely to fighting for money. From the very first underground match he'd fought years ago, beaten and bruised until his brain could barely think, he had told himself he had to escape this kind of life someday.

Now the chance was close at hand. Xu Ze did not want anything to go wrong. He could cut back on sleep to take on extra shifts at the Auto Repair Shop, but he would not step into the Octagon Cage again. He understood clearly enough that the only reason Tang Feiyi had called him back this time was revenge; if more and more fighters were dying in the ring, then he might well be the next one.

Even if that were not the case, Xu Ze could not guarantee what drugs or injections his opponent might have taken before stepping into the ring. The moment someone died in the middle of a match, under the eyes of everyone watching, he would be a murderer — and there would be no escaping it, ever.

Tang Feiyi's lips curled into a smile that did not reach his eyes. 'Looks like you've really got some backbone now — six hundred thousand and you don't even blink.' He brushed the ash from his knee. 'Then we'll do it by the contract. Pay the Breach of Contract Incident within one week.'

'Otherwise I can't guarantee what kind of people might come knocking at your home and your school to collect.'

Xu Ze gave no response. He turned, opened the door, and walked out.

'Just letting him walk away like that? Doesn't seem like you.' The Alpha glanced at the scar on Tang Feiyi's right wrist.

Tang Feiyi gave a contemptuous laugh and said nothing.

Xu Ze walked quickly, wanting to leave the place as soon as possible. The backstage corridor was narrow, and even though he was already moving sideways, he still could not avoid bumping into one of several Alphas walking shoulder to shoulder.

'Sorry,' Xu Ze murmured an apology and prepared to keep moving forward.

'Number 17?' The other man looked like a fighter too, and he had been drinking. He raised a hand to block Xu Ze. 'You're Number 17, right?'

Xu Ze looked at him and said nothing.

'Heard you've landed a new sugar daddy — and now you're slinking back again?' Reeking of alcohol, he leaned in toward Xu Ze. 'I've been wanting a match with you for a long time. Let's see if you're really as good as they say. Pick a time?'

'No time.' Xu Ze sidestepped past him, unwilling to linger. The bodyguards Lu Heyang had sent should be somewhere nearby; this place was full of Tang Feiyi's people, and Xu Ze did not want them dragged into things just because they stepped in to help him.

Annoyed by Xu Ze's attitude, the man said, 'No time, then — right now,' and swung his fist at Xu Ze's face.

Xu Ze tilted his head sharply to dodge, but his back slammed against the wall. In that instant his first thought was to press one hand over his lower abdomen; then he bent his right arm and drove a clean, vicious elbow strike into the Alpha's face. The Alpha let out a muffled grunt and crashed into a crate of empty bottles beside the corridor.

The other fighters froze for a second, then tossed their bottles aside and rushed forward. Xu Ze stood his ground without retreating a step, pulled off his Wristband, and fixed them with an expressionless stare — the sharp, ruthless air of Number 17 radiating off him.

His S-Class Alpha Pheromones, now unshielded, dispersed with full aggressive force, pressing down on the few drunk Alphas until their breathing grew labored. At the same moment, every light in the backstage suddenly went out. A beat of silence, then a clamor of cursing and screaming rose around them.

Guessing it was the bodyguards providing cover, Xu Ze seized on the chaos and the dark and ran outward without hesitation.

Back home, Xu Ze cooked a simple bowl of noodles, ate, and went to shower. Coming out of the bathroom, he dried his hair with one hand and pulled the pregnancy test from his backpack with the other, reading the instructions carefully.

His Mobile Phone rang. It was Chi Jiahán calling.

'How did the meeting in Chengxi go? Nothing happened, right?'

'No.'

'Then are you going back to fight again?!'

'Not fighting anymore.'

'What conditions did you agree to with Tang Feiyi?'

'Pay some Breach of Contract Incident.' Xu Ze said, 'It's fine.'

'What can you do besides lie to me.' Chi Jiahán said coldly.

Xu Ze did not know what to say. He had not yet prepared how to hide things from Chi Jiahán when the call came in, and for a moment he could not think of anything to construct — he had never been any good at lying in the first place.

'How much exactly?' Chi Jiahán asked.

'Six hundred thousand.'

Chi Jiahán knew Xu Ze well — Xu Ze was the sort who, the moment he had any money on him, would transfer it straight into the Sanatorium's account, keeping only a hundred or two for living expenses. Asking him to come up with six hundred thousand out of thin air was the same as asking him to start from zero; it was not realistic.

'How long is the deadline?'

Xu Ze answered, 'Half a month.'

'I'll figure something out for you.' Chi Jiahán said. 'Don't worry about this anymore. Just focus on fixing your cars.'

'Alright.'

Although he felt some doubt at how readily Xu Ze had agreed, Chi Jiahán had no time to think it over now. He added, 'Come with me to the hospital for a checkup tomorrow at noon.'

Hearing this, Xu Ze instinctively placed his hand over his lower abdomen. After a pause, he answered, 'I bought a pregnancy test.'

'…' Chi Jiahán was momentarily at a loss. 'Those things aren't accurate — I looked into it. Especially the Alpha ones. They go wrong easily.'

After a brief moment of thought, Xu Ze offered a solution: 'I'll test a few more times.'

It was not that he was unwilling to have it checked at the hospital — it was simply that, with the bodyguards tailing him, Lu Heyang would be sure to find out afterward.

'Are you out of your mind!' Chi Jiahán finally could not hold back and cursed at him. 'If it's really there it has to be taken care of immediately — how long are you planning to drag this out? Has Lu Heyang put you under some kind of spell?'

'It has nothing to do with him.' Xu Ze said.

'What do you mean, nothing to do with him? Can a person get pregnant on their own? Looks like you really are pregnant — three years of dumb the moment you conceive.'

'Don't be angry.' Xu Ze did not know how to comfort Chi Jiahán. 'Let me test it myself first, alright?'

'I don't care about you!' Chi Jiahán hung up in fury.

Xu Ze held the phone quietly for a few seconds, then sent Chi Jiahán another text message: Don't be angry.

No reply came, of course. Xu Ze exited the message window and scrolled down. His fingertip lingered on the screen for a moment, then finally tapped into a certain contact and typed: I've thought it through.

The other party replied quickly: Alright, tomorrow evening first come for a blood draw and matching, I'll send you the address then.

Xu Ze: Okay.

The reason he had said the deadline was fifteen days was because he had never intended to borrow six hundred thousand from Chi Jiahán.

A while back, an Alpha he had met at the Underground Club had suddenly reached out to Xu Ze, asking if he needed money, if he'd consider selling his Pheromone. Only then did Xu Ze learn there was such an industry chain — the Pheromone and blood of S-Class AOs were equivalent to rare resources, and upper-class families placed great weight on Pheromone Level. When their offspring failed to reach S-Class after birth, they would seek out same-blood-type S-Class individuals and, through blood transfusion and Pheromone injection, induce a second differentiation.

Simply put, it meant serving as a blood bag — long-term supply of blood and Pheromone.

Xu Ze had not known such a business existed before. If he had, he would have done it last year when he urgently needed surgery fees, rather than signing a contract with Tang Feiyi and ending up in today's situation. He had originally planned to keep it as a fallback — if one day his grandmother again needed a large sum for surgery, he would at least have a way to raise money quickly.

Xu Ze was clear on Chi Jiahán's situation. His father had always neglected him; the most he did was freeze his bank card. His stepmother kept a tight watch on all of Chi Jiahán's accounts, not allowing a single cent of the Chi family money to fall into his hands.

Under these circumstances, Xu Ze had no way to borrow that much money from Chi Jiahán all at once.

He turned off the phone. He couldn't say whether his heart felt lighter or heavier — it didn't seem to feel much of anything, really. He was used to it. Xu Ze took a pregnancy test and stood up to go to the bathroom.

Standing before the sink for five minutes, Xu Ze threw the pregnancy test showing two lines into the wastebasket.

He decided to take another one and test again.

But when Xu Ze returned to his room and had just pulled out a new pregnancy test, a knock came at the door. Xu Ze froze, and without thinking stuffed the test into his backpack and zipped it shut.

It was hard enough that Xu Ze had barely gotten past Chi Jiahán, and now he was caught completely unprepared by Lu Heyang's knock. While opening the door he was still trying to come up with suitable excuses, but his head felt stuffed with crumpled paper — it wouldn't turn properly no matter what.

'Have you eaten dinner?'

Xu Ze nodded: 'I had noodles.'

Back in the room, Lu Heyang sat down at the desk as usual. The backpack sat right on the desk, the zipper seemingly not fully closed. Xu Ze's heart was pounding fast, his gaze a little unfocused.

This time Lu Heyang did not invite Xu Ze to sit on his lap. He simply looked up and asked: 'Is there nothing you want to tell me?'

He looked somewhat tired, his expression unlike usual, revealing a cold sort of gravity. Xu Ze stood to one side with his hands hanging down, not looking at him, organizing his words in his mind, and finally said truthfully: 'I went to Chengxi.'

'I know.' Lu Heyang said.

'Tang Feiyi came to talk to me about the Breach of Contract Incident. I have to pay some compensation.'

'How much?'

'...Sixty thousand.'

Lu Heyang then asked him: 'Do I look easy to fool?'

Xu Ze seemed to droop down to his very hair, answering: 'Not easy to fool.'

'...' Lu Heyang showed that helpless smile of someone at a loss with a person. 'How much do you actually have to pay?'

'Six hundred thousand.'

Lu Heyang nodded: 'Can you handle it yourself?'

Selling Pheromone alone wouldn't be enough; he'd need to borrow a small portion from Chi Jiahán to make up the rest, and ask the Auto Repair Shop manager for an advance on wages... Xu Ze, who never learned from his mistakes in front of Lu Heyang: 'I should be able to.'

'Can you handle it without harming your body or paying a serious price?' Lu Heyang asked again.

Xu Ze figured Lu Heyang must have learned interrogation techniques back at the Military Academy — step by step, until the final strike to the heart.

Silence was the answer. Lu Heyang said nothing more, watching him quietly.

After a while, Xu Ze couldn't help reaching his hand out toward Lu Heyang. Lu Heyang had not touched him since coming in — before, he would at least put an arm around him, or hold his hand, or kiss him. Today there was nothing, and Xu Ze was very unused to it.

But Lu Heyang avoided Xu Ze's hand and said to him: 'Don't move yet.'

'...' Xu Ze silently withdrew his hand, hesitated two seconds, and said, 'Don't be angry.'

Because it had always been this way — his own choices, his own solutions, his own burdens — Xu Ze still couldn't quite understand why Chi Jiahán or Lu Heyang would get angry over these things, even though Chi Jiahán had already scolded him many times.

So, seeing Lu Heyang had no reaction, Xu Ze said again: 'You can scold me.'

Lu Heyang's voice was so pleasant; scolding from him probably wouldn't sound too harsh.

'Why would I scold you.' Lu Heyang seemed a little helpless. He reached his hand out to Xu Ze. 'Come here.'

Xu Ze sat on Lu Heyang's lap. One of Lu Heyang's arms wrapped around his waist, the other rested casually against his lower abdomen. Xu Ze's whole body tensed up, remembering there was still this matter he hadn't confessed to Lu Heyang.

'All the contract terms you signed with him are illegal, have no legal force, and you don't need to pay the Breach of Contract Incident.'

Xu Ze had considered this too, but what mattered wasn't the contract — the entire Underground Club existed outside the law to begin with. What mattered was that Tang Feiyi would use the contract as a pretext to pressure people, forcing them to abide by his rules.

'If I don't pay, he'll send people to collect the debt.' Xu Ze said.

'Even if you pay six hundred thousand, he won't let you off — it's just throwing money away.' Lu Heyang said. 'The Preparatory Academy has always placed great importance on student safety on campus. If any unsavory people come to cause trouble, the school will contact the police directly. You don't need to worry about home either — I'll arrange for a few more people.'

'Dealing with Tang Feiyi is simple, but we can't just deal with him alone — he has many industries behind him, involving many people. Some things we can't do ourselves, so we need others to act, which takes time. You just need to stay away from him, stop having any contact. Can you do that?'

These words made Xu Ze vaguely aware the situation was somewhat complicated. While he was thinking, Lu Heyang interrupted him: 'Don't think about anything else. Just tell me whether you can do it.'

'I can do it.' Xu Ze still wasn't entirely sure of himself — not solving his own problems always left him uneasy.

Lu Heyang pressed on the side of Xu Ze's neck and kissed him at the corner of his mouth: 'Don't worry. Leave it to me.'

Xu Ze slowly looked at him, as if thinking about something, then asked: 'Do you want to do it?'

He never asked questions like this. Lu Heyang looked at him: 'What's wrong?'

'If we're going to do it.' Xu Ze asked in a low voice, 'Can you be a little gentler?'

If he didn't say it now, once they were actually in bed, Lu Heyang might not pay attention to his 'be gentler' request.

'Where does it hurt?'

'Nowhere.' Xu Ze answered immediately.

Lu Heyang looked at him for a few seconds, then finally said: 'We won't. I'm hungry. Can you make me a bowl of noodles?'

'Okay.' Xu Ze stood up. 'You rest for a bit.'

After Xu Ze left the room, Lu Heyang reached over and took the backpack from the desk. He knew Xu Ze had gone to a pharmacy in Chengxi. If it were normal medication, Xu Ze would certainly have gotten it from the Preparatory Academy's medical office, since it was cheaper. So he didn't plan to ask Xu Ze — so many lies in one night, he was afraid Xu Ze would lose sleep from the weight of guilt.

Xu Ze was an honest person, true — honestly hiding this and that from him, honestly lying. This kind of person, even if you married him and shared a bed, could still keep ten thousand things hidden in his heart, then solve them one by one on his own. He simply couldn't change.

There was nothing for it but to go through the backpack. Going through other people's things wasn't right — right or not, Lu Heyang's motion pulling the zipper was very decisive.

Xu Ze was staring at the water in the pot, which hadn't yet come to a boil, lost in thought. Lu Heyang suddenly walked into the kitchen and turned off the gas stove.

Xu Ze looked blank. Lu Heyang pointed beneath the stove: 'Turn off the gas valve. Come out with me for a bit.'

'What's going on?' Xu Ze obediently turned off the valve and asked.

'Nothing much.' Lu Heyang said. 'I just suspect I'm about to become a father.'