The van’s engine roared, and it sped away.
Xu Ze exchanged a glance with the Alpha beside him and realized that he hadn’t been Tang Feiyi’s real target at all.
The Alpha hauled the Beta up from the ground and said quietly, “We’ll take care of this.”
In the faint light of the streetlamp outside, Xu Ze noticed that the Alpha was wearing an earpiece with an air tube.
Xu Ze said nothing and asked no questions. He simply nodded, adjusted the backpack on his shoulder, and continued upstairs.
After returning to his room, Xu Ze stood by the window and looked down. Everything below was as quiet as usual.
He drew the curtains closed, took his phone out of his backpack, and called the sanatorium.
“Caregiver Li, it’s Xu Ze. Sorry to bother you. Has my grandmother had dinner?”
“Yes, she’s just finished eating and is having some fruit now. Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing. Thank you for your help.”
Xu Ze sat down at his desk and opened his messages. He stared blankly at Lu Heyang’s text.
He remembered how Tang Feiyi had come to the auto repair shop to find him during the summer holidays. Not long after Tang Feiyi left, Lu Heyang had called and told him, Don’t worry.
He also remembered how, every time he visited the sanatorium, the bodyguard of the patient in the room next door was always sitting outside his grandmother’s room.
So none of it had been a coincidence. Lu Heyang’s words, Don’t worry, hadn’t been mere verbal reassurance, either. Xu Ze could guess why Lu Heyang had kept this from him. If Lu Heyang had told him outright from the beginning, Xu Ze would definitely have refused.
The screen went dark, and Xu Ze tapped it to light it up again. He continued staring at it for a few seconds. Suddenly, the display changed and the ringtone rang out at the same time, startling him so badly that he jerked. He immediately answered.
“Xu Ze.”
It had been so long since he’d heard Lu Heyang’s voice that, for a moment, it sounded unfamiliar. Xu Ze parted his lips. He seemed to have so much to say, but in the end, he only murmured, “Mm.”
“Are you hurt?” Lu Heyang asked.
“No,” Xu Ze said. “It was probably someone sent by Tang Feiyi.”
“Mm. They’ve already gone to investigate. Stay at home, and don’t go looking for him yourself.”
“What will happen to the person who was kidnapped?”
Xu Ze understood Tang Feiyi’s way of doing things, and he knew how unnecessary this question was. He had seen plenty of bodyguards and hired muscle at the club. Employers never felt guilty when their subordinates got hurt. It was simply a contractual relationship: one party paid, and the other risked their life.
But Xu Ze wasn’t an employer. In essence, he had once been one of those people who risked their lives for money himself. Now, he was merely someone receiving protection without having contributed anything in return.
“Nothing will happen to him. He wasn’t the target. Don’t worry. Wait for my news.” Before Xu Ze could answer, Lu Heyang continued, “I’m about to go to class, so I’ll hang up now. Get some rest early.”
Anyone would feel dissatisfied at being silenced before they’d even had time to catch their breath, but Xu Ze immediately replied, “Okay.” He wouldn’t delay Lu Heyang for even half a second.
After hanging up, Xu Ze pulled an old notebook he used for rough work off the desk and began writing in the blank spaces.
1\. You said he wasn’t the target. Then who was?
2\. Are the bodyguards you arranged for me and Grandma very expensive? Can you tell me how much they cost?
3\. He Wei said you don’t remember your childhood. Why is that?
4\. How much longer until you come back?
After finishing, Xu Ze stared at the notebook for a while. His pen hovered over the fourth question, and he considered crossing it out, but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
He didn’t know when Lu Heyang would call him again, so he decided to write down the questions he wanted to ask in advance and ask them one at a time. That way, he wouldn’t annoy Lu Heyang or take up too much of his time.
The warehouse in the western part of the city was brightly lit.
Tang Feiyi sat on an old sofa, idly playing with a lighter. At his feet lay an Alpha whose hands had been tied behind his back. His face was covered in blood, his eyes were closed, and he lay completely motionless. It was impossible to tell whether he was alive or dead.
A few minutes later, the sound of a car came from outside the warehouse. Its headlights swept in a semicircle as it turned, then abruptly went out.
A leg stepped out of the darkness and into the brightly lit warehouse. The tall Alpha wore an old T-shirt, and several long scars were scattered across the arms exposed beneath his sleeves.
Click.
Tang Feiyi snapped the lighter shut and looked up. Leaning back into the sofa, he wore a smile that suggested he wasn’t at all surprised.
“Looks like waiting around tonight wasn’t a waste after all. I even got Brother Wen to show up.”
He planted his foot on the side of the Alpha’s face. At last, the man on the ground twitched as if in a spasm.
Jiang Wen looked at Tang Feiyi impassively. He had come here alone in the middle of the night, without carrying a single weapon. Yet merely standing there was enough to put Tang Feiyi’s men on high alert. One after another, they rested their hands near the guns tucked into the backs of their waistbands.
The Alpha on the ground struggled to open his eyes. His lips moved, silently forming the word, “Boss.”
“Get up by yourself,” Jiang Wen told him calmly. “The car door is open for you.”
Tang Feiyi withdrew his foot and lowered his eyes, watching with leisurely interest as the Alpha rubbed his forehead against the ground, bent his knees, and slowly struggled upright. Hunched over, he staggered forward one step at a time.
It took him a long time to reach Jiang Wen’s side. Jiang Wen reached out and steadied him.
The Alpha hesitated, seemingly wanting to say something. Jiang Wen tilted his head slightly.
“Go outside.”
Once the Alpha had left the warehouse, Tang Feiyi yawned.
“Brother Wen, you’re still as loyal as ever. You actually came all this way in person just for one of your men. 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.
“What I find strange is how the legendary king of mercenaries ended up reduced to working as a thug for a high school student.”
“I wouldn’t call it working as a thug,” Jiang Wen replied slowly. “Cutting someone’s tendons is a job I’ve only done for the first time.”
An inexplicable pain flared in Tang Feiyi’s right wrist. His expression shifted briefly before he smiled again.
“That’s true. Before this, all your jobs involved guns in hand and taking people’s heads. Look at the work you’re doing now. It’s such a waste of your talents. I almost feel sorry for you.”
“No need to feel sorry.” Jiang Wen’s gaze settled on Tang Feiyi’s face, as precise as the infrared sight of a sniper rifle locking onto its target. “There’ll be opportunities to take heads again.”
His gaze was enough to make a chill run through anyone who met it. Tang Feiyi stopped lounging against the sofa and leaned forward. His smile faded slightly.
“Then I’ll look forward to that day.”
From beginning to end, Tang Feiyi never mentioned the Beta who had been taken away. It was as though the life or death of a subordinate meant nothing to him.
Jiang Wen offered no further response and turned to leave the warehouse.
“The Lin family…” Tang Feiyi murmured softly as he watched Jiang Wen’s retreating figure.
The trip had yielded quite a bit. Not only had he discovered that the bodyguards around Xu Ze came from the Lin family, but he had also drawn Jiang Wen out into the open.
Tang Feiyi should have thought of Lin Yumin much sooner. It was just that Lu Heyang’s Alpha father, as the Chairman of the Alliance, held such a prominent position that he attracted so much attention that people easily overlooked his Omega father.
The Lin family had always kept a low profile, staying out of the spotlight. Years ago, Chairman Lin and his wife had died unexpectedly, and the entire group had passed into Lin Yumin’s hands. As the young head of the family, Lin Yumin had a marriage with the Chairman that was harmonious in appearance only. He had lived alone at Luan Mountain for a long time.
It would have made for a juicy piece of gossip, but since it involved the political world, nobody dared to gossip about the Chairman’s private life. Ordinary citizens had no chance of hearing even the slightest rumor.
Jiang Wen reached the car. The rear door remained open, just as he had left it, and the Alpha was curled up on the back seat.
Jiang Wen untied the ropes around his hands, lifted his shirt to examine his injuries, and asked, “How are you?”
“It’s fine… One or two ribs are broken.” The alpha coughed several times. “Big Brother, coming alone… was too dangerous.”
“Stop talking.” Jiang Wen closed the car door, got into the driver’s seat, and started the engine.
After driving for a while, his phone vibrated. Jiang Wen answered it.
“Uncle Wen, have you brought him back?”
“Mm. We’re on our way back now.”
“How bad are his injuries?”
“Nothing serious. He’ll be fine.”
“Good. The hospital will contact you shortly. If you need anything else, tell me and I’ll make the arrangements.”
“Okay.”
After hanging up, Jiang Wen asked, “Did you hear that?”
“I heard.” The alpha’s voice was hoarse. “Making a mistake the first time I encountered a situation like this was my responsibility.”
“Recover first. I’ll punish you afterward.” Jiang Wen turned the steering wheel through a full circle. “Director Lin has given his instructions. From now on, his orders come second.”
“Lu Heyang comes first. All of you, remember that.”
“Understood.”
Xu Ze had been checking his phone far too frequently that day, so He Wei asked him if he was in a relationship.
“…”
Xu Ze didn’t know how to answer. If he were in a relationship, he might not necessarily be staring at his phone like this.
He simply wanted to know how that alpha was doing, so he was waiting for a text or call from Lu Heyang.
The words The target isn’t him kept echoing in his mind. Xu Ze couldn’t understand it. If the target wasn’t that alpha, then who exactly was Tang Feiyi trying to draw out? Lu Heyang?
Xu Ze thought back to the previous semester, when Tang Feiyi had suspected him of conspiring with Gu Yunchi to cheat him out of the prize money. That time, in the stairwell, Tang Feiyi had burned him with a cigarette butt, and Lu Heyang had ordered his bodyguard to knock Tang Feiyi unconscious.
But Tang Feiyi clearly knew Lu Heyang’s identity now. He wasn’t so impulsive and brainless that he would retaliate against Lu Heyang over something like that.
So perhaps something more serious had happened—
Xu Ze suddenly raised his head.
The hand. Tang Feiyi’s hand.
The thought only flashed through his mind for an instant before Xu Ze dismissed it. He believed Lu Heyang wouldn’t do such a thing, nor did he have any reason to. Lu Heyang was such a rational and upright person.
A little after seven that evening, Xu Ze finally received a call from the rational and upright Lu Heyang. It was a domestic number, and Xu Ze answered almost immediately.
“We brought him back early this morning, around dawn.” As soon as the call connected, Lu Heyang got straight to the point and explained the situation to Xu Ze. “He’s at the hospital now. They’ve treated his injuries, and he’s out of danger.”
“Okay.” Xu Ze breathed a sigh of relief.
He was about to ask something else when Lu Heyang added, “I’m almost at your place.”
Xu Ze immediately stood up and strained to listen for sounds outside. He couldn’t hear any cars, so he asked, “You’re almost here?”
“A few more minutes. The roads around here aren’t easy to drive on. I’ll hang up first.”
“Okay.”
After ending the call, Xu Ze stared at his phone for several seconds before sitting down. He hadn’t been seated for long when he stood up again and went to the window to look down.
The area below was empty. Nothing was happening.
It felt as though something was missing inside Xu Ze, leaving him hollow and restless. He didn’t know where to look for it, either, so all he could do was stand there in a daze, pacing in circles.
Finally, he grabbed the keys from the table, opened the door, and ran downstairs.
He waited under a streetlight for a minute or two before dazzling headlights spilled around the corner. When the car pulled up in front of him, Xu Ze kept his eyes wide open without blinking, even though the inside of the car was pitch-black and he couldn’t see anything.
The car door opened, and Lu Heyang stepped out. He wore a black baseball cap, its shadow covering half his face and leaving only his perfectly defined chin and jawline visible. He was dressed in an ordinary black T-shirt and cargo pants, which looked like training clothes—rough, practical, and crisp.
Xu Ze immediately noticed that Lu Heyang had changed.
That distinctive composure and imposing presence, honed under military-style discipline, seemed to be beginning to emerge from him.
Lu Heyang: Oh, I’m a very upright person. (Amused.)
“Why did you come downstairs?” Lu Heyang took the backpack from the passenger seat and closed the car door.