He saw No. 17’s entire body tremble slightly.
Then, very slowly, he opened his eyes and stared at him somewhat blankly.
It took about ten seconds before No. 17 finally reacted.
He moved his face away from Lu Heyang’s hand, his gaze shifting with extreme slowness.
Finally, he asked, “When did you know?”
Afraid of hearing Lu Heyang’s answer, he immediately continued, “You knew a long time ago, didn’t you?”
Lu Heyang looked at him and still said nothing.
So he had simply been too stupid.
He had thought Lu Heyang wouldn’t notice the similarities between Xu Ze and No. 17—their identical voices, pheromones, body shape, and movements.
He had always believed that Lu Heyang probably didn’t have much of an impression of someone named “Xu Ze,” and wouldn’t connect the two of them.
Turns out, not everyone was as stupid and ignorant as he was.
Only now did Xu Ze belatedly begin to feel the pain throughout his body.
His chest and back, as well as his left shoulder—the place that had previously been dislocated.
The inhibitor could only stabilize his pheromones. It couldn’t numb pain.
He didn’t know why the pain had suddenly become so severe, to the point that he even began muttering to himself incoherently.
“Why…” Xu Ze murmured softly. “You knew a long time ago…”
If it had been someone else, Xu Ze would have felt that the other person was treating him like an idiot and playing with him.
But he didn’t believe Lu Heyang was that kind of person.
At the same time, he couldn’t understand why Lu Heyang had done this, and he began to feel somewhat miserable.
Then again, even if Lu Heyang really had been thinking that way, he had no way of blaming him.
Xu Ze turned his head.
Right beside him was an old full-length mirror.
He saw himself reflected in it. Under the dim light, he barely looked human—disheveled, with even his features blurred beyond recognition.
This was what Lu Heyang was seeing right now.
Humiliating.
Xu Ze lowered his head.
He truly had no strength left.
“Just go.”
Then, in a voice that sounded almost like a plea, he said, “Don’t come here again.”
Before Lu Heyang could answer, Xu Ze completely closed his eyes and lost consciousness.
His body pitched forward.
Lu Heyang caught his shoulder at the same time the door to the room was pushed open, and several alphas entered.
Lu Heyang turned his head and exchanged a glance with one of the alphas wearing a white shirt.
Zhuo Yan nodded once, walked over, and crouched beside Xu Ze. He examined his chest and back before saying, “No broken bones. We’ll need a CT scan to know about the rest.”
Several other alphas stepped forward and placed Xu Ze onto a stretcher.
Xiaofeng was still waiting at the door. He had absolutely no idea where these alphas had come from or how they’d gotten inside.
All he knew was that they looked extremely professional.
Lu Heyang was holding Xu Ze’s schoolbag. He walked up to Xiaofeng and said, “Thank you for today. I’ll take No. 17 to the hospital first.”
“Oh…” Xiaofeng nodded blankly, not even daring to look around. “Remember to leave through the side door over there. Otherwise, you’re very likely to run into the big boss’s people.”
“Okay.”
Outside the side door was the same place where Lu Heyang had been robbed the first time.
Gu Yunchi and He Wei were already waiting in the alley.
Xu Ze lay quietly on the stretcher and was carried into that special private-hospital ambulance.
He Wei looked utterly confused. “Heyang, why did you…”
He knew Zhuo Yan too, but No. 17 had only returned backstage for about twenty minutes. He Wei had no idea how Zhuo Yan and the others could have arrived so quickly—unless someone had notified them before the match was even over.
“I’m taking Xu Ze to the hospital,” Lu Heyang said. “You two drive back first.”
After the car drove away, He Wei finally turned his head and asked Gu Yunchi, “What Xu Ze?”
“There aren’t many S-rank alphas with an IQ like yours left,” Gu Yunchi said.
A few seconds later, He Wei finally understood. His eyes widened.
“You knew too? When did you find out? Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“The last time we went to the lecture.”
That afternoon, he and He Wei had gone to Lu Heyang and Xu Ze’s room to eat and chat. That was when Gu Yunchi noticed something was off.
Of course, Lu Heyang had definitely discovered it earlier than he had.
The fact that No. 17 was Xu Ze didn’t really matter to Gu Yunchi. After all, he wasn’t close to Xu Ze, and whoever the other person was had nothing to do with him.
As for why Lu Heyang had also continued pretending not to know, Gu Yunchi felt that, given his personality, it was completely understandable. In some ways, the two of them were very similar—for example, neither of them was ever curious about or concerned with people who had nothing to do with them.
But what had happened at the hotel last time, as well as what happened tonight, left Gu Yunchi somewhat unable to understand him.
Still, it was fine.
After all, He Wei understood even less than he did.
On the way to the hospital, Xu Ze developed mild difficulty breathing, accompanied by a small amount of coughing up blood.
He frowned, looking extremely uncomfortable.
Perhaps only in this unconscious state would he give up on enduring the pain.
“It hurts…” Xu Ze breathed rapidly and moaned unconsciously. “Morphine… give me an injection…”
The fact that he could say this meant that someone had given him morphine for his injuries before.
Most of the patients Zhuo Yan had treated since becoming a doctor were wealthy and powerful people. He had never encountered someone like Xu Ze who immediately demanded a morphine injection.
It was far too simple and brutal.
Before confirming the extent of his injuries, Zhuo Yan couldn’t even give him painkillers.
After waiting a long time without receiving any pain medication, Xu Ze accepted the reality. His voice gradually became quieter until he fell completely silent.
Zhuo Yan glanced at Lu Heyang.
Lu Heyang was still sitting expressionlessly in the seat on the other side. He wasn’t nervous or panicked at all—he had the same attitude toward everything that Zhuo Yan was familiar with, as though nothing ever mattered to him too much.
After they arrived at the hospital, Xu Ze underwent a series of examinations.
It was confirmed that he had a pulmonary contusion with bleeding. It wasn’t particularly serious, but without treatment at the hospital, it could have caused complications or left lasting aftereffects.
“Your friend?” Zhuo Yan asked Lu Heyang after recording the results on the monitoring equipment.
The stage makeup and dirty blood had already been cleaned from Xu Ze’s face, revealing a clean, peaceful sleeping face.
Lu Heyang was leaning against the window some distance away from the hospital bed.
“Not exactly. Someone I know from school.”
“A student from the Preparatory School?” Zhuo Yan was somewhat surprised.
“Mm.”
Lu Heyang straightened and walked toward the door.
“When he wakes up, if there aren’t any problems and he wants to be discharged, let him leave. Thanks for your help today.”
“Okay.”
When Xu Ze woke up, the room was dimly lit with the first light of dawn.
He stared at the IV bottle hanging in midair for a long time, and could only conclude that he was currently in a hospital.
As for when he’d arrived or how he’d gotten there, he had absolutely no memory.
He only remembered telling Lu Heyang not to go to the club anymore before losing consciousness.
He didn’t know whether Lu Heyang would be upset because of it.
Someone entered the room.
They raised the head of Xu Ze’s bed, then picked up the remote and opened the curtains.
Only then could Xu Ze see him clearly.
He was a young doctor.
“My name is Zhuo Yan,” Zhuo Yan said. “How are you feeling now?”
“I’m fine now.”
Xu Ze sat up.
The next thing he asked was, “Can I settle the medical bill and complete the discharge procedures now?”
“Yes. I’ve prepared your medication. Take it home and make sure you take it on time,” Zhuo Yan said. “The medical bill has already been paid, so don’t worry about it.”
He saw the pale alpha in front of him hesitate for a moment before asking, “Who paid it for me?”
“Probably a schoolmate you know.”
Zhuo Yan flipped through the medical report.
“I looked at your pheromone data. You seem to be an S-rank alpha who enters rut quite frequently. We also detected a strong inhibitor in your blood yesterday, so I need to remind you of something. If your rut comes during this period, you can’t use inhibitors anymore.”
“I’d guess it’s probably coming within the next couple of days. Last night, because of your injuries and the pain, your pheromone secretion became slightly unstable. Pay attention over the next few days. If your rut starts, it’s best to take leave from school and rest at home.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
Xu Ze nodded.
An hour later, Xu Ze left the hospital with his medication.
The hospital had even arranged a car for him.
Xu Ze sat in the back seat and opened the small outer pocket of his schoolbag.
The roll of crumpled banknotes was still inside.
Of course, Lu Heyang couldn’t possibly have taken it.
After returning home, Xu Ze went to the bathroom to wash his hands.
He raised his head and looked into the mirror.
He rarely examined himself in the mirror because he didn’t think there was anything worth looking at.
His bruised and swollen lips, the various Band-Aids and gauze covering his neck and arms—
They were all small injuries he’d failed to notice or feel last night. Normally, he wouldn’t even have had time to bother with them, but now the nurse had carefully treated every one of them and covered them properly.
Xu Ze stood there for a while.
Then he returned to his room, opened his books, and began doing his homework.
At first, he couldn’t concentrate at all.
He thought about Lu Heyang calling his name last night.
He thought about all the disguises he’d believed he’d hidden so perfectly.
It turned out they had all been the emperor’s new clothes.
Someone had simply chosen not to point them out.
Later, he finally managed to pull himself away, at least temporarily, from the embarrassment and the other complicated emotions.
He properly finished his homework.
His gland felt warm.
Xu Ze touched the back of his neck.
His rut might be coming soon, but there were no inhibitor patches left at home.
He packed up his textbooks and prepared to go to the pharmacy to buy a box.
His body still hurt a little, but it no longer affected his normal movements.
Xu Ze took his keys, put on a baseball cap, and walked out of his room.
Just as he reached the front door, he suddenly heard a knock.
Very few people ever knocked on his door. The old wooden door had no peephole. Xu Ze turned the lock and pulled it open.
Separated by a rusty black security door, Xu Ze looked at the alpha standing outside. His first reaction was that his brain must have been damaged by yesterday’s beating too, because he was hallucinating.
“Going out?” Lu Heyang asked, a faint smile on his face.
Xu Ze’s current mental state was no longer capable of supporting a response to Lu Heyang’s question. While he was still trying to remember what he had been going out to buy, his hand had already moved ahead of his brain and reached over to open the security door.