Chapter 20: Dark-Skinned Rugged Honest Man 20

Ever since arriving in this world, Jiang Rang had never felt as anxious as he did right now.

The young man was tall and sturdy, but he was stuck in the crowd, unable to move an inch.

In the end, the beta flushed red with frustration and squeezed his way to the center, apologizing profusely to everyone around him.

The first thing he saw was a middle-aged couple with a boy of about seven or eight years old glaring down imperiously at an alpha who was half-crouched on the ground.

The alpha was wearing one of Jiang Rang’s white sleeveless tank tops. His exposed arms were fair-skinned and evenly muscled, giving him a robust look—but from the wrists upward, they were covered in dense, twisted scars. His expression was a mix of fear and ferocity. There were gray footprints on his black pants and white tank top, and his forehead bore several ugly bruises that looked like they’d come from blows to the head. He resembled nothing so much as a mangled little dog that had been kicked and could only bare its teeth in futile threat.

The middle-aged man had gone a bit soft around the middle. He looked at Chen Jingxu with utter contempt and disgust. “And he’s supposed to be an alpha? Can’t even speak properly. My son just took pity on him and tried to play, and this guy goes and tries to bite him. He’s clearly some lunatic who wandered in from god-knows-where!”

Still fuming, the man stepped forward as if to kick him again.

Jiang Rang couldn’t stand it any longer. The Honest Person might be the type to avoid trouble, but he was fiercely protective when it came to his own. With people bullying right in his face like this, he sure as hell wasn’t going to stand by and watch his alpha get humiliated.

“Mister, this is a public place. Please mind your words and actions.”

The moment the young man appeared, Little Dog’s ink-green eyes lit up like they’d been switched on. His gaze locked unblinkingly onto the beta. Jiang Rang beckoned gently, and the alpha immediately scrambled to his feet and threw himself into the other’s arms.

Perhaps sensing he’d finally found a safe haven, Little Dog nuzzled his cheek hard against Jiang Rang’s neck. His eyes reddened in an instant, and a string of soft whimpers escaped his throat. The alpha didn’t have many words at his disposal—he just kept murmuring Jiang Rang’s name in a small voice.

When the middle-aged man caught sight of Jiang Rang, his bluster visibly deflated. The young man didn’t look like easy prey at all. His clothes screamed money, and with that cold, emotionless expression on his face, the bulging muscles on his arms made it seem like he could punch someone into next week.

The man’s wife tugged at his sleeve and clutched their child a little tighter—a silent signal that they’d pushed far enough. This was Juecheng, smack in the heart of the Federation. Pissing off the wrong bigwig could spell real trouble.

The man knew it too, but middle age had made him stubborn about saving face. Gritting his teeth, he turned to the young man. “Yours, huh? Looks like he’s not all there in the head. Tried to bite my kid for no damn reason. You shouldn’t let someone like that out on the streets. You’re lucky you ran into us—anyone else might’ve just dragged him straight to the police…”

Jiang Rang grew angrier with every word. He tugged the alpha aside with one hand, then took Little Dog’s tear-stained hand in his own while pointing at the glaring bruise on his forehead with the other. In a frosty voice, he said, “Leaving all that aside—our Xiao Xu didn’t have this mark on his head when he went out today. You claimed your kid was just ‘playing’ with him. Was that really playing? Our Xiao Xu doesn’t attack people without reason. This is Central City—cameras on every street corner. If you really think you’ve been wronged, why don’t we head to the police station and take a look?”

His words were clear and logical. The middle-aged couple stammered, at a loss for words. The atmosphere alone was enough to scare the kid into wailing.

Whispers rippled through the growing crowd, and more than a few onlookers chimed in with what they’d actually witnessed. The gathering swelled.

Jiang Rang gritted his teeth, ready to say more, when he felt the slight tremor in Little Dog’s hand.

Chen Jingxu’s eyes were still red, like a rainstorm had passed through those ink-green depths. His lips quivered as he murmured in the tiniest voice, “It hurts… Jiang Jiang, I’m scared. I wanna go home…”

Jiang Rang squeezed his hand reassuringly and brushed the dust from his clothes. Straightening up, he turned to the couple with pursed lips. “Mister, we won’t press the issue any further today—but you owe him an apology.”

Cowed by the young man’s intimidating presence, the couple didn’t dare argue. They mumbled a quick apology while dragging their child away and vanished into the crowd.

With the excitement over, the onlookers began to disperse.

On the walk home, Jiang Rang didn’t say a single word.

Chen Jingxu kept whining softly around him, following wherever his face turned. If the young man leaned left, he’d shuffle left with a lick of his lips; right, and he’d eagerly scoot that way.

Fed up, Jiang Rang halted at the roadside and snapped coldly, “Chen Jingxu, what exactly are you trying to do?”

The alpha straightened up at once, head bowed, fingers twisting together as he dug viciously at the not-quite-healed wound on the back of his hand.

“Pa—”

The sharp crack of a slap rang out.

Chen Jingxu froze in place. His hands hung limply at his sides as he stared helplessly at the cold-faced young man before him.

Jiang Rang pursed his lips. He knew he had lost control of his temper. Little Dog was still growing up and didn’t understand what had him so upset. Venting his frustration on the other like this wouldn’t accomplish anything.

The young man fell silent for a long moment before rubbing his forehead and murmuring, “Chen Jingxu, be honest with me. How did you get out?”

The alpha’s eyelashes fluttered. He wanted to fidget with his hands but forced himself to hold back. Cautiously, he lifted his gaze to study the beta’s expression and whispered, “One time, I saw where Jiang Jiang keeps the keys.”

Jiang Rang looked up sharply. “How long have you been following me?”

Chen Jingxu fell quiet.

Jiang Rang felt a surge of irritation. The pressures of daily life, the constant back-and-forth rushing between places, and Little Dog’s knack for causing trouble had left his emotions in a terrible state. Struggling to keep his voice even, the young man said, “Chen Jingxu, do you have any idea how dangerous that was? I don’t know what you’ve been through before, but if the people who hurt you get their hands on you again, I won’t be able to save you a second time.”

“You’re not to leave the house without my permission from now on.”

The beta’s voice was stern, his scolding tone leaving no room for mercy.

The air hung quiet for a long while.

Jiang Rang frowned as he glanced over. Chen Jingxu had never been this subdued before. The alpha was always full of energy—especially since recovering from his injuries. He loved to make a fuss, particularly when the beta was around. Even without any real reason, he’d whine and nuzzle for attention.

But now the man stood with his head bowed, his face hidden from view. His hair had grown longer, stray locks covering half his ear. Moonlight spilled across the alpha’s shoulders, casting a sharp line of shadow down his back.

Jiang Rang assumed Little Dog was just throwing a tantrum. Truth be told, though, he didn’t have the energy to coax him right now. At the end of the day, the alpha had done wrong, and as his temporary guardian, how could he just indulge him endlessly?

Chen Jingxu didn’t have any proper sense of right and wrong at the moment. He was even capable of something as messed up as stalking. Who knew what kind of twisted path he’d go down in the future?

“Whatever. We’ll talk about it at home,” the young man said wearily.

With that, the beta turned to leave.

The early autumn nights in Juecheng were no longer sweltering. Even in short sleeves, one could feel a chill in the air.

A sudden gust of cold wind surged from behind him. Jiang Rang paused mid-step, about to speak, when a pair of scorching arms suddenly wrapped tightly around his waist from behind.

The alpha’s grip was immense—veins bulging fiercely along the backs of his hands.

Jiang Rang startled and instinctively tried to break free. But when he felt the dampness and faint sting on his shoulder, he halted his struggles.

“Jiang Jiang.”

A trembling voice whispered right by the young man’s flushed ear. “Who is he?”

“I saw you, Jiang Jiang. You meet him every single day.”

“Is he your partner?”

“Then what am I to you? Some toy you keep on the side? A dog locked in a cage for you to toy with whenever you feel like it?”

The words flowed flawlessly from the man’s mouth, carrying an undercurrent of pressure.

For a fleeting moment, Jiang Rang felt an odd sensation. He wanted to turn and study the alpha’s expression, but his body was pinned too tightly to move.

He was an alpha, after all—standing at the top of the food chain. When he put real strength into it, no beta could hope to match him.

“Why aren’t you saying anything, Jiang Jiang?”

The scent of white tea grew thicker. The man’s unfamiliar, intimate breaths brushed against his ear, sending goosebumps racing across Jiang Rang’s skin. That strange feeling in his chest intensified.

A hazy suspicion began to take shape in the young man’s mind.

The beta parted his lips as if to speak, but just before the words could escape, a pale wrist clamped forcefully over his mouth.

Jiang Rang’s eyes flew wide. He thrashed desperately to break free.

But the strength and muscle he prided himself on were utterly useless now. The poor beta’s breaths came in ragged gasps as the man shoved him into a dimly lit corner against the wall and pressed down on him ruthlessly.

Jiang Rang’s face flushed crimson. His breathing grew heavy and labored, his cheeks bulging from the tight seal of the man’s hand. Swollen, honeyed flesh spilled from between those pale fingers.

“I’m sorry, Jiang Jiang. I was wrong.”

The alpha’s tone was utterly pitiful. Yet his ink-green eyes—shrouded in shadow—burned with an excited gleam, like the feral green flames of a beast in heat.

He met Jiang Rang’s furious glare head-on, savoring the wet warmth against his palm. His throat rumbled with increasingly heavy pants.

Chen Jingxu’s voice shook as he said, “Jiang Jiang, don’t look at me like that.”

“I was wrong.” The alpha’s fair skin flushed bright red, his tongue sticking out involuntarily as if desperate to touch the young man’s skin. The sound of him swallowing saliva turned his voice into something utterly bizarre. He murmured nonstop, “I was wrong, I was wrong, Jiang Jiang. I know I was wrong…”

With those words, the alpha abruptly released the wrist he had pinned against the beta’s lips.

Jiang Rang gulped in the sudden rush of air, but before he could even catch his breath, a massive black shadow loomed over his head like some enormous beast bearing down on him.

The little dog sealed his lips and tongue in a frenzy.

Chen Jingxu clearly had no experience with kissing. He was far too worked up—his entire body flushed and swollen. He sucked fiercely on the young man’s tongue, saliva dribbling from the corners of their joined mouths.

Even as he kissed, he mumbled apologies, over and over, though his actions only grew more frantic and eager.

Jiang Rang felt like he was on the verge of breaking down. He could scarcely believe that Chen Jingxu would do something like this. Disgust and bewilderment washed over him in waves.

To Jiang Rang, Chen Jingxu was no different from a child he had raised himself. He might not be the man’s actual father or mother, but the sheer taboo wrongness of it all still turned the traditionally conservative young man’s stomach.

In that moment, he lost control. Seizing the chance while the other man spasmed uncontrollably, Jiang Rang kicked him away with all his strength.

Chen Jingxu, shoved back, clearly wasn’t ready to give up. His flushed face burned with unsatisfied hunger. Even with his mind clouded by pheromones, he tried to draw closer to the young man—only for Jiang Rang to slap him hard across the face, freezing him in place.

The beta scrubbed furiously at his lips, his voice shaking as he demanded, “Are you sober now?”

Chen Jingxu clutched his cheek, his eyes dazed and lost, as if he had no idea why the beta had struck him.

Jiang Rang paused, studying the man’s expression closely. He began to doubt his own suspicions. If Chen Jingxu had truly regained his memories and come back to his senses, there would have been no reason to deceive him.

The air between them grew thick and tense. Jiang Rang struggled to steady his breathing and was just about to ask what had driven the alpha to such an uncharacteristic outburst when the blare of a car horn cut through the silence from nearby.

Several sleek, understated luxury sedans in black pulled up beside the pair on the roadside. Their headlights dimmed, and a group of men in dark suits stepped out in perfect order.

The driver of the lead car was the last to exit. He bowed deeply with utmost respect as he opened the rear door.

An alpha in a crisp white suit emerged slowly. The man had refined features, a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, and an uncanny resemblance to Chen Jingxu—about fifty percent, by Jiang Rang’s quick estimate.

He strode straight to the beta, his gaze lingering on the young man’s fiercely swollen lips before a gentle smile curved his mouth. In a warm voice, he said, “First time meeting. You must be Mr. Jiang. I’m Chen Jingxu’s elder brother, Chen Yanyu. Our father was heartbroken when he heard Jingxu had gone missing. It took a great deal of searching to learn that Mr. Jiang had been the one to save him.”

“And now,” the man continued with a smile, “it’s time for him to come home.” He drew a silver card and a business card from his pocket and offered them to the young man. “This is the least a kind soul like you deserves.”

Jiang Rang pressed his lips together, hesitating to accept. He couldn’t shake the unease gnawing at him. The man claimed to be the alpha’s brother, but something in his features and that smile felt profoundly off…

“Sir, it seems Mr. Jingxu isn’t willing to come with us. He’s putting up quite a fight.”

The man arched a brow ever so slightly, but his smile didn’t falter. In that same warm tone, he replied, “Not willing to go home? Father didn’t specify how we should bring him back.”

“Then,” Chen Yanyu’s smile sharpened, “we’ll break his legs.”

The words had barely left his mouth when the alpha’s shrill, piercing scream rent the air.

Jiang Rang’s face drained of color. He lunged forward on instinct to intervene, but the man clamped a vise-like grip on his elbow.

“Mr. Jiang, this is no longer your affair. If memory serves, there’s another gentleman waiting for you.”

The man shoved the card into the pocket at the young man’s chest, his palm pressing down firmly before he withdrew it with deliberate slowness. Grinning, he added, “The gathering over there is wrapping up soon. Shouldn’t you hurry along, Mr. Jiang?”

Chen Yanyu straightened, smoothing his lapels with elegant precision. But as they brushed past each other, he leaned in close, his eyes curving into a sly, foxlike smile. In a low whisper to the beta, he murmured, “You’ve got quite the physique. If that prissy omega ever gets to be too much trouble, why not come work for me instead?”

Cold light glinted from behind his gold-rimmed glasses as the man smiled. “The price I pay is better than his, I assure you.”