So hot.
Mu Chenxing’s consciousness slowly returned, only to feel his breaths wrapped in flames, scorching hot.
But he was still alive.
After such a massive explosion, he was still alive.
Mu Chenxing struggled to clear his mind.
His brain felt stuffed with cotton, memories drifting chaotically in clumps.
Voices murmured nearby, muffled as if through a layer of gauze, indistinct.
Given his situation at the time, anyone showing up at the explosion site couldn’t have been a comrade.
Someone was tugging at his clothes.
Mu Chenxing forced his eyes open with all his strength.
The sounds sharpened instantly: distant sirens and laughter, nearby voices—
“He seems to be waking up.”
“Waking up makes it even more exciting, heh heh heh.”
Fingers poked into his mouth, stirring around, while someone yanked at his clothes.
Mu Chenxing instinctively gathered his strength and bit down hard.
The dark shadow in front of him yelped and recoiled. The others jumped. “What? What happened?”
“My finger—this bastard bit me!”
“Tch, just a bite. Is that a big deal?”
“My finger’s broken!”
“!!”
“Damn it, even like this he bites!”
“I’ll fuck him up even if it costs me my finger!”
While they bickered, Mu Chenxing finally took in the scene.
A dead-end alley between high-rises, a row of trash bins. Several dark figures loomed before him, neon lights flickering beyond the alley mouth.
His breaths carried the stench of rotting garbage mixed with heavy booze.
The shadows closed in. Someone yanked hard at his clothes, fabric ripping at his ear.
Even in his haze, he knew exactly what faced him.
Mu Chenxing bit his tongue hard, rallying his strength for a punch. Amid the man’s pained scream, he rolled aside.
“Fuck, he can still move?!”
“Grab him!”
Mu Chenxing’s head swam, his body burning hot—that strike had nearly drained him.
He fought to focus, scrambling backward, fingers groping blindly.
The shadows lunged again, cursing as they reached out.
Mu Chenxing’s hand closed on something cold.
“Be good and call me big brother, I’ll make you feel good—”
A scream mingled with shattering glass.
Before they could react, Mu Chenxing jammed the broken bottle into his thigh. Agonizing pain lanced through him, finally clearing the fog from his mind.
He lunged at them, clutching the blood-slicked shards.
The jagged bottle was razor-sharp in his grip, like a blade. It left only screams in its wake.
In a few breaths, they all knelt wailing on the ground.
Mu Chenxing staggered two steps, the thick stench of alcohol choking him into dizziness.
…Can’t pass out.
He gasped twice, then advanced on them again, yanking the nearest one up by the collar and slamming the broken bottle down—
“That’s enough.” Someone seized his wrist.
Mu Chenxing startled, twisting to stab at the intruder.
“Easy, I’m just passing by.” The man’s voice held amusement as he effortlessly plucked the bottle from Mu Chenxing’s hand.
Mu Chenxing: “!”
Backlit, the man’s face was indistinct, but his massive frame towered—even Mu Chenxing barely reached his shoulder.
He struggled to break free, but his wrist felt clamped in steel.
“Your Pheromones—”
“I’ll fucking kill—”
Bang!
One of the scum charging at them flew back from a kick, smacking the wall. His head stuck there for two full seconds before peeling off with a wet splat.
The others sucked in sharp breaths.
The man tsked. “Don’t make me get rough. I’m no little beauty—mess with me, and you might not walk away alive.”
Mu Chenxing paused, ceasing his struggles.
The heat surged again, fogging his mind.
The man spoke once more, sounding like he was on the phone: “Send someone to 17th Street, Alley 32, Building 45. Group fight in progress… Yeah, no deaths yet, but hurry or I can’t guarantee.”
…Cops?
Did that mean he was safe?
“Little beauty.” A warm palm cupped the back of his neck.
Mu Chenxing reflexively swung his left fist.
It was caught.
But the hand on his neck withdrew.
The man chuckled. “Good instincts, but useless.” He grabbed both of Mu Chenxing’s wrists in one hand and yanked.
Dizzy, Mu Chenxing nearly toppled into him.
His heart sank—
“You’re in a dangerous state right now. No inhibitors on hand, so sorry in advance.” The man said.
Mu Chenxing didn’t understand. He opened his mouth: “You—”
A sharp, icy aura crashed over him, stunning him still.
The next second, the man leaned in close. Mu Chenxing felt a sting at the back of his neck, a cool sensation spreading from there, instantly dousing his body’s heat and sharpening his foggy mind.
But exhaustion crashed in its wake.
“Sleep it off and you’ll be fine. Shame…”
Mu Chenxing blacked out.
…
The cool sensation enveloped him, granting dreamless, restful sleep.
Only when it faded did his consciousness stir.
Voices spoke nearby during that time, his body occasionally shifted, but he couldn’t wake.
When silence finally fell, he slipped back into slumber.
He woke next to the sound of crying.
Mu Chenxing opened his eyes to garish fabric overhead.
Pink bed curtains printed with Q-version cartoon animals, draped in lace bows and glittering accessories.
He stared blankly.
…What the hell is this place?
“So over the line, waaah.”
“Don’t take that route next time.”
“Ignore them. Focus on graduating.”
“…Who are you?”
The three speakers whipped around.
Mu Chenxing propped himself on the bed’s edge, hesitating before asking, “Where am I?”
“Ah!! Xingxing!”
“Xingxing, you’re awake!”
“You slept for two and a half days—thank god!”
They swarmed him, chattering excitedly.
“You scared us half to death!”
“I told you not to hang with those guys.”
“They’re all trash.”
Mu Chenxing: “…”
His old squadmates had called him “Xingxing” or “Chimp,” sure, but these guys…
He clutched his head, bombarded by fragmented images, and rasped, “What the hell happened? Someone explain.”
The three erupted again, talking over each other.
Mu Chenxing: “…Stop.”
He pointed at the brown-haired youth. “You. Talk.”
The brown-haired youth blinked. “On his way to the library, Wei Zhen got bullied by those Class F scum Alphas. They’re the worst! Wei Zhen was scared to tears! They groped him too! No wonder they’re stuck in Class F.”
Mu Chenxing eyed the sniffling youth beside him.
Pale skin, big eyes, silky black curls, about 5’8″, delicate lips—yeah, easy pickings for bullies.
He rubbed his temple. “How many?”
Wei Zhen sniffled. “Three.”
Mu Chenxing deadpanned, “Next time, beat their asses.”
Wei Zhen froze: “Huh?”
Brown-hair: “Huh?”
Ponytail youth: “Huh?”
Mu Chenxing frowned. “Beat them down. The ringleader? Pound him senseless. If you can’t win, take the beating—but cripple the instigator enough, and they won’t dare again.”
The three gaped.
After a beat, brown-hair recovered: “No, we—”
Mu Chenxing waved it off. “First, tell me what happened to me.”
His thigh bore no bandage now; only faint pain remained. He’d half-thought the alley fight was a dream.
But why had he been there?
“Oh.” Brown-hair explained, “Two days ago, you went out with Shen Mingshu and the others. Medics brought you back at night—injured and filthy. No idea what went down.”
Mu Chenxing: “?”
“Who’s Shen Mingshu?”
“A-Class, duh. You crush on his brother—always buying him snacks and drinks. Forgot that?” Brown-hair fretted. “Did you hit your head?”
Wei Zhen stopped crying, worried. “No head injury mentioned.”
Ponytail youth timidly: “Call medics?”
Mu Chenxing: “…”
What bullshit?
He pinched his brow. “Why’d the docs dump me here?”
Brown-hair blinked. “Your wounds were cleaned—no artery or bone damage. Two days to scab over. Back to dorm, obviously.”
Wei Zhen sniffled. “Not sending you home for scratches.”
Ponytail nodded.
Mu Chenxing frowned. Dorm? He hadn’t slept in one for years.
“And the Pheromones,” ponytail twisted his fingers nervously, “You reeked of heavy Alpha scent when you got back. Medics said your Pheromones went haywire, so they grabbed an Alpha to suppress it temporarily.”
Mu Chenxing blanked: “…What?”
“Alpha.” Brown-hair added, “Must’ve been a high-rank cop. They injected suppressants, but we all got hit by it.”
Wei Zhen’s eyes reddened again. “That’s why those jerks mocked me.”
Ponytail hugged his shoulders. “Ignore them.”
Mu Chenxing: “…”
He understood every word—yet it made no sense.
Wait.
They weren’t speaking Chinese, or English, French, German, Burmese, Thai… Some minority tongue?
He scanned the room.
Huge space, four towering wardrobes dividing it into quadrants. Desk, chair, bed by each—every bed festooned with gaudy curtains, stuffed animals on beds and desks.
Sliding doors partitioned the far end: bathroom and sink visible through glass. Looked like a dorm, sure.
But no way a Military District dorm.
A bad premonition stirred.
“Xingxing, you okay?” Brown-hair asked cautiously.
Wei Zhen: “Feeling bad somewhere?”
Ponytail looked worried.
Mu Chenxing refocused, inhaling deeply. “Mirror?”
“Here.” Ponytail scurried over in pigeon-toed steps.
Mu Chenxing’s forehead twitched.
Ponytail returned quick, handing over a small mirror.
Mu Chenxing steeled himself and looked.
Familiar face.
But rounder eyes with upturned corners, perkier nose, fuller lips.
And pale.
His younger self had been pitch-black from endless pickup ball—never this porcelain.
He stared too long; the trio fretted.
“Xingxing, what’s wrong?”
“Scar on your face?”
“No, I wiped it—no wounds.”
Mu Chenxing set the mirror down coolly. “Nothing… What time is it?”
“Past one.”
Slept till then? He asked offhand, “Food around?”
Brown-hair blinked. “Hungry? Medics gave nutrient shots—should last till tomorrow.”
Mu Chenxing: “…Just asking.”
Pivoted quick. “You said… Alpha?”
Brown-hair: “You mean Xu Zhicheng’s crew?”
…Who? Mu Chenxing kept straight-faced. “Yeah.”
“Those creeps!” Wei Zhen’s eyes welled. “Even if I stay single forever, no kids ever, I won’t marry scum like that Alpha!!”
Mu Chenxing: “Ha?”
Brown-hair soothed. “Ignore ’em. Four more years—we’ll find top-tier Alphas.”
Ponytail clenched a fist. “Yeah! Study hard! Marry right after graduation!!”
Wei Zhen wiped tears, dreamy-eyed. “I’ll have two babies—one Omega like me, one Alpha like Dad.”
Brown-hair competitive: “Three for me! Betas rock—my dad’s awesome!”
Ponytail shy: “Four. Love kids.”
They all turned to silent Mu Chenxing.
Wei Zhen even gave him a light push. “Xingxing, how many are you planning to have?”
Mu Chenxing stared blankly. “…Have what? Who’s having?”
Wei Zhen rolled their eyes at him and huffed, “Of course you! Who else could have them for you?”
Mu Chenxing: “…Heh, you guys really know how to joke.”
He declared resolutely, “I’m not having any—this lifetime—no, not in two lifetimes!!”
