Chapter 22 - The Shadow of Xi’nan Street
Another day passed at the shop with agonizing stillness. Nothing happened, yet the air remained thick with a lingering unease; the employees moved like startled birds, jumping at every sudden sound. Recognizing that the tension was unsustainable, Li Zhenting decided to take matters into his own hands. That afternoon, he set out to scout No. 29 Xi’nan Street.
Though Xi’nan Street sat adjacent to Xi’an Street and shared a similar name, the two were worlds apart. Xi’nan was a notorious "no-man’s land," a lawless enclave where the population was transient and legitimate businesses were scarce. The buildings were crumbling, their facades stained by decades of neglect. Li Zhenting navigated the cracked pavement, tracking the house numbers that had been eroded by wind and rain until he finally located No. 29.
It was tucked deep within a narrow, shadowed alley—a dilapidated convenience store that looked as though it hadn't seen a renovation since the previous century. Li Zhenting found it suspicious; why would anyone open a shop in such a desolate, out-of-the-way corner? There couldn't possibly be enough foot traffic to sustain it.
He pulled a black mask over his face, tugged his cap lower to obscure his features, and stepped inside. His eyes immediately swept the interior, cataloging the cramped space. Behind the counter sat a young Alpha, his head buried in a mobile game. The background music was cranked to a deafening volume, and he didn't so much as glance at the sudden visitor.
Li Zhenting took a slow lap around the store, confirming there was nothing of note on the dusty shelves. He grabbed a random pack of cigarettes, walked to the counter, and rapped his knuckles on the wood. "Checking out."
The Alpha looked up briefly, his eyes cold and disinterested. He pointed a finger toward a QR code taped to the counter before returning his gaze to the screen. "Scan that. Fifteen yuan."
Li Zhenting paid with his phone. As the transaction cleared, he leaned in slightly, his voice casual. "Do you have a guy named Xu Chang working here? I’m a distant cousin of his, looking to catch up."
The game’s music cut off abruptly. The silence that followed was heavy, pressing in from the corners of the lonely shop. The Alpha set his phone down, seemingly indifferent to the battle he had just abandoned. He stared at Li Zhenting, his voice dropping to a low, measured tone. "Sorry, customer. We don’t have anyone by that name here."
Though Li Zhenting couldn't feel the crushing weight of Alpha pheromones, the hostility in the man’s posture was unmistakable. He knew that if he pushed any further, the thin veneer of civility would shatter.
"Oh? I must have the wrong place then," Li Zhenting said, maintaining a facade of natural confusion. "Sorry to bother you."
He backed out of the store, his peripheral vision locked on the Alpha in case of a sudden strike. Fortunately, the man only watched him with a predatory gaze until he cleared the threshold. Once he was back on the main road, Li Zhenting let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He had been reckless. The shop had a back door behind the counter, likely leading to a warren of hidden rooms. If he had been cornered by a group of thugs in that alley, he might not have made it out. He adjusted his mask, hoping his disguise had been enough to prevent recognition.
But he was being naive.
That evening, as he prepared to head home, he was on the phone with Li Zi. She seemed to be in high spirits, her voice a warm balm against the day's stress. She asked how Xiao Zhang and the others were recovering.
"Just superficial wounds," he assured her. "They’re already scabbing over."
Li Zi let out a soft, warning huff. "You’d better not end up with any 'superficial wounds' of your own. Remember what you promised me. No more fighting, and no more getting hurt, or you’ll have me to deal with."
"You're a nag," Li Zhenting teased, though his heart tightened.
He remembered why she was so protective. When he was fifteen, the former boss of Xi’an Street, a man named Su Qiang, had targeted him. To break the increasingly rebellious teenager, Su Qiang had kidnapped Li Zi, who was only in middle school at the time. He had intended to use her as leverage to force Li Zhenting into submission.
Alerted by Liu Yan, Li Zhenting had arrived just in time. With the desperate, suicidal fury of a youth with everything to lose, he had forced Su Qiang’s gang back. But as he was untying Li Zi, Su Qiang had lunged with a jagged stone, striking Li Zhenting across the back of the head and slicing into his immature scent gland.
The world had gone blurry. He had been beaten down, but Liu Yan and the others had finally jumped into the fray. Just as Li Zi had tried to shield him with her own body—an act that filled him with more terror than the blows themselves—the police and Li Zi’s parents had arrived.
Li Zhenting had ended up in the emergency room while Li Zi escaped with minor bruises. Since that day, she had been adamant: if he continued to live that life, if he got hurt again, she would leave him. Even after they became intimate, her condition for their relationship was simple: "Promise me you won't be reckless. Don't be impulsive. Don't get hurt. Then, we can be together."
He had promised. But trouble seemed to have a way of finding him.
Li Zhenting looked ahead. A group of men was blocking the mouth of the alley, waiting for him. He felt a bitter smile touch his lips.
"Listen, I have to go," he said into the phone, his voice steady. "I'll call you when I get home."
Li Zi sounded confused by the abrupt end to the conversation, but she murmured an "okay" and hung up. Li Zhenting pocketed his phone and walked forward.
The man in the lead was dragging someone—a battered, bruised figure who was barely conscious. The victim looked up, his eyes widening as he recognized Li Zhenting. "Zhenting-ge... save me..."
It was Boss Wang’s brother. They had traced the leak back to him.
"You must be Xu Chang," Li Zhenting said, stopping two meters away.
The Alpha leader’s face twisted into a mirthless grin. "Spot on. As expected of Li Zhenting of Xi’an Street. You’re clever." He paused, his eyes narrowing. "But clever people often outsmart themselves. You asked about things you shouldn't have."
Li Zhenting didn't flinch. He gestured to the man on the ground. "This has nothing to do with him. I forced him to talk. Don't involve the innocent."
Xu Chang looked down at the groaning man and laughed. He suddenly let go, letting the man collapse. Just as the informant thought he was being spared and began to crawl away, Xu Chang raised his boot and stomped down with sickening force. The man’s head slammed into the pavement; the sound of cracking bone echoed in the quiet night.
"Agh!" The scream was piercing.
Li Zhenting’s expression darkened. He lunged forward. "Xu Chang, that's enough!"
"Worry about yourself!" Xu Chang barked. With a wave of his hand, the Alphas behind him swarmed forward.
Li Zhenting didn't engage them head-on. He twisted his body, delivering a sharp kick to Xu Chang’s shin, hitting a nerve that forced the Alpha to recoil. In one fluid motion, Li Zhenting scooped the fallen man onto his shoulder and bolted.
He had grown up in these alleys; he knew every shortcut and dead end. He wove through the labyrinthine paths, successfully putting distance between himself and the pursuers. Reaching a fork in the road, he set the man down.
"Go right," Li Zhenting hissed. "Follow it to the end and you’ll hit the commercial district. They won't dare touch you there. Move!"
Boss Wang’s brother stared at him in shock, whispered a frantic "thank you," and limped away without looking back.
Those few seconds of delay were all Xu Chang needed to catch up. Realizing he couldn't lose them again, Li Zhenting stopped and turned to face the mob.
"I’ve heard the Beta boss of Xi’an Street was a man of honor," Xu Chang sneered, seeing his prey was alone. "To risk your life for a piece of trash... how noble."
"Was it your crew that trashed my shop?" Li Zhenting asked, his voice cold. "What did we ever do to you?"
Xu Chang smirked, his men surrounding Li Zhenting in a tight circle. "You should ask yourself who you offended!"
The fight was inevitable. Li Zhenting stripped off his jacket, tossing it to the ground. He settled into a combat stance, his eyes burning with defiance. "Today, I’ll show you that being an Alpha doesn't make you invincible."
He moved like a coiled spring. He ducked under a dual-sided attack and drove a powerful uppercut into Xu Chang’s jaw, the force sending the leader reeling backward. When two others tried to strike from behind, Li Zhenting pivoted as if he had eyes in the back of his head. He caught their wrists, twisted them with a brutal snap, and sent them howling to the ground with dislocated joints.
The Alphas were stunned. A Beta was systematically dismantling them. Two more lunged for his legs, aiming for a low, dishonorable blow. Li Zhenting dropped into a crouch, taking the impact on his hip instead. The pain was a dull roar, but the attackers felt like they had kicked a slab of iron. Before they could recover, Li Zhenting swept their legs out from under them.
"How?" one of them gasped, clutching his bruised limb. "How can a Beta beat us?"
Li Zhenting wiped the sweat from his brow, a contemptuous smirk on his face. "I’ve trained every day of my life. And you? You’re just waste Alphas who let drugs and ego rot your bodies."
He was breathing hard. Taking on a group of Alphas, even "waste" ones, required immense mental and physical focus. In that split second of exhaustion, he felt a sudden chill at his back.
A sharp, icy pain bloomed in his lower back.
Li Zhenting threw an elbow backward, knocking his assailant away. He reached back, his hand coming away slick with blood. Xu Chang stood there, a wicked knife in his hand, his eyes gleaming with malice. Seeing their leader draw blood, the other Alphas pulled out their own weapons—pipes, knives, and brass knuckles. They were no longer interested in a fair fight; they wanted to reclaim their bruised Alpha pride with steel.
Li Zhenting felt the warmth of his blood soaking into his shirt. He was a skilled fighter, but he wasn't immortal. Against a dozen armed men, his chances were plummeting.
"Resorting to knives because you can't win with your fists?" he mocked, backing away slowly. He needed to buy time.
"You called us trash," Xu Chang said, twirling the blade. "Why should we be polite?"
Li Zhenting’s mind raced. If he ran now, would he make it? *Damn it, Xu Chang, that really hurts,* he thought. *I’ve really stepped in it this time. If Li Zi finds out, I’m a dead man.*
Just as Xu Chang stepped forward to deliver a finishing blow, several beams of blinding light cut through the darkness of the alley.
"Police! Stay where you are!"
Li Zhenting felt a wave of relief wash over him. It seemed Boss Wang’s brother wasn't a total ungrateful bastard after all.
***
**Glossary**
