Extra ¡ The Past (1)
The dark clouds scattered, and the sky turned bright.
The surface of the Chengxin Sea was as calm as ever. The fractured earth slowly closed up, and the collapsed cave piled anew into a shape of uncanny craftsmanship.
The arrow made of Purple Pomelo Stone rose slowly from the ground where it had fallen. In mid-air, it decomposed into golden dust, dancing everywhere, before becoming ethereal and transparent, as if about to fly into the light.
“Shu Changze!” Shu Ci ran forward quickly.
Lu Wanqing frowned slightly and followed close behind. He watched as Shu Ci waved his arms, trying to gather the dancing golden light into his palms like catching butterflies.
But it was futile.
That was a wisp of consciousness separated from the origin of the world. Now that he had saved his child and this world was no longer bound by any spacetime constraints, returning to freedom, it was time for him to return to the beginningâ
To be the wind, the rain, the mountains and rivers, the rivers and seas. To be the fluctuation of air when pheromones were released, and the wisp of green smoke fading away after death.
“Itâs okay.” Lu Wanqing gently embraced his shoulders. “He is in every corner of the world, watching us move forward.”
The person in his arms did not answer.
Shu Ci stood dazed in place, staring fixedly at his own palm.
A fading flake of golden debris landed on it. Just as it was about to disappear, it silently merged into the lines of his palm.
Shu Ci instinctively took a step back, leaning into that warm, solid embrace.
Immediately after, countless fragmented, chaotic images rushed into his mind.
On a pitch-black night road, a teenager walked forward vigilantly, his shoulders hunched high, gripping a baseball bat.
In a remote, impoverished mountainous area like Far-flung District 6, a young, unmarked Omega would hardly dare to walk alone on the road at this hour. Countless dangers lurked in the darkness.
But at this moment, Song Zhiyuan had no other choice.
When he was very young, his Alpha father had died in a dust explosion accident at a factory. Since then, it had just been him and his Omega father depending on each other for survival.
But he had just woken up in the middle of the night and saw through the window that his father was half-refusing, half-complying as he got into a car that looked very expensive.
Gossip always clings to a widowerâs doorstep.
He knew his father. The man worked several jobs a day, striving to feed him, and had refused countless marriage proposals. Why would he get into someone else’s car in the middle of the night?
Song Zhiyuan didn’t even change out of his pajamas. He grabbed the baseball bat, rushed out the door, and hopped onto the motorcycle his father had left behind but never let him touch. After fiddling with it for a moment, he chased after them.
Driving a motorcycle for the first time in his life, it was a miracle he survived. Song Zhiyuan chased them clumsily from a distance but lost them at a purely speculative intersection.
He abandoned the bike and groped his way forward, gripping the baseball bat.
Following a dim ray of light, he found a small path amidst the reeds that were nearly as tall as a person.
At the end of the path, several figures were faintly visible.
Song Zhiyuan jumped into the reed marsh, inching forward bit by bit. He didn’t dare make too much noise, and the sounds of conversation became clearer.
The closer he got, the more some sealed memories surfaced.
This place… seemed to be the backyard of the factory where his Alpha father used to work. He had been here when he was very small, carried on broad, strong shoulders, a family of three walking through the reeds.
Why would they come here?!
He held his breath and moved forward, suddenly hearing his father’s voice.
“…You didn’t lie to me?” The Omega’s gentle voice carried a trace of exhaustion. “As long as I go with you, you can send Little Yuan to the Central District to study?”
Song Zhiyuan’s pupils constricted. What was his father doing?
“I swear on my family crest, sir.” The voice of the person opposite was deliberately kept low, sounding somewhat oily. “As long as you can satisfy us, we can satisfy all your child’s needs.”
“…” His father remained silent, seemingly in thought.
“In this world, Omegas are destined to submit to Alphas. Entering the Central District is an excellent opportunity for your son! If he manages to hook a powerful Alpha, his life’s fortune would be wildly different!”
“Exactly, exactly.” Another strange voice joined in, sharp and grinning cheekily.
“For that kind of Omega who hasn’t even attended school for a few years, only our boss has the ability to get him admission qualifications.”
Where did these two come from?!
Song Zhiyuan pushed aside the reeds to look and froze on the spot.
His father had his back to him, surrounded by two men. Their hands were roaming restlessly toward his father’s lower back, almost embracing him.
“I don’t need that!”
Song Zhiyuanâs eyes nearly split with rage. He brandished the baseball bat and charged out, disregarding the consequences entirely, blocking the way in front of his father. “Get lost! Stay away from my dad!”
“Little Yuan!?”
His father was shocked. He yanked Song Zhiyuan into his arms, terror hidden in his voice. “Why are you here?”
“Little brat, finally willing to come out?” The sharp-voiced Alpha looked at him with drooling eyes. “Look at you, how do you not know to hide your pheromones?”
He gave a signal to the man in the suit beside him, who immediately understood.
Song Zhiyuan instantly felt a splitting headache, a sharp stimulation at his gland.
“Don’t! I beg you! He’s still a child!”
Song Zhiyuan’s father’s pleas were ignored.
The two Alphas unscrupulously used pheromone suppression to firmly control the defenseless Omega father and son.
The man in the suit yanked Song Zhiyuan’s father over and shoved him into the car. Meanwhile, Song Zhiyuan was choked by the neck and lifted into the air.
Suffocation. Near suffocation.
The car drove into the dark night, disappearing without a trace. He was left isolated and helpless, played in the palm of an adult Alpha’s hand. The outcome of being bullied was visible to the naked eye.
Desperation can stimulate human potential.
At the critical moment of life and death, Song Zhiyuan tightened his grip on the baseball bat. He clenched his back teeth, resisting the Alpha’s suppression with all his might, swung wildly, and smashed it toward the opponent without any technique.
Thud!
After a muffled sound, the Alpha clutched his neck, looked at him in disbelief, his eyes going blank, and pitched straight to the ground.
Song Zhiyuan stared at him blankly, unable to move for a long time.
He… was he…
Vroomâ
Suddenly, the sharp sound of friction tore through the sky. Song Zhiyuan instinctively wanted to flee, but as he turned, he saw the headlights of the motorcycle he had abandoned halfway beaming in front of him.
The person on the bike took off their helmet, red hair dancing wildly in the wind.
Song Zhiyuan heard a crisp but un-flirtatious wolf whistle. The person jumped down quickly, walked to the fallen Alpha, and placed a hand on his neck.
“No way, am I this lucky? To actually find him in a place like this…” the newcomer murmured.
An accomplice?
Song Zhiyuan’s legs felt like they weighed a thousand pounds; he couldn’t run even if he wanted to.
He didn’t think there was any difference between male Alphas and female Alphas; bullying the weak was their instinct.
…At worst, he would perish together with this person.
Just as he gripped the baseball bat tightly and held his breath in concentration, his wrist was suddenly clamped firmly by her.
A pair of cyan eyes locked onto him.
Although this wasn’t a good time for distraction, Song Zhiyuan had to admit that in that moment, he was briefly dazed.
He had never seen an Alpha like this. She looked incredibly aggressive, the light in her eyes like sharp blades; just one look made his heart ache with tension.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m with the Night Patrol.”
She wasn’t like the Alpha who had touched his father earlier. Her burning fingertips restrainedly pressed against the pulse of his wrist.
“I saw the motorcycle just now and chased your pheromones here. I was worried some dirty hooligan was bullying a decent young O.”
How old was she? She looked about the same age as him.
A tight tank top outlined beautiful curves, and the muscle lines on her upper arms were perfectly fluid. One look and he knew she wasn’t an Alpha from an ordinary family.
“You’re lying,” Song Zhiyuan said, his voice trembling. “The Night Patrol system in District 3 was abolished two years ago.”
Law enforcement colluding with criminals meant patrolling had long lost its meaning.
“Tsk, looks like one really can’t lie.” Lu Wei let go. “I just hope you believe I have no ill intentions toward you.”
Song Zhiyuan had been trying to pull his hand away, but he didn’t expect the other party to let go first.
He felt a bit embarrassed but remained alert. “…I don’t trust anyone.”
His accent, mixed with the local dialect of District 3, made him feel inexplicably ashamed in front of her clear voice.
“Oh, fine. You can go then.”
Lu Wei didn’t mind his stiff movements. Instead, she flipped the unconscious Alpha over and back, even pulling open his clothes.
She had heard rumors about District 3 engaging in power-for-sex trades involving Omegas and Central District councilors, so she had flown over without a second thought. If she discovered it, and it was related to the “Si family” her mother loathed, she would have evidence to pull them down.
But searching this man up and down, she only saw a low-quality family crest design.
It wasn’t the Si family’s. And it wasn’t any family crest authorized by the Royal Court back then.
Lu Wei frowned and looked around. “There should have been another… two people here before this. One A and one O. Where did they go?”
Song Zhiyuan’s voice was hoarse as he painfully rubbed the neck that had just been strangled, the corners of his eyes reddening. “My dad, and another Alpha in a suit… He snatched my dad and drove him away.”
Lu Wei lowered her gaze.
It seemed this scandal had blown up quite a bit, enough to spawn copycat crimes, using the names of noble families to bully these uninformed Omegas.
“I’ll help you call the police. It should still be possible to chase them down now.” Seeing no reason to stay, Lu Wei stood up. She checked the surrounding surveillance situation, preparing to call the police to clean up the mess, when her gaze suddenly landed on the Alpha’s neck.
The flesh was swollen and cracked, with blue veins spreading all the way to his shoulders. It looked like he had been drugged?
No, what knocked him out wasn’t the baseball bat.
Lu Wei stood up solemnly and gripped Song Zhiyuan’s shoulder.
It was this Omega’s pheromones.
“Do you know what you are doing?” Lu Wei’s voice was cold.
“Is… is he dead?” Song Zhiyuan’s voice shook. “I’ll turn myself in, but I want to find my dad first.”
“I think, compared to your father, you might need to worry about yourself first.”
“What do you mean?”
“An Omega successfully attacking an Alpha with pheromones. If the investigators discover this, do you know what fate awaits you?”
Song Zhiyuan stared at her fixedly, trying his best to digest every word.
He… he actually attacked with pheromones just now?!
“One scenario: your existence is completely erased by those cowardly Alphas unwilling to give up their status. “Or, you get sent to a laboratory for gland research.”
After Lu Wei finished speaking, she nudged the person lying on the ground with the toe of her boot.
“And your attack looks like it will force him into an early rut. People like him, once they go berserk… he knows where your home is, right? Even if you run, how many innocent Omegas in this neighborhood do you think will be spared?”
“…” Song Zhiyuan fell into silence.
He had never imagined that an incredibly ordinary day would drive him to a dead end at its very close.
“What do you think I should do?” he asked.
Lu Wei was still studying his attack method, trying to figure out from the gland’s manifestation how this Omega managed it.
Hearing this, she looked at the other party’s slightly reddened eyes.
“Go home and sleep. Pretend nothing happened. Don’t use this ability that invites jealousy until you become strong enough. Of course, if you’re willing to trust me, I’ll help you find your father.”
Song Zhiyuan clenched his fists. “The price?”
Lu Wei didn’t seem to understand him, looking blank. “What price?”
Song Zhiyuan looked sideways at the red-haired Alpha beside him.
His heart suddenly felt empty.
She seemed to truly be a “good person,” giving him hints about the status quo without using his predicament for exchange or coercion.
“Nothing.” He turned around. “Then I’ll leave first.”
“Mn.” Lu Wei waved her hand, instructing, “Don’t drive. Pick a road without surveillance to get back.”
After speaking, she squatted on the ground, roughly rummaging through the items on the man, scratching her hair in distress.
Isn’t it more dangerous for an Omega to walk alone on this kind of road? What to do? Should she take him home?
Thinking of this, Lu Wei suddenly realized what the “price” the Omega mentioned referred to.
Hiss… maybe she should just quietly follow behind and see him home safely.
Just as she was thinking, she suddenly felt a cold sensation on her arm.
Looking back, she saw the Omega gingerly grabbing her, his pale knuckles casting shadows on her arm.
“Can you… take me?” Song Zhiyuan asked, holding his breath.
He had walked two steps away, looked back at her figure with clothes flapping in the wind, and suddenly felt a sadness that he might never meet such a good Alpha again in his life.
He mustered his courage and walked back.
“Sure.” Lu Wei grinned broadly. She pulled Song Zhiyuan to the motorcycle and tossed the helmet to him. “This makes things easier.”
She straddled the bike and patted the rear seat. The tips of Song Zhiyuan’s ears turned slightly red.
He was a good, obedient boy; he had never had such close contact with any Alpha.
Of course, after tonight, he was no longer a good boy. He had not only gone out in the middle of the night and hurt someone, but he had also witnessed the ugliest side of Alphas in this world.
Song Zhiyuan took a deep breath and sat down.
Then, flustered, he looked away.
The tight tank top outlined her butterfly bones vividly. He sucked in his stomach tight, avoiding pressing against her burning back.
Lu Wei was completely unaware of the turmoil in the passenger’s heart. She took out her phone and dialed a number she had never voluntarily called before.
“Didn’t you want me to come home?” She waited for the connection and struck first, sneering, “I hurt someone in District 3. That guy probably won’t live. I sent you the location. You help me resolve it, and I’ll go back.”
Song Zhiyuan listened in terror from behind: “…Won’t live?!”
Of course not, Lu Wei said in her heart.
If she didn’t make it sound serious, how would that cheap father surnamed Si be willing to handle this for her?
However, once that man was handed over to the Si family, whether he lived or died had nothing to do with her.
She glanced at the rearview mirror, saw Song Zhiyuan’s nervous expression, and unconsciously hooked the corners of her lips.
“I specifically went in for the kill just now to mask your pheromones.” She tilted her head, her eyes full of bad-girl charm. “Didn’t you ask me for the price?”
Lu Wei slammed the throttle with her right hand, and the motorcycle shot out with a roar. Song Zhiyuan’s heart beat like a drum as he heard her voice dissipate in the wind.
“The price is: forget everything from tonight and be my accomplice.”
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