When Shen Buqi arrived, the rain was already pouring heavily. A dense, dark crowd of people gathered, making the atmosphere suffocating.
Within that oppressive, pitch-black mass, Ji Weishi stood out as the most noble and beautiful, yet also the most fragile, like a tall, straight stalk of green bamboo standing erect within a foul swamp.
His head was lowered, concealing his expression. Only the slight tremor of his long, downcast eyelashes betrayed his emotions.
Is A-Shi crying?
Shen Buqi couldn’t see clearly, but he felt as though his own heart was shattering.
Pushing through the crowd to reach the very center, he found the same Alpha from last time. The man’s face was twisted in malice, and foul, filthy words spilled continuously from his mouth.
Without a shred of mercy, Shen Buqi struck directly at the most vulnerable spot on the human body, exactly as his instructor had taught him.
Usually, he despised fighting this way. Such ruthless, bloody efficiency made an opponent collapse instantly. But today was different. Perhaps from the moment Ji Weishi stood in this place, nothing could be treated normally anymore.
Before anyone around could even react, the leading Alpha was sent flying by the sheer force of the blow. He crashed to the ground in a grotesque, twisted heap, spitting out a mouthful of bloody froth.
The scene erupted into instant chaos. The other Alphas, who had already taken blocking medications and were dressed in thin clothing, scrambled frantically through the black rain.
Only Shen Buqi stood clad in a specialized black protective suit, his hood pulled tightly over his head, looking like a soul-reaping Asura emerged straight from hell.
He didn’t bother wasting his attention on anyone else. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out the specialized suit and blocking medication he had been keeping warm against his chest. He thrust the medicine into Ji Weishi’s hands and personally helped him into the protective suit.
Ji Weishi obediently lowered his head to swallow the pills. Under the concealment of the hood, he cast a fleeting glance at the time on his optical computer. Not bad, he arrived fairly quickly.
Any later, and I would have had to take action myself.
Zhao Er, however, possessed none of their composure. Her entire body was shaking like a sieve. She wanted to urge them to leave quickly, but looking at the swelling crowd of furious Alphas closing in around them, the words caught in her throat. Her lips trembled, utterly at a loss for what to do.
When she had first crossed paths with Tang Sheng leading a group to corner Shen Buqi’s lover, her initial instinct had been to mind her own business. She had even maliciously thought that it might actually be a good thing if Tang Sheng took a liking to this overly beautiful Alpha.
That way, she might finally escape her own living hell. Moreover, perhaps Shen Buqi would abandon him, giving her a new opportunity.
But things hadn’t gone her way. Tang Sheng had spotted her and, with a smirk, invited her over to “join the fun.” She knew that smile all too well. Every single time, before the humiliating insults began, before the venting fists rained down, that smile would trigger an early alarm in her mind.
She had no choice but to bite her lip and step closer.
Yet, inexplicably, she was pushed into the exact same position as Ji Weishi. Tang Sheng’s degrading words were clearly directed at Ji Weishi, but they rang so close that they felt whispered directly into her own ear.
Even the hem of her clothes was shivering.
Zhao Er knew she was finished. Tang Sheng wasn’t just humiliating Ji Weishi, he was using it as a deliberate warning to discipline her.
Then Shen Buqi arrived, bringing with him a chilling aura.
For the very first time, she deciphered a trace of raw, murderous intent within those dark, bottomless eyes.
Resentment overtook her sense of relief. At this moment, Shen Buqi’s tenderness and that bastard Tang Sheng’s vileness formed a contrast that was agonizingly stark.
She even found herself wishing that Shen Buqi had arrived just a little bit later. If he had, then maybe… Ultimately, the resentment bred from her indignation faded, leaving behind only confusion as to how Shen Buqi had discovered they were here.
As more and more Alphas converged on them, Shen Buqi squeezed the tips of Ji Weishi’s fingers. He parted his lips, wanting to offer a word of comfort.
But then he remembered his own decision. His lips trembled, and he closed his mouth. He merely felt that he had made the right choice. A-Shi absolutely could not stay in District 7.
How could a rose survive in a swamp?
He raised his hand and tucked a stray lock of hair behind his ear. He hadn’t cut his hair over the past few months, so it had grown a bit long. The black strands framed his cool, pale skin, making his entire being appear profoundly desolate.
Everyone surged forward, yet no one dared to take the final step.
Tang Sheng had undergone beastification surgery and was the most capable fighter among them, yet even he…
Gritting his teeth, the Alpha closest to Tang Sheng handed him off to someone else. He stepped forward and barked loudly, “Everyone attack together! I don’t believe we can’t kill this damn thing!”
The alley instantly filled with a cacophony of chaotic shouting. Some yelled to boost morale, some used the confusion to squeeze their way out, and a few actually put real force into their attacks.
But Shen Buqi simply watched them in silence, uttering not a single word. A fire burned deep within his chest, scorching the vast wilderness into a brilliant, crimson blaze.
One by one, countless men crashed to the ground.
The acid rain bubbling up darkly on the asphalt was stained a deep red, filling the air with a pungent, foul stench.
A few shrewder Alphas tried to find a workaround by squeezing toward Ji Weishi. But the moment they got within two meters of him, they collided with Shen Buqi’s beautiful yet deathly calm dark eyes, the pupils faintly glinting with a dark gold hue.
Stunned, the Alpha turned around and threw himself directly onto the ground to play dead.
Ji Weishi simply leaned against the wall, watching them with an air of lazy detachment. He was accustomed to looking down on others, and this moment was no exception.
A mocking curve touched his thin lips, his eyes brimming with derision.
Yet, the moment Shen Buqi drew near, those dark eyes instantly filled with clarity and vulnerability.
It was as if no one else existed to him. The shivering Zhao Er beside him, the Alphas collapsed in heaps, and the blood soaked street were all mere illusions.
There was only Shen Buqi. Only this man had crossed an endless wasteland to arrive in his world, a world that possessed no tomorrow.
He was going to keep this man in his world forever. Even if it required bloody, underhanded, and disgraceful methods.
He had no intention of stopping Shen Buqi’s near-mad behavior, because subconsciously, he felt that this was how the man would truly enter his world.
To drown alongside him in this world that never saw the light of day.
“Chen Yi! Stop!”
A piercing shout tore through the atmosphere, shattering the stillness.
Ji Weishi raised his eyes slightly, meeting a pair of anxious emerald-green eyes. Pulling his gaze back, he noticed that Zhao Er had already run over to that side.
He let out a cold snort, completely satisfied. These people had now placed themselves entirely on the opposite side of Shen Buqi.
Only he remained on Shen Buqi’s side, and only he was permitted to be there.
Hearing the voice, Shen Buqi paused. He turned his head, surveying the Alphas littering the ground and the few people huddled in the corner.
He directed a calm, empty gaze toward Casper.
Casper’s heart gave a violent shudder.
Though they were separated by less than ten meters, he felt as if a vast expanse of mountains and oceans lay between him and Chen Yi, a distance as wide as the mortal world itself.
It felt exactly like many years ago.
Before he could process the thought, Casper ran forward, desperate to drag Shen Buqi back. To pull him back to his side from that sin-ridden place.
But Ji Weishi stepped forward at the perfect moment, cutting off the path between him and Shen Buqi. His eyes were red and swollen, filled with a fragile desperation. “Xiao Yi, I’m scared.”
The person Casper’s frantic shouts couldn’t call back was instantly swayed by Ji Weishi’s tears.
Shen Buqi was about to reach out, but remembering something, he pulled a pack of tissues from his pocket. He meticulously wiped his own fingers clean, starting right from the knuckles.
Only after exhausting several tissues did he pull out a clean one to gently wipe away Ji Weishi’s tears and the accidental splashes of acid rain.
Ji Weishi obediently allowed him to do so, sobbing out an apology.
“Xiao Yi, did I do something wrong? I woke up and couldn’t find you, and I was so scared. I saw your message saying you were going to pick me up, so I thought I’d just come find you directly to save you the extra trip.”
“But, but…” Clasping Shen Buqi tightly under Casper’s profound, heavy gaze, he buried his face in the crook of the man’s neck. His voice was incredibly light, small, and soft, like a heavily mistreated kitten whimpering out its grievances.
“But then I ran into them bullying your colleague, so I thought I should help her. But they said I was abandoned. I don’t know why, but they started cursing at me and trying to touch my face. I managed to dodge them all… Sob, it was so dirty.”
Shen Buqi’s heart, which had grown numb under the rush of adrenaline and blood, felt as though it had been struck by a massive blow, aching so intensely that he couldn’t form words.
If he hadn’t left that note for A-Shi…
If he and Zhao Er weren’t colleagues…
If he hadn’t taken off A-Shi’s bracelet…
And ultimately, if he hadn’t brought A-Shi to District 7 in the first place, none of this would have happened today.
He found it hard to breathe, nearly suffocating within the faint, cool fragrance clinging to Ji Weishi.
A bitter mix of regret and remorse flooded his senses. He had never hated himself more than he did at this exact moment.
Without further hesitation, he reached into the innermost pocket of his specialized suit and carefully retrieved the glowing blue bracelet, sliding it back onto Ji Weishi’s wrist.
At the very least, before Qin Che arrived to safely take A-Shi away, he wanted everyone to know that A-Shi was not someone to be trifled with.
As he busied himself amid the falling rain, Casper approached, suppressed anger evident in his stride.
“Let’s go back before we talk about this. The rain is too heavy, staying out here is bad for your health.”
After a brief pause, Casper added, “Even if you can take it, he can’t.”
Shen Buqi nodded silently. He looked down to inspect Ji Weishi’s hands for any injuries, his expression shielded from view.
Everyone returned to their respective homes.
The atmosphere remained suffocatingly tense. Casper knew his desires had fallen through once again. The moment he stepped through the door, he slammed a fist into the window.
The glass, touted as the most shatter-resistant in the entire Alliance, shattered into a shower of fragments on the floor.
Having followed him back to escape Tang Sheng, Zhao Er jumped in fright. She had been about to pop a blocking pill into her mouth, but she froze at the sight, unsure of whether she should step forward.
Her boss looked terrifying in a way she had never witnessed before. In her memory, he had always been a smiling fox, someone who would narrow his eyes in amusement, not someone who would flip the table and bite.
As she stood dazed, Casper suddenly locked his gaze onto her.
Those emerald-green eyes instantly shifted with a mesmerizing brilliance, capturing her soul. Helplessly, she felt herself plummeting into their depths as a gentle, profoundly persuasive voice echoed directly within her mind:
“Xiao Er, don’t you also think it’s not worth it for Xiao Shen to offend everyone just for the sake of a person like that?”
The jealousy within her heart amplified exponentially, swiftly overtaken by a wave of resentment.
Zhao Er nodded numbly.
She heard the immensely seductive voice continue slowly.
“Then go. Go do what you want to do. Make your Brother Xiao Shen give up on that person completely.”
She replied, “Alright.”
When she looked again, the glass remained shattered, but her boss was smiling warmly. “Ah, my hand slipped by accident.”
Everything seemed perfectly normal. The glass was supposed to be broken. Her boss was supposed to be kind and gentle.
Yet, without her realizing it, a fully formed, elaborate plan had taken root in her mind, a plan designed to utterly destroy Shen Buqi’s favoritism toward Ji Weishi.
Meanwhile, the main target of her plan was currently inside the manor, sipping hot soup.
They leaned against each other by the edge of the bed.
Due to the worsening acid rain and toxic fog, the route connecting District 1 to District 7 had been temporarily severed. Qin Che’s arrival to pick Ji Weishi up would have to be delayed.
And so, for the time being, they were inseparable once more.
Even though they harbored their own hidden motives, and even though others were desperately trying to drive them apart.
For now, they waited in quiet tranquility.
Waiting for the calm before the storm to slowly bleed away.