The Alleyway Trap

Li Chen looked at the face leaned in close to his, his gaze colliding with the man’s sharp jawline.

Shi Ji was very close—so close he didn’t even realize his own clothes had been brushed with the scent of Li Chen’s pheromones.

Li Chen sniffed the iris fragrance emanating from Shi Ji. Inexplicably, this scent that usually annoyed him had somehow become much more comforting.

“I…” His lips moved, unsure of how to answer.

Just then, a hurried set of footsteps sounded from behind. Shi Ji’s gaze moved from Li Chen’s face to the secretary standing behind the boy.

He immediately retracted his previous expression, replacing it with his usual cold, indifferent mask.

“What is it?”

“CEO Yan is looking for you; he says it’s urgent,” the secretary replied, panting slightly to catch her breath. “He’s in the office right now.”

CEO Yan? Shi Ji furrowed his brows in thought, and it took a moment before he connected the title to the character Yan Guangsheng.

Hadn’t the matter of helping him purge the remnants of his rivals been settled already?

Shi Ji recalled the day he first transmigrated; he had run right into the plot point of assisting Yan Guangsheng. In the original text, Yan Guangsheng’s presence was minimal—his appearances were few and far between. Why was he suddenly back on the scene?

Shi Ji thought for a moment and nodded. “Tell him to wait. I’ll be there shortly.”

Then, he looked back at Li Chen.

“You, come with me.”

The transparent floor-to-ceiling windows reflected a piercing ray of sunlight.

Shi Ji sat behind his desk, his fingers lightly tapping the surface. Standing before him, Yan Guangsheng maintained his usual deferential posture, though his forehead was now damp with fine beads of cold sweat, and even his white shirt collar was soaked through.

“Mr. Shi, Lin Xun has committed suicide in prison.”

Yan Guangsheng spoke cautiously, his voice sounding somewhat abrupt in the silent office.

Shi Ji kept his eyes lowered. “I know.”

“Mr. Shi knows?” Yan Guangsheng’s triangular eyes widened in exaggerated surprise.

Shi Ji straightened up and leaned back, crossing one leg over the other. He interlaced his fingers in front of him and asked back, “Does Mr. Yan feel that I shouldn’t know about this?”

Yan Guangsheng’s expression shifted, more sweat breaking out on his brow. “No, no… Mr. Shi misinterprets me.”

He cleared his throat, trying to suppress the unease in his heart.

“Upon learning of Lin Xun’s death, I immediately sent men to search his home…” Yan Guangsheng paused halfway, stealing a glance at Shi Ji’s expression. Seeing no major reaction, he breathed a secret sigh of relief and continued, “…but we didn’t find that classified document.”

“We’ve checked Lin Xun’s movements over the past few years and found no sign of him negotiating with anyone else.”

“So—Mr. Shi, I feel now that—”

Yan Guangsheng swallowed hard, the words hesitating on his lips for a long time before he finally spoke.

“The document has vanished into thin air.”

As the words fell, Yan Guangsheng quickly shut his mouth, waiting for Shi Ji’s judgment.

Shi Ji listened absentmindedly. So Yan Guangsheng had called him over in such a panic just for this.

It didn’t matter; it was all part of the original setting. No matter what, that document would eventually fall into the hands of the second male lead.

He pulled at the corner of his mouth, his peripheral vision catching the silver-white car parked downstairs. Li Chen was sitting inside right now; he wondered if the boy would take advantage of his absence to sneak away.

Compared to what Yan Guangsheng was saying, Shi Ji currently wanted nothing more than to return to the car, leash Li Chen, and tie him to his side.

Yan Guangsheng looked at the unnaturally calm Shi Ji, blinked in confusion, and then gathered his courage to say: “Mr. Shi… are you not worried?”

Shi Ji snapped back to reality and let out a scoff.

“Worried? Is worry useful?”

The curve of his lips was fleeting.

“Lin Xun was handed over by you, and your men were guarding the prison. Now he suddenly commits suicide out of guilt and the document goes missing. Does Mr. Yan still have the heart to ask if I’m worried?”

Shi Ji narrowed his eyes, his gaze toward Yan Guangsheng turning sharp.

“Mr. Yan should spend his time thinking about how to keep his head on his shoulders for a little while longer.”

His words sounded like a death warrant. Yan Guangsheng’s expression turned terribly grim; his whole body trembled as he tried to speak, but he could only stutter.

Suddenly, Shi Ji stood up. The chair behind him rolled back several paces, hitting the wall with a loud thump.

The sudden impact startled Yan Guangsheng, but he was more shocked to see that the usually unflappable Shi Ji was now wearing a look of unprecedented panic.

“Mr. Shi…?” Yan Guangsheng called out cautiously. “What’s wrong?”

Shi Ji had no time to deal with Yan Guangsheng’s inquiries. What he had just seen made his entire spine go numb.

—Half a minute ago, he saw Li Chen get out of the car.

Then, within seconds of Li Chen closing the door and walking away.

Four men had appeared behind him.

The sunlight today was exceptionally harsh and burning.

Li Chen snapped out of his daze, his previously mindless eyes gradually coming into focus. His eyelids flickered as he looked up at the grey-black wall covered in small flyers, a trace of confusion flashing in his eyes.

He turned his head to scan his surroundings. This appeared to be a dead-end alley sandwiched between two residential buildings. It wasn’t spacious, and the buildings blocked the sun, leaving a patch of shadow.

Li Chen’s brows knit slightly.

Strange. How did I end up here?

He clearly remembered sitting in the car waiting for Shi Ji. The air conditioning was strong, but the sun shining through the glass still made the skin on his arms feel hot. Li Chen had looked up at the office building, and the blinding sunlight had made his vision go black for an instant.

Then, in the very next second, he had lost consciousness. When he came to, he was here.

Li Chen tried hard to recall what had happened between being in Shi Ji’s car and ending up in this alley, but he couldn’t remember a thing.

It was as if some power had suddenly taken control of his body and forcibly wiped his memory clean.

An inexplicable feeling arose, and combined with the draft blowing through the alley, it gave Li Chen a spine-chilling sensation despite the summer heat.

Li Chen’s brow ached from the tension. He scanned the stained, peeling wall. Residual traces of glue remained on the uneven surface. Li Chen’s gaze paused on one particular flyer.

This one was newer than the others, likely posted recently. The white paper had only a few lines of text, with the final line in bold: “Our hospital provides various services: Second gender screening, suppressant formulation, pheromone blocking… If needed, please contact 1xxxx.”

Li Chen’s eyes lingered on the words “pheromone blocking.” He understood that, put bluntly, this meant—removing the gland.

The pheromones of Omegas and Alphas are produced by the glands. To block them completely, only surgical removal would suffice.

Li Chen’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

From the day he was diagnosed as a defective Omega, his tragic fate had been sealed: parents deceased, family driven away. Sometimes Li Chen really wanted to ask why things were so unfair—why did he have to be an Omega?

He reached out, tore the advertisement down, folded it into a small square, and tucked it into his pocket. Then, Li Chen turned to walk back toward the main path.

Just then, a strange, raspy male voice stopped him.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

As the voice fell, a choking scent of smoke drifted into Li Chen’s nose. He frowned and coughed a few times. At first, he thought someone was hiding here to smoke, but when he saw the figures, he realized something was wrong.

This was the scent of Alpha pheromones.

And it wasn’t just one kind. Following the smoke were scents of musk, charcoal, and a heavy note of clematis.

Four men blocked the narrow exit of the alley, their dark grey coats still stained with wall dust they hadn’t shaken off.

The jumbled pheromones crowded the air as if they were fighting, rushing toward Li Chen. Li Chen felt his stomach churn; these four Alphas weren’t high-level, but the impact on him was doubled.

Suppreasing his urge to vomit, he glared at them warily and spoke with trembling lips: “What do you want?”

As he spoke, Li Chen quietly touched the back of his neck. The smooth touch reached his fingertips, and his eyes sharpened. He realized why these four were here.

He had always been unable to control his pheromones properly, so before leaving the house, he had applied a suppressant patch Auntie Lin had given him. But at some point, the patch had gone missing. His pheromones had leaked, attracting these four Alphas.

“What do we want?” one of the men laughed, revealing yellowish teeth. He acted as if he’d heard a joke, looking at his companions before continuing, “You can’t even control your own pheromones yet you dare to wander around outside.”

“Aren’t you just doing it to seduce us?”

As he spoke, he stepped forward, the distance closing. The smoky scent on the man became even more intense.

Li Chen barely dared to breathe. Under the influence of Alpha pheromones, he could feel his body beginning to go weak uncontrollably. Li Chen swallowed hard and backed away step by step until his heels hit the wall. He had nowhere left to retreat.

Four large men surrounded him, like four hyenas eyeing the same rabbit. They watched him hungrily, their naked, lustful gazes roaming shamelessly over Li Chen’s body.

“So pretty.” one stepped up, leaning into Li Chen’s face. His clouded eyes stared into the boy’s. He even tried to reach out and touch Li Chen’s cheek. Li Chen jerked his head away and violently slapped the man’s dirty hand aside.

The man seemed to have no pain receptors. He greedily inhaled the iris fragrance in the air. Upon smelling even a little, the pheromones—which carried a natural aphrodisiac quality—instantly ignited the man’s lust. His eyes turned red, and he gave a foolish grin, saying to the boy: “You’re an Omega. You smell so good.”

Li Chen trembled. The expressions on these four men’s faces were utterly disgusting to him. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides; he wanted nothing more than to punch that ugly face.

But his strength seemed to have been drained, and his legs wouldn’t stop shaking. Li Chen gritted his teeth; he had never hated this Omega body more.

The men drew closer, the circle tightening. The air was sealed tight with Alpha pheromones. Li Chen was tightly enveloped by them, cold sweat dampening the black hair on his forehead.

They reached out with rough hands, touching Li Chen’s body through the thin fabric. Their expressions grew more crazed, as if they had found an unprecedented treasure and wanted to devour it whole.

Disgusting. He wanted to vomit.

Li Chen struggled to dodge their touch.

In the chaos, he suddenly saw another person appear behind the men.

Li Chen’s eyelashes trembled violently.

Shi Ji.

What was he doing here? Coming to laugh at him?

Or was it…

Li Chen’s arm was grabbed by a man.

…was all of this arranged by him?

The last trace of strength in his body vanished. The person holding his arm suddenly yanked hard, pinning Li Chen against the wall behind him.

His white shirt was stained with dark grime. His collar was torn open, and his beautiful collarbones rose and fell with his breathing.

Li Chen blinked with difficulty.

All the senses in his body went numb in that instant. In utter despair, he stared at the figure in the distance.

And then.

—He saw Shi Ji running toward him.