Chapter 32: Sharp Blade
The man walked to the door of a small room, swiped his card and opened the door.
Luo ZhouZhou saw a nameplate on the door with the words "Sharp Blade" printed on it.
When the door was closed, all the shouts became isolated, and everything suddenly became silent.
Luo ZhouZhou began to examine the room. It was a lounge, not big, but it has everything one would need. A bathroom, a closet, a couch, a projection TV, and a refrigerator.
Chu Feng went to a square table, pressed the intercom, "Xiao Feng, come to my lounge… Yes, I'll play a game today… You can arrange it…"
Luo ZhouZhou looked at Chu Feng dumbfoundedly, seeing that he was familiar with everything here, and the lounge looked like it was his.
Soon, the door was pushed open and a big bald man came in, laughing loudly, "Sharp Blade, you've finally come, you know the audience is going crazy waiting for you.”
Luo ZhouZhou looked at Chu Feng.
Sharp Blade? His name is Sharp Blade? Chu Feng took out a bottle of water from the refrigerator, unscrewed it, and handed it to Luo ZhouZhou. He then indifferently replied, ”Then let them go crazy.”
Xiao Feng laughed heartily and closed his mouth.
Luo ZhouZhou looked at Xiao Feng, he was in his forties, very tall, and the parts of his body that were exposed were covered with tattoos. Both in age and stature, he did not match the small character in his name 1 . And from the moment he entered the room, Chu Feng's gentle expression was tightened, and his eyes were apathetic, as if he were actually wearing a mask.
"The owner of the venue has been anxious, because he didn't know how to contact you, he's been looking forward to it every day.” Xiao Feng never stopped rambling since he entered. ”The audience is in for a pleasant surprise, finally Sharp Blade has come. Hey, how many rounds are you going to play?"
Chu Feng did not reply, but pushed Luo ZhouZhou, who was beside him, in front of him and said, "Take him to the best seat.”
Only then did Xiao Feng notice that there were other people in the room, and was surprised to see Luo ZhouZhou. But he was smart and didn't ask too many questions, so he just nodded in understanding.
"Pay attention, if he loses a single hair, I'll put your boxing ring out of business." The threat in Chu Feng's warning was strong.
But Xiao Feng didn't care about his attitude, patting his chest and promising, "Don't worry, leave everything to me."
Chu Feng looked at Luo ZhouZhou and said, "You go with Xiao Feng."
"What about you?" Luo ZhouZhou stepped forward and grabbed his sleeve, "I won't go until you do."
He was uneasy in this unfamiliar fighting arena, and didn't want to take a step away from Chu Feng.
Chu Feng raised his hand to adjust the position of his mask and whispered, "Don't worry, I'll come to you later."
Luo ZhouZhou reluctantly followed Xiao Feng out the door.
As he walked down the long hallway, Chu Feng looked over his shoulder at him from time to time at his out-of-place sweater and small leather shoes.
After checking him out again, Xiao Feng finally couldn't help but ask, "Are you Sharp Blade’s Omega? How could he find such a well-behaved Omega?"
Luo ZhouZhou wanted to say that he was no one's Omega, but the meaning of Xiao Feng's words made him unhappy, since Chu Feng was belittled.
Luo ZhouZhou's face stiffened, "I am his Omega, he easily found such a well behaved Omega like me."
Xiao Feng looked at him again and explained, "I mean, a lot of Omegas are crazy about Sharp Blade, but all of them are different from you."
Luo ZhouZhou keenly caught the words and asked warily, "A lot? How many?"
Xiao Feng laughed so hard that his shoulders shook with laughter and said, "Don't panic, Sharp Blade never pays attention to them. Obviously, you're the most special."
"I'm not panicking," Luo ZhouZhou said, his heart beginning to rejoice at being the most special, "You also said that I am the most special."
"That’s right, you are indeed the most special, and Sharp Blade treats you different from anyone else."
Luo ZhouZhou approvingly nodded his head and asked curiously, "Why do you call him Sharp Blade?"
Xiao Feng shrugged his shoulders and said, "Because we're an underground fighting ring, we can't see the light, understand? None of the fighters here use their real names, everyone just knows him as Sharp Blade. He wears a mask whenever he enters the ring, and even I haven't seen his face after all these years."
It turned out that Chu Feng worked as a boxer in the underground fighting ring. Luo ZhouZhou found it unbelievable that Chu Feng, a general in the military, would be working as a boxer in such an underground fighting ring.
Xiao Feng saw his confusion and said, "Sharp Blade has been fighting here for many years, and I've followed him for many years. The first time I saw him, he was still a teenager, skinny as a bamboo pole, wearing a ridiculous mask."
Xiao Feng made a circle between his hands, thicker than a bamboo pole, and added, "But that look in his eyes… just like a wolf’s." He laughed and continued, "The owner didn't like him, so he told him to get lost, saying that it would be troublesome to throw his body away if he was killed. But he said, ‘We'll see if I can try it.’ The owner refused, and had him thrown out."
"But do you know what happened after that?" Xiao Feng asked.
Luo ZhouZhou asked nervously, "What happened?"
Xiao Feng smacked his lips and said, "The last victor of the night was standing in the ring celebrating, and Sharp Blade came out of nowhere, got into the ring and challenged him."
"So, did the victor agree?" Luo ZhouZhou stopped in his tracks, his heart lifted high.
Xiao Feng also stopped, but continued recalling, “He didn’t agree at first, and the audience laughed, thinking it was some kind of funny improv show arranged by the fighting arena. But Sharp Edge’s wouldn’t budge, provoking him with words, and the fighter finally couldn’t take it so he agreed to the challenge. It wasn't until the fight really happened that the audience realized it was real and not a show," Xiao Feng chuckled.
"What happened after that?" Luo ZhouZhou pulled the corner of his coat tightly with both hands.
Xiao Feng glanced at his hands and said briefly, "Then he won the fight, and the owner kept him."
After that, they both fell silent and continued walking. As they walked down the long corridor, all they could hear was the ear-shattering shouts coming from ahead.
Luo ZhouZhou didn't have to ask how brutal that fight had been, even though Xiao Feng had downplayed it by saying ‘he won'. One was that night’s champion, and the other was just a skinny teenager.
Xiao Feng was also caught up in his memories. That fight many years ago was still fresh in his mind.
All the spectators held their breath and looked at the two men lying in the boxing ring.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven…" The referee counted down loud.
In the end, it was the young man who climbed up from the ring shakily.
Amidst the cheers that suddenly burst through the arena, he hung his hands and straightened his back, his head full of blood, and his mask was dyed red. He slowly raised his head, and in his swollen eyes was a ruthless light…
In that fight, he broke several ribs and suffered bleeding in his skull, and the defeated opponent, who was less badly wounded than he was, lay down and could not get up, not moving.
But Sharp Blade stood up and became the final victor.
"Wolf cub." Xiao Feng muttered with a smile.
Luo ZhouZhou followed him out of the passage, and a large fighting arena appeared before his eyes. A huge crowd of spectators was screaming wildly, and a giant screen projection hung in the air, with snowy pillars of light swirling around the arena.
"Out of the way, out of the way." Thousands of seats in the arena were filled, and people were standing in the corridors. Xiao Feng made his way through the crowd and brought Luo ZhouZhou to sit down in the middle of the front row, taking a stool from the work area and sitting beside him.
"For every fight, there's always a seat reserved for a boxer's family and friends." Xiao Feng wiped the sweat from his forehead, smiled and said, "In the early years of Sharp Blade's fights, the friends and family seat was sometimes reserved for a boy his age who wore a mask. He was like his brother, a tough Alpha. But it's been three or four years since I've seen anyone, and the seat had been empty, until today."
Luo ZhouZhou didn't respond. He suspected that the person Xiao Feng was talking about should be Wang Jun.
In the boxing ring directly in front of him, two people were exchanging punches and kicks. There were no rules in this underground boxing ring, except that one could not use pheromones to suppress the other, so they could do whatever else they wanted, even if it meant biting with their teeth.
The only rule was to beat their opponent senseless by any means necessary.
Instead of calling it a fight, it should be called slaughter.
It was a fight to the death.
The fight between the two men in the boxing ring was coming to an end. One of them was obviously dying, lacking the strength to punch, his head covered with blood, and his facial features unreadable. His opponent, a two-meter tall strong man, had a bulging flesh that was glistening with oil.
Luo ZhouZhou sat close enough to the ring to hear the man begging for mercy from his opponent, even as he voluntarily conceded defeat and fell to the ground. The man across from him laughed and circled around the ring.
Just when Luo ZhouZhou thought the fight was over, he jumped, landed, and punched the begging man hard in the chest.
Ka!
At that moment, Luo ZhouZhou heard the crunch of a broken bone.
He sprang to his feet.
The audience was going crazy, and they were all shouting, "Butcher! Butcher! Butcher!"
The winner, named Butcher, shrieked excitedly to the crowd, slapping his hands against his chest.
Several crew members swiftly rushed into the ring and carried the man, who was maybe alive or dead, down.
"Is he going to die?" Luo ZhouZhou asked Xiao Feng.
Xiao Feng said indifferently, "Who knows? When he goes down there, they will treat his wounds, which is just ordinary trauma medicine. The lucky ones will survive, the unlucky ones don’t.”
Luo ZhouZhou opened his eyes wide, "How can we not send him to the hospital? He was so badly wounded."
Xiao Feng wiped his bare head and said, "This boxing ring has always been like this, and the number of people who have died is too many to count. Yesterday I could have a drink with someone, and when I see them tomorrow, they might be wrapped in a mortuary bag and put in a corner, ready to be thrown out at night."
He looked at Luo ZhouZhou and added, "Don't be shocked or feel sorry for them, they are all people who live one day at a time and know that they will probably die on the stage one day. Look at Butcher. He looks like a great man at the moment, and the number of people who have fallen under his fist is at least double digits, but who knows what will happen to him tomorrow?”
"But the man was begging for mercy, and Butcher shouldn't have hit him again!" Luo ZhouZhou pointed at Butcher in the boxing ring and shouted out to Xiao Feng. His tone was very emotional, and his eyes were red.
Xiao Feng was flabbergasted and said, "It's not a foul to beg for mercy and continue to fight. You don't know that person, so why are you so anxious about him?"
Luo ZhouZhou listened to the tsunami of voices in the arena and stood in stunned silence. He knew that the underground boxing ring was brutal, but when he saw the scene just now, when he saw a living person being beaten to death, he realized the true meaning of the word brutal.
His heart hurt at this moment for Chu Feng, who had fought here for many years.
How did he live? Did he beg for mercy? Had he ever begged for mercy and still been punched hard? So when he was carried down, did he put a patch on the wound and was thrown into the corner?
When Luo ZhouZhou thought of this, he felt his heart ache as if a hand was gripping it tightly.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you are lucky enough to be in the boxing ring today.” A host stood up with a microphone in his hand, "Because the next to enter the ring is our mysterious gold medal boxer who has been missing for some time – Sharp Blade!"
As soon as the host's voice ended, the arena erupted in a tidal wave of cheers.
"Sharp Blade! Sharp Blade! Sharp Blade!"
Xiao Feng also raised his hand, chanting “Sharp Blade” with the crowd, and said excitedly to Luo ZhouZhou, "Look, look at all these fanatical supporters, you should be proud of your Alpha.”
Proud? Luo ZhouZhou was standing still.
No, he was not proud of Chu Feng at all.
He was sad when he thought of the skinny teenager, who Xiao Feng described as a bamboo pole, getting up again and again in this boxing ring, or lying in a pool of blood like the man he had just seen.
He only felt sad.
The exit door of the platform slowly opened, and Chu Feng appeared amidst a sky-shaking cheer. He wore a black cloak, and his silver mask gleamed as the snowy pillars of light hit him. Beneath the mask were cold eyes and thin lips.
Luo ZhouZhou stared up at him for a split second as he slowly walked out of the passage and climbed into the ring. Taking off his cloak and tossing it into the hands of the staff, he stretched his upper body, revealing smooth, explosive muscles.
Butcher in the ring smiled from the moment the host announced the name Sharp Blade.
As the shouts of "Sharp Blade" grew louder and louder, his expression became increasingly violent, while he kept circling around the ring.
Luo ZhouZhou knew that Chu Feng was going to fight him next, and remembered the man who was either alive or dead, and wanted to run up to stop Chu Feng.
Xiao Feng saw his concern and said with confidence, "Don't worry, Sharp Blade will win, you must trust him."
Chu Feng moved his arm and looked down at the audience. He immediately saw Luo ZhouZhou standing there and smiled at him.
It was a confident, reassuring smile.
The camera filmed his every move and magnified it on the aerial screen. When the handsome half of the face beneath the mask smiled, everyone shouted, screaming and tearing the roof off the arena.
Butcher, whose frenzy had already reached boiling point, glared at Chu Feng with scarlet eyes, made a hand grip on his neck, and let out a snap.
Chu Feng did not respond to his provocation.
A gong sounded, and the show began.
Butcher let out a bellow and jumped on him.
Luo ZhouZhou's heart trembled, and he clenched his fists.
Chu Feng, as if he had eyes in his back, side-stepped and kicked Butcher as he ran towards him. Butcher was so big and nimble that he drew back his fist halfway and blocked the kick. There was a dull bang, and both men took half a step back. Then, they rammed into each other, launching a stormy attack of fists and feet.
Butcher kept roaring, advancing again and again.
Chu Feng, on the other hand, was more defensive than offensive, dodging Butcher's powerful fists when he could, or blocking them when he couldn't.
Luo ZhouZhou held his breath and clasped his hands tightly in front of his chest. Each muffled sound of the block was like a blow to his heart.
Butcher's fists repeatedly failed, and he became visibly more agitated, as his roar reverberated throughout the venue and his attacks intensified. Chu Feng, however, remained unhurried, his eyes under the mask only locked onto the Butcher's offensive line, looking calm and steady.
"Hey, hey, hey! Take it easy, I don't think you’re breathing." Xiao Feng stretched out his hand in front of Luo ZhouZhou's eyes.
Luo ZhouZhou hurriedly pushed his hand away, "Don't block me."
Xiao Feng laughed and said, "Okay, okay, I won't block you, but you have to remember to breathe."
The audience, wanting nothing more than to see the fierce splattering of blood and flesh, began to boo impatiently and shout rhythmically, "Sharp Blade! Beat him to death! Sharp Blade! Stab him!”
Someone beside Luo ZhouZhou booed, "You are really like a rat today, a rat hiding in the gutter, Sharp Blade.”
Luo ZhouZhou turned around and angrily shouted, "You are the rat, the rat who dares to hide under the stage and shout!”
The man flinched and would have said something back, but upon seeing his silver mask, he only sneered, "So he's a fanatical follower."
"If you call him a rat again, I'll have to beat you up," Luo ZhouZhou threatened fiercely, his eyes rounded beneath the mask. When he saw what more the man wanted to say, he showed his teeth again, "Or I will bite you to death."
The man was about to laugh, but when he saw Xiao Feng standing up behind him, he swallowed his laughter again and sat down without making another sound.
Luo ZhouZhou squinted and waited for a few seconds, but seeing as he stopped shouting at Chu Feng, he turned around and continued to watch the fight.
Butcher, who got so irritated by the shouting, his face was twitching, concentrated all his strength into his right hand and threw it at Chu Feng. Chu Feng had just finished blocking the kick and was still unsteady. The audience screamed in excitement as they saw that the punch was unavoidable.
Butcher had a fierce smile on his face, as if victory was at hand. After being almost knocked down, Sharp Blade leapt up again, hit Butcher hard, grabbed his neck and twisted it. The crunch of the neck bone breaking in his hand could be heard.
Suddenly, Butcher saw a blur, his fist was empty, Sharp Blade was gone from where he stood, and he couldn't stop his attack, tumbling toward the ground. In a brief moment, his heart went cold, and only two words came to mind.
It's over.
"Bang", Butcher took a kick to his stomach. He flew in the air and hit the ground with a heavy, muffled thud. He sat up quickly in pain, his pupils constricted, and a fist approached his face.
The bridge of his nose received another vicious blow with a crack, and blood gushed out. Butcher rolled over then leapt to his feet, shouting angrily, his eyes already muddled with blood, and lunged at the shadow in front of him.
Chu Feng was no longer on the defensive; he attacked. Like a panther ready to strike, after exhausting his prey's energy, he finally stopped teasing and prepared to bite his prey's throat. His punches and kicks were full of force, and landed heavily on Butcher. After a few moments, Butcher just held his head, no longer able to fight back.
Butcher spat a mouthful of blood, sat down on the ground, crumbling to his knees, and gasped, "I admit defeat."
Chu Feng had already raised his fist and was about to smash his skull. Hearing this, he stopped his hand and slowly stood up.
The crowd went crazy, climbing on the stool and shouting wildly for Sharp Blade.
Luo ZhouZhou was trembling with excitement, as he grabbed Xiao Feng's arm, incoherently blabbing, "He won, he won."
Xiao Feng smiled and said, "I told you not to be nervous, he would definitely win."
Chu Feng raised his arms and circled the ring, smiling at the audience. His naked upper body, covered with sweat, glowed bronze, and half of his face, under a silver mask, was as handsome as a deity.
Butcher sat on the ground and looked at him with hatred.
Just when everyone thought Sharp Blade was about to come out of the ring, to everyone's surprise, he suddenly jumped up and landed on the fallen Butcher, he threw a heavy punch to his chest.
The thud was followed by a crack of ribs.
Chu Feng withdrew his hand and leaned close to Butcher's ear, "Four ribs, I'll give you back what you gave."