Chapter 36

Xiao Yi grimaced as his back collided with a cool brick wall, but he was quick to push himself forward and punch one of the four men who surrounded him.

He'd been unprepared, and he had to admit that he was fairly tipsy. Not drunk, but close, evident by the slight sway of his body as he tried to steady himself.

'Not the time, sober up.'

One of the men dressed in black with simple half-masks that one would wear when sick tried to avenge their buddy, only for his blow to be blocked by Xiao Yi's arm.

Xiao Yi took a small step back from the blow and cursed in his mind. 'V, this is all your fault.'

One may wonder how a simple night of drinking ended up with Xiao Yi being surrounded in an alley by four men. Xiao Yi also wondered how the situation came to be. He'd only come out for a smoke break, a habit he developed when drinking previously yet he was attacked before he could light his cigarette.

Xiao Yi caught the wrist, then the upper arm of one of the four men, and threw him over his shoulder while contemplating.

Were these his enemies or V's?

Even though he'd pissed off a few people the other day, most businessmen wouldn't hire goons to attack someone and it's not like he'd pissed off some random drunken men. No, these guys were used to fighting.

Another punch was thrown toward him, yet, other than a few grunts and curses, the goons hadn't even spoken.

As he spun out of the reach of two arms, his chilly voice echoed in the alley. "Isn't it rude not to introduce yourself before trying to feel someone up? Buy me dinner first."

He rolled his eyes as he blocked another fist, this one aimed toward his face. "It's also rude to aim for the face, don't ruin someone's beauty ah."

Despite his words, he was confident in his analysis. These men had been fighting for some time, perhaps professionally trained at a boxing club or a mix of martial arts.

Street fighting?

Xiao Yi had no desire to know where they'd been trained, all he needed to know was that they weren't amateurs.

"How much are you getting paid?" Xiao Yi kicked a goon in the stomach and continued. "I'll pay you four times more to tell me who sent you, I'll even let them think that you succeeded in beating me."

Finally, there was a brief pause as one of the men raised an arm - but it wasn't due to his offer. The man simply pointed at the smartwatch on his wrist, and the four men swiftly turned and left the alley.

Just as suddenly as he'd been attacked, he'd been left alone.

Xiao Yi chuckled and continued what he'd meant to do when he first came to the alley, waving off the incident as if he'd dealt with a few silly teenagers. He lit a cigarette, leaned against the cool alley wall, and stared up at the dark sky.

This wasn't his first time being attacked in an alleyway, but it'd been a few years since then.

He didn't know whether this was connected to V or not. Other than V, he had a few enemies of his own.

Most of Valley of Light's older fans, for example.

It was unlikely to be them, as the world evidently hadn't found his identity yet so that only left four options.

His parents, his previous friends, V's shareholders, and his cousin.

Well, he could worry about it later. He hardly left his house, anyway. He put the cigarette out on the brick wall behind him and leisurely entered the small bar from the back entrance.

V was still sitting at their table, engaged in a conversation with the bar owner who'd been introduced to him earlier as an old classmate named Wei Leng.

Ironically, Wei Leng looked more like a lawyer than a bar owner with a crisp white shirt and clean black pants that complimented his slicked-back, short brown hair.

As Xiao Yi sat down, V complained. "God, you're like an old man - how long does it take you to have a smoke? Here, drink!"

Xiao Yi took the glass of tapped beer from the other's hands with curved eyes yet said nothing about the incident outside as he downed the glass.

Wei Leng leaned against the counter next to the table, ready to stand to attention if another customer appeared yet taking small sips of his drink as he probed further. "So, they're trying to fight the divorce?"

V chuckled. "How stupid can they be? They revealed their intentions on camera, there's no going back."

Wei Leng shook his head and sighed. "I'm sorry for telling you to give her your number, I thought she suited you."

"How would you have known? God, I'm just happy I won't have to call her parents my in-laws again…"

Another glass was placed in front of Xiao Yi, who graciously downed another glass as he drowned out the conversation with his phone.

Later, he'd regret taking out his phone among many other things he did this night.