Chapter 6 · Breathe Through the Beating

Chen's back hit the concrete wall before he felt the punch. His ribs screamed. The basement under Old Xu's apartment smelled like rust and piss, and the single bulb overhead made everything look yellow and sick.

"Again." Old Xu stood in the corner, arms folded. He didn't look worried. He looked bored.

Chen pushed off the wall. His mouth tasted like copper. "I can't—"

"You already signed it." Old Xu's voice was flat. "Contract's filed. You fight in three days or they come for the penalty. You know what the penalty is?"

Chen knew. He'd seen a guy miss a death match last year. They found him in the canal with his hands gone.

"So we do this now." Old Xu pulled a roll of coins from his pocket and wrapped it in a rag. Makeshift brass knuckles. "You want to live through Saturday, you learn to breathe right."

Chen's stomach was still doing that thing. The iron lump he'd swallowed weeks ago—it wasn't sitting quiet anymore. Every time he got hit it woke up, burned through his insides like he'd eaten hot coals. The evolution thing. He didn't understand it. Didn't want to.