"Now that you're grown up, got into a good university, you even look down on your own cousin.
He went to all the trouble to visit, and you just give him that sour look.
At this rate, when we're old, are you going to look down on us too and just throw us out?"
As he spoke, Li Zhenguo turned, went into the kitchen, and grabbed a wooden stick.
He was clearly furious.
Seeing Li Zhenguo's furious expression, Li Yi swallowed the words she had been about to say and hid behind Hu Lemei.
"I… I was just talking. I didn't mean anything else."
"Alright, both of you quiet down. What kind of scene is this, all this shouting?"
Hu Lemei wiped the corners of her eyes and spoke up to stop them.
She knew that half of Li Zhenguo's anger was because of her.
He was just acting this way, waiting for her to step in and stop him.
She had once wanted to invite Hu Qi to come live with them.
They had enough rooms, and living together meant they could look after one another.
But Li Yi was dead set against it, and Li Zhenguo said nothing.
In the end, the matter was dropped.
Although her surname was Hu, now that she had married into the Li Family, she was one of them.
'What else could she do?'
She just felt that sometimes, she had really let her older brother and sister-in-law down, and it weighed heavily on her heart.
But she was helpless.
...
「Nearing midnight.」
The moon was bright and the stars were few. A cool night breeze dispersed the last of the day's sweltering heat.
Riding his e-bike, Hu Qi was unaware of what had happened after he left.
He had left the money when they weren't looking.
After leaving, he sent a message to inform Li Yi.
He, Hu Qi, was a man of principle.
He couldn't just take things for free.
The reason he left a thousand yuan was that it was all the cash he had on him.
As for a bank transfer, they definitely wouldn't have accepted it.
Riding his e-bike, the night wind blew against him, waking him up considerably. The slight buzz from the alcohol began to fade.
The streets were quiet and deserted, with few pedestrians out at this hour.
Dim, yellow streetlights stood silently along both sides of the road, stretching and shortening Hu Qi's shadow as he rode past.
However, just as his e-bike passed an alleyway—
MEOW!
Suddenly, a black-and-white shadow shot out from the side of the alley.
It was too fast. Hu Qi had no time to swerve.
BAM!
The front of his e-bike shuddered.
The shadow was sent flying, tumbling several times in the air before hitting the ground.
"Huh?"
Hu Qi quickly squeezed the brakes.
Even so, inertia sent the wheels skidding, leaving two clear marks on the pavement as the bike slid for some distance before stopping.
He looked up.
The creature he had sent flying was a stray cat with black-and-white fur.
But the cat's fur was standing on end, as if it had been badly spooked by something.
After hitting the ground, it let out a pained cry, then scrambled back to its feet.
It darted nimbly across the road and disappeared into the bushes of the greenbelt.
"Running that fast? What the hell? Isn't it afraid of being flattened into a pancake!"
Hu Qi opened his food delivery box and glanced at the eel, which was still fine inside its bag. Only then did he feel relieved.
'This thing is equivalent to Modification Points; I can't afford to lose it.'
Just then, an icy night wind gusted out of the alley.
Hu Qi's expression changed.
He caught a scent on the wind.
The smell was like rust and rotting berries, nauseating enough to make one gag.
'Is that the smell of blood?'
As a chef in his past life, he was all too sensitive to such smells, but the blood of the animals he'd worked with had never been this strong.
CLANG!
Suddenly, a sound came from within the dark alley, like someone kicking a soda can.
Hu Qi looked over and could vaguely make out a dark figure approaching at high speed.
He turned the handlebars, aiming the e-bike's headlight into the mouth of the alley.
The next moment, a gaunt, disheveled figure with eyes glinting red hurtled toward him.
It was on all fours, and its speed was incredible.
In just a few strides, it was about to burst out of the alley, now less than twenty meters away.
The acrid smell of blood grew even stronger.
"Fuck!"
Hu Qi's heart pounded at the sight, and he couldn't help but curse.
He immediately steadied the handlebars and double-tapped the gear-shift button.
Then, he twisted the throttle hard. The motor let out a low roar.
'Trying to catch me?'
Hu Qi watched the monster as it was about to reach him. In this state of mind, instead of his legs going weak like a normal person's would, his heart pounded and his blood surged.
In an instant, when they were no more than three meters apart, he could clearly see the savagery and greed in its eyes.
The next moment, the modified e-bike shot forward like an untethered wild horse.
The wheels spun rapidly, letting out a piercing SCREECH as they scraped against the ground.
His body was thrown back, and he gripped the handlebars tightly, trying to control the sudden burst of acceleration.
"ROAR!"
A strange roar echoed from behind him.
Hu Qi didn't dare to look back.
The trees and buildings on both sides rapidly receded, blurring into dark shadows as the wind howled in his ears.
The light from the e-bike's dashboard illuminated Hu Qi's pale face.
The numbers on it instantly shot up: 60, 70, 80…
Finally, the speedometer settled at one hundred and thirty.
On the deserted late-night road, cars and pedestrians were scarce; only occasionally would a car pass by with its headlights on.
Suddenly, an e-bike WHOOSHED past.
"Fuck! Do all food delivery guys ride this fast now?"
On the road, a man in the driver's seat of a black sedan rubbed his eyes.
He stared blankly at the e-bike's taillights, which were already vanishing in the distance.
He recalled a badass quote he'd seen online: I'm not running fast, I'm just flying low.
...
「After riding for several more minutes」
he arrived at the night market district of Qirong City.
Hearing no sounds from behind and seeing more cars and pedestrians around, Hu Qi finally slowed down.
He glanced back, a lingering fear still gripping him.
'What the hell was that thing?'
Hu Qi reached up and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his expression grim and uncertain.
'It all happened so fast, but thinking about it now… this monster seemed different from the one I saw on the surveillance footage. In terms of size alone, this one was definitely bigger.'
'Did some kind of Mutation happen? Or are there more than one of these monsters in the city?'
Unfortunately, no one could answer his questions.
After pausing by the roadside for a moment, Hu Qi followed the main road back to his residential complex.
Not until he had bolted the door to his apartment did he finally let out a long sigh of relief and relax.
'My guess was right. This world is way too dangerous.'
At this thought, a sense of urgency surged within him.
Looking at the constantly struggling plastic bag in his hand, he went straight into the kitchen.
He opened the black bag and emptied its contents into the sink.
With a splash of water, a golden-yellow eel appeared.
Its head was slightly flattened.
Its skin, slick and elastic, shimmered with a faint yellow luster.
Astonishingly, its body was as thick as an adult's wrist, and its length was even more incredible.
Its thick body looked utterly out of place in the small sink, its slimy coating making it stick to the basin's walls.