Now that you're grown up and got into a good university, you even look down on your own cousin.
He finally came all this way, and you just give him such a cold shoulder.
If you keep this up, when we two get old, will you look down on us too and just throw us out?”
Speaking of which.
Li Zhenguo turned and went into the kitchen to grab a wooden stick.
He was clearly genuinely angry.
When Li Yi saw Li Zhenguo's furious expression,
the words she had intended to say were swallowed back down.
She hid behind Hu Lemei.
“I… I was just saying it, I didn’t mean anything else.”
“Alright, everyone settle down. What kind of behavior is all this Noisy?”
Hu Lemei wiped the corner of her eye and spoke to stop the two of them.
She knew that Li Zhenguo was so angry partly because of her.
He was just waiting for her to speak up and stop him.
She had once wanted to bring Hu Qi to live with them.
There were enough rooms in the house, and living together would at least provide some care.
But Li Yi refused adamantly, and Li Zhenguo didn't say anything.
In the end, it just faded away.
Although her surname was Hu,
as a woman, since she married, she was already part of the Old Li family.
What else could she do?
She just felt that sometimes, she really let her elder brother and sister-in-law down, and it pained her heart.
But, there was nothing she could do.
...
Approaching late night.
The moon was bright and the stars sparse, and the cool night breeze dispelled the lingering heat from the day.
Hu Qi, riding his bike, was unaware of what happened after he left.
He had placed the money when the other party wasn't paying attention.
After leaving, he sent a message to Li Yi to inform him.
Hu Qi was a man of principle.
Naturally, he couldn't take things for free.
The reason he left a thousand yuan was that he only had that much cash on him.
As for bank transfer, the other party definitely wouldn't accept it.
Riding his bike.
With the night wind blowing, he felt much more awake, and the slight tipsiness he had felt dissipated considerably.
Pedestrians on the road at night were sparse, making it quiet and cold.
The dim, yellow streetlights on both sides of the road stood silently.
They elongated and shortened Hu Qi's cycling shadow on the ground.
However.
Just as the bike passed an alleyway.
Meow!
Suddenly.
A black and white furry shadow darted out from an alleyway on one side.
The speed was too fast.
Hu Qi had no time to dodge.
Bang!
The front of the bike jolted.
The black shadow flew out immediately.
After tumbling several times in the air, it landed on the ground.
“Huh?”
Hu Qi quickly squeezed the brakes.
However, even so, due to inertia, the wheels still left two clear tire marks on the ground, sliding some distance before finally stopping.
He looked up.
He saw that what he had hit was a wild cat with black and white fur.
It was just that the cat's fur was bristling all over, as if it had been startled by something.
After landing on the ground, it just let out a pained cry.
Then it quickly got up.
Its agile figure rushed to the opposite side of the road and disappeared into the bushes of the green belt.
“Running so fast, did it see a ghost? It's not even afraid of being flattened into a cat pancake!”
Hu Qi opened the delivery box and checked that the loaches were still safely in the bag, which put his mind at ease.
This thing was equivalent to modification value; it couldn't be lost.
Just then.
A chilling night wind blew out from the alleyway.
Hu Qi's expression changed.
He smelled an odor in the wind.
The smell was like rust, yet also like rotten berries.
It made one want to vomit.
“Is this the smell of blood?”
As a chef in his previous life, he was overly sensitive to this kind of smell.
It was just that the blood of those creatures was not as strong as this.
Clang!
Suddenly, a sound came from the dark alleyway.
It sounded like someone had kicked a soda can.
Hu Qi looked over, vaguely seeing a dark shadow rapidly approaching.
He turned the handlebars, letting the bike's light shine into the alleyway.
The next moment.
He saw a gaunt figure with disheveled hair and eyes reflecting red light, rapidly approaching.
It was moving extremely fast on all fours.
In a few steps, it was already about to rush out of the alleyway.
The distance to his position was less than a dozen meters.
The pungent smell of blood grew even stronger.
“Damn!”
Seeing this, Hu Qi's heart trembled, and he couldn't help but curse, letting out an expletive.
He immediately steadied the handlebars.
He pressed the speed change button twice.
Then, he forcefully twisted the electric bike's handlebar, and the motor emitted a low roar.
“Want to catch me?”
Hu Qi looked at the monster that was about to reach him.
Under this mindset, not only did he not feel weak-kneed like an ordinary person.
Instead, his heart pounded, and his blood surged.
In an instant, when the two were only three meters apart.
He could clearly see the ferocity and greed in the other party's eyes.
The next moment.
This modified electric bike shot out like a wild horse unbridled.
The wheels spun rapidly, making a piercing “squeaking” sound as they rubbed against the ground.
His body suddenly leaned back, his hands gripping the handlebars tightly, trying to control this sudden surge of power.
“Roar!”
A strange roar sounded from behind him.
Hu Qi had no time to look back.
The trees and buildings on both sides rapidly receded, forming blurry dark shadows.
The wind howled in his ears.
The lights on the electric bike's dashboard illuminated Hu Qi's somewhat pale face.
The values on it instantly soared: 60, 70, 80.
Finally, the value settled at 130 yards.
On the road late at night.
Pedestrians and vehicles were sparse; only occasionally would one or two cars pass by with their headlights on.
Suddenly.
An electric bike shot out with a whoosh.
“Damn! Do delivery drivers run this fast now?”
On the road.
In the driver's seat of a black car, a man rubbed his eyes.
Looking at the electric bike's taillight that was about to disappear in a blink, his expression was a bit dazed.
He remembered a famous boastful quote he had seen online before.
Brother isn't fast, he just flies low.
...
After another few minutes of continuous riding.
He arrived at Qirong City's night market district.
Hearing no more movement behind him.
And with vehicles and pedestrians appearing around him.
Hu Qi finally slowed down.
After turning his head to look back.
He felt somewhat lingering fear.
“What exactly was that thing?”
Hu Qi reached out and wiped the cold sweat that had seeped from his forehead.
His expression was somewhat uncertain.
He had been too rushed just now, but now that he thought about it carefully.
This monster seemed to have some differences from what he had seen in the surveillance footage; in terms of size alone, this one was undoubtedly larger.
Had some mutation occurred?
Or did it mean there was more than one such monster in this city?
Unfortunately, no one could answer his questions.
After staying by the roadside for a while.
Hu Qi then followed the main road back to his residential complex.
It wasn't until he had double-locked the door.
That he couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief and relax.
“My thoughts were indeed correct; this world is truly too dangerous.”
Thinking of this.
The sense of urgency in Hu Qi's heart couldn't help but rise.
Looking at the plastic bag constantly struggling and twisting in his hand, he directly entered the kitchen.
He opened the black bag and poured its contents into the sink.
Along with the water flow, a golden-yellow loach appeared within.
Its head was slightly flattened.
Its body shimmered with a faint yellow luster, slippery and elastic.
What was surprising was that its body diameter was as thick as an adult's wrist, and its length was even more astonishing.
Its thick body appeared extremely out of place in the small sink, and the mucus on its body made it cling tightly to the inner wall of the sink.
