Chapter 355: Hunt

**Chapter 355: Predator and Prey**

In a narrow alley, a man carrying two bottles of rotgut liquor passed by Ai Xiaolan.

With just one glance, a crimson flicker flashed in Ai Xiaolan’s eyes. Two seconds later, she still couldn’t control herself—she turned and followed the man.

He was heading toward Huaisheng Street...

Not far away, two furtive figures peeked from the corner. They exchanged a look and trailed behind Ai Xiaolan.

"I thought she was heading for the main street. Was just cursing myself for not making a move earlier. Heh, didn’t think the bitch’d double back on us."

"Let’s go, follow her."

Ai Xiaolan tuned out the world, dulling all her senses to the bare minimum. Every ounce of her awareness focused on the man swaying ahead with the bottles.

"Up at dawn to scoop shit~ eh~, back to feed my ol’ ma~"

The man hummed a tune, completely unaware of Ai Xiaolan behind him.

She knew deep down she might be relapsing. She pinched her thigh hard, fighting to stay clear-headed, telling herself no, no.

She wanted to live right, grow up right.

Ren Shan had promised to take her to see the sea of Gesang flowers in Kalajun Prairie, to pitch a tent on a beautiful mountaintop and wait for sunrise.

Ren Shan told her that according to books, the locals there were wildly hospitable—they drank, played drinking games, danced around bonfires. Fresh milk would be brought in the morning, along with real-deal lamb kebabs. The night sky there was breathtaking, studded with stars like diamonds—blindingly gorgeous.

She wanted to go. She wanted to see it all with Ren Shan.

The dark thoughts in her mind slowly faded.

Ai Xiaolan turned around—she had to get back, or her mother would worry.

The two men tailing her seized their chance, closing in fast.

"Little girl, where you headed so late? All alone? How about big bro walks you home?"

"Hey, why so quiet? Wanna play a game? Promise you’ll love it~"

Ai Xiaolan froze, before she could react, hands yanked at her skirt—calloused fingers shoved under her collar.

"Aah—mmph!"

Before her scream could escape, a hand clamped over her mouth and nose.

Old nightmares erupted like a volcano from memory. The last thread of control in her mind snapped.

At this moment, Ai Xiaolan was no longer human—she was a beast, a monster.

The man was on top of her, biting her neck. Instead of pulling away, she leaned into him, flipped him over, fangs bared as they sank into his carotid artery.

The other man watched with perverse glee. "Thought she was some prude, but turns out she’s wild. Heheh, my kinda girl—this’ll be a blast."

The man beneath Ai Xiaolan, seeing her hover over him, grinned in twisted anticipation, tilting his neck with a guttural laugh.

Then came white-hot pain. A scream tore from his throat as he slammed his fist into Ai Xiaolan’s back.

"AAAH—LET GO! LET GO, YOU CRAZY BITCH—"

Lai Hazi kept watch while teasing his buddy, "Hey, Niu Er, I get you're excited, but don’t make too much noise. We don’t want to draw attention."

Ai Xiaolan seemed oblivious to pain as she clamped down hard on the man’s neck with her teeth. Warm, salty blood slowly filled her mouth, and she gulped it down with a wet slurp, her eyes turning bloodshot.

"Ahhh! Help! Help... Lai Hazi, save me! She's murdering me! She's murdering me...!"

Only when Niu Er screamed in terror did Lai Hazi realize something was wrong.

He rushed forward and saw Niu Er pinned beneath Ai Xiaolan, his face and neck drenched in blood. One hand pushed against her with all his strength, while the other pounded at her, desperately trying to shake her off.

"Ah—! Crazy bitch! Let go! You’ll kill me! Ahhh—!"

Lai Hazi grabbed Ai Xiaolan around the waist and yanked her backward with all his might.

Ai Xiaolan thrashed like a wild animal, her head whipping wildly back and forth.

With one violent pull, Niu Er let out a piercing shriek as his body was flung into the air before crashing back to the ground.

A chunk of flesh was torn from his neck, and thick, dark blood gushed out rapidly.

Terrified, he pressed both hands over the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

Lai Hazi scrambled to his feet, instinctively backing away from Ai Xiaolan, his eyes wide with fear and wariness.

"Niu Er! Niu Er! Are you okay?"

Niu Er couldn’t speak, lifting his trembling head to look up at his friend.

"Save... save me... I don’t... don’t want to die..."

Without another word, Lai Hazi quickly tore off his shirt and pressed it to Niu Er’s neck. "Come on, get up! There’s a hospital ahead. Let’s go—you’ll be fine, really."

Supporting Niu Er, he staggered backward, glancing nervously at Ai Xiaolan.

Ai Xiaolan slumped against the wall, half her face smeared with blood. She gave them a twisted grin, her face blood-red and terrifying, revealing two rows of pearly teeth stained crimson by the chunk of flesh still lodged in her mouth.

"Heh heh heh..."

The dim alley fell silent again. Ai Xiaolan sat on the ground for a long, long time until the sky began to darken. Slowly, she pulled herself up using the wall and drifted ghostlike through the alley into the residential area, watching as lights flickered on in the windows, the scent of dinner wafting out.

She reached up and snatched a towel hanging under someone’s eaves, mechanically scrubbing her face clean.

Without hesitation, she stepped onto the familiar path.

Wu Sibiao and his son sat at the table nursing their drinks with some peanuts. Wu Kun swiped half the peanuts from his father’s side and hauled them to his own.

"Nothing but cold leftovers again. Can't you even cook something?"

Faced with his son’s complaints, the gray-haired Wu Sibiao smacked his son's hand away and reclaimed half the peanuts.

"Who’s gonna cook? You?"

"I’ve told you a thousand times—pretend to be respectable, at least, so you can snag a wife to take care of us. If we had a woman at home, would we be eating like this?"

Wu Kun was completely fed up. "Enough already! What’s the point of just talking? Where’s the money? If you had money, I could get a wife!"

"Pretend to be respectable? Everyone around here knows you're a straight-laced, by-the-book guy. So if you’re so ‘respectable,’ why has our family been without a woman all these years?"

"Respectable, respectable—always spouting useless crap. No matter much of a screw-up I am, haven’t I stuck with that grueling job at the brick factory?"

Wu Sibiao sighed, looking around their rundown house. "Look at us, two grown men, a two-income household—sure, we're not rich, but are women these days blind or what? Not one can spot a diamond in the rough?"