Monster

Am I really that scary?

Inside the supermarket, Xu Yao's slight flinch dealt a heavy blow to Chen Feng's pride.

He asked himself honestly—his current physique was indeed robust, filling out the loose black short-sleeve shirt to its limit.

His muscle lines flowed as clearly as water, his deltoids bulging noticeably.

But still, it wasn't as exaggerated as Xu Dongtai's towering one-meter-eighty-five frame, right?

No one could answer his doubt.

Somewhat timid, Xu Yao was quickly led by Li Hongxia to the sofa area behind the shelves, where she set down her backpack and quietly did her homework.

Seeing this, Chen Feng didn't disturb her and stood silently at the cash register.

"Xiao Feng, Xiao Yao will be eating dinner here too tonight."

"I'll order two extra dishes—hope you don't mind."

Li Hongxia soon came to the register and spoke to Chen Feng in a low voice.

After a brief explanation, Chen Feng learned that Xu Yao had just finished tutoring and was picked up by Li Hongxia.

Since the other party's grandfather had gone back to his hometown in the countryside yesterday, there was no one at home to cook, so she simply brought her along here.

The helplessness of a single mother—Chen Feng nodded in understanding and naturally didn't mind.

Then, time passed.

Dinner was delivered soon after, and Li Hongxia paid extra for two dishes, one meat and one vegetable.

The three of them ate ravenously. Chen Feng's appetite surged, but he restrained himself, stopping at just eighty percent full.

Even so, all the food was cleaned up, leaving only a few traces of oil and scraps.

"Xiao Feng, you've really trained your body well."

"No wonder you easily subdued those two thugs last night."

Li Hongxia packed up the containers, glancing at his increasingly sturdy build, and couldn't help praising him.

Xu Yao, beside her, also stole a couple of looks while helping clean up, not daring to chime in.

"Just a hobby," Chen Feng said with a smile, not elaborating on his fist practice.

They chatted idly, and during that time, customers came in, so he went back to manning the register.

A small LCD TV hung on the wall in the store, usually unwatched.

But tonight, a news broadcast aired, drawing the attention of several customers.

[It is reported that at 1:18 PM this afternoon, a gold store robbery occurred on Qing Shi Street.]

[The robbed store is called Fuxiang Gold Shop. The incident happened at a critical moment when the vault was being opened. There were three robbers, one of whom was injured by the store's security. They then made off with ten kilograms of gold bars and gold jewelry worth over a million!]

[The Security Bureau has now issued a wanted notice. Anyone providing leads will receive a reward of two hundred thousand yuan.]

The news footage and narration appeared one after another. Chen Feng glanced at it.

This was the robbery that happened across from the Martial Arts Hall that afternoon. The report matched what he had seen at the time and the discussions he'd overheard at the hall afterward.

"Ten kilograms of gold bars."

"Gold in Chi Kingdom goes for about six hundred yuan per gram. Even without the jewelry, that's at least six million stolen?"

Doing a quick calculation, Chen Feng was a bit surprised.

Prices in Chi Kingdom were very similar to those in Earth's Xia Kingdom from his past life. Six million was an astronomical figure for most ordinary people, enough to live comfortably in Nanjiang City.

He suddenly understood a bit why Xu Dongtai had looked so grim during the day.

"Too bad those guys were masked."

Shaking his head, Chen Feng thought that if he ever had the chance to run into them, he could report them and claim the bounty.

Then, the news continued, and customers came and went.

Time passed, and midnight arrived once more.

Li Hongxia finished cleaning up, and Chen Feng took the initiative to lock the store's rolling shutter door.

He turned his head—little Xu Yao was drowsy, sitting on the electric scooter with her backpack on, her head lolling side to side.

"Let's go, Xiao Feng. Be careful on your way back."

"Alright, Sister Hongxia. You and Xiao Yao take it slow too."

"Okay. Xiao Yao, say goodbye to your brother."

"Goodbye, Brother Chen Feng."

"Goodbye."

Gently waving his hand, Chen Feng hugged a box of Energy Bars that Aunt Zhang had given him, along with a bag of clothes, and turned to walk down the dark street.

The dim yellow streetlights shone down, and the aroma of grilled skewers from roadside stalls drifted again.

Feeling a bit hungry again, he casually tore open the box, pulled out an Energy Bar, ripped off the wrapper, stuffed it into his mouth, and crunched it to pieces.

He walked while swallowing, brushing past other drunkards along the way.

His tall frame cast long, narrow shadows under the dim yellow light; several street lamps had exposed wires, their light flickering unsteadily.

Clack, clack!

Footsteps echoed as Chen Feng passed by an alleyway.

Suddenly, his figure halted, every hair on his body standing on end.

He abruptly sensed a tangible, intense malice.

Turning his head to look, the alley was pitch black, as if covered in thick ink, so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.

But yet, a pair of blood-red eyes gleamed within.

Evil, ice-cold.

The crunching sound of chewing rang out continuously, a horrifying sensation persisting.

In an instant, his heart turned cold. Chen Feng, who had initially thought this was Zhao Jin's revenge, snapped back to reality.

"What the hell is that?!"

Clack, clack!

Abrupt footsteps sounded as the owner of the scarlet gaze suddenly charged at him.

The malice was freezing; Chen Feng caught a whiff of blood and a foul stench.

Without a second thought, he twisted his body, clutching the cardboard box and bag of clothes as he sprinted away!

Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack!

Dry air rushed into his nostrils, blood boiling and surging within his body.

His heart became an engine igniting flames in that moment, blood vessels burning hot. Never had Chen Feng felt such a mix of exhilaration and terror.

A monster!

Definitely a monster!

The thought flashed through his mind as the night-time neighborhood street swayed before his eyes.

He had originally thought Earth Star was just a world with a unique Martial Dao School, far more ordinary compared to the mysteries of his dreams.

But now, the appearance of this monster showed him the unusual side of this neon-lit city.

Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack!

Footsteps urgent, Chen Feng sprinted dozens of meters in one breath.

Only when the malice in his Perception Talent gradually faded did he turn his head to look.

The street lamp was dim yellow; the scarlet eyes did not appear.

As if everything before had just been his hallucination.

"Didn't chase after me?"

"Or perhaps..."

Musing to himself, thanks to his improved physique, Chen Feng wasn't out of breath.

He had no doubt about the tangible malice from before.

His Perception Talent allowed him to roughly sense the power of the Scarlet Gaze; if he made contact, it could easily kill him.

Thinking this, he looked again at the pitch-black night.

Though extremely curious, he didn't dare approach the alleyway again.

"Go back first."

"I'll come check it out tomorrow during the day."

Suppressing the thought, Chen Feng finally let out a breath, only to find cold sweat on his face without knowing when it had appeared.

He wiped it off with his hand, drying it on his clothes.

Then he turned and quickly walked away.

About ten minutes later, he was back inside his apartment.

Click!

The door closed. Looking at the simply decorated, quiet space, Chen Feng finally truly relaxed.

Then, he showered, washed up, and hurriedly lay down on the bed.

He thought he would fall asleep quickly, but he didn't expect the shadow of the monster to keep appearing, lingering relentlessly in his mind.

"Monster..."

Chen Feng murmured.

There was no fear, but rather some excitement.

If there were monsters, then there was likely something supernatural.

Perhaps there really was some connection between the dream world and reality?

Thinking this, his thoughts surged like waves.

Disturbed like this for a long time, he didn't know until sometime past midnight.

Only then did his emotions gradually calm, and he finally closed his eyes and fell asleep.