Shadow

Could that person have been mauled by this beast?

That was not impossible.

Qirong City lay in a basin, surrounded by numerous mountains that sprawled across a vast area.

One of them was Great Azure Mountain.

It had even been rated a 5A tourist attraction. Its most distinctive feature was the monkeys that covered an entire mountain peak.

Tourists who came here were often attacked by wild monkeys. Losing valuables was considered minor; some people were even scratched and injured.

Yet despite that, visitors still flocked here year-round.

Hu Qi had looked up information on the area and read several news reports of this kind, such as wild boars running onto the road and chasing pedestrians around, goring them wildly.

But a beast as vicious as the one described in the report, one capable of eating people alive, was likely something only a tiger, a starving wolf, or a black bear could do.

He felt there was something off about it.

But with so few clues available, there was no way to make a deduction.

"Forget it. This has nothing to do with me. Thinking about useless things like this will do nothing but add to my worries."

Hu Qi shook his head.

Still, his determination to practice Combat Technique and increase his strength only grew firmer.

If he were strong enough,

then even if he encountered that so-called wild beast, he would not be completely powerless to resist.

After all, if he reached the Gold Fist level announced by the Federation, with one arm capable of exerting over five or six hundred jin of force,

then even against a wild wolf, he could beat it to death barehanded.

If it were a tiger... well, he should at least be able to hold out a little longer, rather than ending up in the tiger's jaws the moment they met.

One had to know that an adult tiger possessed at least a thousand jin of strength.

But that was not absolute, either.

The most important reason humans had become the primates of all living things was their skill in using their minds and tools.

Besides, Combat Technique had been created for survival and killing enemies in the first place.

If they truly fought, the outcome was still hard to say.

Of course, to be safe, he should prepare some means of self-defense.

Leaving aside the beast prowling somewhere in the city, ready to choose someone to devour at any moment,

he also needed to watch out for the group that had put the original owner of this body in the hospital.

At that thought,

a sense of urgency immediately surged within him.

After washing his clothes and hanging them on the rack to dry,

he returned to his room, opened his phone, entered a shopping app, and began browsing equipment he could carry on him.

Compared with his previous life, regulations over certain items in this world were relatively looser.

Unfortunately, firearms still were not for sale.

Otherwise, he would have liked to buy one.

"Hmm? This looks good."

Suddenly,

Hu Qi's gaze was drawn to an item.

It was a pair of jet-black knuckle dusters.

The four steel finger loops were fitted with diamond-shaped spikes, radiating a sense of violence.

Below them was a semicircular iron grip meant to rest in the palm.

Worn on the hand, this thing would be extremely easy to conceal.

Its striking surface was small, and the force it delivered was great.

Once it hit someone, torn tendons and broken bones would be the least of their worries.

The more Hu Qi looked at it, the more satisfied he became, and he immediately placed an order.

Afterward, he bought a folding knife, a high-voltage stun baton, a windproof self-defense spray torch, a stab-resistant vest, and other self-defense items.

Only when he heard a knock at the door announcing his delivery

did Hu Qi put down his phone with satisfaction.

He got up and went to collect the food.

The delivery came in a large bag, packed with an abundant spread.

Hu Qi had never been one to skimp on himself in that regard.

More than ten minutes later,

he was full and satisfied.

At the same time,

the last lingering ray of light in the sky outside completely vanished.

The entire earth sank into darkness.

Outside the window, the aroma of braised pork drifted over in wisps, accompanied by the cries and fussing of children.

Everything seemed so normal.

It left Hu Qi in a daze.

As though he had never transmigrated at all, and everything now was only a dream.

After a moment of silence,

he shook his head and cast those thoughts aside.

He calmed himself and began practicing the Comprehensive Combat Technique.

Originally, he had planned to go out for a walk and exercise his body.

After all, when two people had the same amount of combat experience,

the strength of their physical condition would undoubtedly play a decisive role.

And even if he encountered danger and could not win, he could still run.

Unfortunately, he could only put that idea aside for now.

To be safe, he would wait until his self-defense items arrived.

Qirong City, Lower City.

Time passed into the early hours of the morning.

Outside a brightly lit card room.

"That's it for today. Tomorrow, we'll play again tomorrow."

Lin Dong's face was glowing red as he cheerfully greeted the others at the card table.

He refused their requests to keep playing.

He liked cards, but he had his own principles.

He could not stay out too late; he had to be home before one o'clock.

He glanced at the time on his silver wristwatch.

It was already twelve fifty.

Today had run a little later than usual.

But he did not mind.

"Had good luck tonight. I'll go grab something to eat."

He reached out and touched the stack of cash in his pocket.

That was tonight's winnings, a few thousand yuan.

Though he was already in his forties, he remained single, not because he lacked the money to find a partner.

Quite the opposite.

Here in Qirong City, demolition compensation had given him two apartments and a storefront. Apart from the apartment he lived in, he rented out the other apartment and the storefront.

Even if he did nothing at all, he had seven or eight thousand yuan coming in every month.

The reason was simply that he did not want to start a family.

After all, life alone was wonderfully carefree.

But as he grew older,

his parents aged, while his brothers and sisters had all settled down and built their own families.

He had begun to feel somewhat lonely as well, which was why he used cards as entertainment to pass the time.

Maybe after a while, I should find myself a wife and live a proper life too.

Thinking that, he walked along the roadside when a sudden urge to urinate hit him.

He looked around.

Perhaps because it was so late, the street was completely deserted.

Dim yellow streetlights illuminated the uneven, pothole-ridden road.

Apart from a few barbecue stalls in the distance that stayed open for late-night diners, where sounds of drinking and finger-guessing games carried over, the shops on either side had all pulled down their metal shutters.

As for the residential buildings behind them, they were hidden in the darkness, with only patches of mottled, blackened walls faintly visible.

Occasionally, one or two windows gave off a weak glow.

A night wind swept by, stirring the dead leaves along the roadside into flight.

It made the street seem especially desolate.

He tightened his pants.

Considering how embarrassing it would be if someone saw him relieving himself right on the road,

he headed toward the entrance of an alley beside him.

"Damn it, which bastard took a dump here? No public decency at all."

Looking at the pile of yellow filth on his shoe, Lin Dong cursed under his breath in annoyance.

He glanced into the alley.

It was pitch-black inside, with no streetlights. There was no moonlight tonight either, making it even darker.

A few pieces of red and green trash lay scattered on the ground, while the air was thick with the stench of rotting fruit.

Perhaps it was just an illusion, but faint, fragmented sounds seemed to come from within.

He did not think much of it, assuming it was something like rats.

He undid his belt, and as the sound of urine splashing rang out, a look of relief could not help but appear on his face.

Clang!

Just then,

the sound of a soda can hitting the ground and rolling came from one side, slowly rolling out of the shadows to his feet.

Whether it was the night wind or something else, Lin Dong felt a chill, and his body involuntarily shuddered.

By reflex, he glanced into the alley.

But in the next moment,

his expression froze, his mouth fell slightly open, and his face was filled with shock and terror!

Then!

A pitch-black arm shot out from the dark shadows and seized Lin Dong by the throat.

Without giving him any time to react,

it dragged him straight inside.

Faint sounds of struggling came from within the alley for several seconds before it fell into a deathly silence.

Then came a strange gnawing sound, as though something were devouring flesh, accompanied faintly by the sound of bones cracking.

By the faint sliver of light cast from the streetlamp on the road ahead, one could vaguely see

what seemed to be a winding trail of blood flowing out across the ground.