Cousin

"Yu Qingqing, I'm not your cousin." Xu Huo hung up. The next second, she called again:

"Xu Huo! Sure, we're distant cousins, but you're being way too cold-blooded..."

He hung up.

She called again. "Can you let me finish what I'm saying? Men are all pigs..."

He hung up again.

After she called several more times, Xu Huo finally said into the phone, "Talk properly, or I'm turning off my phone."

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds before she said quietly, "Someone bullied me. My agent tricked me into entertaining a client."

"Where are you?" Xu Huo grabbed his key card and headed out.

"Ruixi Hotel, Ninth Floor."

Xu Huo stopped, turned around, and headed upstairs. After climbing two floors, he spotted a slender figure sitting on the steps by the stairwell. Her foundation had smeared into a mess, and she was wiping away tears as she sent voice messages.

"That fat bastard even tried to touch me. I kicked him so hard I broke his balls!"

"...My agent's no good either. I should've listened to my cousin and gone home to inherit the family fortune. My family's loaded, after all."

"Glad you know it." Xu Huo came over and lifted her to her feet. He looked her over carefully. Her makeup was a mess, but she seemed to be in decent spirits.

Yu Qingqing gazed at him with shining eyes. "Cousin, you're amazing! You really got here in five minutes!"

"I'm staying here tonight." Hearing footsteps in the corridor, he said sternly, "Why didn't you leave as soon as something happened? You hit someone. Didn't you think they might retaliate?"

Yu Qingqing was about to say something when the stairwell's fire door was kicked open. A wealthy-looking middle-aged man charged out with her agent and two bodyguards. The moment he saw her, the man reached for her in a fury. "You bitch!"

Xu Huo caught his arm and shoved it back. The man stumbled two steps before the bodyguards behind him caught him.

"Who the fuck are you? How dare you meddle in my business!"

"He's Yu Qingqing's cousin, just an extra." Her agent hadn't given Xu Huo a second thought. He spoke directly to Yu Qingqing. "What are you standing there for? Get over here and apologize to General Manager Zhu!"

"Forget the apology. You!" General Manager Zhu pointed at Xu Huo. "Clean Yu Qingqing up and send her to my bed. If you make me happy, I'll let this go. Otherwise, you can forget about making a living in Ting City!"

Xu Huo backhanded him. With a crack, General Manager Zhu clutched his hand and screamed, staggering backward as he shouted, "Beat him to death!"

The bodyguards charged, but Xu Huo easily grabbed one by the arm and sent him tumbling down the stairs. Before he could hit the bottom, Xu Huo seized the other by the back of the head and slammed it into the wall!

Two cries of agony rang out one after the other. Xu Huo was still standing where he'd been, without even shifting his feet.

"D-don't come any closer!" The agent watched the man walking toward him. "Assault is against the law!"

Xu Huo casually slapped him. The agent dropped to his knees and spat out teeth mixed with blood.

Xu Huo hauled General Manager Zhu over, then sat on the steps and watched the two men kneeling side by side. He leisurely lit a cigarette and said nothing for a long while.

The agent was better at reading the room than General Manager Zhu. Trembling, he said, "Brother Xu, we can talk this out. It's not worth getting yourself arrested over a nobody like me!"

Xu Huo smiled. "Ever heard of Evolvers?"

"Most Evolvers don't eat people, but some do. While you've been out committing crimes, they've been hungry, hiding somewhere in this city and clawing at themselves for a bite to eat."

News about Evolvers hadn't been made public, but the internet was widespread now, and any hint of unusual activity made its way online.

Though none of them had ever seen an Evolver, General Manager Zhu and the others had heard rumors. All they knew was that Evolvers were incredibly strong and fast, and hard to catch after committing a crime. General Manager Zhu's two bodyguards had been hired for a monthly salary of twenty or thirty thousand, and they were no pushovers. Yet they'd been like children in front of Xu Huo, unable even to fight back. And he knew so much about Evolvers—he was one!

Evolvers ate people!

Their legs went weak.

"What are you going to do? There are cameras all over the hotel. You won't get away with it either!" General Manager Zhu's teeth chattered. He was terrified Xu Huo would pounce on him and eat him alive at any moment!

"Relax. I'll go burn down the security room later." Xu Huo flicked the ash from his cigarette.

Now even the two bodyguards began to tremble.

"Brother Xu! Brother Xu!" The agent clung to his leg. "You can't blame me for this! Zhu took a liking to Qingqing and talked it over with the company's vice president. He forced me to bring her here, or I'd get fired. My wife's heavily pregnant, and I can't lose my job. Who'd willingly do something this vile otherwise!"

General Manager Zhu glared furiously at his back, but he had no time to settle the score. He shoved Yu Qingqing toward Xu Huo, opened the stairwell door, and ran!

The two bodyguards were also thinking of making a break for it, but to their surprise, the fire door opened again a second later. General Manager Zhu stumbled backward, clutching his throat and making choking sounds. As if something were suspending him, he was dragged to the wall and lifted up, his bulky body hanging in the air with only the tips of his toes barely touching the ground. That was the only thing keeping him from being strangled by his own weight!

"H-help..." He stared at the bodyguards, but they didn't dare approach. They huddled in the corner as if they'd seen a ghost, not even daring to look at Xu Huo.

General Manager Zhu's head was engorged with blood. His pants were soaked, and tears and snot streamed down his face. His eyes rolled toward Xu Huo, and he managed to force out two breathy syllables. "S-spare... me..."

Only then did Xu Huo raise his hand and release him. He glanced at the man sprawled on the floor like a dead pig. "You should stop doing bad things. Things are different now."

He turned to the agent. "Can Yu Qingqing terminate her contract tomorrow? Any problem with that?"

The agent came to his senses and immediately replied, "No problem. I'll prepare the paperwork right away and convince the company to waive the termination fee!"

Xu Huo nodded and took Yu Qingqing downstairs.

Back in his room, Yu Qingqing stood by the door, watching him warily. "Cousin, you're not hungry right now, are you?"

Xu Huo looked back at her with a faintly amused smile. "That's true. Young women smell much better than middle-aged men."

Yu Qingqing's eyes widened. "Cousin, we're family! Our blood is thicker than water!"

"Do you know why the first thing the zombies in those movies do after climbing out of their coffins is drink their relatives' blood?"

"Why?"

"Because their blood is thicker than water, so it tastes better."

Yu Qingqing breathed a huge sigh of relief and patted her chest. "That's great, then. We're not blood-related."

"Go wash up. Once your contract is terminated tomorrow, take a plane home." Xu Huo smiled faintly.

"I won't." Yu Qingqing ran over and clung to his arm, pleading. "Even if I quit acting, I can stay and take care of you! If you get hungry, I'll go lure some bad people out for you to eat. How about it? I'm a pretty loyal cousin, right?"

Xu Huo's expression changed slightly. He grabbed her by the shoulders, turned her around, and yanked hard at the back of her collar.