Worker Gu walked through the narrow alley, carrying a steaming roast chicken in his left hand and a bottle of liquor in his right.
He had just gotten off work. After a long, exhausting day, he was planning to go home and enjoy a drink.
"Wait, what's that?"
A moment ago, he'd glanced casually toward the corner of the street and seen a blurry black shadow dart through a place the streetlights couldn't reach.
"Don't tell me..."
The terror of the Heavenly Demon had sunk deep into people's hearts, and he recalled some unpleasant things.
He forced down his fear and nervously glanced back again.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak."
A small, dark-brown creature poked its head out of a storm drain beside the curb, sniffing around.
Worker Gu let out a long breath and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with the hand holding the roast chicken.
"So it was just a rat. Scared the hell out of me."
Worker Gu chuckled to himself.
"Man, I really am getting more and more pathetic. Getting scared like that by a rat."
Then he turned around and picked up the bottle of liquor he'd dropped in fright.
And the instant he stood up—
A large hand clamped down on his back. No matter how he struggled or strained, that hand pressed down like a thousand-jin weight, keeping him from standing.
Worker Gu thought one of his coworkers was playing a prank on him, and cursed under his breath.
"Fuck your mother, let me—"
Still cursing, Worker Gu stubbornly raised his head.
What he saw—
A pair of scarlet eyes glared down at him. Strings of bloody flesh hung from the corners of a gaping mouth, and the figure held half a leg in its hand.
The stump was ringed with ragged, torn