The Desperate Little Goddess

The sky had gone completely dark. Su Xiaoqiang hummed softly as she walked home. She'd been out having fun all day, and she was feeling pretty tired.

The streets were quiet. Her shoes tapped against the solid concrete road.

Aside from the occasional sound of a car passing in the distance, all she could hear was her own footsteps.

Wait!

Listen closely. There seemed to be another set of footsteps not far behind her. They didn't sound like someone walking normally, but more like someone deliberately trying to conceal their steps.

"Several people have gone missing in the city recently. The police warn everyone not to go out alone at night, especially young women."

Su Xiaoqiang remembered the news she'd seen recently. Surely it couldn't be that bad of a coincidence.

Su Xiaoqiang pretended to brush her hair, tucking it behind her ear. She used the opportunity to turn slightly and glance behind her from the corner of her eye.

She could see a dark figure behind her. It looked tall and broad, and wore a hood.

Su Xiaoqiang stiffened. Even someone like her, who usually acted like a tough older sister, was a little scared in this kind of situation.

She couldn't help speeding up a little, but the footsteps behind her quickened too!

In her panic, she wandered into a run-down alley, too focused on getting away to take in her surroundings.

The moment she entered the alley, Su Xiaoqiang regretted it. She regretted letting panic send her running in the wrong direction.

The footsteps behind her quickened again.

The hurried footsteps mingled with Su Xiaoqiang's growing fear. The person behind her already knew she'd noticed him, but he deliberately made his steps louder instead of hurrying to catch up.

It was the kind of torment a cat inflicted on a mouse before catching it.

Watching Su Xiaoqiang stumble forward in panic, the dark figure behind her felt a surge of pleasure as she fell deeper into the fear he had woven around her.

Usually, even if she walked slowly, she'd be through an alley like this in no time. But today, it seemed endless, and Su Xiaoqiang felt utterly helpless.

Zhao Hao was an unemployed drifter. He'd once been just an ordinary street thug, always up to petty theft and other shady business.

Then one day, he discovered a hunter website. As long as you completed the jobs you took on there, you could earn money.

He accepted a job to retrieve an item for someone near the city's overpass. It was some kind of drug, which they called an Evolution Drug.

Later, those mysterious people told him that if he drank it, he could earn some extra money.

So he drank it without hesitation. After all, the money would last him a good while, and all he had to do was try the drug.

When he got home, Zhao Hao discovered that his pupils had turned gold.

After his pupils turned gold, his physical abilities improved a lot. Some parts of his body had grown scales, but it didn't matter. That was just a minor side effect. Compared to that, the superpowers he'd gained were what really mattered.

But after his physical abilities improved dramatically, a bloodthirsty urge welled up inside him.

So he was no longer content with petty theft.

As the bloodthirsty urge grew stronger, Zhao Hao began regularly following young, beautiful women who were walking alone at night.

The recent string of widely reported disappearances was his doing.

Today, he'd found a new prey: a beautiful girl. Judging by the way he'd followed her during the day, she seemed to be from a wealthy family.

To avoid being discovered, Zhao Hao had forced himself to wait until nightfall.

Now he'd finally caught her alone, and he could no longer restrain his hunger.

"Heh, heh!"

A laugh rasped like air escaping from a broken bellows. Su Xiaoqiang could no longer contain her fear and began to run in a panic.

Her hurried footsteps tapped through the alley as she raced ahead in her simple, low-heeled women's shoes.

But the wind blowing toward her seemed to hold her back, and the man behind her drew closer and closer.

The light was just ahead. The exit was getting closer.

But when the tall, hooded figure appeared at the mouth of the alley, Su Xiaoqiang despaired.

She hadn't even noticed how he'd managed to get ahead of her.

"Why'd you stop running?"

Zhao Hao's mocking voice rang out. He pushed back his hood, revealing glowing golden eyes and blue-gray scales with a metallic sheen on both sides of his neck.

There were also a few scattered scales on his face.

Overwhelming fear swept over her. She realized he might be the person from the news, but she hadn't expected him to be a monster.

What kind of world was this?

"Don't come any closer. I'm warning you, my dad has a lot of influence around here. If you lay a hand on me, you're dead. If you leave now, I can pretend I never saw you."

Fighting down her fear, Su Xiaoqiang backed away as she said this to him.

"Don't worry. I've checked this place out already. There are no cameras.

"And even the entire city's police force can't catch me. Do you really think your dad can? Besides, with my abilities now, I have nothing to fear from anyone."

Zhao Hao moved closer, savoring the fear on her face.

Looking at his repulsive face, Su Xiaoqiang felt a chill deep in her heart.

"I've been following you all day. I watched you go shopping with your classmates earlier and managed to hold back my urge to tear you apart. You're the prettiest prey I've ever found. I'm going to savor you slowly!"

Zhao Hao could barely restrain his urge to devour her.

Su Xiaoqiang staggered back a few steps. She could tell that the monster in front of her had no intention of letting her go.

She covered her mouth, suppressing a wave of nausea.

She was just an ordinary high school student. She'd never encountered anything like this before.

With no other choice, Su Xiaoqiang turned and used all her strength to run the other way.

But she hadn't gotten far when she suddenly fell to the ground with a thud.

Her vision blurred, and tears soaked Su Xiaoqiang's delicate face.

As the monster who looked ready to eat her approached, she pressed her hands against the ground and inched backward.

"Someone, please... help me."

As she crumbled inside, the monster with scales on his face reached out to her, wearing a crazed smile.

"Shing!"

The sound of a sword being drawn rang out.

"That's... a sword?"

"And... my hand?"

Zhao Hao stared blankly at his severed right hand.

"Disgusting." Lu Mingfei looked at the monster and felt a surge of revulsion.

A familiar voice reached Su Xiaoqiang's ears.

Su Xiaoqiang looked up. Lu Mingfei stood before her, a black scabbard hanging at his left hip and a katana gripped in his right hand.

His gaze was ice-cold as he looked at the monster.

"My hand! How dare you cut off my hand!" Zhao Hao was in so much pain that snot and tears streamed down his face.