Since this situation might be dangerous, and Yan Feifan's raw strength wasn't high, Lu Ding didn't intend to take him along.
A monster that thought like a normal person, could replace someone's identity without anyone noticing, and had operated among humans for so long probably wasn't easy to deal with.
Going alone was better. Even in the worst-case scenario, if Lu Ding couldn't beat the monster in the caller's home, he was confident he could escape.
But with Yan Feifan along, that wouldn't necessarily hold true.
"Don't worry, Patrol Officer Lu. Go ahead, I'll watch things here. Be careful out there, too."
It was dark outside, and visibility was poor.
After saying, "All right," Lu Ding vaulted out the window and flew into the air, pushing the Wind-Calming Technique to its limit.
How could driving be faster than using cheats?
Gao Zhengliang was so stunned that his mouth fell open involuntarily.
At that moment, every myth and folk legend took concrete form.
In Gao Zhengliang's mind, the faces of all those stories' male protagonists merged completely with Lu Ding's.
So qi refiners could fly?
Lu Ding hurtled over Baofan District, anger smoldering in his eyes.
He was going to see exactly what dared cause trouble in the district under his jurisdiction!!!
It had even pulled a civet-cat-for-the-crown-prince switch and gone off to work in broad daylight?
Did it really think he, Lu Ding, was some harmless vegetarian?!!!
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Downstairs at Dinghao Residential Complex.
Dong Xinrui had just finished moving. She took her big golden retriever, which had been cooped up all day, downstairs to poop and pee, and to learn her way around the complex while she was at it.
But as soon as she got downstairs, she ran into a group of elderly men and women playing with children.
Children were naturally playful, and golden retrievers loved people to death. Now that the two had met, they were like a turtle eyeing a mung bean-they hit it off instantly.
Dong Xinrui couldn't hold her dog back. Her big golden retriever was determined to play with the children.
Fortunately, she had put a muzzle on the dog before leaving, so she wasn't worried about it hurting the children. The elderly people nearby also told her to let it play with them.
Dong Xinrui didn't give it much further thought. She let out the leash so the dog could play with the children, while she struck up a lively conversation with the elderly people.
She enjoyed the juicy gossip and listened to their stories.
Every so often, she let out an exclamation of surprise.
Eventually, the elderly people started talking about their lives, mentioning who else had passed away.
Dong Xinrui, whose maternal grandfather had passed away just last year, chimed in.
"Ah, my grandpa was a veteran practitioner of Chinese medicine. He told me that birth, aging, sickness, and death were things everyone had to face, and that I should take them in stride. I always thought I could, but when it actually happened to me, I couldn't get over it for half a year."
"Especially since, just before he died, my grandpa called me to his bedside and had me feel his pulse. He told me calmly, 'This is a terminal pulse.' After saying that, my grandpa breathed his last..."
The elderly people listening all praised her as a good, filial girl.
Somehow, the conversation then turned to Chinese medicine.
One elderly person spoke up first, saying their appetite had been poor lately and asking Dong Wenrui to take their pulse.
She was itching to try her hand, too. She said her skills were lacking: she could take pulses but couldn't prescribe medicine, and they should treat it as a bit of fun rather than take it seriously.
The elderly person said it was fine.
Then they held out their hand for her to feel their pulse.
After the first came a second, then a third.
Most of the elderly people were fairly healthy, with nothing more than a few age-related ailments at worst.
A small number weren't in very good health, but none had any serious illnesses.
Until one elderly woman dragged her husband over.
"Young lady, take my husband's pulse for me and see what's wrong. He used to be quite talkative, but now he can't squeeze out so much as a fart all day, and he's not eating well either."
Dong Wenrui placed her fingers on his wrist.
Hmm? That's not right! Why isn't it beating?
Could it be that my skills aren't good enough?
"Grandpa, let me have your other hand."
At first, Dong Wenrui had been taking pulses with one hand. She had some confidence in her skills, but now someone without a pulse had shown up.
Dong Wenrui suddenly felt uncomfortably hot.
To be safe, she used both hands.
She pressed down!
Still no pulse!!!
Oh my god, this is something uncanny. A living person without a pulse? This is no joke!!
Yet she couldn't bring herself to say it.
How was she supposed to put it?
Grandma, let me tell you something funny. Your old man has no pulse, but he can still move around. Isn't that strange?
Making the excuse that she had lots of things to unpack at home, Dong Wenrui took her dog and left.
Once home, the more she thought about it, the less she understood.
How could someone she had seen alive with her own eyes have no pulse?
She messaged her best friend to ask.
Her friend told her bluntly, "Isn't that simple? If they move but have no pulse, they're either a zombie or a ghost. You've hit the jackpot. This is a rare sight! Hurry up and take a video on your phone. You're guaranteed to go viral."
The speaker meant nothing by it, but the listener took it to heart.
When it wasn't happening to you, you dared say anything.
It was right then.
The doorbell rang.
Already like a bird startled by a bowstring, Dong Wenrui was so frightened that she leaped off the couch.
"Who is it?!!!!!"
No one answered.
The doorbell stopped ringing, but a second later, knocking began.
Knock, knock, knock...
Dong Wenrui's voice rose involuntarily. "Who is it?!!!!"
Still, no one spoke.
She could only muster her courage and tiptoe toward the front door. When she reached it, the thing outside seemed to sense her behind the door and stopped knocking.
By now, Dong Wenrui's heart was practically in her throat.
She slowly leaned toward the peephole.
There was nothing but a gray blur.
She let out a long breath.
"I'm just scaring myself, just scaring myself. They probably knocked on the wrong door."
Patting her chest, Dong Wenrui comforted herself.
But then, the last flash of inspiration she should have had suddenly struck.
She muttered to herself.
"But I clearly heard knocking. I shouldn't have been hearing things. But if someone really knocked, why didn't the sound-activated light outside come on?"
To check, she leaned toward the peephole again.
This time, two white dots had appeared in that gray blur.
Dong Wenrui's pupils instantly contracted.
White dots!!!!!
That old man's eyes had white dots in them, too!!!
It was that old man from earlier!
It wasn't that the sound-activated light hadn't come on. The old man had also pressed his eye against the peephole, blocking the light.
"I see you!!!!!"
Bang!!!
The old man's voice came together with a tremendous crash.
A huge bulge instantly appeared in the sturdy security door.
It showed just how powerful the thing outside was.
At that moment, Dong Wenrui understood, too. It wasn't human, it definitely wasn't human. Whatever was outside the door couldn't possibly be human!!
She was so terrified that she fell to the floor, clamping a hand over her mouth, not daring to make a sound.
She could only scramble to her feet and run back inside, trying to grab her phone and call public security.
But it was already too late.
A huge opening was torn in the security door. Expressionless, the old man squeezed through it into the apartment, letting the broken door's sharp edges scrape and tear his flesh.
He kept muttering, "I see you!!!"
Despair spread through Dong Wenrui's heart.
In her twenty-odd years of life, when had she ever experienced anything like this?
A second later, the same words came from the floor-to-ceiling window behind her.
"I see you, too!!"