Chapter 39 - A Predatory Turn of Fate
"We can't talk here," Ren Xing said, his voice dropping to a low, gravelly register. "It’s not convenient."
*Not convenient?* I looked around the hospital corridor. Aside from the swarm of police officers and my senior, Lu Daoshi, there wasn't a soul in sight. My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. *What could possibly be so inconvenient, Officer Ren? Don’t scare me like this!*
The walk to his car was a blur of oppressive silence. Once we were inside the cramped confines of his vehicle, the atmosphere only grew heavier. Ren Xing didn't say a word. He gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white, his eyes constantly darting to the rearview mirror as if he expected a legion of monsters to crest the horizon at any moment. He was on high alert, his body coiled with a tension that felt less like professional vigilance and more like a cornered animal’s desperation.
By the time we reached his apartment, the silence had become a physical weight. Ren Xing fumbled with his keys, the metallic jingle echoing sharply in the quiet hallway. The moment the door clicked shut behind us, I couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Ren Xing, what the hell is going on? What did you find at the scene?"
Ren Xing didn't answer immediately. He turned to me, his gaze dark and unreadable in the dim light of the foyer. Before I could process the look in his eyes, he moved. With a sudden, violent grace, he slammed me against the door.
The impact knocked the wind out of me. "Holy—!" I gasped, my protest dying in my throat as his scent hit me. It wasn't just the usual smell of a tired cop—stale coffee and cheap cigarettes. It was a thick, cloying odor of sour sweat mixed with something sharper, something that smelled faintly of copper and old meat.
Ren Xing let out a low, dry chuckle that sent shivers down my spine. "Hey," he whispered, his face inches from mine. "The way I see it, this world is about to go to hell. Everything’s falling apart. For all I know, you might not even see me tomorrow."
"What are you talking about..." I stammered, trying to push against his chest, but he was like a stone wall.
"So, stay with me tonight," he said, his voice dropping even lower, vibrating with a raw, unsettling hunger. "I want to have you. I want to top you."
He leaned in, his intent clear, his lips hovering dangerously close to mine. In a blind panic, I didn't think—I just reacted. I reached up and shoved my fingers right into his nostrils, hooking them and pulling back with all my might.
"What kind of demonic nonsense are you spewing?!" I yelled, using the momentary shock to shove him away. I scrambled back, putting the sofa between us. "Have you lost your mind? My roommate will *delete* you in a heartbeat if he hears you talking like that, you hear me? One click and you’re gone!"
"I believe you," Ren Xing said, wiping his nose with the back of his hand, a predatory grin stretching across his face. "That’s why we have to do it tonight. You’re always so unlucky, always running to me and crying about your problems... you have no idea how much I’ve wanted to just pin you down and... well, you get the idea."
He spoke with his usual flippant, shameless tone, but the way his chest heaved and the frantic glint in his eyes told a different story. This wasn't just Ren Xing being a 'stinking hooligan.' Something was fundamentally wrong. Usually, he was a man of boundaries, a professional despite his foul mouth. But now, with the trauma of Chunxiao’s death still fresh, he was suddenly overcome with... lust?
Then it clicked. My blood ran cold as I remembered a detail he’d let slip earlier. *He said he’d been bitten.*
I looked at him, really looked at him, and realized the horrifying truth. This wasn't a romantic advance; it was a biological imperative. If he’d been bitten by one of Old Chu’s 'sons'—those flayed, parasitic nightmares—then the thing standing in front of me wasn't just Ren Xing anymore.
"You've got to be kidding me!" I cried, pointing a trembling finger at him. "So this 'rapist' act is actually Old Chu’s newborn sons acting out through you? This is a total mess-up of the family hierarchy! I was your father's college classmate! I'm practically your uncle! I'm your dear Uncle Ye!"
I stared at the possessed officer, my mind reeling. This unlucky kid had gone from a defender of the law to a vessel for a monster's instincts in the span of a single evening.
