The cat was black from head to tail. In a place any darker, it would’ve been impossible to see—especially in the sewers, where its coloring made it very good at staying hidden.
The black cat wasn’t afraid of Ye Zhuangyan. It even strolled right up to her like they were old friends, rubbing against her and purring.
Ye Zhuangyan froze. When she realized she didn’t want to eat the black cat in front of her, she let out a breath of relief. She wasn’t that Saya.
The black cat rubbed against Ye Zhuangyan’s feet, its black fur smearing onto the hem of her skirt.
Ye Zhuangyan didn’t care. After walking through the sewers for so long, her dress was already filthy.
She cautiously reached out one index finger and tapped the black cat on the head.
The black cat didn’t resist or show any displeasure. It even let out a soft, “Meow~”
Once Ye Zhuangyan was sure she wouldn’t hurt the black cat, she relaxed and began stroking its head.
The black cat’s head didn’t feel all that soft. It hadn’t been bathed in years and had spent a long time wandering the streets, so its fur was a little coarse.
Still, Ye Zhuangyan liked the way it felt.
Maybe it was because she’d loved cats in her previous life, and that affection had carried over after her transmigration, keeping this body from harming them.
When the black cat began rubbing its little head against her hand, Ye Zhuangyan felt a little happy.
“Meow…”
She softly meowed back.
Ye Zhuangyan hadn’t expected a cat to be the first to let its guard down around her.
It was a strange feeling. Ye Zhuangyan sensed a faint connection between herself and the black cat.
For a brief moment, Ye Zhuangyan lost herself in thought. The black cat slipped out from under her hand, lowered its voice, and let out a wary, threatening growl toward the space behind her.
Seeing the black cat’s strange behavior, Ye Zhuangyan immediately snapped back to attention.
Ye Zhuangyan sprang to her feet, turned around, and looked toward a dark corner about a dozen meters behind her.
“Who’s there?”
The black cat’s sudden appearance had distracted her, making it hard for her to use her senses properly.
“Well, I’ll be… I never thought I’d find a woman in a place like this.”
A thin, unfamiliar young man stepped out of the dark corner.
He looked to be in his twenties and wore a battered leather jacket. He was filthy, with tangled hair and a thick beard that looked as if it had been growing for years. His smile was ugly and leering.
He seemed to be a vagrant living near the sewers.
The look in his eyes was openly predatory.
Without hesitation, Ye Zhuangyan scooped up the black cat beside her and ran toward another corner.
Then Ye Zhuangyan realized there was a problem.
She had a monster’s body, but she hadn’t eaten in too long. To conserve energy, her body’s functions had slowed down, and she couldn’t use many of her abilities properly.
On top of that, Ye Zhuangyan had only just gotten used to this body. She’d eaten only a few “jellies” to stave off hunger, and now she could run only about as fast as an average middle-schooler.
So instead of carrying the cat, she’d probably be faster if she let it run on its own.
After turning a few corners, Ye Zhuangyan put the black cat down and ran toward another bend.
She ran for several minutes and turned corner after corner. When the vagrant still hadn’t caught up, she finally stopped to catch her breath.
But she’d barely had a moment to rest when a voice came from nearby.
“Little girl, where are you? Stop playing hide-and-seek. Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you. Come out, and I’ll take you home, okay?”
Ye Zhuangyan had no choice but to keep running toward the next corner.
Then a wall blocked her way.
Just as Ye Zhuangyan was about to run back, a hand suddenly appeared around the corner she’d come from.
“Found you!”
The vagrant stepped around the corner.
He stared at the girl, who had nowhere left to run, with an aggressively predatory gaze and a mocking expression.
“Didn’t your parents teach you not to go wandering around in someone else’s home?”
Ye Zhuangyan backed away, but after only a few steps, her back hit the wall.
Ye Zhuangyan was exhausted.
Compared to her body, her mind felt far more drained.
Most importantly, Ye Zhuangyan couldn’t feel emotions right now—not even wariness.
Her senses had been heightened, but her human emotions had disappeared.
All Ye Zhuangyan could do now was remain rational and calm.
Feeling emotions like happiness, anger, sorrow, or joy was difficult.
With her emotions absent, everything she did now came from the memories and experience she’d had as a human, not instinct.
Even with the vagrant blocking her last escape route and leaving her trapped, her body’s response was—
No danger.
In other words, a cat would’ve bristled at the sight of this vagrant living in the sewers, but Ye Zhuangyan didn’t.
Humans couldn’t understand how monsters thought—and that included Ye Zhuangyan, who had become a monster herself.
As the vagrant drew closer, Ye Zhuangyan finally understood just how dangerous it was to be a girl alone in an unfamiliar place.
Especially somewhere as harsh as this.
…
The vagrant stopped less than three meters from Ye Zhuangyan.
“Don’t worry, little girl. I really won’t hurt you. Come on, walk over here. I’ll take you home, okay?”
His voice was unpleasant—hoarse and dry, with a tone that sounded like he was teasing a child.
Perhaps, seeing that the girl had nowhere left to go, the vagrant had decided to toy with her.
Like a cat that catches a mouse, then deliberately lets it go so it can chase it down again—over and over, until the mouse is barely alive. Once the cat gets tired of playing, it eats the helpless creature.
The vagrant didn’t actually expect the girl to believe him. He’d simply thought of it as a new kind of fun.
He felt like a devout follower of God. Whenever he killed a bird or some other animal, he would trace an inverted cross over his chest and murmur a prayer for God’s forgiveness.
And the petite girl before him was a gift from God, a salvation born in the darkness of the world.
At the thought, his body trembled and his soul quivered.
That trembling didn’t come from fear of committing a sin. It was the thrill and frenzy of his humanity being lifted to a higher plane.
Moved to tears, the vagrant’s eyes grew bloodshot.
Like a devout believer, he bent forward and slowly reached out a trembling hand, wanting to grab the girl before him…
Ye Zhuangyan didn’t understand his sick idea of fun, but she knew the things he said were bullshit.
In his eyes, Ye Zhuangyan saw a flame called desire.
And reflected in that flame was the one about to be devoured: her.
In Ye Zhuangyan’s eyes, he wasn’t human at all. He was a beast gone mad, with nothing left but **.
