C10 What Is Rui Rui?(1)

Women are a dime a dozen in this world, and the streets are teeming with them—nothing out of the ordinary.

Yet, the woman before him was memorable in many ways.

Take her height, for instance. Despite wearing flats, she stood close to 175 cm tall. Or consider her hair, which was exceptionally long—longer than any other woman Shen Xiang had ever encountered, cascading down to her knees at a length of 1.3 meters. And then there was her face...

Her features were pristine and luminous, her eyes particularly striking. They were a blue reminiscent of a mixed heritage, as mesmerizing as the Milky Way itself.

She was a beauty—a beauty with a remarkable presence.

Shen Xiang pocketed his phone and looked at her quizzically. "Who are you looking for?"

Her hands were in her pockets, and though her loose clothing hid her figure, the black pencil pants she wore highlighted her slender, long legs. Her deep blue eyes locked onto Shen Xiang's face as she declared, "I'm looking for you."

"Looking for me?" Shen Xiang was momentarily taken aback. Sure, she was attractive, but...

"I don't recall requesting any kind of house call service." He moved past her, unlocked his door, and without offering her a chance to enter, quickly slipped inside, saying, "You've got the wrong person."

With that, he attempted to shut the door.

He wasn't about to be swindled. These kinds of scams were all too common in movies.

"Thud!"

The noise wasn't the door closing, but rather the sound of it hitting something mid-shut. Through the still-ajar door, Shen Xiang saw that the woman had wedged her foot in the doorway.

"Shen Xiang, it's you I'm looking for."

Shen Xiang hesitated, then reopened the door. Someone who knew his name was no ordinary con artist, but likely one with a plan. He eyed her and asked, "Do we know each other?"

"Whether we know each other or not, what does it matter?" she replied, her neck arched, speaking to him with the grace of an elegant cat.

Shen Xiang didn't appreciate her gaze—it felt as though she could see right through him, yet he knew nothing about her.

"Oh, it's fine then. Goodbye." Shen Xiang had no interest in engaging further and was ready to close the door once more.

"The two who attacked you the night before last are still searching for you. Aren't you curious about that?"

The door halted midway again, but this time, it wasn't because of the other person's force; Shen Xiang had stopped it himself.

"Come in."

He gave the visitor a once-over, swung the door wide open, bent down to slip into his house shoes, and made his way into the living room to settle on the couch.

"What should I call you?"

As he eyed the woman, a thought crossed his mind: Could she be a colleague of an old classmate? But that didn't seem right. If there was an issue, they would have messaged him on WeChat. Just today at work, he received a message advising him to stay indoors, mentioning a criminal gang nearby. But there was no mention of someone coming to see him.

Subtly, he slid a fruit knife from the coffee table into a more accessible crevice in the couch.

It's not about harboring ill will, but about being prepared.

"Rui... you can call me Sister Rui." The woman's blue eyes surveyed Shen Xiang's room, her brow furrowed as she sniffed the air. "Have you gotten a cat again?"

"Are you allergic to cats?" Shen Xiang asked, noting her exaggerated reaction, then added, "I used to have one, but not anymore. Is there still a cat smell in here?"

The woman glanced towards the living room's French windows, then quickly averted her gaze and took a seat on the armchair beside Shen Xiang. "It's nothing. Get me a glass of water."

"??"

Are you giving me orders now? Shen Xiang looked at the woman, bewildered, while Rui returned his gaze expectantly, as if waiting for him to fulfill her request.

He decided to hold back and figure out her true intentions.

Instead of getting up to fetch water, Shen Xiang grabbed a bottle of Coke from beneath the coffee table and slid it towards her. "Here, have this. Now, what did you mean earlier? Who are you, and how do you know about what happened that night? Who are they, and why are they still after me?"

He rattled off a series of questions.

"Who are they? To put it in official terms, they're criminals and potential criminals. And who am I? Just a tenant in this neighborhood, living right next door to you. How do I know about them? Because I was right there, watching everything unfold that night," Rui responded methodically to each question before adding, "As for why I'm still seeking you out, that's precisely what I came here to clarify. I'm eager to understand exactly what transpired that day."

Crack, fizz—

She popped the tab on the Coke can, releasing a hiss of carbon dioxide. Taking a small sip, she immediately wrinkled her brow in distaste and set the can aside.

"A tenant?" Shen Xiang echoed, puzzled. Then, as if a lightbulb went off, he addressed her, "Whether you're a nosy journalist or just driven by personal curiosity, I apologize, but I have nothing to disclose about that day's events. Integrity is important, and I'm bound by a non-disclosure agreement."

It seemed he wasn't any official type, more like someone digging for dirt.

Rui wasn't taken aback by Shen Xiang's guarded stance. She leaned in and said, "A year and a half ago, on July 15, 2019, B City and the surrounding Yangtze River Delta region were jolted by an odd noise. That day marked the beginning of a bizarre fortnight, with zoo animals turning on each other, pets injuring and even eating humans. The government has scrubbed much of the evidence to manage the narrative, but if you dig deep enough, there are still traces to be found."

Shen Xiang pulled out his phone and began searching. News from July 15th was scarce, mostly just official air-raid warnings. But when he narrowed his search with keywords like 'pet attacks' and 'animal aggression,' he stumbled upon a slew of bizarre accounts.

B City Netizen A: Someone died next door, supposedly eaten by something. And the family's Husky? Vanished. Rumor has it, the dog was eaten clean. Horrifying.

B City Netizen B: That seems far-fetched. A Husky's stomach isn't that large, is it?

B City Netizen C: Don't spout off if you haven't seen it yourself. In our complex, two feral cats gnawed on a man's thigh! If the cops hadn't arrived when they did, he'd have bled out for sure.

Shen Xiang's brow furrowed as he sifted through the information that had surfaced in various forums and comment sections. Not a single official source or media outlet had reported on these incidents. He then ran a search for the animal-head crime syndicate and discovered that there had indeed been some official bulletins since last August.

"Did you find anything?" Rui asked, casually crossing her legs and resting her hand on the leather, her fingers idly tracing patterns on the sofa.

"What's the connection to yesterday's events?"