He just broke up with his girlfriend and is already living with the devilish rich girl.

As she was speaking, her knees suddenly bent, and she knelt down straight down.

"Please... let me go... I'll give the bread back to you, okay? I won't keep a single piece, I'll give it all back to you..."

With trembling hands, she pulled the tattered cloth bag from her bosom, held it out to the front of her, as if she were holding all her chips.

"Just let me go back and see him one last time... He'll look for me when he wakes up... He'll be scared if he can't find me..."

Among the group of seven, dressed in modified Taoist robes and combat uniforms, a man with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes stepped forward.

He looked to be in his early thirties, with a thin face and an air of righteousness between his brows.

The peach wood sword in his hand was tilted slightly downwards, with the tip pointing at the ground, not directly aimed at the woman.

"I know."

His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable authority.

"I am He Yuan, the captain of the Third Enforcement Team of the Supernatural Phenomena Management Bureau under the Special Administration Bureau."

"You have the scent of a fugitive we're hunting, and it seems you just came into contact with him recently, so I need you to come back with me to assist with the investigation."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the woman.

"Don't worry, the scent on your body is very faint, which means you've only been exposed to external residue."

"If you have truly not harmed anyone, we will never harm you; this is the ironclad rule of the Special Administration Bureau."

The woman's tears welled up instantly.

"I...I can't leave..."

She crouched down, curled herself into a ball, and her voice trembled uncontrollably.

"If you need shelter, we can help."

"We can also protect your child. The Special Administration Bureau has dedicated shelters. No matter what kind of threat there is, we can—"

"No! No way! Absolutely not!"

The woman suddenly raised her head, her eyes filled with fear.

It wasn't fear of him, but fear of another person.

"If that person finds out I went with you... he'll kill my child... he really will..."

He Yuan's eyes sharpened, and he took a step forward. The team members behind him also gripped their peach wood swords tightly.

"Who exactly is the person you're talking about?"

The woman opened her mouth, and a broken sound came from her throat.

"He...he..."

Just then—

A melodious flute tune drifted from afar.

The flute music wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear, as if it had pierced through the walls and the night wind.

The tone was strange, almost like some kind of incantation being chanted.

Immediately afterwards, a strange fragrance wafted out.

"What does it taste like?"

A young female team member sniffed and asked, somewhat puzzled.

He Yuan's expression changed drastically.

"Oh no! It's beastly breath!"

He roared, the veins on his forehead bulging.

"Take her down quickly! We can't let her come into contact with that aura!!"

But it was too late.

The woman smelled the fragrance.

Her expression changed drastically in a mere second.

The initial fear and panic vanished instantly, replaced by a blankness.

Her eyes became dull, and her pupils turned into the vertical pupils of a wild beast.

"Ugh... Ahh ...

The woman began to scream, and her body began to convulse violently.

Her spine crackled and popped, and her entire body felt as if it had been folded and unfolded by an invisible hand.

The nails grew wildly, turning into grayish-black claws.

The muscles beneath the skin swelled up like inflating a balloon, completely tearing apart the already tattered clothes.

A few seconds later, the woman standing in front of them was no longer a frail woman.

Instead, it was a vicious wolf with a completely gray-black body and blood-red eyes.

It was more than a person tall, with limbs as thick as pillars, and saliva dripping from its mouth onto the ground.

He Yuan gasped, almost roaring as he gave the order.

"Target has transformed into a beast!! Quick!! Form ranks!!"

But before he could finish speaking, the flute music suddenly became high-pitched and shrill.

Thick fog billowed into the surrounding air, so thick it resembled congealed blood, making it impossible to see one's hand in front of one's face and swallowing the entire alley.

"Form ranks!! Form ranks now!!"

He Yuan's voice rang out in the fog, but was immediately drowned out by screams.

"ah--!!"

It was the voice of that young female team member.

"Senior brother!! Senior brother, save me—uh!!"

The sound stopped abruptly.

Chaos reigned amidst the thick fog.

Someone tried to light the talismans for illumination, but the talismans were extinguished by the mist as soon as they were lit.

Someone was chanting incantations, but the sound of the incantations was drowned out by the sound of the flute.

He Yuan gripped the peach wood sword tightly, surrounded by screams of agony.

Those were his teammates, his comrades.

The young people he had personally trained fell one after another in the fog.

He gritted his teeth and charged forward, slashing his sword at the gray-black shadow in the mist.

He was suddenly slapped away by a tremendous force, crashing into the wall. He felt a sweet taste in his throat, and blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

The wolf's blood-red eyes shone in the mist as it walked towards him step by step.

It opened its mouth, revealing fangs stained with blood and flesh, and let out a low growl from its throat.

He Yuan gripped the peach wood sword tightly, trying to stand up, but the excruciating pain from his broken ribs made every movement feel like being torn apart by a thousand knives.

He leaned against the wall, watching the wolf get closer and closer.

"Who...are you? And why...did you do this...?"

He did not say this to the wolf.

Rather, it is the one causing trouble in the fog.

The wolf pounced.

Just as that gaping maw was about to crush He Yuan's head—

A peach wood sword fell from the sky.

Bathed in moonlight, the sword shimmered with a pale blue halo, like a shooting star falling in the dark night.

It plunged straight into the wolf's back, piercing through flesh and bone, and embedding itself deeply into the ground.

boom--

An invisible wave of energy spread outwards from the sword, instantly dispelling the thick fog as if it had been torn apart by a giant hand.

The moonlight shone down again, illuminating the corpses and blood scattered on the ground.

The wolf let out a mournful howl, its massive body twitching as it struggled, kicking up a cloud of dust.

He Yuan raised his head.

A slender figure descended from the sky, lightly touching the hilt of the peach wood sword with its toes.

He was a handsome young man who looked no more than eighteen or nineteen years old.

He was wearing a faded blue Taoist robe and carrying a dark brown sword case on his back.

He stood on the sword hilt, his body as light as a falling leaf, the hem of his Taoist robe fluttering slightly in the night breeze.

The boy tilted his head slightly, looking at the shadow outside the alley.

A cold glint flashed in those clear eyes.

He clenched his hand into a sword-like gesture, pointing his fingertips forward.

"rise."

Just one word.

The peach wood swords of the fallen comrades scattered on the ground began to tremble one by one.

Then, under the moonlight, they took off simultaneously, transforming into streaks of light that shot towards the shadows with a sharp whooshing sound.

Puff puff puff puff—

The sound of sword blades piercing the concrete floor rang out one after another.

But there was no one.

The shadow flickered a few times, then fell silent.

The boy frowned and muttered a curse under his breath.

"You rat, you run pretty fast."

He nimbly leaped off the hilt of the sword, and the moment he landed, the peach wood sword stuck in the wolf's back also flew up.

It traced an arc in the air and pierced the sword case on his back.

He looked around.

The moonlight shone into the narrow alley, making the crimson stains on the ground shockingly vivid.

Those compatriots lay sprawled on the ground, their faces unrecognizable, and even He Yuan had closed his eyes forever at this moment.

The woman who had transformed into a wolf had now returned to human form.

She lay naked in a pool of blood, her small body covered in horrific wounds, showing no signs of life.

The boy sighed.

"We're still too late."

His voice was soft, tinged with an indescribable bitterness.

A peach wood sword fell from the sky and stuck in the ground in front of him.

This was one of the swords that had just been shot into the bushes, now recalled by his sword technique.

The boy bent down and drew his sword, his gaze suddenly sharpening.

A layer of scarlet powder adhered to the sword, giving it a dark luster under the moonlight.

He brought the sword close to his nose and gently smelled it.

Then, his brows furrowed tightly.

"Just how potent must the beast's breath be to condense so much beast powder..."

Just then, the cell phone in my sleeve rang.

He gently placed the peach wood sword, stained with scarlet powder, back into its owner's arms.

Then he took out his phone and pressed the answer button.

"Xiao Guang, are you coming home for dinner tonight?"

The voice on the other end of the phone was that of a young girl, gentle yet filled with anticipation.

The voice belonged to Zheng Yueyao.

And this boy was Zheng Yueyao's biological younger brother, Zheng Xingguang.