Illuminated by the home's front lamplights, 2 men laying on the lawn were sprawled out in a puddle of their own blood.
One of them had a bloody hole going straight through their neck, so clean one could see out the other side. The other had it worse, their was a large chunk of his throat torn out, as if bitten off, and blood was still flowing out the gaping hole of his severed arteries. You could see his hands had tried to reach for his neck before they fell limp.
But both corpses had something in common. Their abdomens were mutilated beyond recognition. They appeared to be ripped apart with the savagery of a man who lost his wife and kids to some rich second generation's gang. Their intestines and other internal organs were torn up and shredded like a sick plate of pasta.
"W-What the hell is this?!" Muttered the blonde haired man with eyes wide as a dessert plate, if they were any wider, one would think his eyes would fall out.
"I-is this some sort of horror movie?! I didn't think this was that kind of story?!" The cruelty of it all made him sick to his stomach, and even one of the grunts had already hurled foul smelling rainbows on another side of the lawn.
"Tell me his is some sort of joke... 3... 6... you guys are fine, right? 3... you still need to buy your daughters birthday present..." It wasn't like they've never killed anyone before, but when it happens to someone close, it's still just as hard to believe. And they were never this gruesome. Mostly they would just hit their heads or stab them once, then dispose of their bodies in a river. Never had they disemboweled someone like this.
Then suddenly, grunt 6's body trembled, and his chest started to rise and fall.
"...6! You're alive, hold on I'll call a doctor, you'll be able to attend your little sister's wedding in no ti-" but his words fell short as a bloody hole burst out grunt 6's left chest.
It was a cat at first glance. On closer inspection, it looked to be a juvenile of a larger feline species. It was covered in blood so one could not tell it's color, and it's golden eyes seemed to pierce through the night like full moons.
It crawled out, and only now did they realize it was chewing something.
It walked toward the house, still dripping blood that wasn't its own from it's body. Before entering, it shook its body roughly, scattering blood and bits of flesh in all directions. Some inevitably landed on the loan sharks, one even flying into a grunt's gaping mouth. He immediately fell to his knees and emptied his stomach.
But the cat was now visible, and one could see it's fur was black like a starless nights, with shadowy gray stripes akin to graveyard wisps.
"...Xiaohei?" Chen Yan faintly whispered as it was also a sight she could hardly stomach. She was glad her sister was not here to see this, as it was not a sight for pure eyes.
"Nyaaa." Xiaohei meowed and walked to her side and lied on his stomach, and only now one could see a still warm heart in its fangs, before he closed his jaws and consumed it.
"...I-it was you!!! You sent that... that monster to kill little 3 and little 6!" The blonde man's eyes turned red as he looked at Chen Yan with emotions like pain, despair, loss, and fury all twisted up in his face.
"I... what... no... why...?" Chen Yan was speechless, as she looked toward the thugs, then to Xiaohei, then, back to the thugs. She had never expected the little tiger to do something like this. Would she and her sister end up like this if Chen Ling hadn't contracted him? Was this mysterious tiger a blessing or a curse? Is it alright for such a thing to follow her sister?
"...Xiaohei... why... did you kill them?" She slowly spoke, as she needed time to gather her thoughts.
"They disturbed and sullied my meal. In the abyss, to interrupt another beast when he's eating means they intend to kill you, so I killed them first. Could it be different here?" She heard the low voice of the tiger in her mind. Although he had a young body, he had an old soul, making him sound ancient and experienced.
Was that all? He killed them without hesitation because they disturbed his meal? She could hardly believe it, it seemed she had forgotten that his way of thinking was vastly different from a normal person or beast of this time.
On the other side, the loan sharks saw the cat that crawled out their friends corpse with an unshakeable pressure come out having some sort of mental conversation with Chen Yan, and their eyes grew bloodshot.
"...damnit...! how dare you! You think the lives of our brothers are light! Just because their extras doesn't mean they weren't important! I'll avenge them, even if I have to trade my life! I won't be able to look at 6's elderly, sick mother in the eye anymore!" Blondes shouted with a voice laced with soul stirring hatred, while the other grunts growled their agreements, though their sunglasses at night covered their red eyes, their gritted teeth showed their determination and anger.
"Face our Shark Tooth Rippling Sword technique, in the name of our brothers!" With a shout, they all pulled out dark blue blades with teeth like a saw's. They had the unshakeable will that, even if they die, they will definitely kill that girl and her tiger here and now.