Lin Xingjie leapt forward, quickly turned around, and drew her telescopic baton as she stared warily at the alley behind her.
There was no one else in the dark alley entrance, but a few pairs of glowing eyes appeared.
"...Dogs?"
Several large wild dogs emerged from the alley, their fur sleek and shiny, their mouths wide open towards the girl, revealing white, sharp fangs and wet, slimy drool.
Where did these dogs come from?
Lin Xingjie gripped her weapon tightly and did not move. Based on her experience, turning her back and running from aggressive canines was not a good choice; confronting them or intimidating them would be better.
But... There was something not quite right about these dogs.
Their wide-open eyes, like brass bells, twinkled with a greedy light, an intense emotion that almost transcended the realm of livestock; their teeth and the edges of their mouths were tinged with a dark red color.
Even stranger was the way these dogs were walking: Their limbs seemed glued together by some kind of "glue." As the leader moved forward, the rest followed in lockstep, straggling along as if their legs were deformed.
At the same time, Lin Xingjie caught a whiff of a pungent scent so strong it could nearly cause someone to faint.
She quickly covered her nose and mouth, her gaze falling on the largest wild dog in the middle. It was opening its mouth wide towards her, and with sharp eyes, the girl noticed a strand of fabric that looked like it had been torn from jeans hanging from the dog's teeth.
A chill ran through Lin Xingjie's heart.
Yesterday, what was Wang Nana wearing? Were they jeans?
Could it be...
Before that terrible thought fully crossed her mind, the leading wild dog made a fierce "gurgle" in its throat, and the dogs behind it began to bark. It took a posture as if it was about to pounce.
Lin Xingjie hesitated no longer, turned, and fled.
*
The girl could hear the chaotic, rapid commotion behind her as the wild dogs in pursuit knocked over obstacles on the road, along with their growls growing distant and then nearby again, mixed with the "thump thump" of her own intensely beating heart, accompanied by the oncoming wind, drumming against her eardrums.
Lin Xingjie ran desperately through the complex web of streets and alleys.
"Woof... woof woof!"
Not at all a cute dog bark.
Normally, a dog definitely runs faster than a person, but this pack of wild dogs was unique; their bodies seemed stuck together, which is why Lin Xingjie chose to run, thinking she could easily shake them off.
But to her surprise, even in their conjoined state, the pack of wild dogs was fast, clinging tightly behind her.
The chase had become a test of endurance. Lin Xingjie did not want to stop running. Even if common wild dogs chased you, whether they would actually leap at you to bite was another matter; but these dogs were different. She was almost certain they possessed an unimaginable ferocity.
They might even... have tasted human flesh.
With no other choice, Lin Xingjie decided to take a detour towards the main street.
"Clang, clang clang!"
Ahead was an iron fence gate. The girl did not stop but showed impressive agility, swiftly jumping onto a nearby trash can lid and quickly scaling the gate.
She was a regular in this area and knew the layout of the nearby blocks well.
Lin Xingjie "plop" leaped down from the gate and landed steadily. She turned to see the wild dogs frantically scratching and trying to climb the fence, sending a chill down her spine. Without daring to rest, she continued to run forward.
Only when the sounds of car horns and the cries of street vendors reached her, and the bustling crowd came into view, did she find herself back in the busy streets...
"...!"
As a result, she accidentally bumped into someone.
The pedestrian was knocked to the side, and his pancake and deep-fried dough stick fell to the ground. He began to yell angrily, cursing with foul language while trying to reach out and grab the girl's collar.
Lin Xingjie furrowed her brow and instinctively reached into her sleeve.
Just then, someone firmly grabbed the pedestrian's wrist.
A casually dressed young man stood beside her, bowing apologetically and taking out some change for compensation, which made the other person curse and leave grumbling.
"...Xu Xiangyang? You... What are you doing here?"
Lin Xingjie widened her eyes in surprise.
"Just passing by,"
Xu Xiangyang replied succinctly.
However, he had actually spotted her running from afar and hurried over.
Lin Xingjie moved her long legs wrapped in her school uniform trousers beneath her trench coat, her delicate figure agilely weaving through the various obstacles in the narrow alley, reminding him of a gazelle he'd seen sprinting freely across the plains on a wildlife TV program.
Her chest heaved with intense effort, her breathing slightly hurried, and a fine sheen of sweat formed on her forehead, yet she remained composed, her grace unblemished even in pursuit, giving her an extraordinary beauty.
However, Xu Xiangyang had watched for a while but didn't see anything chasing her, only noticing that despite being a girl, her running speed was almost equal to his own as a boy... It then dawned on him that she seemed to be a regular in the track and field events of the sports meet. Since the teacher always collected the prizes on her behalf, and Lin Xingjie herself would disappear as soon as the events ended, he had unconsciously overlooked her presence.