"Well, this is definitely a bit creepy."
Standing in front of the trash bin where it all happened, Jill Young listened to Susan Morrow’s account, her expression turning serious. By the time Susan had gone back and forth, the pile of what looked like cat meat was already gone—probably cleaned up by the sanitation ladies. In this city, whenever something weird pops up in a corner, the sanitation ladies are always the first to deal with it—Steelbull City was no different in that regard.
But even just looking at the scene and the bloodstains that hadn’t been cleaned up yet, Jill could already spot a few clues.
"Last night, there were two animals fighting here—about the size of a house cat or a small dog," Jill said, eyeing the bloodstains. "Judging by the color, it probably happened between nine and ten last night, which matches your description, Mom." With her eyesight and experience these days, Jill could easily tell how fresh the blood was. "I didn’t see the body, but I’d bet what you heard was the sound of the fight."
Jill pointed at the blood, and Cang Cang, sharp as ever, darted over and started sniffing around like crazy. Then he looked up at Jill with a blink and a shake of his head. Susan had no clue what the hamster was trying to say, but Jill understood. She nodded, "It’s all from the same animal. In other words, besides the dead cat, nothing else got hurt in that fight. The cat’s opponent totally dominated and shredded it to pieces."
Squatting down to check the marks inside, Jill patted her mom on the shoulder. "Mom, looks like there’s a really fierce creature nearby. It’s not big, but it’s strong. The cat must’ve tried to run, but didn’t make it—so the other guy must be quick. Plus, if it could crush cat bones with that body size, it either has super strong teeth or some weird kind of saliva. And from the way it tore up the body, it’s either got a special diet or it’s just plain vicious."
"Could it be a rabid dog?"
"Probably not." Jill pointed at the marks on the ground. "Look at these scratches—I’m no animal expert, but they definitely don’t look like mammal claws. Cang Cang, want to try tracking it?"
Cang Cang dove in for another round of frantic sniffing, but his eyes suddenly spun in circles. He sneezed and bolted out, looking up at Jill with teary, pitiful eyes. Even Susan could tell—the trash bin just smelled way too complicated for Cang Cang to make sense of it.
"This..." Susan Morrow looked worried. "What do we do? Yesterday it killed a cat, today it might be a dog, and tomorrow—what if it’s a child?" Just as she said "child," a flash of realization crossed Susan’s mind. Savage unknown creature... mangled corpse... the pregnant woman who was brutally attacked!
"Wait a sec," Susan suddenly grabbed Jill’s shoulder, her face deadly serious. "Come with me to the department for a minute."
Jill nodded right away and headed off without another word. Seeing those marks had her genuinely worried. Having some mysterious creature lurking so close to home was a real threat. She wasn’t scared for herself, but what about her mom? Her dad? She had to find it early and put an end to it—no loose ends.
She followed Susan all the way there. Luckily, Susan’s workplace was just a short walk from their neighborhood, so they got there in under ten minutes. Jill had grown up in this hospital and knew every nook and cranny, but these days, people barely recognized her. Folks kept sneaking glances her way, dazzled, but Jill was already numb to it.
At the entrance to the ICU, two rookie cops were still waiting. As soon as they saw Susan, they jumped up, "Director Susan, you’re here!"
Susan didn’t bother with pleasantries and went straight to the point: "Any luck with the search?"
"N-no suspects found yet..."
Susan clearly hadn’t expected much from them and signaled Jill to head into the ward.
"Director Susan, who’s this...?"
"An expert."
Because of what the middle-aged cop said last night, Susan was generally cold toward the police now. Seeing she was still upset, the rookie cops clammed up and didn’t dare question why this woman, who clearly didn’t look like an expert, was being let in. They just let her through.
Jill didn’t need to disinfect before entering—there was already a single-person isolation shield over the hospital bed for a sterile environment. Susan went to check the monitoring equipment and the physician’s notes, while Jill peered through the transparent window. One look and Jill’s brow furrowed. The pregnant woman was in bad shape; all the wounds that could be bandaged were covered, but some had to be left open. Just seeing those exposed wounds was enough to make Jill frown.
Jill had seen people hurt worse than this, especially those living dead types—there’s no telling what kind of shapes they came in. But still, seeing it in another world and seeing it at home were two totally different things. And the fact that the victim was pregnant really got Jill fired up.
"When and where did she get hurt?"
"Around nine last night, on Binhu Road."
"Binhu Road?" Jill frowned. That area wasn’t close to here. If the thing that hurt the pregnant woman was the same as the one that killed the cat, it would have to be faster than a car to make it in time.
"So, what do you think? See anything?" Susan handed her a folder with the case notes and first-hand photos.
"It’s probably not the same animal. But..." Jill examined the wound photos closely and declared, "But these injuries definitely weren’t caused by a human. Not by knives, not by guns—unless the attacker was using some kind of martial arts fantasy weapon, you wouldn’t see wounds like these. These are bites and scratches. I can’t be sure yet, but my worst guess is this: the thing that hurt the pregnant woman and the thing that killed the cat are two different individuals of the same species."
When Jill said that, Susan shivered for no reason. If there were two of the same kind, there could be a third, a fourth—maybe a whole group. Imagine a bunch of vicious, unheard-of creatures lurking in the city’s shadows, ready to attack at any moment. That’s way scarier than just some lone psycho running around.
Susan asked seriously, "Can you be sure?"
"Nope." Jill shook her head. "If I could see the cat’s body, I could compare the wounds, but right now it’s just a guess. Looking at the pregnant woman’s injuries, there’s another possibility: maybe a criminal stole her kidney and then a pack of mad dogs tore her up afterwards."
"Damn it!" Susan fumed. "Creatures like that deserve to rot in hell!"
"Let me try waking her up. If she can talk, at least we’ll know what attacked her." Jill put her right hand on the isolation shield. A golden light flashed—only visible to her—while she tried to sense the patient’s condition. Last time, in the Death Comes world, Jill used the Dragon Elephant Extraction Technique to save a drowning Feminist. Now she wanted to try the same trick. First things first: sense the patient’s state.
But as she tried, Jill’s brow furrowed even deeper. After a moment, she took her hand away and shook her head helplessly.
"No luck?" Susan sounded disappointed too.
"Nope. I could give her some Vital Essence, but she’s in a weirdly fragile state right now—barely hanging on. If I push her too hard, she might just die for good." Jill scratched her head, making a weird face. "If ‘Jack’ were here, maybe he could do it. That version of me is way better at fine-tuned sensing and control. But me? I can’t sense people’s life force at all. Unless someone can keep her alive and balanced, I’m out of options."
"I see..." Susan sighed, then perked up. "Well, healing people is our job as doctors anyway. Leave this one to me. Once she wakes up, you can ask her yourself."
"Alright, then I’ll focus on tracking down that cat-shredding thing." That creature was really making Jill uneasy, and she was determined to deal with it no matter what. "Mom, you and Dad should stay in as much as possible, and keep the doors and windows locked. If you have to go out, take Cang Cang with you—he should be able to protect you. If anything weird happens, call me. If it gets bad, I’ll just drive you to and from work myself. Cang Cang, you’re on bodyguard duty for my parents, got it?"
The little hamster instantly snapped to attention, darted onto Susan’s shoulder, and burrowed into her pocket. Every so often, he’d poke his head out to look around, all alert and ready.
Even Susan couldn’t help but laugh at Cang Cang, giving his head a gentle pat. She smiled at Jill, "Alright, don’t worry too much. We haven’t heard of many attacks yet. And if something does show up, the Young family’s daughter isn’t afraid of it. So it killed a cat—if I get mad, I could shred a cat just as badly! Don’t stress yourself out."
"Yeah, I’m heading out." With Cang Cang on duty, Jill wasn’t too worried about her parents’ safety. After all, Cang Cang had survived the chaos of Steelbull City’s underground, and in terms of sheer strength, aside from Jill herself, there probably wasn’t anyone in Jiping who could beat him. And that’s even counting any Chosen Ones or hidden masters that might be around.
Now, Jill’s job was to focus all her energy on taking down the mysterious creature.
Easier said than done, though—there wasn’t much to go on. Starting from the neighborhood where the cat got shredded, Jill opened her ears wide, listening for anything unusual as she walked, but nothing stood out. If the creature wasn’t moving, it’d be totally silent when hiding. Plus, who knew where it went after the attack? This kind of searching just wasn’t efficient.
Just as she was racking her brains for a way to crack the case, her phone suddenly rang. She glanced at the screen—it was Jasper Xiao calling.
"Hey, Queen, I’m in Jiping City already!" Jasper sounded pretty cheerful. "Today I’ll introduce you to that person I mentioned before—let’s have a proper chat! By the way, are you free?"
"Sure. So, what did that person do before?"
"A vet."
"A vet?" Jill’s eyes lit up. "Alright, I’m in!"