Chapter 1: Fragrance
Xu Huo pulled open the door. A woman in a delivery uniform stood outside, tugging at the collar of her unbuttoned shirt, her voice saccharine as she said, "Handsome, my coworker went to the restroom. The fridge you bought is really heavy—could you give me a hand moving it inside?"
Xu Huo took a drag of his cigarette, staring at her as he involuntarily swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
The woman seemed used to this reaction. She bent down and wheeled the dolly through the doorway.
After they unloaded the fridge from the dolly, the woman had already settled herself on the two-seater sofa in the living room.
Xu Huo stubbed out his cigarette and poured her a glass of water. "It's hot out. Thanks for the trouble."
On the coffee table, his tablet was lit up with eye-catching red headlines:
"Newlyweds Go Missing in the Mountains; Suspect Is Widowed Elderly Mother—Is This Moral Decay or Twisted Humanity?"
"Fifty Sows in the Village Scream Every Night; The Culprit Turns Out to Be..."
"Even a Tiger Won't Eat Its Cubs; Elderly Man Suffocates Seven-Year-Old Grandson, Reason Being..."
With a *click*, the screen went dark. The woman looked up at Xu Huo, her face flushed, her breathing rapid.
Her vigorously beating heart pumped fresh blood, and a rich fragrance seeped from her pores, making his mouth water.
"How about some TV?" Xu Huo averted his gaze and turned on the television. The hostess's flat voice rang out:
"Recently, temperatures across the country have been fluctuating wildly. Over thirty cities with highs of thirty degrees have experienced strange weather phenomena like hail and snowfall..."
Xu Huo changed the channel: "A hiker encountered a tornado deep in the mountains, live-streaming the final moments before their disappearance..."
He switched again: "A black cloud hole appeared over Hai City, with air being sucked inward. Experts claim it's a pressure phenomenon caused by a storm..."
"Nearly a dozen children have gone missing in Bin City over the past month..."
"...During this period of high crime, Ting City has seen the emergence of a dismemberment maniac, with victims' bodies found incomplete... The public is warned to travel in groups and avoid going out after dark whenever possible..."
*Boom!*
The sky, clear just moments ago, suddenly turned hostile, thick with dark clouds. The dim light in Xu Huo's small one-bedroom apartment made the space feel oppressive, and as his vision narrowed, his sense of smell sharpened. The meaty fragrance emanating from the woman beside him was impossible to ignore.
*Gulp!* The sound of swallowing was especially loud, but it wasn't Xu Huo. He turned his head and saw the woman's face pressed close to his. Her mouth was gaping open, far from the sweet, charming look she'd had just minutes ago. Suspicious red residue was wedged between her teeth, and her wide eyes blazed with greed and hunger!
She opened her mouth and lunged at his face!
Xu Huo twisted his head to the side and leaped away quickly, grabbing the standing fan and swinging it down hard at the woman as she sprang up!
*Bang!* Her face dented the fan, but the woman bounced back onto the sofa as if nothing had happened, crouching like a frog ready to pounce!
"You smell good." Drool dripped from her mouth.
Xu Huo set the fan down and lit a cigarette. "Smells good, but doesn't taste good."
The woman hadn't expected him to be so calm, and she grew wary instead. She tested him, asking, "Have you been on that train too?"
A flicker of interest lit up Xu Huo's eyes, though he didn't show it on his face. But the woman caught the subtle change and flew into a rage. "You're trying to trick me!"
Her speed far exceeded that of a normal person, and her pouncing posture wasn't human either. When she jumped, the force of her feet shoved the sofa three meters back!
The old sofa scraped across the floor tiles with a screech. Xu Huo spun around, grabbed the insecticide spray from the low cabinet, and sprayed it wildly at the woman. He dodged her grasping hand, took the chance to kick her, and bolted toward the bedroom!
Behind him came the woman's furious roar, barely audible over the thunder. Xu Huo accurately sensed her following him, and the moment he stepped through the doorway, he slammed the bedroom door shut!
*Bang!* The inch-thick door panel couldn't withstand the blow. Even the lock was torn off. As the woman, enraged, kicked the broken door aside, Xu Huo had already grabbed the fruit-knife-turned-spear hidden behind the door and stabbed her in the chest!
The woman was fast and strong, but she was still flesh and blood. She clutched her bleeding chest and collapsed to the floor.
"Hah... hah..." The fruit knife had pierced her lung. Airy gasps escaped her mouth, and her fierce, savage gaze gradually turned pitiful. "Save me... save me... You're an Evolver too, haven't gone through the Initial Review yet... I can help you survive..."
The narrow bedroom was thick with the sharp smell of blood. The pungent, metallic odor made his head spin. Xu Huo took a deep breath, ignoring the sensations of "richness" and "fragrance" that his brain automatically conjured. He stepped back two paces, sat down on the bed, lit a cigarette, and just stared at the woman.
Her rosy complexion slowly turned pale, but she didn't seem to be dying. She stared intently at Xu Huo. "Hungry, aren't you?"
She wiped some blood and extended her hand. "Smell it. Isn't it fragrant? The flesh and blood of an Evolver tastes even better than an ordinary person's—sweet and delicious, more nourishing than mother's milk..."
Hearing Xu Huo's involuntary swallow, the woman's expression turned smug. "Take one bite, and you'll understand. Evolvers like me are the strongest. We have the highest survival rate on the train..."
Still met with silence, her tone grew urgent. "Aren't you hungry? Don't you want to eat me?"
"...You don't know how dangerous the Initial Review is. More than half of all Evolvers die during it. You..."
Xu Huo exhaled a plume of smoke, crushed out his cigarette, and interrupted her. "You're looking more energetic."
The woman's expression froze. Seeing him approach, fear flickered in her eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"Aren't you the one who's been tempting me to eat you?" Xu Huo countered.
The muscles in her face couldn't adjust in time, forming a twisted smile before she willingly offered her pale arm.
Xu Huo grabbed her wrist and said slowly, "That dismemberment maniac in Ting City recently—must be one of your kind. You're willing to offer yourself to me to eat, not afraid I'll devour all your flesh. That means this hunger can be satisfied with just a little flesh and blood. Or can you regenerate lost limbs?"
"The first possibility seems more likely."
"People who've eaten meat have the highest survival rate on the train, so there must be Evolvers on the train who haven't eaten meat either..."
"Judging by that pathetic look of yours, like you want to drag everyone into the mud with you, the consequences of tasting human blood can't be good... You didn't know before you ate someone, did you? You only found out during the Initial Review?"
The woman's expression shifted from shock and surprise to fury. Her eyes darted wildly, her teeth grinding, until finally, she was consumed by sheer hatred. "You Evolvers... I'll kill you!"
The moment she lunged at Xu Huo, another fruit knife pierced her throat. Bubbles of blood gurgled out. The woman convulsed and rolled over. The knife in her chest had been pulled out at some point, and the wound was already starting to heal.
Even fatal wounds could heal on their own. Give her a few more minutes, and turning the tables wouldn't be a problem.
Xu Huo patted down her clothes but found nothing like medicine or drugs. However, on the back of her shoulder, he discovered a red number tattoo: E33586.
He thought for a moment. "With your intelligence, if I asked you where to find the train for the Initial Review, you probably wouldn't know."
The woman's eyes bulged, and she breathed her last, full of resentment.
Xu Huo swallowed again. He didn't look back at the corpse by the bedroom door. He planned to go to the kitchen to find something to eat. Passing through the living room, he saw the newly bought fridge. He tore off the packaging in a few quick moves, and when he opened the door, a head flopped limply toward him.
Just as he'd expected... He sighed and called the police.