Believe Me, Werewolves Are Real

Blue Moon City, 1:00 a.m.

Ling Mo dragged his exhausted body out of the factory gates.

He was dead tired.

After another long shift, all he wanted was to get home, take a hot shower, crawl into bed, and sleep until noon.

At twenty-three, Ling Mo stood nearly six feet tall. With sharp brows, bright eyes, and an otherwise handsome appearance, he was the kind of young man who could easily attract attention.

Unfortunately, none of that had helped him escape the fate of working in a factory.

If his parents could see him now, they would probably say the same old thing:

“We told you to study, but you chose to climb trees and fool around. If you’d taken school seriously back then, you wouldn’t be tightening bolts on an assembly line now.”

Maybe they were right.

But regret was useless.

There were no second chances in life. He had wasted his opportunity back then, so now he could only accept the consequences.

Ling Mo turned toward his rented apartment.

The factory actually provided dormitories, but he had given up on them weeks ago.

The problem was his roommate.

The guy was enormous—and his snoring was even worse.

At first, Ling Mo had told himself he would eventually get used to it.

He didn’t.

Not after one week.

Not after two.

Not even after an entire month.

He had been late for work several times because he couldn’t sleep properly, and every late arrival meant another deduction from his already modest paycheck.

Eventually, Ling Mo had enough.

If I’m going to lose money because I can’t sleep, I might as well rent my own place.

So he did.

And, strangely enough, luck seemed to be on his side.

The very next day, he found a small apartment only about ten minutes from the factory.

The rent was eight hundred yuan a month.

The place was old and cramped, but it had everything he needed.

Most importantly—

It was quiet.

For Ling Mo, that alone made it worth every penny.

He had paid three months’ rent upfront without hesitation.

At least now he could finally get a decent night’s sleep.

Ling Mo tilted his head and looked up at the night sky.

A full moon hung above the city, pale and impossibly bright. Moonlight spilled across the streets like a thin sheet of silver.

The late-night streets were nearly empty.

Every now and then, a car roared past, its engine briefly breaking the silence before disappearing into the distance.

Ling Mo kept walking.

Then he turned a corner.

The little noise that remained vanished completely.

He had left the main road and entered an alley.

It was the only shortcut to his apartment.

The alley wasn’t particularly long—maybe two or three hundred meters.

But it was dark.

Far too dark.

The streetlights had been broken for months, leaving the entire passage swallowed by shadows.

Ling Mo swallowed.

He pulled out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and tightened his grip.

Normally, a six-foot-tall, twenty-three-year-old man wouldn’t have much to fear from a dark alley.

But this wasn’t an ordinary alley.

A murder had taken place here only a month ago.

And the details had been horrifying.

According to the rumors, the victim had been brutally torn apart. There had been blood everywhere, with the man’s remains scattered across the alley.

Some people claimed it had been a zombie.

Others said a human-eating monster was responsible.

The official report told a different story.

A tiger had escaped from a nearby zoo.

The animal had attacked the victim before being shot and killed by authorities.

The authorities assured everyone that the danger was gone.

Ling Mo wasn’t convinced.

A tiger?

In the middle of the city?

Maybe.

But something about the whole story had never felt right.

“Come on…”

Ling Mo cleared his throat and forced himself to breathe normally.

He raised his phone higher.

“Just keep walking.”

He picked up the pace.

He didn’t want to spend one second longer in this cursed place than necessary.

The darkness seemed to stretch endlessly around him.

Every little sound made his nerves tighten.

A distant scrape.

The rustling of leaves.

The faint movement of something he couldn’t see.

Ling Mo didn’t dare turn around.

Just a little farther.

Finally, after what felt like an hour, he saw the other end of the alley.

His apartment building was right there.

Relief washed over him.

He let out a long breath.

That one minute had felt longer than an entire year.

Ling Mo glanced back at the dark alley.

“D*mn, can’t they install a couple of lights here?”

He shook his head.

“What if another tiger shows up?”

The joke barely left his mouth before—

A breeze brushed against his face.

Ling Mo froze.

Something was wrong.

A strange metallic smell drifted through the air.

Then it hit him.

Blood.

A thick, overwhelming stench of blood.

Ling Mo’s expression changed instantly.

Slowly, he turned toward the direction of the wind.

And his stomach lurched.

Ten meters away, something enormous was crouched over a man.

The man’s abdomen had been torn wide open.

Blood covered the ground.

His body lay completely motionless.

But the creature standing over him was still moving.

It reached into the man’s chest cavity.

Its fingers closed around something.

Then it pulled.

A human heart.

Fresh blood dripped from the creature’s claws.

Ling Mo’s entire body went cold.

The monster lifted the heart toward its mouth.

And bit down.

“Ugh—!”

Ling Mo couldn’t hold it in.

He knew he shouldn’t make a sound.

He knew he should stay completely still.

But his stomach revolted before his brain could stop it.

He turned away and vomited.

The creature stopped.

Silence.

Ling Mo’s heart nearly stopped with it.

Slowly, the monster stuffed the rest of the heart into its enormous mouth.

Then it stood.

One slow movement.

One terrifyingly deliberate step.

Its head lifted.

Two cold eyes glowed in the darkness.

And locked directly onto Ling Mo.

Ling Mo stopped breathing.

Now that the creature was standing, he could finally see it clearly.

Pointed ears.

Long, curved claws.

A face that was unmistakably wolf-like.

A body covered entirely in black fur.

And a height well over six feet.

A wolf’s head.

A human body.

A monster that belonged in no world he knew.

Two words appeared in Ling Mo’s mind.

Werewolf.

His blood ran cold.

Werewolves.

The creatures from legends.

The monsters people joked about.

The things that weren’t supposed to exist.

Except—

One was standing right in front of him.

And it was staring at him.

Run.

That was the only thought left in Ling Mo’s mind.

He turned and sprinted.

One step.

Two.

Three—

He barely made it a few meters.

Suddenly, something invisible seized his body.

An immense force yanked him backward.

“Ah—!”

Ling Mo crashed to the ground.

Before he could recover, a sharp pain exploded across his neck.

It felt as if his throat had been torn open.

Warm blood spilled down his neck, soaking his shirt before dripping onto the pavement.

Ling Mo’s vision blurred.

His strength vanished.

I’m going to die.

The thought was strangely calm.

He had never expected death to come like this.

He hadn’t even had the chance to build a life of his own.

He hadn’t achieved anything.

And now—

That was it?

Ling Mo’s body went limp.

What a joke.

I haven’t even had the chance to really live yet.

He closed his eyes.

He had no strength left to fight.

No hope left to escape.

He simply waited for the end.

Then—

A howl tore through the night.

It was not the howl of an ordinary wolf.

It was sharp.

Painful.

Furious.

The werewolf suddenly staggered.

A figure flashed through the darkness.

A claw pierced straight through the monster’s chest.

Right through its heart.

The werewolf let out a horrifying roar.

Its enormous body began shrinking at an unnatural speed.

The black fur disappeared.

Its claws retracted.

Its wolf-like face twisted and changed.

Within seconds, the terrifying creature had transformed into an unconscious middle-aged man.

Ling Mo stared blankly.

He couldn’t understand what he was seeing.

His vision was fading.

His consciousness slipped away.

Just before everything went black, he saw someone kneeling in front of him.

A woman.

Beautiful beyond anything Ling Mo could have imagined.

Her long hair fell around her face as she looked down at him.

For some reason, her expression seemed unusually calm.

Those eyes—

Ling Mo couldn’t explain why, but he felt as though he had seen them somewhere before.

Then darkness swallowed him.

When Ling Mo opened his eyes again, he was staring at a white ceiling.

The smell of disinfectant filled the room.

A hospital.

His head felt heavy.

His entire body was weak.

He instinctively reached for his neck and immediately winced.

A thick layer of bandages covered his wound.

Before he could figure out what had happened, the hospital door opened.

A young man stepped inside.

He looked at Ling Mo and froze.

“You’re awake!”

The young man quickly walked over.

“Wait here. I’ll get Sister Mu Lan.”

Before Ling Mo could ask anything, the young man hurried out.

A few moments later, he returned with a woman.

The moment Ling Mo saw her, his breathing stopped.

Her face.

Those eyes.

It was her.

The woman he had seen just before losing consciousness.

The woman who had appeared in the darkness.

The woman who had saved him.

Ling Mo stared at her.

His throat was too weak to speak loudly.

“Am I… dying?”

The woman sat down beside his bed.

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

“If you were planning to die, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait.”

Ling Mo blinked.

“What… does that mean?”

The young man chuckled.

“Don’t worry. If you’re awake, you’re going to be fine.”

He pointed toward the woman.

“My name is Ye Chen. This is Sister Mu Lan. She was the one who saved you that night.”

Ling Mo stared at Mu Lan.

The memories came rushing back.

The dark alley.

The blood.

The corpse.

The monster.

Those glowing eyes.

The sharp pain in his neck.

His body began trembling uncontrollably.

Mu Lan noticed immediately.

A hint of amusement appeared in her eyes.

“What?”

She tilted her head.

“Are you scared?”

Ling Mo looked at her.

His face was pale.

Then he gave a weak, bitter smile.

“Anyone would be scared after seeing something like that.”

Mu Lan didn’t answer.

She simply looked at him.

For a moment, the room fell silent.

She knew he was right.

Most people would have broken down after witnessing what Ling Mo had seen.

Mu Lan stood.

“Since you’re awake, there’s nothing more for me to do here.”

She looked at Ye Chen.

“Xiao Chen, take care of him.”

Ye Chen nodded.

“Got it, Sister Mu Lan.”

“Don’t let him wander around.”

“Understood.”

Mu Lan turned toward the door.

Ling Mo suddenly remembered something.

“Wait!”

Mu Lan stopped.

Ling Mo struggled to sit up.

“Thank you.”

His voice was weak but sincere.

“Thank you for saving me.”

Mu Lan glanced back at him.

For a brief moment, their eyes met.

There was something unreadable in hers.

Then she smiled.

It wasn’t quite a warm smile.

It was almost as if she knew something he didn’t.

“Don’t thank me yet.”

Ling Mo frowned.

“What?”

Mu Lan opened the door.

Her voice was calm when she delivered the final words.

“Your story isn’t over yet.”

The door closed behind her.

Ling Mo stared at it.

A strange uneasiness settled over his heart.

He had thought the nightmare ended when he woke up in the hospital.

He was wrong.

The real nightmare—

had only just begun.

“My business?”

Ling Mo stared at Ye Chen in confusion.

“What business?”

“You should rest for now,” Ye Chen said. “We’ll talk when you’re feeling better. I’m going to get you something to eat. You must be hungry.”

As he spoke, Ye Chen pulled the blanket over Ling Mo.

Until Ye Chen mentioned it, Ling Mo hadn’t noticed.

But now that he did…

His stomach growled.

“Yeah. I guess I am.”

Ling Mo gave him an embarrassed smile.

“Then I’ll owe you one.”

Ye Chen smiled back.

Then, with a playful wink of his right eye, he turned and walked out.

The small hospital room fell silent.

Ling Mo was alone.

He slowly raised a hand to touch the bandages around his neck.

He still remembered the pain.

It had been unbearable.

But now…

There was barely any pain at all.

That was strange.

Ling Mo frowned and ran his hands over his body, searching for something.

Nothing.

He r