What It's Like Being a Vampire

Xiang Kun’s Blood-drinking Period was originally supposed to be at noon today, but to gather more information via the bone he is “Super Sensory Connect” to and the “Emotionally Infused” rabbit woodcarving, he didn’t drink blood immediately after feeling hungry. He plans to endure it until tomorrow morning.

Moreover, Xiang Kun now found that only when he felt hungry and wanted to drink blood, did he have a chance to perceive that kind of “similar to emotion” extreme rational state clearly, by having contact with the calligraphic lyrics.

It is now almost certain, the “cold rationality”, the extreme rational state, originated from Xia Libing.

But when he did not feel hungry, it was hard for him to perceive this state.

In a state of hunger, perceiving those emotions and adapting yourself to them can effectively prevent the impulsive, violent emotions caused by intense hunger.

Moreover, under this special extreme rational state, he even feels like his consciousness is independent from his body, as if he viewed everything around him from a third-person perspective, which may not necessarily be more efficient, but would undoubtedly be more rational and objective.

Of course, he’s very clear that this is not what is called Spirit-body Separation or Soul Leaving Body, as the consciousness itself still relies on the complex neurons in the brain.

The reason for this feeling, should be due to the extreme rational state suppressing the secretion of certain substances in the body, allowing him to separate the physical body’s impact and restriction to thoughts, being more “focused”.

This “focus” is helpful in thinking about certain issues and making some perceptions, but it’s difficult and inefficient to deal with issues involving emotional aspects.

Xiang Kun speculated that the extreme rational state he sensed from the calligraphy, which probably came from Old Xia, should be a kind of “strong emotion”. This “strong emotion” has a strong influence on and controls his body. So, under normal circumstances, his instinct will subconsciously repel and resist this “emotion”, and he can only perceive it when he is influenced by hunger and feels the impulse to drink blood.

However, no matter what, no major side effects of this state has been found for the moment and it can help him avoid the impact of hunger on his emotions.

The only problem is that this kind of sensory perception is often intermittent, sometimes existent, sometimes not. This probably has nothing to do with his sensing ability or the objects, and more to do with the fact that Old Xia appears and disappears from within the range of calligraphy sensing every so often.

Another problem is that he can’t sense two “Emotional infusions” objects at the same time. So, when he enters into that state through sensing Old Xia, he can’t sense the rabbit woodcarving simultaneously, and needs to switch from one sensed object to another.

Xiang Kun thought that if he really wanted to make good use of Old Xia’s extreme rational state, he would either need to find a way to enter this state, like the process of transforming other emotions into his own, or find a way to get an “emotionally infused” object that he can carry with him all the time, and have Old Xia wear it 24/7.

With the help of “Alice”, Xiang Kun quickly found more information about the account owner via the searched Weibo account.

The real name of “Ant Brother” is Zhou Rui, who is a master of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The university that he graduated from is coincidentally the university where Associate Professor Li Yang works, and he might have been his student.

Zhou Rui has been working for more than two years. Based on the information released on various social platforms, he should have been working in Qi Cheng City for the past two years, and he’s still engaged in laboratory-related work.

Xiang Kun couldn’t find a company with the keyword “China Tech” in QiCheng City from the publicly available information. The previously searched “Divine Technology” related information also does not seem to be related to any companies in QiCheng City.

However, the location of his residence can be inferred from the photos of his balcony that Zhou Rui has shared. The location of the breakfast shop he frequents on his way to work, which is more than 20 kilometers away from his residence, reveals that his workplace must not be far from the breakfast shop. Through observation of the satellite map, several areas where his workplace might be located can be approximated.

Then Xiang Kun assigned a task to Alice, asking her to collect information on various companies and institutions in those areas, and then investigate their publicly disclosed equity structures and related news, to see if there were any companies associated with “Divine Technology”.

Alice did not disappoint him, and in less than 20 minutes found a company within that area that has a background of “Divine Technology” – it was a company that had gone bankrupt three years ago and was then acquired by “Divine Technology”.

In fact, “Divine Technology” did not deliberately hide their acquisition operation, one can find related news. It’s just that they kept a low profile and did not deliberately promote it.

Although it can’t be 100% certain yet, after finding this company and its related information, Xiang Kun felt more confident that he at least has a target location to investigate now.

Next, we are to see where the bone with “super sensory contact” is sent. If it goes to the company in QiCheng City, then it’s safe to say that “Divine Technology” is conducting its research on vampires and mutants there.

While his sensory link with Old Xia was interrupted, Xiang Kun would occasionally sense the rabbit woodcarving, detecting feelings of restlessness, anxiety, and nervousness.

But from nightfall to the wee hours just before dawn, Xiang Kun was unable to perceive any dreamland through the rabbit woodcarving.

He quickly realized that, due to the continuous triggering and perception of five dreamlands the night before, those carrying the rabbit woodcarving and bone had noticed something strange. They had probably kept a sufficient distance from the rabbit woodcarving while sleeping, thus no longer affected.

Xiang Kun couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed. He was too hasty the previous night, causing five people’s five dreamlands through the “rabbit woodcarving.” The movement was too great, the influence too wide, they might have noticed the anomaly.

After all, it’s not strange to have dreams, but seeing rabbit meat in the dreamland is hard to ignore. Especially since the dreams induced by the “Emotional Infusion” are remembered clearly upon waking. As long as more than two people feel something is off and discuss it, they can quickly detect anomalies and identify the rabbit woodcarving as the object at fault.

The fact that they maintained distance from the rabbit woodcarving suggests that there were more than five people in total. Only then could they have noticed the influence affecting those sleeping close to the woodcarving.

Keeping in mind these people had possibly noticed the anomaly of the woodcarving provoking no new dreamlands, Xiang Kun didn’t keep holding out, but went to drink blood and sleep instead.

Based on his sensory deduction about the distance the bone has traveled, it’d take the team carrying the bone and woodcarving a few more days to leave the Qinling Uninhabited Area.

At 6 o’clock the next morning, as soon as Xiang Kun woke up, he immediately noticed a significant difference in his sensory capabilities.

It was as if he had an extra sense, allowing him to directly perceive the strength and changes in the atmospheric electric field.

But this sense was different from the others.

When we see something, we know it’s with our eyes. When we hear a sound, we know it’s with our ears. When we smell something, we know it’s with our nose. Yet when sensing electric or magnetic fields, there’s no obvious sensory organ involved, making it seem more like a sixth sense.

Previously, using the cognitive model of the atmospheric electric field and collecting sensory information from various senses like vision, hearing, and smell, he could judge the conditions of the atmospheric electric field and even applied it skillfully.

But now, he doesn’t need cognitive models or analysis—he can directly sense atmospheric electric field changes. It’s as if he used software to call upon CPU resources for decoding before, but now his body has evolved a dedicated GPU for the task because of the significant demand.

For now, he’s only able to clearly perceive the atmospheric electric field, not other electric or magnetic fields, despite little fundamental difference. Just as human hearing and vision have their scopes, Xiang Kun’s electric field perception has a specific range, which is why he can’t perceive other, even stronger, electric and magnetic fields as clearly.

Still, Xiang Kun has confidence that he’ll reach the point where he can perceive other electric and magnetic fields or even certain frequency ranges of electromagnetic waves in the future.

Around 9 AM, having studied meteorological maps at home for over an hour, Xiang Kun decided to head off to the long-distance bus station. He purchased a ticket to a neighboring city.

His destination was the mountainous region he’d visited before, where the Giant Owl resided.

Upon awakening, Xiang Kun clearly felt significant changes in his body. This was the third time drinking blood since returning from the Qinling Uninhabited Area. He knew the effects of his recent training were starting to manifest through mutation and evolution.

Thus he urgently needed to find a suitable environment to test his abilities.

Compared to summer, thunderstorms are less likely to occur in winter.

Lightning is essentially a strong discharge phenomenon between clouds, from cloud to ground, or within a cloud. The accumulation of a large amount of charge in the cloud layer is mainly due to the friction and collision brought by the rising air current. Winter tends to have less rising air current, making it difficult for the cloud layer to accumulate sufficient charge, and the dry air is also less conducive to conduction, hence lightning is less common.

But just because there are few does not mean there are none. For example, he encountered one while traveling back from visiting Xiao Pingguo.

Xiang Kun was studying a weather map at home. Recently, a strong cold front was moving southward, triggering a rapid rise of the near-ground warm and humid air in some areas, quickly forming cumulus clouds, and then rain clouds.

Of course, such weather predictions could not be one hundred percent confirmed solely based on information on the Internet while at home.

Hence, he chose that mountain area for two reasons. One, being an uninhabited area, displaying unusual phenomena would not be easily noticed by others. Two, the terrain of the mountains uplifts the air, speeding up the formation of cumulus clouds and rainclouds.

By now, Xiang Kun was quite experienced in wilderness survival and climbing mountains. Plus, having explored this area before, he was more than familiar with it.

He carried a backpack with a set of clothing to change into. Before entering into the mountain, he took off his shoes and socks, put them into a bag and sealed it. He put these, along with his cell phone, keys, cash, and other items, into another compartment of his backpack and then stashed the bag away securely.

Given the scarcity of people here, he was almost certain his hiding spot would not be discovered by anyone. Of course, even if, by some chance it was discovered, he had the confidence to track it down using the piece of paper, which could create “super sensory contact”, tucked in the phone case.

For Xiang Kun, who was now extremely sensitive, it was easier to eliminate distractions in the mountains than in the city, making it more straightforward to determine sensory conditions and enhance his abilities.

Specifically, the newly acquired ability to perceive electric fields, could be more clearly identified in this environment.

Xiang Kun didn’t just idle about in the mountains, he incessantly carried out various high-difficulty training sessions to realize the capabilities which he had unknowingly acquired before but were further strengthened after drinking blood three times.

For instance, his core strength and explosive power had seen a significant periodical growth, his body coordination, reaction speed, and short-range dynamic vision had also been greatly heightened. These were most likely to have been directly strengthened by the blood of the mutant spider.

Take dynamic vision for instance, before encountering the mutant spider, he had done targeted training for this and had advanced way beyond the average person after several mutations.

Now, when he focused his attention on a moving object within a meter, he could very clearly observe the shape and movement trajectory of the object in his consciousness. This gave a sense in his mind of a certain “bullet time” effect. After making the judgment, his greatly enhanced muscular reflex speed could then help him complete an attack.

After entering the forest, he had practiced and tested this. Several times he accurately caught mosquitoes and other flying insects that were passing by. Even though he was capable of doing this before, it was even easier now, and he could even accurately determine which part of the insect to catch when it flew by.

Xiang Kun didn’t wait in the mountains for very long. The intense convective weather he had been anticipating occurred in the middle of the night on the second day.

Even if he hadn’t seen the thick clouds gathering in the night sky, hadn’t felt the cold wind blowing through the mountains, or heard the distant rumble of thunder, just by sensing the changes in the atmospheric electric field would have let Xiang Kun know that the right time had come.

Just like last time, Xiang Kun ran to a high place, this time a mountaintop much higher than previously.

He was aware that he still couldn’t directly manipulate the electric field to take off. He still needed to first “throw” himself into the air. He wasn’t a boat with self-control, but rather, a bare-bottomed teenager waiting for a wave with his surfboard. Only after catching a wave and riding it up could he borrow the power, “accumulate” electricity, and then control his direction.

Xiang Kun deeply observed the electric dragon weaving within the clouds, listened to the distant rumblings echoing across the sky, and was absorbed in sensing the changes in the electric field. At a certain moment, he suddenly started running wildly and sped out like an arrow, in a blink of an eye he had leapt off a cliff.

If this had been his first attempt at “Electric Mastery Flight,” Xiang Kun would never have jumped from such a high altitude. Like the previous occasion, he would have chosen a place of moderate height, with water or some other kind of cushioning material below. This would have ensured that even if he failed, or if an accident happened, he wouldn’t just simply drop dead.

But with the experience from the last time and the recent evolution of his senses, through sensing the atmospheric electric field, and judging his own physical abilities, Xiang Kun was very certain that even if he couldn’t fly up, he would at least be able to borrow a buffer force from the atmospheric electric field, and certainly wouldn’t die from the fall.

So when the right time came, Xiang Kun decisively leapt out and took off.

As if answering his call, a flash of lightning struck through the clouds, crashing in the distance with a crisp explosion. A large tree on the ground fell victim, suddenly catching fire.

The next instant, as Xiang Kun reached the highest point in the sky, the moment before gravity was about to pull him down, he lit up all around him like an electrified billboard.

This time, the light around him was actually far less than the last time, but the last time only lifted Xiang Kun about a meter off the ground before he couldn’t support himself anymore. But at this moment, Xiang Kun, like he was being pulled by a string, suddenly flew obliquely upward.

Another flash of lightning fell in front of him, the sound of the explosion had not yet dissipated when a thicker bolt of lightning descended on his right. The clouds above him seemed to have gone “berserk”, churning wildly. One after another, bolts of lightning descended, each one a ground-shaking bolt of lightning that split the sky and earth, each one left a distinct trace on the ground.

Explosions were continuous throughout the area, electric light danced like serpents, connecting heaven and earth, it appeared as if another world had descended.

Amidst the lightning, Xiang Kun’s flight started off high and ended low, the light around him brightening and dimming, as if he were a lantern about to be blown out by the wind.

Some changes had occurred to Xiang Kun’s body at that time, for his previously bald head had now sprouted hair!

Moreover, each strand of hair was over a meter long, standing straight up behind his head and twirling with strands of electricity. He looked like a Super Saiyan…

Xiang Kun was now very excited and also very focused. He certainly felt the hair growing out of his head, yet this hair was not like ordinary hair. He could clearly feel them, because it was through them that he was able to control the charged light sphere around him, thereby controlling his direction in the air. Although he couldn’t freely fly around like a bird, able to slightly adjust his height and make small turns, this was enough for the current Xiang Kun!

At some unknown time, the lightning ceased to fall, and the thunder stopped sounding. But Xiang Kun, who was surrounded by a faint white light, could no longer control his altitude and began to fall, dropping continuously. A few seconds later, he plunged into a forest like a ball in a netted elevator.

After using the tree branches to slow his fall, Xiang Kun, who had returned to his bald state, lay sprawled on the ground. Although he had broken several bones and was full of injuries, with severe pain all over his body, he laid there on his back with his mouth wide open, laughing silently.

Two minutes ago in the distant sky, a Boeing 737 was flying along its route.

When the first flash of lightning appeared in the distance, only one passenger who had just opened the porthole turned to watch. And when he saw one bolt of lightning following another, he couldn’t help but cry out in surprise.

His exclamation attracted the attention of other passengers, prompting them to open their portholes one by one. Some people began to take out electronic devices to take pictures and record.

Even the three experienced captains and co-pilots in the cockpit looked amazed and somewhat frightened. The aviation weather forecast at the time of their takeoff indicated that there should not be such a violent thunderstorm in this vicinity, right?

“Is this a lightning storm?” a passenger couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s breathtaking!” another passenger exclaimed.

“Thankfully, it’s probably deep in the mountains over there, so it’s likely uninhabited.” a passenger expressed relief.

“Maybe some Taoist is having a tribulation!” one passenger joked.

“For all we know, a great demon might be about to be born in that mountain.” someone joked.

“Or someone might have been zapped into a different dimension.” another person’s joke was of a different genre.

Their position was higher than the thunderclouds and far away, so they could easily discuss.