What It's Like Being a Vampire

After leaving the station, there was some congestion on the road, making the journey stop and go.

Xiang Kun remembered what Yang Zhen’er had said and laughed, “Zhen’er said you wanted to ‘learn calligraphy’ from me? Is it true or not? Are you still ‘analyzing’ the calligraphy I did? Any ‘findings’?”

“No, I lied to my cousin.” Xia Libing’s response was still unconventional, “I’m mainly here to eat, nothing can be discerned from your calligraphy.”

During one of his Blood-drinking Periods when he couldn’t drink blood in time and fell into a state of anxiety, Xiang Kun once used the calligraphic lyrics he sent to Xia Libing with his supernatural abilities. He perceived a kind of extremely rational and calm feeling that seemed emotional but not really emotional. This feeling completely suppressed the irritability and violence caused by his need for blood.

Naturally, he was curious about the sensation of extreme rationality and cold detachment he felt from that calligraphy. He deduced that such a perception should come from Xia Libing, so he once tried to ask Old Xia about that piece of calligraphy on WeChat.

And Old Xia was seriously thinking about what he was thinking when he wrote that piece of calligraphy.

Xiang Kun was sure that Old Xia must have noticed something unusual about him, which is why she always paid more attention to him than others did.

However, Xiang Kun didn’t care much as he knew that Old Xia meant no harm and seemed to be driven by something other than curiosity.

He was also quite curious about Old Xia. At the very least, he wanted to figure out how that feeling of extreme rationality and calmness, which was transmitted through the “Emotionally Infused” objects, was actually formed.

“I thought you were so interested in my calligraphy that you developed an interest in calligraphy.” Xiang Kun said casually.

“I’m not interested in calligraphy.” Xia Libing answered directly, “I’m just interested in your calligraphy. Is there anything special about it?”

Of course, Xiang Kun could skirt the question with a random excuse, but he chose to answer honestly, “I took that calligraphy very seriously. It was indeed special to me.”

“Then why did you give it to me?” Xia Libing asked.

“Because I thought… it was appropriate to give it to you.” Xiang Kun still told the truth.

If this conversation occurred between other men and women, it might seem a bit ambiguous. But between the two of them, neither found it inappropriate.

Xia Libing didn’t ask why he thought it was “appropriate”. She vaguely felt that her previous guess was correct – Xiang Kun must already know about her situation and might have intentionally used that piece of calligraphy to test her. However, she was not quite sure how exactly he was “testing” her.

“Didn’t you say last time that you wanted to send me a few more pieces of calligraphy?” Xia Libing asked.

“Uh, I haven’t written any recently, but I’ve drawn some stuff. Would you like to see?” As he said this, Xiang Kun held onto the steering wheel with his left hand and pulled out a square piece of paper from his jacket pocket with his right hand and handed it to her.

Xia Libing took the paper and unfolded it. It was a page torn from a B5 notebook, covered in all sorts of circles and arcs drawn in black pen that seemed chaotic at first glance.

While driving, Xiang Kun observed Old Xia out of the corner of his eye. He also collected her other information, such as her heart rate and breathing speed. From his understanding of Old Xia, she was carefully observing the patterns on the page, totally engrossed.

Normally, one’s first reaction upon seeing such a bunch of stuff drawn on a piece of paper should be, “What the heck is this?”

But Old Xia was intently watching it as if there really was something in there.

As expected of Old Xia…

However, Xiang Kun didn’t think she could really figure anything out. Essentially, these were sensory information markers that he himself created. Other people lacked this sensory information, let alone understood the meaning of these symbols.

Just like a person who not only knows nothing about computers, but even can’t recognize letters and numbers, would naturally not understand what the code on a piece of paper he picked up on the street is.

After a few minutes, Xia Libing finally looked away from the paper and asked Xiang Kun, “Is there a pattern to these lines?”

Hearing this, Xiang Kun was not surprised and just asked, “Oh? What pattern did you see?”

As expected, Xia Libing shook her head and said, “I can’t tell. All I can say for certain is that these lines aren’t drawn randomly.”

“They depict some of my perceptions, which are hard to interpret through normal patterns or language.” Xiang Kun still told the truth.

Expectedly, Xia Libing couldn’t understand what he meant, but she didn’t ask further, just asked, “Can you give me this one?”

“Sure.” Xiang Kun originally intended to give this “emotionally infused” “black circle graffiti” to Xia Libing anyway for her to keep close. He had some other words intended to stimulate her interest in the pattern on the paper, but to his surprise, Old Xia took the initiative to ask for it.

He left the “black circle graffiti” with Mijoe simply for surveillance.

As for giving it to Xia Libing, in addition to wanting to see if this somewhat special “emotionally infused” item could provide more perceptual feedback and trigger dreams than the previous calligraphy, he also wanted to see if Xia Libing could establish some kind of connection with it while “studying” the “black circle graffiti”, just like Xiao Pingguo did.

So this time, when he gave the paper to Xia Libing, he purposely strengthened his subconscious “approval” of Xia Libing with a self-suggestion of “granting”.

He was certain that his subconscious approval of Xiao Pingguo and Liu Shiling, along with the way he “gave” them the objects, played a huge role in allowing them to establish some special connections with his “emotionally infused” items and “super sensory contact” items, and even “invoke” some of his abilities through those items. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have established a connection with those objects so easily.

However, Xiang Kun wasn’t quite sure if that feeling of “approval” was some kind of subtle consciousness, or something that could be ritualized in his mind. He wasn’t quite sure and could only experiment a little at a time.

Of course, his approval alone wouldn’t suffice. The ability to establish a connection with the objects also depended on whether the holder of the objects had a compatible belief system.

Liu Shiling, for instance, had full faith in Xiang Kun’s “Lucky Coin” and “Magic Coin”, and successfully established her own “magic system”.

As for Xiao Pingguo, also known as Li Jun, he assimilated her unique cognitive model with Xiang Kun’s guidance, and through the so-called “object sensing” method, managed to connect to the network of “emotionally infused” items at a conscious level, even becoming a medium through which Xiang Kun perceived these items.

As for Old Xia, Xiang Kun did not reveal much to her, nor did he provide any deliberate guidance or “trickery”. He simply told her honestly that the black circles and lines on the paper had to do with perception. The rest was up to Old Xia to “figure out”.

He believed that Old Xia would not disappoint him.

After driving Old Xia back to the hotel, he arranged a separate room for her. Once she stored her bags, Xiang Kun called everyone, signaling that it was time to leave.

While waiting for everyone in the hotel lobby, Xiang Kun couldn’t help but focus on two young men smoking near a motorcycle outside the hotel on the side of the road.

He noticed them when he left to pick up Xia Libing. Their attention seemed to be on the Volkswagen he drove, and a Corolla he had parked in the parking lot last night.

Even after returning with Xia Libing, they remained focused on his vehicle.

Were they sent by Qi Haoguo or Liu Feibao? Xiang Kun naturally considered this.

According to his earlier observations, Qi Haoguo wouldn’t dare cause trouble due to the impact of the projection of the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed monster”, and he must have warned Liu Feibao. Given Liu Feibao’s attitude towards the former, it was unlikely he would confront him over this matter.

Could it be that these two young men targeted them for other reasons?

Xiang Kun decided to ignore them. He would not react but instead quietly observed their movements, waiting to see what they do.

In the hotel lobby, upon receiving his call, Tang Baona, Zhang Qian, Zi Cheng, and others left their rooms to gather.

When they saw the tall and attractive Xia Libing, not only Zi Cheng and Yang Zhuo, but even Zhang Qian, Yang Jie, and Xiao Min, were taken aback. They targeted her immediately, walking over to say hello.

Apart from Xia Libing being genuinely beautiful and extraordinary-looking, Xiang Kun had created an impression of her as a “brilliant expert”, with “dual master’s degrees in psychiatry and psychology” and “a very powerful friend”. He made it seem like Old Xia was his mentor and guide in the field of psychology, building up a great image of her in their minds.

Nobody had seen Xia Libing before or knew her age. Zhang Qian heard the nickname “Old Xia” from Yang Zhen Er and hence, in their minds, “Old Xia” was a senior figure, older than Xiang Kun.

They did not expect that the “Old Xia” mentioned by Yang Zhen Er and Tang Baona would be a beautiful and leggy beauty in her twenties!

After introductions and pleasantries, everyone prepared to have lunch together before visiting the scenic area.

Since You Meng and Liang Yulong were absent, Xiang Kun drove the Volkswagen again and Xia Libing continued to sit in the passenger seat. The back seat was occupied by Zhang Qian, Tang Baona, and Yang Zhen Er. Zi Cheng drove the Corolla.

At this time, Xiang Kun overheard the conversation between the two young men by the motorcycle.

“Bro, they’re leaving. What should we do?” The taller, fair-skinned young man asked.

“Follow them,” replied the shorter, brawny, darker young man, straddling the motorcycle and starting the ignition.

“Bro, I don’t think Brother Bao said anything about dealing with these people,” said the tall young man reluctantly, as he climbed onto the back of the motorcycle.

“I checked it out, Brother Bao entertained some big city boss yesterday. There was a minor incident with these two cars. In order not to affect the boss’s trip, they handed over some money to him on the spot. Brother Bao has been looking into these two cars since last night, of course, he’s going to trouble them,” the brawny young man confidently replied.

“So…why don’t we just break their cars with a brick as I suggested?” the tall young man proposed quietly.

“Are you stupid? The hotel parking lot is under surveillance! If the police investigate, wouldn’t they find us? If we disguise ourselves too well, and nobody knows it’s us, what’s the point? How would we notify Brother Bao’s people?”

“But…there are only two of us. We can’t beat them…look at that bald guy, and the fat one, they look tough…” said the tall young man, a bit unsure.

“Bloody hell, you’re so dumb! Who said we’re going to fight them directly? Use your brains!”

“If we don’t fight…how will we take revenge for Brother Bao?”

“Exactly how did they upset Brother Bao?”

“Oh I get it bro, you’re saying let’s stage a rear-end accident?” As the tall young man spoke, he was about to dismount, “Then you go first, I’ll follow.”

“Are you mad? Who stages accidents in places full of surveillance like this? Get up! Let’s follow them first!”

After getting on the road and seeing the two young men following them through his rearview mirror, Xiang Kun was both amused and annoyed.

From their conversation, he figured out the issue: most probably, it had nothing to do with Liu Feibao or Qi Haoguo. Liu Feibao might have been curious about their identities and therefore asked his men to investigate them. But these two fools misunderstood, thinking, staging an accident and causing a scene was their way to curry favor with him?

Using this information, Xiang Kun formulated a solution.

This was a minor issue, but he didn’t want these two fools to disrupt their day. These guests came at his invitation, and as a quasi-host, he should make sure they had a good time.

Just as he was thinking this through, his phone rang. It was You Meng, who had accompanied his wife to his father-in-law’s house that day.

“Xiang Kun, have you left for the scenic area yet?” asked You Meng the moment the call connected.

“Not yet. We’re planning to have lunch before going, at the restaurant I mentioned to you last night,” said Xiang Kun. This restaurant was somewhat famous in Tongshi Town, known for its special dishes. Since they were here, he suggested they give it a try.

“Don’t go. There was an incident at the scenic area this morning, they’ve temporarily closed it, probably won’t reopen this afternoon. A lot of tourists who went there in the morning have returned,” said You Meng, “I asked, it should be okay by tomorrow. Let’s go then.”

“Alright, we’ll arrange some other activities after lunch,” said Xiang Kun.

“Instead…how about going to Chongyun Village for lunch?” You Meng suggested over the phone.