What It's Like Being a Vampire

Today is already the 29th day of the last lunar month. Tomorrow is the New Year Eve. The train station is packed with passengers, both from those coming back from out of town or those leaving Citong to their own homes.

Had it not been for Xiang Kun calculating his journeys and plans according to his blood-drinking period and buying the train tickets in advance, it would have been impossible to get tickets now.

In fact, he had just flown back from Jianzhou City to his residence the day before yesterday. By right, he could have gone directly back to Citong City for the New Year at this point. There was no need for him to fly back like Tang Baona and Zhang Qian.

But for Xiang Kun, within a short period, the safest place for him to drink blood is still the house that he bought.

The “base” in Tongshi Town and Chongyun Village hasn’t been set up yet. It goes without saying that living with his parents in Citong City is a no-go. Even if he could drink blood sneakily and sleep for 25 hours, his parents probably would call 120 [the Emergency Medical Services] when they find him impossible to wake.

So, before he came home for the New Year, he needed to time his blood-drinking period perfectly to ensure he had as much time as possible to spend at home after his blood feed.

Just after stepping out of the train station, Xiang Kun suddenly received a WeChat message from Chen.

“Have you offended anyone recently?” Officer Chen asked straightforwardly.

“Not that I know of. I have been keeping a low profile, and I haven’t reported anything to the police recently either. What’s going on?” Xiang Kun replied.

Officer Chen said: “Someone has been checking you out in our police system.”

Xiang Kun sent a shocked emoji: “Did someone hack your police system?”

Officer Chen sent a cold sweat emoji: “No, it was one of our own who did the checking. I made some inquiries, and it seems like they probably don’t harbor ill-will towards you, but they are under someone else’s orders. So my guess is, someone wants to take a shot at you and wants to find out your background first.”

Xiang Kun immediately ran through a list of potential suspects in his mind, from Qi Haoguo, Liu Feibao, Chu Xiuwen to Ji Hang, even Zhang Qian could be a possibility. However, he replied on WeChat, “Don’t worry, Officer Chen, I’ll be careful. If anything happens, I’ll find you!”

Officer Chen sent a Jacky Cheung’s Fly Brother emoji: “What do you want from me for! If anything happens, call the police yourself!”

But after a while, a message from Officer Chen came: “By the ways, I hinted to the person who was checking your information that you might be a police informant. If they really want to harm you, they will probably think twice. Anyway, be careful. Don’t try to be a hero just because you know how to fight. Remember, even the best martial artist can’t beat a kitchen knife. If there are problems you can’t handle, leave a message or call me.”

Xiang Kun sent a moved emoji: “Sure thing! If I come across any criminal organization or wanted criminal, I’ll notify you discreetly, Officer Chen. That will be my New Year’s gift to you!”

Officer Chen sent another Fly Brother emoji: “Stuff your gift! I’m still swamped by cases and can’t even take my New Year holiday. Don’t get me into trouble.”

After the chat with Officer Chen, Xiang Kun didn’t take the person who checked his information seriously, because regardless of who among the several suspects checked him, there would be no substantial threat to him. With the “anchor” Qi Haoguo who was influenced by him, others dared not do anything major apart from gathering information.

Just by scrutinizing his past record, his past is as clean as can be and basically, there are no issues to be found.

If they really find anything that may lead to a potential problem, they can’t help but interact with him and can’t avoid being detected by him.

The moment he discovers it, he has plenty of countermeasures.

Putting away his phone, standing outside the Citong City train station, watching the continuous stream of passengers in and out, and the policemen and station security staff maintaining order and guarding the station in their cotton-padded coats, Xiang Kun felt a little dazed.

He remembered this time last year, he rushed home just the day before New Year’s Eve. He was busy working overtime then and had been working late into the night for several consecutive days. He had less than four hours of sleep every night, so he was incredibly fatigued, and his thoughts were entirely on his work and projects. He couldn’t even feel the “New Year atmosphere”.

But on further reflection, it seemed that since high school, the so-called “New Year atmosphere” had been dwindling. It wasn’t because the environment had changed, but rather the stage of life and mentality had changed. He could no longer be as simply happy as before about the New Year, holidays, receiving pocket money, enjoying good food, new clothes, and playing with friends.

This year, Xiang Kun is free from job pressure, and he doesn’t need to worry about work projects. Although he carries a secret that may be related to life and death, compared with last year, his mood has indeed changed a lot.

At least he can direct more of his attention to things outside of himself, realizing that the Citong City train station, which he had been in and out of countless times, had changed a lot over the years. Not only were many buildings added, the outside was renovated and looked a lot neater, cleaner and more open. The surrounding environment had greatly improved, with significantly fewer touts, fraudsters, and thieves.

Xiang Kun slowly walked down the stairs from the entrance, collected and summarized various sensory information automatically, aware of the surroundings, and tries to feel the different lives of each passenger from the limited pieces of information, aiming to catch a bit of the “New Year atmosphere” from them.

Suddenly, there was an uproar among the crowd leaving the station. The passengers were pushed to the periphery, making way for an open space. Someone was shouting, “Someone has fainted! An old man has fainted! Is there a doctor here? Is there a doctor?”

Xiang Kun quickly identified the shouting man and the old man lying on the ground out of his view.

After switching to the infrared thermographic vision mode to see the old man on the ground through the crowd from afar, Xiang Kun quickly concluded: The old man seemed to have heart problems.

A tall and thin young man from the passengers yelling “I’m a doctor, excuse me!” squeezed through and began to check the old man while asking the person who had shouted for help, “Are you a family member of the patient? Does he have any medical history?”

“Uh, I don’t know this old man. I was walking behind him, and he suddenly fainted. It looked like he was clutching his chest…” the responder said.

“Call 120 for an ambulance,” the young doctor ordered, quickly checking the old man’s pockets and then shouted at the other passengers, “Does anyone have nitroglycerin tablets or fast-acting myocardial infarction capsules?”

The young doctor checked again and found the old man’s breathing and heartbeat had stopped. He looked serious and began performing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Through the infrared thermographic vision mode and the cognitive model established from the various sensory information he collected, Xiang Kun judged that this old man might be in dire straits.

Life is so unpredictable.

Xiang Kun silently remarked. Since there was already a professional doctor on the scene, he didn’t think he had any miraculous ability to do a better job.

But just when he was about to walk away, a few possible solutions sprung up in his mind.

Whenever Xiang Kun now confronted a problem, just harboring a desire to solve it, his brain would rapidly structure various sensory information based on his needs. By connecting various well-established cognitive patterns, it would deduce, analyze, and offer a few basic solutions for his selection.

This was an “instinctive reaction” he had developed after extensive training and several stages of evolution.

Through the options he had derived, Xiang Kun realized that the skill he had “acquired” on the bus from Little Fat Girl Liu Shiling could indeed help him tackle the current crisis and potentially save the old man’s life.

Xiang Kun promptly weighed his options. If he chose not to intervene, the old man would likely not survive according to the information at hand. The young doctor’s attempts at resuscitation would be in vain and emergency services would arrive too late. However, if he did intervene, although there was no certainty of success, it would significantly increase the odds of survival, to at least 70%.

In the split second calculation, Xiang Kun reached a conclusion.

Recalling the angles of the station’s surveillance cameras and the angles of the cameras on the bystanders’ phones, he squeezed his way towards the old man, with his head held low, his hood covering his face, and his glasses off. When he finally reached the old man, he declared loudly:

“I’m a doctor from the Cardiothoracic Surgery department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Medical University. Let me through!”

His voice was firm and persuasive.

Upon hearing this, the young doctor who had been attempting CPR paused subconsciously, making way for Xiang Kun.

Then Xiang Kun knelt down beside the old man, leaning slightly forward. Using the hood and his back as cover, avoiding any camera’s view, he placed his palms on the old man’s chest.

It appeared that he was about to take over the CPR from the young doctor?

The young doctor quickly briefed Xiang Kun about the patient’s condition. However, after three or four seconds, he realized that Xiang Kun merely kept his hands on the old man’s chest without exerting any pressure or performing any resuscitation procedure. The young doctor couldn’t help but ask, “Doctor?…..”

But the next moment, Xiang Kun abruptly got up, moved through the crowd, and retreated.

The crowd assumed Xiang Kun was about to fetch some equipment and they automatically cleared a path for him. But contrary to their assumptions, the man who claimed to be a cardiothoracic surgeon continued to distance himself till he was out of the station.

The young doctor was stunned momentarily before he resumed the CPR. As soon as he touched the old man’s chest, he noticed that the man’s pulse and breathing had returned.

The man had been resuscitated!

At this moment, the station’s on-duty doctor for the Spring Festival arrived. After checking the old man, he said with a look of approval, “The patient’s heartbeat has returned…”

On hearing this, the crowd erupted into applause. They along with the station doctor believed that the old man had been revived by the young doctor.

As for the tall man who had his hood on and claimed to be a cardiothoracic surgeon, they did not know what purpose he served.

Only the young doctor, who stared at the station’s exit searching for that figure, knew that the old man’s heartbeat and breathing had returned after the person claiming to be a cardiac surgeon touched his chest. But that figure was long gone.

Meanwhile, Xiang Kun, who had already left the station quickly and switched streets to hail a ride home, heaved a sigh of relief.

Since he interfered, he was relieved to accomplish a positive outcome.

The next time he encountered Little Fat Girl, he would tell her secretly that she had saved an old man’s life, that should earn her some merits.

When Xiang Kun had kneeled just before, four coins were tightly attached to the center of each of his palms. At the same time, several beads holding a “super sensory contact” moved from his bag into his arms, hidden beneath his sleeves.

Our hearts also generate electrical activities under normal circumstances to ensure regular beat. When abnormal heartbeats occur due to various reasons, sometimes even leading to sudden stop, then Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) is required. A high-voltage pulse current rapidly passing through the heart eliminates abnormal electrical activity. They hope that the heart’s highest “official,” the Sinoatrial node, will retake control and restore normal heartbeat.

The easiest way to understand this is to imagine a person walking normally. When a sudden obstacle or illness occurs, it’s like tripping over something. The left foot hits the right, the right foot kicks the left, staggering without rhythm, even falling.

At this point, we raise a foot to stop him (defibrillation), to make him halt his progress, to stand up, and then walk again.

If he falls (sudden cardiac arrest), then the only option is a hard kick to see if it’s possible for him to get up again. If he manages to get up, then he can start walking again.

Some people are uncoordinated and require someone to call out rhythmically, one, two, one, two. This is the function of a pacemaker under some circumstances.

Using the ability Xiang Kun developed from his recent interaction with Little Fat Girl, he used the magnetic field generated by various objects with “super sensory contact” for targeted intervention. This helped the old man’s heart to beat again. It was like a man falling, and Xiang Kun helped him up, then accurately assisted him to lift his left foot, land his left foot, lift his right foot, land his right foot, gave him a push, voila, let’s go!

Since it directly intruded the heart, it consumed less energy but was more precise.

Thankfully, Xiang Kun had read a few medical books before and had a basic understanding of them. Otherwise, even if he developed the ability of Little Fat Girl, he wouldn’t have been able to do it.

Although Xiang Kun had removed his glasses and put on his hood before he approached, if someone really wanted to find him, they could still recognize him through the surveillance cameras at the entrance and exit of the station, his clothes, and even identify his approximate carriage from the location he got off the bus, cross-check the ticket buyer’s real name, and hence speculate his identity.

However, Xiang Kun believed that his actions wouldn’t prompt anyone to go to great lengths to uncover his real identity. It was just like the previous time when he exhibited his unnatural behavior at the scene of the bus accident.

Further more, considering his deliberate performance and directional hints, most of the people at the scene would probably think that the old man was saved by the young doctor.