What It's Like Being a Vampire

When being questioned by the police at the hospital, the two felons initially attempted to shift the blame onto Xiang Kun and Xia Libing, claiming that they were beaten up by the pair in an alley for no reason.

However, the police were not easily fooled. As soon as they had been transferred to the hospital, the police had already identified their identities and their criminal records from their IDs.

Then, based on the statements from Xiang Kun and Xia Libing, the police reviewed the surveillance footage from the roads nearby the complex and the coffee shop, verifying the two men’s suspicious movements.

Xiang Kun and Xia Libing presented a united front. Xiang Kun told the police he spotted a man lurking around Xia Libing after leaving the coffee shop, so he followed; Xia Libing, on the other hand, stated that when she returned to the entrance of the complex, she saw a man wearing a mask. Thinking it was a friend of hers, she called out to him, but his response was strange and even cursed her. She then instinctively took off his mask, didn’t expect such a strong reaction, and he ran away. She thought he might be a thief, so she chased after him.

Next, the police found solid evidence pointing to their guilt – chat records on the perpetrators’ WeChat accounts revealed that they had been hired to carry out the task.

So, under the police officers’ fact-based persuasion, the two criminal suspects lying in the hospital finally confessed to their crimes.

According to their confession, someone had paid them to find dirt on Xia Libing and, if necessary, to frame her, with the aim of coercion and bribery.

As for the purpose of the coercion and bribery, they naturally knew it too.

Last year, there was a crime of passion. A girl believed that her ex-boyfriend cheated on her with his current girlfriend while they were still together, so out of anger, she resorted to an ambush attack on the street, leading to the death of her ex-boyfriend and serious injuries to his current girlfriend.

The girl’s family was quite influential locally. Her mother found a way to apply for a mental examination, then pulled some strings, and bribed the doctors who were in charge of the examination with a significant sum of money.

Initially, that doctor was quite confident, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, one of the assistants who was supposed to help him with the examination was replaced with Xia Libing.

Xia Libing didn’t care about the authority and influence of the old doctor. If she thought there was an issue, she wouldn’t hesitate to bring it up to the doctor.

That doctor knew some of Xia Libing’s background, how she came to the hospital, and who her aunt and uncle were, so he dared not press or bribe her. He gave up on the case and declined the money.

The doctor naturally told the child’s parents who had bribed him about Xia Libing’s situation, using this as a reason to express his own helplessness, hoping they would understand the difficulty and back off.

But what he didn’t expect was that the parent, desperate to save her daughter, still sent someone to “deal with” Xia Libing.

The people she sought out were the stalking man discovered by Xiang Kun and the tall man found by Xia Libing.

Their original plan was to gather private information on Xia Libing first, to see if there was anything that could be used to threaten or manipulate her.

They were planning to break into her rented house when Xia Libing left the next day. But that night, after Xia Libing finished work, she was taken by her aunt to have dinner and didn’t return home, which they saw as an opportunity to break in earlier than expected.

However, the lock of the apartment rented by Xia Libing was rather special. The tall man spent half a day to realize he had brought the wrong tools. So, he sent his partner back to fetch the right tools. Just as they finally found the correct tools, many people started coming in and out of Xia Libing’s apartment floor, leaving them no opportunity to act.

Finally, when the number of people decreased, and they had a chance to steal in, the partner waiting outside the apartment complex told him that Xia Libing was back…

Just when they thought they had wasted their whole night, the apartment complex unexpectedly had a power outage. Xia Libing left with her laptop, so the tall man tried to pick the lock and enter again. His accomplice followed Xia Libing to keep an eye on her moves, to prevent her from coming back suddenly, and to see if he could discover something. If he happened to see this beautiful doctor having an affair or cheating, he could take a picture and potentially complete his task.

Xia Libing returned earlier than they expected, but the man outside the café sent a warning in advance. The tall man had ample time to escape, so he continued his half-done work, installed the hidden camera, carefully cleaned up, locked the door, and left the apartment complex.

However, he didn’t expect to be intercepted by Xia Libing at the complex gate.

Initially, he thought Xia Libing had mistaken him for someone named “Xiang Kun,” but after later being unrelentingly pursued by her even after she removed his mask, he knew it wasn’t a case of mistaken identity. Xia Libing was targeting him, although he couldn’t understand why Xia Libing thought he was suspicious and dared to remove his mask.

As for what happened next in that alley, both of them realized they encountered someone skilled. The bald man with glasses seemed respectable, but he was too powerful. The two of them, armed and outnumbering him, were still effortlessly defeated.

What they didn’t know was that so as not to display a superhuman level of strength, Xiang Kun spent 80% of his focus on controlling his power during the fight. The other 19% was observing Old Xia’s observation of him.

In any case, both of them felt a moment of relief and surprise when they saw the police appear in the alley. They’d rather face the police than be tormented by the bald man.

With their testimony, the police worked through the night. In addition to arresting the mastermind, they also brought in the doctor from the Third Hospital to assist the investigation.

The facts of the case are largely clear now. Xia Libing is the victim, and Xiang Kun is the good samaritan. Even though the two suspects ended up worse off and looked more like victims.

After cooperating with the police to give their statements, Xia Libing and Xiang Kun left the station with Xia Libing’s uncle and aunt.

However, after all this, it was already past two in the morning.

The old and young officers saw Xiang Kun and others off after they left. While they yawned and walked back, they spoke in a low voice. Though it was already New Year’s Eve after midnight, they had no chance to end their shift and go home on time, let alone have a holiday.

“Old Xu, according to the two suspects from the hospital, when Dr. Xia ‘mistook’ someone at the complex gate, she called him ‘Xiang Kun’, right? Isn’t Xiang Kun the bald Mr. Xiang with her? Hadn’t she just met with Mr. Xiang at the café before returning to the complex? The suspect was wearing a mask but no hat or glasses, and his hair was visible. How could she mistake him for Mr. Xiang?” the younger officer asked, somewhat confused.

The older officer casually said, “Probably didn’t notice it due to insufficient light. It doesn’t matter.”

The young officer nodded and couldn’t help but say, “According to Dr. Xia’s 911 call, her and Mr. Xiang’s descriptions, and the situation we saw in the alley, it was Mr. Xiang against the two suspects alone. Even though Mr. Xiang looks tall and robust, the two suspects have multiple charges of intentional injury, and they’re not easy to deal with, there’s not a big difference in their physique, and they were both carrying weapons. Under such circumstances, Mr. Xiang not only was unscathed, but his clothes were also clean. Moreover, he even knocked the two suspects over so they couldn’t escape and forced one of them to stab his accomplice out of panic… To be honest, this is beyond my understanding.”

The older officer asked, “Oh? So you think Mr. Xiang or Dr. Xia are lying?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. What they said is consistent with our investigation of the nearby surveillance, the traces at the scene, various pieces of evidence, and the confessions obtained from the two suspects. Moreover, they have no motive to lie. It may seem surprising, but Mr. Xiang’s skills are indeed as formidable as it appears.”

The young officer shook his head, his brow furrowed and his expression somewhat strange. “But there was something odd when I was taking the testimony of Dr. Xia and Mr. Xiang… They seemed too calm. What would a normal person do when they discover their friend is being stalked? Or when they spot a suspicious person exiting their residential area? The tone of Dr. Xia during the emergency call was too calm. As a woman seeing her companion fighting bare-handed with two armed thugs, she didn’t seem panicked at all. The way they handled the situation… was rather… extraordinary.”

Unexplainably, an absurd thought occurred to him. He vaguely sensed that the incident in the alley might have been what Dr. Xia and Mr. Xiang had intended to occur.

Did they deliberately let themselves face two malicious thugs armed with weapons in a narrow alley? This sounded too preposterous and lacked substantiation, so he did not voice this thought.

The senior officer chuckled, “Maybe it’s because Dr. Xia works at the Third Hospital that she has such strong mental fortitude.”

“And what about Mr. Xiang? He said he is a freelancer now, but from graduation until last year, he was engaged in software development. How could a person with such a profession be so skilled in fighting?” The young officer still found it strange.

“If you’re curious, why don’t you look it up? But let’s wrap up this case first. There’s still much work to be done. One step at a time,” the senior officer said nonchalantly.

Returning to his desk in the office, the young officer didn’t immediately start editing his reports. Instead, he logged onto the police intranet and looked up Xiang Kun’s information.

Although Xiang Kun had no criminal record, he had information linked to several cases and had received rewards from the police before.

After leaving the police station, Xia Libing’s uncle drove Xiang Kun home before returning to their home.

Despite the calmness of Xia Libing herself, thinking that the night’s events were not a big deal, her aunt insisted that she should not return to her rented room alone that night. Instead, she brought her back to stay at their home.

Indeed, for a normal girl, let alone the encounter in the alley, just the discovery of several hidden cameras in Xia Libing’s rented house based on the confessions of the two suspects half an hour ago, would make her resistant to the idea of going back there alone at night.

However, Xia Libing was certain that even without the police checking her house first, or obtaining the testimonies of the two suspects, she would have been able to find those cameras herself if she had returned home today. Since the two suspects were apprehended, the instigators and relevant personnel behind them have been controlled and taken to the police station overnight, there was really nothing to worry about.

Rather, she gathered a lot of information today and wanted to take the time to organize and reflect on it.

However, based on her observations of her uncle and aunt’s attitudes, she was unlikely to return to her rented room alone. With daylight just a few hours away, it seemed better to go to her uncle’s house and get a little sleep.

“Xiao Bing, are you close with Mr. Xiang? Why would you meet him at the coffee shop so late?” The aunt who sat in the back seat with Xia Libing asked carefully. When Xiang Kun was in the car earlier, her aunt had asked simply, knowing that Xia Libing had gone to the coffee shop to see Xiang Kun after dinner, leading to Xiang Kun discovering the stalking incident.

“Our home had a power outage, and I went to the coffee shop to work. He helped me bring over the clothes Cousin sent me. He is Cousin’s friend.” Xia Libing explained simply, patting the backpack filled with clothes, chopsticks, and a laptop at her feet.

“Oh, I see. It seems Mr. Xiang is quite skilled in combat. Has he had any professional training? Officer Xu mentioned how he single-handedly beat up those two suspects. That’s quite impressive.” Her aunt asked further.

Images of Xiang Kun skillfully maneuvering and using exaggerated moves against the thugs in the alley crossed Xia Libing’s mind. On the surface, she answered, “He said he’s had no training.”

“There’s no way he hasn’t had training. Just judging from his physique, it’s clear that he has. Or could it be…that he’s served in the military?” Her uncle, who was driving, couldn’t help but interject.

“He’s never served in the military.” Xia Libing responded.

“Xiao Bing, next time you encounter suspicious individuals at the gate of your community, you should inform the security guards or call the police, or call me or your uncle directly. You shouldn’t chase after them yourself. If Mr. Xiang wasn’t there today, I don’t even want to imagine what could’ve happened. It was far too dangerous!” Her aunt expressed her worry.

Xia Libing nodded, “I won’t chase after them next time.”

“In any case, we should thank Mr. Xiang for what happened today. After the New Year, we should invite him to dinner one day to thank him.” Her aunt contemplated.

Xia Libing replied, “That’s not necessary, I’ll take care of it.” Thinking of the five meals she ‘lost’, she had already planned what to serve for the first meal. Before her shift at the hospital the next afternoon, she would have to see what ingredients were needed to prepare in advance. It seemed ingredients would be hard to buy on New Year’s Eve.

Upon hearing Xia Libing’s words, her aunt paused and gazed at her niece surprisingly. After a moment’s thought, she didn’t say anything further but continued to inquire about Xiang Kun’s background.

When they arrived home, her aunt didn’t engage in further conversation. After helping Xia Libing put new bedding in the guest room, she went to rest.

Just as Xia Libing was taking off her coat and setting down her bag, her phone on the bedside table vibrated. Picking it up, she saw a message from Xiang Kun asking if she had reached home.

“I’ve arrived at my aunt’s place.” Xia Libing replied.

Within a few seconds, Xiang Kun sent another message: “How did you determine that the man who came out of your residential area was suspicious?”

Given the distance between them at the time, with Xiang Kun’s acute hearing, he knew clearly what Xia Libing was saying and doing. Naturally, he knew that she was not mistaking the man for someone else, but deliberately testing him.

Xia Libing held her phone with both hands, both of her thumbs rapidly typing on the screen. Within no time, she sent a long message back:

“The direction from my apartment building can be directly viewed from the entrance of my residential area. Although I didn’t see him coming out of my building, the direction he was coming from would only be that building. I am familiar with all the residents in our building, and there’s no one matching his physical description. Also, I have never seen him come in or out of our residential area, which means that he is not a resident here but a friend of a resident. When he arrived at the gate, he lowered his head immediately upon seeing me, and there was an evident trend of evading me in his movements, which is not a regular response. When I tested him by doing the ‘mistaken identity’ act, his tone and body language showed he was nervous and guilty, rather than surprised or puzzled, further proving that something about him was off. When I pulled his sleeve, his reaction also substantiated this. When I pulled down his mask without him noticing, the look in his eyes confirmed that he knew me. Linking this to the man outside the coffee shop, I deduced they were accomplices. His presence here indicates that he had just sneaked into my house to do something, and was preparing to leave. If we capture both of them, we can figure out their motives. With you there, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

Lying in bed at home, Xiang Kun read this lengthy response on WeChat. The first thing that caught his attention was the phrase “not a regular response.”

Xiang Kun couldn’t help but laugh. It seems that this simple explanation from Xia Libing, as though she were stating an objective fact, was her unique way of delivering a compliment.