What It's Like Being a Vampire

Xia Libing let Xiang Kun sit at the side of the dining table, and then went to her room to fetch her laptop and a black softcover notebook.

“The child in the dream and the ‘co-manifested’ cake and pork knuckle exhibit several differences,” Xia Libing began after taking a seat opposite Xiang Kun. “Firstly, the sensation during co-manifestation in the dream is different, it lacks the sense of dominance comparable to when the cake and pork knuckle were manifested; control varies.

“Secondly, the cake and pork knuckle emerged in response to the emotions in the dream, the child didn’t;

“Thirdly, the ability I possess upon waking up from the dream, I believe it’s still insufficient to ‘co-manifest’ the child.”

Although it was only a nickname, hearing Old Xia refer to her youthful figure in the dream as the “child,” it felt somewhat odd to Xiang Kun.

However, if not “child,” what other suitable nickname could there be? “Little Xia?” “Tiny Xia”? It couldn’t possibly be “toddler Old Xia” like his, right?

Mulling over Old Xia’s words, Xiang Kun asked, “By your logic, even if the ‘ability to control’ is sufficient, it doesn’t necessarily imply being able to co-create the ‘child’, does it?”

“Right,” Xia Libing nodded in confirmation, “From my perspective, that is the case.”

“Could you elaborate on the ‘ability to control’ you mentioned? Are you referring to the coins I gave you?” Xiang Kun enquired.

Xia Libing put her laptop aside, then lined up the nine coins Xiang Kun gave her in the middle of the table in three rows of 3X3; it looked neat.

“Do you have any coins on you right now?” she asked after arranging the coins.

Xiang Kun took out a ball and placed it on the table: “This has the same effect as the coins.” He had previously explained the process of establishing “super sensory contact” to Old Xia, so naturally, Old Xia knew there wouldn’t be any essential difference between the ball used to establish “super sensory contact” and the coins.

Xia Libing took the ball, observed it in her palm for a while, then unfolded a napkin on the table and placed the ball on it to prevent it from rolling.

Next, she stared at the side of the table nearer to Xiang Kun, and a Napoleon Cake appeared a few seconds later.

With just a glance, Xiang Kun realized that this Napoleon Cake differed slightly from the one Old Xia “co-manifested” during lunch.

He slowly picked up the cake, observed it for a while, sniffed it, and said, “It is indeed somewhat different, the details are more ‘rich,’ is it due to the additional six coins I can control?”

“After the cake disappeared, Xia Libing said, “I tried it last night, before going to bed, during ‘co-manifestation,’ only three coins could be connected, after waking up, I could use nine coins.”

As she spoke, she pointed to the ball on the napkin, “I can sense it but I can’t tap into its power for now.”

Xiang Kun understood her point. In other words, for Old Xia to utilize “super-connected objects” to “co-manifest” dream objects in reality, she needs to first project these “super-connected objects” into the dreamland and establish a deeper connection. Only by using these “super-connected objects” to co-manifest an object in the dreamland, and upon waking up from that dream, can she “invoke” the power of these “super-connected objects” to co-manifest in reality.

Indeed, just as Xiang Kun felt only the nine coins invoking his power and not the newly given ball when Old Xia “co-manifested” the cake.

Xia Libing continued: “I didn’t specifically ‘construct’ an object through the ‘ability’ brought by these coins, the process of ‘co-manifesting’ the cake and the pork knuckle, was more like establishing a channel through the power of the coins, and ‘inviting’ the cake and pork knuckle into reality. The coins are the intermediaries for the co-manifested objects, and I am the intermediary for the coins.”

Xiang Kun nodded thoughtfully, comprehending Old Xia’s words.

This means that although the source of Old Xia’s “Illusion Reality” ability comes from the coins that Xiang Kun super-sensory-connected with, to utilize them to realize “Illusion Reality,” they first need to be “imported” and “projected” into the dreamland, then their projected power should be utilized to construct objects within the dream. Only after waking up can she employ the “super-connected objects” to “co-manifest” objects that were previously constructed in the dreamland.

Old Xia’s dreamland, just as Xiang Kun previously assumed, has become a system in itself, a fresh “super-connected object” that needs to establish a connection with her, has to first be “formatted” in the dream?

And using the projections of these “super-connected objects” within the dream to construct objects, it’s like programming these “devices”, and after returning to reality, she could only run the programs “compiled” in the dreamland.

As for the “Little Old Xia” that appeared in the dream, it was considered an “advanced program” that the equipment couldn’t support. It failed to run and couldn’t even be installed.

Of course, this was Xiang Kun’s thought process from the perspective of applying “Super-Connected Objects”.

If one were to consider Old Xia’s just-accomplished description, her abilities—gained through these “Super-Connected Objects”—played a role of a door or a bridge during their “co-manifestation”, beckoning out the items from her dreams.

Would that mean that the dream she had before wouldn’t completely disappear once she woke up?

“I want to confirm this again,” Xia Libing said out loud, explaining why she had called Xiang Kun.

Xiang Kun nodded, “Okay.” Then he added, “After entering your dream this time, try eating the Napoleon Cake and the Crispy Pig’s Elbow you’ve created. Then, use ‘Super-Connected Objects’ to build more things. You can start with something simple, as for what exactly, that’s up to you.”

Xia Libing understood his intentions. She nodded, got up and collected the nine coins and the marble into her room. She removed her ponytail, let her hair loose and laid down on the bed to sleep.

Xiang Kun sat at the dining table in the living room. He flipped through the black, soft cover notebook that Old Xia had left on the table. He looked at the simple stick figures, the owl, and the spider drawn on it.

“Old Xia’s drawing skills… aren’t really that great…” Xiang Kun couldn’t help but mutter.

He didn’t immediately try to sense the pair of chopsticks that were placed by Xia Libing’s pillow. As long as he was in the same house, even if Xia Libing was in the bedroom and he was in the living room, he could still clearly tell whether Xia Libing was asleep through various sensory information.

Five minutes passed by.

Ten minutes passed by.

Fifteen minutes passed by…

Xiang Kun couldn’t help but ask, “Old Xia, are you unable to sleep?”

The sound of Old Xia sitting up in bed came from the bedroom. She came out and looked at Xiang Kun, “I might not have eaten enough at night.”

Xiang Kun naturally understood her meaning, so he got up and went into the kitchen to search for the ingredients left over from the lunch he had cooked earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, in another city hundreds of kilometers away.

Li Sheng bid farewell to a female colleague, his brother Li Yang, and his niece Li Jun at their doorstep, then walked to the car park in the community to drive.

As a detective, Li Sheng had also been on duty the previous night, the New Year’s Eve. He had no time to rest, let alone celebrate the holiday at his brother’s home.

Today, he finally had some free time, so he brought his female colleague, with whom he was almost confirmed to be dating, to have dinner together.

After dinner, he needed to rush back to the station.

The female colleague didn’t look particularly beautiful. She had a conspicuous scar on her forehead, and she didn’t wear much makeup. Yet, she was tall and carried an air of heroic spirit. Standing next to the studious, glasses-wearing Li Sheng, they made quite a couple.

“Liu Ying, what do you think of my brother? He’s a good person, isn’t he?” In the car, as he started the engine, Li Sheng said with a smile.

The policewoman named Liu Ying nodded, “Professor Li has profound knowledge, and he is also interesting and humorous. It’s indeed enjoyable to chat with him. I wish I could chat for more time if not for the necessity to return to the station. However… the one that left me the deeper impression is still your niece, Xiao Pingguo.”