What It's Like Being a Vampire

“Did we just leave Miss Chen back there?” Zhou Rui asked with some concern.

The driver, Gao Shu, said, “It’s alright, Miss Chen is just cooperating with the police investigation.”

Zhou Rui frowned and said, “Investigation what? Miss Chen has been with us all this time…” Then he realized that when Gao Shu said that Chen Tianhua “joined the investigation team,” it could even have been something she had done before she joined Divine Technology.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Rui asked again, “Will the matter she’s involved in… be very troublesome?”

“Judging from the attitude of the police, the matter she’s involved in must be big, but there shouldn’t be too much problem with her herself,” Ye Chong said. He didn’t know about Mijoe’s real identity, but he knew this woman, whose name seemed a bit tacky, was quite knowledgeable about computer stuff, especially computer network security, and she seemed to be someone Mr. Liang had specifically appointed.

Before today, he had always guessed that Mijoe was a relative of Mr. Liang, or a relative of other higher-ups with secret departmental powers, and her joining the investigation team represented the will of the higher-ups.

However, after this incident, his judgment changed. Mijoe, even if she is a trusted person of Mr. Liang or other higher-ups, is likely not from a wealthy background and might have had a complicated past. Even the name “Chen Tianhua” might not be her real name.

Gao Shu also said, “It’s alright, Mr. Liang already knows about it. Miss Chen should be able to return tomorrow after finishing her cooperation with the police, and we will continue our previous mission.”

Indeed, in their mission of collecting samples and related information from Zi Huan Mountain, Mijoe was not an indispensable member. The primary technical operations and judgments were mainly handled by Zhou Rui and Ye Chong, so her absence did not significantly affect the mission.

Moreover, upon hearing that Mr. Liang already knew about it, both Zhou Rui and Ye Chong were completely relaxed, thinking that Mr. Liang would definitely handle this problem.

But Zhou Rui seemed to recall something, puzzled he said, “Wait, Old Gao, how did you know that Mr. Liang knows? Did you inform Mr. Liang? But you were with us the whole time just now, I didn’t see you making a call?”

Gao Shu said, “I reported to Mr. Liang back in the mountain, you just didn’t notice.”

“In the mountain…” Zhou Rui also understood. Gao Shu had sensed something after they had been interrogated by the cops in the mountain. No wonder he was so calm when they got pulled over by the police car, saying that they should cooperate with the police.

He wanted to ask Gao Shu if he knew what Mijoe had done, but immediately he remembered the pile of non-disclosure agreements he had signed once he joined the secret research department and dropped the idea – even if Gao Shu did know, he was not allowed to tell them.

However, he couldn’t help but guess about the case that Mijoe was involved in, as well as her past experiences. Over the time they had spent together, unbeknownst to him, he had developed some vague affection for Mijoe.

In the precinct, Xu Zhao, who had just finished informing Yangcheng about the situation, looked at the two young people in his office and couldn’t help but laugh bitterly, “Xiao Zhao, Xiao Zhao, you and Zi Huan Mountain really have some fate, huh? No, maybe it’s not right to say ‘fate’, is Zi Huan Mountain your lucky place? No, that’s not right either… Anyway, you’ve really had some weird stuff going on these past few days? Taking some time off and going climbing on Zi Huan Mountain, and you end up discovering three corpses that have been hidden in the mountains for almost a year and haven’t been found by anyone. Take some more time off, go climbing on Zi Huan Mountain again, and you discover a key figure involved in a major case…Xiao Zhao, the next time you’re going to Zi Huan Mountain on your day off, just take me along with you…”

The two young people in the office were, of course, Zhao Feng and Wang De’an.

Zhao Feng also couldn’t help but smile wryly, “If it wasn’t for my classmate being with me today, I wouldn’t have recognized that person. It really was too coincidental.”

Wang De’an nodded in agreement, “Yes, yes, it was too coincidental.”

Both of them understood that Xu Zhao wasn’t complaining about them causing trouble; he was just joking.

“Our brothers in Yangcheng are very happy and thank us. They are on their way to Citong now. The leaders in the bureau asked me and you, on behalf of the bureau, to connect with them and cooperate fully. Xiao Wang, our leaders have talked to your leaders. The person was recognized by you, and you’ve also participated in the investigation together with your brothers in Yangcheng before, so you know the case quite well. So you’re also staying behind to help us connect with the brothers who are coming over from Yangcheng,” Xu Zhao said again.

To this request, both Zhao Feng and Wang De’an were very willing.

It would be at least until the evening that the members of the special task force from Yangcheng would arrive. However, Zhao Feng and the others decided to perform a simple inquiry on Mijoe first.

“Chen Tianhua? Is that your real name?”

In the interrogation room, Zhao Feng and Wang De’an sat in front of Mijoe, examining the information sent from Yangcheng, and asked.

They thought starting from “Chen Tianhua”, this “fake identity,” would be easier for a breakthrough. And shockingly, this identity could be found in the police household registration system, and the photo was indeed hers. The potential illicit production involved in this would probably be a big case if it were discovered.

But what they didn’t expect was that Mijoe, who had been calm and cooperative since she was taken into the police car, said directly, “You brought me here mainly to find Guo Tianxiang, didn’t you? Don’t beat around the bush, I’ll just tell you what I know. I met Guo Tianxiang a year ago, but at the beginning, I found some dirt on him and wanted to blackmail him…”

Zhao Feng and Wang De’an looked at each other, both of them were somewhat surprised. They didn’t expect Mijoe to be so proactive. They initially thought that Mijoe’s fake identity and her appearance in Citong City were related to the missing Guo Tianxiang.

“You said you initially wanted to blackmail him, so why did you change your mind and start working with him?” Zhao Feng asked.

“Because he’s too handsome. I fell for him,” Mijoe lied fluently. In fact, she had sought advice from “Mr. Liang” when she had just joined “Divine Technology”. What if her identity was exposed and she was arrested by the authorities?

Mr. Liang’s reply was quite simple. Aside from information related to “Blood-eating Creatures” and “Divine Technology’s” secret department, she could be honest about everything else. The rest was up to the company to handle.

So when Gao Shu secretly contacted “Mr. Liang” and told them to “cooperate with the police”, she knew what to do.

“‘Too handsome’…” The materials sent from Yangcheng also included a photo of Guo Tianxiang. Both Zhao Feng and Wang De’an couldn’t question her statement — he really was quite handsome…

“You said you were his internet technology consultant. Specifically, what did you do for him?” Wang De’an asked.

“I searched for some information, invaded other people’s computers, and did things along that line. It’s complicated to explain in detail. Do any of you understand the technology? If you want to know where Guo Tianxiang is now, I can tell you that before he disappeared, he went to Liushi to meet an online friend,” Mijoe explained.

“Meet an online friend? What online friend?”

“I’m not sure. I followed him to a pedestrian street in Liushi, but his ‘online friend’ stood him up. He then asked me to go back to Yangcheng. After that, I never saw him again and couldn’t contact him,” Mijoe said.

“So, his disappearance has something to do with that ‘online friend’? Why would he bring you along when he was meeting the online friend?” Zhao Feng asked.

“I don’t know. Perhaps they were going to discuss some network-related technical problems. He might have wanted me as a consultant. In any case, we didn’t get to see anyone, and he didn’t tell me what he wanted to discuss,” Mijoe wouldn’t tell them about her “fishing post” on Zhihu nor the trap she and “Pipikachu” set up for each other.

“Then how did you leave Yangcheng and become ‘Chen Tianhua’?” With a shift in his train of thought, Zhao Feng asked again.

Mijoe, who had been very forthcoming with information about Guo Tianxiang, clammed up immediately, showing no intention of discussing anything about “Chen Tianhua”.

“Miss Chen… or should I say… Miss Mi? You should understand how big Guo Tianxiang’s case is, how grave his crime is. You’re involved, so you should actively cooperate with our investigation and strive for a chance to redeem yourself…”

Just as Zhao Feng was about deliver a speech to extract a confession from Mijoe, Xu Zhao, who was supposed to co-interrogate with him but was called away halfway by their boss, suddenly came back in and asked the two of them to step out.

Xu Zhao told them, “The boss has given a few instructions. One, there’s no problem with ‘Chen Tianhua’s’ identity. Second, ‘Chen Tianhua’ isn’t a suspect, only a witness assisting in the investigation.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Feng and Wang De’an exchanged a look. They both understood what this meant. This wasn’t something under-the-table reassurance from a superior. With such a formal and affirmative statement conveyed through Xu Zhao, it could only mean one thing — there was really no problem with “Chen Tianhua’s” identity. It was a conclusion from the official level. The director of their bureau must have received confirmation from higher authorities.

Could it be… Mijoe was actually working undercover?

Her previous approach towards Guo Tianxiang wasn’t because she “liked” him, but because she was conducting an undercover investigation?

But then, Guo Tianxiang suddenly disappeared, resulting in Mijoe’s mission failing.

And now, is she on another undercover mission?

If that were the case, wouldn’t exposing Mijoe’s identity jeopardize her?

After he followed Old Xia back to his rented apartment, Kun used Old Xia’s laptop to play some music, trying to stir up his emotions and “Emotionally Assimilate” with Old Xia.

Speaking of which, when he disclosed his mutation to Old Xia, their agreement was that Old Xia would help him investigate the cause of the mutation, and he would help Old Xia find a way to sense normal emotions.

Not to mention their future plans of conducting secret researches and operating labs, even as of now, Old Xia had already helped him a lot. Be it “Illusion Reality” or “Dream in A Dream”, or even the psychological guidance and deep hypnosis within “Dream in A Dream”, all these were of great help to him.

Indeed, it’s time for him to return the favor.

However, as he sat in front of the computer, having listened to various music for over twenty minutes — including all the songs that usually evoked strong emotions in him, he somehow just couldn’t get into the mood today.

Kun opened Bilibili and navigated to the page for “Princess Tangdou’s” videos: “Nana’s songs are really good. Several of her songs have unknowingly prompted ‘Emotional Assimilation’. The last time at Zi Huan Mountain, I used her song named ‘Last Ride Of The Day’ as an emotional guide…”

Sitting beside him, Xia Libing, who was also watching the screen, nodded, then stared seriously at the playing clip and listened to Tang Baona’s song.

However, after listening to over a dozen songs by Tang Baona, Kun still couldn’t get into any mood.