What It's Like Being a Vampire

Moreover, it wasn’t just Xiang Kun and Old Xia, Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er were also there.

To be honest, it had been a long time since he had seen Tang Baona. He indeed liked Tang Baona back then, but just like Old Xia had said, he barely knew her. His fondness for her was based more on his own imagination of her character and image, solely formed from her appearance.

Before he left for abroad last year, he had mostly let go of and made peace with his feelings. His near-death experience in Burma brought some subtle changes to his perception of self and the world, a so-called “refreshing of his worldview”— although not a major one, but a minor upgrade, revealing perspectives he previously didn’t consider.

Thus, he now could face Tang Baona calmly and greet her normally.

His attention, however, was mainly focused on Xiang Kun and the guest they came to pick up at the airport.

Before he left for abroad, he had once “staked out” outside the apartment complex where Xiang Kun lived, and saw him in person.

Truthfully, his first impression of Xiang Kun was quite good. He did not seem like a lazy pretty boy, a weak scholar, or an irresponsible child of a wealthy family. Although he wore glasses, his bald head and muscular physique gave him a calm yet fierce look.

Even though Xiang Kun was shorter than him, when they met face to face, he felt somewhat overshadowed by Xiang Kun’s presence.

This made Xia Tianhuo unexpectedly feel relieved, thinking, “Nana has good judgement.”

Of course, once he learned that Xiang Kun often spent time with Old Xia, his impression of him naturally went up a notch.

Seeing Xiang Kun again several months later, although there was no change in his appearance or physique, his overall presence felt different. Xia Tianhuo wasn’t sure if it was because Old Xia was present, but intuitively he felt less intimidated by Xiang Kun.

A few months ago, Xiang Kun gave off an aura of quiet alertness, always keeping an eye on his surroundings. Now, he seemed a lot more laid-back and reticent—although he wasn’t boastful before either.

Overall, Xia Tianhuo felt a vague change in Xiang Kun that he found odd.

Of course, since they’d only met once before, he wasn’t very certain whether his perception was the result of the psychological changes he’d undergone due to his experiences in Burma.

However, upon seeing the guests Xiang Kun had come to meet, Xia Tianhuo quickly became curious and surprised.

When he first arrived at the airport and saw Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er, he had assumed that Xiang Kun and Old Xia were there to pick them up. It was only after approaching their MPV and seeing the people standing by the car that he realized they were also there to pick up someone else, and that Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er had accompanied them from Tongshi Town for the same purpose.

They were there to meet a father and daughter, or to be precise, a canary as well.

Xia Tianhuo was quite astonished. It was the first time he had seen someone bring a pet bird on a trip.

When he got in the car, the middle-aged man in the passenger seat, who was addressed by Xiang Kun and others as “Professor Li”, talked about the bird:

To ensure that ‘Glitter’ could board the airplane, I took it to get a quarantine certificate two days ago, but I was still a bit worried. I was afraid that ‘Glitter’ would be frightened alone in the luggage compartment. However, ‘Xiao Pingguo’ was quite confident that ‘Glitter’ could endure the few hours of travel, and knowing how firm ‘Xiao Pingguo’s’ faith in ‘Glitter’ was, there should be no problem. Sure enough, after we got our luggage and picked up ‘Glitter,’ it appeared lively and spirited in its cage, with no issues at all. I was genuinely worried. I wouldn’t have known how to explain to Mr. Xiang if any stress reaction occurred. If not for ‘Xiao Pingguo’ insisting on bringing it to play in Tongshi town, I would have preferred to leave it at home and have someone look after it for a few days.”

The vehicle Xiang Kun was driving this time was a seven-seater MPV. “Professor Li” sat in the front passenger seat, Old Xia and Xia Tianhuo each occupied a spot in the second row, and the third row was taken up by Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er who sat on either side of the beautiful young girl, “Xiao Pingguo.”

The canary, named “Glitter,” and its cage were placed on the floor between the second row seats.

Xia Tianhuo looked down and found the canary in the cage also tilting its head to observe him. However, after only a glance, it turned its head away, arrogantly hopping to the side of the cage closer to Old Xia. It as if it were disdainful?

This surprised Xia Tianhuo. The canary was making such a human-like gesture, and he actually felt a clear sense of being scorned and looked down upon.

There’s something off with this bird!

And why was it acting so conceited? It was just a bird locked in a cage, after all!

Once the vehicle started moving, Xia Tianhuo learned something astonishing from the conversations of the three girls in the back— the girl named “Xiao Pingguo” sitting between Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er was blind!

When Xia Tianhuo arrived at the airport and met them, “Xiao Pingguo” and her father hadn’t yet gotten in the car.

Looking at the seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, who wasn’t wearing sunglasses, her eyes were large and beautiful, with a lively expression. In no way did she seem blind.

However, what was even more striking was that when he approached, “Xiao Pingguo” naturally looked in his direction. Her gaze accurately landed on him.

Later, when she got in the car, she did so effortlessly, showing no signs of visual impairment. But now, from the conversations that Tang Baona and others were having, it was revealed that she’s been blind since birth, with absolutely no vision at all!

Unable to contain his curiosity, Xia Tianhuo turned around to look at “Xiao Pingguo,” but before he could ask anything, their ‘gazes’ already met.

This “blind girl” then took the initiative to say: “Uncle Xia, are you curious about how I ‘saw’ you just now?”

“Ah… Ah? Yes, right.” Xia Tianhuo was startled, this child seemed to be a bit of a mind reader: “I heard Zhen’er say you can’t see with your eyes, but when I came over just now, you ‘saw’ me, didn’t you? And when you got in the car, you were very natural and didn’t need much assistance.”

“Xiao Pingguo” laughed: “Even though I can’t use my eyes, my ears work very well. I heard your footsteps coming towards us, and Sister Zhen’er called you, so I ‘turned towards you’. Just now, I also heard your seat creaking when you turned around, so I guessed you might have heard Zhen’er and Sister Nana talking about my blindness and had a question to ask.”

Yang Zhen’er couldn’t help but laugh: “Big guy, you’re so heavy, your seat shrieks every time you move!”

Xia Tianhuo flicked his cousin’s forehead, causing her to scream in pain.

Li Yang, seated in the passenger seat, also chuckled: “Since learning Mr. Xiang’s ‘Object Sensing’ training method and having ‘Canary’ accompany her, ‘Xiao Pingguo’ has progressed in the past few months. She’s been able to use her ‘ears’ to replace her ‘eyes’. Recently, while walking around the neighborhood, I’ve observed that she doesn’t need a white cane anymore, and she can walk perfectly on her own. She can determine where people are and what objects there might be just with her hearing. At home, it’s even more impressive, she often moves around much more smoothly than I do. But for now, she can only do this in familiar areas. Once out of our neighborhood, I no longer feel at ease with the complex layout.”

“Honestly, when Mr. Xiang first told us about this ‘Object Sensing’ training method, I didn’t think much of it. But I didn’t expect the effect to be so noticeable on ‘Xiao Pingguo’. I tried to find many related materials, documents, and papers, but I still couldn’t figure out the principle.”

“I have had discussions with some old classmates from medical school. Although they’ve put forth some guesses, they are all on a psychological level, thinking it’s a kind of self-suggestion and stimulation of potential. But I always feel that it should be more than a psychological impact.”

Xiang Kun, who was driving, smiled: “The main reason is that ‘Xiao Pingguo’ herself has very strong hearing, so the effect is remarkable. You see, I also practice, but my results are quite limited.”

“Yeah! Nana and I have practiced too, but we saw almost no effect!” Yang Zhen Er added.

After getting to know “Xiao Pingguo”, they also learned that “Xiao Pingguo” carried out a kind of meditation-like “Object Sensing” exercise under Xiang Kun’s guidance. By practicing this, she further enhanced and deployed her originally superior hearing and used it to make various judgments.

Of course, with regards to specific things such as “Emotion Infused Objects”, “Super-connected Objects”, and other objects sensed and dreamed from another world, and the connection established with “Canary”, Xiang Kun had explained, “Xiao Pingguo” would naturally not reveal it to anyone.

Having got his answer, Xia Tianhuo turned back around, but still had some doubts in his heart.

“Xiao Pingguo’s” answer just now still couldn’t explain some problems. For example, even if “Xiao Pingguo” heard from the sound of the seat that he had turned around, how could she be sure that he was going to ask her that question? Normally, wouldn’t the likelihood of him speaking to his cousin Yang Zhen’er or Tang Baona be equally high?

And… why does “Xiao Pingguo” call him “uncle”? He’s clearly of the same generation as Old Xia and Yang Zhen’er! She calls the other two “Ice sister” and “Sister Zhen’er”!

Just as Xia Tianhuo was distressed about suddenly becoming older for no reason, Yang Zhen’er half-rose from her seat, scraping at the back of the front seat, whispering to the back of his head, “Big guy, you look a lot different, don’t you?”

Xia Tianhuo helplessly pressed Yang Zhen’er’s head back down into her seat, irritably retorting: “Yang Lao San, if you have something to say, just say it! The car is only so big, you’re whispering, but everyone can still hear you!”

“Hey! I’m just… taking care of your feelings, okay? So, I’ll just ask directly, okay? The kidnapping incident… it didn’t leave you with any psychological trauma or shadows, did it?” Yang Zhen’er asked.

“Yes, it did!”

“Huh?” Yang Zhen’er was taken aback. Although she teases the big lug of a cousin every other day, the relationships between the cousins are actually quite good, and she didn’t want ‘big guy’ to be harmed at all.

“Now I don’t have a craving for cigarettes, I don’t want to smoke at all, not even when I smell cigarette smoke. When I landed in Burma, I asked a police officer for a cigarette, took a puff, and it tasted like nothing. I quit smoking just like that.” Xia Tianhuo said.

This was indeed a strange “side effect” he experienced after the kidnapping incident.

Yang Zhen’er breathed a sigh of relief and nodded: “No wonder you seem to have gained weight.”

“Same to you.”

“I haven’t!” Yang Zhen’er glared at her cousin, but unusually, she didn’t quibble over this topic, and immediately continued: “Well, since you didn’t suffer any psychological trauma, would you tell us how you escaped from the kidnappers? I heard that a kidnapper suddenly had a change of heart, killed the other kidnappers, and rescued you? Could it be that the kidnapper wanted to ask for leniency, took all the credit, and actually there were other heroes who rescued you and then disappeared after the deed?”

Xia Tianhuo originally listened with a deadpan expression, but he couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the end: “Disappeared after the deed? Yang Lao San, have you been watching too many martial arts movies? Plus, we were at sea, where would anyone disappear to after the deed? Are they supposed to be skipping on the waves?”

“Well, tell us what happened again. When you called last time, there were other people present, so I didn’t want to gossip too much. Now that you have come to relax, can you satisfy our curiosity?” Yang Zhen’er said.

“What do you mean ‘our’, it’s just you!” Xia Tianhuo said.

“Hey! Just tell us! We have nothing to do anyway, without gossip to listen to, I easily get motion sickness, and I may vomit. You’re sitting in front of me, be prepared…”

“Yang Lao San you… okay, let me give you a brief rundown.”

“First tell us why you made the ransom call to Old Xia instead of my aunt and uncle? Did you think Old Xia could save you? Don’t you know she was stuck in a ravine in West Sea?” Yang Zhen’er immediately asked excitedly.

Xia Tianhuo subconsciously looked at Old Xia, who was also sitting in the second row. She was looking down at her phone, seemingly uninterested in the topic.

“Because I knew the kidnappers’ original target wasn’t me, their original target might have died due to an accident, and I was just ‘incidentally’ kidnapped by them. Using me to extort money was just their temporary plan. From what the kidnappers said and their attitude, I speculated that they were likely a group of desperate criminals with blood on their hands. Regardless of whether they got the ransom or not, the possibility of them killing me was very high, so I wanted to convey as much information as I knew about the situation through the ransom call as subtlety as possible. I imagine the only person who could understand my hints was Old Xia…”

Xia Tianhuo came to West Sea this time mainly to seek help and answers from Old Xia, so he just went along with Yang Zhen’er’s questions and started to recount the process of being kidnapped in Burma and escaping.