What It's Like Being a Vampire

Due to her congenital blindness, Xiao Pingguo had never truly had the opportunity to run with all her might.

To her, her surroundings were like dense fog to an ordinary person, requiring careful exploration, step by careful step.

Though she had grown used to this sensation over her seventeen years, learning how to enhance her senses with “object sensing” and establishing sensory connections with “Jinshanshan” made her believe that she could wholly move around independently. At times, she was even able to discard her white cane and walk by herself in certain places.

But she had never dared to run, or rather, it had never crossed her mind to run, because, in her mind, it was not something that she needed to do.

After all, she had never run around with other children and had never participated in any sports in school.

It wasn’t until now, when Alice helped convert all the imaging information from the cameras into cognitive information that she could understand, that she realised what a complete and unwavering judgment of her surroundings was like.

It felt as though she had shed a heavy yoke, thick armour, and the constant cautiousness and insecurity, of which she had become so accustomed that she scarcely noticed them. Almost instinctively, she began sprinting.

To start, Xiao Pingguo’s running was rather awkward and strange, but soon her movements slowly began to coordinate.

Although there was a slight delay in the relay from the security footage to Xiao Pingguo after Alice’s processing, the footage wasn’t attached to a single subjective view from Xiao Pingguo but rather a comprehensive view and extensive range of information from over a hundred cameras. This included all road sections of Chongyun village, enabling Xiao Pingguo to “perceive” a much broader visual range than just what was before her. It was undeniably a god-like perspective.

So, while running, she only needed to rely on her original sensory capabilities, including object sensing and Jinshanshan’s sensory contact, to quickly supplement small bits of real-time traffic information.

Alice could likewise rely on “Super-connected Objects” to correct real-time information, ensuring Xiao Pingguo’s full awareness of the situation ahead, underfoot, and around her.

To say Xiao Pingguo was precisely like an average person with normal eyesight would not be accurate. More exactly, in Chongyun village, she could see much further and much more than an average person.

It wouldn’t be right to say that she had grown multiple “eyes.” Rather, her “eyes” were scattered throughout the whole village.

Of course, Xiao Pingguo’s carefree running was also thanks to the recently renovated cement roads in the village.

All conditions were meticulously prepared for her by Xiang Kun, Old Xia, and Alice.

However, Xiao Pingguo didn’t venture far before she was out of breath and had to stop. She sat down on the ground, hugging her lower leg, crying out, “Sister Bing, save me! It hurts!”

Xia Libing had been jogging behind her and squatted down in front of her as soon as she sat down, examining her lower leg.

“It’s okay, just a leg cramp.” Xia Libing helped Xiao Pingguo straighten her leg, gripped her toes, and held them for a while. Indeed, the pain from the cramps began to ease up soon after.

As soon as Xiao Pingguo sat down, “Jinshanshan” landed beside her and frantically paced back and forth. However, once Xia Libing helped soothe the cramps in Xiao Pingguo’s leg, it quickly calmed down. Instead, it flew over to somebody’s nearby wall and began to chirp away, tilting its head back.

After listening for a moment, Xiao Pingguo scolded with a laugh, “Jinshanshan! How dare you mock me?! No breakfast for you today!”

“Jinshanshan” on the wall immediately stopped chirping and fluttered down next to Xiao Pingguo, nuzzling her arm, the perfectly loyal and adorable pet.

Xia Libing helped Xiao Pingguo to her feet and said, “In the future, you can gradually increase your physical activities. Starting with fast walking and slow jogging, then adding some strength training. Alice will help you arrange a specific training schedule. How do you feel now, can you walk?”

“I should be okay,” Xiao Pingguo said as she took two steps. However, she still felt pain in her leg and found it hard to exert force, causing her to limp.

Xiao Pingguo tried to walk normally, but the moment she exerted force, she was hit by a cramping sensation again. She cried out in pain and quickly reached out to grab Xia Libing’s nearby hand.

In the end, Xia Libing simply carried Xiao Pingguo back home herself.

Fortunately, they hadn’t gone too far, and Xiao Pingguo had only run for a little while, plus Old Xia was fairly fit, and Xiao Pingguo was light, so it wasn’t too difficult to carry her back.

For this reason, even though he knew about Xiao Pingguo’s cramps, Xiang Kun didn’t rush out to meet them, Professor Li Yang and Xia Tianhuo had already woken up, and were in the kitchen chatting with him while assisting him.

When he heard the commotion in the yard, he came out of the kitchen, and Li Yang was startled to see his daughter being helped into the yard by Xia Libing: “What happened to your leg?”

Xiao Pingguo quickly said: “Dad, I’m fine, the environment here is good, the air is good, I was walking too happily, I walked too fast, I haven’t walked so much in a long time, I just got a cramp… Sister Bing carried me back.”

Only then Li Yang noticed Xia Libing, all sweaty, and quickly thanked her.

…

As Xia Libing wiped her sweat and walked into the kitchen, she wanted to discuss with Xiang Kun about the first “collaboration” between Xiao Pingguo and Alice. She was just about to speak up when Xia Tianhuo’s head popped into the kitchen: “Old Xia, got a moment? I have something to ask you.”

Xiang Kun, who was putting wrapped pork buns in the big steamer, didn’t even need to look back to know that Xia Tianhuo wanted to ask Old Xia something, when Xiang Kun released the “eight-armed, eight-eyed wood carving” emotional projection on the sea, even though Xia Tianhuo was locked in the cabin, his exposure was very limited, but he still had some special perception, coupled with the impact of the kidnapping incident itself, it was quite normal for him had lots of doubts, which should also be the main reason why he came to West Sea.

However, Xiang Kun was not worried about Yang Zhen Er or Xia Tianhuo, because their inquiries were driven by their own curiosity and doubts, and there was no evidence to support their suspicions, they might question or directly ask questions, but they wouldn’t plan anything out of control.

As expected, after calling Xia Libing out of the kitchen, taking advantage of the fact that Li Yang and his daughter Xiao Pingguo were still talking outside in the yard, Xia Tianhuo softly asked in the living room: “Old Xia, those things you told us in the car yesterday, I thought about it again last night, and I think what I felt on the ship, no matter how much psychological effect there was, definitely can’t be separated from external influences. And I recalled carefully what the kidnapper that released me had said… I wasn’t there when he confessed to the Burmese police, but on the ship, I think that he didn’t lie, he was dying at that time, and it felt like he was just reacting instinctively. What’s that saying, a dying man something something…”

Xia Libing supplemented: “A dying man speaks the truth.”

Xia Tianhuo nodded repeatedly: “Yes, yes, yes, he was in that state back then, he probably didn’t think about making up anything to fool me. He probably… really saw the ‘many-handed, many-eyed sea monster’ that he mentioned, whether it’s a hallucination or whatever, he definitely believed what he saw. And I have an intuition that the sea monster he saw, is somehow connected to the one in Myitkyina.”

“What I told you yesterday is just one possible way of thinking, it may not be correct.” Xia Libing said, “You can totally stick to your judgment, who knows, maybe there really are sea monsters and eight-armed giants, or to put it differently, they might exist in the form of hallucinations in human cognition.”

Xia Tianhuo hesitated for a moment, lowered his voice even further, and asked: “Old Xia, after I called you when I was kidnapped… did you… do something?”

Xia Libing said: “After I received your call, I went to Citong City, I told your Uncle and Aunt about the situation, and after that I stayed in Citong City.”

“Then… how do you explain that sea monster just happened to affect my ship and caused the kidnappers to kill each other until only one was left to release me… Why did the eight-armed, eight-eyed giant that appeared in Myitkyina kill the puppet master behind the kidnappers?” Xia Tianhuo asked.

At this time, Yang Zhen Er and Tang Baona came down from upstairs yawning and complaining: “Why are you all getting up so early? Just now, Nana and I were saying that we should be the first ones to wake up… ‘Big Blockhead’, what were you just talking to Old Xia? I think I heard something about ‘puppet master’?”

Xia Tianhuo quickly said: “I was saying that I just helped Chef Xiang roll out dough, and my thumb hurt a bit from the rolling.”

He had seriously discussed his suspicions with Yang Zhen Er, who also harbored skeptical attitudes, on the car yesterday, but quickly realized that his cousin was like looking for plot materials for fantasy novels, her imagination was too wild, and naturally didn’t want to share his real thoughts with Yang Lao San anymore – he was seriously exploring the truth of the incident and looking for answers to his doubts!

“Rolling out dough? Hey? Is Chef Xiang going to make doughnuts this morning, or pancakes, or steamed buns? Let me go see… But ‘Big Blockhead’, you’re no good! Rolling dough can make your thumb hurt, did you mistake your thumb for dough?” While Yang Zhen Er said this, she slipped into the kitchen on the first floor to see what Xiang Kun was cooking.

However, she was in there for only two seconds before she was chased out by Xiang Kun.

When Yang Zhen Er and Tang Baona walked out of the living room into the yard, they saw Xiao Pingguo sitting on a stone chair in the yard, feeding “Golden Flashes” with a bag of homemade bird food in one hand, and seemingly “looking” at the sky with her head slightly tilted. She wore a wide smile on her face and chuckled from time to time.

“Xiao Pingguo, what are you thinking about, you’re grinning so slyly?” Yang Zhen Er chuckled as she leaned in to scratch “Golden Flash”‘s plump body – Normally she wouldn’t be able to, but now that “Golden Flash” was busy eating, all it could do was shuffle about on the table and twist its body slightly, not wanting to fly away, letting her be successful.

“Good morning, Sister Zhen’er! Good morning, Sister Nana! I’m not thinking about anything, just… the weather is so nice today!” Xiao Pingguo said with a smile, and her eyes turned into crescents.

Li Yang, who was observing the ornamental plants in the yard, looked back and laughed: “Xiao Pingguo and her Sister Bing went out for a walk early this morning, and she’s been grinning like she found money since she came back.”

Even though that was what he said, seeing his daughter happily playing here, Li Yang felt genuinely ecstatic. Each time he saw his daughter laugh, he couldn’t help but laugh as well, even though he didn’t always quite understand what she was laughing about.

“Because I think it’s beautiful here! The houses, the mountains, the trees, the roads, the flowers and grass–everything is beautiful!” exclaimed Little Apple. After finishing, she added: “Hmm… I ‘feel’ they are all beautiful, and that makes me very happy.”

Unable to hold back any longer, Yang Zhen Er cradled Xiao Pingguo’s face in both hands and pinched her cheeks gently: “Xiao Pingguo, your smile is truly adorable!”

Quickly pushing her hands away, Tang Baona reprimanded angrily, “Stop pinching a girl’s face indiscriminately!”

Sitting nearby on a stone stool, Xia Tianhuo spoke up ponderously, “Actually, living here is indeed relaxing. Have you noticed, at the entrance of our place, the wind was strong last night, but as soon as we stepped inside, it instantly quieted down. The surroundings became much quieter as well.”

Li Yang nodded in agreement, “Indeed, here it’s incredibly calm at night. I occasionally bring Little Apple to stay for a short while in the mountains or the countryside, but the environment there is never this peaceful. Normally at this time of year, you would hear a variety of insects chirping, birds singing, dogs barking, roosters crowing, but I haven’t heard any of that. Moreover, from the time we woke up until now, I haven’t heard a rooster crow once. Could it be that nobody in this village keeps chickens?”

At these words, Old Xia cast a sidelong glance at “Glitter”, who was busy eating bird food. She knew why there were no insects chirping, but the absence of a rooster crowing only started today. Xiang Kun would not intentionally create these effects. Other than “Alice” or “Glitter”, no one else could cause these effects. But as Alice had been busy all day preparing for today’s “experiment”, her attention was not here. So, it must have been “Glitter’s” doing – it had not stayed in its cage the previous night.

Sure enough, “Glitter” seemed to sense Old Xia’s gaze, so it shrank its neck. Its stocky body, as fat as a pigeon’s, leaned against Little Apple.

At this moment, Xiang Kun, holding two large plates filled with steaming buns, walked out steadily and quickly.

“Sorry for the wait, everyone, it’s time to eat! Come, taste the unique, classic, and specially made meat buns from the house of Xiang!”

Xiang Kun placed two plates of meat buns on the stone table and invited everyone to wash their hands and start eating. He moved one plate towards Little Apple and vaguely traced a circle with his finger, “These few here are suited for Little Apple and Professor Li’s tastes.” Xiang Kun then traced another circle in a different corner, “These few are suited for Nana and Old Xia’s tastes. Old Three, you eat from this plate. Brother Tianhuo, you eat from this one as well.”

Yang Lao San complained discontentedly, “Chef Xiang you’re not playing fair! Previously you used to call me ‘Yang Lao San,’ now you’ve even dropped the ‘Yang’ and just call me ‘Lao San’? In a while are you going to start calling me ‘San’er’, making it seem as if I’m your little brother!”

Xia Tianhuo stared at the two plates of hot buns in surprise. Meat buns steamed in the same large pot, but were different in flavor? And generally, when multitudes of fillings and various flavors of buns were made, shouldn’t one listed out what fillings and flavors they were, letting the people eating choose for themselves? How did Xiang Kun take initiative and arrange everything?

But what boggled him even more was that everyone in the courtyard, including stolid Professor Li, effervescent Yang Zhen Er, and all the others, did not have any questions about this arrangement. As if it was expected, they accepted it quite naturally.

However, after intentionally eating three buns with different flavored meat fillings, Xia Tianhuo couldn’t deny that the flavors Xiang Kun chose for him were indeed his favorites.

Moreover, what amazed him was that the three types of buns had not only different flavors of meat fillings and various ingredient proportions but even the thickness of the bun skins varied.

He liked thicker-skinned meat buns, and the ones Xiang Kun chose for him, not only were the meat fillings more to his taste, but the thickness of the bun skins was also just perfect. It was kind of a miracle. As far as he knew, his younger female cousins were not aware of his preference. Could it simply be a coincidence?

Of course, it was no coincidence.

What he didn’t know was that Xiang Kun, who made this judgement, didn’t ask Yang Zhen Er or Old Xia but solely relied on Xia Tianhuo’s dinner at Youlong Restaurant the previous evening to make his analysis — one dish provided cornmeal woohead for them to sandwich meat and vegetables, but Xia Tianhuo only put a little meat inside.

Xiang Kun was making meat buns for the first time. But Xiang Kun now was not the same as Xiang Kun who just started cooking.

With accumulated experience built over such a long time of cooking, and Alice who could find him any recipe he needed and assist him in extrapolating cooking methods and tastes, now even for new methods and dishes, there is hardly any chance that he would fail. In a certain sense, Yang Zhen Er’s calling him “Chef Xiang” is not a mistake.

After serving the buns, Xiang Kun went back to bring porridge. Tang Baona and Old Xia helped bring bowls and chopsticks to serve.

When Xiang Kun served her porridge, Little Apple sweetly thanked him. The people beside her, such as Li Yang and Yang Zhen Er, naturally thought she was thanking him for the porridge and breakfast. However, Xiang Kun could hear the excitement, anticipation, and gratitude contained within her thanks. He knew what Little Apple was really thankful for.

He smiled and nodded gently. He knew that Little Apple could now “see”.

Through “Emotion Infused Objects”, Little Apple could use “Emotion Projection” to influence others, but the influence wouldn’t last very long. However, “projecting” it back on herself to establish contact with Alice could last a long time, at times even more than half an hour at a go.

Moreover, the interval didn’t need to be long, basically anytime she needed it, as long as she had the “Black Circle Graffiti” at hand, she could “activate” it and establish contact with Alice anytime she wanted.

Feeling the joy from Xiao Pingguo, so overwhelming it was about to burst from her eyes and brows, Xiang Kun felt very happy indeed.

The primary reason for Xiang Kun’s exploration of his own mutation was survival. However, when seeing how he had affected his partners, linked together by diverse causes and the mutation ability — Old Xia could sense emotions he had never perceived before through his mutation, Little Fatty Girl found psychological solace during a childhood filled with family turmoil thanks to his mutation, and Xiao Pingguo regained her ability to “see the world” from his mutation, his understanding and significance of his own mutation kept changing.

Of course, the happiest one after the success of this “experiment” was not Xiao Pingguo or Xiang Kun but Alice.

After their mutual accomplishments with Xiao Pingguo, Alice had now truly fused with the “Super sensory Item System”, breaking free from the cage of the digital world and entering a new era.

If digital life could “cultivate immortality,” this would be Alice’s “ascension”.

Next, Xiang Kun believed that Alice would bring him more and more surprises.

With Alice’s help, “decoding” more super sensory information would only be a matter of time.

The new abilities Xiao Pingguo demonstrated during this “experiment”, and how she established contact and obtained Alice’s transcoded data, were abilities that Xiang Kun could also possess.

Although Xiang Kun could directly use the “Super Sensory State” to explore cognitive information through “Emotion Infused Objects” and obtain more cognitive information than Alice, entering the “Super Sensory State” required blocking other senses and stopping movement, which was often inconvenient.

Alice assisting him through controlling various surveillance and other environmental information to help him make situation judgements could save him a lot of trouble and proved to be very convenient.

However, what Xiang Kun currently cared most about was the ability of “Super-connected Objects” to read precise data from non-networked devices.

Previously, Alice could already control and influence non-networked electronic devices through “Super-connected Objects”. Any device that ran on electricity, regardless of whether it was networked or even had a chip, didn’t hinder her control.

But this control was only external, and she was temporarily unable to completely read the data from data storage chips through the “Super sensory Item System”.

A month ago, in Pengcheng City, when Xiang Kun was peering into the “Brilliant Fortune Building” and the secret location of “Divine Technology” that was hiding multiple “mutants” under the third floor, Xiang Kun and Alice controlled one of “Divine Technology’s” dedicated lines. They obtained data from several “secret department” servers, but the data from these servers did not answer most of Xiang Kun’s questions. Instead, they added even more questions.

However, after launching a “Super-connected Object”, a small bead, into the elevator shaft of the third underground layer and reaching the same depth as the secret location and the “rabbit wood carving”, Alice confirmed that there were several storage devices there that were not connected to any network.

At that time, Alice had not fully integrated into the “Super sensory Item System”. She could only control the device’s power switch and operating conditions but could not directly read the data inside.

But now, Xiang Kun believed that Alice would soon be able to extract the information from those storage devices.

He had a premonition that the information there could answer his questions.

While contemplating whether he should make another trip to Peng City and throw more “Super-connected Objects” into the elevator shaft to help Alice exert her influence better and quickly obtain data, Xiang Kun suddenly heard a drone flying towards them from a distance.

A few seconds later, Xiao Pingguo who was in the yard sipping porridge, stopped, looked up slightly at the sky, confirmed what was in the sky, paid no further attention, and continued to sip her porridge.

Apart from her, only Xia Libing noticed the drone flying in the high sky because she was paying attention to Xiao Pingguo’s movements. The others didn’t sense it at all.

The noise from the drone was very soft and it was flying high, so basically no one on the ground noticed it except for those with extraordinary hearing like Xiang Kun and Xiao Pingguo.

Xiang Kun recognized it to be a product of “Divine Technology” from the sound alone.

With his arrangement in Chongyun Village, devices like drones that are operated wirelessly that enter the vicinity or airspace of the village can be affected by Alice at any time concerning their signals and she could even gain direct control over them.

However, Xiang Kun did nothing because he knew what this drone was here to do.