Chapter 23: Absorbed
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Under the street lights, Hao Ren picked up the wolf fur which he found on the ground. Despite being drenched in cold sweat, he managed to regain his composure quickly thanks to the ‘training’ he had in numerous past encounters . He first wanted to make sure that there were no other suspicious signs within the vicinity—a lesson he learned while spending the previous two days with Lily and Vivian. The presence of ‘the other kind’ could usually be detected simply by identifying the characteristic signs and phenomena. For example, the breath and beastly smell of a werewolf or the blood-tinged chill of a vampire. He felt that the dream had to somehow be related to ‘the other kind’ (after all, he had bumped into many of them during the last couple of days) although, his sixth sense detected no trace of any anomalies.
"Landlord?" Lily looked at him, her eyes appeared unusually bright and spooky in the dark. "What’s wrong?" she asked.
"Did you find anything amiss?" Hao Ren knew that the wolf was a highly vigilant creature. He could still vividly remember the moment of the wolf’s attack in his dream.
Lily got down on the floor and sniffed around carefully. After that, she got up and shook her head. "None that I could find. Everything is as usual. You saw something unusual?"
"Never mind, let’s head back." Hao Ren took the wolf fur in his hand as he headed back home. Lily carried the deckchair and followed cluelessly from behind.
Back in the living room, Hao Ren sat on the sofa looking solemn and quiet. Sitting across him were Lily and Vivian who did not have a clue what was brewing in his mind. An old coffee table had been placed in the middle by Hao Ren as the previous one was wrecked by Lily and Vivian earlier on. Placing the wolf fur on the table, Hao Ren confessed to Vivian, "I saw something strange."
He talked about the strange dream he had in great detail. He told them especially about the vast grassland and two silver moons, hanging in the sky. "I got this when I woke up from the dream. I may have taken a shortcut to the other side or mastered reality warping superpowers," he joshed, pointing at the wolf fur.
Vivian did not find it amusing. She raised her eyebrows while picking up some of fur from the table. "It has the smell of an animal, not of black magic. This is definitely animal hair. Hey, big dog! Can you please confirm this?"
"Okay!" Lily took the wolf fur. "It smells very different from what I know. It has a different scent... the smell of another city—a mixture of soil and grass in it. This subtle variance can only be picked up by werewolves." Then suddenly, it hit her. She banged the table as she lashed out at Vivian, "Wait a minute, who did you just call a big dog?!"
"Oh c’mon, be gentle!" Hao Ren pleaded. The old table could have met with the same fate as the tea table if Lily was in a transformed state instead. He turned to Vivian, "So, what do you think? Was it some kind of magic?"
"It’s pretty simple to explain if it’s just a dream; sorcery and hypnotism could have achieved the same thing." Vivian’s eyebrows were still raised. "I could build a dream world big enough for hundreds to dream in without them realizing it was a dream. If one was creative enough, the person would believe he had made it to the other side. But I still can’t explain the object you brought out from the dream. As far as I know at least, there isn’t any magic which could have done that. It couldn’t possibly be magic. The dark side is a much more complicated world than I had imagined."
"Maybe, it could be this..." Lily eagerly interjected. "First, he was induced into a premeditated dream by way of sorcery or hypnosis, and the wolf fur could have been planted in his hand while he was asleep..."
"Oh please, can you say something more constructive?" Vivian chimed in before Lily could finish her sentence.
However, Hao Ren found that what Lily said was completely plausible. Her simple mind aside, her theory was a perfect explanation for what could have been an unsolvable mystery. Sometimes complex questions had simple answers.
Nonetheless, Lily had already ruled out the involvement of ‘the other kind’ so, her argument that it was a premeditated act did not hold up.
"I’m sure that what I got into was of something unusual; as sure as I am that God made little, green apples." Hao Ren sighed. "That’s just fate. Whatever comes, let it come but before that, I need to take a break!"
Both Lily and Vivian had learned that Hao Ren was conned into signing a fishy employment agreement with the self-proclaimed Goddess. Vivian was a smart girl—way smarter than Lily. She could see in Hao Ren the quality of extraordinary adaptability and guts as well as the ability to think on his feet despite his humble background as a sluggish youth, who wanted no trouble. Yet, Vivian did not know any ways to make him a superhuman overnight.
"Did Raven 12345 leave you any cheat codes or something?" Lily asked as she laid her face on the table. "I read from human novels that if you work for a God, the God will provide you with some kind of personal protective gears?"
"Hmm, she may have forgotten. I didn’t ask either," he said as it just crossed his mind. "I’ll ask when I see her. Anyway, I tried to call but I couldn’t reach her cellphone. I guess another trip to that place is necessary. I have a goddamn feeling that the Space Administration is a broken reed."
"You already had your first, strange dream. You need to fix the problem right at the source. I think it’s a day late and a dollar short now. As per sorcery norms, you’ll continue to experience the same dream again unless, you’re a bullfrog that doesn’t sleep." As Vivian talked, she slowly shapeshifted into a vampire. "I’ll give you an amulet. It will protect you from whatever sorcery or black magic."
The many talismans she wore caught Hao Ren’s eyes. "Do those things even work?" he asked cheekily.
"Who said that I was going to give you that?" Vivian’s eyebrows were raised. "What I mean is the power of the Blood Clan!"
Without hesitation, Vivian bit her finger and a drop of golden red blood was seen coming out from her fingertip. "Come over, I’m going to rub it on the back of your hand. It’s powerful enough to stop the worst sorcerous dream."
Hao Ren hesitantly reached out and looked on as Vivian rubbed the blood onto his hand. "Legend has it that vampire blood can help turn humans into vampires. So, am I being turned right now?"
"Not in a million years," she sneered. "Humans believed that a vampire bite is the vampire’s way to reproduce. If that’s true, we wouldn’t have to endure the persecution from the monster hunters and the church. We would have taken over the world since the bronze age."
While relating the history of human’s brutal persecution of the vampires, Vivian as a vampire herself, did not show signs of hostility towards Hao Ren.
"That’s impossible!"
Vivian yelled as she was shocked to see the drop of blood had disappeared the moment it made contact with Hao Ren’s hand.
The blood was completely absorbed.
Chapter 24: Blood Magic Failure
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Vivian was persistent. She squeezed out another drop of flesh blood and applied it onto the back of Hao Ren’s hand. Lily joined them curiously as they fixed their eyes on the drop of blood expectantly.
The blood emanated a golden red halo as it wriggled on the surface of the skin for a few seconds before collapsing quickly on its own and disappearing before their eyes.
"It looks like its being absorbed." Hao Ren flinched and scratched the back of his hand. He was shocked as the blood on his hand had come to life. He managed not to shake it off, knowing that Vivian, the vampire would not harm him. "I felt nothing—just a little itchy and cool sensation in the beginning."
"That’s normal because the body temperature of one from the Blood Clan is a few degrees lower than a human’s." Vivian looked at her finger. The tiny bite wound had already healed itself. She was hesitant for a moment after which, she took another bite and squeezed out another drop of blood. "Let’s try this once last time then, I’ll need to conserve my precious life fluid."
"C’mon, it’s just a teeny-tiny drop of blood," Lily, as mischievous as ever, seized the opportunity to mock her.
"A drop of blood is still blood!" Vivian hit back. "Back in the days when I was not yet adapted to human food, I fed on fresh blood. I was always being watched by monster hunters while I was out for blood. I was so broke and couldn’t even afford to keep a blood slave—I even had to save my vital fluid during that time of the month just to make ends meet. You have no idea how the seamy side of life is unless you’ve lived it..."
Hao Ren could not take it anymore. He butt in before things got out of hand. "Alright, alright, we can picture it in our brains. Stop wailing about your miserable past so openly. You might expose my weaknesses..."
"Landlord, how about waiving a month’s rental for me?" Lily jested.
"...I was talking to Vivian, mind you."
Amid the brouhaha, Vivian tested her blood on Hao Ren again, murmuring some ancient incantations. Hao Ren felt the chill and stink of blood again. The blood wriggled for a moment on his skin before disappearing just like before.
"The connection’s lost." Vivian frowned. "This has never happened before. The Blood Clan have have a live link with their blood, sort of like a communication link. The link stays connected as long as the blood isn’t actively cast away."
"Then what?" Hao Ren scratched his face. "Can I still count on you?" he asked.
"Maybe we should try Lily’s blood?" Vivian’s eyebrows waggled as she turned her eyes on Lily. "Her blood may work."
"A werewolf’s blood?" Lily was surprised by the suggestion. "I didn’t know that my blood could be of use."
"No, I mean haven’t you heard the Chinese saying, ‘A black dog’s blood can break the power of evil spells’?"
The two super girls were at it again, fighting like cats and dogs. Meanwhile, Hao Ren looked on with no intention to break up the fight. He only said, "You break it, you pay for it." He was referring to the things in the house and his old table.
Those six words did wonders; the ruckus stopped.
Hao Ren looked at his hands—they were no different from any other hands. He was curious as to how the vampire’s blood could be absorbed by his skin. The outcome was unlike any magical power depicted in the vampire movies. It seemed like it could not even be compared to human blood. Of course, movies were not the right places to dig if one wanted the truth but, as far as the Blood Clan was concerned, the magical power was as real as it got. At the very least, human blood would normally never come to life and wriggle on its own.
"The Blood Clan’s mark is not working in this case." Vivian looked at Hao Ren as if she had more tricks up her sleeve. "You’ve got to trust me this time. Be ready for the magic of Blood Clan— without blood as a medium!"
"Show me what you’ve got." Hao Ren giggled.
"You’re quite a nice guy," Vivian flipped her hand open as she rattled on. "Most humans were not as compliant as you are unless they were simpletons. When I was in Europe 300 years ago, people over there would rather die than give in to my blood magic. They were such pig-heads!"
Hao Ren muttered as he wondered whether Vivian had forgotten how vampires terrorized humans with their magic.
Vivian signaled Hao Ren to sit still while she drew something in the air with her finger. Hao Ren gaped because for the first time ever, he was about to witness true magic. He was amazed at the sight of her finger moving swiftly and forming a bloody-red trail of light. She wrote row after row of strange, illegible words; she would wipe off what she had written before continuing on to the next row. As she was doing that, Hao Ren suddenly became skeptical. He found that her so-called magic of the Blood Clan was nothing more than a text memorizing gimmick. He did not feel any magical power apart from the eye-catching special effects.
Her finger moved faster as she wrote. She kept wiping off the sentence before starting the next one, again and again, it went on. Hao Ren was cheesed off and could not hold back. "Are you done yet?"
"Wait a minute, that one isn’t right. I have to rewrite it..."
Hao Ren was speechless.
Only then, it began to sink in. The reason behind her repetitive writing and wiping was simply because she was making mistakes!
"That’s not right either," Vivian had not noticed that Hao Ren was already annoyed. She kept on writing for a while before shaking her head. Then she said, "It couldn’t possibly be a mistake. I have revised the sentence three times in three different structures... Landlord, do you feel drowsy, peaceful or relaxed?"
"There is a peaceful feeling in my heart but, I guess your magic has got nothing to do with it."
"You, the big dog over there…" Vivian turned to Lily. "Freeze."
Vivian waved her hand and the bloody-red trails of words were transformed into a cloud of fog. Lily fell, snoring on the table as the fog engulfed her.
"...That was intense. Her defense is rather weak," Vivian frowned again as she spoke to Hao Ren. "I have no idea why my blood magic doesn’t work on you."
Hao Ren was wide-eyed. He stared at his own hands in disbelief. "Am I something I don’t know? Am I immune against magic by default?"
"Yeah, I guess so because your nerves are damaged and you’re a slowpoke."
"Hey, mind you, you still owe me some money."
"Jokes aside, immunity against magic isn’t possible as far as I know. I’m sensitive to all living things and I can sense that you’re definitely just a normal human being. You weren’t even immune against the chill I created! You may get your answer from Raven 12345 when you see her. Anyway, as far as your agreement with her goes, I sense that there is something fishy going on. There could be changes by the time you return. Until then, you shall use my amulet."
After all the commotion, things were back to square one as blood magic was nothing more than a juggling act. All he had was a piece of amulet—the Eight Trigrams, which was a mystic tablet Vivian claimed to have originated from Mount Wutai...
Vivian gave the Eight Trigrams to Hao Ren; it was one of the amulets in her vast collection of mystic items. Her concern for him had touched his heart.
However, did the Eight Trigrams work?
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
10 Power
stone You may also Like
Paragraph comment