What It's Like Being a Vampire

Chapter Eighty-Nine: Intimidation Impact

Xiao Pingguo replied quickly, which drew Xiang Kun away from his conversation with the others. He opened the voice message she had sent to listen to it.

“It sounds like the call of fear or pleading for mercy. Is there a potential threat around the bird, like a bigger aggressive bird or a cat or a dog perhaps?”

Xiang Kun thought it over. If there was such a threat… it would probably be him.

He responded with a voice message: “I just bought it, it might be feeling nervous being in an unfamiliar place. Can I send you its calls regularly, so you can teach me to understand what it’s trying to convey? I’d like to win its trust faster and establish a good relationship.”

Although Xiang Kun could interpret the meaning behind bird calls to some extent, his interpretation was very superficial and depended heavily on inspecting the environment. Xiao Pingguo’s skill in this area was far superior, she seemed to understand birds’ intended communication from their call frequencies and tones.

Xiang Kun wanted to acquire this ability.

“Sure!” Xiao Pingguo agreed readily and happily without any false modesty.

Xiang Kun went to the Flower and Bird Market, experimented with his “Intimidation Ability” on the birds around and purchased a Canary. His actions of trying to understand bird calls were not without an agenda.

He was now certain that this ability, an influence similar to intimidation that affected the mental and physical state of other creatures, had come about after drinking the Giant Owl’s blood.

This was why birds were his main choice of observation. Firstly, before drinking the Giant Owl’s blood, his power had no effect on other birds or poultry. Secondly, the fact that the Giant Owl was also a bird, choosing another bird as an observational subject could yield more direct feedback.

As for the reason he didn’t just get an Owl?

Owls are nationally protected wildlife in his country…

After bringing the Canary home, Xiang Kun left for the rabbit breeding farm he had originally planned on visiting the day before.

After an hour-long ride, he arrived at the farm, purchased four rabbits, and then followed the owner on a casual tour of the place.

He had initially wanted to buy more at once, since it had become increasingly difficult to purchase live poultry and livestock in the city.

But upon arriving and seeing the Belgian Rabbits, which were even larger than the ones he had previously bought, he realized buying too many at once would draw unnecessary attention when bringing them back to his complex. The property management would inevitably ask questions, which would be troublesome.

Besides buying rabbits, Xiang Kun was also here to “learn” and “investigate” on site. He chatted with the owner about the financial outlay and return of running a breeding farm and the difficulties faced.

He had started considering whether or not to leave this city where he had been struggling for years. He was thinking about returning to his hometown, or perhaps moving to a remote mountain village, opening a small-scale breeding farm, and living in seclusion.

As long as he had internet, a mobile phone, and a computer, he wouldn’t lose touch with the world.

But this way, he could focus on training and researching himself in a quiet and undisturbed environment.

In addition to the rabbits, Xiang Kun also bought a chicken and a duck. He properly tied them up and put them in sacks to easily carry home.

One reason was that he wanted to try out some new recipes, the other was that he had been drinking rabbit blood for a while and wanted to change the taste. Up until now, the taste and satisfaction provided by rabbit blood were unmatched.

Back home, Xiang Kun placed the livestock and poultry he had bought in the kitchen. Then, he went to see the Canary.

Although he had no intention of using this bird as food or drinking its blood, Xiang Kun planned to conduct some experiments with it. He couldn’t guarantee that it would survive these experiments, so he didn’t consider it a pet, and therefore didn’t name it.

The Canary seemed to have settled down. Seeing Xiang Kun approaching, it hopped around lively in its cage.

Xiang Kun tried to mimic bird calls to entertain it, but the sound he made resembled more of a mouse squealing. Somewhat embarrassed, he gave up realizing that his mutation did not bring him any talent in this regard.

From the experiments conducted previously and those earlier today, Xiang Kun had preliminarily determined that this Intimidation Ability, which he gained from the owl, can only work on one species at a time. He wasn’t quite sure what defined a ‘species’; it could be as broad as the order or subclass.

For instance, when humans around him felt nothing at times when his Intimidation Ability strongly influenced the horses, other mammals.

But at the Flower and Bird Market, a wide variety of birds from different species were affected simultaneously.

The degree and type of impact varied as well. His visits to the horse farm and the Flower and Bird Market had similar outcomes- it felt as if a strong being was intimidating the weaker ones, causing horses and birds to tremble in fear, not daring to make a move or produce any sound.

However, when he confronted the pierced-ear teen who had threatened him with a switchblade, the impact was different. It was no longer simply intimidation; it had a drastically violent effect on the individual’s physical condition.

The difference seemed to hinge on Xiang Kun’s mental state and intended signal. At the horse farm, he wanted the horses to be obedient and easy to control. But having drunk the Giant Owl’s blood, he prepared to fight both mentally and physically, leaving an enormous impact causing the horses to be so terrified as if they could burrow into the ground. They were afraid that any slight move would be misinterpreted as defiance, inviting a deadly assault.

At the Flower and Bird Market, having had previous experience, he deliberately controlled his emotions and body movements, using his memory of the owl as auxiliary support. The information transmitted was similar to a powerful member of the species announcing its territory and asking who would stand beside or against him.

He then relaxed himself, but the birds did not immediately return to their normal state. It seemed that they were still feeling the effects of his influence. So, he changed the signal he released by imagining himself napping on a beach, which finally helped the birds to recover.

Yesterday, at the entrance of his complex, while facing the teen who suddenly pulled out a knife and thrust it towards him, Xiang Kun, although looking expressionless and seemingly not bothered, was experiencing a surge of violent thoughts internally.

Several thoughts kept popping up in his mind, like voices shouting loudly: “Kill him! Just one punch and he’s done!”

“He dares to threaten you with a knife, you killing him would be self-defense!”

“Go ahead, let him stab you. Then you can justifiably kill him, anyone else dares to get involved, kill them too!” “Their blood…you can…nobody will notice your…”

“You’ve already reported to Officer Chen….”

He even vividly imagined the scene of smashing the teenager’s head into a bloody pulp.

But these thoughts and impulses were well under his control, and he was confident that he wouldn’t lose control.

Thus, he could maintain keen senses, observing the teen’s heart rate, breathing, among other physiological responses. When he realized that the teen might not endure much longer and was at risk of a heart attack or suffocation, Xiang Kun shifted his attention..