What It's Like Being a Vampire

“Yes.” Old Xia responded quite simply.

“How did you know I didn’t come back last night?” Xiang Kun was puzzled.

“I didn’t know.” Old Xia said: “Aren’t you the one who always gets up early to jog every morning? I had originally planned to tell you about this when you were going for a run.”

Xiang Kun thought about it and indeed it was the truth. Since he arrived in Tongshi Town these days, except for the first night he spent in the hotel, for the next consecutive three days, he was out all night, and then came back every morning with breakfast using early jogging as an excuse.

“What if I was lazy and didn’t get up for a run today?” Xiang Kun deliberately asked.

“I would call my cousin. She promised last night to send me.” Old Xia answered.

Well, the king of lazing in bed, Yang Old Three…

Xiang Kun drove the car out of the parking lot, onto the road. He was about to ask what games they were playing at the restaurant last night after he left, but Xia Libing opened her mouth first: “You didn’t see Deputy Director Liu last night, did you?”

Xiang Kun looked at Old Xia in the co-pilot’s seat in surprise and said: “I did see him.”

“Then after you met Deputy Director Liu, you went to work on other affairs and were busy all night.” Xia Libing said confidently.

Xiang Kun did not deny it, nor did he make up an excuse immediately. Instead, he asked somewhat puzzledly: “Why do you say so?” He felt a bit uneasy because Old Xia usually doesn’t talk much. Her talks are pretty concise. Once she starts talking a lot, it must be for a reason.

“Because of the answer you gave when I just asked, ‘Didn’t you come back to the hotel last night?’” Xia Libing said.

“What’s wrong with my answer?” Xiang Kun recalled his response just now. It should be rather vague, leaving plenty of room for maneuver and explanation. Strictly speaking, it’s not lying either.

Xia Libing turned her head to look at him and slowly said: “When you left the restaurant last night, you said it was Deputy Director Liu who was looking for you. So, given your character, under normal circumstances, you would directly explain that you talked with Deputy Director Liu until late last night and then spent the night somewhere specific. You dislike lying to your familiar good friends, so unless it’s necessary, you will not lie directly, but prefer to use ambiguous language to guide others to think in the direction you want.”

Xiang Kun was stunned for a moment and thought about it carefully. It seemed that he had this habit. Especially when he needed to hide the secret that he was turned into a vampire, he would lie without pressure when facing strangers or people who are not very familiar with him, only considering whether there are hidden risks of exposure. However, when facing friends and family, he would rather not lie if it was possible – even though sometimes it’s actually just a form of self-comfort because the result achieved under his language guidance is still a lie.

But can Old Xia rely only on this point and determine that he went to do other things?

Xia Libing seemed to know about his doubts and continued to say: “Your shoes are clearly wiped clean, but there are still many traces of soil from the mountains on the shoe uppers. Your shoes are severely worn compared to last night. The same goes for your pants, which have the smell of trees and soil. You must have gone into the mountains yesterday. But your jacket has no traces at all, which means you did not wear this jacket when you went into the mountains.”

Xiang Kun remained silent. It was not a surprise that this was noticed by Old Xia.

He followed the information he had overheard during the day and went to the area where the tourists took pictures in the mountains last night. He didn’t actually hold much hope originally, just wanted to take a look at the traces that might have been left by the “mutated big bird”, and then he would focus on people like Mijoe to observe the investigation methods of “Divine Technology”.

So he had only left his jacket in the car, and did not change other clothes, nor did he go barefoot like he used to do in several other mountainous areas. When he went into the mountains, he was quite careful not to get his shoes and clothes dirty.

But he did not expect to find that “mutated big bird” directly last night. In the time that followed, he had too many issues to consider, so naturally, he didn’t care about whether his clothes and shoes were dirty or worn out.

During the swift relocations between observing the “mutated big bird” and eavesdropping on “Divine Technology,” he largely ignored all challenges of terrain. Be it traveling through dense forests without roads or scaling steep cliffs, he did it all more than once. Naturally, this level of intensity left profound remnants of wear and tear.

However, normally, this wouldn’t pose a problem.

Before getting on the vehicle, he had specifically cleaned the dirt and other stains from his shoes and clothes, and then put on a thick cotton coat that he didn’t wear into the mountains. Both the traces and the smell were significantly diminished, he believed that ordinary people would not notice. He guessed that among the nine friends who came to Tong Shi Town with him this time, none would detect it.

Moreover, in his view, after returning, he went straight to his hotel room. Zi Cheng, who was woken up to open the door, would definitely be sleeping groggily and naturally wouldn’t notice anything. He would be fine after taking a bath and changing his clothes.

But unfortunately, he bumped into Old Xia in the lobby, and Old Xia happened to notice those details.

Not only are Old Xia’s eyes sharp, but his nose is pretty keen, too.

So it all boils down to the fact that Xiang Kun did not regard his friends in the hotel as objects that needed to be highly guarded against and watched for.

As Xiang Kun was contemplating how to respond and explain his whereabouts last night, Xia Libing continued to speak: “When you were ferrying us back to the Youlong Restaurant yesterday, I glanced at the odometer, and it was 116,456 kilometers. When I got in the car just now, it read 116,531 kilometers. Considering the distance you traveled last night, the places you’ve been to in the past few days, and the traces on your body, you are most likely to have gone to the mountains near Chongyun Village or Wushu Mountain Scenic Area.

“However, if you had been to the vicinity of Chongyun Village, you should have vaguely mentioned that you spent the night there, leading me to think you were staying at Deputy Director Liu’s house, but you didn’t say that, so I’m more inclined to think that you went to Wushu Mountain Scenic Area last night.

“Linking that to your state in the scenic area during yesterday’s daylight hours, I suspect that you were not entirely physically unwell at that time but perplexed about something. You probably went there last night to deal with that matter. Those two drivers from yesterday might also be related to it.

“You don’t look particularly tired now, so the issue you were dealing with probably wasn’t very physically exhausting. You might have also caught some sleep.

“Judging from your expression and body movement when you entered the hotel just now, although you’re not particularly excited, you’re not despondent either. I guess things went relatively smoothly last night.”

While Xia Libing was speaking, Xiang Kun quietly drove the car, looking straight ahead and never interrupting.

On the surface, Xiang Kun held a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, his expression unchanged, seemingly calm as a still well, but inwardly, his jaw was dropped in astonishment.

He’d long known that Old Xia had been observing his every move and probably figured something out. He’d always believed his cognitive model of Old Xia to be relatively comprehensive. But hearing what Old Xia just said, he realized that the original cognitive model was significantly biased, and he had been underestimating Old Xia.

All that conjecture and analysis just now were largely correct, except for the connection between the two drivers and the affair.

The car suddenly gained silence. Raising his eyes, Xiang Kun found that they had unknowingly arrived at the high-speed rail station.

“When do you go home for the Spring Festival?” As Xiang Kun started to speak, it seemed to have nothing to do with the earlier topic.

“I’m not going back,” Xia Libing replied.

“Why?” Xiang Kun was surprised.

“My parents won’t be back from abroad, and the hospital is short-staffed, so I volunteered,” Xia Libing said succinctly, returning to his usual frugality of words.

“Oh, I’m going to send you a pair of chopsticks later. Remember to check,” Xiang Kun nodded and switched the topic again abruptly. Xia Libing, however, nodded without any doubt in agreement.

At that moment, the car had already stopped at the station. Xia Libing grabbed her backpack and blurted out, “Do you have any more of those lucky coins? Could you give me one?”

Xiang Kun was taken aback and somewhat amused, “You mean the one I gave to Nana? You knew it was a ‘lucky coin’, do you think I have many of those? I’m not some ‘god of luck’.”

“Even the kind you delivered to ‘Xiao Pingguo’ would do,” Xia Libing said again.

Xiang Kun looked puzzled, “You knew about the coin I gave to ‘Xiao Pingguo’?” He had asked “Xiao Pingguo” not to tell anyone about the “Object Sensing”. He trusted that “Xiao Pingguo” wouldn’t say anything, even though she had become very close with Tang Baona, Yang Zhen Er, and Xia Libing.

“We’ve been practicing the ‘coin flip’ for the past few days. During a video call last night, Nana mentioned that her coin was the ‘Lucky Coin’ you gave her. Xiao Pingguo said that the coin she was using was also a gift from you. You didn’t tell her it was a ‘Lucky Coin’, but she felt the coin was quite ‘lucky’,” Xia Libing explained rapidly. As she spoke, she stretched out her hand, seemingly certain that Xiang Kun still had a “Lucky Coin”.

Xiang Kun turned to face her, elaborately moving his fingers briskly before her, seeming to perform some magic trick, “I indeed have a coin here, but it’s not the ‘Lucky Coin’, nor is it an ‘ordinary coin’. It is… the Omnipotent Coin!” As his words fell, a coin appeared in between Xiang Kun’s dexterously moving fingers, which he then gently placed into Xia Libing’s palm.

“This coin looks quite ordinary, but it has some history…”

Just as Xiang Kun was about to fabricate a backstory for the coin, Xia Libing shoved the coin into her pocket, “Let’s chat about it on WeChat.” She then alighted from the car, her backpack in tow, and headed for the entrance.

Xiang Kun watched as Xia Libing’s tall figure and swaying ponytail disappeared into the crowd. He let out a bitter laugh, lightly drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, lost in thought.

Reflecting on the conversation in the car, he suddenly realized that it wasn’t that his mental model of Old Xia had gone off; rather, Old Xia had suddenly changed her modus operandi.

In the past, she had been very observant, more so than others, understanding situations more acutely. Yet, like Xiang Kun, she kept her insights to herself, and never explicitly revealed the hand other people were playing. Even when she did speak, she revealed only part of what she knew, leaving more room for speculation and maneuvering.

But today Old Xia had clearly abandoned her past behavioral patterns, taking a more aggressive approach and revealing Xiang Kun’s secret, all the while saying,”Let me see what’s cookin’.”

However, after her analysis, Old Xia didn’t seek any answers from him, nor did she ask him to confirm her speculations, or even mention where he had gone or what he had done the night before. It seemed like she was merely informing Xiang Kun that she knew he was hiding something, and how she had come to realize it.

But, why?

Why would Old Xia do this?

What was her motive?

And about the coin, did she notice its abnormality through analysis and observation, or did it have a special effect on her?

If there wasn’t anything special about the coin, considering Old Xia’s personality, she wouldn’t have asked him for it.

It seemed to indicate to him:

There’s something off with the coin, I’ve noticed it too!

Xiang Kun wasn’t worried about Old Xia uncovering these issues, because he was certain that Old Xia meant no harm. But his curiosity wasn’t her only motivation. It looked as if Old Xia had other reasons for showing so much interest in him.

Xiang Kun speculated that when he finally managed to sense Old Xia’s emotions or provoke her dreams, according to his plan, if he could find the reason for her special reactions under the “emotional infusion”, and why she was so interested in him, he might be able to share more about his observation of Old Xia with her.

On the train, Xia Libing placed her backpack on the overhead rack, but not before taking a black notebook out.

Once she sat down, she unfolded a B5 size notebook paper filled with black circles and curves from the notebook, and her fingers began to flip the one yuan coin Xiang Kun had just given her while she looked at the patterns on it.

The coin was smoothly flipping between her slender fingers, caught and pushed by her thumb and index finger, pulled and pushed by her middle finger, and caught again by her ring finger, supported by her pinky, and then back to her palm and thumb before repeating the cycle.

The more skillful the coin flipping became, the more Xia Libing was convinced that the coin Xiang Kun gave to her had a better “feel” and was handier to flip.

She concluded this wasn’t a result of psychological effects, but was rather an attribute that truly existed.

“What could be the cause?”

Said Xia Libing to herself, posing the question once again.

Of course, she knows that the “background” that Xiang Kun wanted to talk about was likely made up on the spot, so she didn’t bother listening.

Back in the car, she hadn’t told Xiang Kun all her analysis.

Like when she mentioned that Xiang Kun looked energetic and not at all tired in the morning, so she speculated that he didn’t exert much physical effort last night. Even if he went into the mountains, he shouldn’t have walked for long.

But that was under normal circumstances.

Actually, Xia Libing had discovered a while ago that Xiang Kun had an exceptional physical condition and physique. Many of his physical attributes were “extraordinary”; hence, she couldn’t use “normal circumstances” to estimate.

Apart from that, looking at the wear and tear, as well as dirt on Xiang Kun’s shoes and trousers, it was impossible for him to have done only a small amount of activity last night.

Connected to his physical peculiarities was his unusual habit of eating. Xiang Kun was quite unique in this respect as well.

Given his demonstrated physical condition, strength, and size, his appetite should be huge under normal circumstances, but he had never shown such a matching appetite.

The occasional meal or two could be explained away by snacking or lack of appetite, but Xia Libing and Xiang Kun had shared many meals together. They even ate most of their meals together during these days. As such, she could determine Xiang Kun’s food intake based on her detailed observations.

It seemed like he ate normally at every meal, but compared to his physical exertions, it was far too little, and he didn’t exhibit a corresponding appetite.

Take, for example, her cousin Xia Tianhuo, also muscular, had an extremely large appetite, and was always hungry. He always claimed not to be hungry after a full meal, but as long as there was something delicious, he would take a few bites to taste… and ended up eating more and more.

A human’s muscle mass is like a car’s engine displacement. The larger the displacement, the greater the basic energy consumption, even consuming more energy than others while idling. People with a lot of muscles burn more calories every day as soon as they open their eyes and don’t eat, and they will lose muscle, so they will be hungry. This is a physical instinct.

The restraint that Xiang Kun showed towards food was very unusual.