What It's Like Being a Vampire

Xiang Kun opened his eyes. With a slight strain to his midsection, his upper body sat straight up from the ground.

Looking through the gap in the bedroom curtains, he could see that it was still pitch black outside. It was still the dead of night.

Old Xia was not in the bedroom. Judging from the sounds and smells, she was currently sitting on the living room sofa, operating her laptop.

Xiang Kun stood up and checked his body, only to find himself standing still for nearly ten minutes.

Before his blood-drinking period after returning from Burma, he had some premonitions. He felt that he might have some special gains after this blood-drinking period. The large-scale ability use he applied over the sea in Burma and in Myitkyina was equivalent to a special guiding training method. It likely helped him further digest, absorb, reconstruct, and enhance the powers of the “mutated parasite” that he had eaten earlier.

During the blood-drinking period, he also felt an increase in “appetite”. Fortunately, Old Xia, following the usual routine, prepared several more rabbits based on the consumption of the last blood-drinking period, allowing him to obtain the necessary amount for this blood-drinking period.

Now, waking up from his deep sleep, having gone through a cycle of mutation and evolution, Xiang Kun had a hard-to-describe feeling. He realized that this time, his transformation might be even greater than he had previously assumed.

Previously, Xiang Kun paid more attention to and exercised more targeted training for sensory abilities. Regardless of whether it was vision, hearing, smell, sixth sense, or “super sensory state”, these were constantly improving slowly and subtly with each blood drinking period. However, due to diminishing returns, unless it was a special blood-drinking period during which he swallowed “mutated spiders” or “mutated parasites”, the enhancement would be limited.

But this time, the two powers he used in Burma, in addition to applying to his already strong sensory abilities, also involved attempting large-scale, long-duration, high-intensity influences on the external world through the “super sensory item system”.

In China, he was very restrained in using his abilities. Even “Electric Mastery Flight” in the wilderness during thunderstorms had to be careful not to cause any collateral damage. If the thunderstorm ignited a wildfire, he had to consider if the ensuing rain could extinguish it in time, whether it would cause a disaster, whether the drama would draw the attention of the meteorological department and the forestry department, and whether it would leave traces that could be traced directly to his identity and so on.

So, at sea and in Myitkyina, he had the chance to make some unprecedented attempts, and it seemed that his body’s mutation and evolution mechanism had received the “demand” communicated through these attempts.

This time when he woke up, he could clearly perceive that even without deliberately mobilizing his senses, without paying close attention with his sixth sense, without entering the “super sensory state”, and just standing in place in a relaxed state, he could still feel as if his “mental tentacles” extended into the surrounding environment, ready to “lever” the environment and create an effect anytime.

And this “leveraging point” for influence came from the large number of “super-connected objects” he had established a “super sensory contact” with. They seemed to be extensions of Xiang Kun’s body.

He could feel that the connection channel between him and the “super-connected objects” had become stronger.

If the connection between him and the “super-connected objects” was likened to a physical chain, then the current feeling was like the lock-and-link between the chain and the “super-connected objects” remained the same, but the chain became thicker and stronger. The transmission of his will and power became more direct and efficient.

Xiang Kun walked out of the bedroom. Old Xia, who was sitting on the sofa, happened to be yawning. Seeing him, she paused mid-yawn, and surprisingly, the yawn stopped.

It was evident that Old Xia had been forcing herself to stay awake, waiting for him to wake up.

“Two hours later than usual.” Xiang Kun immediately noticed the time at the lower right corner of Old Xia’s notebook. The duration of this blood-drinking sleep period had reached 27 hours, which was significantly higher than the average.

By now, Xiang Kun had gone through dozens of blood-drinking periods. If the blood-drinking was carried out normally, the sleep time would be around 25 hours, with little deviation.

Only when the blood-drinking was seriously insufficient could the sleep period be extended. Or after swallowing other “mutant creatures”, the sleep could be super short. Therefore, the mutation during this blood-drinking sleep period was bound to be more distinctive than the previous ones.

Xia Libing tossed the laptop on her knees onto the coffee table and stood up, asking, “How do you feel?”

Xiang Kun was about to say something when he noticed the half-full glass of water on the coffee table in front of the sofa. Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he walked over to pick it up.

After picking up the water glass, Xiang Kun looked at Xia Libing, whose pretty face displayed no expression change. Feeling playful, he suddenly stepped back and splashed the water from the cup towards Old Xia.

However, in response to Xiang Kun’s sudden action, Xia Libing didn’t dodge the splashing warm water at all. She didn’t even lift her hand or blink, her expression remaining unchanged. Her focus just shifted from Xiang Kun’s body to the water in front of her.

The warm water which splashed from the cup towards Xia Libing like a snarling monster suddenly halted right in front of her, as if the water-entity “monster” had been incapacitated, suspended in mid-air.

After a half-second suspension, the water started to solidify into a clump, which then began to twist, stretch, and extend its tendrils from both left and right, just like an autonomous, shape-shifting playdough.

Soon enough, the water splashed out of the cup by Xiang Kun solidified into the image of a mini eight-armed monster.

Of course, this was because Xia Libing had seen the Eight-Armed, Eight-Eyed Wood Carving and frequently saw the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed monster,” so she could recognize it at a glance. If it were an ordinary person, they might think it appeared like an octopus-human or sea urchin.

The eight-armed water homunculus floated flexibly in the air, with its eight arms and two legs moving dynamically, circling around Xia Libing before returning to the glass in Xiang Kun’s hands, transforming back to its normal state.

However, Xia Libing had keenly observed that the room’s temperature and humidity had increased significantly. The windowpane was foggy with condensation, and the fridge’s exterior, coffee table, and other glossy surfaces in the room were all wet, even dripping with water droplets.

Xiang Kun, who held the cup of water, did not immediately discuss the ability he had just demonstrated. Instead, he first asked, “Old Xia, why didn’t you dodge, didn’t even blink?”

Xia Libing responded as if it were obvious, “I knew you had a reason to do that, and that cup of water didn’t pose any threat.”

“But…what if I had lost control of my ability and the water had indeed splashed on you? After all, this is my first time using this ability,” Xiang Kun asked, laughing.

Based on his subconscious inference, given Old Xia’s personality and usual behavior patterns, the odds of her not dodging, but closing her eyes when faced with the sudden splash of water were 70%. Regardless of how rational the judgment was, the instinct to protect the eyes by shutting them would kick in. A 20% chance of her not dodging but rather, raising her hand; a 5% chance of instinctively sidestepping; a 2% chance of facing the incoming water without dodging, raising her hand or blinking; a 2% chance of crouching down and protecting her head, and less than 1% chance of dodging while exclaiming loudly.

Although Old Xia’s ultimate reaction was within the 2% low probability, what he had hoped to see was that less than 1%. He had specifically anticipated giving Old Xia a scare.

Unfortunately, it did not work out.

In response to Xiang Kun’s question, Old Xia replied, still as if it were obvious: “Considering your brain’s capability to decipher and calculate the outcome, you must have been extremely confident in succeeding. Even if it hadn’t worked, you would be the one in distress.”

Xiang Kun was left with no words. If he had truly splashed Old Xia by accident, the embarrassment, guilt, and distress would all indeed be his.

Of course, as Old Xia said, even though the application method of his ability had appeared in his mind at that moment, it’s through the connection with the surrounding “super-connected objects” and the rapid calculations by the brain that he was highly confident in manipulating this ability.

Xia Libing, not bothered by Xiang Kun’s playful exhibition of his ability, focused on the ability itself, “Did you not enter the ‘oxygen-saving state’ just now?”

She knew that last month in Star City, Xiang Kun fused the ability of the “mutated parasite” he had swallowed earlier, developing a ‘oxygen-saving state’ that allowed him to breathe underwater and exercise a certain degree of control over water.

Moreover, during their time in Burma, he had used this ability to save Xia Tianhuo.

According to Xiang Kun, before controlling water, he needed to enter the “Oxygen-saving state,” regardless whether he himself was in the water. If he wanted to exert a “strong influence” on the surrounding water, he himself needed to have direct contact and connection with the water, being inside it.

Just now, Xiang Kun’s control of the glass of water was undoubtedly a “strong influence”. However, according to Xia Libing’s observation, Xiang Kun didn’t seem to enter the “Oxygen-saving state,” let alone directly touch the water.

“Yes, I didn’t enter the ‘Oxygen-saving state’. Just now I used all the ‘super-connected objects’ in this room – mine, yours, and those in my bag – to build this area into a whole. Then, I controlled a part of the water in this whole,” Xiang Kun explained quickly.

“Did you intentionally form this shape?” Xia Libing asked again. To her, making the water form such a complex shape was a total waste of energy.

Xiang Kun, of course, knew she was referring to the miniature Eight-Armed, Eight-Eyed monster form condensed from water. “Not quite. It’s this ability…the Little Fatty Girl ‘developed’ it…For now, like your ‘Illusion Reality’, if I want to use it quickly without being in the ‘Oxygen-saving state’, the fluid water can only be condensed and formed in that way. Otherwise, I cannot control it so freely. I will have to figure out the specific implementation of this ability before I can apply it freely.”

Upon hearing this, Xia Libing seemed to be no longer sleepy and continued to do various tests on this ability with Xiang Kun.

This ability, newly developed by Little Fatty Girl, was not a derivative or extension of the “Oxygen-saving state”. Rather, it was a more comprehensive ability. Not only water, but theoretically, most gaseous, liquid, and small particulate matter could be controlled, appearing in the area as the “Eight-Armed Monster”.

However, all the “Eight-Armed Monster” forms were the same. Unable to “carve” details, apart from him and Old Xia who understood the form first, most people probably wouldn’t recognize what it was.

This ability was undoubtedly very powerful, with a multitude of potential applications.

As his connection and control of “super-connected objects” greatly improved and he built more connections with “super-connected objects”, the weakness of area restrictions can be significantly made up for.

Not to mention anything else, even just using it to “scare people” would be quite formidable.

If it had been used during the time in Myitkyina to pair with the emotion projection of the “Eight-Armed, Eight-Eyed Wood Carving”, wow…

Of course, even if he had mastered this ability then, Xiang Kun wouldn’t have done that.

There was no need.

After giving a few more demonstrations to Old Xia, even forming an Eight-Armed small “flour man” that was loose yet controllable, the lights in the room began to darken and all kinds of electrical appliances seemed to be affected.

Taking into consideration that when the Eight-Armed little water man was formed earlier, the indoor humidity was very heavy. If they continue to test the new ability through the “super-connected objects” in such an environment, it might damage electronic products and various electrical appliances, so they stopped the demonstration.

Xiang Kun sat on the sofa, using Old Xia’s laptop to go on QQ while telling Old Xia about his experiences in Myitkyina, how he controlled the “super-connected objects” to call for the emotional projection of the “Eight-Armed, Eight-Eyed Wood Carving” for large-area influence.

Because all telecommunication operators have strict requirements now, the person themselves have to go to refill a phone card, so Old Xia only helped him buy a new phone during the day. However, he himself had to refill the phone card, so he could not use the phone temporarily. He could not get on WeChat, so he could only use Old Xia’s computer to log into QQ.

As soon as he logged onto QQ, he received several messages from Little Fatty Girl — he logged onto QQ to check the messages from Little Fatty Girl, because he knew that Little Fatty Girl would send him a message to report and show off after she had “developed” a new ability.

“Uncle Bald! Uncle Bald! I saw the ‘Barbie Warrior’ on the news! There are pictures of it!”

“Da Lu helped me modify the drawing of ‘Barbie Warrior’. It’s so much better now!”

“Moreover, I can use ‘Magic’ to make a ‘Barbie Warrior’ which is much better than the previous one!”

“Uncle Bald, when will you come to play with me again? I’ll show you the ‘Barbie Warrior’ I made, it’s so cool!”

“I originally wanted to make a ‘Barbie Warrior’ out of biscuit crumbs, but my mother found out that I was crushing biscuits and scolded me.”

“In the news, was there a villain in that Meng…that Meng…Meng Lalala? Are there bad monsters? I heard my teacher say that the ‘Barbie Warrior’ saved a lot of people?”

“Barbie Warrior is great! I will study hard, go to elementary school early, learn physics and mathematics, practice magic, and help Uncle Bald fight monsters!”

“‘Custard Pie’ will also work hard! I can train it now! It also needs to learn magic!”

“Uncle Bald, can the ‘Barbie Warrior’ I made be used as the body of the ‘Barbie Warrior’?”

After listening to Little Fatty Girl’s messages and seeing the photo of the “Barbie Warrior” she drew, Xiang Kun understood why Little Fatty Girl’s newly “developed” ability could only be represented in the form of that “Eight-Armed, Eight-Eyed monster.”

To be honest, Little Fatty Girl’s drawing skills have indeed improved a lot. Considering the visible progress she had made in such a short time since she really started getting into drawing, it could be said to be quite astonishing.

Furthermore, within the “super sensory item system,” she was a “Developer” who thought outside the box, which was a far stronger talent than drawing.

The abilities she “developed” — if it were all up to Xiang Kun to study from the ground up, develop, evolve, derive, and extend them, who knows how long it would take. After all, his emphasis on abilities was not in these areas.

Of course, if he were to guide, evolve, and control abilities from a personal ability level, then the power would definitely be much stronger, and the application methods would also be much more varied and free.

Xiang Kun sent a panda thumbs-up emoji to Little Fatty Girl, praising her “development results” and “improvement in drawing”.

After Xiang Kun finished telling about his experiences in Myitkyina, Xia Libing told Xiang Kun about the phone call from Yang Zhen Er, including a series of her “guesses”.

“Your cousin’s guess was actually pretty accurate.” Xiang Kun laughed. He was not worried about Yang Zhen Er’s suspicions. After all, without direct evidence, it didn’t matter how much she suspected, besides, they were kin, and all of her suspicions and guesses were born out of curiosity. They would not harm him subjectively.

Actually, the trip to Myitkyina left quite a few issues unresolved. Although most of the situations had been premeditated and planned for, some were even smoke screens and bait planted deliberately by him.

However, even though he was calculated and thoughtful, there were outside factors and other people’s information that he couldn’t control fully. So, he still needed to make thorough preparations before those who potentially might harm him found his “tail,” to cope with various possibilities.

“Do you need me to say anything specific in line with your narrative?” Xia Libing asked.

“No need. I’ll just give her a call back,” said Xiang Kun casually.

He glanced at the time – it was nearly 4 a.m. He was about to let Old Xia go to sleep when she suddenly asked a seemingly significant question:

“Did you make that game by yourself?”

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