What It's Like Being a Vampire

When Xia Tianhuo recounted his kidnapping and escape, the most interested among them was naturally Yang Zhen’er.

She listened while taking out her cell phone in the car, beginning to record some key words in the “Notes” app, occasionally asking questions based on her earlier thoughts.

Apart from Yang Lao San, Tang Baona, and Li Yang all paid close attention to the recount.

After all, it was a case of a fellow countryman being kidnapped abroad. It was a rare occurrence, full of dramatic twists and turns, and Xia Tianhuo was the first-hand witness and directly involved. Even Li Yang, a university associate professor, and an intellectual, gossiped and listened attentively.

“…at that time, I suddenly felt as though the boat was fixed in place, not in a docked sense, and it didn’t feel like it was close to shore either… It didn’t feel like the boat was moving, there was no sensation of bobbing on the water. Then, I heard strange gnawing noises, a creepy grinding sound, shouting, and…gunshots.”

Xia Tianhuo truthfully recounted his experience on the ship, aside from omitting certain aspects of his emotional state and memories from the past, he shared all his other objective sensory feelings.

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhen’er immediately became excited and quickly asked, “You said you heard a gnawing sound? What did it sound like? Was it a ‘crack, crack, crack’, or a ‘sizzle, sizzle, sizzle’, or a ‘crrrunch, crrrunch, crrrunch’?”

Xia Tianhuo paused for a moment, then said, “It should be a ‘crrink, crrink’… no, more like a ‘crack, crack’… no, that’s not right either. Anyway, it was like a bunch of bugs gnawing on a biscuit at the same time.”

Sitting on the other side, Tang Baona couldn’t help leaning her head back against the seat in front of her and laughing until her whole body shook. “Oh my, you two really crack me up. It’s a dangerous kidnapping case, yet you turn it into a comedy skit, ‘In the capital, there is a skilled mimic, crack, crack, crack’…”

Yang Zhen’er frowned and poked Tang Baona in the waist through Xiao Pingguo. “Nana, be serious. I’m asking a very serious question, this is important.”

While speaking, she turned her head back and said to Xia Tianhuo in front, “Why did it feel like the boat stopped? Did you run aground on an island or reef?”

Xia Tianhuo recalled and said, “This isn’t a game… what ‘run aground on an island or reef’, that’s called running aground!…We didn’t run aground, we didn’t collide with anything, there was just some disturbance at the time. I asked the last surviving kidnapper, he said a ‘sea monster’ boarded the ship, with many hands and many eyes…but it must have been an illusion because there were no traces left on the ship.”

“Many hands! Many eyes?” Yang Zhen’er was so excited she almost jumped up. She quickly noted these six characters on her phone and continued to ask, “This sea monster he saw, could it have resembled the one that appeared in Myitkyina on the night of March 8th?”

“I didn’t ask in detail when I was on the ship because he passed out. But later, I heard the embassy staff say that the ‘sea monster’ he described to the police was indeed much like the illusion of the eight-armed, eight-eyed giant that appeared in Myitkyina. Also… after the ‘sea monster’ appeared, his feelings were the same as those of the people in Myitkyina who had seen the illusion of the eight-armed, eight-eyed giant. Hence, we all speculated that the ‘sea monster’ seen by the kidnappers and other crew members on the ship was essentially the same thing as the ‘eight-armed, eight-eyed giant’ in Myitkyina.” Xia Tianhuo said.

Yang Zhen’er looked at Old Xia, who was seated in front of Tang Baona, and who had been scrolling on his phone all this while, “Old Xia, Old Xia! What do you think?”

She didn’t ask Xiang Kun, not only because Xiang Kun was driving and might not respond to her, but also because, following previous confrontations, she could guess that if she asked Xiang Kun, he would definitely respond, “Oh, haven’t I told you, we secret organization folks have to keep our secrets!”

Li Bing put down his phone, turned his head and asked Xia Tianhuo, “Were you confined in a cabin at the time? Were you imprisoned?”

Xia Tianhuo nodded, “Yes, they tied me to a chair.”

“Could you see anything? Was there any light in the cabin?”

“I couldn’t see, my eyes were blindfolded.”

“How long has it been since you were kidnapped, and how was your physical condition? Have you eaten anything?”

After Xia Tianhuo answered all the questions one by one, Li Bing said, “So you were kidnapped for over thirty hours, went through a rough transit from Myitkyina to a boat, you were thirsty and hungry, realized the kidnappers were extremely vicious and there was a high possibility of being killed, you were anxious, tied to a chair with your eyes covered, hearing a disturbance and gunshots outside. It’s normal that you would hear some strange noises and have unusual feelings.”

Before Xia Tianhuo could refute, Yang Zhen’er was already on her feet, arguing, “He heard the ‘crackling’ gnawing sound before he heard the gunshots and shouting!”

Li Bing looked at his cousin, “Are you sure you heard the gnawing sound first?”

“Um…” Xia Tianhuo hesitated.

Yang Zhen’er quickly replied, “Even if the ‘Giant’ was locked in a cabin, didn’t the kidnapper say he saw a Sea Monster? A Sea Monster with many arms and eyes! This can’t just be a coincidence.”

Xia Libing turned to Tang Baona who was sitting behind her and asked, “When you think of a Sea Monster, what is the first animal that comes to mind?”

Tang Baona hesitated for a second before saying impulsively, “An octopus? Squid? Cuttlefish?”

Xia Libing looked at Yang Zhen’er: “What are the characteristics of a squid?”

“Um…though a squid has many tentacles, it…it doesn’t have many eyes, right?” Yang Zhen’er argued.

“Is that so? How many eyes does a squid have?”

“Um…two…right?” In response to Old Xia’s counter-question, Yang Zhen’er answered somewhat uncertainly.

“Are you sure a squid only has two eyes?”

“Ah… Do squid…have many eyes as well?” Yang Zhen’er could not resist looking up pictures of squids on her phone.

Li Yang, who was sitting in the passenger seat and had been listening all along, laughed, “Squid do indeed have two eyes.”

Xia Libing continued, “Squids indeed have only two eyes. But what would be the first thing someone on a ship sees if it climbed out of the water? The suckers on its tentacles, don’t they look like eyes? He only said many arms, many eyes, but never mentioned eight arms or eight eyes.”

“But the kidnapper’s description to the police was quite similar to the illusion of the eight-armed, eight-eyed giant in Myitkyina!” Yang Zhen’er argued again.

Xia Libing asked Xia Tianhuo, “Did the kidnapper voluntarily describe the details of the ‘eight-arm, eight-eyed giant’ illusion, or did the police tell him what the ‘eight-armed, eight-eyed giant’ illusion looked like? Maybe they even showed him an image of it before questioning him?”

“Um… I’m not quite sure about that.” Xia Tianhuo answered.

“So, what Old Xia means is that the surviving kidnapper intentionally made up a ‘Sea Monster’ to explain what happened on the ship. Then, when the local authorities of Burma mentioned the ‘Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant’ illusion of Myitkyina, he just followed the lead and combined what he saw, the ‘Sea Monster’, with the illusion of the Giant?” Tang Baona asked thoughtfully.

Yang Zhen’er was still reluctant to believe this theory: “But why? What’s his motive for doing this?”

“What happened on the ship that led them to kill each other, only the kidnapper knows. If the truth is detrimental to him and he can’t come up with a completely reasonable and consistent alibi, then introducing an unverifiable ‘Sea Monster illusion’ to explain the phenomena would be an easier way to avoid responsibility,” Xia Libing explained.

Tang Baona suddenly realised, “So he used the ‘illusion’ to explain reality because reality was scarier than the ‘illusion’. Zhen’er, it’s like in ‘Life of Pi’ – the ‘Sea Monster’ is the tiger!”

Yang Zhen’er looked at Nana, then at Xia Tianhuo, and finally at Old Xia, hesitatingly saying, “I still feel something’s not right. Old Xia, how can you be so sure there is no ‘Sea Monster’?”

Xia Libing responded, “I didn’t say there was no ‘Sea Monster’, I just proposed another possibility. As for which possibility is true, it’s up to you all to judge.”

“But what about the ‘eight-armed, eight-eyed giant’ illusion in Myitkyina? You can’t say everyone who saw it was fabricating or lying!” Yang Zhen’er hastily added.

“I don’t know in that regard,” Xia Libing replied, “The guess I just put forward only concerns what happened on the ship.”

Xia Tianhuo seemed to suddenly recall something, blurting out, “Right! Before we returned to the country, I heard that the person behind the kidnappings was a Burmese named Wu Lun from Myitkyina, an individual involved in shady businesses. On the night of March 8th, he was caught in a confrontation with some other forces. When the illusion of the eight-armed, eight-eyed giant appeared, some of his subordinates who were on the periphery suddenly wanted to leave the organization. This led to conflict, and Wu Lun ended up being killed by a few of his own men. So I have this feeling… could the ‘eight-armed, eight-eyed giant illusion’ that appeared in Myitkyina have come to avenge me?”

As he uttered the last sentence, he didn’t sound too certain but he directed a glance at Old Xia, who had picked up his phone again, scrolling through images of large scientific equipment.

Yang Zhen’er, whose mind had been a bit muddled by Old Xia’s argument, perked up once more, saying, “Could it be that the ‘Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant’ and ‘Sea Monster’, are the ‘Guardian Spirits’ of the Giant? You know, ‘Any who harm Xia Tianhuo, no matter how far, will be punished, an eye for an eye, returned twofold!’”

Tang Baona laughed, “What you said made sense just now. How did it suddenly become a fantasy story? The secret organization assumption you proposed last time was even more credible than this!”

As she spoke, she found that “Xiao Pingguo”, who was seated between her and Yang Zhen’er, had her hands awkwardly joined together. She was biting her lower lip, her brows curved as if holding back a laugh. Tang Baona chuckled, “Look at you, Yang Lao San. Your fantasy story can’t less satisfy even ‘Xiao Pingguo’.”

“Xiao Pingguo” quickly replied, “Not at all! In fact, I agree with what Sister Lao San… ahem, Sister Zhen’er said. I heard from the news that the locals touring in Myitkyina all said that the emergence of the ‘giant’ saved and stopped the riot. So, whether that ‘giant’ was an illusion or something else, it definitely was ‘good.’ Perhaps, just like Sister Zhen’er said, it is the ‘guardian spirit’ of our nation.”

Obviously, she knew the truth about the illusion of the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant” in Myitkyina, as Xiang Kun had secretly told her.

Knowing that Xiang Kun had used her “familiar” “eight-armed, eight-eyed” identity to stop the riots in Myitkyina and save many natives, she was “proud”. For a while back, she particularly enjoyed searching the internet for videos shared by Chinese tourists who had encountered the collective illusion incident in Myitkyina. She listened to their gratitude to the ‘eight-armed, eight-eyed giant’, their accounts of his magnificence and vastness, and their varied theories.

Although Xiang Kun hadn’t mentioned saving Xia Tianhuo, she immediately knew upon hearing Xia Tianhuo’s description that it must have been Xiang Kun, the ‘eight-armed, eight-eyed giant’, who had saved him at sea.

So when Yang Zhen’er and others were discussing that topic, she actually enjoyed listening and even wanted to join in several times. But she was afraid that in her excitement, she might disclose the secret, so she could only hold back.

“Ah, only ‘Xiao Pingguo’ is good to your sister. NaNa’s thoughts are too rigid to comprehend such supernatural phenomena,” Yang Zhen’er sighed, putting her arm around Xiao Pingguo’s shoulders.

Tang Baona grinning reluctantly, “Xiao Pingguo consoled you a bit, and you’ve got your head up in the clouds. Are you planning to seek confirmation for your ‘guardian spirit’ theory from Xiao Lingdang next?”

While the three girls from the third row were chatting, Li Yang, the co-driver, spoke again. “Speaking of the giant illusion in Myitkyina, I’ve also discussed it with some colleagues at our school. Regardless of their fields of studies and research direction, everyone is keenly interested in that event. It’s definitely not a hoax; there must be some special reasons leading to the collective illusion. Not only does this incident attract public attention; it also causes a stir in academic and scientific research circles. Personally, I know many universities and research institutions that have sent teams to Myitkyina.”

Having said that, he described their different interpretations of the collective illusion event in Myitkyina from their specialized perspectives using plain talk for everyone in the car to understand.

Taking this opportunity, he continued discussing with Yang Zhen’er and Xia Tianhuo the rumors and legends related to “Sea Monsters” that once occurred in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.

Time flew as they joked and chatted, and soon they arrived back in Tongshi Town.

Xiang Kun did not directly take everyone to their residence in Chongyun Village, but first stopped by Youlong Restaurant in Tongshi Town for dinner.

Nowadays, Youlong Restaurant is not just famous on the pedestrian street but even throughout Tongshi Town. Even online, it has become an extremely trendy restaurant. Many tourists visiting Wushu Mountain would travel especially to Tongshi Town to savor the rabbit meat at Youlong Restaurant – it’s a significant culinary ‘checkpoint’.

Other than Youlong Restaurant, there are eight more restaurants of various scales offering rabbit meat dishes on this pedestrian street, and a few more are currently preparing to open.

The promotion of ‘Tongshi Rabbit Meat’ has already begun, gradually expanding outward with the cooperation of the locality and many businesses.

Normally, a queue is inevitable during mealtimes at Youlong Restaurant. However, as semi-owners, Xiang Kun and the others had pre-booked a private room and were led straight in upon arrival.

Zi Cheng and his girlfriend Chu Xiaoting were already waiting in the private room. Seeing Yang Zhen’er walking in with a birdcage in her hand, Chu Xiaoting, greatly surprised, stood up to take a closer look: “Wow! What bird is this, a parrot? It’s so pretty!”

“It’s not a parrot; it’s a canary! Ms. Chu, you should improve your biology knowledge!” Yang Zhen’er said while placing the birdcage on a table in the corner.

Chu Xiaoting was even more astonished, leaning down to observe the canary closely: “Such a fat canary? I thought they’re supposed to be small…”

Zi Cheng was equally surprised, “Is this the ‘Golden Shimmer’ that Xiang Kun used to keep? How did it get so fat? It’s so big!”

Xiang Kun laughed, “It’s all ‘Xiao Pingguo’s’ doing. It wasn’t this fat under my care.”

Chu Xiaoting hovered around the birdcage for a while, playfully teasing ‘Golden Shimmer.’ Suddenly, she laughed out loud, “Why do I feel it doesn’t even like me? Hey, it turned its back on me…it just pooped…”

Zi Cheng quickly pulled his girlfriend back, “Canaries are very timid; don’t scare it. Could this be its stress response?”

Yang Zhen’er laughed: “Don’t worry, the ‘Canary’ is now used to flying on planes. It’s seen the world and it’s really brave. Isn’t that right, Xiao Pingguo?”

Xiao Pingguo took a measured bag of bird food from her little backpack, went to add some food for the ‘Canary’, and said, “Canary is very temperamental and won’t get scared easily, but it’s pretty possessive. If you upset it, be careful. It might play tricks on you in return.”

After taking a few bites of the bird food, the Canary lifted its head and tweeted a few times, seemingly expressing dissatisfaction.

Chu Xiaoting exclaimed, “This bird seems to understand human nature, feels like it understands what you’re saying. Oh, are canaries this smart? I also want to have one now.” She then said to Zi Cheng, “I want to have one as well.”

“First, take care of me,” Zi Cheng joked, and then he got a sharp pinch on his waist.

Xia Tianhuo watched as Xiao Pingguo took the bird food and went to feed the bird all by herself, and he was even more amazed. Could she do all this just relying on hearing? How could she so accurately determine the position of the birdcage, the food trough, without even needing to stretch out her hand to feel around?

He sat by the window of the booth and noticed the customers sitting outside the restaurant waiting for a table below. He sighed, “Your restaurant is too powerful, there are so many people queuing up…”

Li Yang said with a laugh, “Mr. Xia, you should follow their video account on B site, ”Youlong Play Rabbit.’ You’ll know how popular they are. Not only locals but also the foodies who comes from all around ‘seeking reputation’, there must be quite a lot every day.”

After hearing this, Xia Tianhuo originally thought that they were just good at marketing, but when the dishes were served, after he tasted several classic signature rabbit dishes, his perception changed. He realized that this restaurant had “risen to fame” based on strength.

“How is it? Delicious, right?” Yang Zhen’er asked with a smile.

Xia Tianhuo nodded, “It’s indeed delicious. Does it have anything to do with the rabbit meat here? I’ve eaten rabbit meat before, but it doesn’t feel as tender as here. Is the breeding research base that Old Xia and Xiang Kun operate in Chongyun Village specifically for breeding these meat rabbits?”

“What you’re tasting is already the castrated version. If you’ve tasted the rabbit meat made by Chef Xiang, you’ll know what ‘delicious’ truly means!” Yang Zhen’er proudly said, as if she had cooked the rabbit meat herself.

“The castrated version?” Xia Tianhuo glanced at the piece of rabbit meat he had picked up, and frowned, “I’ve never heard of castrating meat rabbits. Isn’t that more trouble?”

Yang Zhen’er was startled and glared at him, “I’m talking about the incomplete version! Semi-finished version! It’s not about the rabbit being castrated! Your understanding…”

Xia Tianhuo didn’t bother to argue with his cousin about the definition of “castration”, he asked in amazement, “Is Chef Xiang referring to Xiang Kun, is the rabbit meat made by Xiang Kun much more delicious than this? I’ve actually heard that Xiang Kun is a great cook even before I met him, at that time I just thought of it as an amateur, a casual cook.

The rabbit meat from Youlong Restaurant tonight is arguably the best rabbit meat he’s ever had. The seasoning is a special taste he has never tasted before, he was really amazed. But according to what Yang Zhen’er said, it seems that the rabbit dishes in this restaurant were developed by Xiang Kun, and the ones prepared by Xiang Kun himself are even more delicious than those in the restaurant? Does that mean he is a professional chef? An actual chef? Isn’t he a very talented programmer?

“Of course! Once you taste the dishes made by Chef Xiang tomorrow, you’ll know what ‘truly delicious’ means!” Yang Zhen’er confidently said.

Xiang Kun laughed, “Yang Lao San, stop bragging. Not everyone is as gluttonous as you!”

However, although Xiang Kun said that, Xia Tianhuo noticed that other than Xiang Kun, everyone else in the room including Old Xia, Tang Baona, Li Yang, and even Xiao Pingguo, all looked like they agreed with Yang Zhen’er.

After dinner, Xiang Kun and the others said their greetings to You Meng, said goodbye to Zi Cheng, and then off they went to Chongyun village in the same MPV.

The road leading to Chongyun village had been repaired, the roads in the village had also undergone some reconstruction and planning, added quite a few street lights and even installed surveillance cameras at multiple intersections, these were all donations that Xiang Kun recently made to Chongyun Village in the name of “QianKun Technology” for the safety of the village and they have been integrated into the “Bright Project”.

Even though they arrived in the village past ten at night, it was still bright among the roads, looking at the surveillance cameras at the intersections, even people visiting the village for the first time would feel much safer.

Xiang Kun purposely drove past the construction site of the research base, the place was still brightly lit, with a few workers working. A young, short, sturdy, dark man who was originally smoking at the entrance of the construction site immediately put out his cigarette and ran over when he saw their car and waited by the side of the road.

“Mr. Xiang, have you brought the guests back?” After the MPV stopped, the young man asked from outside the car window.

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