What It's Like Being a Vampire

Chapter 537: Chapter 537: Sunrise

This sudden voice, although very eerie, did manage to perk Joel up.

He figured out that the voice was coming from above, probably from a tree, so he reached out to touch the trunk and climbed with all his might. He quickly managed to ascend the tree.

“Where are you? Show yourself! Come out!”

However, once he was up in the tree, he didn’t know where the voice had come from. His vision and sense of smell were both obstructed, the thick fog and the smell of barbecue making it impossible for him to rely on his senses to pinpoint the exact location.

He needed the other party to continue making noises, only then could he determine their location from the source of the sound.

“Are you looking for me?” The voice of the little girl seemed to come from below the tree this time.

“Ah!—” Without a second thought, Joel acted on his first instinct, darted towards the source of the sound, and jumped off the tree.

He hit the ground hard, the impact causing him such pain that he couldn’t help but let out a scream.

In fact, considering the height from which he jumped, if he had properly landed on his feet, given his physical capabilities and agility, he could have easily absorbed the shock and wouldn’t have been hurt at all.

Yet he chose to jump in a ‘tiger pouncing on its prey’ manner. Of course, the ground here was not hard, and given his superior strength and recovery ability compared to ordinary people, the pain was short-lived.

All things considered, he was feeling desperate.

For Joel in his current state, under the influence of his extreme bloodlust, he was on the verge of losing his mind.

He now wished for a powerful, terrifying “blood clan” or “blood beast” to appear, even if it wanted to hang him up, tear him apart, it would be better than the torture he was currently enduring.

He was beginning to feel that he was losing control over his body, his muscles, and even his own consciousness.

If he didn’t find a qualified “blood source” soon, his collapse and dissolution wouldn’t be far away.

He wished that the individual tormenting him from behind the scenes, the person that brought him to the Chongyun Mountain, that little girl in a white dress, would show herself and tell him when and how she hypnotized him, and then give him a fair fight.

Although he knew his chances of winning were slim, at least he could die knowing what happened.

He didn’t even want to use his most potent abilities of hypnosis and mental disturbance anymore. Of course, he suspected that the little girl was even more powerful in that regard.

But that little girl in the white dress, apparently, had no intentions of satisfying his wish. After taunting him, she “disappeared” once again.

After catching his breath, Joel picked himself up from the ground and started cursing the little girl in the white dress. After a while, he started howling in pain again, begging continuously. He even said he was willing to offer his flesh and blood to get a clear picture of what was happening.

But the surroundings were still quiet, with only the seemingly endless fog and the unidentified smell of barbecue.

In Joel’s mind, he was convinced that the little girl in the white dress was the puppet master behind all this, but he was still clueless about who she really was, and why he couldn’t perceive her in any way, despite trying all the reliable means at his disposal.

To him, this little girl in the white dress was like a wicked, powerful demon.

Moreover, this demon seemed more comfortable in this forest than he was, like she had control over everything. Even the “prosthetic” parasites formed by the “prosthetic tissue fluid” that he had arranged along the way were all eaten by something unknown, not one left.

The earlier remark “So you’re ‘The Lord of the Forest'” felt like mockery and ridicule towards him.

Wait, if she knew about his title as the “Lord of the Forest,” did that mean John was in their hands?

A glimmer of hope rose in Joel again. If John, far weaker than him, had the chance of two phases of transformation, surely his “cultivation value” must be much greater than John’s!

Perhaps this torture was only to make him yield. If he was willing to submit and be willingly “cultivated,” maybe he could get a chance like John? It was even possible that, in order to get him through his phase limit, they might hand John over to him.

Suddenly, a bit of confidence and reason returned to him because he realized they had made great efforts to draw him into the Chongyun Mountain area and surely would not just let him suffer from the phase limit and disintegrate.

Whether to “cultivate” him, or to use him as a “blood source” to cultivate John, they would not let him disintegrate — because his greatest value was his “vampire blood”.

Of course, he did not know that Alice had just spoken out because she thought, according to Xiang Kun’s cognitive model of Joel, that he had fallen into despair.

To prevent Joel from reaching the point of “suicide” and disrupting Xiang Kun’s “grand observatory plan,” Alice took the initiative to distract him.

Alice, still passionately explaining Joel’s situation just seconds ago, suddenly stopped. Xiang Kun and Old Xia turned their heads to see Old Xia’s eyes squinted, his head slowly nodding off into a semi-sleep state.

Indeed, it was getting late. In a little while, the sun would rise. Joel’s recent escapades had kept Old Xia up all night; she was already slightly sleep-deprived.

Xiang Kun gently nudged her and said, “Alice and I can handle this, you should go to sleep. I’ll inform you of the results tomorrow.”

Xia Libing rubbed her eyes. She knew that the situation was pretty much settled. As for the interpretation of super-sensory information, since she couldn’t participate, there was no need to stay up any longer. She got up, left the room, ascended the stairs, and went to sleep in Xiao Pingguo’s room.

A few days ago, Tang Baona and Yang Zhen Er headed to Pengcheng City. Their companies, “QianKun Technology” and “Teng Jiao Hu Yu” had a new joint project. As Xiang Kun was busy, naturally, Ms. Tang and Ms. Yang had to make the trip.

Xia Tianhuo was conducting business with Chu Xiuwen, Liu Caifu, and Zi Cheng in Tongshi Town. He had taken up residence there, and it appeared they were ready to buy a house in Tongshi Town.

Since Xiang Kun and Old Xia had moved to the courtyard, it was only natural that they wouldn’t let Xiao Pingguo stay alone in the newly rented house. Although Egg Yolk Pie and Jin Shanshan were with her and wouldn’t pose any danger, they still had her rest over there. After all, she was sharing a room with Old Xia.

Through sensory information like breathing and heartbeat, once Xiang Kun determined that Old Xia upstairs was asleep, he refocused his attention on Joel in Chongyun Mountain.

Alice, being quite considerate, turned down the volume of the speakers. The tone was the same, but much quieter, she knew the volume made no difference to Xiang Kun.

Alice used Joel’s phone to capture his voice and play it directly through the speakers. This “old blood clan” was solemnly expressing his loyalty to Alice. Of course, he did not know Alice’s name, he referred to her as “Honorable Lady in White”. He then recounted his experiences of phase transformations, the “blood clan”, “blood descendants”, “blood beasts” and “blood plants” he had consumed, and explained his own derived abilities. He expressed a willingness to submit and be loyal to the “Honorable Lady in White”, offer her his life and blood, and even become a “blood source” for John without objection.

His tone was sincere and humble. According to Alice’s explanations, Joel even knelt down on the ground, forehead to the earth, as he pledged his loyalty.

At first, Xiang Kun was surprised but quickly understood Joel’s thought process and could empathize…

Xiang Kun glanced at the time and said to Alice, “Dawn is approaching.”

“Understood!” Alice’s voice crisply replied.

Thus, in Chongyun Mountain, Joel, knelt on the ground, offering his surrender was not rewarded with an appearance from the “Honorable Lady in White”. Instead, he was met with a thicker fog, an intensifying smell of grilling, and the sudden arrival of a shrill, metallic grinding noise.

The assault on the senses instantly amplified Joel’s bloodthirsty frenzy. However, what shattered him more was that this reaction seemed to signify a rejection of his humble submission.

Joel yelled in frustration as the irritating metallic sound drove him to extreme agitation. He knew that he was running out of time. Even if he could escape Chongyun Mountain right now, it would be too late to find a suitable “blood source”.

He lay down on the ground, spewing out his tube-like oral structure again, excreting large amounts of “prosthetic tissue fluid”.

He relied on this to judge his position. Even though his sight, hearing, and smell were all greatly disrupted, and the predetermined “prostheses” had all been eradicated, he could still, in his own way, detect the positions where those “prostheses” and “prosthetic tissue fluids” had disappeared.

With this method, even if he could not see, hear, or smell, he could still find his way into the mountains.

He had made up his mind that no matter what, he had to get out of Chongyun Mountain first. After arriving in the city, he would randomly grab a few people to have a hearty feast of fresh blood, experience one last thrill before disintegration.

Maybe he could force the mastermind behind all this into the open and put up a fight till his dying breath.

After groping his way through the dense fog for some time, something suddenly hit his chest and fell to the ground.

He was startled and hesitated for a bit. Stooping over to pick it up, he found that it was a roast chicken wing?

He held it to his nose and took a deep sniff. The smell… it was the scent of barbeque in the heavy mist.

But the very next moment, the roast chicken wing in his hand vanished. Joel was taken aback, his mind in a daze once again—it was an illusion just now?

The realistic touch and scent of the roast chicken wing started making him doubt his senses and mental clarity.

Could it be that the mist, the smell, the sounds in front of him, were all just illusions that never existed?

Joel shook his head, trying to suppress his manic, blood-thirsty urge, preparing to press on, only to realize that his sense of direction had been thrown off by the interruption.

So, Joel had to lie down again, mouth open wide, ready to spit out his mouthpiece, when suddenly an object appeared, blocking his mouth. This scared him into retreating clumsily, rolling and scrambling away.

The startled Joel thought back to the thing that had just blocked his mouth, it seemed like a piece of meat? Or rather, a piece of meat whose skin had been seared to a crisp?

The sharp noise of metal scraping against metal by his ears suddenly disappeared, then the distinct song of a little girl rang out, “Let’s learn meow together, meow, meow, meow, meow…”

Joel was stunned for a moment, before it dawned on him that the sound was coming from his phone. But when he pulled out his phone, he found that no matter what he did, he couldn’t wake up the screen. At the same time, the sound source abruptly shifted from the phone’s speaker to behind him.

As he turned around, the sound moved to his right, then his left.

The origin of the sound was elusive, like a phantom.

A seemingly cute song, when heard by Joel, sounded like a demonic tune from hell.

He clawed at his head, covered his ears, even had an urge to gouge his eyes out.

Suddenly, a bud sprouted on the back of his hand.

The tiny bud, tenaciously tore through his skin, struggling to grow outward. The place where his skin had been torn open startlingly oozed no blood. His skin and the bud were tightly fused together, as if they were inherently one.

An illusion?

Just as Joel was feeling bewildered, he felt a itch in his nose. He touched it and found two very thin tendrils extending out of his nostrils and growing outward.

He was shocked and tried to tear off the tendrils, but the tug resulted in a searing headache, causing him to nearly pass out.

Could it be that the tendril was connected to his brain?

He also noticed that his nails had turned black at some point and were continuously growing longer, whilst his skeleton began to deform.

Joel gradually lost control of his body. Things were continuously growing out of his ears and mouth, then burrowing into the ground, as if trying to link him to the earth.

He remembered what an older “Bloodline Vampire” had told him when he first joined the “Red Rose”.

At that time, the elder’s words were ambiguous and vague, which left him confused. Ultimately, the elder told him that when the chances of breaking through the transitional limit were extremely slim, the “Pureblood Circulation”, giving your own blood to all members, was the best end.

At this moment, he suddenly understood many of the things he hadn’t understood before. He knew that his time had come, that the disintegration brought about by reaching the transitional limit was irreversible.

The sensation in his body was not just pain, but also a striking feeling of all muscles, all organs, even all cells revolting, fighting amongst themselves, and mutating.

This was an irresistible feeling of despair and terror.

In the midst of this, he recalled the first human he killed and drank blood from, then the second, the third…

One face after another surfaced in his mind. He once thought he had forgotten these people, as though, for ordinary people, no matter how good their memory, it would be impossible to remember where they bought each apple they ate, what characteristics it had, how big it was, how it tasted, and the process of acquiring and eating each fish and chicken. To him, ordinary humans were merely “food”, “snacks” that satisfied his brief appetite and needs; he never paid them any mind.

Only now did he realize that those memories had been in his mind all along, never forgotten.

Those desperate faces on the brink of death, the people whom he had tortured for fun, begging for death, the elderly, the adults, women, children…

He suddenly felt their pain and despair.

Chance would have it… that in the face of death, everyone was the same?

The mist abruptly dispersed. Joel saw the dawn sun just rising from the east, its gentle rays dappling through the leaves, composing a mottled and beautiful pattern on the ground.

Dawn had broken?

This sunlight, it should be real, right?

Indeed, it must be real.

Joel had never felt something as real as this. He suddenly remembered the days before becoming a vampire, had those long years been an illusion?

Not too far away, a little girl wearing a white princess dress and black leather shoes was watching him with her head tilted, her back towards the sun.

He still couldn’t sense any “Blood Clan”, “Blood Descendant” or “Blood Beast” characteristics from the little girl. Her illusive abilities that blended illusion with reality were unfathomable to him.

Suddenly, he had a moment of enlightenment.

Looking at the little girl, he tried to say, forgive…me…

But in reality, due to a plant stem resembling a tree root sprouting out of his mouth, he couldn’t make a single sound.

When the rising sun finally reached his face, his consciousness began to fade, and his body started to disintegrate.

Dust returned to dust.

Earth returned to earth.