"Hmm? What's different? What did you find?" Ren Songfei asked, puzzled. He thought to himself that the monster was hiding in the cowshed, and Chen Xiao, like everyone else, hadn't even seen it. How could he have discovered something different?
Chen Xiao replied without turning his head, "Haven't you noticed yet? He didn't resist when he was attacked, and he chose cows, not humans, as his targets for blood. Isn't that enough to explain the problem?"
Upon hearing this, Ren Songfei suddenly saw the light. That's right, why hadn't he thought of that! In fact, he was too worried. The heavy casualties suffered by the Exorcism Department today had thrown him into disarray. Otherwise, he wouldn't have failed to notice something so obvious.
When he wanted to ask Chen Xiao something else, he looked up and realized Chen Xiao had already walked far away.
Chen Xiao entered the cowshed, and a smell of blood hit him. Of course, this was all the smell of cow's blood. These cows weren't killed by the monster, but had just been shot to death by the yamen runners with spears.
A thick layer of cow's blood flowed on the ground, wet and muddy, making it difficult for Chen Xiao to step. With no other choice, Chen Xiao followed the cow's blood inside. After only a few steps, he saw a figure curled up in a corner of a cowshed, trembling.
"Hello?" Chen Xiao actually greeted the person. If the people from the Exorcism Department outside saw this, they would think Chen Xiao had gone mad.
The monster raised its head. It looked like a young man in his early twenties, wearing glasses, though they were now covered in bloodstains with traces of fragments on the edges. His face was pale and devoid of color, and upon seeing Chen Xiao, his face clearly showed fear.
"You, don't come closer, I might bite you!" The monster, no, it should be called a person, since he spoke human language... bared his teeth and threatened Chen Xiao, revealing two sharp fangs at the corners of his mouth.
"You don't need to be afraid, I mean you no harm," Chen Xiao explained kindly. He found that this young man could speak human language, which meant he still had his sanity. This could be seen from his eyes, which were completely different from the one on the football field earlier.
The young man was clearly taken aback. He thought, how did he know he was afraid? Besides, shouldn't he be the one who was afraid? I'm a monster now! However, this monster of his was clearly only a superficial one. When Chen Xiao walked forward, he actually tried to dissuade Chen Xiao.
"Really, I advise you not to come closer. I might bite you. I, I... I can't control myself..." As he spoke, the young man almost burst into tears. It was obvious that he didn't want to be like this.
Chen Xiao didn't heed his warning and continued to walk forward. The young man seemed to be stimulated and leaped up from the ground. His movements were like a fierce beast, attacking Chen Xiao with ferocity and speed! Chen Xiao, however, simply pressed down gently and pinned him to the ground.
The young man was stunned because he knew how strong he was; even an adult bull was no match for him. Yet, this man in front of him, who looked as thin as himself, had so easily subdued him. Could he be one of his own kind?
"You, are you also a monster?" the man asked nervously.
Chen Xiao shook his head. "I'm not a monster, and neither are you. I'm quite curious about how you became like this."
"Uh, this, I'm not sure... it's just, uh, suddenly, I really wanted to suck blood... I couldn't control myself at all..." the young man said evasively.
Seeing his demeanor, Chen Xiao knew he was hiding something. "I don't want to hear nonsense. If you want me to help you, tell me the truth from beginning to end, without any omissions." Chen Xiao said directly.
The man was stunned. "You can help me?"
Chen Xiao was noncommittal. "Tell me first."
"Alright." The man believed Chen Xiao because Chen Xiao believed him. At this point, it was rare for anyone to believe him in his current state.
"My name is Chi Hao, and I'm a programmer at a company. Because of work pressure, I'm used to having a drink at a bar after work. Yesterday, as usual, I went to my regular bar, Ye Lan, and ordered a Bloody Mary."
"While I was drinking, a beautiful foreign woman with blonde hair and blue eyes actually came up to talk to me."
"You probably know that programmers like me are mostly homebodies and lack experience in relationships. And that beautiful woman, like me, likes to drink Bloody Marys, so I was instantly captivated by her."
"We chatted very well. To be honest, I've even thought of names for our children."
"What happened next was natural. We went back to her car. Just when I thought something exciting was about to happen, she suddenly bit me."
As he said this, Chi Hao bared his teeth, revealing his fangs. "Her mouth also had fangs like mine!"
Chen Xiao frowned. Listening to Chi Hao's description, it sounded very much like the way vampires turned ordinary people. And the blonde, blue-eyed woman being a foreigner also fit the geographical characteristics of vampires. He urged Chi Hao to continue, "And then?"
"Then I fainted. When I woke up, I found myself lying next to the trash heap behind the bar. I was unharmed, and there were no bite marks on my neck... At that time, I thought everything that happened might have been a dream because I drank too much, so I didn't think much of it and went home to sleep."
"However, I had a high fever all night and kept having nightmares. When I woke up this morning, I was fine, and my condition was exceptionally good. I felt like I had endless energy, and I even went to work normally. By noon, I realized something was wrong."
"My teeth had been itching constantly. I looked in the mirror and saw that they had grown so long! And at that moment, I had an urge to bite someone's neck and drink their blood. I resisted all afternoon, and that desire grew stronger and stronger, almost to the point where I couldn't control myself."
"Until after work, I couldn't control myself anymore... But don't worry, I still had a sliver of reason left and didn't bite anyone. I ran all the way to this cattle farm and started drinking cow's blood..."
"And the rest, you know."
Chi Hao finished recounting the entire incident, his face filled with pain. He was originally just a programmer who worked by the book, living a life of going to work and coming home. Although monotonous, it was at least normal. Now, he couldn't even be a normal person.
"If I had another chance, I would never go to that bar!" Chi Hao said regretfully in the end.