Chapter 7, Vampire (2)
Looking through Shen Zhifei’s garage, Zhao Xiaokui found a motorcycle propped up in the corner. She didn’t know why Shen Zhifei had a motorcycle, as she didn’t come across as the type to use one, but she didn’t question it as it came in really useful at the moment. Zhao Xiaokui had never learned how to drive a car, as she had transmigrated before she could learn how. But she was more than intimate with how to handle a motorcycle. Just like how the streets would be crowded with children younger than twelve riding bikes, so too are the streets full of underage motorcyclists, going about unnoticed unless they’re unlucky enough to be stopped by a traffic officer.
Zhao Xiaokui’s first contact with motorcycles was when she was in high school. Zhao Xiaokui’s grandmother, her only known relative, had just died. She became lost, disoriented, like a kite cut from its string. Because of this, she got roped into hanging with the delinquents at school. The first time she rode a bike was when she went to watch a bike race around a mountain and got drunk. After watching the first round of races. She kicked one of the other girls off her bike and hopped on. Learning on the fly, Zhao Xiaokui quickly tore through the competition like a madman, winning the race. The prize was a pack of cigarettes and a bunch of snacks.
The roads of S-City at night were not nearly as congested at night as they were during the day. Pushing the motorcycle to its limits, Zhao Xiaokui raced through the city streets, leaving the roar of the motorcycle in her wake. As for the matter of her speeding, as long as no one saw her, she would be fine. The eyes of a human were not easy to evade. Luckily there was nobody on the road to see her, so her only concern were the traffic cameras. For that, she utilized her ability and manipulated the water vapor in the air to refract the light in such a way to hide her image from the camera.
Zhao Xiaokui as a child was not well-behaved. Back when her grandmother was alive, one of her favorite actions was to point at Zhao Xiaokui's forehead and say “Look at you, unable to keep calm.” However, she made sure to never cross a certain line, even when she was in her rebellious years. So as she raced through the streets, she felt nervous that she would be caught.
As she drew closer to the auction house she looked up on the map, she quickly noticed the abnormality. Part of the structure had been wrapped in a thick black smoke. Getting off the motorcycle, Zhao Xiaokui ran around the building barefooted, and quickly found the entrance to the underground parking garage. Looking down the ramp, Zhao Xiaokui noticed that the smoke here appeared to be thicker, and gave off a threatening vibe.
Staring into the fog, Zhao Xiaokui softly closed her eyes, and carefully focused her spiritual perception into the fog, attempting to see what was happening. As her spiritual perception touched the fog, Zhao Xiaokui recoiled in shock and pulled her perception back. Her senses had infiltrated the fog way too easy. Wondering if the master of the fog had placed some sort of trap, Zhao Xiaokui closed her eyes again, and braced herself before spreading her senses into the fog again. Piercing through the fog, Zhao Xiaokui quickly spread out her senses and found 6 people unconscious within. Over one of the unconscious girls was a man with his head buried in her neck.
A Vampire. Having found out the identity of the assailant, Zhao Xiaokui grew even more cautious, not daring to rush in. The vampires talked about in the mermaid’s books weren’t easy creatures to handle. The number of weaknesses they possess rivals the number of stars in the sky, however, that did not mean they were vulnerable or weak in any sense. Their strong physique, natural superhuman strength, and long lifespan more than made up for their shortcomings. Funny enough, maybe because they were terrestrial creatures, the vampires in human mythology were quite accurate to the vampires she read about in the mermaid’s library. At least the myths were more accurate than the ones humans have about mermaids.
Turning away from the girl who was writhing in ecstasy with a drunk red-like face while being fed upon, Zhen Xiaokui turned her attention away and hurriedly searched the rest of the parking garage with her spiritual sense. Souring the area, she quickly came about Shen Zhifei hiding in her car. Pumping herself up, Zhao Xiaokui walked into the fog. Wrapping herself in a cover of water from the moisture in the air to block the stench of blood and to mask her own scent, she hid herself behind the parked cars
Zhao Xiaokui didn’t know how strong this vampire was, and she wasn’t too keen on finding out. So her current plan was to sneak in, grab Shen Zhifei, and pull out as quickly as possible. As for the girl being fed upon and the other victims, she could only pray that the vampire used a good sustainable practice of not cutting the apple tree down after harvesting it. After all, she wasn’t strong enough to save everyone, and attempting to wouldn’t only further endanger her own life, but Shen Zhifei’s life as well.
The vampire in the middle of its meal, didn’t seem to notice the intruder within its territory. Its red eyes glowed in greed as it focused on the pleasure coming from its fangs sunken in the pale neck of the girl below, draining her of her blood. As the girl lost more and more blood, her face gradually paled. Her expression shifted from one of ecstasy to one of pain and torment as her body started to struggle. The threat to her life was overpowering the trance she had been set in, while the vampire continued to hold her down, not wishing to leave a single drop of blood left.
Having reached the other end of the parking garage, Zhao Xiaokui stared at the well locked car in front of her. She was stumped on how she was going to communicate with Shen Zhifei who was trapped inside. Light and sound based forms of communication would only draw the vampire’s attention, so she could use neither of those methods. Zhao Xiaokui grew worried as she felt the life force of the girl being fed upon slowly fade. Racking her brain, Zhao Xiaokui realized what she could do.
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Shen Zhifei quickly noticed the abnormality with her heart. She wondered if it was a side effect of whatever had caused this blackout, alongside the psychological oppression it seemed to exert upon her. However, she realized that this felt different. Her heart beat that had begun to slow down, sped up again, returning to a normal rate. It was as if there was another force aside from the darkness affecting her. As soon as this thought came to mind, she remembered the contract that Zhao Xiaokui had forced upon her.
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Focusing on feeling her heart inside her chest, Shen Zhifei realized that it was slowly beating faster and faster, yet the psychological oppression she felt earlier had stayed the same, even wearing a bit. She came to one conclusion, Zhao Xiaokui was here, and she was probably drawing closer. Feeling her way around the car, Shen Zhifei found the door handle. She didn’t know what was going on outside, but it was likely she would die no matter if she stayed in the car or not, so she decided to take a risk.
Taking a breath to calm her nerves, Shen Zhifei slowly cracked the door, wide enough for her hand to slip out. With nothing happening to her hand, Shen Zhifei pulled her hand back in and took off her heels, before opening the door the rest of the way and stepping out of the car. Unable to see a thing, she reached out and began grasping the air with her hand. After a few attempts, her wrist was caught by a familiar soft and slender hand. Reaching out her other hand, she found a piece of the person's clothing and held on tightly, feeling a sense of security wash over her as she felt back being slowly caressed.
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Pulling her hand away from Shen Zhifei’s back, Zhao Xiaokui pulled Shen Zhifei’s wrist and wrote a character on her palm. Shen Zhifei squeezed her hand in accordance. Turning around, Zhao Xiaokui slowly led Shen Zhifei back the way she had just come.
Mermaids were creatures who lived in the deep, fair below the level natural light could be found. Because of this, they had grown two adaptations. One of them was the ability to see in even the dimmest of light levels, and the other was the bioluminescence of their eyes. To pass through the darkness created by the fog, she had to activate the bioluminescence in her eyes. However, she had to be very careful not to look around more than necessary, as just like mermaids, vampires were extremely sensitive to light. Narrowing her eyes and lowering her head to lessen the chance of the vampire seeing the light coming from her eyes, she continued to pull Shen Zhifei forwards.
In normal situations, the sound of a car door closing was not a loud sound. But in this unnatural silence, it would feel equivalent to an announcer at a sports event. Hearing the door of Shen Zhifei’s car automatically close behind them, Zhao Xiaokui rapidly pushed Shen Zhifei out of the way and leaned her body backwards. As she leaned back, she felt a gust of rust scented wind brush past her face. She kicked out without hesitation, feeling her leg make contact with the assailant. With a crash, the vampire fell onto the floor.
As mentioned before, vampires are fragile, but strong creatures. A person at the same level as the vampire, or even a little weaker could suppress a vampire after thorough preparations. A light spell that emulates sunlight, a silver knife, or a toxin that affects the blood could incapacitate them. However, that’s only if one is able to prepare. If one is caught by a vampire unprepared, one can easily be overpowered instead as a vampire far exceeds the strength, speed, and vitality of creatures at the same rank as themselves, making them difficult to kill.
Zhao Xiaokui’s kick wasn’t weak by any means, as it was able to knock away the vampire. But it wasn’t enough to incapacitate the vampire, as it quickly got back up and charged at her again. Zhao Xiaokui defended herself form her opponents attacks, unable to throw any of her own as she felt the vampire bite and scratch her over and over again. The vampire appeared to be just a rank below her, so the fight should have been on fairly even ground, but Zhao Xiaokui’s body had just adjusted to her rank one soul, so she was unable to operate at optimal efficiency.
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Shen Zhifei sat alone in the dark, listening to the repeated hitting and grunting from the fight. She tried desperately to see what was happening, to figure out how the fight was going, but she was still unable to see through the darkness. However, from the sounds of the fight and Zhao Xiaokui’s increasingly violent breathing, she could make a guess as to the situation. She felt uneasy, helpless, and angry, angry at herself for how useless she was. She didn’t even dare move in fear that she would increase her burden on Zhao Xiaokui. All she could do was sit there and pray like a fool, that Zhao Xiaokui would come out on top.
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Enduring the vampires onslaught, Zhao Xiaokui made her first offense since the kick at the start of the fight. With a grunt, she caught the vampire's wrist in her hand. Smiling at the vampire, she drove her free hand into the vampire's stomach before throwing him onto the ground. She looked down at her opponent, her eyes glowing with a faint golden light, appearing cold, like those of a beast that had just caught its prey.
“It’s my turn,” she said, as she wiped the blood from lip. The vampire was confused as it stood back up. It didn’t quite understand what happened, or how it had been forced to the ground. But as it tried to attack Zhao Xiaokui again, it quickly grew to realize that the situation was no longer in its favor. Zhao Xiaokui’s fighting style had changed. Before she could only passively defend against each of its attacks. But now, it was like she was able to predict each and every move. Every time it reached out to attack, it would be deflected, every time it dodged, her fists would be there to greet it, as if they had been waiting there the entire time.
Forcing an opening in the vampire's defense, Zhao Xiaokui got behind the vampire, and wrapped her hands around his head. With a crack, she twisted off the creature's head in one smooth motion. Materializing a pair of water spikes in the air, she drovenove them through the eyes of the decapitated head, piercing its brain.