#snowfalltl

[ruanbaijie]

During the Republican Era, Shen Zhiheng, a member of the Tianjin gentry who happened to be a vampire, offended the Japanese and became the target of an assassination attempt. He was saved by a blind young lady, Mi Lan, and his best friend Situ Weilian. When he went to repay Mi Lan for saving him, he discovered the terrible family situation that Mi Lan was in, and so began to pay more attention to her. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng’s plan to take revenge on Li Yingliang, the mastermind behind his assassination, fell short of success thanks to Li Yingliang’s Japanese superior, raising suspicions about his identity. Since then, Li Yingliang and the Japanese were in hot pursuit of Shen Zhiheng, determined to dig out the truth about his secret.

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Shen Zhiheng gave Situ Weilian a call, asking how much of the task he had completed. Situ Weilian’s voice was deep with sorrow.

“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely get it done,” he told him listlessly.

“What’s wrong with you?” Shen Zhiheng asked. “Are you sick?”

“No, I’ve fallen out of love,” he sniffed into the phone, as if he was so depressed he was about to cry. “Jingxue is ignoring me.”

The second Shen Zhiheng heard that, he hung up the phone, relieved. Jin Jingxue ignoring him was very normal. Although Shen Zhiheng cared for Situ Weilian, he had to admit that Situ Weilian was not worthy of the second young mistress of the Jin family.

While Situ Weilian was suffering a one-sided falling out of love and was in so much pain he wanted to die, Jin Jingxue knew absolutely nothing about his suffering.

These few days, she had only been busy with running to the hospital. About a week ago, she had found out that Li Yingliang had gotten injured and had been hospitalised, and she had immediately gone to visit him. The moment she entered the room, she had noticed how pale Li Yingliang was. The two corners of his lips were red and swollen, and his two lips had become a red circle.

“What happened to you?” she had walked to the front of the bed, asking directly, “What are your injuries? Are they bad?”

Li Yingliang had looked at her indifferently. “Thank you for your concern, Second Young Mistress. It’s nothing serious.” Then, he had paused, and had asked hesitantly, “Are you here for me? Or to see someone else?”

“Which friend of mine would come to this kind of crappy hospital when they’re sick? Of course I’m here for you.” She had carefully examined him, extending a sharp pointer towards him. “Why has your mouth become bigger?”

Li Yingliang had regained his indifferent expression. “It was held open.”

“Ah? Who held it open?”

“A bad person.”

Jin Jingxue had snickered. “I think you yourself are the bad person.” As soon as she said that, she had straightened her face, sitting down beside the bed.

“Liang-gege, tell me the truth,” she had said softly, “are you the target of an assassination attempt by some anti-Chinese traitor organisation? I told you already, don’t work for and with the Japanese. You’ll get labelled a Chinese traitor, and it’s not a given that you’ll gain any benefits out of it. And, it puts your life in danger.”

Li Yingliang had been particularly cold to her that day. Because his lips truly hurt, he could not put on a fake smile. “Can the Chinese promote me? Can they make me an official?”

“Why must you definitely become an official? Isn’t running a business the same? As long as you have money to spend.” She had held her very exquisite little head high, her freshly permed curls quivering. “Here, I can promise you that if you are willing to resign and return home, I’m willing to spend money and support you. It’s a good thing I’m younger than you, I’ll definitely live longer than you and I can support you until you’re old and see you off when you pass away, caring for you for an entire lifetime.”

Li Yingliang had looked at her, his voice even, “Second Young Mistress, you seem to have a misunderstanding about me.”

“What misunderstanding?”

“I’m a person, not a cat or a dog.”

Jin Jingxue had tilted her head, smiling. “Of course I know! You’re nowhere as cute as a little cat or dog.”

“Besides clothes and a roof, I also need to marry and settle down, and start a family of my own. Do you want to support my family as well?”

Jin Jingxue had sat in deep thought. Li Yingliang’s legs and left forearm had been in terrible pain, but even so, he had still wanted to kick Jin Jingxue out of the room. She always made him angry, and he had really been on the verge of getting annoyed to death by her.

At this moment, Jin Jingxue had spoken, “I can’t support your entire big family, so I’ve decided to forbid you from getting married. Just stay by my side obediently!”

Li Yingliang had smiled slightly, replying internally, “Fuck you!”

Jin Jingxue was convinced that Li Yingliang had been targeted by the anti-Chinese traitor organisations, so she did not dare make it public, only visiting him and bringing nourishing food with her when she did over the course of ten continuous days. On the eleventh day, Li Yingliang ignored the doctor’s attempts at stopping him, forcefully discharging himself from the hospital and sneakily hiding in Li Guisheng’s house to let his wounds recover. Jin Jingxue could not find him, and had no clue where he could be, and could not help but be worried. Naturally, she was not in the mood to entertain Situ Weilian. So, to put it in more detail, both she and Situ Weilian were now injured, they both held melancholy in their hearts.

As for Li Yingliang, although the saying goes “injured bones and tendons take a hundred days to heal”, after resting for a month, he removed the splint on his left forearm, and could already slowly stand up to walk. This time, he had lost a lot of blood and he had been severely injured. He was already an attractive young man [1] , and now he was even whiter. With his skin like ice and his bones like jade, together with the lack of any expression on his face, if anyone saw him at night, it would be quite frightening. This was especially given how he had slept too much the previous month, and now he frequently suffered from insomnia one month later. At night, he could not lie down and keep still, and would often drag his two hurting legs to pace around his room. With a white face, stiff legs, and a left forearm that was plastered close to his body, he would spend a good part of the day walking around the room stiffly. 

To take care of him, Li Guisheng slept in the small cubicle beside his room. When he wanted to cut through the bedroom to leave the house to pee, he bumped into him the second he left the small cubicle. This gave him so much of a fright that his pee started trickling, almost releasing it all over the floor. He even came down with a low fever the next day, very nearly falling ill.

Fortunately, one and a half months later, Li Yingliang could move around freely. He packed up his things and left the Li residence, returning to his own home.

Li Yingliang felt that he had not recovered well from this injury.

He could not exert force using his left forearm, and although the two holes from the chopsticks in his thighs had already closed and healed, the scars they left behind often hurt. It was a pain that he could feel all the way to his bones. However, he did not hate Shen Zhiheng bitterly because of this; before bearing hate, he had more important things to do.

He held a few meetings with Yokoyama Akira, particularly to discuss Shen Zhiheng. Until now, he still dared to pat his chest and affirm that Li Guisheng had indeed killed Shen Zhiheng that night.

Yokoyama Akira thought for a long while, and finally said, “Your man killed Shen Zhiheng, and that night, Shen Zhiheng’s body disappeared. One month later, Shen Zhiheng reappeared looking normal. He was not a body double, and he treated you amicably and agreed to your invitation.”

“Sir, at that time, he did not look extremely normal, more like he had just recovered from a serious illness. But the next day, when he attended the dinner, he looked much better.”

Yokoyama Akira nodded, “Your man said that the night when they killed Shen Zhiheng, it had been incredibly difficult to kill him. Even when he had been shot in the head, he did not die, and had even retaliated and killed two people. So, your man had used a machine gun to shower him with bullets, and had even driven over him.”

“Yes, he had been completely crushed.”

“And when Shen Zhiheng attacked you, his skill was also… beyond what you could imagine? Is that the phrase?”

“Yes, that’s the phrase. Beyond what I could imagine. He grabbed my gun so quickly I could not see it clearly.”

Yokoyama Akira frowned. “How strange! Could it be that he’s a great master?”

“But Sir, looking at his actions and behaviour, does he seem like a great master?”

“No.”

Li Yingliang agreed.

Yokoyama Akira pondered, “If he doesn’t seem like a great master, then what does he seem like?”

Li Yingliang licked his lips, finding it difficult to say it out loud, “I feel that he… there’s something evil about him, like… a demon or a monster.”

 Yokoyama Akira blinked, looking at Li Yingliang. Li Yingliang was well aware that what he had just said did not make any sense, and felt uneasy. However, after blinking, Yokoyama Akira said, “If he’s really a demon or a monster,  then he’s even more valuable.”

Li Yingliang decided to change his tactics against the demon or monster Shen Zhiheng.

He wanted to meet Shen Zhiheng, but Shen Zhiheng was usually active in the concession zone, and the Japanese influence did not allow Li Yingliang to throw his weight around in the English and French concession zones. So, if Shen Zhiheng did not want to see him, there was no way for him to bring his subordinates to go up to his door.

However, Li Yingliang had both courage and smarts. He decided with resolve that he had to find Shen Zhiheng. Even if Shen Zhiheng morphed into a ground beetle [2] and crawled into the cracks in a wall, he would break off a tree branch and poke him out.

Previously, Li Yingliang never particularly paid much attention to Shen Zhiheng, until when he had decided to kill him and had asked Li Guisheng to follow him. Now, he started to research this person in earnest, and discovered that there were indeed many mysterious things about him.

Firstly, he had no wife. Even if he had no wife, that was not a big deal. But he did not go to the brothels, and neither did he like any dancing showgirls. He did not even have a servant girl staying at his house. In a nutshell, he was completely not interested in women. The only person who went to his house frequently was a little doctor called Situ Weilian. For a time, Li Yingliang had a suspicion that Shen Zhiheng preferred men instead, but upon further snooping, he discovered that there was no intimate relationship between him and Situ Weilian. Besides, Situ Weilian was currently openly pursuing Jin Jingxue; his taste was quite bad.

Secondly, he did not have any servants or attendants who stayed close to him. He kept a distance from everyone around him, apart from that Situ Weilian.

Thirdly, which was something someone had told him as a joke, was that Shen Zhiheng had quite a frightening hobby: he loved watering his flowers with human blood. He obtained his blood legally through Situ Weilian, buying it from Keats Hospital.  

After hearing these three pieces of information, not only did Li Yingliang not smile, his heart even contracted in terror.

Besides these three pieces of information, everything about Shen Zhiheng was meritorious. For example, although he was wealthy, he was not proud at all. He always treated people affably, was both cultured and polite, and even enthusiastic about charity, often doing good deeds. He also treated his friends well; when General Mi’s daughter fell ill and had to stay in the hospital, there was no one available to take care of her, and he had gone to visit her daily, and Mrs. Mi was immensely grateful towards him.

Li Yingliang had forgotten about General Mi recently. It was only after hearing this that he remembered him. Thinking about General Mi, he then thought of Young Mistress Mi; he had seen Young Mistress Mi before! That night, he had happened to do a good deed, he had fetched Young Mistress Mi home from the street–

Li Yingliang suddenly felt that something was off: first, Shen Zhiheng’s corpse disappeared on the first night, and on the second night, not far from where Shen Zhiheng had been attacked, he had met Young Mistress Mi who was alone. And now, Shen Zhiheng, who distanced himself from women and who did not seem to be close friends with General Mi, visited Young Mistress Mi everyday. Why? Young Mistress Mi was still a child, Shen Zhiheng could not have fallen in love with her.

If it was not love, could it be that he owed her?

Li Yingliang was a man of action. After thinking so much that his brain was in a mess, he decided to personally visit Shen Zhiheng. Yes, he had killed Shen Zhiheng once, but Shen Zhiheng had also killed him once, so following this line of thought, he felt that they were now even. That afternoon, he headed to Victoria Hospital, intending to catch hold of Shen Zhiheng.

That noon, the bright and sunny day suddenly became dark, and by afternoon, it was snowing heavily. It was terrible weather that could cause a person to freeze to death. Li Yingliang alighted from the car and raised his head. The skies were steel grey and the snow blew in the wind, hitting people square in the face. Fortunately, he was dressed in the most premium woollen coat from England, and it was of thick material. Wrapped around his neck was also a smooth mink fur collar, which helped block the snow and wind. Adjusting the brim of his top hat, his ears were a little frozen, but he did not complain. After all, this hat was enough to feed a normal family for half a year.

Without any warning, he was hit with an emotional lament: dressed in his thick woollen coat, he thought back to the cold and hungry days of his past. Now, he had been reborn as a human being, and even if he had to risk his life for the rest of his days, he had to hold on to the woollen coat and expensive top hat that he now wore.

Collecting his thoughts, he raised his head and looked at the entrance of the hospital. Before the hospital doors was a flight of high stone steps. He was sure that Shen Zhiheng was now in the hospital. Should he then go straight into the hospital to find him, or should he stand here and wait?

In any case, the one surnamed Shen could not escape from him today.

Right at that moment, he suddenly noticed someone standing on the stairs.

It was a girl, dressed in deep grey Western clothes, with a silver grey cloak wrapped around her. She was dressed completely in grey, and seemed to nearly become one with the grey stone steps. A pale white face faced outwards, and her eyelids were slightly lowered, filled with lofty indifference. Her cloak was a little askew, revealing a good part of her right forearm. She wore a small sheepskin glove on her right hand, which was grasping a thin black cane.

Li Yingliang’s first thought was that this girl looked very familiar. Then, he remembered – Young Mistress Mi!

Today’s Young Mistress Me looked much more presentable than the Young Mistress Mi he had seen that night. She was standing there, dressed neatly, could it be that she had fully recovered and was about to leave the hospital?

Li Yingliang thought, “Young Mistress Mi.”

These three words seemed as if they held a cryptic, hiding meaning, but he had yet to decipher what exactly it was. Walking towards the steps, he said merrily from a distance, “Young Mistress Mi? Is that Young Mistress Mi?”

Mi Lan raised her eyelids, turning to face his direction. That turn was extremely nimble, completely unlike a blind person. Li Yingliang continued to greet merrily, “When I saw you from a distance, I thought that it looked like you, but I didn’t dare to recognise you yet. It turns out that my eyesight is quite good, it really is the young mistress. Young Mistress, you must have definitely forgotten me already? I am–”

Mi Lan suddenly said, “Li-shushu?”

Li Yingliang was startled. “How did you know?”

Mi Lan remembered how he had extended a helping hand to her that night, and smiled at him, “I remember your voice.”

Li Yingliang was very surprised, and felt a little touched at the same time. He did not expect that he had left such a deep impression on her. “Why are you standing here alone? Are you ill?”

Mi Lan nodded. “I’m already better. I’m leaving the hospital today.”

 Li Yingliang went “oh”, and was just about to inquire more, when the doors of the hospital opened and a person walked out. That person was dressed sharply in a suit. He carried a small leather suitcase in each of his hands, and two bills hung from between his lips. He had used his shoulder to knock the doors open, and then squeezed his body out sideways.

Li Yingliang raised his head to look and was about to say something when Mi Lan turned her head and spoke first, “Mr. Shen, are the formalities completed?”

Shen Zhiheng could not open his mouth to speak, so he eyed Li Yingliang and went “mm”, going down the stairs.

Mi Lan nodded at Li Yingliang. “Li-shushu, thank you for bringing me home previously. I’m going now, farewell.”

Then, she stuck out her walking cane, leaving without any hesitation, her actions even faster than a normal person’s. While Li Yingliang was afraid that she would roll down from the stairs, he was also busy with looking at Shen Zhiheng. Shen Zhiheng stopped at a high point, lowering his head to look down at him. After looking for a moment, he suddenly extended his arms to him and passed him the suitcases.

Without knowing why, he received the suitcases in confusion. With his hands freed up, Shen Zhiheng stuffed the bills hanging from between his lips into his coat pocket, and then snatched the suitcases back from him.

Watching him going without saying a single word, Li Yingliang hurriedly said, “Mr. Shen, what a coincidence. We meet again.”

Shen Zhiheng asked him quite amicably, “Aren’t you afraid to see me?”

“Haha, Mr. Shen is joking. Of course I’m not afraid.”

“Then why are you trembling?”

“I’m cold.”

“Please take care of yourself, Chairman Li. I have other businesses to attend to and will take my leave first.”

He and Mi Lan walked towards the car. Seeing that matters were developing unfavourably, Li Yingliang chased after them, “Wait! Last time, I almost died at your hands. This time, I still dare to come to see you alone. This shows that I don’t mean any harm to you at all!”

Shen Zhiheng stopped in his steps, turning his head and smiling at him. “But I do.”

He continued walking forward, helping Mi Lan and her two suitcases into the car. Then, he closed the car door, turned around, and walked to Li Yingliang.

“From the start, we were supposed to stay out of each other’s way. From now on, we can continue staying out of each other’s way. But you’d better stop making trouble for me, or else–” He moved to his ear, lowering his voice, “I will eat you.” 

Then, he could not help but inhale deeply, the scent of flesh filling his nostrils entirely. He realised that he was growing increasingly tempted by live people. This was not a good sign.

Li Yingliang stumbled a step back, “What do you mean? What do you want to do?”

Shen Zhiheng patted his shoulder. “Whatever you can think of, I’m capable of doing it.”

Turning around, he opened the car door and got into the car. Li Yingliang stared hard at the back of his car, until it disappeared in the wind and snow.

Sitting in the car, Mi Lan asked Shen Zhiheng, “Do you and Li-shushu have a grudge against each other?”

Shen Zhiheng held the steering wheel, trying to recognise the roads in the middle of the wind and snow. “Li-shushu? When did you get to know him?”

Mi Lan told him the truth, and Shen Zhiheng listened without making any comments. He only said, “We do have a grudge against each other. That night, the person who killed me was him.”

He thought that as a young lady, her reaction would be to advise him to have compassion and not keep seeking revenge against Li Yingliang. However, Mi Lan did not say anything. It appeared that to her, this topic had come to a conclusion.

Shen Zhiheng sent Mi Lan back to the Mi mansion.

When Mi Lan was about to die, Mrs. Mi kept screaming “Lan” and crying her eyes out, as if Lan was her precious darling. When Mi Lan gradually got better, that one remaining fleck of motherly love of Mrs. Mi’s became jealousy, because Shen Zhiheng went to visit Mi Lan everyday. This blind wretch that just could not die had actually gained the love and care of a man.

If the man who cared for her was a worthless poor young man, the most Mrs. Mi would have done was to ridicule her at home. However, that man was Shen Zhiheng. She had been beautiful during her youth, but now she was reduced to a grass widow. What right did the blind wretch have to get to meet a golden bachelor everyday? Where was the justice? The blind wretch was blind, but was Shen Zhiheng blind too?

Mrs. Mi was full of hate, but she did not know whom to hate. With a straight face, she grudgingly thanked Shen Zhiheng. Shen Zhiheng did not stay for long, leaving after he saw Mi Lan and her suitcases into the house. Seeing him go off like that, Mrs. Mi thought that he had seen her black face and had left in anger, and both anger and satisfaction filled her heart as she thought that she had ruined her daughter’s marriage fate. Turning around to look at Mi Lan, she realised that after falling sick and staying in the hospital for two months, she had actually become fatter, and she immediately sneered.

Mi Lan ignored her.

Mi Lan had originally always ignored her, and now that she had a powerful friend like Shen Zhiheng, she was even lazier to entertain her.

At noon the next day, a girl came to the Mi mansion.

The girl lived in a Western-style house at the corner of the street, and her father was the manager in a foreign company. She studied in a missionary school and always went to and from school everyday by herself. Everyone on the street knew her. She hesitantly knocked on the Mi family’s door, saying that they had formed a choir class, and that they wanted to organise a performance during Christmas and the New Year, but were lacking in people. As Mi Lan was close in age to them, she had come to ask Mi Lan if she was willing to join their group and practise singing with them every afternoon in the chapel.

As Mrs. Mi had yet to wake up, Mi Lan decided for herself, agreeing in a heartbeat. When Mrs. Mi woke up and heard that her daughter was going to sing songs with a group of female students, she laughed out loud, telling her daughter to “not make a fool of herself”.

Mi Lan lowered her head and said, “I have already promised her… I’ll go and try. If I can’t sing, I’ll come back.”

Mrs. Mi continued laughing raucously, as if she wanted to laugh out poison and spit it onto her daughter. Mi Lan ignored her, and when the afternoon came, she felt her way out of the door to wait for that girl, and really followed that girl and left.

That girl was Situ Zhenni’s classmate, and Situ Zhenni had been entrusted by Situ Weilian. Situ Weilian had fulfilled his task, making such a big round to create an opportunity for Mi Lan to leave the house everyday, allowing her to live peacefully in the church for a good part of the day.

The first day that Mi Lan went, she did not say anything after coming home. On the afternoon of the second day, she got ready much earlier than needed, and before she left, she heard her mother laugh, “This child is really so shameless. They’re taking pity on you because you’re blind and just casually invited you, but you’re still taking it so seriously, going day after day like it’s endless. The girls in that choir class are all neat and proper, but look at you, looking so terrible but still forcing your way in. They can’t kick you out openly, but they must be laughing at you in their hearts, and even laughing at me together with you as well.”

Hearing her mother say this, Mi Lan gritted her teeth. First, she stood ramrod straight without moving an inch, and waited until Mrs. Mi became bored out of her wits and shut her mouth. Then, she suddenly extended her hand and pushed the door open, striding out.

She trotted down the steps, and as she was not wearing a hat, her long hair and the corners of her coat floated out behind her in the wind. The old maid wanted to chase after her with her hat, but when she stepped out of the door, she saw that Mi Lan had already left the gates and was standing on the road. Her walking cane was clamped under her armpit and the snowflakes drifted directly into her widened, unblinking eyes.

The old maid did not want to get snowed on, and so she retreated back into the house. 

Mi Lan did not know why she was so furious this time. Tripping over a stone, she whipped out her walking cane and turned around, yelling as she struck it.

A sharp pain coursed through her hand [3] as the tip of the walking cane struck the stone. Grasping her walking cane, she stood still, her frail chest moving up and down as she breathed heavily in the cold wind. Suddenly, she turned her face, hearing the sound of a car in the distance.

The car approached rapidly and braked to a halt before her. The door opened, and a familiar voice rang out, “Young Mistress Mi?”

She replied in her heart, “Li-shushu.”

Li Yingliang had realised that his approach to Shen Zhiheng was akin to biting off more than he could chew, and so he had changed his strategy again, and started to pester the people around him. The previous afternoon, he had gotten to know that Mi Lan would regularly go to sing at a choir class. He had personally come over today, lying in ambush near the Mi mansion, as he wanted to have a chance encounter with her. Little did he know that Mi Lan was unlike herself today. He had always thought that she was a poor little thing, and had never expected that she could also throw a temper tantrum.

Seeing her lose her temper, Li Yingliang got confused instead. “Did your mother beat you again?”

Mi Lan shook her head.

Li Yingliang sneezed in the cold wind, and then making up his mind, he dragged Mi Lan into the car.

After living for twenty-eight years, this was Li Yingliang’s first time inviting a person of the opposite sex to sit with him in a café.

He ordered a glass of juice for himself, and a plate of biscuits, a plate of sweets, and a mug of hot chocolate for Mi Lan. Mi Lan’s style and the impression that she gave others were a little similar to those of Shen Zhiheng. Her body fit the standard of a clothes rack; it was designed to display a full body of trim Western attire. It was very easy for someone dressed in grey woollen Western clothes from head to toe to resemble a grey mouse, but she looked nothing like it, thanks to her upright posture, her sharp and narrow shoulders, and her thin and defined waist. Facing Li Yingliang, she first smoothened her messy hair, then took out a handkerchief to aggressively wipe the snow and water from her face.

She busied herself, and Li Yingliang waited until she was done, before opening his mouth probingly, “Still angry?”

Mi Lan shook her head. “Not anymore.”

Li Yingliang pushed the mug of hot chocolate to her hand. “Drink something hot first. Where are you going? I’ll fetch you there later.”

“I’m going to the chapel.”

People in the area all knew where the chapel was, and so did Li Yingliang. “Oh, that’s very close by. Just one step of the gas and we’ll be there.” 

Although Mi Lan knew that Li Yingliang was Shen Zhiheng’s enemy, she did not harbour any hate towards him personally. Li Yingliang’s murder of Shen Zhiheng had happened before she had saved him. The things that had happened before had nothing to do with her, because before, she had not gotten to know Shen Zhiheng yet. “Knowing” was a watershed, in that before it, Shen Zhiheng was a stranger, and his life or death had nothing to do with her. The Shen Zhiheng after the watershed was different; he had become a personal god who could make her smile when she simply thought of him.

“Did Li-shushu come to me for something?” she asked.

“I was passing by your house, and happened to run into you.”

Mi Lan remembered that the car had sped towards her from the middle of the road. It had not just passed by; it had been waiting there all along. Not long after she had walked out of the gates of her house, it had suddenly moved.

But she was too lazy to expose Li Yingliang’s lie, and so she continued to ask, “Does this have to do with Mr. Shen?”

Li Yingliang realised that this little girl was a little strange; it was as if there was nothing she did not know. It was no wonder that quite a few blind people were fortune tellers, he thought. Perhaps they really knew some secrets of heaven, and so had received divine punishment.

“You’re very clever,” he praised sincerely. “Then let me be honest. The day before yesterday, at the hospital entrance, Young Mistress Mi might have already heard it. There is a big misunderstanding between me and Mr. Shen. Now, I want to reconcile with him, but he’s not giving me any chance at all. So, I wonder if Young Mistress Mi can mediate and help me pass him a message. Of course, I won’t let you do it for nothing. Whether I succeed or not, I will repay you heavily in thanks.”

Mi Lan replied, “Sure.”

Li Yingliang paused, thinking he had heard wrongly. “You’re agreeing just like that?”

Mi Lan nodded. She wrapped her mug in her hands and started to drink the hot chocolate. Li Yingliang was still in disbelief. He smiled, speaking in a tone that sounded as if he were teasing a young child, “Then you must not lie to me!”

Mi Lan raised her head. “I’m not lying to you. But I must ask you a question now, and you cannot lie to me either.”

“Go ahead.”

“Am I ugly?”

The answer hung on Li Yingliang’s lips, but before he answered, he specifically took a long, careful look at her. As she was so serious, he wanted to answer her seriously as well.

“You’re not ugly, you’re very good-looking. Your eyebrows particularly look like my little sister’s. When I was young, I thought that my sister was a beauty, and that when she grew up, she would definitely be able to marry into a wealthy family to live a life of luxury, and no longer have to suffer and starve.”

“Then is she now married into a wealthy family?”

A sharp edge suddenly flashed through Li Yingliang’s eyes. “She died a long time ago.”

His cute and pitiful little sister, the one he was dependent on and her on him, had died a long time ago, while stupid and noisy Second Young Mistress Jin was still alive and full of vitality. So, he hated Jin Jingxue. If Mi Lan were also a pampered, healthy, and lively young mistress, he would also have hated her. He also knew that he was a vile person himself; he already had so much wealth and influence, he owned Western suits and sat in cars, and yet he was still so vile.

As for today’s meeting, since they both received sincere answers, both Li Yingliang and Mi Lan were quite satisfied.

Following that, Li Yingliang fetched Mi Lan to the chapel. Mi Lan sang for a whole afternoon, and then asked Situ Zhenni to pass a message to Situ Weilian, that she wanted to meet Shen Zhiheng.

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The word used here is 小白脸子 (xiǎo bái liǎn zi), which literally means “little white/ pale face”. It figuratively refers to young, pretty men.

土鳖 (tǔ biē) is a kind of ground beetle, but the word is also used to scold people, similar to “hillbilly”.

More specifically, the area of the hand between the thumb and second finger. This is called 虎口 (hǔ kǒu), literally “tiger’s mouth”.

[ruanbaijie]

During the Republican Era, Shen Zhiheng, a member of the Tianjin gentry who happened to be a vampire, offended the Japanese and became the target of an assassination attempt. He was saved by a blind young lady, Mi Lan, and his best friend Situ Weilian. When he went to repay Mi Lan for saving him, he discovered the terrible family situation that Mi Lan was in, and so began to pay more attention to her. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng’s plan to take revenge on Li Yingliang, the mastermind behind his assassination, fell short of success thanks to Li Yingliang’s Japanese superior, raising suspicions about his identity. Since then, Li Yingliang and the Japanese were in hot pursuit of Shen Zhiheng, determined to dig out the truth about his secret.

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At midnight, Shen Zhiheng took action.

The square dog hole at the bottom of the door, through which food had been given to him, was not big enough for him to pass through. So he stood before the bars, each hand grabbing one, and decided to use the most stupid method to escape from the jail.

Gathering his strength, he gritted his teeth, his veins slowly protruding on the backs of his hands and his finger joints gradually turning white. The two bars beside each other were slowly bent out of shape, leaving between them a gap that allowed him to extend his head through.

Then, he really passed his head through the gap.

After passing his head through, he could squeeze his shoulders and chest through. Sucking in his breath, he tightened his core, squeezed his buttocks, and stepped through, leaving the prison cell without a single sound. At the same time, the two Japanese soldiers at one end of the corridor still had their eyes half-closed, dozing off and in a daze.

Shen Zhiheng looked left and right, then walked towards those two soldiers. When one of them first saw him, he saw him but did not dare to believe his eyes, and so he extended his hand to push his fellow soldier. And when the second soldier looked at him, he was already right in front of them.

Understanding finally dawning upon them, the two soldiers desperately raised their rifles, yelling at him in Japanese to stop.

As they yelled, Shen Zhiheng continued busying himself with his own affairs. He pulled the barrel of the rifle that was nearer to him towards himself, with a strength and speed that far exceeded that of a normal human’s. The soldier only felt his hand slipping, and his rifle had already been snatched away by Shen Zhiheng. Shen Zhiheng then whirled the rifle and brought it smashing down, first knocking a dull thud on the crown of that soldier’s head. At once, he swept the rifle out, knocking the other soldier directly at his temple. The two soldiers fell into a heap without a sound of protest. Not a single drop of blood had been spilled, but their heads had both become out of shape.

Although there was no blood, temptation still gripped him. He knew that their bodies stored warm, fresh, and sweet blood. All it took was for his sharp teeth to gently pierce their skin, and that fresh blood would flood into his mouth, moisturising his stomach and spreading into his limbs and bones, letting him lose himself in extreme pleasure.

Saliva trickled out from the corners of his mouth. For a fleeting moment, it felt as if he was having an out-of-body experience. His soul that had left his body was trying its very best to force his physical body to pull away from those two corpses. With his back to them, he took a few steps forward. When the corpses were out of sight and out of mind, he regained a little of his sanity. Turning off the safety of the rifle, he loaded it with bullets, and walked towards the other end of the corridor.

That was the direction in which Li Yingliang and the other people had left. This end definitely led to the exit.

With the rifle in one hand, he used his other to forcefully wipe the saliva at the corners of his mouth. He had to leave this place immediately. This drooling version of him was too undignified, too inhuman. He knew how easy it was for him to degenerate into a bloodthirsty beast, and it was precisely because he knew, that he began to panic. Taking wide steps, he walked to the end of the corridor, raising the rifle as he turned the corner and firing at the Japanese soldiers who were standing guard against the wall.

 A soldier fell in response, and he immediately changed the direction of the rifle, continuing to fire. Of the remaining three soldiers, two of them fell, and the only remaining one was alive but injured. As he screamed loudly for help, he fired at him. Turning sideways to avoid two gunshots, Shen Zhiheng then used his last bullet to put an end to him.

Under the lights, ahead of him lay a few cement steps. Tossing the empty rifle aside, Shen Zhiheng picked up a new rifle from the corpse’s embrace. The new rifle was fully filled with bullets and was fixed with a bayonet. The barrel, stained with fresh blood, was sticky. With the rifle in hand, he rushed up the stairs. The stairs spiralled upwards, and the higher he went, the colder the air was, proving that he was on the right path. However, the cold air was no longer capable of lowering his temperature. His heart beat fiercely while his lungs twisted, and his stomach felt as if it was about to be dissolved by stomach acid. In the end, the smell of blood still stimulated him; he could no longer delay, he had to escape at once.

Suddenly, he stopped.

A cacophony of footsteps and voices echoed down from above, and approaching together with these sounds was the cool night wind. The doors to the dungeon had been opened, and a large group of people were rushing down!

Shen Zhiheng blinked his eyes forcefully, wobbling as he turned around and leaned against the wall. With the last remaining shred of his rational mind, and with the little bit of experience he had gained after surviving for so many years, he removed the bayonet and held it in his hand, then bent down and gently placed the rifle on the floor, stepping out of his leather shoes.

Silently, he rushed upwards, and after flying through two floors of the spiral staircase, he ran head-on into the Japanese soldiers who were running down in their lines. The Japanese soldier in the front could only exclaim in surprise when he saw him, before his neck was slit by Shen Zhiheng.

Chaos immediately broke out on the narrow and dark spiral staircase.

Shen Zhiheng had to kill his way out as quickly as possible, but the Japanese soldiers who were swarming down were no pushovers. In a close combat fight, the soldiers’ rifles were completely useless. There was one whose movements were fast, who had quickly removed his bayonet and discarded his rifle, prepared for hand-to-hand combat. However, his fellow soldiers’ bodies fell over and blocked his way. He pushed the corpses away and was about to swing his bayonet, but Shen Zhiheng had already brushed past him, and without losing momentum, had plunged the bayonet through his neck with a single strike.

Then, he let go, leaving the now blunt old bayonet with him, and taking over the new bayonet the soldier had just dropped.

Yokoyama Akira and Li Yingliang stood outside the dungeon.

Yokoyama Akira had let Shen Zhiheng “think carefully” tonight, but he himself had not left for home to retire to bed. When the sounds of gunshots had started echoing faintly from the dungeon, he had happened to be having a small meeting with Li Yingliang.

 Li Yingliang was always wary of Shen Zhiheng breaking out from jail, and had instructed soldiers to stand guard on duty outside the prison ahead of time. As soon as there had been abnormal activity from the inside of the dungeon, he had immediately rushed over with Yokoyama Akira. The doors to the prison had opened, and heavily loaded soldiers had immediately rushed down.

At this moment, he and Yokoyama Akira stood shoulder to shoulder. He was grasping his knuckles in nervousness, while Yokoyama Akira was frowning slightly. If the squad that had just gone down was not Shen Zhiheng’s match, the consequences would naturally be scary. But if that squad managed to subdue Shen Zhiheng and put him back into his cell, it would also be disappointing. In contrast to Li Yingliang’s line of thought, Yokoyama Akira thought that it would be best if Shen Zhiheng were some strange person with extraordinary powers, it would be okay if he were even not human. Otherwise, the Yokoyama mansion had captured him with such fanfare, it would be like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut; and it would be the butt of others’ jokes.

Both filled with their own thoughts, the two of them stared at the main doors of the dungeon. They did not have to stare for long, for screams quickly echoed from inside the dungeon.

Those screams echoed one after another, terrifying and blood-curdling, as if they originated from hell. The smell of blood was like a warm and heavy cloud, floating out from the dark hole behind the doors.

Yokoyama Akira’s face was drained of all colour, while Li Yingliang clutched his arm, “There’s something wrong, Sir. Is he about to kill his way out?”

Yokoyama Akira let him clutch him, slowly raising a hand.

The machine gun troops that had been on standby at the rear jogged forward, installing a light machine gun and aiming it at the doors of the dungeon. At the same time, a bloodied human figure emerged from the doors. The figure’s face could not be seen clearly, and pearls of blood trickled down from the tips of his hair and dripped onto the ground. He dragged his two legs and walked out, leaving behind bloody footprints with each step he took.

  Li Yingliang suddenly tightened his grip around Yokoyama Akira’s arm, all but screaming, “Shen Zhiheng!”

Yokoyama Akira waved, and the two machine guns spat out tongues of fire at the same time, the impact of the gunshots causing Shen Zhiheng to be thrown backwards, rolling down the stairs.

The walls of the Yokoyama mansion were extremely hard, and wounds caused by ricochets were no small matter. So when Shen Zhiheng disappeared, the light machine guns stopped firing immediately. Yokoyama Akira turned his head and shot Li Yingliang a glance. Li Yingliang’s eyes were wide as he still clutched at him. So, as if he was comforting him, he patted the back of his hands.

“Alright, it’s fine now.”

This was the first time that Yokoyama Akira was a hundred percent satisfied with Li Yingliang. Li Yingliang had not been spouting nonsense, and the Yokoyama mansion would not be humiliated; they had really caught a… a…

Yokoyama Akira did not know how to describe Shen Zhiheng. Even if Shen Zhiheng was really just a human, then he was a superhuman among humans, and he, Yokoyama Akira, had not mobilised his troops in vain. Calling Kuroki Rika who was on night shift for the night over, he put her in charge of standing on guard, while he himself gathered a squad of soldiers to personally follow him down into the dungeon. Kuroki Rika wanted to say something but held her tongue, as if she wanted to stop him, but ultimately did not speak a word. Li Yingliang hurriedly followed after Yokoyama Akira; he had put in so much painstaking effort for Shen Zhiheng, and now that it was finally the moment for the truth to be revealed, he was willing to take risks, rather than be absent.

  However, the second he stepped through the doors of the dungeon, Li Yingliang started to regret.

The air was hot and humid while the ground was wet and slippery. The stairs were also spiralling and narrow, and they could not simply go down the stairs in the dark. Yokoyama Akira got the soldiers to turn on their torchlights, and when the beams of light moved across the walls and the stairs, the scene could be described by seven words: corpses strewn everywhere, blood flowing like rivers.

His face unchanged, Yokoyama Akira kicked away the corpses that were blocking the path one by one. The corpses either had their throats cut out or their heads smashed. There was grey and white brain matter splashed across the wall on one side of the staircase, mixing together with fresh blood as it slowly flowed downwards.

There was no Shen Zhiheng on the stairs, and when they went down the stairs and entered the corridor, Yokoyama Akira still did not find Shen Zhiheng.

The dungeon was a secret prison constructed by the Yokoyama mansion. It was not large in scale and was simple in its layout. After going down the stairs and walking straight along the corridor, one could walk all the way to the end after turning the corner. There were no forked paths. Holding his gun in one hand, Yokoyama Akira became increasingly careful with each step he took. This dungeon had never lacked blood and fire and dead souls, but even so, tonight was the most frightening it had ever been.

And, it was too quiet.

As he followed after Yokoyama Akira, Li Yingliang silently counted the number of corpses they passed along the way. Besides the corpses on the stairs, he saw four corpses in the first part of the corridor, and after turning the corner, another corpse lay at the end of the corridor. As he walked, he and Yokoyama Akira suddenly stopped, because they noticed that beside them was the prison cell that had once held Shen Zhiheng.

Yokoyama Akira shook the misshapen bars, exchanging a glance with Li Yingliang. Li Yingliang’s face was ashen and his eyes were red, as if he was too excited, but also too terrified.

Yokoyama Akira did not say a word, knowing that at this moment, his feelings were just like those of Li Yingliang: also too excited, and also too terrified.

Instructing two soldiers to clear the path with their guns in their hands, he brought the squad through this part of the corridor, and turned the corner again.

Then, he saw Shen Zhiheng.

Shen Zhiheng, the bloodied human shape they had previously seen, was hugging a corpse as he knelt on the floor. His body was bent deep over it, with his head buried at the side of its neck, as he was sucking huge gulps one after another.

Yokoyama Akira and Li Yingliang, as well as the soldiers, all held their breaths in unison.

The dungeon was silent to an extreme, allowing Shen Zhiheng’s desperate swallowing to be heard with incomparable clarity, shocking them thoroughly. And with each passing moment that he did not lift his head, the people opposite him did not dare to move.

After a long moment of sucking and heavy drinking, Shen Zhiheng slowly raised his head.

With Yokoyama Akira in the lead, the audience standing on this side exhaled a breath of cold air together. Then, just as they had prepared themselves for battle, Shen Zhiheng remained in that posture with his head lifted as he knelt, unmoving once again.

A lamp hung directly above him, shrouding him in its dim yellow light. His short hair was messy and bloody, and while the upper half of his face was speckled with droplets of blood, the bottom half of his face was completely crimson. His lips were slightly parted as he breathed, and his eyes were half open and half closed, his double eyelids leaving marks that stood out clearly against the blood. His eyelashes, soaked in blood, hung heavily.

Slowly relaxing his arms, the corpse rolled down his thigh and onto the ground. Everyone could see that at this moment, he was not in a clear state of mind.

Li Yingliang whispered, “Sir, now. Catch him now.”

Yokoyama Akira aimed his gun at Shen Zhiheng, taking the lead as he walked towards him. But before they could walk closer to him, Shen Zhiheng’s eyes suddenly moved.

He looked at Yokoyama Akira, and then at Li Yingliang. Then, he stood up, swaying.

Previously, when he was kneeling, no one could see that there was something abnormal about him. But now when he stood up, everyone realised that there was a bayonet stuck in his abdomen. That bayonet was all but skewered completely through him, but he seemed to neither know nor feel it.

Whatever Li Yingliang had previously suspected was now proven to be true. Consumed by immense fear, he stammered, “Sir, he can’t die… I didn’t lie, see, he really can’t die…”

Yokoyama Akira fired.

The bullet shot through Shen Zhiheng’s chest, causing him to jerk violently backwards. After that jerk, he stood firmly. He looked at Yokoyama Akira, and as if he had just awoken from a dream, he opened his eyes wide.

A cold chill swept through Li Yingliang, and acting on his gut, he violently ran towards Yokoyama Akira, hugging him and rolling to the side. Fresh blood splashed onto his face; Shen Zhiheng had rushed over in a split second, catching the soldier behind Yokoyama Akira. The surrounding people became mad with fear, brandishing their guns and frantically smashing the butt of their guns down onto Shen Zhiheng. In the meantime, the neck of the soldier in Shen Zhiheng’s hands was twisted, the artery in his neck had already been bitten open, his fresh blood spurting directly onto the ceiling.

Bracing himself against the wall for support, Yokoyama Akira climbed up, but as soon as he did, he bent his waist down, trying to find his pistol as if he had gone insane. Fortunately, at this moment, Kuroki Rika arrived.

Kuroki Rika had earlier thought that Yokoyama Akira’s actions were somewhat rash, and so she had taken the liberty to rush over to help. And the method she had come up with was quite clever; using a method to catch dangerous animals, she gave the order to spread a large steel net open, trapping Shen Zhiheng and the soldier in his embrace under it.

 This time, Shen Zhiheng lost himself for a very long time.

It was an extremely wonderful vertigo, where he was drowsy with no worries, where he was calm from the bottom of his heart and his limbs and body were relaxed. Enveloped by the fresh blood which had yet to cool down, it felt like he was floating in a warm, dark world.

From human to monster, after this long journey of twists and turns that spanned more than a hundred years, it was the first time that he felt satiated - completely satiated.

Like a premature baby that had returned into its mother’s body, he curled up on his side, and filled with satisfaction and bliss, descended into a deep slumber.

Li Yingliang, Yokoyama Akira, Kuroki Rika, and all the soldiers who were still alive, stood surrounding Shen Zhiheng, not making a single sound for a very long time.

This time, the opponent they faced was neither someone who was unrepentant nor someone who looked death calmly in the face, and so their cold violence automatically dissipated. They even felt like taking a step back, and then another, until they could retreat behind the brilliance of their ancestral spirits. Below the steel net, Shen Zhiheng actually slept quietly, and the corpse of the soldier that he hugged in his embrace also had its eyes closed, the two of them lovingly asleep in the middle of a bloodbath.

In the end, Li Yingliang was the one who spoke first, “Sir, since he hasn’t woken up yet, should we, as early as possible, … take care of him?”

Yokoyama Akira told Kuroki Rika, “Get the military doctor.”

The Yokoyama mansion was well-organised and well-staffed, and could function independently on its own.

Before the military doctor arrived, the soldiers armed themselves fully, and taking a great risk, removed the steel net. They gently pulled the corpse of their fellow soldier out from Shen Zhiheng’s embrace, and then locked stainless steel handcuffs around Shen Zhiheng’s hands and feet.

Shen Zhiheng had a change of prison cells. The new cell was a water dungeon that had never been used before. Looking down, it was a square, dry pool, with the bottom and the four walls smoothened out with cement, while the top was covered with a welded steel grille. The grille was sturdy, and seemed to be fused into the cement on all four sides, with only one corner that opened up into a window with a lock. 

The water dungeon was quite deep; even if the person in it were to raise their hands and jump upwards, they would definitely not be able to touch the grille. The holes of the grille were not large either, and the guards could safely walk above it.

Entering and exiting through the window was not easy. The soldiers first brought a small wooden bed down, and then placed Shen Zhiheng on it. After carefully completing these two tasks, the soldiers climbed up the ladder and out of the cell, and two military doctors descended into the cell after them.

The military doctors injected Shen Zhiheng with twice the normal amount of sedatives.

After observing for a moment and confirming that the sedatives were really effective, they then split the work between themselves, using scissors to cut open his bloodied clothes, pulling out the bayonet in his abdomen, and then using forceps to remove the bullets from his body.

Li Yingliang and Yokoyama Akira stood at the sides of the water dungeon and watched. When the military doctors removed the bayonet, fresh blood gushed out, and the two of them were both filled with a kind of subtle disgust, because they didn’t know just who that fresh blood that had just gushed out belonged to.

Yokoyama Akira said softly, “Yingliang-kun, is he still considered as a human?”

Li Yingliang was stunned. Yokoyama Akira had never addressed him so intimately before, and he was quite flattered. “This… I’m not sure either.”

“If he’s not human, then what is he? Devil? Demon? Evil spirit?”

Li Yingliang truly could not answer this question, and so he said hesitantly, “Do demons and monsters… also do business and invest… and open newspaper companies?”

“Where is his family? Is there anyone else in his family?”

“We’re still not sure about this. Four years ago, he moved to Tianjin and settled here. Before that, he seemed to have been in Europe for a few years. Some people say he was learning the arts in Europe, others say he was in Europe doing business.”

Yokoyama Akira lowered his eyes and looked downwards, watching the military doctors cleaning Shen Zhiheng’s body. Shen Zhiheng lay naked on the bed, his body gaunt and slender, and equipped with all the organs a human male should have. Without fresh blood covering him, the assortment of wounds that covered his body was revealed. On his knee, there was even a wound that was so deep that the bone was visible. 

“He’s very heavily injured,” Yokoyama Akira said.

Li Yingliang immediately made a sound in agreement.

“It seems like he can’t feel pain.”

“This kind of person that can’t be killed, he probably also wouldn’t be afraid of pain.”

“He’s also very strong and very fast.”

“Yes, he’s quite dangerous.”

Yokoyama Akira lifted his hand, stroking his chin. “Among normal people, even if the fittest youths undergo the most rigorous of training, they won’t be able to reach his level. If he is one of us, or if we have people like him, that will be good. He just needs a little training, and he will become the most outstanding agent.”

Li Yingliang felt that there was something wrong with the meaning hidden in Yokoyama Akira’s words. In a hurry, he turned his head towards him and said, “Sir, his age is unknown. I think there’s a big possibility that he’s no longer a youth; he is already very obstinate in his thinking.”

Yokoyama Akira nodded his head.

In the wee hours of the morning, Yokoyama Akira and Li Yingliang both retired to rest, and Kuroki Rika took over the watch. She lay down on the grille, staring at Shen Zhiheng for a good part of the day. Her mind was quick and she did not need any particular persuasion; she had already acknowledged that the previous night, she had trapped a vampire. She thought that Shen Zhiheng was a vampire, but Yokoyama Akira thought otherwise. The reason why Yokoyama Akira did not agree with her was not because he had some clever reason, but purely because he looked down on women, and Kuroki Rika was precisely that: a woman. The second she opened her mouth, he had already completely shut her down even before she could complete her sentence.

 At noon, Li Yingliang replaced Kuroki Rika.

After sleeping for a few hours, Li Yinliang had washed up, changed his clothes, and eaten his fill, his spirits once again becoming high. And just as he arrived, Shen Zhiheng also woke up.

Shen Zhiheng had not had such a deep, long sleep in a very long time.

He didn’t even have a single dream; he only slept, to the point where his joints all became relaxed, it was as if he had become a long snake. Now that he was awake, he lay on his back, facing the ceiling, with his eyes wide open. The first thing he saw was the grille above him, followed by the person sprawled on top of the grille. That person’s back was facing the light and he was on all fours, just like a toad. His head was lowered as he stared directly at him. It was Li Yingliang.

He and Li Yingliang exchanged stares for a while, and at the same time, all of the past events finally came back to him. He had exposed his secret, exposed his true colours that were too dark to be revealed to the outside world. All the illusions he had painstakingly maintained over the years had all crumbled in an instant, and that toad-like creature above him was the main culprit.

Violent fury made him leap up, but severe pain made him fall back onto the bed. He moaned, realising that there was not a single article of clothing on him, except for a blanket that covered his body.

Li Yingliang suddenly asked, “You can feel pain too?”

He roared, “It hurts!” 

His roar startled Li Yingliang into trembles, and after that, the latter suddenly noticed that he had lost his cool. Before this, Shen Zhiheng had never roared as if he were a trapped beast.

“Do you still want to escape?” he asked.

What Li Yingliang had noticed, so had Shen Zhiheng himself. He pulled the blanket over his head, taking in a deep breath in the dark as he tried to calm himself down.

After ten seconds under the blanket, he lifted it and poked his head out.

“Give me some clothes.”

“It’s not cold here, you won’t freeze.”

“I’m not cold, I just think that my current condition is indecent.” Shen Zhiheng looked at Li Yingliang. “Do you mean you’re willing to face me in this condition?”

“I am.”

“It’s not like I’m a woman.”

“Not only are you not a woman, you’re not even human!” Li Yingliang hit the grille, his face lit up with a smile as his eyes shined, his teeth gritted in agitation. “Stand up, walk two rounds, extend your claws, show your tail!”

He continued hitting the grille, as if he was tapping a rhythm for himself, “This time, with both witnesses and evidence, what other excuses do you have? Why are you still pretending to be human? You’d better tell the truth as soon as possible, it’ll be good for everyone! If you still want to pull any tricks, fine, no problem. I’ll lock you here until you behave, in any case, I’ll accompany you until the end!”

Li Yingliang’s sudden anger made Shen Zhiheng quite perplexed. He thought, his jailbreak had failed, and Li Yingliang himself had not been harmed in any way. No matter how this bill was calculated, Li Yingliang should be pleased. However, at this moment, Li Yingliang was so angry that he was panting. He did not look pleased at all, instead, it seemed more like he had suffered a blow.

Li Yingliang did not return home, staying there instead.

On the first day, Shen Zhiheng lay down for a long time, the wounds on his bare arms seeming to heal visibly.

On the second day, Shen Zhiheng asked Li Yingliang for water, but Li Yingliang refused.

On the third day, Shen Zhiheng was hungry. At first, Li Yingliang did not notice his hunger. It was only when he noticed him tossing and turning on the bed, when he realised that something was wrong.

“Ah…” he squatted on the grille, lowering his head as he asked, “What’s wrong?”

Wrapped in the blanket, Shen Zhiheng was curled up into a ball. “I want to see Yokoyama Akira.”

“Stop playing tricks, if you have anything to say, say it to me!”

“I’m hungry.”

“If you’re hungry, then behave. Reply whatever I ask you. As long as you’re willing to behave and cooperate with me, I’ll throw a live person down there for you.”

“Just give me some clothes first. It’s not like I’ll use the clothes to escape from jail. What are you afraid of?”

“You’re fucking not even human, why do you still need to wear clothes!”

“You lie above me and look at me everyday, you’re not ashamed, but I am.”

Li Yingliang sneered. “Ashamed? That’s right. Aren’t you a tycoon? Aren’t you a socialite? Don’t you have money and power so you look down on me? Fine, I’m here to humiliate you, this tycoon, this socialite! So what if you have money and power? You still have to hunker down here in front of me butt-naked!”

Shen Zhiheng lifted the blanket and sat up. “All right, you’ve succeeded. You’ve already humiliated me. Can I trouble you to give me some clothes? If I continue being naked like that I’ll be ashamed to death.”

“Beg me.”

Shen Zhiheng lifted his legs and sat on the bed. The bed was in a corner, touching two walls. He sat at the corner with his legs crossed, looking up at Li Yingliang.

“Chairman Li, I beg you to give me some clothes.”

“What if I don’t?”

Shen Zhiheng looked at Li Yingliang for a while, and finally said, “You’re too childish.”

Li Yingliang did not expect that he would say that, and that sentence rendered him speechless. Shen Zhiheng was right, he realised that his actions and words were indeed quite childish. If Yokoyama Akira found out that he had not done anything proper and had just concerned himself with avenging his personal grievances and sparring verbally with Shen Zhiheng, he would have probably gotten a scolding.

“Remember what you said,” he pointed at Shen Zhiheng. “I’ll give you clothes, and you’ll cooperate with me.”

Shen Zhiheng nodded once.

With his own money, Li Yingliang instructed Li Guisheng to buy a shirt and a pair of pants from the street.

Li Guisheng chose large-sized clothes, and actually managed to get it right. The shirt fit Shen Zhiheng’s measurements, while the pants were slightly short.

Dressed neatly, Shen Zhiheng sat on the edge of the bed, lifting his head as he said to Li Yingliang, “Alright. What do you want to ask? I’ll answer you.”

Li Yingliang had been squatting on the grille all along, and now his legs were numb. He sat down, massaging his calves as he stared at Shen Zhiheng. He suddenly realised that this was not how an interrogation should look like. He could not constantly squat or sit above Shen Zhiheng’s head; lying down was even more out of the question. He had to be face to face with Shen Zhiheng; the prerequisite was that it had to be safe.

Li Yingliang instructed the Japanese soldiers to surround the water dungeon, with their guns aimed straight at Shen Zhiheng. Then, he opened the window, sent someone down to put handcuffs on Shen Zhiheng’s wrists, before finally hanging an iron chain down from the grille. He ordered someone to wrap the iron chain a few rounds around Shen Zhiheng’s waist. Hindered by those chains, even if Shen Zhiheng wanted to rebel, his range of motion would be limited.

Shen Zhiheng let them do what they wanted with him, completely without any hint of resistance. Li Yingliang climbed down the small iron ladder, while Li Guisheng lowered a wooden chair down.

Li Yingliang shifted the chair over, and sat down in front of Shen Zhiheng with a good distance between them. He crossed his legs and tilted his head, a look of disdain on his face as he stared coldly at Shen Zhiheng in front of him. Shen Zhiheng’s short hair drooped down, messily covering half of his forehead. There were scabs on the bridge of his nose and his lips were caked with a layer of dry skin. As if he could not withstand the brightness of Li Yingliang’s oily hair and leather shoes, he squinted his eyes slightly, fine wrinkles appearing at the edges of his eyes. However, there was sincerity in his gaze as he stared at Li Yingliang, waiting for him to ask his questions.

It was Li Yingliang’s first time seeing such an undignified Mr. Shen. Logically speaking, he should be laughing with unrestrained glee, to let out the anger brimming in his chest. But the moment he remembered that Shen Zhiheng was not human, he felt like his victory was meaningless; not only could he not laugh, he was even angrier.

He had gone through the pains of fighting with Shen Zhiheng, a conflict so intense that it encompassed the full spectrum of human emotions from love to hate, and friendship to enmity. And now, at the end of it all, he was told that Shen Zhiheng was actually not the upper class character he had in his mind, but actually a monster that bit people and sucked their blood. Was there a scam on this earth that was even more ludicrous than this? Was this not Shen Zhiheng playing him like a fool?

Li Yingliang was so full of hatred that he felt like dying, but he did not know just who he should hate. So, he could only hate Shen Zhiheng. As he stared pointedly at Shen Zhiheng, his eyes slowly became red; he had suppressed his anger to such an extent that he had forced the tears out of his own eyes.

Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng continued staring eagerly at him, his face calm and innocent.

Li Yingliang inhaled deeply, opening his mouth, “What are you looking at?”

Shen Zhiheng smiled slightly. “I really didn’t expect that I would fall into your hands.”

“Of course you didn’t. You look down on me, you don’t believe that I’m better than you.”

Shen Zhiheng lowered his head with a strange half-smile, fiddling with the handcuffs with his long and slender fingers. “I don’t really look down on you.”

“It doesn’t matter. Even if you didn’t, it wouldn’t have amounted to much, I don’t care. Speak, what on earth are you?”

“I…” Shen Zhiheng dragged, replying hesitantly. “I think, I should be a sick person.”

“What sickness?”

“I don’t know. It’s probably an infectious disease.”

[ruanbaijie]

During the Republican Era, Shen Zhiheng, a member of the Tianjin gentry who happened to be a vampire, offended the Japanese and became the target of an assassination attempt. He was saved by a blind young lady, Mi Lan, and his best friend Situ Weilian. When he went to repay Mi Lan for saving him, he discovered the terrible family situation that Mi Lan was in, and so began to pay more attention to her. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng’s plan to take revenge on Li Yingliang, the mastermind behind his assassination, fell short of success thanks to Li Yingliang’s Japanese superior, raising suspicions about his identity. Since then, Li Yingliang and the Japanese were in hot pursuit of Shen Zhiheng, determined to dig out the truth about his secret.

Please do not repost this anywhere else or retranslate it!

MAIN DIRECTORY ☾ READ ON AO3 ☾ PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Yokoyama Akira gave Li Yingliang quite a large jurisdiction. Three days later, Li Yingliang was to escort Shen Zhiheng up north to Harbin, where the Epidemic Prevention Department of the Kwantung Army [1] would take over Shen Zhiheng. As for the choice of mode of transportation, Yokoyama Akira had thought for a while, before deciding to arrange for a chartered train for safety reasons. Arranging a chartered train required some time, if not, Li Yingliang would not have had to wait for another three days.

On the surface, Li Yingliang’s jurisdiction was given to him by the Yokoyama mansion. In reality, the commander of Haiguangsi [2] also had a hand in it. With much power in his hands and heavy responsibilities on his shoulders, Li Yingliang suddenly became a very important person. The more the Japanese lifted him up, the more flattered he was, and the more he wanted to rise; he was determined to complete this task perfectly. Seeing how Li Yingliang was so deeply grateful that he was beaming with joy, Yokoyama Akira was simply puzzled; he could understand why he was grateful, but there was no reason for him to be beaming with joy. The journey from Tianjin to Harbin was thousands of miles [3] long; who knew when that Shen Zhihen would suddenly cause trouble? No one could dig the dungeon out as is and transport it onto the train. Even if they could lock Shen Zhiheng in a ten-layered metal cage for the entire journey, their safety still could not be ensured!

But, Yokoyama Akira quickly realised that Li Yingliang was truly a smart person.

All the people in the dungeon kept it a secret from Shen Zhiheng, so it was only until the morning of the third day when Shen Zhiheng learned that he was about to leave this place.

After changing into a fresh set of clothes, shoes, and socks, he followed the Japanese soldiers up the stairs and to the Yokoyama mansion, without wearing any handcuffs. Walking out of the doors, he paused and took a long look at the sun he had not seen for a while. Doubt grew in his heart; he did not know why the Japanese were suddenly so relaxed around him.

At that moment, the back doors of a car in the yard opened, and a person leaned out of the car and waved at him; this was Li Yingliang. As he walked over, Li Yingliang moved backwards, giving him a seat.

“Get in.”

He got into the car, increasingly confused, “Where are we going?”

Li Guisheng ran out from god knew where, closing the car door forcefully.

Li Yingliang tucked his hands into his arms. “We’re going to board a train, up to Harbin.”

Then, he noticed that Shen Zhiheng was still staring at him, and asked, “Didn’t you hear me?”

“Going to Harbin for what?”

“There’s a specialised medical research centre there, perhaps they can find out just what on earth your strange illness is.”

Shen Zhiheng looked at Li Yingliang for quite some time, before leaning back and turning his head to look out of the window. “So you’re sending me to my death.”

Li Yingliang scoffed, “Scared? I still thought there was nothing you’re afraid of. Don’t be scared, you won’t die. That place is really a medical research centre, it’s called Epidemic Prevention Department [4]  or something. Also, you’d better behave during the journey, if not, don’t blame me for not treating these two well.”

As he spoke, he slipped a photograph out from his jacket and hung it in front of Shen Zhiheng. Shen Zhiheng took a glance, and his face instantly changed.

Two people, one short and one tall, stood in the photograph. The short one was Mi Lan and the tall one was Situ Weilian, while the background was a train carriage. Mi Lan was expressionless while Situ Weilian’s curly hair was messy; this was not how they both normally looked.

Li Yingliang kept the photograph. “They already boarded the train at night. Relax, I didn’t treat them poorly. You can’t blame me, you’re the one who’s a bachelor with no spouse. If you had a wife and children, would I still have had to trouble the both of them? As long as you behave during the journey, I assure you that they will be safe and sound, and that they will travel comfortably from Harbin back to Tianjin. But if you think of escaping along the way, then don’t blame me for showing no mercy. In any case, even if both of them die, no one will know that I was the one who did it, right?”

At this point, he observed Shen Zhiheng’s expression attentively, holding the photograph in front of him again.

He leaned forward and pointed at the two people, asking, “Between the two of them, who is more important to you? Is it Young Mistress Mi? Or is it this curly-haired brat? Or do both of them not matter, it’s fine even if they both die?”

Shen Zhiheng raised his hand and grabbed Li Yingliang’s head, pushing it backwards with force. Caught unaware, Li Yingliang’s head knocked against the car window. Li Guisheng, who was in the front passenger seat, immediately pulled out his gun and aimed it at Shen Zhiheng. Meanwhile, Li Yingliang struggled as he sat properly again, one hand pressed against the sore spot on his head while the other clutched the photograph.

He actually laughed, “Angry?”

Then, he pinched Shen Zhiheng’s sleeve and raised that hand that had pushed him, placing it on Shen Zhiheng’s thigh.

“Don’t be angry, just play with your hands. This journey is long, just concern yourself with playing and eating, and you’ll have enough fun.”

Shen Zhiheng closed his eyes, so angered by Li Yingliang that he was slightly giddy. Previously, he was always the one who angered Li Yingliang. Now, Li Yingliang had finally won back a set, and he could not not press on with another attack, “Do you want to rest? Then let me just ask one last thing, do the two of them know your true nature? Does Young Mistress Mi know? Curly Hair frequently sells blood to you, he should know, right?”

Shen Zhiheng replied, “They both don’t know.”

At the train station, Li Yingliang and the rest of them went through a special lane and boarded the train.

The train had been disguised; the first few carriages were for passengers, and the passenger cars were followed by boxcars that were completely filled with cargo. Or at least, at first glance, they looked like they were really filled with cargo.

Shen Zhiheng followed Li Yingliang into a passenger car. It was fully furnished, and its amenities and layout were similar to that of a first class carriage of an express train; except that a layer of metal bars were welded before the train window. Li Yingliang looked very relaxed and happy on the surface, but in reality, his heart was hanging in his throat. Who knew if the two hostages he had were really suitable as hostages? What if Shen Zhiheng suddenly raged like a beast and bit him to death?

Fortunately, Shen Zhiheng was very civilised all along. Kuroki Rika, who was also travelling on the same journey, came in to take a look. She casually said hello to Shen Zhiheng, and then called Li Yingliang out. Outside the carriage stood a soldier, this was Major Aoyama Tsubasa. Major Aoyama was responsible for the take-over, and was to listen to Li Yingliang’s orders during this journey. Li Yingliang never thought that as a humble Chinese, he would actually have the qualifications to give orders to a pure Japanese major; the major also never thought that as a pure Japanese soldier, he would actually have to listen to the orders of a Chinese traitor. After greeting each other, the both of them were slightly uncomfortable. Li Yingliang felt like he had overstepped his authority, and the major felt the same.

When the major left, Li Yingliang asked Kuroki Rika in a whisper, “Isn’t it enough for the Kwantung Army to take over at Harbin? Why do they have to come all the way to Tianjin for the whole journey?”

Kuroki Rika replied softly, “Shen Zhiheng’s situation seems to be extremely important to the Epidemic Prevention Department of the Kwantung Army.”

At this moment, the carriage door behind them suddenly opened. Shen Zhiheng stood at the door, asking, “I request to see the hostages.”

Li Yingliang stepped forward in shock, while Kuroki Rika stood absolutely still. 

Li Yingliang turned around and answered at once, “You’ll see them after the train sets off!”

Shen Zhiheng replied, “I request to see them now. If you don’t agree, I’ll drag everyone on this train to their grave with me.”

“Threatening me?”

Shen Zhiheng nodded, “Yes, we’re now mutually threatening each other.”

Kuroki Rika looked at Shen Zhiheng, and then at Li Yingliang, before saying hesitantly, “The train is about to set off. It’s okay to see them now. Mr. Shen, please go back into the carriage and wait. Chairman Li will bring them over now, that’s… okay?”

Speaking till this point, she was also a little vague. “Right?”

Li Yingliang slipped away, and Shen Zhiheng turned around and went back into the carriage. A while later, the train whistled and started moving, while Li Yingliang brought Mi Lan and Situ Weilian.

After investigating Shen Zhiheng’s personal relationships inside out, in the end, Li Yingliang had realised that he could only take action against Mi Lan and Situ Weilian. Shen Zhiheng was someone who had practically no personal relationships; his relationship with everyone was not bad, but neither was he particularly close to anyone. Mi Lan, whom he took care of in the hospital, could be considered as a special person by his side; even more special was Situ Weilian, who could actually enter and leave the Shen mansion freely. Another was the Frenchman Fauré, who had frequent business interactions with Shen Zhiheng. For a time, Li Yingliang thought of kidnapping him as well, but since he was French and slightly more distinguished, he temporarily let him off the hook. Besides, when it came to hostages, as long as they were valuable, one of them was enough; if they had no value at all, even kidnapping an entire car would be of no use.

Mi Lan was on house arrest all this time in the Mi mansion; he had simply led her out last night, and so she was still quite clean and neat in appearance. Situ Weilian had been on his way home after getting off work last night when Li Yingliang had kidnapped him. Situ Weilian and the black-clad secret service agents had fought, and so he did not look very elegant at this moment. The agents had torn a hole in his new jacket.

Situ Weilian and Mi Lan were now like a pair of siblings in distress. Following Li Yingliang through the carriages, Situ Weilian led Mi Lan along the way. Clutching her walking cane, Mi Lan actually did not really need Situ Weilian to lead her, but he insisted on doing so, and so she was hesitant to reject him. Fumbling around as she passed through a few carriages, her heartbeat grew increasingly fast.

Suddenly, she heard Situ Weilian moan, as if he was crying, “Shen-xiong.”

She inhaled deeply at once, tilting her head to listen, wanting to capture all the scents and sounds in the air. The sound of a table and chairs came from the front, followed by Shen Zhiheng’s voice, “Weilian, Mi Lan.”

Mi Lan walked forward, hugging Shen Zhiheng. Shen Zhiheng froze. Thinking that she had suffered unjustly, he wanted to lower his head and look at her, but at that moment, she released her arms and took two steps back. She felt for a chair and sat down, her expression still one of peace, as if she was here for that one hug, and now that the hug was completed, everything would be fine.

He did not know that these few days, Mi Lan had been planning to save him, to the point where she was about to go crazy. That hug just now was a burst of emotion on her part that she simply could not contain. With that one hug, she had made sure that Shen Zhiheng was still warm, whole, and alive, and so her heart had returned to its original position, and she had exhaled softly in relief.

People relied on their breath to sustain them; without this breath, she was so weak she could not stand, and could only take two steps back and find a place to sit.

Li Yingliang stood in a corner, thinking that Mi Lan and Shen Zhiheng truly shared a very close relationship; even if she was young, she was already a lady in her teens. If there was no relationship between them at all, there should be a prudent reserve between men and women, how could a young mistress hug anyone she wanted to?

Then, in that next second, Situ Weilian also hugged Shen Zhiheng.

“Shen-xiong ah!” His tall frame was swaying around as he was practically crying and howling. “I told you not to get yourself into trouble, but you just wouldn’t listen. Look at you now, you’ve even dragged me into it. They beat me up last night!”

As soon as he said that, Li Yingliang and Mi Lan frowned in unison, thinking that this Situ Weilian was quite thoughtless and not very sensible to be saying something like this. Little did they know that the thoughtlessness was yet to come, when Situ Weilian properly took a good look at Shen Zhiheng’s appearance.

He pointed at his face, his tears turning into laughter, “Why have you become like that? Really, we’ve known each other for so long, this is the first time I’ve seen you with a stubble. But you don’t look that bad with a moustache, it’s quite stylish.”

Shen Zhiheng ignored him, raising his head as he asked Li Yingliang, “I want to talk to them alone.”

Li Yingliang replied, “Sure, please go ahead!”

Then he stuffed one hand into the pocket of his pants, turned around on light feet, and walked out, leaving behind only the Japanese soldiers at the front and back doors. The Japanese soldiers all had their guns pointed and ready to shoot, and the targets at which the muzzles were aimed were precisely Situ Weilian and Mi Lan.

Shen Zhiheng pushed Situ Weilian to a side, sitting him and Mi Lan down side by side while he himself sat in front of them. 

He first asked Mi Lan, “How have you been these few days? Have you suffered?”

Mi Lan answered, “I’m fine. What about you?”

“I’m also fine.”

Situ Weilian asked, “Shen-xiong, I heard that we’re going to Harbin?” He lowered his voice, “Didn’t you merely offend the Japanese? Have you offended them from Tianjin all the way to Harbin?”

Shen Zhiheng glanced at Mi Lan, knowing that no matter how softly he spoke, he would not be able to escape Mi Lan’s ears, and so he might as well not hide anything at all.

“They’ve found out about my situation.”

Situ Weilian frowned, “Then–”

Shen Zhiheng sighed, “They want to send me to some Epidemic Prevention Centre.”

Situ Weilian mouth was agape. “That won’t do.”

Shen Zhiheng thought that this brat was actually not completely muddleheaded, and still knew what “won’t do” was.

As he was about to give Situ Weilian some instructions, Mi Lan unexpectedly started speaking, asking him directly, “Mr. Shen, are you really a vampire?”

Tongue-tied, Shen Zhiheng exchanged a glance with Situ Weilian.

Situ Weilian opened his mouth, “He–”

Mi Lan was completely uninterested in Situ Weilian’s reply, continuing to say, “Li-shushu said that you’re a vampire.”

As if he was suddenly very eager, Situ Weilian shifted closer to Mi Lan and asked, “If he’s really a vampire, what will you do? Will you ignore him from now onwards?”

Mi Lan turned towards Situ Weilian, a hint of confusion appearing on her small, aloof face, “Why would I ignore him?”

“He’s a vampire that sucks the blood of live people. It’s very scary. Aren’t you afraid?”

Mi Lan felt that Situ Weilian was a little silly, or at least he was not very clear-headed. “I can’t see ghosts. I’m not afraid of ghosts [5] .”

“Then what if one day, he’s so hungry to the point where he wants to suck your blood?”

Unable to hold it in any longer, Shen Zhiheng made a castigating sound, while Mi Lan’s large, unfocused eyes widened. She indifferently turned her head, deciding to completely forget about Situ Weilian and only speak to Shen Zhiheng.

“Mr. Shen, are you really a vampire?”

Shen Zhiheng hesitated slightly, and as he cursed Li Yingliang internally, he replied in a low voice, “Yes.”

Mi Lan replied, “Oh.”

After that “oh”, it ended. She thought, Li-shushu didn’t lie to me.

During this period, Li-shushu had made her suffer quite a bit. First, he had brought his subordinates and intruded her house, refusing to leave. Then, he had cajoled her and forced her to leave her house to board the train. His attitude had been very good all the while, when he was bored, he would chat with her, talking about just how poor he was when he was young, and just how good his little sister was. She was not very interested in this Li-shushu, and her whole heart was only filled with one Mr. Shen. Perhaps, it was because she was narrow-minded [6] , and her heart could only accommodate one outsider, and that night, Mr. Shen had come first, followed by Li-shushu.

As for what Mr. Shen was, she didn’t really mind. If he normally ate grass or if he normally sucked blood, she didn’t mind either. To her, the world was dark; colours were the void, and the void was colours. Even if Mr. Shen were to wake up and have sprouted fur and become a dog, it wouldn’t have mattered either, she could conveniently hug him and rear him, one human and one dog accompanying each other.

Mi Lan had her own doctrine that she never told anyone else, and so even though she was thinking very logically and clearly, Shen Zhiheng and Situ Weilian both looked at her, completely unable to make any sense of her.

Situ Weilian asked Shen Zhiheng quietly, “These few days, have you been starving?”

Shen Zhiheng also replied quietly, “These few days, the food hasn’t been too bad.” Then, he jerked his chin in Mi Lan’s direction. “Are both of you together?”

“Yes, but to get from where we are to where you are, we walked through four or five train cars.”

Shen Zhiheng looked at the Japanese soldiers at the door, raising his hand before his mouth. He muttered in a low voice, “Very good, then the both of you–”

Before he could finish his sentence, Li Yingliang suddenly appeared at the door, announcing proudly, “Young Mistress Mi, Doctor Situ, today’s chat has ended. Will the two of you please return to rest!”

Situ Weilian looked at Shen Zhiheng, and Shen Zhiheng said, “Go, you’re the da-gege [7] , take good care of Mi Lan.”

Hearing the three words, “da-gege”, Situ Weilian could not help but smile. After smiling, he saw that Mi Lan had also stood up, and so he held her hand. Mi Lan wanted to touch Shen Zhiheng again, but one of her hands was held by Situ Weilian while the other held her walking cane. And so, not on her own accord, she could only reluctantly turn and walk out.

Li Yingliang instructed Li Guisheng to escort them, while he himself sat down in front of Shen Zhiheng, smiling as he crossed his legs.

“Mr. Shen, what do you think of my move?”

Shen Zhiheng replied, “You’re despicable and shameless.”

“If I weren’t despicable and shameless, I wouldn’t have been able to subdue a monster like you. I didn’t expect you to have this much humanity. Yesterday, I was even worried that you were a cold-blooded animal and didn’t care if the two of them lived or died.”

Shen Zhiheng suddenly thought about something, frowning as he asked, “What nonsense did you tell that young child?”

“What did I do?”

“Mi Lan.”

Li Yingliang suddenly understood. “I saw how much that child really liked you, and wanted to test if she was really sincere about you or not.”

“And what was the result?”

“In the end, she said ‘whatever’. Haha, how interesting, she really doesn’t care. As for that Weilian of yours, he acted crazy and stupid in front of me, saying that I was smearing you. From what I see, he should have long known your true identity. Why is he not only not afraid, but even willing to keep your secret for you? Do the two of you have some deal?”

Shen Zhiheng replied, “Our deal is merely one of blood and money.”

“If so, then he’s really quite daring.”

“It’s because I’m generous.” Upon that, he smiled at Li Yingliang. It was that most hateful of smiles, as if he could perceive everything, to the point where Li Yingliang was cornered and had no place to hide. Li Yingliang received this glance, his face, as expected, gradually becoming white. His appearance was already far from formidable and valiant, and now that it was even whiter, it seemed to have lost even more of its masculine spirit, seeming more like he was a woman dressed up as a man. Moreover, this was not some high-class woman, but either a has-been opera singer, or a concubine who was no longer in favour.

“As long as you have money, everything is good,” he nodded and smiled as he gritted his teeth. “Even an inhuman thing like you can buy friends.”

“If I want to buy Chairman Li to be my friend, what will be your price?”

Li Yingliang knew that there was definitely nothing good about what he had just said, but he just couldn’t figure out what his ill intentions were, and so he only stared at Shen Zhiheng, refusing to answer.

Shen Zhiheng waited for a moment, and asked, “You’re not willing to give me a chance?”

Li Yingliang still didn’t understand; it seemed like he understood a little, but he couldn’t believe it. So, in the end, it still counted as not understanding. He stared at Shen Zhiheng with fixed eyes, refusing to say a word.

Finally, Shen Zhiheng lowered his eyes, seeming a little disappointed. “A pity, it turns out that Chairman Li is a priceless valuable.”

Li Yingliang turned his head to look at the front and back doors, and then turned to look at Shen Zhiheng, saying belatedly, “Are you trying to bribe me?”

Shen Zhiheng let his two hands fall onto his thighs, his ten fingers, clasped together. Then, as he pulled his fingers apart, he lifted his gaze and looked at Li Yingliang, “And trying to be friends with you at the same time, isn’t that good?”

Li Yingliang looked at Shen Zhiheng, his eyes red again.

Actually, it was good. He and Shen Zhiheng did not share any deep personal grudges; he only chased him on the orders of the Japanese. He used to bear extreme hatred for that cold and distant gaze of Shen Zhiheng���s, but now that he knew his secret, and now that he had experienced his madness and weakness that could not be shown to the public, the two of them weren’t all that different. Shen Zhiheng even had the childish bad habit of picking and biting his fingers.

After accepting a bribe and befriending someone like Shen Zhiheng, he could be all the more proud when bragging to others, and could even be like Situ Weilian, talking about “my Shen-xiong”. Shen-xiong had money, influence, and reputation, his friends were Westerners, and his mansion was a Western-style house. He had long longed for that circle to which Shen-xiong belonged, moreover, it was something he longed for but that always eluded him.

So, if he could, it was actually good.

All these benefits nearly made Li Yingliang shed tears in front of Shen Zhiheng. He could not see his own face, and he did not know that at this moment, the expression on his face was nearly one of sorrow. Shen Zhiheng was not just one Shen Zhiheng; he represented a beautiful world of grandeur and class; a world that Li Yingliang himself had always been destined to brush past but fated to never be together.

“You’re lying to me,” he said hoarsely. “Don’t treat me like a fool.”

Then, he turned around and left.

He could not afford to accept Shen Zhiheng’s money. He had to send Shen Zhiheng to Harbin, if not, Yokoyama Akira would not show him any mercy.

Shen Zhiheng looked at his back, mulling over how this person could be considered as different from the rest. It seemed like Li Yingliang was always trying his best to be a bad person, challenging his breaking point again and again. He frequently wanted to find the chance to exterminate this bastard, but sometimes, seeing how he kept uglily pestering him, he just wanted to frown and hide from him.

Banishing all thoughts of Li Yingliang from his mind, Shen Zhiheng started to ponder over his escape.

------------------------------------------------------------

This is the same 关东 (guān dõng) as a footnote in an earlier chapter. As a recap, it is an old term used from the Warring States period (c. 475-221 BC) to the Tang Dynasty (c. 618-907) to refer to the region east of the Xiaoshan mountain range. This includes parts of Henan, Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Inner Mongolia. The reason why I’ve used “Kwantung” here instead of the earlier “Guandong” is because the Kwantung Army is the actual spelling of the real army that existed back then. More information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwantung_Army.

海光寺 (hǎi guāng sì) refers to Haiguang Temple in Tianjin. It was built in 1705 but no longer exists, as it was destroyed in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion. Following this, the invading Japanese army occupied the land and built their camp on top of the rubble, and in 1903, it became the headquarters of the North China Garrison.

Note that this refers to the Chinese mile (500m), not today’s internationally recognised mile (~1.6km). The distance from Tianjin to Harbin is about 1,308km.

An Epidemic Prevention Research Laboratory existed in real life, established in 1932 at the Japanese Army Military Medical School in Tokyo. Worthy to note is that Unit 731, infamous for lethal human experimentation, was a clandestine division of the Kwantung Army, also based in Harbin, and the first among several covert units established as offshoots of this Epidemic Prevention Research Laboratory. More information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731. As Unit 731 was dedicated to the advancement of biological weaponry, it is hinted very strongly that Shen Zhiheng was going to be brought here and his suspicion that he would die was not unfounded.

As a reminder, “vampire” in Chinese is literally “blood-sucking ghost”.

In Chinese, “narrow-minded” is 心胸狭窄 (xīn xiōng xiá zhǎi), which literally means “narrow heart and chest”, hence this whole part talking about her heart already filled with Shen Zhiheng.

大 (dà) means “big” or “older”. As a reminder, “gege” means older brother.

[ruanbaijie]

During the Republican Era, Shen Zhiheng, a member of the Tianjin gentry who happened to be a vampire, offended the Japanese and became the target of an assassination attempt. He was saved by a blind young lady, Mi Lan, and his best friend Situ Weilian. When he went to repay Mi Lan for saving him, he discovered the terrible family situation that Mi Lan was in, and so began to pay more attention to her. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng’s plan to take revenge on Li Yingliang, the mastermind behind his assassination, fell short of success thanks to Li Yingliang’s Japanese superior, raising suspicions about his identity. Since then, Li Yingliang and the Japanese were in hot pursuit of Shen Zhiheng, determined to dig out the truth about his secret.

Please do not repost this anywhere else or retranslate it!

MAIN DIRECTORY ☾ READ ON AO3 ☾ PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Li Yingliang walked through the main doors of the Development Committee. The second he entered the yard, it became quiet, and the people in the rooms could vaguely make out how poor his complexion was through the frosted window panes. Li Guisheng, who was still loafing around in the General Affairs Section, opened the door to welcome him, “Sir.”

Without even glancing at him, Li Yingliang only hooked a finger at him when he passed. Li Guisheng quickly followed him into the chairman's office. He took Li Yingliang’s coat from him and hung it on the clothes stand, and then picked up the teapot and walked towards the door, intending to boil a pot of tea for him.

However, Li Yingliang suddenly spoke, “Stay there.”

He immediately stood upright as he held the pot. “Sir, what orders do you have?”

Li Yingliang sat down behind his desk, the back of his head nestling against the back of his chair. “How do you get things done?”

Li Guisheng was startled. “What have I done?”

Li Yingliang’s face was devoid of any expression; all of his energy had gone to his mouth. One word at a time, his mouth spat out, “Shen Zhiheng is not dead!”

Li Guisheng placed the pot down on the desk, standing rigid with his hands by his side. He said with conviction, “Sir, I, Li Guisheng, swear to you here and now, if he didn’t die, I’ll twist my head off and give it to him to kick around like a ball. I cannot say that I’ve never lied to anyone, but I dare to say that I’ve never lied to you.”

Li Yingliang lowered his voice, yet it was still vicious, as if he wanted to spit the words angrily at Li Guisheng’s face, “Then why did someone say that they saw him at the French concession zone yesterday? Even Yokoyama Akira knows! This morning, Yokoyama called me over and pointed to my nose to question what was going on. I couldn’t give him a single fucking reply. What’s going on, what’s going on, you tell me now, what on earth is going on!”

Li Guisheng swallowed, somewhat nervous, but because he was still confident, he still dared to reply, “Sir, I’ll still say the same thing. I dare to use my own life to swear that if Shen Zhiheng didn’t die, then I will!” 

The office became quiet. Li Yingliang’s body slid down, nestled in his chair as he pondered. His eyeballs moved around, occasionally sweeping across Li Guisheng. Li Guisheng stiffened his neck and stood ramrod straight. Because he felt simply too wronged, he refused to submit, his spirit seeming so strong and invincible it was as if it could support both heaven and earth.

A good while later, Li Yingliang said, “I know. There’s no need for you to lie to me. But Yokoyama’s subordinate really saw Shen Zhiheng alive.”

Li Guisheng suddenly asked, “A body double?”

“Is there a need for that?”

“We think there isn’t, but what if that one surnamed Shen [1] has another identity? Think about it, if no one has his back, will he dare to openly scold the Japanese in the newspapers? Maybe, the people above him want to use his reputation to continue running the newspaper companies, so that they can continue clashing with the Japanese.”

Li Yingliang frowned, feeling that Li Guisheng was wrong. But, even so, it could not explain how Shen Zhiheng could have returned from the dead. Pursing his lips, he remained silent for a while. When he was done, he unpuckered his lips, and said, “Send someone to go and find Shen Zhiheng now.”

Li Guisheng agreed, picking up the teapot and leaving the room, before returning with a pot of hot tea. Li Yingliang was still nestled in his chair, seemingly still in a trance, when the phone rang. With his mind still wandering, he made no move to pick up the phone. So, Li Guisheng thought for a moment, and reached out to pick it up.

“Chairman Li’s office.”

After a few “mm”s, he covered the receiver, and said softly to Li Yingliang, “It’s Second Young Mistress Jin. She says she wants to speak to you at once.”

Li Yingliang froze, only reaching out for the phone after more than half a minute, “Hello? Second Young Mistress Jin? I’m Yingliang.”

After saying that, the corners of his lips pulled upwards as he subconsciously smiled. It was a forced, tired smile, as if he could perfunctorily brush this entire phone call off his shoulder by just smiling. 

“Oh… thank you for your kind intentions, Second Young Mistress, but I don’t think I’m suitable. I don’t know how to dance at all. Why not find a fellow male student to attend it together with? You might even find common topics to talk about… No, no, I don’t mean it that way, I don’t dare to. I can be your driver, just tell me the time and I will fetch you there, and then fetch you back… No, no, I really don’t mean it that way… Okay then, I will just listen to you then… Okay, okay, I know, wear a suit, understood, farewell, see you tonight.”

The smile was still on his face as he put the phone down, but the second the phone line got cut, the smile instantly disappeared. He returned back to nestling in his chair, his face impassive as his lips quivered, and silently cursed.

The one who had called was the second young mistress of the Jin family, a woman he could not afford to offend. Of course, a woman he could not afford to offend for now .

Li Yingliang’s parents had passed away early, and so too had his younger sister at a tender age. He could practically be considered an orphan, and an impoverished one at that. For a child who had been dealt with such a bitter hand of fate, logically speaking, it would be considered quite a success for him to have been able to survive and grow up. And the benefactor who had plucked him out of poverty to become a person, who had given him the chance to continue climbing, was Second Young Mistress Jin’s father, Division Commander Jin.

When Li Yingliang had first gotten to know Division Commander Jin, he was the young apprentice in a tailor shop, where he had spent his days getting bullied by his master and seniors. It was purely through his pure grit to endure the humiliation and stay alive, that he had managed to persist until the day the second wife of the Jin family visited their tailor shop. At that time, the second wife had been in favour and would frequently purchase new clothes, and had taken great care of the tailor shop’s business. As a good-looking young apprentice, Li Yingliang often had to follow his seniors to the Jin residence to collect materials and deliver clothes, and over time, the second wife had taken a liking to him and decided that he was a clever little child. Coincidentally, that day, when he had arrived at the Jin residence, he had bumped into a terribly drunk Division Commander Jin. Division Commander Jin had noticed that he was a spirited, handsome little boy, and had expressed with much emotion in his drunken stupor that it was really quite a pity that this child was doing odd jobs in a tailor shop.

Upon hearing this, the second wife had jokingly added, “Then adopt him as your godson and give him a chance to grow, then it wouldn’t be such a pity anymore.”

Division Commander Jin had burped and was just about to reply when he had suddenly heard a thud by his feet. Lowering his head to have a look, he had seen Li Yingliang kneeling and kowtowing to him. Division Commander Jin was shocked, but as he had already received someone else’s kowtows, it was too late for regret, and he had no choice but to accept this godson in confusion. Since then, Li Yingliang had a change in family status, leaving the bitter life at the tailor shop behind to run errands for the Jin residence. 

However, the Jin residence was no paradise. Division Commander Jin’s family had a whole string of children, and no matter their age, they all dared to bully him. He had gritted his teeth, in any case, he had already gotten used to it. Besides, the young masters of the Jin family were bratty and mischievous at worst, unlike the cruel jerks at the tailor shop. He had endured until he was in his teens, at which point he had started to run errands by Division Commander Jin’s side. Division Commander Jin also secretly had a lot of activities that could not see the light of day. For instance, he constantly collaborated with the Japanese, and also resold tobacco. Had these activities been exposed, Division Commander Jin would not have been able to escape being labelled as a Chinese traitor. Hence, he could not simply assign anyone to run these errands, and could only hand them to his godson Li Yingliang.   

Li Yingliang was very self-motivated, and besides his capabilities, he was willing to put in effort and get things done without a sound of protest. The more he did, the more he carved out a world for himself - the position of chairman was not something his godfather had bestowed upon him, but something he had fought for and gained by his own hands from Yokoyama Akira.

In recent years, Division Commander Jin had been overly cautious and indecisive, wanting to profit and afraid to be a Chinese traitor at the same time, and this indecisiveness had long already eroded the trust that the Japanese had once had in him. Neither did Li Yingliang have the patience to continue running personal errands for him. He did not care if he had to be a Chinese traitor, in order to stand out from the crowd, he did not mind recognising another person as his godfather. It was a pity that Yokoyama Akira was a little too young, if not, he would also kowtow a few times to him.

Although Division Commander Jin - now, people called him “General Jin” out of respect - was stationed with his army in the Recha area [2] and not physically with him, and although he now no longer needed to rely on the old man for money, their father-son relationship still remained. Whenever Second Young Mistress Jin came to disturb him every three days, ordering him around to do all sorts of things like a servant and annoying him to death, for the sake of his godfather, he made use of the strength he had honed over his childhood and “endured” it. 

In the afternoon, Li Yingliang left the Development Committee by the back door, cutting across the alleys to enter a small yard. This yard was quite clean, and had only four or five rooms. This was his house.

As a bachelor, he had no servants at home. Besides, the work he did was top secret, and he did not hire any servants. If he required any help, he would call a few people from the Development Committee over to help. Using hot water to clean his face, he combed his hair and changed into a fresh suit, tidying himself up cleanly as if he were fulfilling a duty. As a finishing touch, he tucked a purple handkerchief into his small breast pocket, and walked to the mirror to have a look.

He was emotionless as he looked at himself in the mirror, without any interest whatsoever in admiring himself. He had to accompany the second young mistress Jin to a dance party at night, and so he had to dress up. It was just like if he had to visit the army at night, and he had to change into his uniform - both necessitated that he dress up according to the rules.  

Another point, was that clothes make a man. Whenever he was in such bustling occasions of feasting and revelry, he could never quite hold his head proudly. If he did not dress up to the nines, like a soldier in his armour ready for battle, he would be even more ashamed. Second Young Mistress Jin’s words were like knives, they would definitely have no mercy on him.

After dressing himself up impeccably, Li Yingliang left, cutting across the alleys again to return to the Development Committee. From there, he continued across the yard to the car outside the Development Committee, and went straight to the Jin mansion.

All was silent outside the Jin mansion.

The car stopped outside the main gate, and Li Yingliang remained in it with no intention to alight. However, an attendant heard him and invited him into the house, informing him that Second Young Mistress Jin had invited Young Master Liang to wait in the parlour. Upon hearing the three words “Young Master Liang”, Li Yingliang expelled two streams of cold air from his nose at once, feeling like the victim of mockery. How could he be considered a young master? Who really respected him like a young master?

Alighting from the car, he entered the house with big strides and marched into the parlour in a breath. In the parlour stood only a maidservant. Composing himself, he tried to put on a good face in front of the maidservant, without much success.

“Where is Second Young Mistress?”

“She is upstairs,” the maidservant replied.

“Then call her down.”

The maidservant laughed. “Second Young Mistress is still freshening up. She said to let you wait a little while longer. You can wait here or upstairs.”

With an “mm”, Li Yingliang plonked his buttocks onto the sofa. This instruction of hers had raised his ire - she had a hobby of pretending to make things difficult for him, as if it was an addiction. Wait upstairs? He wouldn’t fall into her trap. If he really went upstairs, she would definitely pull out another basket of prattle and nonsense to beat him with, and would conveniently order him to pick her clothes and shoes for her. In any case, he knew that he had no other way of dealing with her, and no matter how she annoyed him, he would have to bear with it. Other than that, she would also frequently expose her pale thighs and feet to provoke a reaction out of him, as if he had never seen a woman before in his entire life and his heart would definitely be swayed by her. 

Li Yingliang never thought about the affairs between men and women. He busied himself only with gaining more influence and strength, and had no time or effort to think about it. In the occasional times that he did, it was from a pragmatic perspective. He wanted to climb high and marry a wealthy young lady. However, even so, he refused to even consider Second Young Mistress Jin. Since they were young, she loved to bully him, and one glance at her would make him angry.

  After sitting idly in the parlour for more than an hour, Second Young Mistress Jin finally descended the stairs.

Second Young Mistress Jin’s name was Jingxue [3] . She was not yet twenty years of age, was beautiful and fair, and could be said to have both money and looks. When she stepped into the parlour in her high heels, Li Yingliang stood up, his eyes sweeping over her. Yet, he did not sweep carefully, only noticing the large snowy white circle of fur around her shoulders, from which her long, equally snowy white neck extended. Her shoulders and collar bones were exposed, and her skin was powdered, shining and fragrant at the same time. 

“Second Young Mistress,” Li Yingliang bowed to her. “I haven’t seen you in a few weeks, I thought that you had gone home.”

Jin Jingxue tittered, “Liang-gege, even your mannerisms seem like the Japanese now, bowing first when you meet people.”

Li Yingliang lowered his head, looking at the ground, “Second Young Mistress, I’m only trying to eke out a living for myself. Please have a heart and stop teasing me with your words.”

Jin Jingxue’s eyebrows, in the shape of willow leaves, frowned. “Oh, you’re angry? Who did you learn to be this petty from? Could it be the Japanese?”

Li Yingliang snorted once in laughter. “You’re very funny.” Then, he took the lead and walked out of the parlour first. “It’s getting late, let’s go!”

“Slow down!” Jin Jingxue said.

Li Yingliang turned around. “What now?”

Jin Jingxue extended a hand towards him. “My heels are high. Come and support me.”

Li Yingliang cast his gaze down, only seeing now that Jin Jingxue was wearing a pair of glittery gold dancing shoes. Their heels were high and thin, and they were suitable to be worn only on spring flooring and to spin around in small circles. Walking in them would be to suffer.

So, as if he were waiting on Empress Dowager Cixi [4] , he wordlessly extended his arm and supported Jin Jingxue out of the door, all the way to the car, where he sneezed from the smell of her perfume. This sneeze came unexpectedly and he had no time to grab his handkerchief, and he ended up sneezing his saliva all over Jin Jingxue’s shoulder. After receiving a few rolled eyes from her, he wiped her shoulder with his handkerchief to shut her up. He turned his head to look out of the window, his eyes red with anger.

Secretary Ding of the committee drove the car, sending Li Yingliang and Jin Jingxue to Jinghua Hotel. Originally, Li Yingliang had thought that the hosts were Jin Jingxue’s good-for-nothing friends. However, it was only when he alighted at the entrance of the hotel when he realised that tonight’s occasion was a grand one. There was no end to the line of cars stopped along the road, among which were a few that bore the license plates of foreign consulates. Through the glass doors of the hotel, he could see that it was brightly lit on the side, and he even noticed General Mi.

He immediately became more spirited, as if he had spotted his quarry. Once he had gotten excited, even Jin Jingxue did not seem as irritating anymore. Pulling Jin Jingxue along with him, he entered the doors, the two of them separating at the gentlemen’s and ladies’ cloak rooms respectively to remove their coats and hats. In the ladies’ cloak room, Jin Jingxue conveniently looked at herself in the mirror, adjusted her hair, and spun around to leave. She discovered that Li Yingliang had long been waiting a distance ahead. In this bustling place adorned with splendour, all the guests were smiling and laughing, and only he was standing alone, concentrating on waiting with neither posture nor expression.

“Liang-gege!” she called out.

As if waking up from a dream, he turned his head, and sent her a fake smile. Jin Jingxue walked to him, holding her head high as she displayed her new gingko-coloured dress to him.

“Liang-gege, what do you think about my dress?”

Li Yingliang swept his gaze over her, again not sweeping carefully. He just thought that she was very shiny - her exposed chest, back, and shoulders were shiny, her gingko-coloured dress, embellished with pearls, was also shiny.

“Nice,” he replied.

“Just ‘nice’?”

Suddenly a little impatient, his way of resisting was to keep a straight face and reply with conviction, “Yes. Just ‘nice’.”

Jin Jingxue rolled her eyes at him, using her pointer to poke him repeatedly at his chest. “I know what you’re thinking, you pretend to obey me on the outside but are actually scolding me on the inside! But the skin of my face is thick [5] and I’m not afraid of getting scolded. The more you smile fakely at me, the more I want you to dance together with me for the whole night.”

Li Yingliang took a step back. “That won’t work, no, no, Second Young Mistress, please spare me. I really can’t dance.”

“Even if you can’t, it doesn’t matter, I’ll teach you. Whenever you step on me, I’ll pinch you. After getting pinched for the whole night, you’ll definitely learn how to dance.”

Li Yingliang smiled bitterly at her, while shaking his head with an imploring look on his face. Although this smile was bitter, it was a genuine one, and was more pleasing to the eye than his fake smiles. So, Jin Jingxue decided to spare him this one time, extending a hand to pull him to the grand hall on the first floor.

Jin Jingxue’s permanent residence was in Tianjin. She had no job other than to play around. She played around so much that she had friends from everywhere. The second she entered the grand hall, she was swarmed by a group of men and women. Li Yingliang made use of the opportunity to slip away from the crowd, intending to find General Mi and greet him. Because General Mi was famous for loving those of the opposite sex, Li Yingliang craned his neck, looking around particularly at groups of women. It was when he was looking around when there was a commotion at the entrance of the hall. Another distinguished guest had arrived. Li Yingliang turned around, and then froze on the spot.

He thought that he had seen Shen Zhiheng.

A small group of people had entered the hall, and in the centre of this group were two people. One of them had blond hair and blue eyes, dressed to the nines in a suit, this was the French director of the French Concession Zone Municipal Council, Fauré. The other was tall and thin, dressed in a deep blue changpao [6] with faint patterns. His short, crow black hair was styled with a significant amount of wax, enough to reflect the lights - if this was not Shen Zhiheng, who else could it be?

Li Yingliang absolutely trusted Li Guisheng, but he also absolutely trusted his own eyes. Besides, a pot-bellied man had already gone forth to welcome the two of them, “Mr. Fauré, Mr. Shen! Welcome, welcome!”

The Frenchman Mr. Fauré and the pot-bellied man shook hands, then, the latter turned towards Shen Zhiheng. Shen Zhiheng held half a cigar in one hand, and shook the pot-bellied man’s hand with his other. Li Yingliang recognised the pot-bellied man. He was the general manager of the Greater China Shipping Company. He also vaguely heard Shen Zhiheng’s voice - he had called the pot-bellied man “General Manager Wu”, followed by a string of unintelligible niceties.

Li Yingliang’s eyes recognised Shen Zhiheng’s appearance, and his ears also recognised Shen Zhiheng’s voice. His voice was deep and husky, a little unique; it was a good voice among men. And as Shen Zhiheng held General Manager Wu’s hand, he smiled and lifted his head at the same time, and without any warning, glanced at Li Yingliang who was in the middle of the crowd.

Li Yingliang was still looking at him in a daze. He wanted to hide, but it was too late. Shen Zhiheng was much thinner compared to before, and his complexion seemed dull. With a smile, he looked at Li Yingliang, and slowly blinked once. However, without waiting for Li Yingliang to understand the look in his eyes, he had already let go of General Manager Wu, turning his head to chat with the people beside him. Before long, this small group of people had turned around and left the hall, heading up to the second floor.

Li Yingliang stood unmoving, only two words echoing in his head in tandem with the beating of his heart, reverberating continuously, “Body double, body double, body double…”

Only the two words “body double” could explain everything. Otherwise, wasn’t it that he had just seen a ghost?

Li Yingliang did not believe in ghosts, and so he did not believe that he had seen a ghost. Since he had not seen a ghost, and since Li Guisheng would never be such a piece of rubbish to not know if he had managed to kill a person or not, then only one point made sense: this Shen Zhiheng was fake!

Li Yingliang needed to get closer to observe this fake product and find his weak point, or he would not be able to sleep tonight. The three floors of Jinghua Hotel had been booked, and all of them were bustling, full of partying people dressed to their nines. He had long abandoned Jin Jingxue, going up and down each of the floors, but still unable to find a single trace of Shen Zhiheng and his group.

His entire body was drenched with sweat. Just as he was starting to get anxious, music started playing from the nearby dance floor. As the music swelled, his anxiety multiplied. Adjusting the knot of his tie, he walked around randomly in panic, turning around the corner of a corridor on the second floor and into the washroom. As soon as he closed the door, his ears were finally treated with some peaceful quiet. He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, composing himself.

Since he was here, he conveniently took a leak. Turning the large gold-plated tap, he washed his hands, and looked into the mirror. With a wet napkin, he patted his face, and exercised his jaw. It was fortunate that he had looked at his reflection in the mirror. If not, he would not have realised he was so nervous that he was grinding his teeth, his expression frightening. He was already unpopular enough, if he was any more frightening, it would be even more unthinkable.

Taking in a few deep breaths, he steeled himself to draw upon the spirit of a raging bull and search to the ends of earth; not finding Shen Zhiheng tonight was not an option. Pulling the door open, he strode out confidently, lifted his head, and saw Shen Zhiheng’s back.

One look was enough for him to recognise that back as Shen Zhiheng’s. The event that was being held tonight was a dancing one. Normally, guests would dress up in Western attire, and very few would wear a changpao. With his back to Li Yingliang, Shen Zhiheng was smoking his cigar while gazing absentmindedly at the people who were dancing on the dance floor.

Li Yingliang tiptoed towards him, the soles of his leather shoes sinking into the thick carpet, making not a single sound. The closer he got, the more he felt that this person really resembled Shen Zhiheng. With one hand behind his back and the other pinching a cigar, this posture was one that Shen Zhiheng frequently held. Just what important figure was Shen Zhiheng, that he had secretly kept a body double who resembled him so closely?

Unable to help himself, he got closer and closer, and just when he felt that he had gotten a little too close, Shen Zhiheng inhaled deeply through his cigar, and then turned around in one smooth move to face him.

Shen Zhiheng was taller than him by half a head, and naturally had to look down at him. With his mouth full of smoke, he exhaled, the smoke seemingly emerging from all seven orifices of his face [7] . Then, he opened his mouth, his tone relatively amiable, “Chairman Li.”

His face full of cigar smoke, Li Yingliang coughed, taking a step backwards - Shen Zhiheng had turned around without any warning, and if he did not take a step back, he would be plastered right against him.

He arranged a smile on his face, answering, “Mr. Shen.”

Then, he added, “We haven’t met in a while. It must be more than a month.”

Shen Zhiheng stared at him directly in the eye. “I had fallen ill.”

 “Oh,” he feigned surprise. “What illness? Was it serious?”

Shen Zhiheng sighed softly, “Very serious. I almost died.”

Then, he inhaled through his cigar again, nodding seriously at Li Yingliang, as if he wanted to emphasise the authenticity of what he had just said.

Behind the smoke, his eyes were dark. With his eyes as the centre, it seemed as if there was a pale black smoke spreading outwards. He truly had a sickly appearance; his face had thinned so much it was narrow. Yet, his red [8] lips were full of colour, and were now opening and closing in front of Li Yingliang, alternating between speaking and smoking his cigar.

Feeling that his lips were quite unpleasant to look at, he shifted his gaze to look at his eyes. “If I may ask, which hospital did Mr. Shen stay at? The doctor seems very skilled!”

“It’s not the doctor who was skilled,” Shen Zhiheng said, still amiably. “It’s me who was fortunate.”

“Those who survive catastrophe are bound for good fortune in the future. Could I have the honour of inviting Mr. Shen to have a meal with me, to celebrate Mr. Shen’s recovery?”

Shen Zhiheng nodded. “Sure.”

He had never spoken so much to Li Yingliang, let alone agreed to be his guest. Li Yingliang paused. He did not know why, but the hairs on his body were raised and his back was drenched in cold sweat. After two seconds, he finally showed his joy, though it was not exactly natural. It was almost as if he was so full of hate that he was in pain.

“Excellent! I’ve admired Mr. Shen for so long, and have long wanted to get to know you as a friend, but never had the chance to. This time, Mr. Shen has given me so much face [9] , I’m really extremely happy. Does tomorrow night work for you?”

Shen Zhiheng looked upwards in thought, and then replied, “I have other business to attend to tomorrow. Let’s make it the following day.”

“Good, good, the following day it is.” Li Yingliang seemed to have lost a little control of himself as he clapped his hands together loudly. “The following night, I will send someone in advance to give you an invitation.”

Shen Zhiheng nodded and smiled. “Good! See you the day after tomorrow.”

At this point, a curly-haired young man ran out from the dance hall, shouting loudly from a distance, “Shen-xiong!”

Shen Zhiheng turned to spare him a glance, then said to Li Yingliang, “Then, if you’ll excuse me first.”

Li Yingliang hurriedly extended a hand. “Sure, please do.”

Shen Zhiheng turned and walked towards Situ Weilian, wrapping his arm around his shoulders as he brought him back to the large dance hall. “What are the results of the battle?”

Situ Weilian originally had no status to attend this dance occasion. With a goal in mind, he had begged Shen Zhiheng to bring him. His goal was the one who had stolen the limelight tonight, the second young mistress Jin Jingxue. Ever since he had fortuitously gotten to know Jin Jingxue last year, the energetic and beautiful second young mistress Jin had become the goddess of Situ Weilian’s heart. Li Yingliang thought that Jin Jingxue was extremely annoying; if Division Commander Jin were to pass away that night, he would cut all the ties between him and her the next morning. But given how Li Yingliang was a strange person, his evaluation could not be counted. In the eyes of the normal youth, Jin Jingxue’s beauty and wealth were a given, even more adorable was her bright and candid demeanour. She loved to talk and laugh, almost like a chivalrous heroine, befitting of her status as a modern beauty of the new era.

Tonight, Situ Weilian bore a small glimmer of hope. At the very least, he could see Jin Jingxue from a distance. At the most, he could share a dance with her. Now, as he walked beside Shen Zhiheng, his face was red and sweaty.

He said softly, “I just exchanged quite a few words with Jingxue. She’s extremely courteous, and when she found out that I’m a doctor, she even praised me, saying that I’m smart.”

Shen Zhiheng turned his head slightly to look at him. “Jingxue?”

“Her name is Jingxue, is there anything wrong with me saying her name? It’s not like I said something over the top.”

Shen Zhiheng raised an eyebrow. “Neither did I say anything over the top.”

Situ Weilian was so shy that his face and ears were crimson. He was hardly shy, his face turning red only when Jin Jingxue was mentioned. “Shen-xiong, stop teasing me, okay? After tonight, I don’t know if I’ll have another chance to meet her again.”

Shen Zhiheng stopped. “Then go and find her again and invite her out for a meal or for a film! Unless you’re content with only bumping into her occasionally for the rest of your life?”

“Then will she reject me?”

“Don’t know, just go and try your luck.”

“I’m afraid that she’ll have a bad impression of me. What about this, Shen-xiong, you accompany me and help me speak to her. If she declines, then she’ll be declining the two of us. If not, I’ll be nervous.”

“I can go, but if she agrees, will your meal and film include me as well?”

“Stop fooling around, I know you won’t be bothered with this. Even if we include you, you wouldn’t go.”

“We?”

“Look at you picking on my words again!”

Shen Zhiheng clapped his back. “Fine, I’ll go with you. I’ll first chat idly with Miss Jin. We’ll talk about what good restaurants there are, and if there are any new films recently. Then, you’ll interject, and ask her if she is interested in going to a restaurant or in watching a film with you. As for whether she is willing to or not, it’s none of my business anymore. How’s that?”

Situ Weilian was so delighted he flashed a toothy grin, raking his hand through his head full of hair, trying to press his errant curls down.

Shen Zhiheng really went to see Jin Jingxue.

As a matter of fact, he looked like a young man, but for some reason, he did not seem to have anything in common with the other young people who were present. Perhaps, it was because all the young people who were present were young masters, and the people he frequently interacted with were these young masters’ fathers.

He always kept a distance from women, and it was rare for him to chat with young ladies. Jin Jingxue was a little puzzled, but also a little flattered. After politely exchanging some idle talk, Situ Weilian, who was sitting nearby with his ears peeled, jumped onto a good opportunity with much vigilance to ask Jin Jingxue out.

Without thinking much of it, Jin Jingxue readily agreed. Shen Zhiheng sat for a while, then stood up to leave. Jin Jingxue was a little flustered, when a head suddenly emerged from behind her shoulder.

“You know Shen Zhiheng?”

She turned, seeing Li Yingliang, who was standing behind her with his hands on his knees and his buttocks in the air, and with only his head extended towards her. Jin Jingxue looked at him, blinked her large eyes, and asked, “Where did you run off to? Why couldn’t I find you for so long?”

At once, she reached out to twist his ear, saying angrily, “Since you’ve surrendered yourself, you can’t blame me!”

Li Yingliang felt like he had fallen into the devil’s clutches.

He continuously danced seven or eight dances. Since he could not dance well, Jin Jingxue kept viciously pinching him, and the more she pinched, the messier his feet became. In the end, annoyed, he pushed away Jin Jingxue and turned around to leave, walking to the entrance of the hotel to get some fresh air. There was a steady stream of cars driving off at the entrance; there were already guests who had started to leave the venue. Standing at the steps before the entrance, he looked at the cars, thinking that among all of these cars, there was one waiting for him. It was hard to believe that he would have this day, when he had a car, had power, and could throw his weight around.

There were too many cars, and they had to queue up to slowly drive to the street. He lit a cigarette for himself, smoking while observing each car. At the end of the queue was a new, gleaming, crow black car. The curtains at the backseat were half drawn, and under the lights, he suddenly realised that hidden behind the curtains was half a face; this was precisely Shen Zhiheng.

Shen Zhiheng was staring at him the whole time, and he did not know how long he had been staring. Meeting his gaze, Shen Zhiheng waved slowly at him in farewell.

The car left Jinghua Hotel, first sending Situ Weilian home.

Situ Weilian sat beside Shen Zhiheng. He was in relatively good spirits, continuously whistling a little tune for the entire journey. He said to Shen Zhiheng, “Shen-xiong, I definitely won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

Shen Zhiheng was leaning his head against the window, not paying him much attention. “Then just sleep if you feel sleepy tomorrow.”

“How should I thank you?”

“There’s no need [10] .”

“Shen-xiong, you’re so good to me.”

“You saved my life, this is what I owe you.”

Situ Weilian suddenly moved towards him, looking at him closely, “Why are you so listless? Are you hungry?”

Shen Zhiheng gazed down at him, “I have something on my mind.”

------------------------------------------------------------

姓X的 (xìng X dè), with X being that person’s surname, is an impolite way of referring to someone, whether genuinely in a rude fashion (i.e. meaning it, as Li Guisheng does here), or jokingly or sarcastically (e.g. between friends).

热察 (rè chá). I’m not too sure about this, but this could be referring to the 热河 (rè hé) province, together with some other locality. This was a province that existed during the Republican Era, and in present day, is part of Hebei, Liaoning, and Inner Mongolia.

In the original novel, the characters for Jin Jingxue’s name are 金静雪, which differs from the 金靖雪 used in the drama. Both 静 and 靖 are pronounced as “jìng”. The former means “quiet”, while the latter means “peaceful” or “tranquil”. However, in certain scenes of the drama, Jin Jingxue’s name is still written as 金静雪, although the subtitles and drama marketing materials use 金靖雪.

Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) was a controversial empress dowager, but also one of the most influential women in Chinese history. More information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Dowager_Cixi.

I.e. no shame

长袍 (cháng páo) or 长衫 (cháng shān) is a traditional Chinese attire, originating from the Manchurians but later modified by the Han Chinese. It was commonly worn during the Qing Dynasty and Republican Era. This is also what Shen Zhiheng in the show frequently wears.

Two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, one mouth.

The exact word used here was 红彤 (hóng tóng), which refers to a red that has very slight yellow tones.

给面子 (gěi miàn zi), literally “give face”, is a very Chinese concept. It loosely means to respect someone and not humiliate them.

The phrase used here was 大恩不言谢, which literally means that someone had done you such a great favour that using words to thank them is not enough, instead, you would repay them back the favour in the future by helping them in turn.

[ruanbaijie]

During the Republican Era, Shen Zhiheng, a member of the Tianjin gentry who happened to be a vampire, offended the Japanese and became the target of an assassination attempt. He was saved by a blind young lady, Mi Lan, and his best friend Situ Weilian. When he went to repay Mi Lan for saving him, he discovered the terrible family situation that Mi Lan was in, and so began to pay more attention to her. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng’s plan to take revenge on Li Yingliang, the mastermind behind his assassination, fell short of success thanks to Li Yingliang’s Japanese superior, raising suspicions about his identity. Since then, Li Yingliang and the Japanese were in hot pursuit of Shen Zhiheng, determined to dig out the truth about his secret.

Please do not repost this anywhere else or retranslate it!

MAIN DIRECTORY ☾ READ ON AO3 ☾ PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Fate starts, fate ends [1].

These four words are a little mysterious, in that when they occur, they can do so silently, even without a trace.

We must begin telling our story the night Shen Zhiheng was attacked.

20 November 1936, night. Tianjin, English concession zone.

At a grand charity dinner party, Shen Zhiheng encountered an alcoholic, and decided to leave early. When he was not drinking, this alcoholic was also quite a decent, important figure. However, the moment he started drinking, he would become extremely clingy, and would keep bothering whomever he had caught, forcing others to keep drinking with him to the point of drunkenness. That night, he clung on to Shen Zhiheng, but Shen Zhiheng had discovered a few months ago that he could no longer drink alcohol.

Unwilling to vomit at the dinner party, he randomly cooked up an excuse to leave early. As he was afraid that the alcoholic would chase after him, he left in a hurry, and had even forgotten to wear his coat, and only realised how cold it was after he had gotten into his car.

He had always never panicked, but that night, he had been thrown off balance by that alcoholic, and when he thought back about it, it seemed like that had been a bad omen. But at that time, he could not think of anything, but to quickly start his car and return home to rest. His car was the year’s newest Cadillac model. He had just gotten it shipped over from the United States a month ago, and it was the only one of its kind in Tianjin. As such an extravagant newspaper tycoon, Shen Zhiheng himself was precisely a member of the modern literati who lived in luxury. And for the modern literati who happened to be rich, driving a luxury car to attract attention was naturally a fairly reasonable thing to do.

He drove his car past the street that marked the end of the English concession zone, heading straight for the Shen residence in the French concession zone. It was deep at night, and in addition to it being late autumn, when a gust of wind blew, it could be as chilly as a winter night. He drove past a well-lit Western-style mansion, which happened to be General Mi’s house. To be more precise, this was the house of General Mi’s legal wife, Mrs. Mi. General Mi was a gallant figure, and although he had retired ever since he had led his army up north to fight and had since then been idling away half the time, his promiscuous [2] nature remained, propagating everywhere and refusing to return home. 

And, when Shen Zhiheng drove past, there was a battle raging in the Mi mansion. Mrs. Mi, a grass widow, was taking out her anger on Young Mistress Mi. Young Mistress Mi was fifteen years old, but the paltry nutrients that she ate everyday had all been used for her to grow tall, and nothing had been left for puberty, so she still looked like a young girl.

Young Mistress Mi was also blind.

Twenty-four hours later, Young Mistress Mi would meet Shen Zhiheng, but at this point, she did not have an inkling of this meeting. Instead, she was gritting her teeth in pain, at the mercy of her mother who was pulling her hair and knocking her head against the wall. Her hair was sparse, with some parts of her scalp already exposed. They had all been pulled out by Mrs. Mi, because Young Mistress Mi was light in weight and small like a toy, Mrs. Mi found it very suitable to pull her hair and yank her here and there, and it had become so convenient it was as if she had grown addicted to it.

Grasping her walking cane in one hand, Young Mistress Mi knew that it was not possible for her to be knocked to death just by how her mother knocked her around. But she was also tired of living in constant anxiety and fear.

The car drove past the Mi mansion, leaving behind the suffering Young Mistress Mi. At the same time, at a not too distant corner of the city, Li Yingliang walked into his office and sat down behind his desk. Resting his elbows on the surface of the desk, he clasped his hands together and rested his chin on them, slightly tilting his head to look at the electric lamp as he waited for his subordinates to return with good news.

Tonight, Shen Zhiheng must die. If Shen Zhiheng didn’t die, there was no way he could report back to Yokoyama Akira. Besides, even if Yokoyama Akira had not given the order, even from his personal sentiments, he was very willing to kill Shen Zhiheng. This was because he had tried to approach Shen Zhiheng amicably multiple times, but Shen Zhiheng had always refused to pay him any attention. Fuck, he was the chairman of the North China Development Committee, and was accompanied by an air of power and multiple subordinates wherever he went, how could he be not worthy enough for Shen Zhiheng? 

So what if I do things for the Japanese? Aren’t you also taking advantage of the power of the English, Americans, and French to spout nonsense in the newspapers?

Li Yingliang was very sensitive and could not stop thinking about Shen Zhiheng. The more he thought, the angrier he got and the redder his eyes became. With his large, watery eyes and their uplifted corners, accompanied by a pair of long eyebrows and his pale skin, he looked quite beautiful, like a has-been opera actor.

The clock in a corner of the office chimed. Li Yingliang glanced up. It was already exactly one in the morning.

At exactly one in the morning, Shen Zhiheng stepped out of his car along the street.

There was something wrong with his car. No matter how many times he tried, it would not start. So, Shen Zhiheng decided to walk back home. The wind was getting stronger, seeming to almost blow up fine snow. Dressed in only a thin layer of evening attire, Shen Zhiheng, feeling the cold, thrust his hands into his pockets and lowered his head, hunching his shoulders and back as he walked against the wind.

After walking half the street, he turned at the corner, and continued walking half a mile, when he heard a car approaching behind him. Turning around, he was met with the shining headlights of a car that was speeding towards him.

Before he could react, he had already been hit and flung into the air. The car braked, and when he landed on the ground, it accelerated forward, its front and then rear tyres running over his lower back. Then, the car stopped. The two back doors opened, and two black-clad men jumped down, both holding pistols in their hands. The gun barrels were particularly long; they had been fitted with silencers. The two men walked in front of Shen Zhiheng.

“That’s Shen, right?” one of them asked in a low voice.  

The other one turned off the safety of his gun, loading bullets into it. “That’s right.”

The two of them raised their guns and pointed them at him, intending to fire some extra shots at him. Little did they know that before they could pull the trigger, Shen Zhiheng suddenly used his hands to brace himself against the ground, and stood up.

His short hair was messy, and his face and the front of his clothes were stained with large patches of dirt. However, his four limbs were whole, and he still looked like a complete person. He took a step towards the black-clad men, opening his mouth as if he wanted to say something. However, the black-clad men were well-trained, aiming at his head and pulling the trigger. The blast of the bullet snapped his head backwards, and a bloody hole instantly opened on his forehead, red and white bits splashing out together.

He stumbled a step, but still stood. He could even still speak.

“Who sent you?”

The black-clad men took a step back together. They were in the business of killing people, daring to kill live people; was there anything on earth that could scare them? Nothing, they had always been fearless, until this moment, when they met a living person who could not be killed. Again, they raised their guns and surrounded him, both aiming at Shen Zhiheng, both watching that sticky fluid trickle down Shen Zhiheng’s forehead, past his eyebrows, and to his eyes. He raised his hand to wipe it away, the sweet smell of blood permeating through the air. Then, the black-clad men watched as he raised his fingers and stuck them into his mouth.

His fingers were wet. As he sucked each of them one by one, his eyes swept across the two people in front of him.

The black-clad man who had fired the first shot decided to take the first shot again. With his gun aimed at the space between Shen Zhiheng’s eyebrows, he once again pulled the trigger. But now, his pointer that had been on the trigger pulled on nothing, as cold air blew across his fingers. He startled, realising that his gun was now in Shen Zhiheng’s hands. Shen Zhiheng pressed the mouth of the gun against the space between his eyebrows, and asked again, “Who sent you?”

His companion fired.  

His companion was standing beside Shen Zhiheng. In the fleeting moment before the gun fired, it was as if Shen Zhiheng had a premonition, suddenly raising his hand and hitting the gun barrel away. The gun pointed upwards and the bullet grazed across Shen Zhiheng’s hair. Immediately, he changed the direction of the gun in his hands and pulled the trigger at that person’s throat. After a muted sound went off, that person fell.

The gun turned back to the front, and he suddenly roared, “Who? Say or I’ll kill you!”

The black-clad man stared at him, watching his blood and brain juice flow down his temples together, watching how he still was not dead even after being injured to this extent. Not only was he not dead, he could still speak and kill people. The black-clad man had killed countless people up till that night, when he had encountered a living ghost.

He was terrified to the extent that he had forgotten there was still one reinforcement behind him.

The driver in the car stuck a light machine gun out of the window, firing in their direction. Without a silencer, the gunshot sounds rang out like a series of thunder. A tongue of fire swept across the black-clad man and Shen Zhiheng, and after both of them collapsed, the driver kept the gun and drove off. He turned the car around and drove over Shen Zhiheng’s corpse again, escaping into the night as patrol sirens echoed in the distance.

This once clean road was now flowing with rivers of blood.

Shen Zhiheng did not want to die, but if the patrol officers saw just how sorry a state he was now in, it would not be very appropriate if he were to not die. So, before the patrol officers could arrive, he rolled over a few times, rolling himself to the dirt beside the road. The dirt absorbed his fresh blood, and as he crawled forward a short distance, he ran out of blood to bleed.

He no longer left any evidence behind him.

As Shen Zhiheng was crawling with much difficulty, the two people he was fated to meet but had not yet met were currently busy with their own affairs.

Mi Lan [3] was sitting in her dark bedroom, clutching a waist belt in her hand. She wanted to die, but the Western-style house she lived in had smooth and sturdy walls, and had no beams from which she could hang herself. If she wanted to jump from a height, the house had only one level.

Li Yingliang was sitting in his well-lit office, making coffee for himself. He took a sip of the boiling hot coffee, yelping when it scalded him, his beautiful, dewy eyes turning red. Putting his cup down, he paced around the room, waiting for his subordinates to report back to him. They had planned this for so long, and Shen Zhiheng was just a member of the educated class, there was no reason they should fail. He suddenly stopped in front of the mirror to look at himself, but not to admire his handsome looks. He was barely aware of how handsome he was, in fact, he held barely any interest in his looks at all. He was checking to see if he had the air of an official, if he looked like someone who could rise rapidly through the ranks.

21 November 1936, day.

Li Guisheng knocked on the door and called out, “Sir, it’s Guisheng. I’ve returned.”

A voice replied from inside, “Enter.”

He pushed the door open and stepped in, not even daring to breathe. The room beyond the doors was spacious, furnished like an office of the highest quality. The furniture was all made of mahogany, and there was even a sofa and coffee table. Behind the Western-style writing desk sat an attractive young man, who was the one and only chairman of the North China Development Committee, Li Yingliang.

Li Guisheng had never determined exactly what type of government office this committee was, but he knew that it was supported by the Japanese and lacked neither power nor finances, which explained how Chairman Li could furnish an entire room with mahogany furniture. Li Yingliang was not that old, less than thirty years of age, and could be considered among the top two youngest and most promising people among the Chinese traitors [4] . Li Guisheng respected Li Yingliang, because he was no embroidered pillow [5] . Although he looked like a pretty freeloader, he actually had a fierce drive to keep pressing on indomitably. As long as the Japanese gave an order, Chairman Li would do it to the best of his abilities without a single moment of hesitation.

These past few years, Chairman Li had been forging ahead on his path regardless of whatever came his way, devoting himself entirely to this job. However, he was not exactly satisfied with his career, because he had too many competitors, and if he could work hard, so could they. And besides working hard, they still had more means and more connections than him, unlike him, who could only stubbornly persist. Actually, Li Guisheng did not know what weighed on Chairman Li’s heart. Li Yingliang wanted to be witty, smart, and slick, but he did not have the natural gifts for it, and had no choice but to accept the hand that fate had dealt him. After staying up the entire night in his office without sleeping a wink, his eyes had become as red as a rabbit’s.

“Why are you only back now?” he asked Li Guisheng.

“I went to take care of the car,” Li Guisheng replied. “One of the car lights had been broken, and I had to drive it to the car yard to be fixed. But the front of the car was splattered with… you know. It was too dirty, so I had to clean it first, before I dared to drive it to the car yard. Also, I’m the only one who returned.”

As soon as he saw Li Guisheng, Li Yingliang felt lighter. He lowered his head and arranged the few documents on his desk. “What about the other two?”

“They died.”

Li Yingliang paused and lifted his head. “Shen Zhiheng brought people with him?”

“No,” Li Guisheng replied. “The information we had gathered before was correct. Last night, he really went home by himself. That car of his also really broke down on his way back. Everything went according to plan, and when we caught up with him, he was walking on the street by himself.”

“Then how did two people die?”

Li Guisheng took a deep breath, as if he was about to give a long speech. However, in the end, he licked his lips, and could only sigh softly, “Sir, what happened last night, it felt evil in nature.”

Li Yingliang frowned. “Hmm?”

Li Guisheng bent down, describing the events of the previous night. Li Yingliang lowered his eyes and fixed them on the surface of the desk, listening with utmost concentration. When Li Guisheng finished, he raised his eyes, his gaze like fire.

“Did you see wrongly? If his brains were already spilling out, how could he still get up and kill people?”

Li Guisheng shivered in fear under his gaze. “This… when you put it this way, I can’t be certain. Maybe I’m the one who saw it wrongly?”  

Li Yingliang knocked his fingernail against the table, his gaze fixed on him as he spoke, “Put aside the details first. Let me ask you, in the end, in the end , did he definitely die?”

Li Guisheng immediately nodded. “Sir, he definitely died through and through. With the way that he died, it would be difficult to even collect a whole body.”

Li Yingliang leaned back. “Fine, as long as he’s dead. The worse he died, the better. It’ll let others know what will become of those who go against us. Don’t appear in public these two days, go home and rest. When this blows over, come back and run errands for me.”

Li Guisheng agreed, bowed, and left the room with his head lowered.

The Development Committee was housed in a large compound, but it actually did not have that many members. First, this was because Li Yingliang had fabricated the headcount in order to get more resources. Second, this Development Committee was actually not such a committee at all. From its members to the things that they did, all of it could not see the light of day. So, now, in the middle of the day, the compound was quite quiet, with only a little activity at the General Affairs Section.

Li Guisheng was a bachelor without any parents. It was pointless for him to return home, so he turned into the General Affairs Section to pass some time. When it was nearing noon, just when he wanted to leave, a certain Secretary Ding rushed in, and gave him a slap the second he saw him.

“You haven’t left? Good. Quick! The Chairman wants to see you!”

Perplexed, Li GUisheng, hurried back to the chairman’s office. Li Yingliang was seated behind the desk, a cup of steaming hot coffee in his hand. Seeing Li Guisheng enter, he did not say a word, waiting until Li Guisheng walked to him.

“We just got news that the corpse has disappeared,” he said.

Li Guisheng froze. “Who?”

“Who else? Shen.”

Li Guisheng looked at Li Yingliang. He was Li Yingliang’s most trusted subordinate, he had been with him for many years now, and the two of them were close, which explained why he dared to look him in the eye.

“What? That’s not possible. Did someone bury his corpse on purpose to hide that he is dead?”

“When you left, hadn’t the patrol already been alerted?”

“Yes, it felt like their whistles were just beside my ear. Besides, when we acted, we had already checked the surroundings. Let alone people, there was not even a wild cat or dog in the area!” His face changed at this point. “The French, it must be the French. Isn’t Shen Zhiheng in good relations with the French?”

Li Yingliang scoffed. There was the sound of laughter, but not a trace of laughter showed on his cold face. “Ridiculous! What does that have got to do with the French hiding his death? I’m in quite good relations with you as well; one day, when you die, should I also hide your body without letting anyone know? There’s no such reason!” He exhaled audibly. “Leave it like this for now! We’ll wait and see. I hope it was a wild dog that dragged him off and ate him.”

He leaned back, and knocked his fingernail against the table. “This Shen Zhiheng is so troublesome. When he was alive, he caused so much trouble for us. When he is dead, he’s still so disobedient. There’s no body if he’s dead, and no person if he’s alive. How can I report back to Yokoyama?”

Li Guisheng smiled, trying to placate him, “Sir, Shen Zhiheng is definitely dead. Just tell Commissioner Yokoyama that.”

Li Yingliang nodded slowly, waving for Li Guisheng to leave the room.

Li Guisheng was not one to spout nonsense, Li Yingliang knew.

Seated behind the desk, he spent much time calculating what move to make next, but did not manage to come to any conclusion. When the coffee had cooled down enough to not scald him to death, he lifted the cup and took a small sip from it, then steeled himself and swallowed it down. Objectively speaking, he felt that coffee was indeed a lot stronger than Chinese medicine. If he put himself to it, he could still drink it.

Coffee was a modern thing that the wealthy people all drank. Since he now had money, of course, he had to drink it too. As he finished the cup of coffee in sips, he suddenly remembered something: he had forgotten to add milk and sugar into his coffee.

Putting down the cup, he sighed, and called Secretary Ding into the room, “Xiao [6] Ding, do I have anything on tonight?”

Secretary Ding pulled a small booklet out of his pocket. He flipped it open and read, “Sir, General Mi has invited guests over tonight. You have to go to the Mi mansion.”

“Which Mi mansion?”

“The one at Victoria Street. His eighth wife lives there. General Mi is hosting tonight, because his eighth wife gave birth to a boy, who turns a month old today.”

Li Yingliang was silent for a moment. Yokoyama Akira was very interested in General Mi, and was thinking of winning him over. Although General Mi now had neither an army nor power, his reputation still remained, and that was precisely what Yokoyama Akira wanted.

When the commissioner gave an order, Li Yingliang would definitely take action, even attending these kinds of dinner parties scared him the most. He was afraid of getting lost in these situations where a lot of drinking was involved. All the guests knew how to converse and joke, apart from him. He had learned a few phrases of small talk, and he would recite each word and sentence aloud when he met people. However, his demeanour would be very serious, and when he recited till the end, it could be described as solemn and sombre. Anyone who heard it would feel that he was giving a eulogy, and would want to cry together with him.

Because of this banquet at the Mi mansion, Li Yingliang once again thought of Shen Zhiheng. He had seen Shen Zhiheng more than once, and it was always at various banquets. He had wanted to befriend him more than once, but Shen Zhiheng had always ignored him. It was fine if Shen Zhiheng did not want to be friends with him, he would take a step back, as long as Shen Zhiheng did not embarrass him and not continue exposing the reality of his Development Committee in the newspapers. Yokoyama Akira would also be willing to spend a little money to shut Shen Zhiheng up, yet, Shen Zhiheng smugly hid in the concession zone, refusing to pay him any attention.

Shen Zhiheng had his own power and influence. He had ties with the westerners, and also the secret societies. When people mentioned him, they would always call him “Mr. Shen”. Besides just ignoring him, there were a number of times when Mr. Shen looked at him with a strange look in his eyes, as if he were mocking him or pitying him. In any case, it felt like he was watching a small, trapped animal. At these banquets, when Li Yingliang, who was already ashamed and embarrassed, was subjected to such a gaze, he could not help but want to explode on the spot, and blast the motherfucker Shen Zhiheng to death.

So, when Li Guisheng had told him how messily Shen Zhiheng had died, Li Yingliang felt very satisfied.

Li Yingliang sent his people out, but even when they searched into the night, they still could not find Shen Zhiheng’s body.

As his subordinates continued to search, he sat in his car and headed to the dinner party at the Mi mansion. When the car entered the English concession zone, Li Yingliang pulled the window curtain aside and looked out. He saw a car parked at the side of the road. He recognised that car, it was the one and only one in the whole of Tianjin. It was Shen Zhiheng’s.

Staring at that car, he thought, “Where did he go to die?”

This question would continue to torture Li Yingliang for several days. But at this same time, two streets away, the young mistress Mi Lan was holding her walking cane and standing in the yard, thinking the exact same question, “Where do I go to die?”

21 November 1936, night.

Having gained a son, General Mi was extremely delighted. When he remembered that his legal wife had no sons of her own, he made a rare trip home to inform her of the good news, and also to encourage his legal wife and eighth wife to become one family. His eighth wife’s son would call her his mother, and when he grew up, he would also be filial to her.

He had no ill intentions, alas, Mrs. Mi was not on the same page as him. The more she listened, the more she thought that he wanted to bring his eighth wife home, and the two of them would have to fight with each other over him. It was already difficult enough for her as a grass widow, and now she could not even keep her status as his legal wife. What meaning did life have then?

So, she made a scene, where General Mi nearly beat her half to death, and she scratched him deep enough to draw blood. General Mi still had to entertain guests, and now that his face was injured, he was so angry he could have vomited blood. Before he left, he even threw harsh words at her, that he would divorce the bitch that she was.

Mrs. Mi collapsed onto the floor and wailed noisily, and as she did, she suddenly remembered that her daughter had been hiding in her room, pretending to be dead. She had not stepped out to defend her at all, and really resembled the Mi family’s temperament, a natural ungrateful brat.

Standing up, Mrs. Mi rushed into her daughter’s bedroom, pulling out Mi Lan who was hiding inside and beating her wildly in a fit of temper. The few old maids watched from a distance, too scared to even move. When Mrs. Mi vented all the anger boiling in her, she was far from finished. She pushed her daughter into the yard, saying that she no longer wanted her. Since she sided with her father in her heart, then she could get lost to her father’s side and attend her younger brother’s one month party!

Then, she ordered the old maids to lock the doors and not allow her to enter the house.

Mi Lan did not cry at all, not because she had astonishing perseverance, but because she had already reached the pit of despair. She knew that crying was useless, and so she was too lazy to even cry any more.

She sounded not a single cry or beg, dressed in only a grey Western-style. Her calves were wrapped in wool socks, her knees were still exposed. When a chilly gust of wind blew, she was frozen to her core. She sniffed, and smelled snow.

Besides being blind, her other senses were more sensitive than a usual person’s. With her walking cane in hand, she walked towards the exit. When one door shuts, another door opens. If living was really impossible, then there was always death. Now, she wanted to find a place with no one and hide there, waiting for the snow to come. It would definitely snow tonight. A night with wind and snow would be enough for her to freeze to death.

The sky was dark, and a number of street lamps were not working. She silently walked out, the soles of her leather shoes frozen solid. She heard the strong winds howling against the walls on both sides, and even heard the sound of cars and people in the distance. Suddenly, she moved to a side and pressed herself against the wall to hide. After standing ramrod straight for a while, two patrol officers finally rode past on bicycles.

The patrol did not see her. They rode their bicycles strenuously against the wind, passing her by. She remained unmoving, only taking a step when the two patrol officers turned a corner at the end of the street.

She had grown up in this area, and her memory was excellent. Although she usually did not leave the house often, she still recognised the neighbourhood. She had a destination in mind.

She walked to the end of the street, turned, and continued walking. Halfway through, there was a fork in the road. She turned in and continued walking. All along the way, she did not encounter even a single stumbling stone, not because there was some divine entity helping her, but because the heavens had not wanted to force her into a corner, and had given her this ability since birth. Finally, at the end of the forked road, she made another turn. The sound of the wind was louder here, as there were no longer any Western houses along the road. She had reached a desolate place.

The sound of the wind sweeping everything in its path and the sound of the wind spinning through ruined structures was very different to Mi Lan. Following the sound of the wind, she walked forward, off the road, and towards a heap of ruins. These were the ruins of an old house that had caught fire, leaving behind only a few crumbling walls. As the fire had burned a few people in this house, this area had an eerie atmosphere at night. Even on a hot summer night, no one dared to come here.

This was her destination. Her feet were already frozen solid, and given the stiff soles of her leather shoes, she limped as she walked. She vaguely felt that she had walked to the intersection point of two walls. She extended her walking cane, and it met with a wall. This was a good place. She could sit down, lean against the wall, and catch her breath. But her ears moved, and she suddenly held her breath, frozen on the spot.

With her walking cane pressed against the ruined wall, she spent a minute to make sure that it was the sound of breathing coming from behind the wall. And, it was human.

“Who’s there?” she asked.

“Stay away,” a reply came from behind the wall.

It was a man’s voice, deep and soft, and quite nice, but weak. Mi Lan ignored him. As she circled the crumbling wall towards him, she said, “It’s cold tonight. You will freeze to death here.”

That person evidently started to panic. He said “stay away” again, but seeing that Mi Lan had already come over, he softly sighed, “Since you’re disobedient, then I won’t be sorry.”

Mi Lan stopped in front of him, taking in a deep breath as she bent down. “You’re injured?”

He did not reply, and only a gust of wind with blood in its wake flitted by the tip of her nose. This was Shen Zhiheng raising a hand stained with dried blood, waving it in front of her.

“You can’t see?”

She stared at him with big, clear, and bright eyes, and nodded once.

Then, she heard a second sigh. Shen Zhiheng, with his head cracked open and his limbs twisted, put down his hand. This sigh was relaxed and full of disappointment. A single eyeball dangled from his socket and hung against his face, wobbling with his sigh. He did not need to kill her, and so he was relaxed. But because he did not need to kill her, he did not have something to eat, and so he was a little disappointed. With his remaining good eye, he looked at Mi Lan, and noticed that this was a baby-faced young lady with a head of long, messy hair. She looked weak and pale, and had a pair of extremely beautiful eyebrows.

“Whose child are you? Why are you here in the middle of the night?” he asked.

Mi Lan squatted down, inferring from the bloody wind, “Are you bleeding a lot?”

“Someone wants to kill me. I can’t go to the hospital. If you truly want to help, can you make a phone call to my friend? My friend will know how to save me.”

Mi Lan, with her face so cold it was nearly frozen stiff, was stunned. 

As a little ungrateful brat and unlucky jinx, in her own biological mother’s words, it was “excessive for her to live”. Who would put their life in her hands? When did she ever bear the responsibility of a matter of life and death? Suddenly, there was someone asking her to save their life, and she could not help but feel a little flattered. After a moment of surprise, she decided to have a little integrity: she would not die first, she would save him, and only after saving him, she would die.

She nodded in Shen Zhiheng’s direction. “Okay.”

“Do you know Keats Hospital?”

“No.”

“Any phone book will have the number to Keats Hospital. Call it and ask for a doctor named Situ Weilian [7] . Tell him to come and find me, and don’t alert anyone else.”

“Okay.”

“You must keep it a secret. If anyone finds me before Weilian does, I will die.”

Mi Lan continued nodding. “Okay.”

She kept saying “okay” without thinking twice, to the point that Shen Zhiheng simply could not figure out her background. “Whose family’s child are you?”

“My… my surname is Mi.”

“There aren’t many Mi families in this area. Could it be that you’re the young mistress of General Mi’s home?”

“You know my father?”

Shen Zhiheng smiled at her. “No wonder, like father, like daughter. But it’s the middle of the night, why are you all the way here by yourself?”

Mi Lan was silent for a moment, and nearly told the truth. But on second thought, she felt that those matters of hers were not worth mentioning. So, in the end, she replied without thinking, “I’m fine.”

“If you’re really fine, then hurry home.”

“What about you? Are you just going to lie here?”

“My leg is broken, I can’t walk. But don’t worry, I will be fine too.”

Mi Lan put down her walking cane. She lifted her hands to unbutton her buttons starting from her collar, shrugging off the little jacket that she wore. It was thin, and she spread it out to cover Shen Zhiheng’s body. Shen Zhiheng looked at her, noticing how her woolen vest and flannel blouse were exposed. The wind blew her messy hair around her face and shoulders. Her big, clear eyes stared straight ahead, her nose was small but high, and her thin lips were pressed into a straight line, causing her to look both child-like and aloof at the same time. Just as she lay the small jacket over him, it was blown up by the wind, and she pressed it down.

“I’m going home. I will definitely call your friend tomorrow.” She said to Shen Zhiheng’s face, “Don’t freeze to death!”

She spoke grimly, as if Shen Zhiheng would not freeze to death if he chose not to. Shen Zhiheng had never seen such a child before, and while he was a little touched, he also wanted to laugh. “Okay, I promise. I’ll wait for you to save me, I definitely won’t die.”

Mi Lan caught his hand and pressed it against the small jacket on his body. Then, she grabbed her walking cane, stood up, and walked out. Shen Zhiheng moved one eyeball, following her as she went. The strong winds blew her messy hair, and she walked up and down through the debris, occasionally even daring to jump off from high places. Shen Zhiheng had seen many blind people who were nimble before, but it was his first time seeing one who was nimble to this extent.

“Young Mistress Mi,” he pondered over these three words. The figure that had disappeared into the distance was quite interesting. Last night, after crawling here, because he was too cold and too hungry, he had not moved since. And neither could he move; no matter who saw him in his current condition, they would probably start conducting a funeral for him on the spot and pray for him to rest in peace. If he dared to protest, there was also a possibility that they would treat him like an evil spirit and burn him.

Reaching the road, Mi Lan grew more excited as she walked, and even completely did not want to die any more. Or, at least, she completely did not want to die for the time being.

She had nothing to her name, but after it all, she was still young and still hot-blooded. There was no one who could save her, but she could save someone else. Since she was here in the mortal world, she wanted to do something, and wanted to leave something behind. Was the person in the ruins good or bad? She did not know, and had not asked in time, but it did not matter. Even if he was not a human but a demon, she was also willing to save him.

Anyway, she had lived her life just like a lonely ghost. Since the rules and reasons of the human world had never protected her, she had no need to abide by them. The sound of a car came from behind her, and to her overly sensitive ears, it could be considered deafening. She subconsciously moved to the side of the road to hide, but the car stopped by her side. The door opened, and someone stuck their body out to ask, “Miss, who are you walking on the street by yourself? Are you lost?”

The voice belonged to a stranger. It was low and hoarse, without any warmth or feeling. Mi Lan knew she could not outrun a car, so she stopped and turned towards that person. “I am on my way home.”

“Where is your house? I can fetch you back.” That person’s voice paused, moving closer. “Miss, are your eyes inconvenienced?”

She did not detect any ill intention in his voice, and so she nodded.

A hand wrapped around her wrist, and then that voice said again, “Please get in. I am not a bad person. Where is your house? I’ll fetch you home.”

Helpless, Mi Lan let him guide her legs up the car. The hand wrapped around her wrist let go, reaching across her to close the car door. As no one normally treated her kindly, she was also cold towards people around her. Now that she had suddenly met a good person, she thought about it again and again, feeling that she should say a few more sentences. What should she say?

She suddenly remembered, “Thank you. Turn at the corner in front, then pass a street. There’s a building called Mi Mansion, that’s my house.”

That voice grew higher, “You’re General Mi’s family?”

Mi Lan hesitated, “He… He is my father.”

That voice suddenly moved to her front. “You are Young Mistress Mi?”

She subconsciously turned to the side to hide. “Yes.”

That voice immediately retreated back. “Excuse me, I was too surprised. I didn’t expect that I would bump into Young Mistress Mi here. My surname is Li, Li Yingliang. And to your father, I can be considered… a friend.”

Mi Lan moaned internally. The more she wanted to keep it a secret, the more she would bump into someone familiar. Normally, she stayed obediently at home, and there weren’t so many people who could recognise her as Young Mistress Mi. Now that she had run out of her house in the middle of the night for the first time in her life, she ended up finding out that her name was actually known far and wide. She nodded in Li Yingliang’s direction, murmuring, “Hello Li-shushu [8] .”

Li Yingliang measured her with his eye, noticing her dishevelled hair and leaking nose, which was so frozen that its tip was completely red. Even more so, she only had two thin layers of clothes on her, and her knees were completely exposed. She looked too miserable, to the extent that he thought of his own younger sister. He once had a younger sister, but as they were poor, they had no money to cure her aching stomach. She had been in so much pain that she would roll all over the brick bed, all the way up until she had died. When she had died, she had looked like this, with dishevelled hair and mucus and tears leaking from her face, her arms and wrists as thin and skinny as Young Mistress Mi’s. His younger sister had big eyes and a sharp chin. If she had lived to her teens, she would probably have looked very much like Young Mistress Mi.

He never did find out what illness his younger sister had died from, and had no way of finding out. So, he asked Mi Lan, “Young Mistress, why are you walking on the streets by yourself in the middle of the night?”

“My… mother beat me, I got nervous, so I ran out.”

He asked gently, “Why did your mother beat you? Did you do something wrong?”

“I didn’t, it was my mother who was angry, because my father had thrown a one month party for my younger brother.”

Li Yingliang nodded, recalling General Mi’s scratched face at that night’s dinner party. What this young lady said matched up with the scratches on his face, and was not a lie.

“Don’t run about like this in the future. It’s dangerous outside. What if you met some bad people who kidnapped you to be sold? Even if you don't meet bad people, the weather is so cold that you could fall sick.”

Mi Lan nodded. “Thank you, Uncle. I understand.”

Li Yingliang actually quite hoped that she would call him “gege” [9] , but she was the young mistress Mi after all, and he could not treat her disrespectfully. Furthermore, she was blind, not dumb. If she told someone that he had coaxed her into calling him “gege”, it would look like he had impure motives. In actuality, how was he such a person? He only ever had great ambitions, and his private life was pure to death.

At midnight, Li Yingliang fetched Mi Lan back to the Mi mansion.

After kicking her daughter out, Mrs. Mi had proceeded to drown her sorrows in alcohol. She had gotten herself thoroughly drunk, and was now sleeping so deeply that she was snoring away. Li Yingliang originally thought that fetching Young Mistress Mi home could win him a favour, and the Mi family would be grateful to him. Little did he know that when the gates of the Mi mansion opened, only a naggy old maid rushed out to fetch Mi Lan back in. Li Yingliang had not expected that Young Mistress Mi was worth so little. Besides being surprised, he had nothing else to say, and could only go back to his car and return home.

That night, Li Yingliang met Mi Lan for the first time, and Mi Lan met Shen Zhiheng for the first time. They met coincidentally through fate, and got to know one another.

This fate truly began without any warning at all.

------------------------------------------------------------

A literal translation of 缘起缘灭 (yuán qǐ yuán miè), which refers to the belief in Chinese Buddhism that the fate between two people is a kind of invisible connection, and the chance of two given people meeting is inevitable. Once the fate tying them together begins, the ties binding them together will increase, yet once it ends, these ties will lessen. This phrase is frequently used to describe how once close relationships between people can return to being distant with time, and often appears in literature and films to allude to the impermanence of worldly affairs.

The phrase “千古风流人物” was derived from lyrics by Su Dongpo (1037-1101), which refers to the many gallant and heroic figures of the past. However, 风流 (fēng liú) can also refer to philandering, promiscuous behaviour.

In the original novel, the characters for Mi Lan’s name are 米兰, which differs from the 米岚 used in the drama. Both 兰 and 岚 are pronounced as “lán”. However, while the former means “orchid”, the latter means “mountain mist”.

汉奸 (hàn jiān) literally means “traitor of the Hans”, this was used to refer to those who betrayed China and the Chinese citizens to submit to or collaborate with foreigners for their personal gain, particularly during the Republican Era and during the resistance to the Japanese.

绣花枕头 (xiù huā zhěn tóu) literally means “embroidered pillow”. It refers to someone who looks attractive on the outside but has no talent on the inside.

Saying 小 (xiǎo) in front of someone’s name is a form of diminutive. It literally means “little” or “small”.

In the original novel, the characters for Situ Weilian’s name are 司徒威廉, which differs from the 司徒威涟 used in the drama. Both 廉 and 涟 are pronounced as “lián”. The former means “incorruptible” or “honest”, and 威廉 are also the characters commonly used for the Chinese translation of the English name “William”. On the other hand, 涟 means “water ripple”.

叔叔 (shū shu) means “uncle”.

哥哥 (gē ge) means “older brother”.

[ruanbaijie]

During the Republican Era, Shen Zhiheng, a member of the Tianjin gentry who happened to be a vampire, offended the Japanese and became the target of an assassination attempt. He was saved by a blind young lady, Mi Lan, and his best friend Situ Weilian. When he went to repay Mi Lan for saving him, he discovered the terrible family situation that Mi Lan was in, and so began to pay more attention to her. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng’s plan to take revenge on Li Yingliang, the mastermind behind his assassination, fell short of success thanks to Li Yingliang’s Japanese superior, raising suspicions about his identity. Since then, Li Yingliang and the Japanese were in hot pursuit of Shen Zhiheng, determined to dig out the truth about his secret.

Binged Snowfall, fell absolutely in love with it, finished the novel, and decided to try my hand at my very first proper translation project 🥹

Please do not repost this anywhere else or retranslate it! For different sentences/ phrases, I’ve chosen to either translate close to the original Chinese phrase or to replace it with something that is more commonly understood in English, depending on the context. Retranslating this English translation to another language may further dilute the original Chinese meaning.

Translation footnotes will be available at the end of each chapter for any words/ phrases I feel need a more detailed explanation of nuances.

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Shen Zhiheng [1] could be considered a good person, in fact, a relatively decent one at that.

He was in his late twenties at least, or his early thirties at most, in any case, he was in the prime of his life. His looks were also of a decent calibre: he was tall, like a clothes rack, and was even more sophisticated in his dressing, always in a proper suit, as if he could stand behind a glass window at any time and pretend to be a mannequin.

Not only was his personal appearance already of such a level of perfection, his assets and wealth were also abundant. Although his origins were a bit of a mystery, within the Beiping [2] and Tianjin region, he had started by investing in newspaper companies to make a fortune. After that, with his shrewd acumen for finance, he had spread his investments everywhere, using money to make more money, and had rapidly become famous in Tianjin. Beyond his wealth, he also published poems and essays frequently in the newspapers. Although some said that those poems and essays were ghostwritten, but there was really no need to nitpick over such an issue. As long as everyone knew that he was both talented and rich, both handsome and wealthy, that was enough.

Now that he had both money and time, and that he was a major investor of several large newspapers, two of which were in the concession zones, he could rely on the support of his English, French, and American friends, and even on the gangs to have his back. The newspapers he supported had nothing to fear, daring to publish any piece of news, to scold any person, and had even offended the Japanese this year.

The Japanese themselves did not understand how far his resources reached, that he could actually dig up their political secrets, and after that, publish those secrets directly in the newspapers instead of making use of them to enter negotiations with the Japanese. This caused a societal uproar, and even a few student protests. And because they could not get a grasp on his social connections, the Japanese did not dare to fall out with him. Instead, they first tried to dangle carrots in front of him, trying to use benefits and sentiments to move him. Little did they know that Shen Zhiheng was a cold-hearted young gentleman with no lack of money, and who entirely could not be moved. This caused a certain Commissioner Yokoyama Akira [3] to be very annoyed, as if he were playing a game of unrequited love and had been met with complete ignorance, to his complete humiliation.

Annoyed, the commissioner wanted to have Shen Zhiheng killed. Actually, Shen Zhiheng also knew that there was a possibility that the commissioner wanted to have him killed. However, in recent years, his life had been smooth sailing, too smooth, that it caused him to be blindly positive, and not take this possibility seriously. It was to the extent that when the commissioner decided to make his move, Shen Zhiheng was still absentmindedly making public appearances. As he had in previous years, he organised a charity event, where he gave the local beggars a cotton-padded jacket and five cents each.

Everyone thought that Shen Zhiheng was a good person, and on this point, Shen Zhiheng agreed with them. He also thought that he was not bad, at least he could live up to the word “good”. The only unresolved question: he didn’t know if he could be considered a person [4] or not.

Fortunately, this was not too urgent a question. After all, compared to everyone else, he looked even more like a human, and at least for the time being, he wouldn’t go so far as to say that he would be treated as a demon and burned to death. Besides, this question was not necessarily unsolvable. For close to ten years, Shen Zhiheng had been pretending to be human and flourishing, and he believed that he could find the answer for himself.

Unfortunately, this night, while he was on his way home, the self-confident Shen Zhiheng accidentally had his head blasted, and then even ground to pulp by a car.

Mr. Shen wanted to cry yet simply had no tears left, and very nearly died from agony.

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In the original novel, the characters for Shen Zhiheng’s name are 沈之恒, which differs from the 沈之衡 used in the drama. Both 恒 and 衡 are pronounced as “héng”. However, while the former means “lasting” or “constant”, the latter means “to judge” or “to measure”, or to refer to something that is balanced. However, in certain scenes of the drama, Shen Zhiheng’s name is still written as 沈之恒, although the subtitles and drama marketing materials use 沈之衡.

What Beijing was called from 1928.

The Kanji characters of Yokoyama Akira are 横山 瑛, which in Mandarin Chinese pronunciation, is “héng shān yīng”, with “Hengshan” being his surname and “Ying” being his given name. In the show, as the Japanese people have been replaced with Chinese people instead, Yokoyama Akira is now Chi Shanying 池山英 “chí shān yīng”, with “Chi” being his surname and “Shanying” being his given name.

As in “human”. The Chinese character 人 (rén) can refer to both a person as an individual, or a human as in a human being.

[ruanbaijie]

During the Republican Era, Shen Zhiheng, a member of the Tianjin gentry who happened to be a vampire, offended the Japanese and became the target of an assassination attempt. He was saved by a blind young lady, Mi Lan, and his best friend Situ Weilian. When he went to repay Mi Lan for saving him, he discovered the terrible family situation that Mi Lan was in, and so began to pay more attention to her. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng’s plan to take revenge on Li Yingliang, the mastermind behind his assassination, fell short of success thanks to Li Yingliang’s Japanese superior, raising suspicions about his identity. Since then, Li Yingliang and the Japanese were in hot pursuit of Shen Zhiheng, determined to dig out the truth about his secret.

Please do not repost this anywhere else or retranslate it!

MAIN DIRECTORY ☾ READ ON AO3 ☾ PREVIOUS CHAPTER

That very day, outside the chapel, Mi Lan got her wish and met Shen Zhiheng.

Shen Zhiheng arrived in a hurry, asking the moment he alighted from the car and saw Mi Lan, “What’s the matter?”

There was anxiousness in his voice, and Mi Lan immediately suspected that she had given him a fright. When it came to Shen Zhiheng, she “treasured” him a lot, as if she had saved him once, and he was now hers. Or at least, she owned a small share of his person. Ever since she was a child, it always felt as if she was just temporarily staying in this world, with nothing to her name, and could leave whenever she wanted to. Shen Zhiheng was the one who gave her a small connection to this world. To a certain extent, Shen Zhiheng himself seemed like her private property.

She smiled softly at Shen Zhiheng, replying, “I’m fine. It’s not about me.”

Shen Zhiheng measured her, noticing that there were no new wounds on her face and hands, and that her complexion was not that bad. It was only then when he guided her into the car.

“If it’s not about you, then who is it about?”

“It’s Li-shushu,” she replied. “The one we met at the entrance of Victoria Hospital.”

Shen Zhiheng stared at her suspiciously, “What… about him?”

 If Mi Lan could see, that suspicion in Shen Zhiheng’s eyes would have probably made her heart run cold. It was blatant suspicion, accompanied by blatant scrutiny, as if she were a slowly unravelling mystery in the midst of revealing its true face one layer by one layer.

Her blind eyes protected her at this moment, and she answered honestly, “He came to find me, asking me to pass a message to you. He said that he wants to reconcile with you, and even wants me to mediate.”

“Then how do you intend to mediate?”

“I’m only passing his message, I won’t mediate.”

“Why are you doing as he asks? That brat is not a good person.”

“He’ll ultimately find someone else to pass you his message. Instead of someone else, it might as well be me. At least, I won’t be in cahoots with him and lie to you.”

“This is not something you should be interfering in.”

Mi Lan grew silent.

Shen Zhiheng spoke again, an undercurrent of anger faint in his voice, “You’re right, he’ll ultimately find someone else to pass me his message. Even if it’s not you, it’ll be someone else. But you were willing to do it for me, and so he now knows that both of us still remain in contact with each other. He’ll also know that your opinions and words matter to me, and he’ll even be able to find out that you were the one who saved me that night! Do you believe or not that his eyes and ears are hiding outside right now? Do you believe or not that he’ll continue coming to you in the future, and even use you to threaten me?”

Mi Lan froze. She had never considered what Shen Zhiheng had just said.

“I won’t let him use me to threaten you,” she said. “I won’t go for choir classes in the future. I’ll hide at home and refuse to leave. He wouldn’t dare to barge into my house to find me.”

Shen Zhiheng sighed. “I arranged the choir classes for you with the hope that you could come out and see the world, make some friends, and live well. In the future, when you leave your family, you can also pass your own days happily.”

“I know,” Mi Lan replied softly. “But, in the past, I hid in the house because I had nowhere else to go. Now, I’ll hide in my house because I want to help you. Both cases are similar because I’m hiding at home, but they’re different because my feelings are different. I’m willing.”

“Do you still remember my phone number?”

“Yes, you gave it to me in the past.”

“If there’s a need, find a way to call me. If it’s not convenient at home, then find a random store. A café or a grocery store. As long as it’s a place that has a telephone installed, you can borrow it, just give them some money. The money that I gave you after you left the hospital, have you kept it well?”

“Yes.”

Shen Zhiheng extended his hand to ruffle her hair. He really wanted to save her, but her father was General Mi, and if he were to really abduct her and flee, General Mi would be humiliated and would definitely not spare him. Besides, after abducting her and fleeing, what next? Would he set up a residence and support her like a mistress [1] , letting her live alone? Or would he keep her by his side? This young lady seemed to have a third eye. If he kept her by his side, it wouldn’t take her a few months to discover all of his secrets.

Shen Zhiheng suddenly felt a twinge of regret. He should not have been so friendly with her these few days. His intentions were good, but the outcome might end up harming her. He was destined to be a harbinger of misfortune and destruction for his entire life. That he could get to know a dumb, happy-go-lucky Situ Weilian was already an unexpected joy, he should have been satisfied with that.

“Run along. Cry as you go back, pretend that I just scolded you.”

Understanding what he meant, Mi Lan pushed the car door open and fumbled out herself. Just as the wind hit her face, she opened her mouth and lowered her head, starting to heave in huge sobs. As she walked alone to the chapel, she even specifically used her sleeve to wipe her eyes. Shen Zhiheng watched her enter the chapel in amazement, because he realised that Mi Lan was both beautiful and intelligent, understanding him in a second and not needing any further explanation, as if she were his close friend who could implicitly understand his thoughts and feelings [2] .

However, Mi Lan did not make good on her promise. The afternoon of the second day, she went to the chapel again.

Li Yingliang found a chance to get a hold of her outside the chapel. In a daze, she froze, and spoke with her head lowered, “Li-shushu, don’t come and find me anymore. I can’t help you.”

Li Yingliang asked her, “Did you pass my message to Shen Zhiheng?”

Mi Lan’s face was ashen. “Mr. Shen is not happy.” She sobbed, “He said I was a busybody and scolded me.”

Extending her walking cane, she found where Li Yingliang was standing, and looped around him in a hurry to return to the little classroom where her choir class was held. 

Then, starting from the third day, she no longer left the house. Li Yingliang did not know just how Shen Zhiheng had scolded her, he only felt that this Young Mistress Mi had suffered a terrible blow. He could not get over this line of thought. This Young Mistress Mi had always lived a miserable life, and had finally gotten the chance to leave her house everyday to go to the choir and have some fun, but this had all been ruined by him, who had not gained anything out of the process either. If he had known earlier that she did not have much say with Shen Zhiheng, he would not have approached her.

Li Yingliang gave up with Mi Lan, and decided to try to find a new path. When it came to Shen Zhiheng, the closer he got to him, the harder it was for him to disentangle himself from him. All day long, he would be brooding over this demon surnamed Shen.

Unexpectedly, one afternoon, Shen Zhiheng invited himself, showing up on initiative at the main gates of his Development Committee.

Hearing that Shen Zhiheng had come, Li Yingliang could not believe it at first. Shen Zhiheng was always very cautious and rarely left the concession zone. He had no reason to take the risk and run over to where he was; what difference did this have from walking straight into a trap?

It was only when he went to take a look and welcome him that he realised that Shen Zhiheng had not gone insane. This time, he had brought with him some twenty to thirty people, and their cars, parked outside the Development Committee, made up a huge contingent. The backseat window of the car in the lead opened, and Shen Zhiheng himself hung his elbow outside the window, tilting his head and looking up. As a pair of glasses, tinted the colour of smoky quartz, sat on his nose bridge, no one knew exactly what he was looking at. 

Li Yingliang revealed a smile in advance, welcoming loudly, “Mr. Shen, what a rare guest.”

Shen Zhiheng raised his hand to remove his glasses, nodding at him, “Chairman Li.”

Li Yingliang looked at him with a smile. His smile was so wide that his eyebrows were curved, the corners of his lips were upturned, and his teeth were revealed. There was nothing but joy on his face. Judging by his smile that was so full of delight, Shen Zhiheng figured that this would be followed by a round of pleasantries, and so he waited quietly, intending to let him speak his fill before he started talking himself. After all, he knew that in negotiations, striking first did not necessarily give one the upper hand.

He thought this way, and so too did Li Yingliang, so the two of them stared at each other. Li Yingliang stood still in the cold wind, smiling till his front teeth were freezing, yet still not knowing why Shen Zhiheng kept staring at him without saying a word. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng was equally clueless, and began to suspect that this smile of Li Yingliang’s had become frozen on his face because of the freezing wind.

In the end, Li Yingliang’s smile slowly faded, and neither could Shen Zhiheng bear with it any longer, “Why don’t you invite me in to have a seat?”

Li Yingliang opened the door of the car, his attitude still as respectful as before, “I couldn’t ask for more. Please, Mr. Shen.”

Shen Zhiheng extended a hand towards the driver in the front, who understood and immediately pulled out a Browning pistol from under the seat and handed it to him. He tucked the pistol into his coat, and then got out of the car.

“Chairman Li, this time, I’ve come prepared. If you still dare to pull any tricks inside, I’ll kill you.”

Li Yingliang laughed loudly, “Based on Mr. Shen’s abilities, do you still need a gun to kill me?”

Then, he gestured towards the gate, “Please.”

Shen Zhiheng strode in as Li Yingliang guided him to his office. Meanwhile, Li Guisheng led a group of men to hide in ambush outside the windows. If anything happened in the room, they would immediately smash the windows and barge in. Even so, after Li Yingliang closed the door, his heart still slowly rose to his throat.

Shen Zhiheng walked one round around his office. Since he was here, he might as well take a look at the headquarters of this Chinese traitor.

Li Yingliang personally poured a cup of hot tea and placed it on the coffee table, saying, “Mr. Shen, please have a seat. I’m truly very pleasantly surprised that you’ve taken the time to come today. I was of the impression that Mr. Shen hated me, and we would never have the chance to resolve our misunderstandings and shake hands and speak in peace.”

Shen Zhiheng turned around in front of the large desk, facing Li Yingliang, “Whether we make peace or not, that’s something that’s between you and me. You should not have urged Young Mistress Mi to be a middle-man. If General Mi found out about this, how do you think he would react?”

Li Yingliang replied, “Mr. Shen wouldn’t complain about me to General Mi, would you?” Then, he grinned, “But, even if General Mi found out about this, I would have an explanation for him. After all, Mr. Shen’s and Young Mistress Mi’s relationship is a little… how do I put it? Haha, not that normal!”

At this point, he stared directly at Shen Zhiheng, “Mr. Shen, it’s rare for us to get the chance to have a peaceful conversation like this. I once dealt you a heavy blow, and neither did you spare me. That you didn’t die is proof of your good fortune, that I didn’t die is also proof of my good fortune. Since the heavens have arranged it such that you and I are both alive to stand here today to speak to one another, I think that we should accept and treasure this chance. I know you look down on me. That’s okay. Many people look down on me, you’re not the only one. You’ve never pointed at my nose and scolded me before, that’s already proof of you giving me face. Recently, you’ve also seen my attitude; I was really trying every method to get close to you, to mend ties with you, but you never gave me the chance. So, I had no choice but to try anything in desperation and seek out Young Mistress Mi. I know that you give her face, and you owe her a favour. But you can rest assured that I’ve never threatened or scared her. What’s the point of me scaring a young lady? I just asked her to help me pass you a message. But it seems like you didn’t give her face. These few days, Young Mistress Mi has not appeared in public at all.”

Shen Zhiheng said, “You’ve gotten it the wrong way round. It’s not that I owe her a favour, she is the one who owes me a favour. Without me, she would have died in the hospital last month.”

Li Yingliang raised his head and thought, and then smiled, “Yes, yes, you have a point. If you hadn’t been there to take care of her, perhaps she really would have died of her illness. And that night, if she hadn’t been there to save you, you probably would still be able to live.” He waved his hands towards Shen Zhiheng, “Don’t be mistaken, I’m being frank here, I mean you absolutely no ill intention.”

Shen Zhiheng could hear through it, Li Yingliang was testing him. This rascal was not stupid. Everything he said was accurate, yet, Shen Zhiheng was just the type of person who was not afraid of being tested.

Meeting his gaze, Li Yingliang took a few tentative steps in his direction. “Mr. Shen, can you tell me, how on earth did you… why are you…”

For a moment, he did not know how to phrase his question. “What I mean is… logically speaking, you definitely died without a doubt. But after disappearing for a month, you reappeared, having not died at all. How?”

Shen Zhiheng shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re saying.”

“I’m truly extremely curious.”

Shen Zhiheng suddenly smiled. “Do you really want to know?”

“Yes! Can you tell me?”

Shen Zhiheng sighed, “Then you must keep it a secret for me.”

“Of course!”

“I don’t trust you, you must swear on your life.”

Li Yingliang raised his hand and straightened three fingers, “I, Li Yingliang, swear that whatever Mr. Shen tells me today, I will keep it a secret until the end. If I go back on my word, I will be punished by the heavens and get struck by lightning!”

Shen Zhiheng raised a finger and pointed at him, “You will also die without descendants and be sent to the eighteenth level of hell when you die, never to reincarnate for eternity.”

Li Yingliang really used all of his patience on Shen Zhiheng. “Okay, okay, I’ll die without descendants and be sent to the eighteenth level of hell, never to reincarnate for eternity.”

Shen Zhiheng turned his head to glance at the windows, then walked towards Li Yingliang. Li Yingliang suspected that he could sense the people waiting in ambush outside the windows. Seeing him approach him closer and closer, Li Yingliang’s calves seemed to cramp a little. But if he turned around and ran now, everything he had done these past few days would go down the drain.

Shen Zhiheng stopped in front of him. Because he was taller than him by half a head, Li Yingliang pretty much just fell into his shadow. Shen Zhiheng lowered, moving to the side of his ear, and said in a low voice, “Actually, I’m a demon.”

Then, he straightened his body, stared at Li Yingliang, and nodded his head once with certainty. “A demon.”

Li Yingliang was tongue-tied. “No–Mr. Shen, can you stop joking around with me? I’ve even already sworn on my life, and yet you’re telling me now that you’re a demon. You’re not being serious.”

Shen Zhiheng said seriously, from the bottom of his heart, “I’m really a demon. If you don’t believe me, come to my house tonight, I’ll reveal my true form to you.”

“That I don’t dare.”

“What’s there to be scared of, it’s not like I can eat you.”

Upon saying that, he could not help but swallow his saliva. He was due for a meal tonight, and so now, the second he smelled the breath of a live person, his hunger would grow. Li Yingliang glanced at the way his Adam’s apple moved up and down, and immediately felt his hairs standing. Until now, he did not believe a single word of what Shen Zhiheng said. Perhaps, demons really existed in this world, but Shen Zhiheng was definitely not something as simple as a demon.

His mouth dry, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva, “Then, what’s your true form?”

“I’ve been human for so long, I can’t remember. If you’re interested, why don’t you just see for yourself?”

Shen Zhiheng’s tone was lively, and so Li Yingliang also put on a false smile, “But to tell you the truth, I really feel like you want to eat me.”

Shen Zhiheng extended a hand and patted his shoulder. “It’s good that Chairman Li is so cautious. It’s better to be safe than sorry. But Chairman Li can rest assured, if you just concern yourself with rising through the ranks, while I just concern myself with making money, both of us minding our own business, then I wouldn’t eat you. But if you really can’t contain your curiosity and insist on playing tricks on me, then don’t blame me for a moment’s rashness.”

At this point, he lowered his voice, “Chairman Li, let me tell you, what person I am isn’t important; what’s important is whether you can live well or not.”

Li Yingliang raised his head to look at him, “So, you came here today to warn me.”

Shen Zhiheng shook his head continuously. “I’m not that kind. I never give any warnings before doing things. Wouldn’t you be wary once I give you a warning? I’m not that stupid.”

As he said this, his voice bore traces of anger as he smiled, and it was fairly gentle and kind, as if he were nagging at his little brother about the housework. Li Yingliang’s character was already quite volatile; who knew that Shen Zhiheng was actually one level above him.

Seeing Shen Zhiheng retrieve that pair of tinted glasses from his pocket, as if he was about to leave, he said in a hurry, “Can I invite you again for dinner? It just happens that it’s no longer early now, it’s just the right time.”

Shen Zhiheng put on his glasses. “I don’t eat food, I eat people.”

Then, he raised his hand and pulled Li Yingliang by his shoulder, making him turn around. With his arm draped across his shoulders, he pushed the door open, saying, “I’ll trouble you to see me out.”

The force he exerted was startlingly large, and Li Yingliang could not help but walk forward. “Mr. Shen, I feel that we should continue talking. The Japanese really want to be friends with you. I, too, personally–”

“Shut up!”, Shen Zhiheng suddenly turned towards him and roared.

With his abrupt change in demeanour, even though Li Yingliang could not see his eyes, he could see his ferocious expression, like he had lost his temper. Previously, he had been babbling pleasantly and amicably, and his temper had been better than anyone else’s. Li Yingliang had not thought that he would roar in anger without any warning. Stepping out of the doors of the committee, he watched agape as Shen Zhiheng slid into his car and left.

Li Guisheng ran up from behind him, muttering angrily, “Sir, he actually dared to yell at you.”

Li Yingliang glared. “Is it strange that he yelled at me? He even dares to kill me!”

Leaving the Japanese concession zone, Shen Zhiheng went straight to Keats Hospital.

Every alternate day, Situ Weilian would bring blood for him. And every two days, just before having his meal, he would be starving. At this time, if he was alone in a quiet place and did not get agitated by anything, nothing much would happen. But if he was suffering from starvation and a warm, fragrant live human was put in front of him, the flames of hunger would burn him to madness.

Earlier, Li Yingliang’s endless chatter had made him see red. He had tried to endure it, but in the end, he had still snapped, and had shut the bastard up with a single roar.

Seeing Shen Zhiheng’s car from inside the hospital, Situ Weilian immediately grabbed his canvas satchel and ran out, two heavy glass bottles knocking against each other in it. He opened the car door and looked at Shen Zhiheng, and as if he could read Shen Zhiheng’s mind, he placed the satchel in the car.

“You go first, I’ll come and find you tonight!”

Shen Zhiheng only glanced once at him, before instructing the driver to drive off. Arriving home a short while later, he held the canvas satchel and raced up the stairs, dashing into his bedroom.

Taking deep gulps, he drained the two large bottles of icy cold blood.

Then, he went limp in satisfaction and bliss. In the middle of his daze, he faintly felt a twinge of sorrow. He knew that he was deteriorating at an increasing rate. Perhaps, one day, he would lose his wisdom, his thoughts, his speech, leaving behind only a bloodthirsty hunger.

But he had not been born a monster. When he was fourteen, he had passed the first examination to be an official, and he had once been a talented youth with a bright future.

It was a pity that he had been a human only until the age of fourteen.

After getting off work, Situ Weilian went straight to the Shen mansion. When he entered, Shen Zhiheng had just regained his consciousness, coming down the stairs to welcome him. Situ Weilian brought the cold in with him as he stood in the building, looking around. He saw that Shen Zhiheng had evidently just taken a bath, and was now adjusting the collar of his changpao as he descended the stairs.

Looking down, Shen Zhiheng nodded and asked, “Have you had your dinner?”

“No, I ran over as soon as I got off work.”

Shen Zhiheng lifted a hand and pointed at the telephone on the wall beside the door. Situ Weilian understood. He turned around to grab the telephone, giving the nearby restaurant a call and ordering a table of dishes.

Putting down the phone, he saw that Shen Zhiheng had already walked to the sofa and was seated down there. He moved over, asking, “You were hungry in the afternoon?”

Shen Zhiheng was busy finding his cigar and a matchstick. “I was hungry.”

Situ Weilian ruffled his curly hair with a hand. “You got hungry early?”

Shen Zhiheng lit his cigar, inhaling deeply. “Weilian, one day, if, because of my hunger, I end up attacking a live person, what would you do?”

Situ Weilian felt that he was saying this a little decorously and stiffly. He smiled at once, “What would I do? What else could I do? Of course I would think of a way to find you food!”

“You won’t be afraid of me?”

Situ Weilian immediately shook his head. “You won’t suck my blood, I trust you.”

Shen Zhiheng laughed. “I don’t even trust myself, on what basis do you trust me?”

“Because we’re good friends, we care for each other [3] .”

Shen Zhiheng suddenly changed the topic, “Do you have enough money?”

“What? Are you offering me financial assistance?”

“I can offer you financial assistance, but you must help me think of an idea.”

“Go ahead!”

“When Mi Lan is at home, she can’t pass her days well. I arranged it such that she could attend choir lessons everyday and relax, but because Li Yingliang found out about our relationship and wanted to target her, it’s no longer convenient for her to leave the house. I’m very worried that she’ll get bored at home, and that she’ll also get abused by her mother.”

Situ Weilian slouched on the sofa, looking up at the ceiling. After staying silent for some time, he slapped his thigh. “Why don’t you go and tell Mrs. Mi that if she beats her daughter again, you’ll give her a taste of how formidable you are!”

“Nonsense, what do you mean taste? Do I give her a beating as well?”

Situ Weilian revealed a cunning smile. “Who said anything about beating her? Isn’t it enough to just give her a fright?”

Shen Zhiheng thought, I’ve done nothing much today, but I’ve just been scaring people. I scared Li Yingliang this afternoon, and now could it be that I’ll have to go and scare Mrs. Mi?

Situ Weilian began animatedly narrating his ingenious plan, and the more he listened, the deeper Shen Zhiheng’s frown grew.

“No way, no way. That’s a child’s game. I can’t do that.”

“Do it or not, it’s up to you. In any case, I’m not friends with Mi Lan. If her mother beats her child, I’m not the one who feels the pain.”

Shen Zhiheng laughed bitterly, still feeling that this plan of Situ Weilian’s was like a child’s prank and he was simply too embarrassed to carry it out.

Situ Weilian added on, mumbling, “Actually, you’re treating the symptoms, but not the cause. As long as she still stays in that house, you won’t be able to save her.”

“I’m simply repaying a favour,” Shen Zhiheng said.

“Without her, you won’t die. If you could die, you would have died a long time ago.”

Shen Zhiheng stared at the burning end of the cigar, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with him.

The restaurant waiter sent the dishes over and Situ Weilian had a huge feast. Full and tired, he stayed the night at the Shen mansion. At dawn, he was pushed awake by Shen Zhiheng. Then, as if they were playing around, the two of them got to work.

As they were preparing, Shen Zhiheng still felt fairly embarrassed. After busying themselves for a while, he stopped, and said to Situ Weilian, his face reddening, “Actually, I’m quite old.”

Situ Weilian laughed and “tsk”ed, “It’s alright, you look young.”

“For an old man like me to do something like this, it’s really unseemly.”

Situ Weilian squatted on the floor, laughing so hard his face had also become red. “Stop nagging, if you nag any more the sun is going to rise. Besides, what’s wrong with this? The Westerners celebrate Halloween, and even put on make-up like this on purpose!”

Shen Zhiheng stood in front of the full-length mirror. The person in the mirror was dressed in a white gown [4] , which was stained with streaks of blood. This blood happened to be the remnants from the blood bottles. Other than that, his usually meticulous hair had been messed up by Situ Weilian, and Situ Weilian had used the leftovers from his own meal to put on make-up for him. After soaking some dry bread in soup and mashing it into a glutinous paste, Situ Weilian had spread it across his face, and then dug out a packet of white powder from his leather bag and blown it across his head and face. Once the make-up was complete, Shen Zhiheng truly no longer looked like a human. He also kept gagging, the smell of food making him extremely uncomfortable.

Finally, after drenching half of his face with bright red strawberry jam, Situ Weilian turned off the lights, suppressing his snickers as he and Shen Zhiheng went their separate ways. He had driven the hospital car over, so he drove the car when he left now. He appeared to be leaving, but he actually drove the car to the back door of the mansion to pick Shen Zhiheng up.

The two of them hid from the patrol officers, driving speedily to the Mi mansion. Situ Weilian’s driving skills were quite good, and before long, he was already quietly parking the car by a wall behind the Mi mansion.

With one hand on the steering wheel and the other clamped over his mouth, he said, laughing, “Haha, Shen-xiong, go, quickly. Haha! If not, you’re going to lose your face!”

Shen Zhiheng did not dare to make any expression, but even when he was expressionless, there were still half-dried flecks of bread that dropped off from his face. He clearly knew that Situ Weilian was making use of this opportunity to find joy at his expense. Pointing at him, he made a warning gesture, and then pushed open the car door and got out of the car. Situ Weilian collapsed onto the passenger seat, extending his neck to see his silhouette. He saw him walk up to the wall. That wall was higher than him, he had to raise both of his arms high up in order to reach its top.

So, he raised both of his arms high to reach the top of the wall, and easily jumped across it, flipping himself over the wall.

For Shen Zhiheng to enter the Mi mansion, it was really effortless.

The security of this area was very good, and under Mrs. Mi’s lead, everyone in the Mi mansion lived their days muddle-headedly. If the old maids remembered to close and lock the main gates at night, that could already be considered as something done conscientiously. Shen Zhiheng pried open a window and jumped in. Previously, when he was chatting with Mi Lan, he had gained a slight understanding of the Mi mansion. So, he went directly to the second floor, entering Mrs. Mi’s bedroom.

He carefully opened the door and closed the window, and the cold wind instantly blew the curtains around, the window shutters banging around noisily as they opened and closed. In her drunken sleep, Mrs. Mi opened her eyes, only to see that a dark wind was blowing around in her room and in the pale moonlight, a tall and large figure stood before her bed. His face was an uneven mess of blood and flesh, and he was looking at her with his head lowered.

Terrified out of her wits, she opened her mouth and was about to scream, but that person suddenly raised his hand and single-handedly covered her mouth. His other large, cold hand wrapped around her neck.

That person said in a trembling, strange voice, “I am the great-grandfather of the Mi family. You evil, poisonous wench, torturing my Mi family’s descendant every day and night. Tonight, my spirit has returned just to take your wretched life.”

Mrs. Mi shook her head as if her life depended on it, becoming a shivering ball on her bed.

Then, that person said, “Since you are my descendant’s biological mother, if you repent and mend your ways, I will spare you this one time. If you dare to do it again in the future, I will definitely bring you before the ancestors of the Mi family and make you suffer in the Hell of the Blood Pool [5] !”

Then, the large, cold hand was gone, and that person flew up and out of the window. When Mrs. Mi was able to move her muscles and drag herself off the bed, the area outside the window and outside the building had long become silent again. Occasionally, a few sounds rang out as cars drove past in the distance.

Shen Zhiheng was extremely embarrassed. The second he escaped back to the car, he used his lapel to madly wipe his face and hair. After wiping for some time, he suddenly realised that Situ Weilian had disappeared.

The next second, the car door opened, and Situ Weilian jumped into the car, bringing the cold wind with him. “You’re back? So fast?”

Shen Zhiheng relaxed, and continued to wipe himself madly. “What were you doing?”

Situ Weilian started the engine, and first drove off the small lane that the Mi mansion was on. “I went to pee–”

He suddenly noticed what Shen Zhiheng was doing.

“Ai, ai, ai, stop, stop, stop. You’re making my car dirty. How can I drive it back to the hospital later? Our hospital only has this one car, my cousin would eat me!”

Shen Zhiheng ignored him, pushing the door open and jumping out. Bending down, he started retching. Just as his insides were doing somersaults, patrol whistles suddenly started echoing from nearby. He dove back into the car in a hurry.

Situ Weilian was also shocked. “They can’t be here to catch us, right?”

Shen Zhiheng was too weak to reply. Just at this moment, a patrol officer on a bicycle rode past them at the speed of lighting, shouting loudly as he went, “Guards! A demon’s on the loose!”

Situ Weilian waited until the patrol officer disappeared, before asking in a whisper, “A demon? It can’t be the one in the newspapers? What’s that, the weasel demon? The one that sucks blood.”

Shen Zhiheng paused. “I don’t know. Perhaps?”

“Sucks blood… Say, this so-called weasel demon, do you think it could be that brother you’ve been trying to find all along?”

“I still don’t know.”

Situ Weilian suddenly became spirited. “I have an idea! From tomorrow onwards, don’t sleep at night. You should come here and saunter around, and wait for that demon to come over and suck your blood. When he makes his move against you, you’ll make use of the opportunity to catch him and clarify things with him.”

Shen Zhiheng sighed, casually saying, “But what if he’s really just a demon, then what?”

“Aiyo, this old brother, what do you mean ‘just a demon’? You’re already in this state, and you’re still looking down on demons?”

“What do you mean ‘this state’? I’m even lesser than a demon?”

“You’re a vampire–”

“Shut up!”

Situ Weilian shut his mouth, driving the car straight back to the Shen mansion. When the car came to a stop at the back door of the Shen mansion, he could not help but turn around again to Shen Zhiheng, “Have you ever thought that you’re also a demon?”

Shen Zhiheng also turned to him. “No.”

The two of them stared at each other for a moment. Finally, Shen Zhiheng opened his mouth, “It’s just that my luck is bad, and got struck by this rare misfortune–”

Situ Weilian finished his words for him. “Fortunately, you met me, and all things considered, you gained a friend who knows your heart like you do.”

Shen Zhiheng nodded his head earnestly. “Yes.”

With Shen Zhiheng, Situ Weilian was never serious, and never expressed his personal thoughts. Now, in the silence of the night, he turned back to the front, and suddenly said, “I will always be a doctor. If I can’t be a doctor, I’ll be a butcher. I will supply you with blood, and I won’t let you starve to the point that you’ll attack people. I will… I will be responsible for you until the end.”

Shen Zhiheng smiled, one hand pushing open the door while the other patting Situ Weilian’s shoulder. “Okay, okay, I know. Even if you don’t say it, I know.”

------------------------------------------------------------

I translated 外宅 (wài zhǎi) very loosely as “mistress” as this is probably the closest word in modern day. It literally means “external house” and refers to the women that some men “kept” and supported during the days when they could still marry one wife and have multiple concubines. These women and their children usually did not live together with the man’s main family in the same compound, hence “external”.

My wordy attempt at translating 知音 (zhī yīn), which I’ve seen translated as “bosom friend” or “soulmate” before, but I felt that none of these really accurately reflect Shen Zhiheng’s and Mi Lan’s relationship here. 知音 literally means “know sound”, and refers to someone who knows you so well, more than you know yourself. It does not necessarily have a romantic connotation. It originated from the legend of Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi from the Spring and Autumn Period (~770-481 BCE). Yu Boya was very good at playing the qin, while Zhong Ziqi was very good at listening to the qin, and Zhong Ziqi could always understand what Yu Boya was thinking of just from how the latter played the qin alone. When Zhong Ziqi died, Yu Boya destroyed his precious qin and snapped its strings, vowing to never play the qin again, because he no longer had a zhiyin and there was no longer anyone who could understand him.

The phrase used here was 有感情, which literally means “have feelings” for each other. However, I did not use this as a translation because in Chinese, it does not necessarily have a romantic connotation like it does in English.

As in changpao.

The thirteenth level of hell in Chinese mythology, where those who disrespect others are thrown into and submerged in a pool of blood.

[ruanbaijie]

During the Republican Era, Shen Zhiheng, a member of the Tianjin gentry who happened to be a vampire, offended the Japanese and became the target of an assassination attempt. He was saved by a blind young lady, Mi Lan, and his best friend Situ Weilian. When he went to repay Mi Lan for saving him, he discovered the terrible family situation that Mi Lan was in, and so began to pay more attention to her. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng’s plan to take revenge on Li Yingliang, the mastermind behind his assassination, fell short of success thanks to Li Yingliang’s Japanese superior, raising suspicions about his identity. Since then, Li Yingliang and the Japanese were in hot pursuit of Shen Zhiheng, determined to dig out the truth about his secret.

Please do not repost this anywhere else or retranslate it!

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The doors of the private room should not have opened just like that. Li Yingliang was inside hosting, his subordinates were clearly outside, and Li Guisheng was even leading a group of men to hide in ambush. As long as Li Yingliang did not give any orders, those in the room could not leave, and those outside could not enter.

However, someone still pushed the doors open and walked in.

This person was in his thirties, clean-cut and neat. He was dressed in a Western attire, and he sported no hat, revealing an extremely closely cropped buzz cut, like a mature army school student. Li Yingliang glanced at him and was immediately overcome with ecstasy; he knew that he could now live.

This man was the commissioner of the North China Garrison Secret Service, Yokoyama Akira.

Yokoyama Akira arrived with aplomb, yet the second he pushed open the doors and raised his head, he paused. Li Yingliang was seated ramrod straight on a chair with his mouth wide open, and faintly hanging out from it was one end of a tie. Meanwhile, the other person, who had his head buried at Li Yingliang’s neck, turned his head to face him the moment he heard the commotion. He recognised this person with surprise, it was Shen Zhiheng.

He had never seen Shen Zhiheng in the flesh before, but he had seen photographs of him. Grasping this fleeting chance, Li Yingliang hit his head against Shen Zhiheng’s forehead, whining weakly. Shen Zhiheng kept his eyes fixed on Yokoyama Akira, tilting his head to avoid Li Yingliang’s knock, at the same time moaning internally. As much as man could make plans, the plans of the heavens could overturn it in an instant. Originally, he could have quietly taken his revenge and eaten his fill, but who could have guessed that an uninvited guest would fall from the heavens? Picking up Li Yingliang from the side, he stood up. He did not mind if he fell out with the Japanese; they had already fired machine guns at him, what scruples did he have left?

Yokoyama Akira pulled out a pistol. The people outside, noticing that something was wrong, hurriedly rushed in. At this point, Li Yingliang had already been pulled out of his seat by Shen Zhiheng. Everyone first noticed his twisted left forearm, and then noticed that there were a pair of chopsticks sticking out of his thighs. His face was purplish red, and he was suffocating to the point where his eyes were rolling. His two legs could still marginally move, and each step he took left behind a bloody footprint; the blood was flowing out from under his trousers.

Shen Zhiheng conveniently picked up the pistol on the table, asking Yokoyama Akira, “I have invited Chairman Li to send me off, I suppose everyone wouldn’t mind?”

Yokoyama Akira stared at Shen Zhiheng, logic and emotion fighting in him as if it were a battle between heaven and man. When the battle was over, he decided to save Li Yingliang’s life first. His Chinese was not that good, and now that he was startled, it was worse, and he simply took two steps back to clear the path. Shen Zhiheng walked towards the exit, dragging Li Yingliang with him. He went straight down the stairs and into his car.

  Shoving Li Yingliang into the passenger seat, he started the engine and drove towards the French concession zone. Yokoyama Akira and the Development Committee followed tightly behind him in their cars, aiming at the back of his car with their pistols from behind their windshields. When the car entered the French concession zone, Shen Zhiheng pushed the door open, shoving Li Yingliang out.

Li Yingliang’s eyes had already rolled to the back of his head a few times. Shen Zhiheng was not entirely sure if he was dead or alive, but it didn’t matter. He was not addicted to killing people to begin with, he just refused to suffer in silence.

The secret service did not dare to open fire in the French concession zone, and could only alight from their cars in a hurry to retrieve Li Yingliang. Yokoyama Akira rushed over, pulling one end of the tie out of Li Yingliang’s mouth in a flash. He tugged once; the first tug was unsuccessful, and so he gathered his energy, and tugged again.

The secret service agents around them were all stunned. Yokoyama Akira had not expected that the tie would be so long. As he pulled, he began to suspect that he would pull out Li Yingliang’s stomach and intestines as well. When the tie was completely pulled out, Li Yingliang still had his mouth wide open, still showing no reaction. Someone pressed against his chest desperately, and another propped him up, pounding his back.

Li Guisheng rushed over from the dark, grabbing him by his shoulders and shaking him, “Sir, Sir! Don’t scare us!”

  At this time, Yokoyama Akira’s standard of Chinese recovered. He stood at a side and said, “Send him to the hospital. He’s almost out of blood.”

The two chopsticks had been stabbed in with much skill, injuring the major blood vessels in Li Yingliang’s thighs. On the way to the hospital, Li Yingliang finally managed to breathe in a long breath, having managed to escape from dying from asphyxiation. However, he instantly fell prey to the devil of blood loss. They had already entered the Japanese concession zone, but his mouth had yet to close. Li Guisheng, thinking that he had dislocated his jaw, held his lower jaw and tried pushing it upwards for quite some time.

After an emergency rescue at the hands of the Japanese doctors, Li Yingliang finally managed to keep his life. 

His forearm was splinted and bandaged, and he had been transfused with a few big bags of blood. Other than a pair of dry lips and some tear wounds at the edges of his mouth due to having his mouth open for too long, he still resembled an intact person.

 Lying on the hospital bed, he breathed weakly, swamped with both weakness and fear, but mainly fear. His body was drenched in cold sweat. As he had spent quite some time with the Japanese, he could understand a few Japanese phrases. Earlier, the Japanese doctor had given a long speech, the general idea being that his luck was good. It was not just because he had bled so much but was still alive, but also that the tie had not completely blocked his throat. Otherwise, if he had asphyxiated to a certain point, even if he managed to survive, it was highly likely that his brain would have suffered damage and he would have become mentally impaired.

The sky was already bright. Yokoyama Akira stood in front of the bed as he watched Li Yingliang, his entire posture rigid and straight, as if he were an iron plate that had acquired human form.

“Why did you meet Shen Zhiheng privately?” he asked.

Li Yingliang answered weakly, his voice so soft it could barely be heard, “Sir, there’s something fishy about this person… and we couldn’t find out what… so I decided to invite him out to talk… if talking didn’t work… we would have dealt with him…”

“You killed him and you still dared to meet him, what an idiot!”

“I thought that he was already scared of us…”

Yokoyama Akira thought hard, and used the foulest Chinese curse he had in his vocabulary to scold Li Yingliang, “You big idiot!”

Then, with his hands behind his back, he walked two rounds back and forth before the bed, before stopping and saying, “If I had not rushed over in time, you would be dead now!”

“Thank you for saving me, Commissioner. How did you know last night that I was at the Grand Pacific Hotel? Did you have something urgent for me?”

Yokoyama Akira ignored him, unwilling to admit that he had heard that Li Yingliang had managed to score a meeting with the Shen Zhiheng who had returned from the dead, and so he had decided on a whim last night to steal Li Yingliang’s winnings and have a chat with Shen Zhiheng himself. Besides being reputable and influential, Shen Zhiheng also controlled many large newspaper companies that were widely distributed. If someone like him did not go against the Japanese, then the Japanese would not necessarily gain anything good out of it. But if he went against the Japanese, then those newspapers would become large trumpets blaring at Chinese society; who knew what slander he would spout?

Yokoyama Akira thought that Li Yingliang was full of zeal but lacked wisdom, and would not necessarily be able to win over Shen Zhiheng’s heart. So, he had personally taken action, but had ended up walking into a blood-soaked drama. He suddenly walked to the front of the bed and stopped, frowning as he asked Li Yingliang, “When I entered, what were the two of you doing?”

Li Yingliang gave a weak “ah?”.

“What was he doing to you? He was at your neck.”

Li Yingliang’s black pupils rolled upwards as his eyelids closed. After shutting his eyes in such a frightful manner, he took a few breaths, then opened his eyes and said, “Sir, I think that Shen Zhiheng… is very abnormal. Back then, it felt like he… like he wanted to bite me.”

Like a buzzing mosquito, Li Yingliang had a private talk with Yokoyama Akira for a while. Towards the end, the two of them suspected that they were going crazy. They had seen no shortage of cruel, ruthless people. But they had never heard of anyone who had the habit of biting their enemies to death, it’s not like they were dogs.

Besides, Commissioner Yokoyama was aware of Li Yingliang’s skills. Shen Zhiheng could be considered a refined gentleman, how could he have brought Li Yingliang under control with so few moves?

“He moved extremely fast, I could not see it at all,” Li Yingliang said softly. “Besides, he could actually stab wooden chopsticks into my thighs.”

It was cold, and he had dressed up in thick clothes. Logically speaking, the chopsticks should not have even pierced through his pants. Besides, the quality of the hotel chopsticks could not have been that good and durable.

Yokoyama Akira and Li Yingliang exchanged glances. The two of them knew that Shen Zhiheng was not something as simple as a martial arts expert. When he had attended the dinner last night, he had been alone, and it was clear that he had gone with murder in his mind. Besides, he had hidden this murder process not just from Li Yingliang’s subordinates, but also from his own men. Why did he have to hide it? Could it be that he had really wanted to bite Li Yingliang to death?

And would biting be the end? It didn’t seem that way. Li Yingliang would never forget how Shen Zhiheng later seemed to be salivating at him, just like a hungry ghost.

“It seemed like he wanted to eat me,” he said softly.

Yokoyama Akira said nothing, knowing that he had already stirred up a large, extremely bizarre hornet’s nest.

That morning, Li Yingliang slept. And in another corner of the city, Mi Lan woke up.

Her body felt light, and she was energised. The nurse came to measure her temperature, and gasped in surprise. Unexpectedly, Mi Lan had recovered surprisingly quickly, her fever receding just like that.

Mi Lan sat up against the head of the bed, rubbing her face. She had just put down the towel when the door opened, and Shen Zhiheng walked in with a thermal container. She recognised his footsteps, and she turned happily towards the door, “Mr. Shen, good morning.”

Shen Zhiheng smiled, “Good morning. I just heard the nurse say that your fever has receded today?”

“Yes, I’m fine now.”

Shen Zhiheng brought a gust of cold air with him. He removed his coat, hat, and gloves at the door. Mi Lan could feel this new coldness in the air, and could hear the rubbing of skin against fabric; this was him rolling up his sleeves.

Holding the thermal container, he sat in front of the bed and said, “It’s congee again.”

“Okay.”

Shen Zhiheng opened the thermal container, using a spoon to stir the congee. “Wait a little, it’s too hot.”

Mi Lan nodded, and heard him asking at the same time, “Why are you smiling? Is there a piece of good news that you’re not telling me?”

She only just realised that she was smiling. “I… I have recovered, and I’m happy.”

“Since you’ve recovered, you have to go home.”

The smile slowly disappeared from Mi Lan’s face. “Mr. Shen, when I return home, does that mean that we can no longer meet?”

“If I visit a young mistress in her teens everyday, it is indeed quite inappropriate.”

“What about if I go to see you?”

“Will your parents allow that?”

Mi Lan lowered her head, as if her thin neck could not support her round head.

“Then I might as well be sick forever,” she muttered softly.

Shen Zhiheng’s laughter rang out beside her ear, and then a large hand was patting her back. “If you don’t have a way, I do. If I don’t save you completely, I will not leave.”

MI Lan wanted to ask “really?”, but just as she was about to, she held back. She believed him. There was no need to ask. 

Shen Zhiheng accompanied Mi Lan for a good part of the day.

Mi Lan asked him softly, “Did you take your revenge yesterday?”

Shen Zhiheng eyed Mi Lan. This young lady was different from others. On one hand, he felt like she was truly just a young, naïve little girl, but on the other, he felt that she was very shrewd. She felt that he was trustworthy, and he too felt that she was trustworthy.

“Children shouldn’t be asking about adults’ business,” he said.

“I’m not a child.”

Shen Zhiheng moved to her ear, and said, jesting and testing her at the same time, “If I tell you, don’t get scared. I killed him.”

Mi Lan sat in the darkness. It was like she was sitting in the long night, and Shen Zhiheng’s voice came from beyond this world. Everything he said felt distant to her, like it was something from another country or another world. So, she did not know why she would be scared.

But she was truly concerned, and so she turned towards the direction of the voice. “You didn’t get injured again, did you?”

“I didn’t. I just got disturbed halfway through, and that person did not die.”

Mi Lan thought for a while, then replied, “Forget it. Don’t kill him. Besides, didn’t you not die either?”

“That’s because you saved me.”

“I saved you, and someone else saved him. It’s the same.”

Shen Zhiheng laughed, “You’re right. But, you must–”

“Keep it a secret,” she finished for him.

Shen Zhiheng raised his hand in front of her face and snapped his fingers. She quickly turned her head towards the sound, then raised her right hand and soundlessly twisted her middle finger and thumb together.

No one had snapped their fingers at home before; she had guessed that action through hearing alone. After snapping her fingers and failing, she hooked her long hair behind her ears. After staying in the hospital for a month, she had become so thin she was just a bag of bones, but her hair had escaped her mother’s poisonous tearing, and had become much thicker.

In the afternoon, Shen Zhiheng left the hospital.

His entire being was riddled with suspicious aspects that no one could find out, so instead of using a fixed driver, he preferred to drive his car himself. As he opened the car door at the entrance of the hospital, he looked around. There were eyes watching him from the darkness, he knew.

In this business, offending people was unavoidable. Even if there were no Li Yingliang, there would be other enemies. His strategy was to meet them head-on and fight poison with poison. Everyone bullied the weak and were scared of the strong. Now, Li Yingliang would not dare to rashly send assassins to attack him.

Bending his waist, he got into the car, and just as he was about to close the door, a young man suddenly ran up to him, huffing and puffing, “Mr. Shen, hello!”

Shen Zhiheng looked at him up and down, but did not recognise who he was. The young man was dressed decently, his face was red, and he carried a camera box with him.

“Don’t you recognise me? I’m a reporter for the editorial section of Haihe Daily, Zhang Youwen.”

 Shen Zhiheng was the sole proprietor of Haihe Daily, but he let the general manager there handle all the affairs and rarely went there himself, and so he did not have much of an impression of this Zhang Youwen. Evidently, Zhang Youwen had come over to greet him before going into the hospital. 

Momentarily curious, he asked, “Are you here to visit someone in the hospital, or for an interview?”

Zhang Youwen’s eyes gleamed. “Mr. Shen, haven’t you heard? Some terribly frightening things have been happening recently. I’m here to visit someone, but also for an interview.”

Shen Zhiheng noticed that this young man could not speak to the point. “What frightening things?”

 “There are demons in Tianjin city. This demon only comes out at night and bites people to suck their blood. Those who have gotten their blood sucked either die or fall ill. I heard that the day before, another person became a victim, and is hospitalised here, so I rushed down to interview them.”

Shen Zhiheng frowned. “Biting? Sucking blood?”

Zhang Youwen nodded his head solemnly, and added, his voice lowered, “They all say that it’s a weasel demon. Don’t weasels like to suck blood?” 

“Weasel?”

“Exactly! Weasels suck chicken blood, but if weasels become demons, maybe sucking chicken blood isn’t as gratifying anymore, so they suck human blood instead.”

Shen Zhiheng nodded slowly at him. “This piece of news… is very interesting.”

Zhang Youwen bade him farewell, rushing into the hospital. Shen Zhiheng closed the car door, uneasiness settling in his heart. The blood-sucking demon was definitely not him, but precisely because it was not him, he was uneasy.

If it was not him, who was it?

After the uneasiness, was an uncontrollable ecstasy, to the point where he had to sit in his car for quite some time to regain his composure. When he had finally calmed down enough to control his hands and legs, he drove off.

These few years, beyond just surviving, he had always been searching for those like him. If not, if he remained alone, how could he deal with the increasing number of changes to and mysteries surrounding himself?

That night, Shen Zhiheng waited at home for Situ Weilian.

Situ Weilian arrived, utterly besotted. The previous night, he had finally gotten what he wished for, and had gone out with Second Young Mistress Jin to watch a film, which was followed by a sumptuous meal. He liked Jin Jingxue too much and refused to leave her no matter what. After much begging, he had walked around Quanye Bazaar [1] and its environs together with her. In the department store, he had bought an Omega watch for her. But feeling that this was too much of a courtesy, she had refused to accept it; although she personally did not think much about the sufferings of mankind, she knew that Situ Weilian was just a young doctor in a small hospital. And since she did not intend to accept his feelings for her, she did not want to take advantage of this poor man.

Situ Weilian all but wanted to fall to his knees and kowtow to her, and force the watch into her hands. The cheque that Shen Zhiheng had given him that day had gotten completely spent just like that. Now, he sat in front of Shen Zhiheng, placing the canvas satchel onto the coffee table with some sort of empty satisfaction in his chest.

Spending money for Jin Jingxue was equivalent to burning incense for the gods and Buddhas. He did not dare to expect the luxury of having his wishes come true, he just wished that there was something by her side that was related to him.

Shen Zhiheng did not retrieve the bottles of blood in the canvas satchel. Instead, he tossed a copy of the evening newspaper into his arms. Baffled, Situ Weilian opened the newspaper and took a look, noticing one headline in particular. Sitting upright, he read the entire article, then raised his head to look at Shen Zhiheng.

He snickered, “Your own newspaper has started to publicly spout nonsense?”

Shen Zhiheng crossed his legs, his hands clasped in front of him. “This is the latest news, it’s not nonsense.”

Situ Weilian snorted in contempt. “How can there be blood-sucking demons–” His face suddenly changed. “Don’t tell me it’s you? How can that be? Have I not been feeding you full?”

Shen Zhiheng sat upright, not moving an inch. “Do I have that big an appetite? Even if I do, is there a need for me to describe it in such morbid detail?”

Situ Weilian inched closer to him, his voice lowered, “Then, could it be that brother you’ve been trying to find?”

“I don’t know, I need to investigate.”

“What if it really is?”

“Then it plays right into my hands. After all, he’s purebred, while I became this halfway through. He should know more than I do.”

“But his mother and your family have a blood feud!”

“That was years ago. Now, my family is long dead. Even if there’s still enmity, by this point, it’s about time it disappeared entirely. Besides, those were the grievances of the previous generation, and my generation has nothing to do with it. I’m very open-minded and wouldn’t fault the younger generation for the previous generation’s mistakes.”

“You’re open-minded, but what if he isn’t? Your family’s previous generation made his mother suffer so much. What if he has been harbouring the grudge all along, and suddenly descends from the skies to take a bite out of you?”

“Then isn’t that better? There can’t be anything worse than my current situation. It’s not like he would bite me and I would become a mountain spirit or tree monster. If he fights poison with poison with me and causes me to regain a human body, then that’s even better.” He smiled at Situ Weilian. “I will immediately stop fighting and retire in an apartment in the concession zone, comfortably waiting to die of old age.”

Situ Weilian leaned back, disapproval written all over his face. “Aren’t you being too positive? What if he’s a prodigal son and a troublemaker, and after acknowledging you, he keeps pestering you for your entire life?”

Shen Zhiheng smiled. “Prodigal son, troublemaker, pestering me, aren’t you describing yourself?”

Situ Weilian curled up on the sofa, unconvinced. Shen Zhiheng stopped exchanging nonsense with him, changing the topic.  

“Your younger sister is in some choir, isn’t she?”

Situ Weilian nodded. “Yes, she’s been going for a few years.”

“Then, do me a favour.”

Shen Zhiheng assigned a task to Situ Weilian.

When it got later, Situ Weilian bade farewell and left. When he left, the brightly lit Shen mansion became quieter, like a splendid tomb. Shen Zhiheng sat beneath the chandelier, drinking the two bottles of blood slowly. To him, the icy cold blood was sweet. He slowly leaned his body backwards, closing his eyes as lightheadedness took over him. In this moment, drowsy and satisfied, he was in complete bliss.

His thirst for fresh blood had long overwhelmed his desires for food and sex. 

Appetite and lust are only natural [2] . It was a pity that this no longer held true for him.

------------------------------------------------------------

A department store in Tianjin that opened in 1928, and was the largest department store in north China at the time. It still exists today.

A saying by Mencius.

[ruanbaijie]

During the Republican Era, Shen Zhiheng, a member of the Tianjin gentry who happened to be a vampire, offended the Japanese and became the target of an assassination attempt. He was saved by a blind young lady, Mi Lan, and his best friend Situ Weilian. When he went to repay Mi Lan for saving him, he discovered the terrible family situation that Mi Lan was in, and so began to pay more attention to her. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng’s plan to take revenge on Li Yingliang, the mastermind behind his assassination, fell short of success thanks to Li Yingliang’s Japanese superior, raising suspicions about his identity. Since then, Li Yingliang and the Japanese were in hot pursuit of Shen Zhiheng, determined to dig out the truth about his secret.

Please do not repost this anywhere else or retranslate it!

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To Li Yingliang, every word that Shen Zhiheng said lay somewhere between trustworthy and not. He was not a fool, he had his own intellect and experience, and normal lies could not fool him. However, he simply could not figure Shen Zhiheng out. At this moment, he could only play it by ear.

“Continue,” he said.

Shen Zhiheng said, “It began with my father’s generation.”

Li Yingliang eyed him. “Mm.”

Shen Zhiheng raised his hands, but because he was hindered by the manacles, he could not raise them high, and could only lower his head to press his short, messy hair back. Then, he adjusted the collar of his shirt, and straightened his back, looking at Li Yingliang.

“Looking at me now, you can probably see my father’s bearing from when he was young, can’t you?”

Li Yingliang “mm?”ed questioningly, understood at once, and could not help but twitch a corner of his mouth. “Mm.”

“Back then, he was still young, and met a confidante on the outside. Later, that woman became pregnant, and my father brought her home. I called her ‘aunt’ [1] .”

“And then?”

“And then, after some time, someone at home noticed that woman secretly killing chickens and ducks to suck their blood. The Shen family was run by an elderly lady, who was my grandmother. She was convinced that this aunt of mine was a demon, and wanted to get rid of her. My father was terrified, and didn’t dare to stop her.”

“And after that?”

“After that, my grandmother wanted to start a fire and burn my aunt and her son to death. But she failed, and my aunt escaped. She caught me and bit me.”

“She sucked your blood?”

Shen Zhiheng laughed bitterly. “I don’t know, I can’t remember.”

“How can you not remember?”

“After she bit me, I developed a high fever. I was barely conscious and almost died, and only fully recovered a long time later. During this period of sickness, I was always drowsy, and there are a lot of things that I can no longer remember.”

“Fully recovered? Didn’t you say that you got an infectious disease?”

Shen Zhiheng lowered his head, and Li Yingliang followed his gaze downwards. He saw a pair of hands that was ensnared by a pair of handcuffs, with long, slender fingers and distinct joints. This was a pair of adult male hands. But his thumbs were picking his nails; this was a young child’s behaviour.

“When I was sick…” Shen Zhiheng mumbled. “It was very painful. When it was so painful to an extreme, I drank a little bit of blood, and it made me feel a little better.”

“And you kept drinking until today?”

Shen Zhiheng raised his head and shot a glance at him, one that was full of hatred and coldness. With this glance as a point of comparison, it was then when he realised how weak and embarrassed Shen Zhiheng’s voice was just a moment ago. Even in the seconds just before Shen Zhiheng raised his eyes, he could even glimpse a fleeting moment of pain and deference in his eyes. Perhaps, the thirteen-fourteen year old Shen Zhiheng had once been this weak and embarrassed, and before becoming a bloodsucking monster, he had once been an easy-going, obedient youth.

    Li Yingliang felt a little uncomfortable. Shen Zhiheng did not answer his question, and he did not force him, continuing to ask, “Then… what about that aunt of yours and her child? Did they survive and escape, or did they die?”

“They survived and escaped.”

Li Yingliang suddenly smiled, “Your grandmother didn’t burn you as well?”

Shen Zhiheng replied, “My aunt didn’t just bite me, she attacked all the younger people in the family. But all of them didn’t live past the first high fever. I was the only one who survived.”

 At this point, he stopped, and added, “The Shen family quickly fell to ruins, and I was the only one left.”

Li Yingliang gently patted his thigh, clapping in mock appreciation on purpose, “A tragedy!”

Shen Zhiheng calmly looked at Li Yingliang. Just now, everything he said was the truth, because there was no need to lie about things that had happened a long time ago. On the contrary, doing so would risk leaving holes in history. The trick of lying was that small lies were more likely to come across as true, while big ones were more likely to come across as false.

Li Yingliang continued asking, still smiling, “If I let you bite me, will you pass your weird illness to me?”

Shen Zhiheng replied, “Try and we’ll know.”

Li Yingliang raised an eyebrow, “I don’t dare. I’ve done quite well being human. But back to the point, you can’t really say that your monster aunt harmed you. If you were still a normal man, you would’ve already died a few times over under my hands, wouldn't you?” 

“If I were still a normal man, you needn’t have bothered, I would’ve long gone off to paradise way before you were even born.”

Li Yingliang suddenly straightened in his seat. “How old are you?”

“In the thirteenth year of Daoguang [2] , I passed the first examination to be an official. I was fourteen that year.”

“Then aren’t you–” Li Yingliang counted the years with his fingers, and after muttering to himself as he calculated for quite some time, he abruptly stood up. “You’re more than a hundred?”

“Perhaps, I haven’t counted in a long time. If one neither ages nor dies, time would be meaningless to him.”

Li Yingliang looked down at the top of his head. “Ever since I found out that you really weren’t human, I feel like all the grudges between us no longer have also become quite meaningless.���

Shen Zhiheng lifted his head to look at him. “Are there grudges between us? I always thought that our relationship was very simple. It’s either you kill me, or I kill you.”

“You’re still in such a leisurely mood to argue with me? From what you looked like just now, I thought you might have actually been heartbroken.”

Shen Zhiheng asked softly, “Do you need to wipe your tears?”

Li Yingliang’s eyes were red and tears shone in them. It was not because he wanted to cry, but because when he saw Shen Zhiheng, his insides burned, whether out of anger or exhaustion he did not know. In any case, how this was reflected on his face, was as red eyes.

“You don’t need to worry about my eyes.” Opening his suit, he stuffed his hands into the small pockets of his satin vest, posing as if he were Napoleon. “You’d better think about your own future!”

Then, he turned around and walked towards the window in the ceiling. “Today’s interrogation ends here, you’ll get a proper meal in a while.”

After Li Yingliang climbed up the ladder and returned to the surface, the soldiers kept the ladder and locked the window at once.

Li Guisheng was in charge of Shen Zhiheng’s meal, while Li Yingliang busied himself with reporting to Yokoyama Akira. Ever since witnessing the long face-to-face talk between Li Yingliang and Shen Zhiheng, Li Guisheng realised that the one surnamed Shen did not seem to be some wild and crazed demon, giving the appearance of a very respectable and cultured man instead through his actions and words. He was no longer as afraid of him as before, and even dared to say a few words to him. Completely at ease, he was no longer that scared.

Holding a small bucket of fresh blood as he descended into the water dungeon, he walked in front of Shen Zhiheng and asked, “Do you still recognise me?”

Shen Zhiheng looked at Li Guisheng, shaking his head.

Li Guisheng said, “That night, I was the one who shot you. Do you remember?”

Shen Zhiheng “oh”ed, “I remember, it’s you. Li Yingliang seems to trust you a lot.”

Li Guisheng replied, “I’m loyal to the chairman, of course he trusts me.”

Shen Zhiheng continued to ask, “You look very young, how old are you this year?”

Li Guisheng was a little confused, but also a little wary. “Twenty-five. Why?”

“That night, I saw how decisive and quick you were. I thought you were a seasoned fighter with a lot of experience.”

Li Guisheng did not say anything, but in his heart, he thought that Shen Zhiheng had quite a good eye.

Shen Zhiheng suddenly changed the topic, “Under Li Yingliang, how much can you earn a month?”

Li Guisheng was now completely confused, looking at him without saying a word. So, Shen Zhiheng continued, “Don’t be mistaken, I saw that you have both skills and guts. One day, in the future, if you want to settle down and have children, and want to switch to a steadier line of work, you can find me. I’ve always lacked someone in my staff like you.”

Li Guisheng could not help but ask, “On what basis do you think that you can get out of here alive?”

“In the beginning, the Japanese wanted to kill me because I wasn’t willing to cooperate with them. It’s very easy to solve this problem. It’s no big deal, I’ll just cooperate with them.”

Li Guisheng thought that Shen Zhiheng was too positive; who wanted to cooperate with a vampire?

Kuroki Rika said that Shen Zhiheng was a vampire; this revelation had spread secretly among the men, and just like the other onlookers, Li Guisheng was now certain about what species to label Shen Zhiheng as.

The Japanese soldiers on the ground once again raised their guns and aimed them at Shen Zhiheng, while Li Guisheng bravely stepped forward and removed those chains and handcuffs from Shen Zhiheng.

Shen Zhiheng stayed completely still. When Li Guisheng climbed up the ladder, he finally walked to the small bucket and squatted down, lowering his head and gazing at the dark red liquid in the bucket.

There was one good thing about being imprisoned, it was that he could make use of the opportunity to eat till he was fully satiated. His wounds were healing rapidly, and before long, he would be able to escape once again.

Shen Zhiheng drank all of the fresh blood in the small bucket, and then descended into a deep slumber.

When he woke up, he was wearing the handcuffs again, because Li Yingliang had returned, “descending into the mortal realm” for a second time.

Li Yingliang had changed into a striped brown suit that was of a thinner material; evidently, the weather outside was good and sunny. He sat down in front of Shen Zhiheng and crossed his legs, raising his head as he dropped his eyelids, looking at Shen Zhiheng with disdain for the second time.

Thinking that he looked just like a fighting cock, Shen Zhiheng smiled at him. Li Yingliang’s face changed in an instant, but after that, it still returned to its original aloofness.

His voice was equally laconic and cheerless, “Why are you smiling? Is there something wrong with your head?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

“Are you so full you can’t think straight?”

The smile disappeared from Shen Zhiheng’s face. “Did you come down here just to scold me?”

“Can’t I?”

“Of course not.”

“I’m precisely here to scold you, what can you do about it? You’re not even human. If spoken highly, you’re a monster, if spoken simply, you’re just an animal, no different from the wild cats and dogs on the streets! Laugh, laugh, why are you laughing? Am I very funny? Did I fucking owe you in my previous life that you have to laugh at me like that in this life?”

Shen Zhiheng shook his head. “Unreasonable.”

Li Yingliang stood up with his hands akimbo, taking in a deep breath. Whatever he hated would come true, the thing he most hated was Shen Zhiheng’s smile, and as soon as Shen Zhiheng saw him, he had shot that grin at him. Fuck!

“The commissioner,” he calmed down, and went straight to the topic, “wants you to undergo a check-up by the organisation’s medical team. They’ll draw and test a bit of your blood, and then check your eyes and teeth or something. Anyway, the medical team is not large and they do not have much equipment, they’re not capable of running too complicated tests.”

“This kind of check-up is meaningless.”

“The commissioner already knows that even without you saying it. But we still have to do the tests, we can’t skip this procedure.”

“And then?”

“What ‘and then’?”

“Do you intend to rear me for good? Or kill me? Or release me?”

Li Yingliang’s eyeballs rolled for a while beneath his eyelids, brimming with a considerable amount of defiance as they rolled towards Shen Zhiheng.

“Does this have anything to do with you? We’ll do whatever we want to do, you just have to deal with it!”

Shen Zhiheng noticed that Li Yingliang was particularly angry today; it was not that he was bearing a grudge, he was purely angry at him. He really did not know how hateable that smile of his was. In any case, Li Yingliang was so angry his eyes had gone red again.

Li Yingliang was like a mad dog. After barking for some time in the water dungeon, he climbed up to the surface and called the military doctor over.

Shen Zhiheng thought that before the military doctor arrived, Li Yingliang would once again tie his arms behind his back and the rope around his neck, all while he was surrounded by rifles.

However, contrary to his expectations, Li Yingliang opened the window and put the ladder down, lying at the window and calling, “You, come up.”

Shen Zhiheng walked to the ladder and raised his head to look up at him.

Li Yingliang, with his hand wrapped around the frame of the window, said expressionlessly, “I’m doing this because I trust you and treat you as a person. If you’re ungrateful and want to escape, then go ahead. We’ll just all die together.”

Then, he retreated, and Shen Zhiheng raised his legs and climbed up the ladder. When he climbed out of the window, he turned his head to look at that water dungeon, and then turned back to the front to face Li Yingliang. Previously, in the water dungeon, when the two of them were seated opposite one another, it didn’t matter. But now that they were standing opposite one another, Li Yingliang realised just how tall Shen Zhiheng was; he actually completely suppressed his own aura.

He waved at a bench against the wall, saying, “Sit.”

Shen Zhiheng walked over barefoot and sat down, while Li Yingliang stood where he was. They were completely surrounded by fully armed Japanese soldiers as well as his own Chinese secret agents. Their guns were all loaded, ready to turn Shen Zhiheng into pâté at any moment. Shen Zhiheng looked like he understood the situation, but…

As for the contents after that “but”, Li Yingliang did not have the time to continue thinking about it, as the military doctor had arrived.

The military doctor drew Shen Zhiheng’s blood, and checked his teeth and eyes. He got Shen Zhiheng to stand up, removing his clothes and looking at his skin, and then probed his bones and joints from head to toe. As the military doctor was doing his check-up, a few soldiers brought over a large machine, moving it into an empty prison cell. This was the X-ray machine that Yokoyama Akira had somehow obtained.

This machine could only be operated in a dark room. When the military doctor was done with his inspection, the machine had yet to be fully set up. He went over to help, and Shen Zhiheng sat down alone, lowering his head as he buttoned his shirt one by one. As he continued buttoning, he looked up and saw Li Yingliang in front of him.

Li Yingliang sat down on the other end of the bench.

Shen Zhiheng lowered his head and continued buttoning his shirt. Li Yingliang, on the other hand, appeared to have just emerged from a deep thought.

He said slowly, “It’s actually extremely risky for me to sit down beside you like that, because perhaps, you might not really care about us dying together. Besides, you can’t die easily either.”

 Shen Zhiheng put his hands down, twisting his head to look at him, “Are you scared of me?”

Li Yingliang looked to the front, mumbling as if he was speaking to himself, “My fear of you is like my fear of lions and tigers. You’re not human, no matter how formidable you are, you’re nothing more than a wild beast. You should be sad for yourself.”

“I’ve gotten used to it, I’m not sad.”

“It won’t end well for you. When lions and tigers stumble into the human world, what awaits them is either capture and enclosure in menageries, or death. Really, it won’t end well for you.”

“You just scolded me for no reason, and now you’re starting to curse me. Next, are you going to serve me with torture?”

“You deceived me, you wouldn’t be wronged if I tortured you.”

Shen Zhiheng laughed audibly, going “ho ho”, and sounding a little foolish. “Have I ever deceived you? I remember we didn’t interact much in the past, have I lost my memory or did you remember wrongly? When did I deceive you?”

Li Yingliang actually did not detest this foolish laughter of his. He shook his head at him, replying, “I once thought so highly of you, and now you’re telling me that you’re not even human, if this isn’t deceit, then what is it?”

Shen Zhiheng stopped smiling. “I really can’t refute that.”

Li Yingliang suddenly turned to face him. “As a vampire, you have to keep hiding and lying all the time, and you don’t really have any real family and friends. Isn’t living painful?”

Shen Zhiheng lowered his head, interlacing his ten fingers tightly together. Without waiting for his reply, Li Yingliang pressed on with a follow-up question, “What? Did I touch a nerve?”

Shen Zhiheng shot a glance at him, and said, “It’s very painful. But it’s alright, I’ve also gotten used to it.”

Li Yingliang noticed that he had already picked his fingernails so much that he was bleeding. Just as he subconsciously wanted to point it out to him, Shen Zhiheng unexpectedly put that bleeding finger into his mouth and sucked.

With a face of disgust, Li Yingliang realised that Shen Zhiheng had many bad habits of a young boy. He himself did not; he had become an apprentice at a tailor shop at a young age. If he had dared to play with his fingers idly, his master would have beaten him to death with his smoking pipe.

The X-ray machine was finally completely installed. A screen was lowered at the door of the prison cell, completing the set-up of the dark room. The military doctor spent quite a long time taking x-rays of Shen Zhiheng, and after another round of hullabaloo, he left together with the machine.

Everyone in the dungeon, from the Japanese soldiers to the Chinese secret agents, were all very satisfied with Shen Zhiheng’s performance today. Li Yingliang left with the military doctor, continuing on to report to Yokoyama Akira. Although Yokoyama Akira was extremely curious about Shen Zhiheng, he held his curiosity back, refusing to make an appearance. Because even though Shen Zhiheng was terrifying, he was not like a lion or a tiger where its terror was clear at a glance; he had the experience and intellect of a human. When dealing with him, they could still discuss conditions and talk logically.

To dig this person’s secrets out, required outwitting him; to outwit him, required a battle of wits; to engage in a battle of wits, required leaving room for manoeuvre, one could not reveal all of their cards too quickly. So, as the highest ranked leader within the organisation, he had decided to obscure himself with a mysterious veil, assigning Li Yingliang with the task of interacting with Shen Zhiheng in-person. When Li Yingliang could no longer handle this person, he would make his glittering debut himself.

Li Yingliang said that Shen Zhiheng called himself a “victim of an infectious disease”. This gave him inspiration; if he could, he really hoped that Shen Zhiheng would become his own personal war trophy. More specifically, he wanted that disease that had changed Shen Zhiheng. But the medical equipment of the organisation’s medical team was simply too shabby, and the doctors were quacks who could only handle wounds.

The results of the quack doctor’s full-body check-up of Shen Zhiheng were akin to no results. There was nothing abnormal about Shen Zhiheng’s boy. He had all the organs a healthy human should have, and there was no tail hidden between his buttocks.

As he listened to the quack doctor’s report, besides being absolutely heartbroken, Yokoyama Akira knew that he had no other choice but to hand his war trophy over to the military headquarters. Now, he only wished that the military headquarters were cleverer than him and could make the most out of Shen Zhiheng, and not waste this precious gift from the heavens.

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姨娘 (yí niáng) is translated as “aunt” here, but in olden times, it could also refer to the concubine of one’s father.

The Daoguang Emperor, also known as Emperor Xuanzong, was the seventh emperor of the Qing dynasty. The thirteenth year of Daoguang would be the year 1832.

[ruanbaijie]

During the Republican Era, Shen Zhiheng, a member of the Tianjin gentry who happened to be a vampire, offended the Japanese and became the target of an assassination attempt. He was saved by a blind young lady, Mi Lan, and his best friend Situ Weilian. When he went to repay Mi Lan for saving him, he discovered the terrible family situation that Mi Lan was in, and so began to pay more attention to her. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng’s plan to take revenge on Li Yingliang, the mastermind behind his assassination, fell short of success thanks to Li Yingliang’s Japanese superior, raising suspicions about his identity. Since then, Li Yingliang and the Japanese were in hot pursuit of Shen Zhiheng, determined to dig out the truth about his secret.

Please do not repost this anywhere else or retranslate it!

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Along the way, Shen Zhiheng was blindfolded by the black-clad men. Now, as he looked around at his surroundings, he only knew that he was in a prison cell. 

The prison cell only had three walls. Metal bars made of welded steel formed the fourth surface, and the space between each bar was so narrow that it only allowed him to extend one arm through. Beyond the bars was a large, open space. From the rack and equipment leaning against the wall, as well as the flecks of blood on the wall itself, it was clear that this was where corporal punishments were meted out.

There weren’t any windows in the surroundings at all, and the place was lit only by a few lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling. The light was blindingly bright, shining on Li Yingliang, who was outside the bars. With his arms crossed in front of his chest, he smiled gently at Shen Zhiheng with great interest. Finally, he had succeeded once against this man.

Shen Zhiheng raised his wrist and looked at the time, asking Li Yingliang, “Are you… kidnapping me?”

Li Yingliang craned his neck to look at his watch. “What time is it?”

“Four thirty in the afternoon.”

“Thank you. No wonder I’m a little hungry. Dinner starts at five thirty here.” He raised his hand and pointed upwards, his expression and tone serious. “The food is not that bad, there’s also some for you.”

“Thanks, but I don’t need it. Let’s talk about serious matters, for example, what’s your purpose in kidnapping me? My life? Then you can take action now and kill me. Money? Then that’s tricky, I’m a bachelor, I don’t have any family or wife outside who can pay you my ransom.”

Li Yingliang clapped his palms together with a sharp sound. “No, eating is also very urgent. It’s not just very urgent, it’s simply the most urgent.” He raised a pointer, and pointed at Shen Zhiheng, “One look and I know you’re the young master of a rich family. You’ve never starved before.”

Shen Zhiheng rolled his eyes.

He always paid attention to everything, and no matter what situation he normally faced, he could always retain his poise and demeanour. It was only when he was dealing with Li Yingliang, when he felt that his poise had absolutely no meaning. Li Yingliang was already eagerly going insane in front of him, and so he returned the favour by giving him a pair of rolled white eyes; with his big eyes, when his eyeballs rolled in their sockets, he could startle the opposite person.

Then, he changed the topic. “Who is your boss? If he has something to say, let him speak to me directly. I can adapt to the circumstances, I’m willing to make some concessions to save my life.”

Li Yingliang pursed his lips in a smile, his eyes filled with a light that seemed to make his gaze averted, as if he were casting amorous, bewitching glances. “Don’t rush, let’s just eat first, we’ll talk after we’re full. Mr. Shen, really, I’m extremely happy that I caught you. I simply don’t dare to believe what’s in front of my eyes now. I don’t dare to believe that you would become my prisoner, really. You don’t know, but ever since our last parting, my entire heart has only been filled with you. For a few months, I couldn’t eat well or sleep well, and didn’t even pass the new year well. As the poem goes ‘My clothes grow looser yet I never regret; For her it’s worth becoming thin and haggard’ [1] ; this describes the both of us!”

Shen Zhiheng looked up and down Li Yingliang, realising that this man was indeed quite haggard. “Chairman Li, why must you be like that? I am too ashamed to accept your praise.”

Li Yingliang smiled. He had worried so much that his face had no more meat to it, and his skin on his face was thin and dry. When he smiled, fine wrinkles appeared. “I don’t have a choice. I, too, could not help it and could not free myself. Mr. Shen, please wait. Today, I will ask the kitchen to serve dinner early. I’m really hungry, I’m about to starve to death. If I continue being hungry like this, I’m afraid I will eat someone before you do.”

With that, he pranced to the side. Between the prison cell and torture chamber was a long corridor, and the two ends of the corridor seemed to also be prison cells. However, it was dark and quiet, and from Shen Zhiheng’s angle, it was difficult to tell. Li Yingliang ecstatically pranced into the darkness at the end of the corridor. His footsteps went further and higher; Shen Zhiheng guessed that he was now underground, and this was a dungeon.

Softly exhaling, he realised that tonight, he probably had to expend some energy to escape from this place. Even trying to break apart those bars alone would take him some time.

Li Yingliang was too elated, as if he had not caught an enemy, but had captured a tiger. He was so elated that he became just like a young student, bouncing through the corridor and up the stairs, returning to the human world.

The entrance of the dungeon was hidden at the first floor of a small grey building.

This small building was situated in the Japanese concession zone. Its surroundings were heavily fortified, and guards took turns to patrol and guard the place around the clock. It was the newly built secret service office of the North China Garrison in Tianjin, and to outsiders, it did not have a proper name. But because the highest ranking leader in the building was Commissioner Yokoyama Akira, the outside world called this place the Yokoyama mansion. 

At this moment, Yokoyama Akira himself was in Beiping, and Li Yingliang used a long-distance telephone to report to him about the winnings of the day. Originally, Yokoyama Akira had not pinned much hope on Li Yingliang’s “wait and see” method of capturing Shen Zhiheng, but now that he suddenly received the news of success, he could not wait to rush back to Tianjin in a single step. But because his legs were not that long, he first ordered Li Yingliang to cooperate with Section Chief Kuroki [2] of the secret service to start digging up Shen Zhiheng’s background.

Upon hearing that the commissioner wanted him to work together with Chief Kuroki, Li Yingliang felt deeply honoured. Although Chief Kuroki was only a lady in her twenties, she had many battle exploits to her name, and was quite renowned. She had come to China when she was around the age of twelve or thirteen, adroitly manoeuvering around the political circles in Qiqihar in Heilongjiang [3] , and receiving the moniker the Flower of Bukui. Later, she became active in North China, wandering around the Hebei region, and also became known as the Beauty of Baoding [4] . She had only been transferred to the Yokoyama mansion by the army in the second half of the previous year. Li Yingliang had interacted with her a few times, and his only opinion of her was that she was quite a nice person, clear and polite in her words and actions. He felt that if she and Yokoyama Akira were to exchange positions, she would probably also be competent.

There was a row of bungalows at the back of the small building, these were the canteen and dormitories of the Yokoyama mansion. After having a hearty meal, Li Yingliang bumped into Chief Kuroki the second he stepped out of the door.

Chief Kuroki’s full name was Kuroki Rika. If one were to evaluate her looks, she was not some snake beauty who could mesmerise people’s souls, but more like the neighbouring family’s big little sister or little big sister. Her raven black hair was cut short and reached only to her ears, and she was pretty and friendly in appearance, leaving a favourable impression on others. Li Yingliang was used to respecting and fearing the Japanese, but only when it came to Kuroki Rika, could he relax. This was her innate ability; she was likable and could become friends with anyone. He knew that he could never catch up with her, and so was very accepting of her.

Kuroki Rika had also just received Yokoyama Akira’s order. Now, she stopped before Li Yingliang, and skipping the stiff and courteous official talk, she smiled directly, “Chairman Li, I just received a call from the commissioner. You’re really incredible, congratulations.”

Li Yingliang also smiled. “I don’t deserve it, you flatter me. My luck was simply good. The commissioner told me to cooperate with Chief Kuroki following this. I greatly appreciate your help, Ma’am.”

Kuroki Rika smiled. “You’re too courteous. When do we start the interrogation?”

Li Yingliang hesitated. “Ma’am, you haven’t had your dinner, have you?”

“I’ve eaten. I ate out this afternoon, and have just returned after that.”

“I’m afraid we will have to stay up tonight, it’s better if you ate a little more.”

“That’s alright, I still have food in my room. If I really get hungry, I’ll just go upstairs to munch on something.”

Hearing her speak with a Guandong [5] style , Li Yingliang also smiled, “Alright then. Actually, it’s not necessary for you to take action tonight. If there’s no significant progress, you should retire early to rest and recharge your energy. When I can no longer hold the fort, it’s not too late for you to take over the lead.”

Speaking to this point, the two of them reached a consensus. Li Yingliang instructed one of his subordinates to bring a tray of food, and he and Kuroki Rika returned to the dungeon together.

Passing through the long corridor of the prison, he once again came face to face with Shen Zhiheng, separated by a wall of metal bars.

Shen Zhiheng was seated down, leaning against the wall. Hearing sounds, he lifted his head. Li Yingliang always heard Shen Zhiheng being praised as having “an elegant and graceful demeanour second to no one”, but because he always viewed him as a thorn in his side, busying himself with hating or killing him, he never noticed his elegant and graceful demeanour. Now that he was in a slightly more relaxed frame of mind and could look properly at Shen Zhiheng, he realised that this person lived up to his reputation, and did indeed have a heroic and elegant air to him. After making his way in the world all these years, he had fought with many people, but had never met such a dignified opponent. His opponent was strong, but he was naturally not weak himself, and such a dignified opponent was ultimately still defeated by him, which only served to additionally prove how much power and strength he now had.

At this moment, Shen Zhiheng had helped him fulfill his achievement, leaving him satisfied, and even in complete bliss. Shen Zhiheng was not aware of this, but he was.

Suppressing the floating ecstasy in his heart, Li Yingliang said, “Mr. Shen, please allow me to introduce you to the lady beside me. This is Section Chief Kuroki Rika of the First Section of the secret service.”

Shen Zhiheng neither stood up nor spoke, only nodding once in greeting at Kuroki Rika.

Kuroki Rika returned with a smile, “Mr. Shen, your name precedes you.”

Shen Zhiheng ignored her.

Li Yingliang gave an order, and the guard in the corridor walked over and squatted, opening a lock at the bottom of the door to the prison cell. The lock was for a small door in the shape of a square, about the size of a doghole when it was opened. The secret service agent behind Li Yingliang bent his waist and pushed the tray of food into the cell, and the guard then locked the small door again.

Li Yingliang opened his mouth again, his voice lazy and hoarse, “Mr. Shen, dinner is served. It’s–” he lowered his eyes to identify the contents of the dishes, “white rice, fish, green vegetables, stir-fried meat, and pickled radish. It’s not lavish, but it’s nutritious enough for you. Please go ahead, don’t stand on ceremony.”

Shen Zhiheng said, “You are holding me captive illegally, I want to lodge a complaint with the Japanese embassy.” 

Li Yingliang sighed, jubilantly expressing his disapproval as he replied indirectly, “Mr. Shen, look at you putting on airs again. This is the Japanese concession zone; the laws being implemented here are Japanese laws. You attempted murder at the Grand Pacific Hotel in the Japanese concession zone and broke Japanese laws, so on the orders of the Japanese, I have captured you. How can you call this holding you captive illegally?”

“You’re not a Japanese police officer, and even more so, you do not have the authority to enforce the law in the English concession zone. I want to go on a hunger strike.”

Li Yingliang wrapped both his hands around the bars, raising an eyebrow. “Then go ahead and strike.”

Kuroki Rika watched with a smile on her face, not saying a word, as if she was really here just because of Shen Zhiheng’s reputation and simply wanted to see for herself what kind of person he was. After taking a look, she figured that Li Yingliang did not require any further help from her yet, and left.

Li Yingliang and Shen Zhiheng entered a war of attrition.

Installing a huge, high-intensity searchlight, Li Yingliang flooded the prison cell with lights. He then instructed a soldier to bring over a lounge chair and a table so that he could lie down and rest behind the light. He glanced at Shen Zhiheng from time to time, wanting to see just how long he could keep up his dignified appearance. He could refuse to eat and drink, but he could never refuse to also urinate and defecate. Li Yingliang did not believe that Shen Zhiheng could completely close off all the passageways of his body; sooner or later, he would open his mouth to beg.

He stayed up until the middle of the night like that, until he could no longer bear it. Then, he called Li Guisheng to take over the shift, while he lay down on the lounge chair and slept.

When he woke up, he rubbed his eyes and asked, “What time is it?” 

Li Guisheng replied, “Sir, it’s already past eight in the morning.”

Li Yingliang immediately stood up and rushed to the front of the prison cell. Shen Zhiheng was currently pacing in front of the harsh lights of the searchlight. He scrutinised him closely, realising that Shen Zhiheng was still prim and proper, with not a single extra wrinkle in his clothes and not a single strand of short hair on his head out of place. However he looked like the previous day, he still looked like today.

Li Yingliang took out a handkerchief and rubbed his eyes vigorously. After toiling continuously for a few days, and then staying up to the middle of the night last night, he simply suspected that his eyes were about to be glued shut by his eye mucus. Then, Shen Zhiheng stopped in his steps and turned to look at him. His expression was indifferent and surprised, as if he were some obscene thing that had suddenly appeared in his noble gaze for no reason at all, catching him off guard. 

Li Yingliang hated this kind of gaze the most. Grinding his teeth together, he laughed coldly, his eyes red, “Mr. Shen, how was last night?”

Shen Zhiheng looked away, and continued to pace. “You’re trying to force a conversation. How boring.”

He replied Li Yingliang so simply, not knowing that Li Yingliang, being the sensitive man that he was, was nearly humiliated to death by his words. Fresh blood rushed into Li Yingliang’s head, his hands shaking in anger as he all but wanted to drag Shen Zhiheng out and bestow upon him the most cruel torture he could. If he did not flay his skin off him, his surname was not Li!

But he did not dare to rashly let Shen Zhiheng out, so he forced himself to calm down and swallowed his anger, continuing to sneer at Shen Zhiheng, “Fine. You belong to a higher realm [6], while I’m boring. Please continue being high and mighty, I just want to see until when you can stand so high.”

And then he left.

Shen Zhiheng believed that he truly was of a higher realm .

All year round, he only pondered and researched about himself. As for the people and things of the outside world, he was like a seasoned veteran, treating everything perfunctorily, and rarely going out of his way to love or hate someone. Li Yingliang even wanted to kill him, but other than feeling that he was troublesome, he was not obsessed with seeking revenge on him. However, while he was not obsessed, Li Yingliang was, and he kept ceaselessly pestering him, even acting against a blind little girl, and that made his hatred grow. There was resentment in his hatred. And because he had been resentful for a long time and had no target for this resentment, he was waiting for an attachment for this hatred, begging for something to vent against.

He was a little hungry, but it was not yet to the point where he would lose himself. Now, the only problem was that he did not know what the situation was above ground. His greatest worry was that the basement was the frying pan and the ground was the fire. Fortunately, the guards in the corridor all held guns, which he could easily grab. Li Yingliang seemed to have gone upstairs to have his breakfast. Eat, eat, eat, this man only knew how to eat. Before leaving, he had even added a searchlight, as if he wanted to blind him with the bright lights. However, this move was truly effective. He was listless, having really been shone on by those lights to the point of giddiness. 

A young man opened his mouth from beyond the bars, “Ah, Mr. Shen?”

He had heard Li Yingliang address this young man before, and he remembered that he seemed to be surnamed Li, but his name was definitely Guisheng. He ignored Li Guisheng, because he was too lazy to lift his head to face the strong lights.

Li Guisheng continued, “Our chairman does not have ill intentions against you. He just wants to know why you didn’t die that night. Why not just tell him the truth? Why must you stay here and suffer this extreme discomfort?”

Shen Zhiheng turned a deaf ear to this young brat’s words, secretly plotting his escape for tonight. He originally should have run away the previous night, but little did he know that Li Yingliang actually blocked the door and watched him for a good half of the night. Since he did not manage to escape last night, tonight was his final deadline, because he was getting increasingly hungry.

At noon, Li Yingliang returned.

He had taken a shower and cut his hair, and had changed into a set of pale grey serge hunting wear. He had to do all of this, just to regain his self-confidence in front of Shen Zhiheng. Instructing the guards to open the small door to replace the tray of food that had been left there the night before, he thrusted his hands into his pockets, bending his waist and craning his neck in Shen Zhiheng’s direction.

As if calling a dog, he called, “Hey! Still on a hunger strike?”

He spoke cheerfully, and Shen Zhiheng subconsciously raised his head, immediately raising a hand to block his eyes. “Chairman Li, just how much do you like looking at me that you have to install searchlights to shine at me all day and all night long?”

Li Yingliang smacked his lips, incredibly pleased with himself, “ Tsk! Mr. Shen is a distinguished person. It’s so difficult to see you normally, now that I finally have the chance, shouldn’t I do my best to admire and honour you with respect?”

After saying that, Li Yingliang suddenly noticed that Shen Zhiheng had taken a step to come right before him, and even stretched his arms out between the bars. He retreated back in a hurry to hide, his face changing.

“What are you doing?”

Shen Zhiheng spread his hands out. “I was worried that you could not admire me clearly enough, so I came closer to you.”

Li Yingliang scolded, “Stop playing tricks! Put your hands back!”

Shen Zhiheng pulled his arms back, now knowing just how scary he was in Li Yingliang’s heart.

Also realising his gaffe, Li Yingliang pointed at Shen Zhiheng through the air, nodding and jeering, “Fine, the one surnamed Shen, you’re already in such a situation, yet you still dare to play with me. Go on, it’s alright, tonight, the commissioner will return. If I don’t break you, the Japanese will. The Japanese are nervous and will naturally cut you into pieces. Aren’t you capable of returning from the dead? Good, very good, this time, I’ll make you return from the dead before my eyes. I want to see just what thing you truly are!” 

In the expanse of the prison, his voice reverberated against the walls continuously. Under the double assault of the lights and sounds, Shen Zhiheng was somewhat driven to distraction. Ultimately, he still had some human weaknesses, and although he was not currently deeply distressed, he could feel himself on the verge of losing control. The searchlights were like two suns, roasting him under their radiance. If he could drink a bottle of fresh, ice cold blood at this moment, perhaps, he would still be able to calm down.

Turning his back to Li Yingliang, he raised his hand and undid the buttons of his Western-style jacket, shrugging out of it and tossing it aside. Then, he turned his face, showing his profile to Li Yingliang.

“I want to drink water.”

“No! Since you’re on a hunger strike, I’ll make you strike until the end.”

“Give me a cup of water, or else everyone who’s present, including you, will not have the chance to live until tonight.”

Li Yingliang glared at Shen Zhiheng’s profile, sneering again, “Scaring me?”

After that, he resumed glaring at Shen Zhiheng, and after glaring for a while, he turned his head and said, “Guisheng, get him a bowl of water. Use a metal bowl, don’t use a porcelain one.”

Li Guisheng found a small enamel mug, and gave Shen Zhiheng some boiled water. Shen Zhiheng drank all of the water at one go, then passed the enamel mug back out through the bars.

The searchlights were still left on, and after an hour, Shen Zhiheng loosened his tie and collar, sighing.

Li Yingliang extremely cherished these hints of dishevelment that Shen Zhiheng revealed. To further provoke him, he got Li Guisheng to bring over some high quality food. This food was freshly bought from a restaurant, and the dishes, all full of colour, flavour, and taste, were arranged neatly on the tray and passed through the small door and into the prison cell. Li Yingliang stood at one side, wanting to see Shen Zhiheng being torn between striking and eating in the face of such a culinary spread.

However, contrary to his expectations, after seeing the food, Shen Zhiheng actually immediately took a step back, as if he had been taken off guard and had been surprised by the food.

Then, he kept a relative distance between himself and the food. According to Li Yingliang’s observation, the way he treated the food was not like the restraint of someone on a hunger strike, but as if he was disgusted by it from the bottom of his heart.

The food grew cold and it was taken back out. Li Yingliang then got Li Guisheng to bring over two catties of raw beef from the canteen. The raw beef was red and fresh, and he tossed it into the prison cell.

“There’s no live person for you to eat here, you’ll have to improvise with some raw beef!”

Shen Zhiheng sat in a corner with his head lowered, his knees curled up to his chest and forearm propped against them. With his face buried in the crook of his arms, he gave no reaction. Li Yingliang did not know if he should be disappointed or if he should sigh a breath of relief. The reason why he could not stop thinking about Shen Zhiheng was completely because everything about Shen Zhiheng was suspicious, and he suspected that he was a demon or monster. However, if he were to listen to his true intent, he actually wished more than anything that Shen Zhiheng was just a normal man.

A man, a wealthy magnate of the concession zone, a famed socialite, an evenly matched fellow human, an opponent he could defeat and subdue. He was no Taoist priest; subduing a demon would bring him no pleasure. What he wanted was the glory of the human world.

 With conflicting feelings, Li Yingliang continued to observe Shen Zhiheng. Just when he was about to order the guards to remove the piece of beef from the prison cell, Kuroki Rika arrived.

“Chairman Li, the commissioner has returned.”

Li Yingliang immediately revealed an expression of surprise. “Aiyo, that’s great, I’ll immediately go up to welcome him.”

Kuroki Rika smiled, “There’s no need. He has already come down himself.”

A series of footsteps echoed from the corridor. It was neat and orderly, approaching from a distance, and Shen Zhiheng raised his head. Li Yingliang finally turned off one of the searchlights, letting the scene before his eyes darken a little, and the air also seemed to cool down.

At this moment, he was really hungry. His hunger was like a fire burning in his stomach, burning him to the point where his head was giddy. Two sharp clicks came from the corridor as Li Yingliang and Kuroki Rika snapped to attention together, and as they greeted him, someone came to a stop outside the prison cell. It was Yokoyama Akira.

In his straight and crisp military uniform, Yokoyama Akira said politely, “Mr. Shen, hello. My surname is Yokoyama, Yokoyama Akira, I am the commissioner of this office.”

Shen Zhiheng stood up. He still had physical strength; the one that was weak was his head. Walking forward in a daze, a part of him was thinking of how to negotiate with him, while another part of him was staring blankly at his neck, unable to tear his gaze away. He imagined that he could take Yokoyama Akira hostage. As long as he could come into contact with this person, he could definitely restrain him. Restrain him, and then…

And then, a scene of open wounds and fresh blood kept flashing before his eyes, and he was simply unable to continue thinking.

He stopped before the bars, raising his hands and grasping a bar in each of them. At the same time, he heard himself say lightly, “So this is Commissioner Yokoyama.”

Yokoyama Akira measured Shen Zhiheng, unease settling in his heart. Shen Zhiheng looked extremely normal, and seemed even more human than most humans. If he was just actually a martial arts expert with unmatched skills, but he had been treated by them like a demon, wouldn’t it be too absurd and comical?

At this point, Shen Zhiheng raised a hand towards him. “Mr. Yokoyama, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I just didn’t expect that our first formal meeting would be in such a place.”

His tone and actions were polite, and Yokoyama Akira wanted to shake his hand without hesitation. However, as soon as he raised his right hand, Li Yingliang suddenly raised his own hand to block him, all but shouting, “Sir, be careful!”

Yokoyama Akira was stunned, and Li Yingliang also realised that his shout was a little too impetuous. He explained hurriedly in a lowered voice, “After all, he’s a dangerous person. Sir, it’s still better to be careful.”

Listening to his words, Yokoyama Akira agreed with him. He turned back to face Shen Zhiheng, saying, “I heard that Mr. Shen has an undying body.”

Shen Zhiheng slowly kept his hand, “Ridiculous.”

Yokoyama Akira smiled. “Yes, perhaps it’s a ridiculous rumour. But I am truly very curious. It’s a pity that it’s a little late today, and it’s not convenient for me to have a long chat with you. Please, Mr. Shen, have a good rest tonight. Early tomorrow morning, I will return to consult you again. If our chat is profitable, then you will have no need to continue staying here. Mr. Shen, I’m willing to be friends with you, and invite you to my humble abode for a few cups of wine.”

He stared straight into Shen Zhiheng’s eyes, and nodded his head, “The night is long, Mr. Shen, you can think carefully, whether you want me as an enemy, or as a friend.”

Then, he turned around and left.

Kuroki Rika pulled Li Yingliang over to the side, giving him a few instructions in a low voice. At the same time, Shen Zhiheng was still standing in bafflement, as if he was surprised. According to what he could surmise from Li Yingliang’s threats this afternoon, he had believed that Yokoyama Akira would declare war on him tonight. Yet, that person had only thrown out a few light phrases, and then left, leaving him to starve for another night. But after staying in Shanghai for a few months, he was already malnourished, and after returning to Tianjin for a few days, he was already hungry and thirsty. And at this time, after starving for two days and two nights, was he not being forced to the brink of insanity?

Then, Li Yingliang, following Kuroki Rika’s instructions, turned off the remaining searchlight. He walked to the prison cell, saying to Shen Zhiheng, “Your last night, your last chance. Think carefully.”

Li Yingliang and Kuroki Rika left together, leaving behind only a few guards standing in the corridor.

Shen Zhiheng was really thinking carefully, and his conclusion was that he had to escape, and it had to be tonight. After escaping tonight, he would return home, have his fill, take a bath, and change his clothes. Tomorrow, he would still be Tianjin’s Mr. Shen. The Japanese would no longer have any chance of launching a sneak attack on him, and he would send the big troublemaker that was Li Yingliang off to paradise as soon as possible. If he did not escape tonight, then when tomorrow or the day after came, he did not dare to imagine the condition he would deteriorate into.

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衣带渐宽终不悔，为伊消得人憔悴: the literal meaning is as translated. Figuratively, this means to miss someone so much that one becomes emaciated (hence the loose clothes), but even the pain of wasting away is nothing compared to the pain of missing them.

The Kanji characters of Kuroki Rika are ���木 梨花, which in Mandarin Chinese pronunciation, is “hēi mù lí huā”, with “Heimu” being her surname and “Lihua” being her given name. In the show, as the Japanese people have been replaced with Chinese people instead, Kuroki Rika is now Mu Lihua 沐梨花 “mù lí huā”, with “Mu” being her surname and “Lihua” still being her given name.

Heilongjiang is the northernmost and easternmost province of China (part of the northeast region of China), bordering Russia. It was also part of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo during this period. (Fun fact: Gao Weiguang, who acted as Shen Zhiheng in the drama, is also from Heilongjiang!) Qiqihar is the second-largest city in Heilongjiang. Its original name was Bukui, which is the Chinese transcription of a Dagur (the language spoken by the Daur people, one of the ethnic minorities in Qiqihar) word meaning “auspicious”.

A city in central Hebei, which is a state of northern China.

关东 (guān dōng), not to be confused with the Guangdong province in southern China, is an old term used from the Warring States period (c. 475-221 BC) to the Tang Dynasty (c. 618-907) to refer to the region east of the Xiaoshan mountain range. This includes parts of the modern day provinces of Henan, Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Inner Mongolia. The local word that Kuroki Rika had used was 垫巴 (diàn bā), which is local slang in northern China to casually eat something when you’re hungry.

As in, of a higher mental and ideological awareness, of thought.

[ruanbaijie]

During the Republican Era, Shen Zhiheng, a member of the Tianjin gentry who happened to be a vampire, offended the Japanese and became the target of an assassination attempt. He was saved by a blind young lady, Mi Lan, and his best friend Situ Weilian. When he went to repay Mi Lan for saving him, he discovered the terrible family situation that Mi Lan was in, and so began to pay more attention to her. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng’s plan to take revenge on Li Yingliang, the mastermind behind his assassination, fell short of success thanks to Li Yingliang’s Japanese superior, raising suspicions about his identity. Since then, Li Yingliang and the Japanese were in hot pursuit of Shen Zhiheng, determined to dig out the truth about his secret.

Please do not repost this anywhere else or retranslate it!

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After seeing General Mi at the dance party, Shen Zhiheng had a brainwave, and came up with an idea.

The young mistress of the Mi family had saved his life, and her saving his life was different from Situ Weilian saving his life. She was a young blind girl, and the two of them were strangers. Moreover, according to his observations, she had really kept the secret to herself, and had yet to reveal a single hint about what had happened that night.

Although he did not mention it, Shen Zhiheng could not stop thinking about this young lady. When he thought about how she had gone behind the backs of her parents and fumbled her way to Keats Hospital by herself, he felt a pang of guilt. That night, wracked with pain, cold, and hunger, he had been a little light-headed. He had forgotten that this young lady was blind, and had still thought that she could easily look up a phone number by herself, like a normal person. 

The Mi mansion was easy to find, but he remembered that Mrs. Mi was a shrew. Besides, the young lady had also specifically left word to not visit her to thank her. After mulling over this matter for several days, fortunately, this night, General Mi gave him an idea.

After sending Situ Weilian back to his apartment, he returned home to take a shower and change his clothes, before climbing onto his bed to sleep. Before sleeping, he wanted to drink a little alcohol out of habit, but when he held a mouthful of whiskey in his mouth, he violently vomited it out.

His senses were being stripped away by his bizarre fate. Now, he could still maintain the appearance of a dignified person, and had a dignified identity and position in human society. But, he knew that in the end, even all of these would be stripped away from him. In the end, what he would be left with, what he would become - these were things that he did not know. Death was the best outcome, but even living or dying was not a choice that he could make.

Closing his eyes, he lay straight on his back while his mind remained in flux. Even sleep had been stripped away from him. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel it when the sky brightened.

At dawn, he opened his eyes, his tongue feeling around in his mouth. Very good, his teeth were still firm and neat, and no fangs had sprouted.

Getting up, he once again took a shower and changed out of his clothes, washing off the sweet scent on his body that seemed to be there one second but gone the next. The Shen residence and the Li residence had quite a lot of similarities, for instance, he did not hire live-in servants either, and the only few servants he hired always came in the morning and left at night. When he went down the stairs, there was already a little activity in the mansion. He did not need breakfast, so the servants would prepare a pot of hot water and a roll of newspaper in the dining room for him every morning, as per his instructions. As for what he ate for lunch and dinner, in any case, he was not at home during the day and the servants did not see nor care for what he did. When he came home at night, the servants would have already left work for the day.

Entering the dining room, he sat down, drank some hot water, read the paper, and pondered over his investments and profits. He needed wealth and power, this was what he had learned after the past few years of bitter experiences: as long as he lived in a castle or palace, he could adamantly insist on keeping his air of mystery.

In the afternoon, he got into his car, heading towards the Mi mansion with several boxes of gifts, big and small alike.

He had already prepared what he wanted to say. When he reached the Mi mansion, he would say that he had fallen ill previously and had missed the one month party that General Mi had thrown for his son, and was now here personally as a courtesy. Although that son was not Mrs. Mi’s, he felt that there was nothing wrong with this reason, and would not be chased out by Mrs. Mi.

Once he entered the Mi mansion, he would find a way to meet Young Mistress Mi. After all, there was her portion in these presents. Even if he did not get to meet her, he would let her know that he had already fully recovered, and this would be a form of comfort to her. However, Shen Zhiheng did not expect that the thing that welcomed him to the Mi mansion would be Mrs. Mi’s howls.

On a normal day, Mrs. Mi did not give any face at all to her daughter. She simply could not wait for her to die, beating her all day long as if she were her enemy. However, a month ago, perhaps it was because she had pushed this child out into the cold to freeze, Mi Lan had caught a cold and fallen ill with a high fever the next night. She had not brushed it off her shoulder and had still rushed to her bed, pointing at her nose and screaming at her to die. Once she died, everything could be taken care of, she would be free, and she could cut all her ties with the Mi family, pack her belongings, and return to her ancestral home in Jiangnan [1]. Mi Lan had closed her eyes, expressionless as usual, even without any reaction. After scolding her for two days, she had realised that her daughter’s high fever was still not receding, and had finally admitted that the child had really fallen ill, and she had instructed the old maids to find some Western medicine for her to eat.

After eating the medicine, Mi Lan’s temperature fluctuated, the fever still not receding. Finally, after enduring till a week before, when she looked like she was about to take her last breath, she was brought to the hospital, where the doctors discovered that her pneumonia had already become very serious.

Mrs. Mi always told her daughter to go and die, and now that her daughter was really about to die, she could not stop crying, feeling that she could not part from her only child. She made a ruckus at the hospital and had a very “timely” fall, nearly twisting her ankle. General Mi’s whereabouts could not be determined and no hopes could be pinned on him. The old maids brought Mrs. Mi home, and although she missed her daughter, Mrs. Mi could neither walk nor leave the house. And so, in panic, her hot tears and howls were what welcomed guests to her house.

Seeing the situation that Mrs. Mi was in, Shen Zhiheng was startled at first. After hearing the old maids’ laments, he immediately succinctly explained why he had come, and said, “Mrs. Mi, don’t worry. Let me know which hospital your daughter is in. I happen to be free this afternoon, I will go over and take care of her in your stead. If there are any developments there, I will immediately make a phone call to inform you.”

Mrs. Mi had heard of Shen Zhiheng before, and so she believed him, replying with tears and snot trickling down her face, “Vi, Vi, Vi…”

   The old maid by her side finished for her, “Victoria Hospital. When you reach, tell them that you’re looking for Miss Mi Lan, and the nurse will bring you in.”

Mrs. Mi started to cry again, “My Lan… If anything happens to her, I won’t have anyone by my side…”

Shen Zhiheng left the Mi mansion, slightly on edge. When he reached Victoria Hospital, he entered and immediately approached a doctor. Sure enough, the doctor pointed him in the right direction. He searched around on the third floor, where the premium single rooms were. Most of the rooms were empty, and the corridor was silent. Pushing open the door of the room at the end of the corridor, he saw that there was a single bed in the room, and on it lay a girl. Other than that, there was no one else.

He did not walk in. Instead, he turned around to find the doctor, asking about Mi Lan’s condition, before returning to the room. Removing his coat and gently hanging it, he walked to the front of the bed and sat himself down on a chair. He turned his head to look at Mi Lan. This was his first time taking a proper look at her.

He realised that she was a little similar to him - not the face shape, but the eyebrows. He suddenly lowered his body to get closer to her, scrutinising her hair, her face, her neck, as well as her arms at the side of the bed.

He discovered traces of abuse on her body.

Her long hair was dirty. It was not a normal kind of sparse; he could see the remnants of scabs on her scalp. Her eyebrows hid faint scars, and below her ear sat a red scar. It was startlingly red; a new wound that had just healed not too long ago. Her wrists, as thin as reed stems, extended out from the loose sleeves of the hospital gown. Her palms were thin and her skin was delicate and pale. Though clean, her fingernails were long.

From her soft and tender hands, it was evident that she was the young mistress of a wealthy family, her hands never having seen a day’s hard work. However, from the bruises on her soft and tender hands, it was also evident that the everyday norm for this young mistress of a wealthy family was to get beaten. Before Shen Zhiheng came to see her, he had wondered a lot about Young Mistress Mi’s background, but he had never imagined that these were the kind of days that she lived. Reaching up to adjust the knot of his tie, he suddenly felt a flare of anger, even a little out of breath. He grasped one of her hands, unknowingly using force. This child was about to die, now, was it his turn to save her?

Right at that moment, Mi Lan suddenly opened her eyes.

Shen Zhiheng hurriedly asked, “Are you awake? It’s me. Do you still remember my voice?”

Mi Lan stared up blankly, her two eyes cold and crystal clear, as if in them bloomed her entire soul. The long period of sleep had made her somewhat sluggish. When Shen Zhiheng’s voice drifted into her ears, she gradually awakened, and also gradually remembered this voice.

Finally, she rasped, “Are you well?”

From the darkness came his voice, “I’m well, I’m completely well. Thank you, you saved my life.”

Mi Lan moved her fingers. Her palm was wrapped by a large, warm hand, and in this large hand, she felt how small and weak she was. Slowly pulling her hand out, she traced his sleeve and moved upwards, feeling a long arm. Shen Zhiheng lowered his body, and she continued tracing up his shoulder, and up to his face. He had a full forehead, deep eye sockets, a straight nose bridge, and below his soft and smooth skin, she could feel the hardness of his bones. His physique was also tall and large. 

How nice, she thought.

This was the person she had saved. He looked good and was living well, and she felt honoured by association. Pulling back her hand to the tip of her nose, she sniffed softly, smelling the mixture of hair tonic and cologne. Below this fragrance seemed to be another smell that was masked, but that smell was too foreign to her, that she could neither categorise nor describe it.

She let her hand drop down, feeling quite satisfied that she had saved him. She was also very satisfied with this person she had saved. Blinking slowly, she smiled, “Take care of yourself.”

Shen Zhiheng held her hand once again, “Of course, I know to take care of myself. But what about you? Who beat you and left those wounds on your body? Your mother? Or did someone else bully you?”

“My mother beat me,” Mi Lan said. “She’s not happy with her life, and takes her anger out on me.”

“Does no one at home stop her? What about your father General Mi?”

“My father does not come home.”

She said this so calmly and indifferently, as if she were describing a piece of old news from far away, that had nothing to do with her. Shen Zhiheng first thought that Mrs. Mi had abused her to the point where she had become dumb, but nearly at once, realised that a dumb child would not have the ability and courage to fumble her way to Keats Hospital by herself. 

So, he asked again, “That night, why did you go to such a desolate place alone?”

Mi Lan lay in the darkness, and the man’s voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere outside this world. She had already made preparations to die in this dark world, so she answered accordingly, without defending or hiding anything from that bustling, bright world. 

“I wanted to find a place with nobody around to freeze to death. I heard that just before someone dies of the cold, they wouldn’t feel cold, and wouldn’t feel pain.”

Shen Zhiheng extended a hand to stroke her long hair, lowering his eyes to stare at hers. He was silent for a long period, before he finally said, “Mi Lan, don’t die, okay?”

Mi Lan frowned slightly, finally looking a little like a child. “Living is too bitter.”

Shen Zhiheng said, “But now, you have me. I need to repay your favour!” He lowered his head beside her ear, and whispered, “My surname is Shen, Shen Zhiheng. The same ‘zhiheng’ as ‘constant like the moon’ [2]. Do you remember that? I have a lot of money and power, and in this world, as long as you have money and power, there’s nothing you can’t do, right? If you don’t believe me, you can ask around when you’re discharged from the hospital. I’m somewhat famous in Tianjin.”

What he just said sounded like he was trying to coax her, but also like he was boasting. Mi Lan smiled, “Then why were your enemies still trying to kill you?”

“I was careless then. To tell you the truth, I’m here today to see you, and tomorrow, I will go and seek my revenge.” He patted Mi Lan’s head, his voice going lower, “You must still keep it a secret!”

Mi Lan smiled slightly, feeling like he was both a young father and an old friend. The door opened, and the nurse stuck her head in, reminding Shen Zhiheng to not stay for too long as talking too much would tax the patient’s energy. Shen Zhiheng was very obedient, only saying to Mi Lan, “wait for me”, before leaving the hospital room.

Two hours later, he returned, bringing with him fresh flowers and dinner.

Mi Lan had already spent two days without eating much. Shen Zhiheng helped her to lean against her pillow such that she was half lying and half seated, and personally fed her congee. She had no appetite and did not want to eat, but because this was Shen Zhiheng, she decided that she had to eat no matter what.

“I’ve asked someone to send a letter to your house,” while feeding, he said in a low voice, “I told your mother to rest well at home these few days, and not worry about the situation here. I will take care of you. Your mother agreed, and even thanked me for my troubles. So, at least for these few days, you are safe. You must live well these few days and spend your days comfortably.”

What he said made complete sense, and Mi Lan was utterly convinced. When she was apathetic, her words were terse and to the point. But now that she was just slightly happy, on the contrary, she had nothing to say, and only smiled softly. But perhaps it was because her future was uncertain, and so her smile was still very reserved, and her eyes were still cold and vacant.

Shen Zhiheng had not interacted with children for a long time. In his eyes, fifteen-year-old Mi Lan was just a young child.

Fortunately, this young child was different from others. She lacked life, let alone childishness. Shen Zhiheng spent several hours with her, and it went relatively easily. Mi Lan understood what he said, as did he with her meanings. Other than that, it was nearly as if Mi Lan had a third eye. When they were in the same room together, it always felt like she knew his every move like the back of her hand. Wherever he stood, whatever he was doing, she knew it all.

At night, he returned home, and saw Situ Weilian the second he entered. Situ Weilian was sitting on the sofa and reading a novel, and upon seeing that he had returned, he immediately glanced at the coffee table. There was a bulging canvas satchel on the coffee table; he had brought Shen Zhiheng his dinner.

The servants had already left. Shen Zhiheng sat on the sofa, taking the glass bottles out from the bag.

“I went to see Mi Lan today. Young Mistress Mi.”

Situ Weilan immediately turned his head to look at him, “Didn’t she say to not visit her?”

“Of course, I have my ways.” He pulled the rubber stopper out from the mouth of the bottle, and the smell of blood instantly wafted through the parlour. With the bottle pressed against his mouth, he tilted his head backwards and told a large gulp, then said, “It turns out that she is quite a poor child. Mrs. Mi isn’t human, beating her until she has scars all over her body. She even fell sick with pneumonia and had to stay in the hospital, with not a single person by her side.”

Situ Weilian stared at his blood-coated lips, somewhat with interest, “Shen-xiong, actually, it would be good if that lady were just a few years older. You could marry her and bring her home, then she would be able to escape from her mother’s clutches.”

“Nonsense, are you afraid that she has a long life ahead of her and want her to be scared to death by me as soon as possible?”

“She won’t necessarily be scared to death. Look at me, I’m living quite well, aren’t I?”

Shen Zhiheng looked at him, suddenly feeling that Situ Weilian and Young Mistress Mi were quite similar. Both of them were inexplicably eccentric, or that is to say, they were both missing something human. Situ Weilian was good-looking and lively, but as far as Shen Zhiheng knew, besides himself, he did not seem to have any other good friends; he seemed to be naturally a little unloveable.

Glancing away from Situ Weilian’s face, he said, “Who would be as crazy as you?”

Situ Weilian suddenly squeezed himself in front of him. “Shen-xiong, I’ve been reading a lot recently, and have conducted another ambitious round of research and inference about your origin. Now, I suspect that you are a vampire–”

“Don’t say anymore, I don’t like to hear that word. What do you mean by ghost [3], I look even more human than you!”

“Alright then, let me put it another way. In the west, you would be considered as part of the blood race, do you know about that? They specialise in drinking blood to live, and are absolutely not mosquito spirits.”

“Get lost! Do I look like a Westerner to you? All the generations of my family have been Chinese! We’ve never even been to Nanyang [4], let alone the West!”

“You rebut every sentence that I say, do you still want me to speak?”

“You’ve researched me for three years and none of the results are good. Today, you say that I’m a demon, tomorrow, you say that I’m a ghost. I’ve gotten sick of it!”

Situ Weilian turned his face away, his lip curling. Then, he exhaled a long breath and turned back again. “Then let me say this, according to my research, you are probably a great, respectable person. Do you like to hear this then?”

Shen Zhiheng took another large mouthful, nodding at Situ Weilian with round cheeks. He swallowed the blood with a large gulp. “Very good, continue researching in this direction. I can even provide you with some funds.”

Situ Weilian extended a hand to him, “Then give it to me now, as long as the funds are sufficient, I can conduct research on you until you are the descendant of true dragons.”

Shen Zhiheng put down the glass bottle, ignoring him as he went straight out of the parlour and up the stairs. A short while later, he came back down, throwing a cheque at Situ Weilian, “Take it to spend.”

Situ Weilian grabbed the cheque, standing up gleefully, “Shen-xiong, you’re so good. I’ll take this money and invite Second Young Mistress Jin out. Drink slowly, I won’t disturb you. I’m off!”

Not five minutes after he had left, Situ Weilian ran back again, telling Shen Zhiheng, “Shen-xiong, there are two men outside your house. They keep loitering suspiciously around the street without leaving. Could it be that your enemies are here again?”

Shen Zhiheng waved his hand, “Mind your own business, don’t worry about me.”

Full and content, Shen Zhiheng went to bed. The next morning, he received the invitation from Li Yingliang, and in the afternoon, brought lunch and fresh flowers and went to visit Mi Lan. After accompanying Mi Lan for half the afternoon, he left the hospital, and went home to make some preparations. In the evening, he drove his own car and headed to the Grand Pacific Hotel in the Japanese concession zone for his dinner appointment. 

The Grand Pacific Hotel was a building with two floors, and Li Yingliang had long reached the private room on the second floor to wait. When Shen Zhiheng alighted from his car, Li Yingliang’s subordinates were already at the entrance to usher him up. From the window on the second floor, Li Yingliang extended his head and looked down. Why was it that Shen Zhiheng always attended these events alone, without a single bodyguard by his side? His heart fluttered, thinking, Could it be that after being dealt with harshly, he now knows to submit?

If Shen Zhiheng was willing to face the facts of the situation and submit, Li Yingliang was actually willing to give him another chance. Pulling his head back, he shut the window, shuddering for no reason. When he lifted his head again, the door opened, and his subordinate ushered Shen Zhiheng into the room.

They had not seen each other for only a day, but Li Yingliang realised that most of Shen Zhiheng’s sickly pallor had faded. Together with his trim Western suit, he looked somewhat full of energy. At once, Li Yingliang pushed a large smile onto his face, extending both hands as he circled the table and went to shake Shen Zhiheng’s hand, “Mr. Shen, I’m truly happy that you are willing to grace me with your presence.”

Shen Zhiheng shook his hand, “Chairman Li, you’re too polite.”

“Don’t call me chairman,” Li Yingliang held up a finger to him, correcting him as he widened his eyes, “I did not invite you as a chairman. Actually, I’m more willing to get to know you as a friend. You should know as well, I have admired you for a long time, and have long wanted to get to know you. It’s just that we were never fated to, and I never had this opportunity to get to know someone as esteemed as you.” 

Shen Zhiheng laughed once, “I don’t deserve Chairman Li’s words.”

Speaking till this point, Li Yingliang’s brain suddenly short-circuited. What should he say next? In any case, he could not directly ask him if he was willing to cooperate with the Japanese. Shen Zhiheng was watching him with a piercing gaze, and his smile seemed to be one harbouring ill intentions. So, Li Yingliang thought, if he had come here all alone to die, what right did he have to smirk at him?

At this moment, perhaps because Shen Zhiheng had been standing for a long time, and because Li Yingliang kept staring at him, like a machine that had suffered a power outage, Shen Zhiheng could only take the initiative to pull out a chair, extending a hand at the head of the table, “Chairman Li, have a seat.”

Li Yingliang came to his senses then, turning around and taking the seat nearest to him. The second he sat down, he lifted his head, and realised that there was something off about where he was sitting. The round table was large and there were seats everywhere, but he just had to sit so close to Shen Zhiheng. The two of them sat shoulder-to-shoulder, facing the round table. At first, they sat stunned, and almost at once, they both turned their heads at the same time to look at the other. Shen Zhiheng’s breath blew all over his forehead.

Li Yingliang immediately wanted to go on a killing spree, to kill Shen Zhiheng to silence him.

With much embarrassment, he got up and moved another seat down, but when he sat down, he still felt that something was off. He could not keep turning his head to talk to Shen Zhiheng. So, he shifted another seat down, and still felt that it was wrong.

His face reddening, he continued with his impetuous shifting. Shen Zhiheng watched him with much curiosity, wondering until where he would shift. Fortunately, Li Yingliang did not shift himself out of the door. When he was opposite Shen Zhiheng, he finally sat comfortably, lifting his head as he tried to explain, “The table… is a little big!”

Shen Zhiheng leaned back, sitting quite comfortably indeed, “As I said, Chairman Li is too polite. It’s alright if we just have a casual meal, why do you have to go to such lengths to host me? It’s too extravagant.”

“It’s something I should do, if not, I wouldn’t be able to sufficiently express my feelings.” He snapped his fingers at the door, “Serve the food!”

The waiters filed into the room with the dishes. Shen Zhiheng asked for a cigar, smoking it slowly. When the dishes were all served, Li Yingliang instructed his subordinates to close the door. He then personally poured a glass of wine for him, passing it to him with both his hands from across the table. However, the table was honestly too big, and he was nearly flat on the table. It was a good thing that his physique was good and his waist was strong, and so he could still hold himself steadily. Just as the wine glass touched the surface of the table, Li Yingliang suddenly noticed Shen Zhiheng extending a hand towards him.

His heart stuttered for a second and he froze. Shen Zhiheng opened his mouth and said two words, “Your tie.”

He lowered his head to look, and only now realised that his tie had slipped out of his suit and was almost dangling in a bowl of fish soup. Shen Zhiheng took his tie and tucked it back into his suit, then pulled his hand back.

“Be careful.”

Li Yingliang sat back down. “Thank you.”

Shen Zhiheng said, “I have a stomach disease, I can’t drink alcohol.”

“Drink less.”

With the cigar dangling from his lips, Shen Zhiheng shook his head. “After suffering from a serious illness, I nearly lost my life, and only managed to escape from death with much effort. I cannot afford to not be more careful.”

Holding his wine glass, Li Yingliang’s lips suddenly lifted up in a smile, “You aren’t worried that I put poison in the wine, are you?”

“No,” Shen Zhiheng looked at him through the cigar smoke. “There’s no need for you to do that.”

Li Yingliang laughed hollowly. Shen Zhiheng’s words always mixed truth and lies, and he always stared at him with such a meaningful look in his eyes. His mind was simply about to crumble; this type of gaze, the one that Shen Zhiheng always gave him, was the one he hated the most.

Judging by how he dared to look at him like that, perhaps the one surnamed Shen was not here as a display of friendship. However, the inside and outside of the hotel were full of his people, and Shen Zhiheng was all by himself, just what mess could he make?

Giving in to him, Li Yingliang picked up his chopsticks and said, “Mr. Shen, please, let’s skip the pleasantries.”

Shen Zhiheng smiled slightly at him and went “mm”. Yet, he did not touch his chopsticks. Li Yingliang grabbed a handful of stir-fried shredded pork with his chopsticks and ate it, finding that it did not taste that bad. While chewing, he lifted his eyes to look in front of him. Hanging low above the round table was a lamp, its light shining on Shen Zhiheng. He saw Shen Zhiheng smiling yet not smiling at the same time, as he gently bit his cigar with his teeth. At the same time, his Adam’s apple moved, as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva while facing him.

At first, he had thought that Shen Zhiheng was hungry, but was afraid that he had poisoned the food, and so was willing to stay hungry and not eat. However, his hairs were, for some strange reason, standing, and he felt that Shen Zhiheng was not just hungry, but rapacious, so rapacious that his mouth was watering.

And the target of that rapacious greed, seemed to be him.

Li Yingliang started to fidget, deciding to no longer beat around the bush with Shen Zhiheng. Tonight, this person was making him incredibly uncomfortable. He could not bear with it any longer, and decided to jump straight to the topic.

“Mr. Shen,” he said, “We had a small misunderstanding in the past. I originally thought that we had different stances and opinions, and had no opportunity to sit together to speak. Little did I know that we have the chance today to sit together in a room, eating and talking at the same time. I do not dare to speculate your intentions, but for me, I am truly deeply honoured.” 

Shen Zhiheng nodded his head, smiling, “Mm.”

“With Mr. Shen’s intellect, I am certain you can understand my predicament. Although my job has some connections to the Japanese, I myself have not done anything to harm our country or fellow citizens. Besides, the Japanese don’t know anything when they are in China, if there aren’t people like us to mediate, they will follow their own rules and behave recklessly, and wouldn’t our citizens still suffer?”

Shen Zhiheng blinked slowly, “Mm.”

“You agree with my line of thought? Then that’s great. Then may I be so bold as to take this a step further. If Mr. Shen could show a little understanding towards me, when you’re publishing news about the Japanese, especially news related to our North China Development Committee, could you please let me know in advance? I definitely will not interfere in your journalistic freedom, it’s just that it’s better to discuss things first. If you make things easier for others, others will make things easier for you, isn’t it? I definitely wouldn’t let Mr. Shen help me for nothing either. There will definitely be a generous gift, to show my appreciation.”

Shen Zhiheng asked with much interest, “A generous gift? How generous?”

“Name your price. Whatever you want, I’ll do my utmost to make sure you’re satisfied.” 

Shen Zhiheng started laughing. It was quite a hearty laughter, it seemed a little stupid. After listening to it for a while, Li Yingliang could no longer restrain himself, and laughed along with him. Yet, when he laughed, Shen Zhiheng stopped laughing. He tilted his head, examining Li Yingliang, and used his cigar to point at him, “I want your life.”

Li Yingliang froze. “What?”

Shen Zhiheng lowered his voice, enunciating each word individually, “I want you to pay with your life.”  

Li Yingliang did not understand this sentence, but he did not care about understanding it. Purely based on intuition, he reached his hand underneath his jacket, pulling out his gun and aiming it at Shen Zhiheng.

“You–”

Before he could complete his sentence, he felt his hand slipping. Shen Zhiheng had already grabbed his gun out of his hands, and the mouth of the gun was now pointed straight at the space between his eyebrows. Shen Zhiheng raised a finger to his lips.

“Shhh.”

He sat ramrod straight, his eyes large and round as they stared at him, not even daring to breathe. As fast as his subordinates were, they were not as fast as the time it took for Shen Zhiheng to pull the trigger. He watched as Shen Zhiheng stood up and walked to his front, only daring to follow him with his eyeballs.

With the mouth of the gun pressed against his head, Shen Zhiheng used his other hand to pull out his tie. He rolled the tie into a ball, then lowered his head to look at Li Yingliang.

“Open your mouth.”

Li Yingliang’s voice quavered, “I’ll give you money. I, I…”

Shen Zhiheng caught the right moment just as he was stuttering, shoving the balled up tie into his mouth. With the gun pressed against his head and the tie pressed against his throat, he raised his head backwards to hide, but Shen Zhiheng’s slim fingers suddenly slid into his mouth, viciously poking the balled up tie deeper into his throat. His head jerked backwards as he retched - but no real sound came out, as the tie was pressing against his larynx. No matter sound or breath, it suppressed them all firmly. 

He grew nervous as he asphyxiated, one hand furtively extending to the back of his waist. Mired in pain due to the lack of oxygen, he desperately pulled out his second pistol, pulling the trigger at Shen Zhiheng.

A sharp crack replaced the gunshot. A scream of excruciating pain stuck in his throat, the pistol was still hooked on his finger, but his forearm was already twisted at an angle. He had not seen Shen Zhiheng’s movements clearly; he only knew that Shen Zhiheng had broken his bone - just like snapping a tree branch, Shen Zhiheng had broken the bone of his arm. 

Eyes red with pain, he dropped the pistol to the floor. Shen Zhiheng placed the pistol in his own hands in front of Li Yingliang, then pulled a chair out and sat down beside him.

“I usually don’t take revenge this way, it’s against my principles of being human. But you have really gone too far. You didn’t even let me die with a whole body, causing me unimaginable misery last month. I really suffered a lot.”

Until here, he laughed bitterly and shook his head, “It hurts to even think back about it!”

Blood red vessels rapidly filled Li Yingliang’s eyes. He fixed his eyes on the pistol on the table. He did not dare to move, knowing that just one movement was enough for Shen Zhiheng to instantaneously break his other forearm. However, not moving meant he had no way to live. He was about to be suffocated to death! Suddenly, his eyes closed and he jerked upwards. When he opened his eyes and looked down, he saw a chopstick sticking straight into his thigh.

As if he was made of tofu, Shen Zhiheng took the second chopstick, and stabbed it into his other thigh.

He was in so much pain that he was trembling, yet his cries were stuck deep in his throat.

Shen Zhiheng watched as Li Yingliang approached death, extending his hand and using it to cover the artery at the side of his neck. He had not tasted fresh, warm blood in a long time. It turns out, that wanting to eat could also cause one to burn with desire. He should have killed Li Yingliang directly to avoid any complications, and yet…

And yet, as saliva flooded his mouth, his breathing became erratic. He could not help but move closer towards Li Yingliang’s neck. But just as his teeth were about to touch his skin, at that very moment, the doors of the private room opened.

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The geographic region in China that refers to the lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It includes the cities of Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Wuxi.

如月之恒 (rú yuè zhī héng) is part of a longer phrase that literally means “like the just risen sun, and like the half moon growing round and full”. It is used to describe a flourishing or prosperous period, or when someone is of strong vitality (as in life spirit). 如月 is also the title of this novel and the original title of the live drama adaptation before it was changed to 冰雪谣.

The Chinese word for vampire is 吸血鬼 (xī xuè guǐ), which literally means “blood-sucking ghost”.

This appeared in an earlier chapter, but as a reminder, refers to Southeast Asia. The reason why he’s bringing it up now is because Nanyang 南洋 (nán yáng) literally means “south ocean”, while 西洋 (xī yáng i.e. the west) literally means “west ocean”.

[ruanbaijie]

During the Republican Era, Shen Zhiheng, a member of the Tianjin gentry who happened to be a vampire, offended the Japanese and became the target of an assassination attempt. He was saved by a blind young lady, Mi Lan, and his best friend Situ Weilian. When he went to repay Mi Lan for saving him, he discovered the terrible family situation that Mi Lan was in, and so began to pay more attention to her. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng’s plan to take revenge on Li Yingliang, the mastermind behind his assassination, fell short of success thanks to Li Yingliang’s Japanese superior, raising suspicions about his identity. Since then, Li Yingliang and the Japanese were in hot pursuit of Shen Zhiheng, determined to dig out the truth about his secret.

Please do not repost this anywhere else or retranslate it!

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Shen Zhiheng sat idly in the train car for an entire day. With his chin propped in his hands, he tilted his head and gazed out of the window. Thankfully, based on his many travels over the recent years, he had managed to deduce that this train was headed rapidly towards Fengtian [1] purely based on the name of a small station that had passed in a fleeting moment. But this was nothing new, the train was headed north, and would naturally travel along the Peking-Mukden [2] Railway.

In the evening, the train stopped for a while at a small station for coal and water replenishments. Shen Zhiheng stood up and gazed out of the window, only to see rows of Japanese soldiers standing outside on both sides of the train, as if they were confronting their mortal enemy. Two rows of Japanese soldiers surrounded the carriage he was in, and it was only until the train started moving again when they jogged alongside it and jumped onto the train, hiding in some unknown place.

  Shen Zhiheng was not some omnipotent god. He sat down again, unable to come up with a plan for some time. When the door at one end of the train car opened, he lifted his head to see who it was; it was Li Yingliang. 

Li Yingliang held an enamel jar that was about the side of a human head. It was probably from military supplies, with a string of numbers printed on its surface. The enamel jar was clearly extremely heavy. He supported it with both hands and placed it on the small table in front of Shen Zhiheng. Shen Zhiheng inhaled deeply, while Li Yingliang removed its cover, sitting down opposite him.

“Your dinner.”

Inside the enamel jar was a thick, dark red liquid, so dark it was nearly black. Shen Zhiheng moved closer and took in another deep breath, and couldn’t help but smile; to him, fresh blood was always an urgent need, instead of saying it was food, one could say it was a drug, it was opium. As long as he had a sufficient supply of fresh blood, he would not be afraid of injuries or death, and there was a possibility he could have everything under his control.

As he smiled, he cast a glance at Li Yingliang. Then, with his elbows propped onto the table, he clasped this jar of fresh blood with both of his hands, lowered his head, and began to take small sips. Seeing the refined way in which he was drinking, Li Yingliang thought that he would take an extremely long time to finish it. However, Shen Zhiheng had long perfected this through practice, and silently, he completely emptied the entire jar. Raising his head and swallowing the last drop of fresh blood, he put the jar down with a clatter, hanging his head drowsily and neither moving nor speaking.

Li Yingliang waited patiently. After waiting for twenty entire minutes, Shen Zhiheng finally raised his head slowly, asking in a soft voice as if he had just awoken from a dream, “You haven't left?”

Li Yingliang looked at him, noticing his short, messy hair, and the stubble on his face, of which those on his chin were still stained with a few drops of dried blood. 

He frowned, “Look at the state you’re in.” 

Shen Zhiheng leaned back, rubbing his face with his hands, then let his hands drop as he sighed, “Who asked you to look?”

Ever since personally establishing that he had won a complete victory in the Shen-Li battle, Li Yingliang’s feelings towards Shen Zhiheng had undergone some changes. When Shen Zhiheng had been a strong rival, he had been closely guarded against him and had pursued him persistently. Now that Shen Zhiheng was reduced to a prisoner, he gradually let down his guard, revealing his true thoughts to him. It was just that Li Yingliang’s true thoughts weren’t all that positive, and neither were the words spoken based on these true thoughts very pleasant to hear.

“This appearance of yours that’s neither human nor monster, how can you live up to how highly I once saw you?”

Shen Zhiheng was confused by his words. “Are you criticising how I look when I’m eating, or are you criticising my image?”

“Both.”

Shen Zhiheng raised his hand and rubbed his chin. “Then let me wash my face? I don’t have much time left where I can be human. Since we haven’t reached Harbin yet, I should take the chance to maintain a little more human dignity.”

“You don’t have to be so pessimistic. I’m not sending you to your death.”

Shen Zhiheng raised his eyes and looked at Li Yingliang. Under the oblique rays of the setting sun that shone on him, his pupils were clear and transparent, just like a clear spring, as if they could reflect Li Yingliang’s reflection.

Li Yingliang returned his gaze haughtily, arrogant in his reasoning, “We wouldn’t need to go through so much fanfare if we were sending you to your death. That place is only an epidemic prevention research centre, in other words, it’s a large military hospital.”

Shen Zhiheng laughed bitterly, “Alright, alright. Just let me wash my face.”

Li Yingliang crossed his legs, watching Shen Zhiheng wash up as he stayed seated.

Shen Zhiheng glanced sideways at him, raising his dripping wet head from a large steel basin. Two Japanese soldiers stood at the sides, one holding a thermos bottle, and the other holding a towel. Shen Zhiheng took the towel, slowly rubbing his hair with his head lowered.

A moment ago, the Japanese soldiers had even shaved his face with a razor, and so at this moment, after rubbing his hair dry and returning the towel, he rubbed his smooth chin, feeling refreshed. 

Facing the twilight scenery outside the window, he stretched lazily, turning his head to ask Li Yingliang, “Do you have a cigar?”

Li Yingliang fished a wrinkled cigarette box that was half empty out of the pocket of his pants, throwing it onto the table, “No cigars, just these.”

Shen Zhiheng walked over, holding up the box and looking at it, “Just these?”

Li Yingliang said, “If you look down on them, you can not smoke them.”

Shen Zhiheng took one cigarette out, taking a seat opposite him. “You should try cigars.”

“I don’t have the leisure for that. As long as it produces smoke, it works.”

Shen Zhiheng smiled, “What about a chimney?”

Li Yingliang took out a lighter from his pocket, lighting the flame and bringing it in front of Shen Zhiheng. “You’re in a good mood!”

Shen Zhiheng lit the cigarette and said a word of thanks. He looked around the dark carriage, asking, “After this, do I just sit here and do nothing?”

“You can also lie down.”

Shen Zhiheng said, “Lying down is meaningless. Besides, I can’t fall asleep. Get some people over, let’s play.”

Li Yingliang was puzzled. “Play?”

“Mahjong, stud poker, anything. Call Weilian as well, he loves playing.”

“What if I disagree?”

As soon as he said that, the lights in the carriage suddenly lit up as the world outside the window had darkened to a certain extent. In front of him, Shen Zhiheng’s features suddenly became clearly visible, and Li Yingliang only realised then that his eyes were bright and piercing, and he had been staring at him all along.

“You disagree,” his bright red lips started moving as he said amicably. “Then I’ll kill you and perish alongside you.”

After saying this, he smiled before Li Yingliang could, and as he smiled, he flicked the cigarette ashes onto the floor.

Li Yingliang kept a straight face, looking like he was not amenable at all. “Don’t keep using that to scare me. If both of us die together, then the two of them will have to be buried together with us.”

“I know.” Shen Zhiheng raised his hand and pointed at his surroundings. “If not, do you really believe that this train car is enough to hold me?”

“I still have a question, the reason why you’re so willing to not escape, is it because of Mi Lan, or is it because of Situ Weilian?”

“Both of them.”

“Who accounts for a higher percentage? Don’t tell me they’re both the same.”

Shen Zhiheng replied without hesitation, “Weilian.”

“I thought it would be Mi Lan.”

“It’s Weilian. Weilian might seem quite thoughtless, but he’s actually very loyal to me.”

“It’s your money he’s loyal to, isn’t it?”

Shen Zhiheng shook his head and turned to look out of the window, looking at the specks of lights outside. “You always simplify complicated matters. It’s as if a person must have a purpose when doing something, and that there can only be one such purpose. This is wrong. You’re human, but you don’t understand humans.”

“Do you understand humans?”

“I do.”

“Then do you understand me?”

Shen Zhiheng nodded, still facing the window. “Yes.”

“Since you understand me, then why did you still offend me?”

“When I offended you, I was still not familiar with you, and I didn’t understand you then.”

“We’re familiar now?”

Shen Zhiheng nodded towards the window again.

“It’s a pity it’s too late.”

Shen Zhiheng lifted his hand and closed the window curtains, extinguishing the cigarette butt against the surface of the table. “It’s indeed too late.”

Rubbing his hands together, he stood up, suddenly seeming to be in high spirits. “Let’s not talk about this. Go and fetch some people, we’ll play for a night.”

As if it were an unexpected, inexplicable occurrence that could only be explained by the work of supernatural beings, Li Yingliang agreed to Shen Zhiheng’s request. After agreeing, he immediately found a sufficient reason for himself; instead of leaving Shen Zhiheng alone in the train car for the entire night, it was better to keep him exposed under lights and in sight. If not, based on this person’s unpredictable abilities, who knew if he would create some big chaos in the middle of the night?

He found people, one was Situ Weilian whom Shen Zhiheng had requested for, the other was Kuroki Rika. A playing table required a woman to embellish it, and besides, Kuroki Rika had both wits and guts, and was always smiling and amiable. After sleeping for the whole afternoon, Situ Weilian’s headful of curly hair was all puffed up. When he appeared in front of Shen Zhiheng, he was both panicky and at a loss. It was only when he found out that he was here to fill the numbers to play a game, that he exhaled a long breath, lowering his head and rubbing his eyes.

Shen Zhiheng asked him, “How have you and Mi Lan been today? Have you been mistreated?”

“We haven’t been mistreated, it’s just that we’re scared.”

The Japanese soldiers shifted a small square table over, and Shen Zhiheng sat down first.

“You’re scared, but you can still sleep so well?”

Situ Weilian glanced at Shen Zhiheng, mumbling a reply, “I didn’t sleep last night.”

Li Yingliang retrieved a mahjong set from the dining carriage, and even found some cigars there, and so he brought them over together. Kuroki Rika had changed out of her army uniform and into a floral patterned qipao [3] . She looked just like a young wife who had just married into the neighbour’s family, with sincerity shining in her eyes and a smile full of white teeth. Just as Li Yingliang had expected, with her at the gaming table, the atmosphere indeed became warm and sweet. She first inquired Situ Weilian about the situation of a few medicines in the stock market. Situ Weilian was utterly confused by this question, and so Shen Zhiheng took over.

As the two of them chatted, Kuroki Rika smiled, “I’m the one who’s silly. I always thought that since Mr. Situ was a doctor, he would definitely know about the medicine business as well. Actually, the two lines have nothing to do with one another.”

Situ Weilian smiled as well, “For this subject, it’s right if you ask Shen-xiong. When it comes to stocks, he can always get some insider information and his investments are always spot on.”

As she drew her tiles, Kuroki Rika nodded in agreement. “If not, why would people say that money loves to gather? The richer one is, the easier it is to earn money.”

Shen Zhiheng laughed, throwing out a tile. “How can it be so easy? It only looks easy.”

Li Yingliang drew his tiles, realising that the more these three people chatted, the more invested in the conversation they became. Kuroki Rika was a high level agent, but she spoke in a way that common people could easily relate to. The more she spoke, the more ordinary she became, as if she really had the intention of investing in some stocks. Shen Zhiheng also spoke slowly and long-windedly, answering whatever questions she had, while Situ Weilian interrupted occasionally, saying two useless rubbish sentences.

Li Yingliang felt that this situation was not good, he had once again been ignored and abandoned.

Sticking out his tongue and licking his lips, he abruptly said, “Mr. Shen, you don’t have a single cent with you right now. If you lose later, how will you settle your accounts?”

Upon saying this, the entire carriage fell silent.

At once, he knew that he had said something out of place again, and fresh blood immediately surged up into his face. He all but wanted to flip the table and pull out his pistol, and then exterminate everyone who was here.

Fortunately, Shen Zhiheng spoke at this moment, “I can write an IOU.”

He did not reply specifically to Li Yingliang, but to the entire table. “With my IOU, you can go and find the general manager of the newspaper office of Haihe Daily, and you will definitely get money. However, all of you probably won’t get the chance to test this, because I’ve always been unlucky at romance but lucky at gambling.”

At this point, he threw out a tile. “Nine bamboos!”

Situ Weilian said, “What romance do you have?”

Kuroki Rika smiled, asking, “I’ve never heard news of Mrs. Shen.”

Li Yingliang thought, Aren’t you the one who first called him a vampire? Won’t you know if he has a wife or not?

Shen Zhiheng answered, “I staunchly believe in remaining single.”

Kuroki Rika smiled, “How modern of you. What about Mr. Situ?”

“I’m not single. I already have a goddess in my heart.”

Listening to this point, Li Yingliang was simply filled with bewilderment, all but wanting to question Kuroki Rika and Situ Weilian: What are you laughing at? What are you happy about? Haven’t you forgotten that you’re currently sitting beside a vampire? Are you not scared?

The game continued until dawn. Shen Zhiheng was truly lucky at gambling. The one who was unlucky was Li Yingliang.

He did not have enough cash on him to settle his accounts, and so he requested for a pen and a piece of paper, writing an IOU for Shen Zhiheng. After reading this IOU through a few times, he passed it to Situ Weilian.

“When you go back, give the money to Weilian. I might not necessarily be able to spend your money.”

Situ Weilian took the IOU in a daze, seeming somewhat tired, not speaking at all. Li Yingliang requested for Kuroki Rika to take Situ Weilian away, then instructed the Japanese soldiers to shift the square table and mahjong tiles in the room away. Through the metal bars, he strenuously opened the window by a sliver, letting the morning wind blow in.

His original intention was to change out the air in the carriage, but Shen Zhiheng seemed quite pleasantly surprised. He walked over and bent his waist to the window, taking in several deep breaths as he faced the wind.

Perhaps it was because he had become numb after staying up all night; at this moment, Li Yingliang was not afraid of him at all. Leaning his shoulder against the window frame, lowering his eyes as he looked at the whorl of hair at the top of Shen Zhiheng’s head.

“All of you are too good at pretending.”

Shen Zhiheng closed his eyes, taking the fresh air into his lungs as he inhaled an extremely deep breath.

Then, he exhaled, standing upright and turning towards Li Yingliang. “I’ll give you another chance.”

Li Yingliang asked softly, “What?”

“I’ll give you one million, you’ll come with me, I’ll leave Tianjin and bring you along. I promise you’ll be safe for the next ten years. You know that I don’t have to lie to you, I really have the ability to protect you.”

“One mill–”

Li Yingliang stuttered. In his ambitious life plan, as high and lofty as he dreamed, he had never dared to include the word “millionaire” in his plan. This temptation was too great, to the point where he stared at Shen Zhiheng with his eyes round and wide.

He asked, “Is there a point of lying to me like this? Or do you think that I’m dumb to the point that I’ll believe you?”

“This is a deal, I’d originally planned on leaving Tianjin anyway. If you let me, Weilian, and Mi Lan go, I’ll take you along with us. As for your remuneration, although one million is not a small sum, it won’t bankrupt me. I believe that my life is worth this amount, what do you think?”

The more he spoke, the truer it sounded, with enough reason to back it up. As he listened, the colour of Li Yingliang’s face changed, firmly believing that he was lying.

“Enough, I don’t have any interest in listening to your nonsense!”

Then, he turned around and left.

Shen Zhiheng must be lying, if not, he would be tempted to death. He so shamelessly risked his life as an obedient lackey of the Japanese, and for what purpose? Wasn’t it because he wanted money and status? Wasn’t it because he wanted one million? But how could he take Shen Zhiheng’s one million? How did he dare to offend the Japanese? Besides, what ability did he have to let them go? Although he was technically in charge here, he knew in his heart that that was because Kuroki Rika had yet to say anything.

Ultimately he was Chinese. When nothing happened, he was in charge, but when something happened, he would not get to give orders.

He forced himself to hate Shen Zhiheng, however, it still felt as if his heart had been scratched by a cat’s claws, always in a panic and unable to be steady. Suspecting that his blood sugar level was low, he walked to the dining car to eat some congee, but just when he had eaten two mouthfuls of hot congee, he met Major Aoyama.

Li Yingliang had always respected the Japanese, from commissioners to majors, he treated them all equally, always rising to his feet to greet them whenever he saw them. This greeting of Li Yingliang’s just happened to work alongside Major Aoyama’s designs; Major Aoyama had long heard of Kuroki Rika’s reputation, and had been thinking about having a chat with her. However, not just anyone could have the pleasure of enjoying Kuroki Rika’s amiability. She could talk and laugh together with Shen Zhiheng, but she had no interest in entertaining an inexperienced and hotheaded major.

   The journey was long, so the major decided to first get to know this Li Yingliang, and through him, to become familiar with Kuroki Rika. Sitting his buttocks down in front of Li Yingliang, he just so happened to also want to have his breakfast, and conveniently chatted with Li Yingliang while eating.

As Li Yingliang and Major Aoyama chatted for a while, the conversation topic diverted his attention and slightly eased the worries in his heart. In the afternoon, the two of them met again, and Li Yingliang could tell that this Major Aoyama was someone who quite enjoyed talking, so he racked his brains to find some conversation topics that were not too difficult. If it was too difficult, it was not possible; Major Aoyama’s standard of Chinese was limited; whatever he said was direct and to the point, and he could not use any form of rhetorical speech.

“Major, what year did you join the Epidemic Prevention Department? Your Chinese is so good, you must’ve been in China for quite a few years, right?”

Major Aoyama raised a palm towards him. “It’s been five years, I’ve always been in the Epidemic Prevention Department.”

Li Yingliang smiled and nodded. “Oh, five years. Is it still peaceful in the Epidemic Prevention Department? I heard that the Anti-Japanese United Army in Manchuria [4] is very violent!”

Major Aoyama replied, “We don’t go onto the battlefield.”

Li Yingliang “oh”ed, somewhat in agreement, but Major Aoyama thought that he had not understood him, and decided to say it in a more detailed way. This time, he spoke for about ten minutes, thinking that although Li Yingliang was Chinese, he was actually already like a Japanese person. He was of the opinion that whatever he was saying was just part of a normal conversation, and since Li Yingliang had been tasked by the North China Garrison Secret Service to escort a prisoner to Harbin, then Li Yingliang definitely already knew all the inside information, and he was not revealing any secrets.

Ten minutes later, he shut his mouth, and Li Yingliang “oh”ed again. After that “oh”, he stopped, and said, “Then when that time comes, all of you must definitely be extremely careful with Shen Zhiheng.”

“Yes,” Major Aoyama replied. “I’ve also read the report that you sent. We’re all very curious about his condition.”

Li Yingliang said, “Major, please excuse me, I think I’m really low in blood sugar. I was feeling faint in the morning, and now it’s back again. I have to go and find some sweets to eat.”

With that, he left, swaying, his face pale and his eyes red. Passing through several carriages, he swayed into Shen Zhiheng’s train car.

Shen Zhiheng was sitting in front of the window, looking outside. When Li Yingliang entered, he did not turn his head around, only saying to the window, “The sun is setting.”

Li Yingliang leaned his shoulder against the window frame, looking at the top of his head without saying a word.

Shen Zhiheng said again, “This day has also passed.”

There was a certain intonation when he spoke. It was slow, calm, and unruffled despite the chaos around him; a lofty disposition that could only be developed after the passage of many good days. Li Yingliang knew that he himself was vile in comparison, and could never catch up with him no matter how hard he tried.

However, the one who was vile could continue living on, while the one who spoke loftily was racing on a path straight to hell. It turned out that the Epidemic Prevention Department was not actually an epidemic prevention department, and neither was it some research centre or hospital; it turned out that after many well and alive people were caught and sent into the Epidemic Prevention Department, they would be treated like rabbits and lab rats, disembowelled and cut into pieces while they were still alive [5] .

Shen Zhiheng would also be disembowelled and cut into pieces, but at that point, would he die? If he did not die, then till what point would he be researched on? What state would he be in the end?

He was the one who had personally caught and imprisoned Shen Zhiheng in the Yokoyama mansion, and now, he was also the one who was personally sending Shen Zhiheng to Harbin. But, in actuality, there was no deep enmity between them. One of them was a Chinese traitor in the Japanese concession zone, while the other was making a fortune through the Westerners in the French concession zone. They each walked their own path, and at the most, he had admired him for a long time, while he ignored him.

Other than that, there was nothing.

This little speck of resentment was not enough for him to send Shen Zhiheng to hell to be dissected alive.

Shen Zhiheng raised his head and glanced at him, noticing that his face was white and his eyes were red, just like a tortured rabbit. He looked outside the window again, thinking that Li Yingliang was currently fighting an intense internal battle and was very uncertain, and so he was especially neurotic.

While Li Yingliang was dealing with his insanity, Shen Zhiheng said what he wanted to say, “I should treasure this journey. During this journey, I can at least still maintain some level of decency and dignity. Once I get off the train, perhaps it would be an entirely different situation. But, that being said, this feeling of waiting for the sword of Damocles to drop is still making me tired and weary. Perhaps, at Fengtian, we should have changed trains and boarded the Asia Express. If we had, we should have already reached Changchun by now. Chairman Li, have you ever sat on the Asia Express?”

“No.”

“I’ve sat on it twice. From Fengtian to Dalian, it’s extremely fast, extremely good. The train has air conditioners, there are carriages where you can view the scenery, the food is top-notch, and there are blonde-haired waitresses. It has everything, it’s the creation of technology and money. There are too many good things in this world. As long as you have money, you can enjoy anything. It may sound crude for me to say this, but it’s true. I love this world.”

Li Yingliang thought that he was going to tempt him with money again, however, Shen Zhiheng minded his own business and continued saying, “These few years, I’ve been to a lot of places, staying in one place for a few years and staying in another for a few years. This was all to find my younger brother, the one who’s the child of my aunt. I think he’s probably different from me. If he grew up with that aunt, he definitely knows a lot more than I do. From beginning to the end, I’ve never understood my condition, and I want to understand.”

Li Yingliang cleared his throat. “If you can return alive, I will buy a first class train ticket and invite you to board the Asia Express.”

Shen Zhiheng raised his head and looked at him, evidently a little surprised. “Why are you suddenly being so generous to me?”

Li Yingliang leaned diagonally against the window frame, replying in a hoarse voice, “Because my feelings of you, have long been those of admiration [6] .” 

Shen Zhiheng leaned backwards, smiling, “You’ve admired me for a long time, but you’re still unwilling to cooperate.”

Li Yingliang remained silent, turning around to leave. When he walked out of the train car, he wanted to cry. He did not know whether it was for Shen Zhiheng, or whether it was for the one million.

He admired him, but he did not dare to trust him. He could not risk his own life for an illusory promise.

------------------------------------------------------------

Today’s Liaoning province.

Today’s Shenyang, which is the capital city of Liaoning.

Also known as a cheongsam.

Northeast China, with some surrounding areas, now most often associated with the three provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning.

Unit 731 confirmed.

I feel like I need to add a little explanation for why I translated it this way. The actual Chinese is “因为我对你，是仰慕已久”, which if translated solely based on the direct meaning is something like “because I have admired you for a long time”, where there is no mention of the word “feelings” at all. However, in Chinese, the first clause before the comma is “because when it comes to you, I” and the second clause is “have admired for a long time” – and such a phrasing puts slightly more emphasis on how Li Yingliang views/ feels about Shen Zhiheng instead, and not so much on the admiration. So, to reflect this emphasis in the English translation, I’ve translated it as “because my feelings of you, have long been those of admiration” instead.

[ruanbaijie]

During the Republican Era, Shen Zhiheng, a member of the Tianjin gentry who happened to be a vampire, offended the Japanese and became the target of an assassination attempt. He was saved by a blind young lady, Mi Lan, and his best friend Situ Weilian. When he went to repay Mi Lan for saving him, he discovered the terrible family situation that Mi Lan was in, and so began to pay more attention to her. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng’s plan to take revenge on Li Yingliang, the mastermind behind his assassination, fell short of success thanks to Li Yingliang’s Japanese superior, raising suspicions about his identity. Since then, Li Yingliang and the Japanese were in hot pursuit of Shen Zhiheng, determined to dig out the truth about his secret.

Please do not repost this anywhere else or retranslate it!

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Mi Lan returned to her room, all along the way being nagged at by the old maid who kept yawning. “Young Mistress, you really gave us such a scare. How could you run out all by yourself? Do you want to throw your life away? Thank goodness you met a good-hearted person who fetched you home. If not, you can’t see, and you don’t recognise your surroundings, what if you’d really gotten lost? I was just thinking about waiting until Mistress is fast asleep to go and bring you home, but you…”

Mi Lan entered her room silently. After dealing with Mrs. Mi for the whole day, the old maid had long since been exhausted. Now that the young mistress had also returned, she hurriedly went to rest. Mi Lan shivered in the middle of her room, walking over to the side of her bed to sit down, removing her shoes. Her shoes were made of leather, which had now frozen to the point they seemed like metal. She curled up her legs and hugged her knees, leaning against the head of her bed. Her heart was surging in her chest and she could not sleep. Only when it was in the wee hours of the morning did she finally fall asleep.

When she woke up again, her head was heavy and her legs were wobbly. While her hands were icy cold, her forehead was boiling hot. She knew that she had fallen ill, but she did not want to draw attention to herself. After sneakily washing up, she pushed the door open and walked out.

It was about nine in the morning. The entire Mi mansion was silent. Everyone from Mrs. Mi to the old maids were all still asleep. When she walked past the telephone in the corridor, she remembered the man she had encountered in the ruins just the night before. When he had begged her to give a call to Keats Hospital, he must have forgotten about her eyes.

She could not see the number of Keats Hospital in the phone book, and if she wanted to know it, she could only ask someone else to help her find it. But who could she ask? The old maids at home? Would they allow her to randomly give a call to a doctor she did not know?

However, she had other ways. While walking, she spread out the five fingers of her right hand, picking up her walking cane that was leaning against the wall in the corner of the corridor. She thrust her left hand into the small pocket of her Western-style coat, where she had stuffed two paper bills. She had never had the need for money, nor did anyone usually give her any, but she had secretly saved a few bills. What had she saved them for? She herself had never known, but today, she finally did. It was probably written in the stars that she had saved those few dollars just so that she could leave the house that very day.

She gently pushed the door of the building open and slipped out. Hurriedly, she crossed the yard, out of the main gate and into the street. She walked towards the end of the street, where she could hear the voices and laughter of the rickshaw pullers.

She sat herself onto a rickshaw, the palm of the hand that was holding her walking cane full of sweat. “Take me to Keats Hospital.”

She was worried that the rickshaw puller did not know where Keats Hospital was, but he happily replied, “Okay! Sit tight!”

Mi Lan did not know that Keats Hospital was closeby.

When the rickshaw pullers ran, the people sitting behind them would lean backwards. As she rarely left the house, and even so would usually do so in a motor car, this was her first time leaning back on the street while someone else was pulling her. She was full of sweat, constantly worrying that she would lean back too far and fall backwards onto the street. Fortunately, the rickshaw puller stopped after running not too far a distance.

“Miss, we’re here!”

The rickshaw stopped, and Mi Lan pitched forward. Fumbling around, she got off the rickshaw and onto the floor, retrieving a bill from her pocket and passing it to the rickshaw puller.

“Is this enough?”

“More than enough!” the rickshaw puller smiled. “This short distance does not need a dollar! You just need to give me twenty cents. Even if it’s more than that, I won’t dare to accept it. If your parents find out, they’ll definitely scold me for bullying children.”

Mi Lan did not have any spare change. Besides, be it twenty cents or a dollar, the difference was not big to her. In any case, she just wanted to get to Keats Hospital. Since she had reached, she had already checked off her first goal.

She shook her head at the rickshaw puller and said, “Then don’t go. I’m here at the hospital to find someone. I will leave after telling him something, and you can send me back home.”

The rickshaw puller agreed and pointed the way to her to enter the hospital. The full name of Keats Hospital was “Keats General Hospital”. It occupied quite a big yard, and had many medical specialisations, from haemorrhoidectomy to obstetrics and gynaecology. It had everything, and particularly specialised in the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. The head of the hospital treated all patients of sexually transmitted diseases equally, giving all of them arsphenamine shots and never mixing any fake medicine in it. After a few shots, the extreme pain that the patients suffered could really be alleviated. Besides treating ailments of the physical body, this hospital also provided an outlet for the poor. When the poor people in the neighbourhood were desperate, they could come here to sell their blood. At ten dollars for a pound, the price of blood was fair, and they would often round the number up for the poor people. So, the business of this hospital was always booming, and its entrance was always parked with cars.

The concierge happened to be standing in the yard when he suddenly saw a blind young girl enter, much to his confusion. This young girl was dressed in grey, and did not look like a wealthy young lady. However, when he looked again, her grey clothes were of good material, and she herself was extraordinarily smooth-skinned, and was definitely from a normal family. The concierge saw her standing in a daze. 

Mi Lan had already noticed his presence. She turned her head towards him and asked, “Hello, may I ask, is this Keats Hospital?”

“Yes, you’re right.”

“Then, may I ask if there is a Doctor Situ Weilian here?”

“Ah, yes! Are you looking for him?”

Mi Lan nodded once. “Yes. Could I trouble you to take me to see him? I have something very urgent for him.”

The concierge brought Mi Lan to the lounge, and went to find Doctor Situ. Sitting in the lounge, Mi Lan concentrated on distinguishing the different scents in the air. Suddenly, she lifted her head and looked towards the entrance. She could hear someone approaching with large strides.

Sure enough, the door opened, and Situ Weilian appeared.

The Situ family was originally an overseas Chinese family from Nanyang [1] , but had returned to China more than twenty years ago. Old Man Situ was obsessed with being an official, and given his considerable assets, he had held quite a number of important official titles in the northern regions around Jingdu [2] and Tianjin during the time of the Beiyang government [3] . Situ Weilian actually did not have anything to do with the Situ family; he was Old Man Situ’s adopted son. According to hearsay, he had lost both of his parents when he was around the age of seventeen or eighteen. Even though he was already a young man and could establish his own family and eke out a living for his own, it was as if Old Man Situ had some relationship with his family, and so had taken him in as his adopted son.

The Situ family had no lack of children, and the biological children already bickered among themselves quite often. Hence, Situ Weilian had never really set foot into the Situ home, and had always stayed on the school premises while studying. When he had finally graduated from medical school and gotten a job at Keats Hospital, he spent his own money and took advantage of the Situ family even less. The young ladies and young masters of the Situ family saw that he was not their rival when it came to splitting the family inheritance, and so they were quite friendly with him.

Situ Weilian’s parentage was complicated. He was born tall and fair, with a head of curly hair. When dressed in a white coat. He resembled a large jade plant. Hearing that a young lady had paid him a visit, Doctor Situ rushed over in high spirits, his white coat floating out behind him as if he were running against the wind. It was only until he entered the room and had a look did he become slightly disappointed. This lady was too ludicrously young. She was simply still a child.

“Hello,” he said. “I am Situ Weilian.”

Mi Lan stood up and bowed to him. Then, she straightened her waist and said, “I’m called Mi Lan. I have a secret to tell you, please close the door.”

Situ Weilian turned around and closed the room door tightly. Then, he walked to Mi Lan’s side and sat down. “A secret? Do you know me?”

Mi Lan turned towards Situ Weilian and said softly, “Your friend is injured, he wants you to go and save him.”

“My friend? Who?”

Mi Lan frowned. “I forgot to ask him for his name.”

“Sit down and tell me in detail. Which friend of mine is injured?”

Mi Lan followed his words, sitting down. Then, she related the entire story to him. The more he listened, the uneasier Situ Weilian became. When she finished, he said softly, “I understand! I’ll go and save him tonight!”

“Please try to go as early as you can. I’m afraid that he will freeze to death.”

“I know. Don’t worry, I know what to do. Xiao Meimei [4] , thank you. When he is better, we will visit you to thank you.”

Mi Lan hurriedly waved her hands. “Don’t, my mother doesn’t know that I left the house at night. If she does, she will beat me. I don’t want your thanks either. Just make sure that he lives well.”

After that, she stood up. “I’ll go home now.”

Situ Weilian followed her to the door. “I’ll call a rickshaw to fetch you home.”

At the door, Mi Lan suddenly turned around. She could not see, and Situ Weilian knew that she could not see, but she stared at him with a pair of icy cold eyes, and said in a low voice, “You will really go and save him, right?”

Situ Weilian smiled, “Of course. He’s my best friend.”

Mi Lan lowered her eyelids, remembering Situ Weilian’s voice and scent. If Situ Weilian lied to her and let the man in the ruins die from pain or the cold, then unless she died herself, she would definitely return to question him as long as she had the chance.

Mi Lan left the hospital and got onto the rickshaw. The moment she returned to her house, she could not last any longer.

Her body was boiling hot, but her face was as pale as marble. Were the people at home awake? Did they know that she had left the house sneakily? She did not bother to check, scrambling to her room. Her body felt like it was floating as she lay on her mattress. She was drowsy, but her senses were incomparably sharp. Sound waves from near and afar howled as they reached her, as if she could hear the boundless universe. This universe had neither colours nor faces, but other than that, it had everything.

In the afternoon, the old maids discovered that Mi Lan had a high fever, and hurriedly went to inform Mrs. Mi. Still simmering in anger, Mrs. Mi rushed to Mi Lan’s bedside upon hearing this, pointing at her and scolding, “I only said a few things to you last night, and you’re pretending to be sick today? What? Are you trying to blackmail me? I’m telling you, you’d better stop acting! Your father ruined my life, and now you want to join in the fun and climb all over me? Let me tell you directly, no way! If you’re so capable, then get lost and leave this home forever! So many people are mothers but I must be the one who committed a sin and had a blind child like you! I can’t marry you off and I can’t kick you out, you have to rely on me for my entire life! Until when must I endure this till the end?!” 

After saying that, Mrs. Mi wanted to cry and continue scolding at the same time. But since it was difficult to do both at the same time, she moved to beat Mi Lan in anger. The old maid, seeing Mi Lan lying on the bed, as thin as a “sheet” of person and truly unable to bear Mrs. Mi’s fists and kicks any longer, begged and coaxed Mrs. Mi until she left the room.

Mi Lan lay on her bed with her eyes closed, unmoving.

As the head of Keats Hospital was Situ Weilian’s elder cousin, Situ Weilian easily managed to borrow a hospital car. He even left early that late afternoon, going home first to make some preparations.

He was so nervous that he could not eat his dinner, anxiously looking outside the window as he waited for the sky to turn dark. Simply turning dark was not enough, it had to be dark to the point where everything was silent, where not even a single stray dog could be found on the street.

At midnight, he left.

The young girl who had come to see him that morning, the one called Mi Lan, did not know a single road name besides the one where her house was. He finally managed to get the route right only after much effort. As for the identity of the person who had asked for help, there was no need to mention it. It was definitely Shen Zhiheng. Besides Shen Zhiheng, who else would think so highly of him and dare to be so hell-bent on waiting for him to save his life?

As he drove along the street, he opened his eyes wide and kept them peeled on the road. On the passenger seat was a canvas satchel, in which two glass bottles kept clinking against one another. Nothing must go wrong. If he got stopped, without even mentioning anything else, just those two bottles were sufficient to put him in a pickle. The street lamps along the two sides of the road grew fewer in number. Now that he had passed the bustling neighbourhood that was akin to a forest of Western-style houses, he softly sighed in relief, turning the steering wheel into a small dark alley and stopping the car along the side of the road.

Pushing open the car door, he jumped out, sneezing as the cold wind blew across him. He wrapped his coat tighter around him. It was a windy, moonless night, and he could only vaguely discern the silhouettes of the ruins before him.

Fumbling around, he took a step forward with his waist slightly bent. As he walked, he gently called out, “Shen-xiong [5] , I’m here. Where are you?”

A moan came from behind a ruined wall.

Situ Weilian hurriedly ran over. Just at this moment, the clouds in the sky parted, revealing the moon. Under the moonlight, he looked down and jumped in shock.

“Aiyo, my goodness!” He took a step closer, bending down to take a closer look. “Shen-xiong, who made such a mess out of you? Can you still live?”

Shen Zhiheng’s voice rang out. Although it was feeble, it was still relatively stable, “That depends on whether you want me to live or not.”

Situ Weilian stretched out his hands, wanting to hug him, yet he did not know where to start. “Of course I want you to live. If not, why would I come here?”

Shen Zhiheng sighed softly, “Then just get about to saving me.”

Situ Weilian stood up and turned in a circle. As if a stroke of luck had befallen him, he suddenly got a brainwave, peeling his coat off him and messily rolling Shen Zhiheng up in it. When he had wrapped up approximately all of the the tiny bits and pieces of his body [6] , he hoisted up this roll with the strength of both his arms, then rushed to the street and sent the roll into the backseat.

Panting, he sat on the driver’s seat, started the engine, and drove home.

In the little apartment where he lived alone, Situ Weilian busied himself until dawn broke.

With his hands on his hips, he stood beside the bed and looked at his work of art. This work of art was a human shape that was tied tightly with bandages and splits, a little like a mummy, with only half a face, that was still in a relatively good condition, revealed. A blanket was pulled up to the mummy’s chest. Having just fallen asleep, Shen Zhiheng’s eyes were closed.

Although Situ Weilian had just graduated from medical school, he could not even be considered a charlatan doctor, and always just dawdled around in the surgical department of Keats Hospital. Just now, he had put in a lot of effort and buckets of sweat, before he finally managed to stuff Shen Zhiheng’s overflowing organs back into his torso, and his dangling eyeball back into his eye socket. As for the large hole on his forehead, half a head’s worth of his brain juice that had now disappeared to lands unknown, and his shattered joints, Situ Weilian could do nothing for these, and he could only wrap Shen Zhiheng into something that resembled the shape of a person.

He had three hot water bottles at home. He filled all of them up and put them beside Shen Zhiheng. Shen Zhiheng had lain in the ruins for two days and two nights, and his body temperature was cold like a snake’s. If not for how he might have dissolved into a whole tub of minced meat in a bathtub, Situ Weilian really wanted to give him a hot bath so that he could quickly regain a normal body temperature.

Never mind how he could not freeze to death.

“Shen-xiong?” he asked.

Shen Zhiheng had no response.

Rubbing his hands, he lowered his body and moved to Shen Zhiheng’s ear, calling again, “Shen-xiong?”

Shen Zhiheng still had no response.

He licked his lips, held his breath, and extended his hands, lifting Shen Zhiheng’s lip. Tilting his head, he closed one eye, attempting to peer at the latter’s oral cavity. Then, with his fingertip, he nudged his tooth. Shen Zhiheng’s teeth were neat and firm. Risking an injury to his fingertip, he applied pressure as he pressed his canine. As expected, a sharp little tooth, almost like a thorn, suddenly pushed out from his gums, extending down from behind his canine.

He snickered, and immediately saw that Shen Zhiheng had opened his eyes. Shen Zhiheng’s eyes were large and deep, staring coldly at Situ Weilian. 

“Stop fooling around.”

Then, he closed his eyes and continued to sleep, all the way until noon.

For him, this was already considered a rare long sleep. Situ Weilian lay at the foot of the bed, reading a novel as he raised it in the air. Suddenly hearing movement, he sat up and asked, “You’re up?”

Shen Zhiheng yawned. “I’m hungry. Is there anything to eat?”

Situ Weilian became spirited. “If you want to eat something, that’s possible. Let’s make a deal–”

Shen Zhiheng suddenly shut his eyes tight, his expression equal parts agonised and frightening. “Fuck off! I’m about to starve to death!”

Holding back his tongue, Situ Weilian jumped off the bed and without even wearing his slippers, went straight to his canvas satchel beside the door to retrieve the two dark red glass bottles from it.

Dark red, because their contents were full of blood.

Removing the rubber stopper at the mouth of the bottles, he found a straw from a drawer and stuck it into one of the bottles. With both his hands, he held the bottle to the side of the pillow, and Shen Zhiheng turned his head and held the straw in his mouth, sucking desperately. He finished one bottle of blood in a breath, and Situ Weilian hurriedly continued with the second. When Shen Zhiheng had also sucked the second bottle dry, he spat out the straw, and let out a long breath. 

His eyeballs trembled as they rolled up into their sockets, and his eyelids suddenly pressed shut together. As if he were dizzy, he sank into the mattress, slightly parting his lips and breathing softly. Situ Weilian stood beside the bed, not daring to make a sound or move, staring at him with large eyes.

Ten minutes later, Shen Zhiheng slowly came back to his senses. Turning his head to look at Situ Weilian, he slowly said, his voice gentle, “Weilian, I’m sorry. I scared you.”

Situ Weilian turned and put the bottles on the table, pulling a towel from the washbasin stand. He walked over and wiped the blood stains from the corners of Shen Zhiheng’s lips. “Aiya, I saved you, and you still roared at me.”

“When I’m better, I’ll definitely reward you handsomely, okay?”

Situ Weilian’s temper was like that of a child’s. He resentfully walked to the bathroom to wash the two bottles, and to wash the flecks of blood on his hands with soap. By the time he returned to the room, his aggrievement had already subsided.

He excitedly sat by the bed and asked Shen Zhiheng, “Tell me, who attacked you so viciously?”

“Don’t bother about this. I know who it is.”

“Fine, I won’t bother. Anyway, those newspapers of yours are always full of gossip, daring to expose anyone’s secrets. There must definitely be a lot of people who hate you. But, Shen-xiong, you must be really fortunate. Even by lying down without moving, you can wait for a young lady to be your messenger. It was in the middle of the night, what do you think she had gone all the way there for?”

“I don’t know. The next time I see her, I’ll ask her.”

“Anyway, she really is quite brave. She actually came all the way to our hospital by herself, and she can’t see.”

“She went to the hospital personally?”

“Yeah,” Situ Weilian poked him. “Now that I think about it, she even said that she didn’t want us to go to her house to thank her. She said that she had done all of this secretly. If her mother found out, her mother would definitely beat her.”

“Mm,” Shen Zhiheng responded noncommittally.

In the afternoon, Situ Weilian left the house to go to work. He had a grand total of two tasks at work: the first was to return the car, the second was to sit at the surgery department. If there was something to do, he would do it, if there was nothing, he would mimic a Western doctor and sit at the entrance of the surgery department like an exhibit, letting the patients see him and to show that the hospital had influences from both China and the West, and was full of Western influence.

Situ Weilian sat for half a day, until his buttocks were nearly flattened. Then, in the evening, like a thief, he pilfered two large bottles of blood and returned home. There was an endless flow of poor people who came to Keats Hospital to sell their blood, and the hospital simply could not keep that many. If the hospital did not want it, then he wanted it. When others asked, he said that he was selling it to Shen Zhiheng, who had a strange quirk of using human blood to water his plants, in particular, orchids.

This quirk was scary enough. If a normal person used human blood to water their plants everyday, even if their family members did not bother, their neighbours would send him off to the psychiatric hospital. But Shen Zhiheng was a famous tycoon, and people were always particularly tolerant of people like that, just like how it was natural for a talented scholar to divorce his wife with bound feet at home, all the while dating his female students. Lording over the concession zone in his Western-style mansion, even if Shen Zhiheng secretly ate live people, as long as the patrol did not bother, no one could do anything to him, let alone if he watered his plants with human blood. 

Situ Weilian actually had long wanted to leave Keats Hospital and stop loafing around, because it was too boring and it felt like he was wasting his time. But, in order to feed that Shen-xiong, it was not yet convenient for him to resign. He had known his Shen-xiong for a little more than three years. It was not a long time, but when they had first met, it was as if they were old friends, and their relationship was deep. When they had first met, it was also at night. After getting off a night shift, as he was about to leave the hospital, he had bumped into an unconscious Shen Zhiheng at the hospital entrance. He had pulled Shen Zhiheng into the hospital, and just when he had wanted to find out what ailment he was suffering from, in the blink of an eye, this comatose old brother had rushed into the yard, and taken a bite out of the hospital’s large watch-wolfdog [7] .

After filling his stomach with dog blood, Shen Zhiheng had calmed down and had turned around to look at Situ Weilian. He was waiting for Situ Weilian to start yelling wildly, however, Situ Weilian was silent, and had only said, “Your teeth are not bad!”

And then, “You have to pay for our dog. That’s the hospital’s dog.”

The two people got to know each other then. On a spiritual level, it could be said that the two of them had very different ways of thinking, yet they could get along very well - not something that was faked, but actually genuine.

As for what exactly this Shen-xiong was, Situ Weilian had known him for three years and had conducted research on him for two and a half years, but till date, he still could not figure out what kind of creature he was. If he did not take it too seriously, Weilian thought that this old brother could be considered a type of demon or monster.

Shen Zhiheng lay in Situ Weilian’s house for a month.

On the night of the thirtieth day, Situ Weilian removed the bandages and splits on Shen Zhiheng’s body. He lay naked on the bed, his skeleton whole and perfect, his joints agile, his skin colour even. He had no scars, and had only become shockingly thin. His four limbs seemed strangely long, and his entire body was covered with the smell of blood, as if he had just crawled out from an ocean of blood.

After taking a hot bath in Situ Weilian’s bathtub, he emerged from the water and sat on the wooden stool beside the bathtub, lowering his head and letting Situ Weilian cut his hair. With a pair of scissors in one hand and a wooden comb in the other, Situ Weilian meticulously cut his hair.

He cut and muttered at the same time, “The blood is twenty a bottle, you drank a total of more than fifty bottles, let’s count it as sixty. Two times six is twelve, a total of a thousand and two hundred. I also waited on you for a month, and slept on the floor for you for a month. Today, I’m even cutting your hair. So, tomorrow, you must give me two thousand.”

Shen Zhiheng said, “You good-for-nothing, after calculating here and there, it’s only two thousand?” Then, he suddenly remembered a new question. “You’ve been bringing back so much blood recently, will anyone in the hospital get suspicious?”

Situ Weilian immediately smiled. “I have my ways, you don’t have to bother about it. You just said that two thousand is too little, why don’t you add a little and let me prosper?”

“I’ll write you a cheque tomorrow.”

“How much?”

“I’m not sure. It depends on my mood.”

Situ Weilian used the scissors to knock Shen Zhiheng’s head. “Anyway, I know that you won’t mistreat me. Just you wait, I’ll cut you a pretty new hairstyle.”

Shen Zhiheng lifted his head, somewhat alarmed, “What new hairstyle? Just cut it short for me. Don’t fool around with my head.”

“A hairstyle like mine, how’s that?”

“A popcorn head? No thanks.”

“You don’t understand, this hairstyle of mine is this year’s latest style in Paris. I just didn’t comb it well, once I put a bit of wax, it wouldn’t look like popcorn anymore.”

“No, no, I must go out and meet people tomorrow.”

“Hmph!” Situ Weilian snapped the scissors shut. “It’s not up to you.”

Situ Weilian got what he wished, cutting the hair on Shen Zhiheng’s temples until he turned pale, letting him bathe in a modern gust of wind from Paris.

Then, he stuffed a bottle of blood into his canvas satchel, intending to secretly send Shen Zhiheng back to the Shen mansion. He walked to the door and turned around, and when he did not see Shen Zhiheng, he hurriedly carried his back and returned to the bathroom. Shen Zhihen was looking at himself in the mirror, applying hair tonic to his head.

“Shen-xiong, must you really?” He didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. “It’s the middle of the night, who will see you?”

Shen Zhiheng parted his hair, then combed it all towards the back. Without any stray hairs concealing his face, it was obvious how thin his face was. His large eyes were sunken below his thick, black eyebrows, his nose bridge was high, his lips thin, and even his chin seemed to be sharper. He raised his hand to adjust the knot of his tie, looked at the mirror, and sighed. 

He turned to face Situ Weilian, “The thing that people like me are the most scared of is to reveal any flaws. Especially this time, all the more should I not let anyone be able to tell that I have just escaped from death.”

“So what if they can tell? Anyway, you didn’t really die.”

“Escaping from death is ultimately something dire. It’s best if I remain dignified to the end.”

Upon saying this, he pulled the hem of his suit, turned around, and walked out of the narrow bathroom. When he passed Situ Weilian, he saw this young man still holding his pocket in a daze.

He said softly, “Keep up, send me home.”

Situ Weilian came to his senses, hurriedly chasing him out of the door.

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Southeast Asia.

京都 (jīng dū) literally means “capital city”, and was what Beijing was called from 1918 to 1928 under the Beiyang government.

The internationally recognised government of China from 1912 to 1928.

妹妹 (mèi mei) means “little sister”, and 小 (xiǎo) means “small” or “little”. When put together, it essentially means “little sister”.

兄 (xiōng) means “older brother”.

The exact phrase used here was “七零八碎的玩意儿”, which literally means the “seven and eight bits of playthings” - which I laughed at because it just describes what a crappy condition Shen Zhiheng was in with his body literally falling to pieces hahahahahaha (the drama version was ten times more sanitised).

A watchdog that happens to be of a wolfdog breed.

[ruanbaijie]

During the Republican Era, Shen Zhiheng, a member of the Tianjin gentry who happened to be a vampire, offended the Japanese and became the target of an assassination attempt. He was saved by a blind young lady, Mi Lan, and his best friend Situ Weilian. When he went to repay Mi Lan for saving him, he discovered the terrible family situation that Mi Lan was in, and so began to pay more attention to her. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng’s plan to take revenge on Li Yingliang, the mastermind behind his assassination, fell short of success thanks to Li Yingliang’s Japanese superior, raising suspicions about his identity. Since then, Li Yingliang and the Japanese were in hot pursuit of Shen Zhiheng, determined to dig out the truth about his secret.

Please do not repost this anywhere else or retranslate it!

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Shen Zhiheng was extremely embarrassed after dressing up as a ghost and fooling around, trespassing on private property in the middle of the night to scare a woman. Fortunately, one night later, the Mi mansion was silent, and he evidently had not caused that big of a trouble.

Putting the events of the Mi family aside for a while, he found Situ Weilian, telling him, “I want to go into hiding for a bit.”

Situ Weilian was shocked. “You? Hide?”

Shen Zhiheng did not even give any face to the Japanese, yet now he said that he wanted to go into hiding. Situ Weilian thought at first that he had caused a catastrophe again, but after some asking, he found out that Shen Zhiheng did not want to hide from some important person, but from that Li Yingliang. Li Yingliang was simply too interested in him, and now, as long as Shen Zhiheng set foot out of the door, he would definitely have two spies tailing him. They didn’t disturb his life; they just simply followed him.

Situ Weilian started complaining to Shen Zhiheng, “You really have nothing better to do as well, you just had to pit yourself against the Japanese. What, do you actually want to be a patriot?”

“I’m Chinese. Since the Japanese are so arrogant in China, is it too much for me to scold them a little in the newspaper? Besides, I didn’t spread any rumours. I have evidence for it all.”

Situ Weilian snorted. “You’re still saying you’re Chinese; if your identity got exposed, you can’t even be a human, let alone Chinese [1] .”

Shen Zhiheng suddenly lowered his voice and asked, “What about I kill Li Yingliang now to avoid any future problems?”

Situ Weilian shook his head continuously, “No, no, that’s too dangerous. Instead of killing people, I’d rather you go far away and hide for a while.”

“Okay then. I’ll go to Shanghai for a while, and take the opportunity to travel a little.”

“But without me, what will you do when you get hungry?”

“Of course it’ll be a little troublesome without you, but there will definitely be a way. Didn’t I not starve to death during those years before I met you?”

Situ Weilian frowned, “Don’t tell me you’ll find some chicken, duck, goose, dog, or cat, and then–” he pretended to hold something in his hands, lowering his head and biting into the air, “–like that?”

Shen Zhiheng smiled. “That’s about right.”

Situ Weilian rubbed his lower jaw hesitantly. “I’ll request for leave from the hospital, then go together with you.”

Hearing this, Shen Zhiheng was perplexed. “I’ll spend my own days in Shanghai, and it’s not like it’s a must for you to witness how unsightly I look when I’m eating. Is there really a need for you to follow me all the way to Shanghai?”

Situ Weilian grinned. “I’m worried that you’ll have so much fun in Shanghai that you'll never return. If you really never return, whom will I sponge off?”

Situ Weilian really went to Shanghai with Shen Zhiheng.

Shen Zhiheng had a Western-style house in Shanghai. The two of them stayed there, and passed their days quite comfortably. They stayed there until the New Year had passed, when they had received several telegraphs urging Shen Zhihen to return to take part in a shareholder general assembly. The two of them then packed up their luggage and set off on their journey home. Objectively speaking, Shen Zhiheng was in good spirits during these few months in Shanghai. It was just that his meals were too awful, causing him to constantly feel like there was a fly in the ointment. Situ Weilian made daily trips to the food market to buy chickens, ducks, and geese, and would use a syringe to extract the blood into a glass cup, so that he could satiate his hunger in a slightly elegant manner. However, the fresh blood of animals could ultimately not hold a candle to that of humans, and Shen Zhiheng could clearly feel that he had become a little malnourished.

When they returned to Tianjin, the first piece of breaking news Shen Zhiheng got was: Mrs. Mi had run away!

The one who had run was not a concubine of the Mi family, but Mi Lan’s mother, the legal wife Mrs. Mi. And this Mrs. Mi had not just run away, she had eloped with the family’s driver. According to reports from those who were aware of the matter, one night the previous year, Mrs. Mi seemed to have had a nightmare; in any case, she claimed to have seen a ghost, and was so terrified that she had fallen a little ill. From then on, she had instructed the driver to sleep on the floor outside her bedroom, because there was only one man in the entire household, and Mrs. Mi wanted to borrow his masculine energy to keep the evil spirits at bay.

As Mrs. Mi had been a grass widow for more than ten years, after always behaving appropriately, the old maids at home didn’t read too much into it when she instructed the driver to work the night shift for her outside her bedroom door, and would always sleep deeply every night. Little had they unexpected that the driver’s masculine energy was too overwhelming, and would actually break through the room door and invade Mrs. Mi’s lonely heart. Mrs. Mi was not yet past thirty something years of age. She maintained herself well, and was still young both in the body and at heart. Now, lying on the bed and tossing and turning, she would cry silently as she thought, thinking that if she were to grow old living her life like that, it would be too unfair of a treatment for her.

Some people said that Mrs. Mi was the one who had opened the room door and let the driver in, and others said that the driver had deliberately seduced Mrs. Mi. In any case, whoever the main culprit was, they had engaged in a passionate tryst, and not long after the New Year had passed, the two of them had taken a few valuables with them and had gone missing together. After being cuckolded, General Mi was extremely furious on the surface, but in private, he was extremely relaxed. This was because his legal wife was simply too unlikeable. It was a good thing that had scrammed; it saved him from having to find a reason in the future to divorce her.

More than half of the old maids in the Mi mansion left, with the remaining few after the house and Young Mistress Mi at the same time. As her biological mother was gone, it could be said that Young Mistress Mi had managed to escape the abyss of misery. She no longer suffered from harassment; at least, no one now dared to randomly give her a cruel beating.

Shen Zhiheng would never have thought that Situ Weilian’s idea, which seemed like it was just horsing around, would actually result in such a big chain reaction, and eventually actually saved Mi Lan’s life. He kept thinking about going to visit Mi Lan, however, Situ Weilian did not approve.

“You’re still bothering about her? Until when do you intend to bother about her? Even if you’re repaying a favour, there’s no such thing as repaying it for a lifetime, unless you marry her.” 

Shen Zhiheng was used to Situ Weilian’s thoughtless thinking, and calmly explained the principles of human relationships to him, “To be honest, previously, I didn’t dare to openly visit her at home because I was afraid of that Mrs. Mi. Now that Mrs. Mi is gone, and that Li Yingliang is no longer bothering me, I think that she and I can still be friends.”

“Then, what if Young Mistress Mi misunderstands you and falls in love with you?”

“What nonsense, how young is she, don’t talk about love!”

“Who cares if she’s old or young. Anyway, you’re a man, and she’s a woman.”

“You’re thinking too far ahead, who knows if we have a future.” As he spoke, he lit his cigar, and then he pointed it at Situ Weilian. “You and I are alike. You always say that you’ll take care of me for a lifetime, but I worry that before you get to grow old, I would have already become neither human nor ghost, and you can no longer take care of me. Now that there’s a chance, I’m making use of it to treat you as best as I can, and to treat her as best as I can!”

Situ Weilian shrugged. “Do as you wish.” Then, he raised a hand. “Then give me a little more money.”

Shen Zhiheng frowned. “I’m not your father, why should–”

“I want to invite Second Young Mistress Jin to dinner and to dance. Second Young Mistress Jin is rich, if I were to approach her with not enough pomp, she would not even spare me a glance.”

“Even when you spend money, you don’t get good results. Even if she really marries you, will you be able to support her?”

“I dare not have such an extravagant wish as her marrying me. If she is willing to look at me properly and share a few dances with me, I will be happy enough. Money, money, give me two hundred.”

As he usually did, Shen Zhiheng gave him a cheque. After Situ Weilian left with the cheque, Shen Zhiheng also prepared a present, and while there was still light in the sky, he headed to the Mi mansion.

The Mi mansion truly seemed like it had a change in weather.

In the past, perhaps because of its grievous and indignant mistress, the Mi mansion always had an extremely tense atmosphere, as if furious yells and howls would erupt at any moment. However, it was different now. The main gates of the Mi mansion were half open, and the outsides and insides were both quiet. A maidservant held a large watering can, watering the plants in the yard indifferently.

With the present in his hand, Shen Zhiheng walked through the gates.

“Excuse me, is your young mistress at home?” he asked the maidservant.

The maidservant lifted her head, answering with the same listlessness, “May I have your name, Sir? Our young mistress is at home, but I will have to go and inform her first.”

Shen Zhiheng replied, “My surname is Shen, I’m General Mi’s friend, and I am also acquainted with your young mistress. I left a few months ago and only returned to Tianjin last week, and have come specially to visit your young mistress.”

The maidservant went “oh”, putting down the watering can and entering the house. A little while later, she came out again, and said with the same wooden expression, “Mr. Shen, please enter. Our young mistress is waiting for you in the parlour.”

Shen Zhiheng walked up the steps and into the house. There was not a single person in the house. He remembered the location of the parlour, but after walking a few steps, a creak came from behind him; that maidservant had closed the house doors.

Turning around to look, a strange feeling settled inexplicably in his heart. Before him hung a curtain of pearls, beyond which was the Mi family parlour. Through the pearl curtain, he vaguely saw a silhouette sitting on the sofa. He held the curtain aside and walked in.

“Mi Lan.”

Mi Lan suddenly stood up, fiercely mouthing, “Go!”

But it was too late.

Two machine guns were pressed against his left and right ribs. He subconsciously tossed the present aside, wanting to grab the guns, but a person stood up silently from behind the sofa, holding a pistol against the back of Mi Lan’s neck.

“Mr. Shen, it’s been a while.”

Shen Zhiheng was shocked. “Li Yingliang?”

Li Yingliang smiled at him. “I’ve waited for you for a week. Fortunately, providence does not let down those who try.”

Footsteps rang out from the top and bottom floors. Black-clad men, armed to the teeth, swarmed into the parlour, and Shen Zhiheng realised that the Mi mansion had already been occupied by Li Yingliang’s men.

Shen Zhiheng’s shock passed, and fury started to burn in its place. What did Li Yingliang want to do? Was he not done yet? In order to hide from this man’s pestering, he had already run off to Shanghai and stayed there for a few months; was that not enough?

In the end, he was the one who had been naïve. He had wanted to live a dignified and peaceful life, refraining from violence and murder as much as he could. However, it was pointless if he was the only one who wanted to live this way, as Li Yingliang did not.

“Waited for me for a week?” he asked Li Yingliang, “You really are quite persistent when it comes to me.”

Li Yingliang shook his head, frowning, “Sigh. What do you mean just persistent? It’s nothing short of earnest, well-intentioned thinking! If you don’t believe me, ask Young Mistress Mi. Ever since I heard that you had returned to Tianjin, I’ve been staying here, waiting for you to come. After waiting day after day, I really suffered a lot! But, it’s okay if I suffered, as long as the results are good, then I wouldn’t have suffered in vain. Wouldn’t you say so, Mr. Shen?”

Shen Zhiheng lowered his head and looked at the gun barrels below his ribs. “Then what do you want to do now? Kill me again?”

Li Yingliang waved his hands continuously. “No, no, no. How would I dare to? This time, you don’t have to do anything, just follow me.”

He shot a glance at the people at the sides. Two black-clad men walked up, holding a thick rope that was made of steel mixed with leather. The second he saw the material of this rope, Shen Zhiheng knew that things were not looking great for him: it seemed like Li Yingliang was really treating him like a demon.

“You don’t have to go this far,” he said to Li Yingliang. “I’ll follow you. Of course, I also have a request. Do not harm Young Mistress Mi.”

Li Yingliang shot another glance at the black-clad men. They tied Shen Zhiheng’s arms behind his back, looped the rope around his neck, and then escorted him out of the parlour and straight to the back door of the Mi mansion.

The parlour quietened. Li Yingliang kept his pistol, removing two small cotton balls that had been tucked tightly into Mi Lan’s ears. He had noticed that this girl’s hearing was far better than a normal person’s. Even after blocking her ears so tightly, he could still not rob her of her hearing completely. However, blocking her ears was still better than leaving them free. If not, she could escape from his grasp just with her sense of hearing alone. Two days ago, she had escaped once, and had nearly succeeded.

After removing the cotton balls, he retrieved a small key and unlocked the handcuffs on Mi Lan’s wrists. Mi Lan’s hands had been kept behind her back, and her large bell sleeves had hidden the handcuffs. 

Then, walking around the sofa, he walked to Mi Lan’s side, and pulled her to sit down. She really resembled his little sister. He had ruthlessly brought men with him and barged into the Mi mansion, confining her and scaring her for seven to eight days; he really should not have. If she were really his little sister, he would now definitely hold her wrists, rubbing the red scars left behind by the handcuffs. It was a pity that she was not. Li Yingliang’s hand stopped midway, and he drew them back with the words “men and women have differences” echoing in his mind.

“Young Mistress Mi, don’t be afraid. I am only taking Mr. Shen back to ask a few questions, and I will definitely not endanger his life. I don’t have a choice either, if I don’t do this, I won’t be able to answer to the Japanese, and the Japanese will kill me. I know that when you had pneumonia, Mr. Shen took care of you, and you owe him a favour. I know everything.”

Mi Lan’s face was cold. “Will you really not kill him?”

Li Yingliang replied gently, as if he were coaxing a child, “We won’t. How do we dare to? He is a man of status, and neither has he broken the law. Who dares to kill him?”

Mi Lan seemed to trust him, saying, “I don’t want your people in my house. I want my own people back.”

“Don’t worry,” Li Yingliang said. “The two old maids who were left here with you have spoiled you. I’ll get worried if you’re left in their care. Wait a while, after I’m done with my affairs these few days, I’ll find another two good maids to come over and take care of you. These few days, just live at home and pass your days as you should. They will be responsible for and take care of you. Whatever you want to do, just order them to do it. I will come back in a few days. If they dare to be disrespectful to you, you can tell me then, I will use a whip to punish them.”

Mi Lan could hear that he was in a hurry to leave. Although his demeanour was calm and peaceful, he had not left any room for negotiation at all for any question, and so she replied with a noncommittal “mm”. She shut her mouth, thinking, “I’ve harmed Mr. Shen.”

She did not think that Li Yingliang was the one who had harmed Mr. Shen; she thought that she was the one who had harmed him. If Mr. Shen did not care about her and did not visit her, he would not have fallen into Li Yingliang’s trap. So, who else could she blame besides herself?

Mi Lan’s physical body lived in a human world where the sun rose and the moon set, but her soul lived in a dark world where the nights were long and never bright.

There was only her in this dark world, and now, there was Shen Zhiheng. Shen Zhiheng himself did not know about this; she had absorbed him into this world with only her knowledge. There were only the two of them, so when one of them was in trouble, the other would not be able to escape. She hated how she had become a bait and attracted Shen Zhiheng to fall into the trap, while Li Yingliang, the one who had set up this trap, had gotten away with impunity, without suffering either hate or punishment.

Because Li Yingliang was someone from the other world, there was a large distance between him and her, and he had nothing to do with her. Besides her gratitude for him sending her home that night, she neither completely liked nor hated him. Even if he were to suddenly die in front of her, she would not have been moved at all.

She only cared about Shen Zhiheng’s safety. She had saved Shen Zhiheng in the past. She had a stake in his life.

Since she had a stake, that meant that she had responsibility. Her dark world was fractured, and a force was pushing her towards the precipice of the human world. She was originally a little scared, but after it passed, fearlessness remained.

Even when fearless, she was cold and aloof. Her heart was empty, with neither courage nor faith. She merely wanted to achieve an important thing or two while she was alive. And these important things in life, either they were done for her sake and her sake alone, or they were done for the sake of Shen Zhiheng.

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Again, wordplay with the word 人 (rén). A person of Chinese nationality (i.e. Chinese) is 中国人 (zhōng guó rén), literally “China person”. But as a recap, 人 can be used to refer to both a person as in an individual (i.e. in the case of 中国人) and also a person as in a human being.