#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.

Please do not repost this anywhere else or retranslate it!

MAIN DIRECTORY ☾ READ ON AO3 ☾ PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Failing to get hold of Jin Jingxue, Yokoyama Akira played along with the circumstances, deciding to change tactics and let Jin Jingxue kick up a fuss first. In case she could really kick up such a huge fuss that Li Yingliang returned, it would end up saving him the trouble. In any case, in the situation where he could not ensure his safety, he would definitely not provoke Shen Zhiheng again. Meanwhile, Jin Jingxue always scorned the Japanese, so she simply did not pin any hopes on Yokoyama Akira, and she didn’t even pass a message through Situ Weilian, directly finding out the telephone number of the Shen mansion and making a phone call there.

The one who picked up was Mi Lan. Jin Jingxue now hated Shen Zhiheng, including those who were associated with him. She treated Mi Lan impatiently, “I am Jin Jingxue, get Shen Zhiheng to answer the telephone!”

Her tone was so arrogant and overbearing, yet Mi Lan had lived under her mother for fifteen years. One could say that she had much experience, and was the least afraid of fierce and arrogant women.

“He’s not at home.”

Jin Jingxue asked, “Who are you?”

“I am his niece.”

“Niece? Fine, then you pass a message to him, tell him to call me back the second he gets home, I have urgent matters to discuss with him. If I do not hear from him tonight, then don’t blame me for personally paying you a visit at your house tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Jin Jingxue waited for a moment, and after getting no reply, realised that the other party was a straight-talker and had already agreed. She hung up the receiver, her heart agitated and her mind unsettled. The voice that had picked up sounded a little child-like, and even though it was not a young child, it was definitely neither an adult. She really did not know if she could pass the message to Shen Zhiheng. Thinking to this point, she made another phone call to the Shen mansion.

“Hello, is this still his niece?”

On the other end, Mi Lan replied quite patiently, “It’s me.”

“I’m Jin Jingxue.”

“Mm.”

“I’m telling you, I’m trying to find Shen Zhiheng because it’s about a serious matter that concerns someone’s life. You must definitely pass my message to him, if not, if something catastrophic happens, he will have to pay the entire debt.”

“Okay.”

Jin Jingxue hung up once again, and once she did, her heart felt itchy and she could not help but want to call back again. The niece in the Shen mansion had spoken too quickly, and she simply could not shake off the suspicion that she was treating her cursorily.

On the other end of the phone line, Mi Lan mulled over the word “niece”, secretly feeling that it was quite fun, as if she had undergone a makeover and had a new identity in this world - the day before yesterday, Shen Zhiheng had introduced her to the servants as his distant niece, and the servants had addressed her as “Young Miss Niece”.

Not long after the call, Shen Zhiheng returned from outside. He then hogged the telephone, continuously making and receiving phone calls, busily instructing people to send Western medicine to the field service corps. When he finally put down the receiver, just as Mi Lan was about to speak, suddenly, in a blink of an eye, he left again.

It was only later that evening when he returned home, when she finally rushed to say, “A woman called Jin Jingxue called you on the telephone and wants you to call her back. She said she wanted to see you and talk to you in person about a serious matter that concerns someone’s life.”

Shen Zhiheng made an “mm?” sound from his nose. After “mm”ing, he realised he still had a mouth, and so he opened his mouth to ask in detail, “Jin Jingxue? Looking for me?”

Mi Lan looked at him with bright and shining eyes, “Yes.”

Shen Zhiheng walked up the stairs. “I’ll bring you out for dinner. Why is Jin Jingxue looking for me? Could it be because of Li Yingliang? Or is it Situ Weilian?”

Mi Lan followed him. “Is Li-shushu still alive?”

Shen Zhiheng turned his head to look back, somewhat suspicious, “Do you really have a third eye or have you been following me?”

Mi Lan shook her head, “I don’t understand.”

Shen Zhiheng smiled, then turned around and continued climbing the stairs. “Don’t bother about him, let him fend for himself.”

Mi Lan turned around, leaning against the railing of the staircase as she lifted her head and watched Shen Zhiheng’s back. She suspected that he had kidnapped Li Yingliang, and could have even killed him, she could not tell. She had no intention to plead clemency for her Li-shushu, fearing that she would annoy Shen Zhiheng. Besides, in her heart, it didn’t matter if Li-shushu was dead or alive, both were good things. It was good if he was dead, Shen Zhiheng would henceforth be able to get some peace and quiet; it was also okay if he was alive, in any case, she did not really hate him. She raised her hand and touched her hair, and then lowered her head to look at her skirt - she now had several thin skirts, its hemline caressed her knees, her knees were small, like a thin and bony bird.

Whether it was about this world, or about herself, she was now quite satisfied.

Shen Zhiheng changed into a suit and brought Mi Lan out to have dinner. They didn’t go far, crossing two streets, he brought her into a restaurant that served Western cuisine. For the entire day, the atmosphere had been one of fear and worry, but no matter how much people worried, they still had to eat. Shen Zhiheng placed a glass of water in front of him, patiently watching Mi Lan eat her fill. Now, Mi Lan was still very much capable of eating and appreciating food, eating anything and everything. Shen Zhiheng hoped that she had a good appetite, because even if she were to eat like her life depended on it, it was not a given that she could eat for that many more years.

When she was full, it just happened to be the time of the night when the street lamps were lit. Shen Zhiheng settled the bill and brought her out. At this hour when it was still not too late, the restaurant was busy, with customers going in and out of the entrance. Just as Shen Zhiheng stepped out of the doors, someone blocked his path. He lifted his head; it was Jin Jingxue.

Her fair-skinned face sullen, Jin Jingxue was just about to valiantly head towards the restaurant, followed by her youthful lackey [1], who had jogged the entire way, the grinning Situ Weilian. When the two groups of them walked face-to-face into one another, Jin Jingxue first took a good look at Shen Zhiheng, and then immediately said, “Mr. Shen, what a coincidence! I was just about to find you!”

Mi Lan instantly recognised her voice, while Jin Jingxue’s gaze swept to the side and across her face. Based on her experience, Jin Jingxue thought that Mi Lan did not resemble an adult, and did not seem like a lady that a person like Shen Zhiheng would be interested in.

So she asked, “You’re the niece?”

Mi Lan replied, “Mm.”

Jin Jingxue immediately turned to Shen Zhiheng and sneered, “So, I’m sure that your family’s Young Miss Niece must have already passed my message to you from the two phone calls I made to your residence earlier today.”

Shen Zhiheng shifted aside, towards the shadows beside the door. “Yes. I’m just not certain for what matter would Second Young Mistress Jin be so anxious to see me?”

Jin Jingxue followed him and shifted a few steps, cutting straight to the chase, “Of course it’s for matters concerning Li Yingliang. He has been missing for so long, you didn’t kidnap him, did you?”

Shen Zhiheng raised his eyebrows, astonished, “From where did Second Young Mistress Jin hear such nonsense? This humble one is just a simple businessman, I’m already incredibly grateful if Chairman Li doesn’t cause trouble for me, how could I possibly still kidnap him? It’s not like I’m a bandit.”

“Stop pretending! If this didn’t have anything to do with you at all, I wouldn’t come and ask you. Since I dare to find you, it means that I naturally have evidence. Now, I refuse to continue sparring verbally with you, I just want to ask you one thing, for how much money are you willing to let him go? Let’s settle this quickly and resolutely, you name your price! If you still have misgivings, I can assure you, based on my Jin family’s name, that he definitely won’t bother you ever again in the future. If he dares to disobey me, my father will not spare him.”

Shen Zhiheng chuckled, “Second Young Mistress Jin, stop joking with me. I too am aware of Chairman Li going missing. To be honest, I suspect that he could truly be a patriot, since he is now missing, there is a possibility that he has completed a mission and has escaped to somewhere safe. There’s no need to worry too much, Second Young Mistress Jin. Perhaps, not long after, he will return again.”

Shen Zhiheng said this light-heartedly with a smile on his face, but little did he know that Jin Jingxue had spent these recent days worrying about Li Yingliang, to the point where it felt like she was burning on the inside. And based on the information she had received, after thinking it through, Shen Zhiheng was still the most suspicious. If Shen Zhiheng had denied it in a furious rage at this moment, perhaps she still would have doubted and thought that she had made a mistake in her analysis, but Shen Zhiheng was so amicable and kept smiling, watching her as if he was watching a good show, and she felt like she was being challenged publicly.

Towards her friends, she was always very cheerful and lively, but towards her enemies, she no longer had such a good temper. She brandished the little shiny leather bag in her hands, and smashed it into Shen Zhiheng’s face.

Shen Zhiheng never knew that such a young lady from a rich family would actually hit people on the streets. He wanted to hide but was too late, and ended up getting hit for a moment, stunned. The leather bag was also quite hard and a sharp corner hit him straight in his eye, and he immediately raised his hands to cover his eye and lower his head.

Meanwhile, realising that she had exposed her unpleasant, violent temper, and had destroyed her image as a debutante, Jin Jingxue resolved that she might as well forgo her reputation and seek only instant gratification. She raised her leather bag and continued to smash it onto Shen Zhiheng’s head. By this point, Shen Zhiheng finally reacted, however, he was bound by his identity as a gentleman, and could not retaliate no matter what. Covering his eyes with a single hand, he originally planned to brace himself against the assault and force his way out. Situ Weilian extended his hand perfunctorily, wanting to stop Jin Jingxue, yet he did not really dare to; he really loved her too much, and this love was so deep that it could not help but become fear.

Right at this moment, Mi Lan suddenly emerged from the darkness, squeezing from the bottom and planting herself in front of Shen Zhiheng, and she raised her hand and sent a slap right across Jin Jingxue’s face.

Shen Zhiheng had not heard such a resounding slap in many years.

It was like a small firecracker, as if Mi Lan had clapped out thunder with a single slap. In response, Jin Jingxue flew out by more than a metre, crying out after she landed. Situ Weilian was frozen, before rushing over belatedly to help Jin Jingxue up. Seeing a red handprint already emerging faintly on one half of her face, he asked hurriedly, “Darling [2], how do you feel? Do you need me to send you to the hospital?”

Jin Jingxue was filled with the courage of fighting to the last drop of her blood, and was worthy of being called a general. After being slapped by Mi Lan, her neck was already slanted, yet she bore no trace of fear. Pushing Situ Weilian aside, she scolded “rubbish!”, and then with a mouthful of fresh blood, she lunged towards Mi Lan.

Mi Lan was staring down at her hands in a daze; she did not realise that she would be so strong. She originally did not have this strength that was capable of striking terror in people’s hearts!

Suddenly feeling the blast of wind before her, she raised her head in a startle, but her actions were far faster than her thoughts as her long and slender arms reached out and caught Jin Jingxue’s curls. Seeing her quick and decisive movements, Shen Zhiheng thought that she still wanted to fight, and hurriedly rushed forward to grasp her arms, yet as her arms were too thin, he did not dare to exert too much force out of the fear that he might accidentally break her thin bones if he did not pay attention for even a second. Meanwhile, Situ Weilian could see it all clearly from behind. He saw how insincerely he was mediating the fight, clearly with the intention to indulge Mi Lan and allow her to continue running wild, and he became anxious at once.

Punching and slapping a person like Shen Zhiheng was useless, it was more or less like tickling him. So, Situ Weilian rushed forward and grabbed him by his collar, slamming him viciously towards the back.

Behind Shen Zhiheng was the brick wall of the restaurant, and just when his back touched the wall, a large pale white hand covered his face, once again grabbing his head and knocking it towards the back. The impact made a dull sound, far from the earth-shattering slap that Mi Lan had given, however, a few bricks dropped out from the red brick wall. If this had been the head of a mortal human, the back of that head would probably already have been shattered.

Shen Zhiheng seemed to be in a daze. He would never have thought that Situ Weilian would dare to attack him.

At the same time, thinking that he had already moved Shen Zhiheng aside as if he were moving a large piece of luggage, Situ Weilian turned around, wanting to separate Mi Lan and Jin Jingxue. Now, he loved Jin Jingxue even more, for the more Jin Jingxue fought, the braver she was. She was actually holding her own against Mi Lan, and she could be said to be quite a heroine. But before he could grab Mi Lan, a voice suddenly roared from behind his head, “How dare you!”

The next second, the world before his eyes turned upside down, and another second later, he flew up into the air. Shen Zhiheng had raised him and thrown him into the middle of the street, and he was almost flattened into a pancake by a passing car. He crawled and stood up, but before he could retaliate, Shen Zhiheng was already there, treading on him with a foot and knocking him back flat down onto the ground.

He stood up again, bristling with fury, and a chaotic battle thus started.

Twenty minutes later, a patrol team rushed over.

The one who had reported this to the police was the manager of the restaurant, and by the time the patrol team arrived, the entire road was already blocked solid, for what activity could be more entertaining than a battle between Mr. Shen and Young Mistress Jin? Moreover, Mr. Shen’s niece and Young Mistress Jin’s attendant were also quite the talents; the niece could hit Young Mistress Jin till she was wailing continuously, while the attendant could also push Mr. Shen down and hammer vicious pounds down onto him. The niece’s short Western skirt had flipped up, revealing her silk shorts underneath, while the attendant’s full head of curly hair had exploded, and his head resembled a giant popcorn. When the Chinese constable saw this giant popcorn, he was momentarily shocked, thinking that there was a Westerner embroiled in this chaotic fight.

The constable half caught and half invited these four people to the police station. Inviting them to sit down at a large table facing one another, the constable himself sat at the head of the table, wringing his hands.

“Ah, this, Mr. Shen, Young Mistress Jin, you are both respected people. What conflict is it that you cannot sit down and discuss it, but must simply start brawling in the middle of the street? Putting aside the disruption to public order for now, your faces alone will be badly damaged!”

The constable’s words were not false. Mr. Shen’s entire head was bloody while Young Mistress Jin’s face was swollen, and the niece and attendant were not any better. The damage that the four of their faces had suffered was truly not small.

Shen Zhiheng pulled a handkerchief out from the pocket of his pants and wiped the blood on his face, and then nodded at the constable, “I’m very sorry, we’ve embarrassed ourselves in front of you.”

Situ Weilian also spoke, “We have learned our lesson.”

What the constable was the most afraid of was that these few people would not show him any face and would continue brawling in the police station. If he locked them up, he would offend them, but neither could he not lock them up. Now, hearing Shen Zhiheng’s amiable tone and seeing this could-be-Western youth being obedient, most of his worries instantly dissipated, and his countenance became pleasant, “But just what large conflict is it that the few of you have been fighting over? If any mediation is needed, then this constable can be that mediator.”

Shen Zhiheng said to him, “Actually, it’s nothing big, it’s just a small misunderstanding. It’s because I had drunk a little alcohol and was a little drunk then, while these few youngsters are full of youthful vigour, and so one disagreement was all it took for us to start fighting. Now that I am sober and that they have calmed down, we have no need for you to admonish us, we are all terribly ashamed in our hearts.”

Jin Jingxue glanced casually at the constable and, disdaining his low rank, was too lazy to bother with him. Mi Lan lowered her head, also not saying a word. Only Situ Weilian knew to follow up Shen Zhiheng’s words and continue saying, “Yes, we won’t fight anymore.”

The constable sighed a silent breath of relief, thinking that these four still were aware of their face, and since they still wanted to keep their face, then it saved him a lot of trouble. 

The constable let these four people go from the police station.

When the four of them got onto the street, Shen Zhiheng had completely regained his logic, and he said to Jin Jingxue, “Second Young Mistress Jin, I truly do not know where Li Yingliang is, you have really misunderstood me. Now, I apologise to you on behalf of my niece. I will also send someone to your residence with money to cover the medical bill. Please, if Second Young Mistress Jin could forgive her for being a young child and not understanding the severity of the situation.”

At this point, he finished speaking. Jin Jingxue waited for him to call Mi Lan over and apologise to her, but after waiting for a while, Shen Zhiheng simply stood there silently, and Jin Jingxue thus saw through his mind. He was merely spouting some worthless flowery words.

After living for so long, this was the first time she had suffered such a violent beating, and if she could not avenge this, she was not fit to be a human. But now, since she could not defeat her opponent easily, she decided to first return home to catch her breath while continuing to think of another way to find Li Yingliang. When she saved Li Yingliang, she would once again find Shen Zhiheng and seek revenge. Shen Zhiheng would not continue living, and neither would that bitch of his niece escape!

Situ Weilian stepped forward, saying in a low voice, “Jingxue, I’ll take you to the hospital.”

Jin Jingxue sneered, “I can really see that you’re a doctor, you’re only worried about sending me to the hospital. But there’s no need, I’m not like those women who are so delicate, I’m like a man, since I’m willing to fight, I’m willing to admit defeat. You can also relax, that niece of his isn’t capable of beating me so badly that I have internal injuries.”

“Then… then I’ll send you home?”

This time, Jin Jingxue nodded.

Situ Weilian sent a vicious glare at Shen Zhiheng, and then escorted Jin Jingxue and turned around and left.

Grasping the handkerchief with one hand, Shen Zhiheng blocked one of his nostrils. After watching the two of them walk into the distance, he turned his head and looked at Mi Lan. Mi Lan’s entire head of long hair was incredibly messy, but her face was still considerably clean. It was only that her neck and arms now bore a few fresh red swollen streaks, after having been scratched by Jin Jingxue.

Shen Zhiheng measured Mi Lan, then lowered his head to look at the handkerchief. There was fresh nose blood on it, and so he once again stuffed it into his nostril.

“Where did you get such a temper, actually daring to hit someone first?”

Mi Lan replied, “I thought that she had injured you.”

“It’s not like I’m afraid of getting hurt.”

“But you can still feel pain.”

“So what if I can feel pain? Do you think that now that you have become strong, you can fear neither the heavens nor the earth?”

“No.”

“You’re still being stubborn?”

This time, Mi Lan looked up and stared at him, “When she beat you, it was like she beat me. But I’ve already had enough of getting beaten, I no longer want to get beaten!”

Shen Zhiheng looked at her in confusion, evidently not understanding her.

So, Mi Lan said again, “You are me.”

She thought that this time, she had explained it considerably clearly. Yet, Shen Zhiheng frowned at her, his face still one of puzzlement. He roughly understood what she meant, or at least, he knew that she wanted to protect him. Even before, when she had been blind and weak, she had already wanted to save him, what more now, when she was no longer the same as who she had once been.

It was very strange. He had never imagined that he would trigger a young girl’s protectiveness.

“Let’s go.” He no longer continued asking, fearing that the more he asked, the messier it would be.

Mi Lan followed after him. The two of them walked towards the mouth of the road, intending to return home by car. 

Halfway through, he asked, looking forward, “Do your injuries hurt?”

“I’m not afraid of pain.”

Then, she turned her head to look at Shen Zhiheng, “Is it bad for girls to fight?”

“Of course it’s bad.”

“If only I were a boy.” She suddenly beamed brightly at Shen Zhiheng, a few dried specks of blood still on her lips. “Fighting is actually quite fun.”

“Nonsense.”

After saying that, Shen Zhiheng inhaled deeply, wanting to maintain a clear head. These few days, he had not been eating adequately, and he had just suffered quite a beating and had lost a lot of blood. At this moment, his ears were ringing and his head throbbed. This made him a little panicky, he feared that if he did not pay attention for a moment, he would once again become some savage monster and then devour that group of drivers at the mouth of the road.

Meanwhile, Situ Weilian, after running around for an entire day and finally finding Jin Jingxue at night, had originally planned to have dinner with her together, yet who would have guessed that even before the dinner could enter their mouths, the two of them had first had a taste of a round of kicks and punches.

With an empty stomach, he sent Jin Jingxue home, completely at a loss. Jin Jingxue’s miserable face, now decorated with all the colours of spring [3], was cold. Not allowing him to enter, she went into the mansion by herself. Earlier that day, the servants of the Jin mansion had seen her leaving the house in the evening together with her boyfriend, and were certain that she would drink and party all night long, and the earliest she would return home would be in the wee hours of the morning. So, they had turned off the lights and had all retired to bed early, and now, only a single lamp was still lit in the parlour.

The servants were lazy, but this just happened to suit Jin Jingxue. She tiptoed up the stairs and to the bedroom, intending to take care of the wounds on her body by herself. Now that she had calmed down, she truly regretted her earlier recklessness. Not only had she gotten into a fight with a stupid little girl, which was entirely beneath her, she had also fallen out with Shen Zhiheng, and had lost her chance of negotiation.

However, she could not blame herself, she thought. The past few days had tormented her thoroughly, and her belly had long been burning with a fire that needed to be vented.

Feeling around in the darkness of the bedroom, she first closed the door, and then raised her hands to feel around for the light switch. When her fingertips touched the button, she prodded it, and suddenly, a voice came from the darkness of the bedroom, “Second Young Mistress.”

This voice did not bear an ordinary huskiness, as if its throat were an opium pipe that had once swallowed shards of glass. At the same time, with a soft click, the light switch moved, and the chandelier in the middle of the room shone brightly, clearly illuminating the scene in the room.

Jin Jingxue was frozen on the spot, wondering if she was seeing a living ghost.

The living ghost was seated on the floor. Strips of cloth hung from his body, and beneath those strips, flesh was vaguely visible; clearly, those strips were covering a naked human body. As her eyes travelled up along the strips, a discoloured skeletal face appeared before her eyes.

If not for how she was sufficiently calm now, Jin Jingxue would definitely have started screaming at the top of her lungs. Instead, she inhaled a breath of cold hair and held it in her chest, then covered her heart, and said in a trembling voice, “Liang-gege?”

Her Liang-gege was staring at her, startled. It was only until she opened her mouth to speak when he could confirm that this swollen pig face in front of him was indeed Jin Jingxue.

Momentarily forgetting her changed appearance, Jin Jingxue lunged forward straight before Li Yingliang, her eyes filling with tears as she surveyed him. He was like a veteran lunatic, those strips of cloth had once been a collared shirt and long pants, yet who knew how he had torn them to turn them into thin and torn strips of cloth that simply could not cover much. When she looked back at his neck and face, she noticed that they were filled with a mess of scratches. His two eyes were even scarier; his pupils were black while the whites of his eyes were red, and they had sunken deep in the sockets of his eyes, and even his eyelids had gashes.

Jin Jingxue looked at him, simply suspecting that he had escaped from a dog’s mouth. Now, without any bother for any form of pretentiousness, she grabbed Li Yingliang’s hands, her tears falling like raindrops, “Where have you been all these days? Who hurt you this badly? I’ve been worried to death!”

Li Yingliang stared at her dully, and after a moment, he asked raspily, “Why have you also become like this?”

“Don’t bother about me, I’m fine. What on earth happened to you? Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something? Do you want to go to the hospital?”

Li Yingliang shook his head, “I’m not hungry, just thirsty.”

“Then I’ll get someone to bring tea up.”

Li Yingliang slowly raised his hand and pointed at the door of the bathroom, “No need, I’ve already drunk some tap water.”

Completely forgetting the pain that was wracking her body, Jin Jingxue glanced at Li Yingliang’s raised hand. She gasped in shock, and grabbed that hand, “Just what is this now? Did someone torture you?”

Li Yingliang’s eyes moved sluggishly, and he too looked at his own hand. His hand was a filthy claw, but it was not sharp, for most of his fingernails had already fallen off, and those that still remained were broken.

This was very normal, as he had used his two hands to dig and claw his way out to escape.

“I was kidnapped by someone,” he said hoarsely. “Shen Zhiheng.”

Jin Jingxue gritted her teeth, hitting the floor, “I knew it!”

Jin Jingxue wanted to tidy up Li Yingliang so that he resembled a human again, but she had never waited upon anyone before, so she did not know how to begin with this tattered and filthy little heap that was Li Yingliang.

 Li Yingliang was not filled with ecstasy after having a close brush with death, rather, he was so dazed as if he had lost his soul. As he was in a daze, he subconsciously shifted backwards, until he had shifted all the way into a corner. Jin Jingxue had known him for so many years, but she had never seen him so numb and pathetic before, and since he was so pathetic and she had no one else to rely on, she had no choice but to become strong.

Not only was her physical body strong, able to independently get up and walk to the bathroom to prepare hot water, she was also mentally strong, and personally gave Li Yingliang a bath. She slowly peeled off the strips of cloth covering Li Yingliang’s body. This was the first time in her life seeing the naked body of a man and was nearly embarrassed to death, but at the same time, she knew that this was not the time for her to be embarrassed. Besides, even if she was embarrassed, it was an embarrassment that was in vain.

It was as if Li Yingliang had become retarded, letting her do whatever she wanted with him. Jin Jingxue soaked a large towel in the hot water and roughly rubbed him once through with it, then she found a silk nightgown and made him wear it. Fortunately, she was of a healthy and tall figure, and Li Yingliang was so thin he was just skin and bones, and her nightgown could wrap him well.

After letting Li Yingliang out to lie down on her bed, she entered the bathroom and shut the door to take a bath and change her clothes. Now, her appearance was even more swollen, and together with Li Yingliang, they looked more or less the same. But as someone who was used to being pretty since young, just like a dandy young master who did not value money, she did not mind if she was ugly for a few days.

Wrapping her head with a large towel, she wanted to instruct her maidservant to send some hot drinks up. However, when Li Yingliang saw her extending her arm to open the door, he actually floundered and rolled off the bed, grabbing her arm, “What are you doing?”

“I want you to drink a mug of hot cocoa, you look too weak.”

Li Yingliang pulled her hand off the door handle. “No way, all of them want to kill me now. I can’t expose my whereabouts.”

“Who? Shen Zhiheng? Relax, even if he had the guts of ten men, he wouldn’t dare barge into my house to kill someone, unless he doesn’t want to continue living.”

Li Yingliang looked at her, and after looking at her dully for a good while, he finally opened his mouth, “He dares to.”

Jin Jingxue suspected that Li Yingliang had been tortured by Shen Zhiheng to the point of insanity, but in order to placate him, she helped him to walk to the bed. “I won’t get someone to make it then. If you’re scared, we can leave Tianjin and go home tomorrow.”

“No way, I can’t be exposed.”

“Then you can stay here at my place without any worries. I won’t go out these few days either, I’ll stay at home and protect you.”

Li Yingliang suddenly stopped, turning his face to look at her. “Can your servants be trusted? Will they sell me out?”

“They won’t, they won’t, tomorrow, I’ll tell them to go on leave. I’ll just leave Xiaotao and my other maidservant here, I had brought them from my home in Tianjin here with me, they can definitely be trusted, don’t worry!”

After much persuasion, Jin Jingxue finally managed to coax Li Yingliang back onto the bed. At this stage, she no longer cared about her identity as the young mistress of a wealthy family, even letting Li Yingliang sleep on her fragranced mattress. Li Yingliang lay down, but his eyes were still bright and wide open, without any intention of sleeping at all. Jin Jingxue hugged her knees and sat on one side, not daring to continue asking him anything out of the fear that he would mentally crumble and go crazy.

Li Yingliang didn’t dare to sleep.

He had lost all sense of time, and felt as if he had been locked up by Shen Zhiheng for a hundred years.

Hunger and thirst were not the most painful, the most painful was hopelessness, as well as terror, as well as an unwillingness to accept his situation, as well as how his watch had stopped, and he could not keep track of the passage of time. All the different kinds of pains mixed together with one another, dragging a single moment out into an entire day, even an entire month, an entire year.

He had been surrounded by hopeless silence, he could hear his own blood flowing, hear his own heart beating, and hear his own joints chafing. All these sounds had slowly become suspicious, as if they did not come from his own body, and they had slowly made the room become crowded, as if it had been filled with invisible ghosts. He had been terrified, and as he had knocked his head against the ground, he had howled loudly. Given how small and enclosed the room was, after howling, he had felt breathless, so suffocated it felt like he had been hovering between life and death. He had scratched his entire head and face wildly, had ripped his clothes into shreds, and his nails had been caked with his own blood and flakes of skin.

He had waited for Shen Zhiheng to return until he was close to death, as if he were waiting in the fires of hell. He had even thought of sacrificing himself to Shen Zhiheng, letting him kill him and eat him, as long as it meant that he could let him out before he died, let him resolutely take in a few breaths of air. Shen Zhiheng, Shen Zhiheng, he had recited his name silently. His feelings towards him could no longer be summarised as hate and fear, he had merely hoped that he would come, come and kill him or come and let him go, it had no longer mattered, as long as he would come.

After that, he had discovered a drainage hole at the bottom of the wall behind the toilet bowl.

At that point of time, he had no longer had energy left to think, and had only known that the drain would lead to the outside world, and so he had stared down at it, unwilling to move. After staring for a while, he had finally realised that the outer layer of the wall surrounding the drainage hole, after years of being soaked in filthy water, had become flaky.

He had then begun to peel the outer layer of the wall, peeling and digging with his ten fingers. Behind the cement layer was a layer of red bricks. He had stupidly continued digging, using his fists and arms to hit and knock it, completely feeling no pain at all. The layer of red bricks was thin, and after he had dug through it, he had found that behind it was a layer of rotten wood.

He had slowly stretched his hand out and pushed the layer of wood.

With a clatter, the wooden board had fallen. No sunlight had shone in and no wind had blown in, behind the wall had still been a damp and stuffy darkness. He had extended his entire arm through, and had felt a few wooden strips that resembled dried bones.

At that time, he had become so agitated that he had started to shake and tremble. After enlarging the hole, he had entered it, forcefully pushing his body through the hole. Broken pieces of bricks had scraped his flesh, but still, he had not felt any pain.

In the dark space on the other side of the wall had been piled a few rotting wooden boards. The layout was a prison cell similar to his, and borrowing the dim light from his prison cell, he could even see that this room also had a metal door.

A half open metal door.

Walking out of the door, he had felt his way to a flight of stairs that led upwards, and as he had climbed up the stairs, he had realised that he was in an empty warehouse. The main door of the warehouse had been locked, but there was a small glass window high above, and that was not enough to stop him.

When he had finally regained his freedom, the skies had just become completely dark.

 Previously, he had been terrified, and when he had escaped, he had been even more so. His previous terror had been abstract and large, after escaping, it had been concrete and detailed. He was scared of Shen Zhiheng, and also scared of the Japanese. A large number of secret documents had been leaked out from his hands, and even if he had not gone missing, given how wary the Japanese were, they might have executed him as if he was a spy. This sort of situation was not something that could be easily explained clearly, and even if he told the entire truth, the Japanese would not necessarily believe him completely. He could not return home, let alone find his friends, and so he had thought of Jin Jingxue.

Jin Jingxue would not sell him out. He hated her, but he also trusted her.

At that point of time, he was already exhausted to an extreme, yet just like the final radiance of the setting sun, he had actually managed to walk through a few secluded alleys all the way to the Jin mansion. That night, the Jin mansion had been particularly dark and quiet, and he had managed to flip himself over the back wall and into the yard, and then climb up the water pipe to the second floor and enter the bedroom.

Then, he had desperately filled his stomach with tap water, and after that, he had met the exceptionally ugly Jin Jingxue.

Jin Jingxue treated him so well, far beyond what he had expected. However, he now could not manage to thank her, for he was too terrified, he was terrified to death!

At dawn, Jin Jingxue was leaning against the bedhead, half asleep and half awake, when Li Yingliang suddenly sat up, giving her a scare.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurting somewhere?”

Li Yingliang shook his head.

Now, he still could not manage to feel pain, he had just had a nightmare.

He had dreamed that Shen Zhiheng had gone to see him that night, and after finding that he had escaped, had tracked him down and found him here.

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

The word for “lackey” used here was 狗腿子 (gǒu tuǐ zi), which literally means “dog leg”.

Situ Weilian literally calls her “Darling” in English here.

I “lol”ed, the phrase used here was 花红柳绿 (hóng huā liǔ lǜ), literally “red flowers and green willows”, which was a very pretty way of describing the bruises and blood on her face.

[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

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.

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

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.

Please do not repost this anywhere else or retranslate it!

MAIN DIRECTORY ☾ READ ON AO3 ☾ PREVIOUS CHAPTER

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

The journey from Tianjin to Nanjing, and then from Nanjing to Shanghai, was to Shen Zhiheng, like a chaotic nightmare.

Mi Lan continued to burn with a high fever in his arms. Occasionally, she would be clear-headed for a short while. She neither ate nor drank, and didn't even ask where she was. When Shen Zhiheng asked how she felt, she only said that it did not hurt. By the time the train arrived in Nanjing, her throat was so hoarse that she could not even say the three words “it doesn’t hurt”.

In his arms was Mi Lan, who despite being on the verge of death, still had to comfort him by saying “it doesn’t hurt”, while beside him was Situ Weilian, who was grinning as if nothing had happened. He only felt like everything had been turned upside down, as if he were in a dream; Mi Lan who was alive was about to die, while the Weilian before him was no longer Weilian.

Late at night on that same day, Shen Zhiheng reached his house in Shanghai.

Before reaching, he had first sent Mi Lan to the hospital. Mi Lan’s wound had already worsened and was festering, and her forehead was burning hot. Without enough time to make any other choice, after getting off the train, he had hugged Mi Lan, and like a drowning man grasping at straws, he had rushed to the nearest hospital. Fortunately, this hospital was not small and was not some subpar hospital. The doctors were also zealous, and had immediately arranged an operation for Mi Lan. 

After learning that Mi Lan had escaped from the jaws of death, Shen Zhiheng had dragged the large tail that was Situ Weilian and had hastily returned home. His house here was located in the French concession zone. In Shanghai, the Japanese did not have that much influence yet. In addition, the French concession zone was the territory of the French, so compared to the dangerous circumstances in Tianjin, it could be said that Shen Zhiheng was now doubly protected.

The house was a small two-story Western-style house. It was new, and since its doors and windows were usually closed tight, it contained neither dust nor human life. After entering, Shen Zhiheng first turned on the light. The light was a large luxurious crystal chandelier, shining so radiantly that every corner was filled with brilliant light and vibrant colours, truly painting an atmosphere of cold and cheerless wealth. This atmosphere was originally one that Shen Zhiheng had grown used to and had even grown tired of. These recent years, he had lived so swimmingly, his social circles all filled with the likes of politicians, plutocrats, investors, and even the wealthy literati who had both fame and fortune; he had almost believed that his life would forever be filled with peace and splendour.

However, as he looked around his surroundings now, he suddenly felt strangely disoriented, as if he had fallen into another dream. The dungeon, the massacre, the rainy night, the pursuit… different scenes took turns to flash before his eyes. He did not know if his peace and splendour could still continue, he only knew that Mi Lan was in the hospital, clinging on to life, and he also knew that Situ Weilian…

When his thoughts touched upon Situ Weilian, it felt as if his fingertips had touched fire. He shivered, as if his entire soul had been scalded. He turned around slowly to face Situ Weilian, seeing the dishevelled youth before him, with his bloodless face and two hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket, his greasy curls plastered to his scalp. His expression, however, was one of light-heartedness. When he saw Shen Zhiheng look at him, he smiled back at him with half-closed eyes.

Situ Weilian was smiling, but he was not. Under his heavy black eyebrows, his gaze only held a speck of cold light.

Shen Zhiheng was playing a waiting game, so after the two of them stared at each other for a while, in the end, it was Situ Weilian who could not continue smiling and had to admit defeat.

“What? Do you want to settle the final score with me? I’m not scared of settling, it’s not like I bear you any ill will. But before settling the final score, I suggest that we both take a bath. If not, we’ll disgust each other with our stench and won’t be able to talk.”

Shen Zhiheng admitted that what Situ Weilian had just said was reasonable. He really ought to wash himself up, or with such a dishevelled appearance, he wouldn’t have the confidence to negotiate with Situ Weilian.

“Go,” he said. “Then wait in the study for me.”

Situ Weilian was familiar with the location of the bathroom. He made a sound of agreement, and jogged the short distance there. Turning his head to look at his receding figure, Shen Zhiheng realised for the first time that he really lacked humanity.

Originally, he had believed that this young brat was merely thoughtless.

He strode up the stairs, where there was another bathroom. He was used to being decent, and now that he sniffed the stench on his body, he also felt that he could no longer endure it.

After taking a bath, Situ Weilian found a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of long pants and put them on, and then walked to the study.

The study was located at the end of the corridor on the first floor. On a pleasant day when the sun was shining, when the windows were opened, there would be flowers and trees outside, and the atmosphere would probably be quite good. Situ Weilian stuffed both of his hands into the pockets of his pants, looking at the large bookshelf that covered the entire wall. Not finding any interesting book, he walked to the back of the desk and sat himself down onto the black leather sofa chair there. It felt quite comfortable, but that was just about it.

Everything was quite interesting, and everything was also “just about it”. Everyone had a passion they were obsessed with, while he did not. He always had a three minute passion [1] for everything , but he did always quite like money. He always extended his hand to Shen Zhiheng asking for it, but, actually, neither was he very passionate about money. When he received it, he would spend it, never accumulating it. When he spent it, he would ask for it again, and if he did not receive it, he would feel suffocated.

Besides money, what else would allow him to grow a long-lasting love? Ah, there was a beautiful woman, he had loved her one-sidedly for a very long time. Now, that flame of love was still burning; she was the beautiful Second Young Mistress Jin. The second he thought of Second Young Mistress Jin’s affecting frowns and smiles, a smile bubbled onto his face, as if she were sitting right before his eyes.

However, the room door opened, and the person who walked in front of his eyes was Shen Zhiheng.

Shen Zhiheng was dressed in a dark changshan, his hair meticulously combed.

Situ Weilian did not get up, sneering at him from behind the desk, “Shen-xiong, from now on, should I call you ‘da-ge’ [2] instead? Today, the two of us brothers have recognised and acknowledged one another. Aren’t you happy?”

Although he knew that Shen Zhiheng wanted to “settle the final score” with him, he was truly quite happy. In the past, he had planned about the timing to come clean to Shen Zhiheng about his identity, but the more he planned, he could never quite figure out a good day, and now that the truth had finally been revealed, it actually saved him the trouble of planning it. After getting along for three years, he was fairly satisfied with this older brother. He had both status and wealth, and was qualified enough to be his older brother.

While Situ Weilian sneered, Shen Zhiheng said, “Why did you lie to me?”

Situ Weilian lifted his hand and caught his curly hair. “At the beginning, I didn’t know if you were a good or bad person, and I wanted to study you first. In the end, once I started studying you… I lost track of time… but in my heart, I’ve long acknowledged you as my older brother.” At this point, he looked at Shen Zhiheng gleefully. “These three years, you’re the one who has treated me the best.”

Shen Zhiheng stared at him fixedly. “You clearly knew that I’ve always been looking for you. I’ve been looking for you for not just three years; I started looking for you a very long time ago. I’ve gone far and wide just to look for you. You knew all of this, but yet you didn’t say anything. You hid it from me.”

He nodded at Situ Weilian. “If not for how you want to stop me from seeking revenge this time, you would continue hiding it from me, continue watching as I look for you everywhere, wouldn’t you?”

The rims of his eyes were red, which surprised Situ Weilian. As he stared vacantly at Shen Zhiheng, he still didn’t think that he had done anything wrong.

“Da-ge, don’t be like this. I have my difficulties as well. Firstly, I thought that it was a little fun this way. Secondly… I was afraid that you would hate my mother and me, so I never dared to tell the truth. What if you wanted to find me so that you could take revenge? I like you, I just want to be brothers with you. If I can’t be brothers with you, then it’s also okay if we’re friends. In any case, I don’t want to become enemies with you…”

The more he spoke, the smaller his voice became. In the end, Shen Zhiheng cut off his mumbling, “At the juncture between life and death, you were still unwilling to tell me, right?”

“Juncture between life and death? When you saved me and Mi Lan?” Situ Weilian was truly puzzled. “I didn’t know that was a juncture between life and death! I thought you would be able to do it by yourself, so I waited for you together with Mi Lan.”

Shen Zhiheng walked towards the front step by step, circling around the desk, and stopping in front of Situ Weilian.

“You didn’t know?” he asked in a low voice. “Or did you want to continue hiding your identity, and simply didn’t want to take action?”

Situ Weilian gave a forced smile, lifting his hand and holding Shen Zhiheng’s arm. “Da-ge, I–”

Shen Zhiheng flipped his hand around and gripped his wrist tightly. “Weilian, on this earth, I have neither family nor friends. You are the only one whom I dare to trust, and whom I dare to rely on. Before jumping off the train, I once thought, that if I could only save one person between the two of you, I would save you. If I died, it wouldn’t matter. I’ve already signed the documents with the lawyer, you will be my only heir, I have left all of my assets to you.”

He lowered his body slightly, staring at Situ Weilian straight in the eye. “These are my feelings for you.”

Hearing him speak till this point, Situ Weilian finally felt the gravity and seriousness of the situation. But before he could open his mouth, Shen Zhiheng suddenly released his hand, letting go of his wrist.

“Our feelings will end here. From now on, you walk your broad and sunny road, I’ll cross my single-log bridge [3] .” Straightening, he cleared the way, “Take care, I won’t see you off.”

Situ Weilian stood up slowly. “I lied to you and I hid from you, I’m the one who’s wrong. But other than that, I’ve never done anything to let you down. Why do I keep going to Keats Hospital to dawdle all day long? Isn’t it for you? That night when you were assassinated by Li Yingliang’s people, when you were nearly dead, do you know how much trouble I had to go through to find blood for you? Do you think that the hospital has so much blood to supply you? I very rarely kill people, but those days, I didn’t even sleep at night, I was going about finding live people for you. That weasel demon, that was me!” He extended his hand and knocked Shen Zhiheng in the front. “Just think about it yourself, I have not let you down.”

Shen Zhiheng grasped his hand and shoved it away.

“No,” he said to Situ Weilian. “I have not kept anything from you. If you wanted to understand me, you wouldn’t have needed three years. I think you were just watching me like you were watching a show. Because I am a monster created by you and your mother, you just like to watch me being kept in the dark, watch me going around in circles. Watching me being this ignorant and helpless, in your eyes, don’t you feel it’s very interesting and very funny?”

Situ Weilian sighed, “Are you crazy?”

Watching his resigned yet innocent expression, Shen Zhiheng felt that this person was simply innocent to the point of shamelessness. A sudden surge of violence engulfed him without any warning, and he grabbed Situ Weilian’s collar with both of his hands, lifting him and about to hurl him at the glass window. Situ Weilian’s feet left the ground, but nearly at once, he dropped onto the ground with a sharp struggle, pulling Shen Zhiheng’s hands aside. Without waiting for Shen Zhiheng to take action again, he held Shen Zhiheng’s neck in a vise, turning around and pressing him down.

When Situ Weilian really demonstrated his power with no holds barred, even Shen Zhiheng was not his match. As he involuntarily staggered a step backwards and raised his head, his back crashed against the desk. Particularly dissatisfied, he lifted his two legs, which had been dragging on the floor, in an attempt to exert some force, but Situ Weilian violently pressed down onto his throat, knocking the back of his head into the desk as well.

“You dare to fight me,” Situ Weilian said softly, a little breathlessly. “You’ve really got guts now huh! When I speak nicely to you, you don’t listen, do you really just have to force me to speak the truth? Let me tell you, you’re nothing but an inheritance that my mother left for me. To us, you are a lowly mixed breed that got transformed from a human! It’s your honour that I’m willing to recognise you as my older brother!”

Speaking till this point, he slowly let go, letting Shen Zhiheng straighten and sit up bit by bit. But when Shen Zhiheng got up to a halfway point, he suddenly moved, pressing Shen Zhiheng down again and knocking the back of his head against the desk with a dull thump.

Lowering his eyes to look at Shen Zhiheng, he said, “I still think that there’s a misunderstanding between us. If not, I don’t harbour any ill intentions towards you, but why must you treat me like a bad person? Let’s sit down and talk, okay?”

  With his throat restrained by Situ Weilian, Shen Zhiheng could neither make a sound nor nod his head, and could only close his eyes heavily at him. Seeing his expression, Situ Weilian immediately smiled radiantly, holding his collar and pulling him up.

“Let’s go to the dining room, and also find something to eat. I’m hungry.”

In the dining room, the two of them sat across the dining table, facing one another.

A glass of tap water sat in front of Shen Zhiheng, while Situ Weilian had found a tin of biscuits. He had bought these biscuits when he had come here with Shen Zhiheng in the beginning of the year to take refuge. Fortunately, he had not opened it, and the biscuits were still crisp and dry, and had yet to go bad.

Stuffing his mouth with biscuits, he chewed messily, ignoring Shen Zhiheng’s stare that was directed straight at him.

He said, “We are not the same. I can eat a little of everything, and can live more easily than you. And you? Do you want a cigar? If you do, I’ll get one for you.”

“There’s no need. You know everything about me, now talk about yourself!”

“Me?” Situ Weilian bent forward and took that glass of water in front of Shen Zhiheng, raising his head and taking a gulp. “That year, the Shen family wanted to burn my mother and me to death, do you remember?”

“How could I forget?”

Situ Weilian smiled again. “My mother only liked our father, it was not like she was a fool, how could she have not realised the Shen family’s plans? That night, she had already sent me to the woodshed and asked me to wait for her. I waited and waited, and she finally came, but she had already been burned by the fire, in such a bad state that I nearly couldn’t recognise her. She carried me and escaped from your Shen family, running so fast it was as if she were flying.”

At this point, he looked upwards, his posture one of hard thought. “After that… after that we stayed in a dilapidated house. There was nothing outside, it was a barren ground, and there was also nothing inside, and it was so cold during the winter. Mother cried everyday, crying and crying, so much that her skin, fingers, eyelids, and lips seemed to grow out, and yet she kept crying everyday. She didn’t care about what I ate or drank, and only cried. At first, I thought she was in pain. It was only when I grew up that I knew that she had been heartbroken.”

His smile vanished, and he shrugged at Shen Zhiheng. “It turns out that to be so heartbroken you would eat your heart out is no exaggeration. In the end, she really cried herself to death. Creatures like us can’t be killed, but we can cry ourselves to death, how strange.”

“It’s not strange.” Shen Zhiheng stared straight at Situ Weilian. “When I found out that you had been lying to me for three years, I was also heartbroken, and also wanted to eat my heart out.”

Situ Weilian stuffed another biscuit into his mouth. “Then let me apologise to you in advance, because after hearing this next part, you might be even more heartbroken.”

“Go ahead.”

“When my mother cried herself to death, I was twelve. I told her that I would take revenge on the Shen family, but she said that this revenge was one that she had already taken. The people who should die were already dead, and those who did not die, she had left for me. I think she still hated the Shen family, and so she wanted the children of the Shen family to serve her own child.”

Listening to this point, Shen Zhiheng also remembered the large fire that night.

The woman had dashed out of the fire like a crazed demon, running around the entire Shen mansion. The first person she had caught was him. He had been scared stiff by that woman’s horrific condition, and when her teeth had just pressed against his neck, he had lost consciousness. When he had woken up, the masters of the Shen mansion had been either dead or injured, with not a single person spared.

His neck had been left with teeth marks of mangled blood and flesh, and there had been a few people who had been bitten like him, including his father. Merciless Old Lady Shen had been, on the contrary, safe and sound. Everyone had said that the old lady had been fortunate, and even the evilest of demons had not dared to get close to her. But, eventually, everyone had realised that this evil had been no ordinary evil; she had particularly left Old Lady Shen unharmed so that she could hold funerals for her descendants.

Those who had been bitten all developed high fevers after waking up. That high fever had burned harshly, and some people had not even managed to last through the first day and had drawn their last breath. Biased, Old Lady Shen had realised that her descendants could not be saved, and so she had only taken care of her most beloved eldest son and eldest grandson. Master Shen had endured for three days before passing away, which had already been quite a long time. Shen Zhiheng had been the only one who had displayed signs of the fever receding after three days, but when Old Lady Shen had personally wiped his head and face, he had, with his eyes closed, turned his head and bitten her wrist. Old Lady Shen had shivered in pain, but she had held on without a sound, and as her fresh blood had flooded into her eldest grandson’s mouth, she had watched as he had drunk desperately for his life, and she had held her hand there without pulling it back.

That was the first time he had drunk blood.

His grandmother’s fresh blood had helped him to stabilise, and during that period of chaotic upheaval and ceaseless death, Old Lady Shen had concealed the truth from everyone, killing chickens and ducks for their fresh blood so that her beloved favourite grandson could get better day by day. When the wound on Shen Zhiheng’s neck had completely healed, and when all the funerals had mostly been completed, relatives of the Shen family from all walks of life had flocked to them, eyeing this elderly old lady and her sickly grandson. They had each played to their own strengths, swearing to plunder some spoils from this Shen family that was on the brink of being wiped out.

Given the unreasonable and stubborn old married woman that she was, Old Lady Shen should not have had let these random people take advantage of them, but in the face of the Shen family’s tragic condition, and thanks to the psychological burden from worrying over her eldest grandson, she had finally been completely exhausted, and could no longer fend them off no matter how formidable she had been.

Shen Zhiheng could not remember the things after that clearly, he only remembered that he and his grandmother had moved in with a distant uncle. By this point of time, Old Lady Shen had no longer been obsessed with driving out evil spirits, and her nerves had been highly strung all day long, finding blood for her grandson to drink while having to keep his secret. She had become nervous to such an extent that she would panic over the smallest matters, seemingly on the verge of going insane.

Fortunately, such days had only lasted for a year. A year later, in spring, she had suddenly suffered a stroke, and besides Shen Zhiheng, no one else had been willing to accompany her to the hospital for treatment. Right before her death, she was paralysed and could not say a single word. She had stared straight at Shen Zhiheng, thousands of unspoken words held back in her eyes, to the point that her eyeballs had bulged out. Eventually, when she had passed away, she had died bearing unspoken grievances and had not gone in peace.

Old Lady Shen had been extremely selfish and arrogant her entire life, and all the wives and concubines in the Shen family had been bullied so much by her that they had not dared to even breathe. When her son had brought a concubine home, she had been like an ant in her eyes, and she could easily crush her to death with a finger. The ant had curly hair and large eyes, a slender waist and long legs, and had been the very picture of a flirtatious female Western devil [4] . She had already been an eyesore to the old lady, and later, with her shady comings and goings and the accumulating suspicious points about her, she had seemed very much like a demon or monster, and that old lady had become even more determined to put her to death.

Old Lady Shen had never thought that this ant would have had the ability to wipe her entire Shen family out.

After the old lady’s death, Shen Zhiheng had been left behind with his distant uncle to hit it off together. When the distant uncle had inherited the assets that Old Lady Shen had left behind, he had immediately thought of chasing Shen Zhiheng away. Meanwhile, hiding such a large secret and without the protection that his grandmother had once given him, as long as his distant uncle did not speak a word, Shen Zhiheng had also made up his mind to leave.

To a normal person, events of the past were like wine; the more time passed, the mellower the aftertaste. Yet, although Shen Zhiheng’s past had a history of more than a hundred years, after recalling them over and over again countless times, they had all faded, and they could no longer emotionally move him. He actually very much preferred if he could completely forget these events of the past. As a person who believed in pragmatism and who was only focused on looking forward, he did not like to linger in those blood-soaked memories.

“I,” he asked Situ Weilian, “was something she had left behind for you?”

Situ Weilian nodded. “Yes, all of us always do this.”

“All of you?”

Shen Zhiheng rested his elbows on the surface of the desk, propping up his chin with a hand as if he had suddenly become interested, although his gaze remained cold and stern. “Just what are ‘all of you’?”

Situ Weilian lifted his sleeves and wiped the biscuit crumbs on his lips. “We are not gods.”

“I can see that.”

“Neither are we ghosts or humans. People of our kind exist all around the world. Some families are large and illustrious, with extraordinary power, while others are like me, wandering around alone. Humans have given us many names, one of them is the one you hate the most, called ‘vampire’. But I don’t care, I naturally do not bother about trifles.”

Shen Zhiheng nodded once, “Mm.”

“We need blood, human blood is the best, but we can make do with other blood. We are not like you. It is easy for us to live, if not, we would have been hunted to extinction by humans a long time ago. Unfortunately, we’re not great at reproduction. Although we can have children naturally, and can have children with humans, my mother told me that births are rare. We don’t know why either.”

Shen Zhiheng continued nodding, “Mm.”

“I don’t know my mother’s origin, and I don’t know why she came to China. In any case, just like how I fell in love with Second Young Mistress Jin, she had fallen in love with our father. Sigh, I’ve even forgotten what our father looked like. Do you remember?”

“The old man’s appearance is more or less like mine.”

“Ah, no wonder I immediately felt close to you when I saw you for the first time. It turns out that seeing you is like seeing my birth father.”

“I don’t deserve the honour. Please continue talking.”

“Where have I talked until? Having children? Oh, right, I’ve talked until our relationship. My mother said that those in the Shen family who did not die were the ones she had left behind for me. She probably never guessed that the people of the Shen family would be so weak, and you were the only one who survived. But you’re very good, one of you is like ten other people, and I’m very satisfied to have one of you.”

“She left me behind for you… to do what?”

“To be my–”

Situ Weilian paused, swallowing the last word that he had wanted to say. Then, he replaced this with a gentle smile to Shen Zhiheng, “If I say that she left you behind for me to be my slave, you will definitely be angry again. But I’ve never treated you like my slave, and we’re in the civilised age now, everyone is equal, and no one can enslave anyone, isn’t it? I understand this principle, I’ve been to university before.”

Shen Zhiheng could not help but sneer, “Just where did you mother and son get the self-confidence to believe that I would willingly be your slave?”

A blank look appeared on Situ Weilian’s face, as if Shen Zhiheng’s question had made him stupid. “Why? Of course that’s because you need something from me!”

“What do I need from you? All these years, aren’t you the one who has always depended on me?”

Situ Weilian snickered, “Really?”

He tilted his head, smiling and asking again, as if wanting to force an answer out of Shen Zhiheng, “Really?”

Shen Zhiheng felt that between his smile and his question, was hidden a kind of innocent yet sinister peril that was simply impossible to defend against. On the surface, Situ Weilian definitely relied on him; he had so much wealth and influence, while Situ Weilian was only a little doctor with neither future nor ambition.

On the surface, indeed, it was like that.

Out of some instinct of self-preservation, Shen Zhiheng stopped his thinking only at this surface, and was unwilling to think any deeper, preferring instead to let Situ Weilian say the truth himself. 

Meanwhile, Situ Weilian examined his expression while saying softly, “The purer our bloodline, the better. My father was human, and my bloodline cannot already be considered as pure. But compared to you, I still have many advantages. For example, my lifespan is longer and I’m stronger. In particular, I am complete and my body is sound, and will never lose control. When you lose control, I can still subdue you, save you.”

Shen Zhiheng suddenly recalled the dungeon in the Yokoyama mansion. Yes, he had indeed lost control in the past, and he who had lost control had been like a demon, unthinking and emotionless, unable to even tell friend from foe, blindly thinking of nothing but killing.

“Da-ge, we have always been like this, finding outstanding humans to cooperate with. I’ll give you strength and let you live long, while you will be responsible for providing for me, protecting me. It is mutually beneficial for us and we can cooperate happily, isn’t that good?”

“I don’t want to cooperate with you now. Can we end this relationship?”

Situ Weilian looked at him. After looking at him for quite a while, finally, as if he could not help but laugh, he shook his head and smiled, “That’s not possible. There’s no way for you to regain a human body. It’s either you continue living like that or you kill yourself, but judging based on the condition of your body, your suicide won’t necessarily be successful!”

“Then I’ll just continue living like that by myself, I don’t necessarily have to cooperate with you.”

“That’s still not possible, your condition will keep worsening. Remember when we just met, you could still eat some fruits or something, but now, you can’t even drink a cup of light tea. Li Yingliang said that you had gone on a killing spree in the Japanese prison and had killed a lot of people. I think, given your brains, even if the Japanese had forced you into a corner, you shouldn’t have killed so indiscriminately without any rhyme or reason. So, when you had been killing people, you had actually been unconscious and unfeeling, right? My mother once told me that people like you are called the turned. You can only continue living on fresh blood, and the older you get, the stronger you get, and the easier it is to lose control. Without me taking care of you, sooner or later, you will go crazy one day, perhaps you might even run onto the streets to bite people and suck their blood. At that time, the police will be activated, and the newspaper reporters will also be present, they’ll catch up and even take pictures of you. Other people will stand by the sides and ask, ‘Isn’t that Mr. Shen? Why has he become a monster?’. Tell me, how humiliating would that be? How would you dare to face anyone in the future?”

Speaking to this point, he stood up, “I’ve spoken so much I’ve grown thirsty. Do you have any soda in your house?”

Shen Zhiheng stared fixedly at him, not replying.

Situ Weilian looked around and did not find any soda, and so he returned to Shen Zhiheng’s side.

“Da-ge, don’t be angry with me. For you, I was caught by Li Yingliang and became a hostage for a few days. I even got shot three times, but I don’t bear any grudge against you. I know that you still can’t get your head around this, so just now, you wanted to sever ties with me and drive me away. Fine, I can go and leave you alone to calm down. But I don’t have a single coin on me, and I don’t even dare to return to Tianjin now. If I leave the house now, wouldn’t I starve to death?”

He extended a hand towards Shen Zhiheng. “I know that you have money here too. Give me five hundred dollars, I will go and stay in a hotel, I swear I won’t be an eyesore to you.”

Shen Zhiheng still remained unmoving. After waiting a while, Situ Weilian could no longer wait, and patted the pockets of his pants through his changpao. 

“Do you have any cash? A cheque is fine too, I have enough time to go to the bank tomorrow morning to exchange it for money.”

Shen Zhiheng grasped his hand and shoved it away.

Then, he stood up and faced him, saying, “Situ Weilian, I have always treated you like my best friend, but you betrayed my trust, and the friendship between us no longer exists. If you must insist that the relationship between us is one of so-called ‘cooperation’, then I’ll declare now that I withdraw from this cooperation.”

He extended an arm in the direction of the door, “Please.”

Situ Weilian frowned, “Da-ge, do you know what you’re saying? You can’t leave me, you need me, and you will only need me increasingly. I said, your body is not sound!”

Shen Zhiheng’s thin lips moved, spitting out two words lightly, “Get lost.”

SItu Weilian let out a long sigh, “I can get lost, then you have to give me five hundred dollars.”

“The two of us have severed ties, I am no longer obligated to give you money.”

Situ Weilian glared at Shen Zhiheng, and after glaring for a while, he flicked his hand, turned his head, and left. Shen Zhiheng thought that he had grown a backbone, but the honking of a car horn quickly came from the back of the building; the little rascal had actually found the car key, and had driven the car out of the garage without permission.

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

A passion that does not last long.

As a reminder, 大哥 (dà gē) means “older brother”.

Basically “you do you, I’ll do me”. I just left it as a close to literal translation as a little treat for the MDZS fans.

The term used here is 洋毛子 (yáng máo zi). 洋 refers to Westerners, while 毛子 is a slur against Russians, although it literally just means “fur”.

[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

Mi Lan stood on a wooden stool as she leaned against the wall at the back of the Shen mansion, revealing a pair of eyes that looked at the outside.

Beyond the wall was a small street. There was an endless stream of pedestrians on the street, and it was a little busy, like a large world that had been condensed into a small bonsai. Mi Lan loved this form of “looking” that was half-peeping. She could look for a good half of the day without getting tired and without a sound. She would simply look without any expression, as if she were a bystander that had descended from the heavens, using cold eyes to look at the world.

When the sun shined on her until she started sweating, she finally jumped off the stool and turned around to walk towards the long corridor on the lawn. In the long corridor was a lounge chair, atop which Shen Zhiheng lay, with a neat stack of used paper placed on top of his abdomen. He looked at them one by one. Mi Lan bent down beside him, lifting the loose strands of hair beside her ear as she glanced at him curiously.

“Is this a book?” she asked.

Shen Zhiheng replied, “It’s not a book, these are documents.”

Mi Lan had already learned how to read illustrated magazines, and she could understand a portion of the explanatory text in illustrated magazines. But when it came to proper books, she could not understand them. Documents were neither books nor illustrated magazines, and so, she asked again, “Are documents interesting?”

Shen Zhiheng smiled, “To be honest, I stole these from your Li-shushu’s office. They’re all written in Japanese and I don’t really understand them. In the afternoon, I’ll find an interpreter to come and have a look, and then I’ll know if they’re interesting or not.”

“Why did you steal them? Is it to take revenge on Li-shushu?”

Shen Zhiheng nodded at her, “Yeah!”

Then, he added on, “But stealing is not right. Don’t learn from me.”

Mi Lan squatted down, using her skirt to cover her knee. She smiled and gazed at the lawn, “I’m not a young child, I know.”

Upon saying that, she glanced at him again. He had just bent his body and sat up, one hand collecting the documents on his thigh while the other holding a piece of paper, looking at it leisurely with lowered eyes. With his straight thick black eyebrows and beautiful slender lips, he had quite an elegant air about him.

Mi Lan thought that he was very beautiful, and when she looked at him, her icy eyes would thaw and her expressions would become fluid. She would even have a slight smile fixed on her face, as if he was so beautiful he could move hearts and souls.

On the second day after Shen Zhiheng had received the documents, the first three parts of these documents were published in the newspapers.

The contents of the documents touched upon several confidential pieces of information and plots of the Japanese North China Garrison, as well as two plans of the secret service. The moment the newspaper was published, there was a huge public outcry, and the English and French newspapers immediately republished the news. On the third day, again, new contents of the documents were leaked out, and the second the newspapers hit the market early in the morning, they were completely sold out.

On the evening of the third night, Shen Zhiheng brought a roll of newspaper and went to see Li Yingliang.

Locked in the empty room, isolated from the world, and left hungry and starving for three days, Li Yingliang had sunk into despair, believing that Shen Zhiheng intended for him to starve to death in that place. So, when the little door opened and Shen Zhiheng walked in, he automatically lunged towards him with a whoosh.

Then, he hugged Shen Zhiheng’s thigh tightly, as if he wanted to breathe the same fate as this thigh, if it wanted to go, he would go together with it, if it wanted to stay, he would stay together with it. Shen Zhiheng locked the small door, passing that roll of newspaper clasped under his arm down to him.

“Want to have a look?”

What mind did Li Yingliang have to read the newspaper now? Hugging the thigh as if he was hugging a big tree, he only glanced at the newspaper from the corner of his eye, and after that glance, he realised that something was wrong.

Without letting up, he hugged the thigh with one hand and took the newspaper with the other. Shaking the newspaper open with one hand, he read the headline of the one right on top. After reading it, he threw it aside, and then looked at the next. After scanning through the roll of newspapers, he looked up, glaring. 

“You did this?”

Shen Zhiheng lowered his head and looked at him, “Yes. I went to your office and house and walked around. Besides these documents, I also took your bank book. How is it that your entire net worth is only one hundred and eighty thousand dollars in the Yokohama Specie Bank?”

He patted Li Yingliang’s head. “I had originally planned to withdraw some money and give it to you. If you could survive and escape, you could have taken the cash and just roamed far and wide. It’s a pity that your account has already been frozen. So, the biggest problem now is not what I will do to you, it’s what the Japanese will think about you given that the secret documents have leaked from your hands and into the press.”

He told Li Yingliang, “Your future is already destroyed. Even if I don’t kill you, the Japanese will.”

Li Yingliang stared at him in a daze. “Are you saying that I have absolutely nothing now?”

He shoved Shen Zhiheng away forcefully, and with both hands clutching his thighs, he knelt on the floor with his back arched, panting with deep gasps. But even panting like that did not work, he felt his vision going blurry and his heart was no longer beating. The last bit of water in his body became cold, sticky sweat, seeping out of the sweat glands throughout his body like an explosion.

He had absolutely nothing!

He had worked hard for so many years for nothing.

He was still alive, but he could feel death crushing him inch by inch, crushing him till his liver and cuts were torn to pieces [1] and his bones were broken. Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly glimpsed Shen Zhiheng’s feet walking towards the door. He frantically lunged over again, “Take me, take me together–”

He was late by a step, falling flat onto his face as he watched the small door close before his eyes once again.

Shen Zhiheng locked this small iron door.

Once the small iron door was closed, it blocked out not only light, but also sound. Outside the door was an iron staircase that went straight up to the upper level. The upper level was a warehouse which was located in the pier near the Hai River [2] . The previous year, Shen Zhiheng had dabbled in a transportation business with a partner and had rented this warehouse to store goods. After that business had come to an end, the warehouse and the small underground room beneath the warehouse had become empty - it would not have been empty for long; at the end of the next month, the rental term would come to an end.

Before returning the lease of the warehouse, he would first take care of Li Yingliang’s corpse. At one point, he had wanted to kill this jerk directly, but when it came to it, when he faced that pair of red eyes very much like a trapped animal’s, he did not know how to go about doing it. Li Yingliang was different from all his enemies. Shen Zhiheng always felt that this person was overly emotional, pouring out such overwhelming emotions by himself, either hating him to death or fearing him to death, or “admiring him for a long time”.

Originally, Shen Zhiheng did not want to fight with such a neurotic enemy too seriously. However, Li Yingliang seemed to be an omen for him. This person was clearly of average ability, yet, due to many unforeseen causes, could always harm him nearly to the point of death. Even if he did not kill him, he had to cause his little benefactor to become a vampire, and had to turn his close friend into a stranger.

The sky was already completely dark. Shen Zhiheng left the warehouse and as the summer night wind blew, he walked towards the road outside the pier. The warehouse was surrounded by more warehouses, and the surroundings were filled with dark shadows. In the distance was the sound of waves splashing onto the shore, splashing lazily and carelessly. Forgetting about Li Yingliang, he thought about Mi Lan instead – there was nothing much to think about Mi Lan, she was like an upright stem of narcissus, contently living in his house. She really lived like a flower, neither speaking much nor asking for much. Perhaps, when she grew a little older, she would become more troublesome, but just what trouble she would bring, he currently could not imagine. He had been a single bachelor for too long and could no longer really understand how young ladies passed their days.

At this moment, a hand lightly tapped on his shoulder.

His senses had always been sharp, and wherever he was, he seemed to always be in control, so now, this hand that had suddenly descended from the heavens came as a sudden shock. He might have been shocked, but he did not even shiver once, but ground to a halt instead and turned his head around.

Turning his head, he nearly shared a kiss with Situ Weilian. Situ Weilian planted his face right before his eyes, and gave him a wide smile, “Da-ge, I’ve finally caught you!”

Shen Zhiheng hid to one side. “What do you want from me?”

Situ Weilian raised his arm and wrapped it around his shoulders, affectionately pulling him along as he walked forward, “Can’t I come and find you even if there’s nothing up? Are you really estranged from me?”

Shen Zhiheng ignored him.

Situ Weilian was silent for half a minute. Then, he suddenly said, “I know! Originally, I was so precious to you because you had no other family. Now that you have Mi Lan, you don’t need me anymore, isn’t it? It just happens that Mi Lan is also a lady, it just happens that she also likes you very much. After two years, the two of you will get married and might even have a few young children!”

As he had expected, Shen Zhiheng was now so agitated that he had to open his mouth, “Are you insulting me or insulting Mi Lan?”

“I’m only being honest, don’t tell me that isn’t the case? It’s precisely because of this that you have severed ties with me. You don’t need me anymore.”

Shen Zhiheng walked forward slowly, asking, “Do you not have any more money?”

Situ Weilian looked at him suddenly - as soon as he turned to the front, he exhaled a breath, “Yes, I don’t have any more money, I’m here to blackmail you.”

“How much do you want?”

“One hundred thousand!”

Wanting to see how Shen Zhiheng would reply, Situ Weilian blurted an exorbitant amount. Unexpectedly, Shen Zhiheng nodded without any hesitation, “Okay.”

As soon as he heard that “okay”, Situ Weilian’s face practically became black on the spot.

He really did not understand just how Shen Zhiheng could always be so heartless. He needed Shen Zhiheng, just like how Shen Zhiheng also needed him. The two of them shared a cooperation that was equal and reciprocative, and for the past three years, he had always been dedicated and responsible to Shen Zhiheng, he had not let him down!

Letting go of Shen Zhiheng’s shoulder, his voice became colder, “Then when are you going to give me the money?”

“Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll send someone to pass you the cheque at your apartment. You just have to wait.”

“Who knows if you’ll trick me with a dishonoured cheque.”

“I won’t go so far as to do this kind of thing.”

Situ Weilian was at a loss for words, but he was still unwilling to just let him go, and so he said, “I want a promissory note.”

“Okay.”

“I want two hundred thousand!”

“Okay.”

“I’ve changed my mind. I want all of your property. Tomorrow, tell your lawyer to prepare the documents and transfer all that can be transferred to me. Then, you can scram out of Tianjin yourself!”

Shen Zhiheng ignored him and just walked. Situ Weilian followed closely behind him, unable to decipher his thoughts. The two of them walked to the roadside, and Shen Zhiheng stopped in front of his car, turning around to face him, “Is Situ He also one of your servants?”

Situ He was Situ Weilian’s adoptive father. In human years, Situ Weilian had already lived for a fairly long time. Counting back seven or eight years, when Situ He had adopted Situ Weilian, Situ Weilian should not have appeared too different from what he looked like now, and would definitely have not been just a child in his teens.

If he had never really adopted an older boy, then there was definitely something suspicious at play. Situ Weilian shook his head without hesitation, “He’s not. He doesn’t have the qualifications.”

Shen Zhiheng looked at him suspiciously.

Situ Weilian stuffed both of his hands into the pockets of his pants, lowering his head and kicking a stone on the road.

“Actually, I’ve also always been looking for you, but I just couldn’t find you. I returned to the north, thinking that perhaps one day, you would think of home. Besides, I didn’t have anywhere else to go either, and might as well just stay and wait for a while and try my luck. But I can’t survive by myself, and I don’t know what’s wrong with me, in any case, I often can’t understand how humans think. I always offend people, and there are a lot of things that I don’t understand… I need someone to take care of me, I need to spend money, I need–a lot of things.”

At this point, he shot Shen Zhiheng a smile, “Originally, you should be the one doing all of these things for me.”

Shen Zhiheng also smiled, “Mm.”

“So, I caught Situ He in the spur of the moment… in any case it was a matter of coercion and enticement…” He seemed a little embarrassed, lowering his voice, “I just needed an identity, needed somewhere to have a foothold. Ever since I got to know you, I’ve never disturbed Old Man Situ, and have never spent the Situ family’s money.”

Shen Zhiheng nodded, “I understand.”

Situ Weilian gazed at him eagerly, “Then, do you forgive me?”

Shen Zhiheng opened the door and got into the car, slamming the door shut. “No.”

Then he started the car and drove off, leaving Situ Weilian in the dust.

Having decisively cut the Gordian knot tonight, Shen Zhiheng felt somewhat happy and satisfied. After that night, when he descended the stairs and entered the parlour, full of energy, he saw Mi Lan listening to the radio, and asked casually, “Have you had your breakfast?”

Mi Lan lifted her head and looked at him with a soft smile, “Yes.”

Seeing her squatting beside the radio and listening quite enthusiastically, he asked, “What news is there?”

Mi Lan’s smile became vacant. “It seems like war is going to break out.”

Shen Zhiheng stopped in his path. “War?”

“The broadcast said that the Japanese army is having drills at Lugou Bridge [3] and fired at Wanping County at night.”

When he heard this, Shen Zhiheng still did not take it seriously. It was only when he went out later that morning that he realised the severity of the situation. At noon, he sat at home making numerous phone calls. Mi Lan sat aside and listened, and got quite some information - the students in Tianjin city were organising a field service corps with the intention of going to the frontline to save the wounded. So, Shen Zhiheng forked out some money and bought a batch of Western medicine to support this field service corps. His behaviour was not unique, there were many people like him who donated or volunteered their strength. Indignation and stirred up emotions were spreading throughout even the concession zone.

As she listened, panic grew in Mi Lan’s heart, but she did not know what she was panicking about. She suddenly thought of a person, and asked Shen Zhiheng, “If the Japanese devils win, will Li-shushu come and trouble us again?”

Shen Zhiheng replied, “He no longer has the chance.”

Mi Lan heard someone shouting in the distance, and asked, “Can I go out and see?”

Shen Zhiheng immediately rejected her, “No. You stay here at home. As long as you’re safe, I won’t have to worry.”

He patted her head and thought of Situ Weilian. In the afternoon, he still had to send someone to give Situ Weilian money.

The person he sent ended up being greeted by a locked door at Situ Weilian’s apartment. This was because Situ Weilian had already forgotten completely about the money and was currently trying to find Jin Jingxue.

At noon, seeing everyone panicking, he had wanted to be the brave companion by Jin Jingxue’s side. Little did he know that as soon as he had arrived at the Jin mansion, he had learned that the second young mistress had left early that morning without saying what for, and had yet to return till now.

However, Jin Jingxue had always gotten out of bed at noon, and had never before left the house early in the morning.

Putting aside for now how Situ Weilian was now running around everywhere, Jin Jingxue had been reading the newspapers for a few days, and she had always been unable to contact Li Yingliang. Panic had filled her heart such that it was like a burning fire, worrying that he had been killed by the Japanese or that he had been killed by the Chinese. After staying up for the whole night last night, she felt that if she were to continue waiting stupidly at home like that, she would become mentally ill, and so she steeled herself and ran out of home.

She first went to the Japanese concession zone. To enter the Japanese concession zone at this point of time required some courage, but the ignorant are fearless. With her head held high, she headed directly to Li Yingliang’s house. The main door of that little house of Li Yingliang’s was open. As soon as she set one foot in, she saw a man standing on the steps in front of the house. That man had his hands behind his back and appeared to be strolling back and forth. Hearing sounds approaching, he looked up at her, and was evidently startled.

As a young lady of a wealthy family since birth and naturally full of confidence, Jin Jingxue dared to talk to anyone, “Who are you? What are you doing at Li Yingliang’s house? Where is Li Yingliang?”

That man replied, “I’m also here to find him. Don’t you know? He’s missing.”

Hearing his accent, Jin Jingxue froze, becoming suspicious. “You’re… Japanese?”

That man replied, “My humble surname is Yokoyama, Yokoyama Akira. I’m Li Yingliang’s boss. Would this young lady grace me with her fine name? [4] ”

“I’m Jin Jingxue.”

Yokoyama Akira had really heard of Jin Jingxue before. He had forgotten where he had heard it, in any case, he had wanted to meet her for a long time, and now that he was seeing her in person - even though Jin Jingxue had not slept for a night and her messy, curly hair was stuffed into her hat - he thought that she lived up to her reputation and was indeed a haughty great beauty.

“Oh, an honour, an honour–”

Before he could continue honouring, Jin Jingxue had already opened her mouth, “I’ve heard people say that Li Yingliang is not actually a Chinese traitor, but a spy who had gone undercover among your subordinates in order to steal your secret documents. Now that he’s missing, it’s actually because he has fallen into your hands and you have killed him in secret, isn’t it?”

Hearing this, Yokoyama Akira was instantly indignant. “Ridiculous, we are also looking for him.”

“You really didn’t kill him? Liars will get struck by lightning!”

Yokoyama Akira thought it felt like she was cursing him. To prove that he was not enamoured by female beauty, he started scolding honestly and with no holds barred, “You great beauty, you’re truly too crude!”

Seeing how he was fretting so much that his countenance was awful, just based on her intuition, Jin Jingxue actually believed him a little.

Yokoyama Akira asked, “What relationship do you have with Li Yingliang?”

“My father is his adoptive father, he’s my adoptive brother. Why?”

Yokoyama Akira was not asking about this. He knew about the relationship between Li Yingliang and the Jin family. But based on his observations, Li Yingliang bore no feelings for the Jin family, but Jin Jingxue evidently cared a lot for Li Yingliang.

He first suspected that Li Yingliang was hiding the truth from him, but he immediately shook his head - it was not possible, this was not something that was worth hiding, besides, General Jin was also close to the Japanese.

Then the other possibility, was that the beautiful Jin Jingxue bore an unrequited love for Li Yingliang.

This conjecture made more sense. Yokoyama Akira always thought that Li Yingliang was quite handsome, was not considerably old in age, and was compatible with the great beauty Jin Jingxue. But, then again, while the beauty was the falling flower that bore love in her heart, Li Yingliang was the flowing stream that bore no feelings. Then…

Yokoyama Akira was also someone who once had youth, especially when he was younger and full of love, harbouring crushes everywhere. He understood the actions and thoughts as a result of one-sided love the most. If Jin Jingxue had fallen in love with Li Yingliang, then her entire heart was filled with him and could not let go even if she wanted to. If Li Yingliang had been exhibiting any odd behaviour, others might not have noticed, but it might had already long caught her eye.

So, trying to soften his face, Li Yingliang sighed at Jin Jingxue, his face becoming melancholic, “To be honest, Yiliang-kun is my most loyal subordinate. Now, everyone is saying that Li Yingliang tricked me, but I’ve never been willing to believe it. Based on my understanding of Yingliang-kun, perhaps he has met with something unexpected, and can neither show his face nor make a sound. And as his boss and friend, I really want to find him and save him. Firstly, it’s for his life and future, secondly, it’s for my own reputation. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

After hearing this, Jin Jingxue was so scared her hairs were standing. When she opened her mouth to speak again, her voice actually held a hint of a sob, “What could have happened to Liang-gege? If he made any enemies, he made them because of you Japanese, you are the ones who forced him to do bad things, that’s why he offended people everywhere. Now that he has gotten into trouble, you can’t not care about him!”

Yokoyama Akira turned his body and extended an arm into the house. “Young Mistress Jin, please come in and have a seat, I have some questions I want to ask you. Perhaps, as you understand Yingliang-kun better, you can help me find him.”

Jin Jingxue immediately stepped into the house and had a chat with Yokoyama Akira. She did not hide anything she knew, but it was a pity that what she knew was limited, and so after exchanging only a few lines, she had run out of things to say.

Yokoyama Akira listened attentively, waiting for her to finish speaking before he asked, “Are you saying that he once wanted to find Shen Zhiheng through Situ Weilian?”

Jin Jingxue looked at Yokoyama Akira. After looking for three seconds, she suddenly slapped her thigh forcefully. “Aiyo, how am I so silly? How could I have forgotten Shen Zhiheng? He’s so terrified of Shen Zhiheng, it’s definitely because Shen Zhiheng has threatened him. He has disappeared without any rhyme or reason, it must be because Shen Zhiheng has kidnapped him!” She stood up, “I am going to find Shen Zhiheng, in the worst case, I will fork out money and buy him back!”

Yokoyama Akira hurriedly stood up and blocked her, “No, don’t act carelessly, you don’t know his background.”

“How can I not know? He has influence, but our Jin family is not one of freeloaders that sponge off others!”

Yokoyama Akira never knew that this great beauty had such a fiery temper and a robust gait, leaving when she wanted to, and already stepping out of the yard with a few big steps. When he caught up with her, she had already stepped out of the main gate, gotten into the car, and left.

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

肝肠寸断 (gān cháng cùn duàn)’s literal meaning is as translated, but it figuratively means to be grief-stricken or heartbroken.

The river connecting Beijing to Tianjin.

卢沟桥 (lú gōu qiáo), Lugou Bridge or Marco Polo Bridge is a stone bridge located 15 km southwest of Beijing's city centre in the Fengtai District. It was where the Marco Polo Bridge Incident happened from 7-9 July 1937, which triggered the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Basically, he asked for her name in a very polite and very formal manner in Chinese so I was trying to also make it sound very polite and very formal in English.

[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

Shen Zhiheng didn’t know where Situ Weilian had run off to.

He could go wherever he wanted to, he didn’t care. A fully grown youth who could prance around alive and kicking like Situ Weilian should anyway be capable of going anywhere and not starving to death. Now that Shen Zhiheng knew his true identity, he was even more unwilling to be worried about him.

One night later, he went to visit Mi Lan. There had been a bullet embedded in the flesh just below Mi Lan’s collarbone, which the doctor had already removed last night. When Shen Zhiheng arrived in the early morning, her fever had receded a little, and her head was much clearer. Shen Zhiheng sat down beside her hospital bed, finding her hand, and cradling it.

“Mi Lan, we are now in Shanghai. We are safe.”

Her head resting on her pillow, Mi Lan gave a small nod.

Shen Zhiheng continued, “This time, I’ve really implicated you too seriously.”

Hearing this, disagreement filled Mi Lan’s heart. She could use her life to save Shen Zhiheng, but now, Shen Zhiheng was speaking such words of estrangement to her. She did not like it, and thought that it was nonsense.

“Are you okay?” she asked softly.

Hearing her voice that was so weak and thin it was like gossamer, Shen Zhiheng bent his body down and replied by her ear, “Absolutely nothing happened to me.”

Mi Lan thought of Situ Weilian again. She did not really pay attention to Situ Weilian, but since she had thought of him, she casually asked, “Where’s Doctor Situ?”

“He… He’s fine. You’re the one who got injured the heaviest. Don’t worry about others, as long as you can get better quickly, we can praise the heavens and the earth.”

“I’m fine, I’m not in pain.” She lay on the bed, mumbling with her eyes half open. “Can I leave the hospital today?”

Shen Zhiheng laughed in spite of himself. “That’s not possible. Your wound is badly infected, you have to wait until your fever has completely receded before you can even think of leaving the hospital.”

Mi Lan had no words to refute him, but after lying silently for a while, she was still unwilling to just obediently listen to him just like that.

“I don’t want to stay in the hospital,” she said. “I want to stay with you. I’m scared.”

Shen Zhiheng said gently, “It’s very safe here, and I will also accompany you from day to night. How’s that?”

Mi Lan shut her mouth, only saying a soft “mm” this time, which could be considered a compromise. Even if she did not compromise, it was not possible. If she herself could not speak her heartfelt thoughts clearly, how could she persuade Shen Zhiheng? She felt Shen Zhiheng must have thought that she was only a small child who had gotten a huge scare, and had been absolutely scared out of her wits. However, this was not the case. Actually, she wanted to accompany him, she wanted to know that he was safe and out of harm’s way all the time. If he was safe, then she had nothing more to fear.

It was as if a part of her soul had really attached itself to him, and as long as he was alive, it did not matter even if she died.

Shen Zhiheng sat in the hospital for more than half the day. He could continue sitting there, but Mi Lan was exhausted for him, and insisted that he return and rest. Touching Mi Lan’s forehead, he felt that her temperature had gone down a little; her body was evidently taking a turn for the better, and he secretly sighed in relief. This child’s little life was saved.

In the evening, he left the hospital, completely oblivious to the plainclothes agents behind him. And when the plainclothes agents had confirmed it was him, they retreated at once, retreating all the way out of the French concession zone, retreating before Li Yingliang and Kuroki Rika to make a report.

Li Yingliang and Kuroki Rika had reached Shanghai just three hours later than Shen Zhiheng. And, at this time, they had already gotten themselves into a huge pile of trouble: letting Shen Zhiheng escape was a huge trouble, burning five miles of railway was another huge trouble, and as for the small and large inconveniences that these two large troubles had caused, they were, for now, uncountable. In any case, although Yokoyama Akira had always quite favoured Li Yingliang, he was ultimately not his birth father, and so when he questioned himself honestly, he was worried that this time, he would be executed if he returned to Tianjin. 

While he was shivering, Kuroki Rika was calm and collected, although her heart was also consumed by heavy worries. The secret service in North China was presently in Yokoyama Akira’s control, but as the war progressed, this secret service stationed in the north would eventually come to lead half of the secret service in China. To place such a heavy responsibility on Yokoyama Akira’s shoulders, some people were assured, while others were not.

These two groups of people had formed two forces of strength, and one of that force was from General Aikawa of the Kwantung Army, who was Kuroki Rika’s previous boss. Ever since entering the Yokoyama mansion, Kuroki Rika had secretly known that Yokoyama Akira had always been suspicious of her, and so she had always been keeping a low profile and biding her time. However, keeping a low profile was not her goal; her goal was to disperse the Yokoyama mansion and rebuild a new secret service from scratch.

She had her own plan, and for this plan to catalyse, she needed an opportunity.

Shen Zhiheng was her opportunity. She wanted to catch this dangerous vampire and personally hand him over to General Aikawa. By then, the credit of catching Shen Zhiheng would belong to her, and the culpability of letting Shen Zhiheng escape would fall onto Yokoyama Akira and Li Yingliang. At that point of time, there would naturally be high-profile people in the army headquarters who would exert pressure on Yokoyama Akira, and there would also naturally be high-profile people there who would use this opportunity to reward people based on their merits, carving out a territory for her in the Yokoyama mansion, enabling her to finally start fighting against Yokoyama Akira.

Opportunities were hard to come by, and so while she was calm and collected on the surface, her actions were even more zealous than those of Li Yingliang. Upon finding out that both Beiping and Tianjin had no news of Shen Zhiheng, Li Yingliang had suspected that this person had escaped to Shanghai – had he not spent this year’s Spring Festival in Shanghai?

It had only been a suspicion and Li Yingliang had yet to find any evidence, but Kuroki Rika had already arranged for a few military planes. Without reporting to Yokoyama Akira, the two of them had collaborated with each other in secret, bringing their remaining men and flying to Shanghai.

Now, Li Yingliang already no longer had the time to care about being scared.

“Being scared” could not save him. Now, he could only save himself, and the only way to save himself was to pursue Shen Zhiheng and exterminate him. If not, what else could he do? Unless, he could still wind back time? Retrieve all the bullets he had shot at Shen Zhiheng?

He had completely offended Shen Zhiheng, and it would be strange if Shen Zhiheng could spare him. Besides, there was still a Yokoyama Akira waiting in Tianjin – now, it was without doubt that Yokoyama Akira also completely hated him.

If he did not kill, others would kill him. He had been forced into a corner by the word “kill”. Loud noises filled his head, and he was unable to think. Upon hearing the agents’ report, he turned to Kuroki Rika. His heart was filled with ecstasy, but his expression and tone sounded as if he wanted to burst into tears.

“The heavens do not want me dead yet.”

He had previously investigated Shen Zhiheng’s address in Shanghai. At that time, he had only investigated it for fun, little had he known that this piece of information would actually end up being useful, and so the sentence “the heavens do not want me dead yet” was spoken sincerely. 

Kuroki Rika sighed deeply together with him, asking, “When do we start the capture?”

“Shanghai is not like Tianjin, we can’t catch people openly here, especially since he’s staying in the French concession zone.”

Kuroki Rika asked again suddenly, “What did he go to the hospital for?”

Li Yingliang frowned, “In any case, it’s not to see a doctor for himself. Could Situ Weilian or Mi Lan have gotten hurt?”

Kuroki Rika said, “We can only meet him with force. We are not Shen Zhiheng’s match, we can only strike hard first before he can and take him unexpected.”

Li Yingliang completely agreed with this. After chattering and plotting secretly for some time, the two of them rushed out that night without eating or sleeping, splitting up to set the plan in motion.

After two days, Shen Zhiheng was still unaware of Li Yingliang’s and Kuroki Rika’s presence.

He left the house early in the morning, going to the hospital to accompany Mi Lan. After accompanying her for the whole day, he returned home in the evening to rest. On the evening of the third day, he was about to leave as usual, when Mi Lan suddenly became very disobedient, insisting on leaving together with him. She was unable to give a reason when asked for it, and neither did she seem like a naughty and sulking little girl; she was simply insistent on leaving the hospital. When Shen Zhiheng tried to dissuade her, it was ineffective, and when the doctor tried to dissuade her, it was still ineffective. She sat quietly at the edge of her bed, her hair dishevelled, her two thin legs hanging down. Her two eyes stared fixedly in front, seeming not out of stubbornness, but out of unshakable coldness.

Admitting defeat, Shen Zhiheng could only arrange a time with the doctor to come by everyday for a change of medicines, and then he brought Mi Lan to go through the administrative work of being discharged. Mi Lan had no suitable clothes to wear, and so a kind-hearted nurse had lent her a thick long dress, which wrapped Mi Lan tightly from head to toe like a blanket. Hugging her by the waist, Shen Zhiheng carried her out of the hospital. As her discharge had not been planned, he had not been prepared at all, and could only flag down a trishaw and carry her to sit in it.

If it had been two small-sized young ladies, they could have squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder in a trishaw. But with Shen Zhiheng’s large frame, no matter how much to the side he tried to sit, he could not spare enough space for Mi Lan, and neither could he flag down another trishaw and let Mi Lan, who was extremely frail, sit on it alone. Without a choice, he let Mi Lan sit on his lap.

Wrapping an arm loosely around her waist, he let her lean into his embrace, asking, “Is the wind cold?”

Facing the faintly discernible night wind, Mi Lan leaned back, her heart strangely calm, “It’s not cold.”

The skies were turning dark, and the trishaw was about to enter the French concession zone. Shen Zhiheng thought of something, “Is there anything you want to eat? We can buy it on the way home and you can have it for supper.”

Mi Lan shook her head, “I don’t want to eat anything.”

Shen Zhiheng still wanted to say something, but just at this moment, two cars approached from the opposite direction. In the darkness of the night, their headlights were blinding. A sense of uneasiness shot through Shen Zhiheng’s heart as he suddenly felt that there was something very familiar about this situation. But before he could react, the cars stopped, the doors opened, and five or six black-clad men jumped out, raising their guns at the trishaw and opening fire.

The trishaw driver was the first to fall, and the next to get hit was Mi Lan, bullets shooting through her chest.

This time, she could feel them. The bullets felt like nails that had been heated to the point they had turned glowing red, violently nailing into her heart. And as if that was not enough, they still pierced through her, harming Mr. Shen who was behind her. How could that be possible? How could she allow that? 

And so, in this desperate situation, the only form of resistance she put up was to stretch both of her arms out wide and grab onto the two handles at the sides of the seat, doing her utmost best to extend her body forward, thinking that if there were still any more bullets, she would use all of her strength to block all of them.

In the flurry of gunfire, blood splattered everywhere. She felt herself soaring into the sky amidst the immense pain; this was Shen Zhiheng carrying her and jumping off the trishaw, dashing straight for a small dark alley at the side of the road. In the middle of this tumult, she heard him breathing. He was breathing so agitatedly, it was as if even his soul was wracked with tremors.

All of a sudden, she was on the ground, following which, Mr. Shen’s voice became clearer. A flow of air brushed past her ear, this was him kneeling by her side, calling her name in a low voice. His voice was marred with panic and grief, and that was how she knew that she was at death’s door. She was not afraid of death, because if she could die to save him, it would be a death worthy of dying, far worthier than having to endure humiliation by herself and running out to freeze to death alone in the middle of debris. His voice sounded like he was crying. Was he crying? There was no need to cry, he still did not understand her, did not understand that she bore no fond memories of this world, did not know that she had actually long thought of leaving.

A wave of emotions that was equal parts warmth and grief wrapped around her soul. Buoyed by these emotions, she had first blocked bullets for Shen Zhiheng, and now, these emotions lifted her up and floated her. Where did these strong emotions come from? What kind of emotions were they? She did not know.

For fifteen years, she had always lived in darkness, isolated from the world. No one cared about her, no one taught her, she didn’t know anything.

She wanted to tell Mr. Shen that she was not in pain, and wanted to raise her hand to wipe the tears off his face. However, she no longer had the strength.

With her last breath, she mumbled two words.

She said, “Thank you.”

Thank you, for being, in my long night, a shining moon.

At the same time, the doors of a building opened, and someone walked over with big steps. It was Situ Weilian.

Situ Weilian froze on the spot.

After freezing for a while, he finally returned to his senses. Lightly, he took a few more steps forward, and squatted in front of Shen Zhiheng. Shen Zhiheng was sitting in a small puddle of fresh blood with his head lowered, hugging Mi Lan in his arms. Mi Lan’s eyes were wide open. If not for the fresh blood and bullet holes on her body, it was almost as if she were nestled in Shen Zhiheng’s embrace, in a daze.

He looked at Mi Lan, then raised a hand to Mi Lan’s nostrils to feel for any breath.

Then, he pulled his hand back, and said in a whisper, “She has died.”

Shen Zhiiheng looked up.

Under the lights, Situ Weilian could see him clearly, and a shock ran through him instantly. The skin on Shen Zhiheng’s forehead was torn open, and his elbow and neck each had a bullet hole. It turned out that he, too, had been shot.

 Blackness spread out from his pupils as he glared to the front, mumbling, “I’ll find Li Yingliang and take revenge for her.”

Upon saying that, he put Mi Lan down and stood up. 

Situ Weilian blocked him in a hurry. “What are you saying? Li Yingliang has found you here? He dares to openly kill people in Shanghai? Aiyo oh my god, then he must’ve definitely come prepared. If you go and find him now, wouldn’t it be like walking willingly into a trap? Don’t go–” He caught Shen Zhiheng’s sleeve. “Are you crazy? Don’t go!”

Shen Zhiheng shrugged his hand off. “I’m not crazy. Mi Lan died for me, I ought to take revenge for her.”

“No, no, if anything untoward happens to you too, then what should I do? Do you only care for Mi Lan and not for me? In your heart, am I not as important as Mi Lan? Am I not as important as a dead person?”

Shen Zhiheng replied softly, “If I die, so be it. I’ve had enough.”

“Who’s dying? Who said that you’ll die? Did I allow you to die? You want to die, but I don’t want to! Come back! You come back! Shen Zhiheng! I’m telling you to come back!”

Turning a deaf ear to him, Shen Zhiheng still left. Situ Weilian could see that Mi Lan’s death had provoked Shen Zhiheng. He did not believe that Shen Zhiheng’s affections for Mi Lan were as deep as the sea; he thought that Shen Zhiheng had purely been overly provoked.

Situ Weilian knew that even when Shen Zhiheng was at his happiest, most smooth-sailing moments, in the deepest part of his heart, there were still many things that he could not let go of. For such a person, who bore hatred in his heart for such a long time, to additionally suffer from capture and torture, his mind would naturally be pushed to the breaking point. And with how Mi Lan, who as if had been bewitched and had been so blindly and stubbornly good to him, had now died blocking him from gunshots, it was not unusual for him to go crazy for a moment. 

But, it was still a time of emergency. That Li Yingliang had become extremely audacious and was on a roll, who knew just how powerful he was? What if Shen Zhiheng going to find him now was akin to striking a stone with an egg, then he [1] would be left all alone – what would he do?

He hastily caught up with Shen Zhiheng at the entrance, pulling his arm with so much force that the latter turned around, allowing him to see his appearance clearly.

The look on Shen Zhiheng’s face was terrifying.

Blackness had permeated across and filled his eyes. Even beneath his skin, black veins were bulging out, and small thin vessels were webbed across his face. It was a look of inhuman horror.

Now, Situ Weilian was also worried and nervous.

Grabbing Shen Zhiheng’s collar and belt with both of his hands, he lifted this person high in the air and flung him down violently. Then, lifting his leg, he sat astride him, pressing him down onto the floor. Shen Zhiheng stood up and brought him together with him, and caught off guard, Situ Weilian rolled onto the floor. At once, he jumped up and tried to lunge at Shen Zhiheng again.

“Calm down, Mi Lan hasn’t died yet. Listen to me, I can–”

Shen Zhiheng had truly lost his mind, actually daring to strangle his neck. The colour on Situ Weilian’s face changed instantly, and he caught his wrist, “You still want to kill me?”

Then, he lowered his head and bit into the side of Shen Zhiheng’s neck. Shen Zhiheng struggled violently as the sudden burst of sharp pain at the side of his neck momentarily allowed him to feel pain again.

The pain returned first, followed by hearing and sight, and like waking up from a dream, there was a flash of brightness before his eyes, and he could see the lights again.

Under the lights, piercing pain transformed into numbness. He felt a chill, and Situ Weilian wiped his lips and straightened his waist, lowering his head to look at him.

The blackness in his eyes was fading, and he was regaining a human mind. 

Situ Weilian was very satisfied. “Are you awake?”

Shen Zhiheng glared at him, without any reaction.

Situ Weilian continued, “I will bring Mi Lan back to life now, on the condition that you stop insisting on taking revenge. I’m really scared of you, you actually went crazy because of a dead person and even didn’t care about your biological younger brother. How disappointing.”

Shen Zhiheng’s heart was clouded with confusion, as if he had just had a filling meal and his mind could not move while his body was limp. “You? Save? She’s already dead, how are you going to save her?”

As if out of helplessness, Situ Weilian sighed, turning and walking towards Mi Lan. He knelt down and pulled Mi Lan into his arms. He hugged her from behind, and then lowering his body and head, he pressed his lips against her carotid artery.

When his teeth pierced through her icy cold skin, he started to swallow and suck audibly, and after a moment, he straightened and lifted his hand, bringing his wrist to his mouth and biting down.

Fresh blood spilled out in an instant. He seemed to be completely inexperienced as he first placed his wrist against her lips, and then only remembered after that to press her mouth open. Mi Lan lay crookedly in his arms as fresh blood flowed into her half-open mouth. Her face remained one of discontented death, still and unmoving, and after a while, she convulsed suddenly, as if she were a person who had been in a deep sleep and had been choked awake by all the fresh blood in her mouth. She gave a dull cough, and blood droplets flew out from her nose.

After coughing once, she slowly opened her eyes.

Situ Weilian fished a handkerchief out from his pants pocket and messily wrapped it around the wound on his wrist. Placing Mi Lan on the floor, he lowered his head and surveyed her for a moment, and then he crawled over to Shen Zhiheng on all fours.

“Do you want to go over and see her? Actually, I can’t guarantee one hundred percent either. Usually, this is only effective for live people. But she hasn’t died for long and her body is still warm, perhaps she can’t be counted as a true dead person yet.”

Shen Zhiheng stared at Mi Lan, who was lying on the ground. Her chest was fluttering up and down vaguely, as if she was only asleep.

Turning his head bit by bit, he looked at Situ Weilian.

Situ Weilian smiled at him, “What? Don’t recognise me anymore?” Then, he extended a hand towards him. “I’ve saved a life, now you have to give me some money. If not, I’ll have to go beg on Nanjing Road [2] tomorrow.”      

Shen Zhiheng nodded slowly, “Fine, I’ll give you money. I still want you to buy two train tickets. I want to bring Mi Lan back to Tianjin.”

Situ Weilian caught his curls, confused, “Don’t you dare not return to Tianjin?”

Shen Zhiheng smiled, “Li Yinglianng has gone too far and I have reached the end of my rope, and no longer see the need to bear with it any longer.”

On the day that Shen Zhiheng started on his return journey, Kuroki Rika abandoned Li Yingliang, returning up north to Tianjin by herself.

Li Yingliang had really pissed her off to death. Originally, she had thought of an even more meticulous plan to capture Shen Zhiheng, but in his hastiness, Li Yingliang had been anxious to take action and had persuaded her to lose her ground and listen to his nonsense. And in the end? In the end, she simply suspected that Li Yingliang and Shen Zhiheng were in cahoots. Li Yingliang had alerted him on purpose, scaring Shen Zhiheng away.

She left first, and Li Yingliang followed soon after. He was already in despair, and so he had decided that before he died, he had to pull Kuroki Rika to suffer the same fate as him. Whatever punishment Yokoyama Akira had in store for him, Kuroki Rika had to suffer it together with him!

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

As in Situ Weilian.

南京路 (nán jīng lù) is Nanjing Road, a road in Shanghai, not to be confused with the city Nanjing. Its eastern part is the main shopping district of Shanghai and it is one of the world's busiest shopping streets.

[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

Leaving from the back door of the Jin mansion, Li Yingliang ran straight for his car without daring to look at both sides. Li Guisheng was in the back of the car and had earlier opened the car door, enabling Li Yingliang to dive headfirst into the car like an arrow that had just been shot out from a bow. The second Li Yingliang dove into the car, Li Guisheng bent forward to close the door, and the driver in front had already started the engine, and without waiting for any instruction, he stepped on the gas pedal and drove off at once.

The car was bulletproof, and both Li Guisheng and the driver were armed to the teeth. Originally, Li Yingliang had wanted to wear a bulletproof vest underneath his shirt, but he had realised that it would not have been very helpful. If Shen Zhiheng really wanted to get in his way, unless he locked himself inside a steel box, Shen Zhiheng would have thousands of ways to butcher him.

He had only returned to Tianjin the previous night with Kuroki Rika. He had chased her for half the journey, and she had seemed to have cooled down and forgiven him. The two of them had gone before Yokoyama Akira, he as the chief offender and her as the accomplice. Yokoyama Akira had been so angry that his nose was no longer a nose and his eyes were no longer eyes, his whole person changing shape. Pointing at this pair of male and female criminals, the commissioner had scolded, “You two big idiots!”

Li Yingliang had been called “idiot” quite a few times by Yokoyama Akira, but this was his first time receiving the comment “big idiot” [1]. If this had happened in the days before, he would definitely have been so terrified he would have been sweating profusely, all but wanting to kneel onto the floor and kowtow to him for forgiveness. However, now, with the shadow of Shen Zhiheng looming over him, and with Shen Zhiheng as a point of comparison, the commissioner didn’t seem that scary.

Kuroki Rika, without caring about it at all, let Yokoyama Akira scold them as suited himself. She had already heard of Shen Zhiheng’s situation, and had known that he had once again appeared in the concession zone as if he were a mere bypasser. If he was not willing to suffer in silence, and really wanted to take revenge, there were Yokoyama Akira and Li Yingliang in front of her, and he wouldn’t come and find her first. Besides, if Shen Zhiheng really slaughtered Yokoyama Akira first, that was even better. She could never understand just what smarts others saw in Yokoyama Akira; if she were the commissioner, the situation would definitely have been much better than what it currently was.

Li Yingliang had no time to take note of Kuroki Rika, he only knew that he could not die and had to live. There was no need to say he was regretful; even if he did, it was pointless. It was all too late, and he could only rush to make preparations before Shen Zhiheng could take action. At least, he could not sit around and wait for death.

The car fetched him back to the Development Committee. Now, he was suffering from terrible insomnia, wanting to sleep, yet not daring to sleep. With five or six plainclothes secret service agents by his side, he took a nap on the small sofa in his office, and when he opened his eyes and saw that the skies were bright, he sighed softly, feeling as if he had made it through yet another night.

Nights were the most dangerous. As long as Shen Zhiheng still wanted to maintain his gentlemanly façade, he would not kill his way over in broad daylight. His back was sore and aching from his sleep, and he had to slowly get up bit by bit, and after a lot of effort, he finally managed to sit upright.

Lifelessly sitting on the sofa, he waited for his colleague to bring some hot water in. At the same time, a strange thought suddenly blossomed in him: if he could also become a monster like Shen Zhiheng and have that strength and longevity that he had, wouldn’t living be much simpler and happier? Whenever Shen Zhiheng mentioned the abnormalities of his body, he would always be full of resentment. But, Li Yingliang thought, it felt as if there was nothing all that bad about being a bloodsucking monster. Although there were some dietary restrictions, he had anyway never been picky about his food, as long as he was full. 

Shaking his head forcefully, he flung these strange thoughts aside. Just at this moment, a colleague brought some hot water in. He washed up, and changed into a Western suit. He waited until noon, when he got on call with Jin Jingxue and received her permission to follow her on her date.

Jin Jingxue and Situ Weilian had first agreed to meet in a café, and then go to the cinema together. Situ Weilian had rushed over to the café ahead of time and occupied a private room, thinking about his sweetheart as he waited. The more he thought, the more beautiful his thoughts became, and just as his thoughts were about to become so beautiful he could have floated up to heaven, the door curtain of the private room moved; his sweetheart was here.

Situ Weilian hurriedly got up, so delighted he was about to laugh aloud. He also took a step forward, wanting to pull a chair out for Jin Jingxue. Then, as soon as he took this step, he discovered that behind Jin Jingxue was Li Yingliang.

With one hand on the backrest of the chair, he stood, frozen on the spot. Jin Jingxue’s two willow leaf-shaped eyebrows pulled down into a frown, revealing a look of annoyance.

“Situ, I’m very sorry. Our date has been disturbed by this uninvited guest.”

Smiling, she turned her head, proudly looking at Li Yingliang from the side of her eye. Then, she turned back to Situ Weilian, saying, “Let me first do a round of introductions–”

Li Yingliang interrupted her, “There’s no need. Doctor Situ and I have interacted in the past–” he observed Situ Weilian’s expression, and then corrected his words, “We know each other.”

Jin Jingxue asked Situ Weilian, “Really?”

Situ Weilian hesitated, not replying. Jin Jingxue turned her head to glare at Li Yingliang again. “Since you know him, you don’t need me to introduce you to him. Then, why couldn’t you have contacted him directly, but just had to trouble me?”

Li Yingliang submitted to her deferentially. “Because of Mr. Shen, Doctor Situ will definitely have some negative opinion of me. If I were to hastily pay him a visit, I fear Doctor Situ would have kept his door shut and refused to see me.” Upon saying this, he turned towards Situ Weilian, still bowing and scraping, “Doctor Situ, let me first apologise to you. Previously, I had offended you greatly. Now, I implore Doctor Situ to be the bigger person and be a little considerate of this humble one.”

After saying this, he very respectfully bowed to Situ Weilian. Jin Jingxue sat at one side, watching, unease in her heart. Although she had bullied Li Yingliang to no end as a child, those had all been children’s games. Now that he was bowing to someone else, he was the one who was suffering from immense humiliation and grievance.

When he was done with the bow, Li Yingliang straightened his waist and looked at Situ Weilian. Seeing the look of shock on Situ Weilian’s face, he continued, “Doctor Situ, please don’t be afraid. This time, I have come alone. I’ve brought neither my subordinates nor weapons, Second Young Mistress can vouch for me regarding this. And to be honest, I’ve come to see you this time in order to apologise and make peace with you. I hope that I will have the chance to make peace with you, and I hope that I will have the chance to make peace with Mr. Shen through you. You–” he stroked his face, as if he was guilty, “Doctor Situ, may I ask why you are looking at me like that?”

The stunned look on Situ Weilian’s face remained there. “It’s nothing, I just didn’t expect it.”

“Didn’t expect what?”

“Didn’t expect that you’re still alive. What has Shen Zhiheng been busy with recently? He didn’t find you to seek revenge?”

The expression on Li Yingliang’s face froze, and soon after, he laughed once. “So, I must make use of the time I still have while alive to think of a solution as quickly as possible. Doctor Situ, I once again sincerely apologise for my previous actions. To show my sincerity, you can request anything of me. If I am incapable of doing it, then our commissioner – he’s Japanese – will also extend a helping hand. In any case, Doctor Situ will definitely be satisfied.”

Situ Weilian shrugged once. “I understand your intentions, but you have found the wrong person. Shen Zhiheng and I have fallen out. Let alone passing a message and pleading for you, even I myself won’t be able to enter his house now.” He turned towards Jin Jingxue, pulling out a chair, “Jingxue, please sit.”

Li Yingliang turned his head to look at the door. Expecting that he should be safe at this moment, he pulled a chair out and sat down.

“Doctor Situ, what conflict has arisen between you and Mr. Shen? Considering your friendship, this… should not happen!”

Situ Weilian stood at the entrance, pulling the curtain up and calling for the waiter. He ordered coffee and snacks, and then returned to sit between the two of them.

He answered Li Yingliang, “It’s a long story. In any case, in the short term, my friendship with him can’t recover. But it doesn’t matter to me, I have Jin Jingxue, and that is enough.” As soon as he said that, he turned to Jin Jingxue, smiling at her. The edges of Jin Jingxue’s lips lifted up in response.

Li Yingliang’s gaze moved back and forth a few times between the faces of this young couple. In the end, he felt that he still had a slim chance of survival, it just depended on his own capability and luck.

“That… Young Mistress Mi, is she still okay now?” he asked cautiously.

Situ Weilian shook his head. “Don’t know.”

“Didn’t you come back together?”

“We fell out! Shen Zhiheng doesn’t allow me into his house, how would I know how he and Mi Lan are?” Then, he turned towards Jin Jingxue, “Jingxue, it’s about time, should we set off now?”

Jin Jingxue asked Li Yingliang, “We have arrangements and are going to watch a film now. What about you? Have you finished your conversation?”

Li Yingliang knew that he was being quite a nuisance by sitting here. However, his life was on the line, and so he bit the bullet and said, “Second Young Mistress, I’m extremely sorry, I want to take up both of your time this afternoon and talk properly with Doctor Situ.”

Jin Jingxue smiled lightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, while Situ Weilian clapped his hand onto his forehead, sighing in agony, “Aiyo, it’s useless for you to approach me!”

Jin Jingxue only understood three or four out of ten of Li Yingliang’s and Situ Weilian’s conversation. However, she did not mind, only observing Li Yingliang and Situ Weilian with slight interest. It was a pity that the results of this observation left her very disappointed, because Li Yingliang either grovelled to Situ Weilian or exchanged formal business talk with him, without any hint of jealousy [2]. Meanwhile, Situ Weilian had probably realised that he could not escape, and so he gave up and sat down, answering Li Yingliang perfunctorily.

Li Yingliang simply didn’t believe that Situ Weilian would really fall out with Shen Zhiheng. Situ Weilian used lies to block him, but he treated it with sincerity, directly stating his terms while they were seated at the coffee table: if Situ Weilian was willing to mediate this time, he would first give him fifty thousand dollars for his trouble, and once the job was done, he would still receive another payment out of gratitude. Moreover, if Situ Weilian wanted to enter the government and get rich in the future, Li Yingliang would also help him out.

“Of course, you can vent your hatred by killing me. But what then? The Japanese will become enemies with Shen Zhiheng forever. Shen Zhiheng is a proper businessman, there is not a single advantage of him becoming enemies with the Japanese.”

As he talked through every possible instance, Situ Weilian listened obediently, a little listlessly, but thinking that it wasn’t too bad to be able to first get fifty thousand dollars. Once he finished spending the fifty thousand dollars, he would probably already have mended ties with Shen Zhiheng. Besides, he was quite happy living in Tianjin, and didn’t hope for Shen Zhiheng to fall out too badly with the Japanese here. It was best for Shen Zhiheng to stay in Tianjin for a few more years and grow his fortune, and when he had lived and loved enough here, he would then change cities with Shen Zhiheng.

“I’ll try,” he finally said to Li Yingliang, “But I don’t dare to guarantee you anything; I don’t even know if he will pay me any attention. But whether I succeed or not, you must fulfill your promise.”

“Yes, yes, no problem. That you’re willing to help, that is already of great honour to me.”

That afternoon, Li Yingliang had spoken so much that Situ Weilian’s eyes had become straight from looking at him.

In the evening, he finally let Situ Weilian and Jin Jingxue go. He saw that Situ Weilian was not sincere, or at least, he was only thinking about that fifty thousand dollars. However, that didn’t matter, as long as he was willing to participate. Begging people to do things was just this difficult, so it was not possible to not be a high-ranking government officer, and neither was it possible to not have power.

Li Yingliang felt hungry for the first time in a few days, and as a coincidence, the café happened to also sell Western food. He ordered a large dish and a glass of beer, and had a satisfying meal. After that, he strolled out onto the main street.

Today, he had sat with Jin Jingxue in her car. His own car and bodyguard had followed far behind, parking at the corner of this main street this afternoon. If anything had happened in the café, the car would have rushed over with one step of the accelerator. At this moment, he stood outside the glass door of the café, raising his head and stretching his spine. He realised that summer was truly coming; it was still so warm in the evening, and the modern young ladies on the street were already wearing gauze skirts. Although he had no eye for beauty, he still felt a little happy seeing those of the opposite sex walking around in their fluttering clothes. Removing the jacket of his suit and hanging it on his elbow, he too felt quite leisurely, and started to walk towards the corner of the street.

Before he could take more than two or three steps, an arm descended from the skies and wrapped around his shoulders. He was forced to spin around in a circle by that arm, and he fell butt-first onto the seat of a car. Then, that person moved close to him, forcing his body to one side. When he finally managed to sit back up with a struggle, that person had already slammed the car door shut with a bang.

He frowned and glared at that person, but started shivering in terror. As he shivered, his shoulders were once again wrapped by that person. The driver turned the steering wheel and drove forward, while in the back row, Li Yingliang was subdued by that arm on his shoulders to the point where his waist was bent and his back was hunched. He could only turn his head and raise his face, uttering as he trembled, “Mr. Shen?”

Shen Zhiheng looked down at him, patting his shoulders, “Chairman Li, we haven’t seen each other for a few days. You’ve grown thinner.”

Then, he extended his hand and felt around Li Yingliang’s waist, confirming that there were no guns on him. As if he were being stared at by a venomous snake, Li Yingliang sat hunched in Shen Zhiheng’s embrace. He did not dare to move an inch, only desperately forcing out in a thin and high voice as if he were about to sing a falsetto, “You… where are you… taking me?”

Shen Zhiheng leaned back and looked forward, “We’re going to a secluded place, isolated from the rest of the world, where no one can disturb us, where it will just be me and you.”

Li Yingliang swallowed, if not for how he had witnessed Shen Zhiheng’s speed and strength, he would have jumped off the car and escaped even if it had meant losing half his life, or at least, he would have shattered the glass of the car window and stuck his head out and screamed for help. If he could not scream for help, then remembering the route was also good, perhaps Shen Zhiheng would not kill him immediately, then he would still have a chance of escaping. Turning his face and looking out of the window, he was about to take a proper look, when suddenly, there was a heavy blow at the back of his neck. His vision became black, and he lost all consciousness.

Li Yingliang did not know how long he had been unconscious. It probably was not long, for when he opened his eyes, Shen Zhiheng, who was pacing back and forth before him, still looked as he had when had kidnapped him. Moreover, the air of the surroundings was chilly, and that made him feel the remaining warmth on him – the warmth left behind by a large meal and the summer evening.

The back of his neck was in great pain, and so too was the back of his head. Pressing his palms against the floor, he propped up his upper body. As if he had yet to react, he first lowered his eyes and gazed at that pair of feet pacing back and forth in front of him. That pair of feet wore a pair of shiny and soft leather shoes, their laces tied neatly, without a single speck of dust on them.

He stared at Shen Zhiheng’s legs for quite a while, before slowly coming back to his senses, lifting his head as he looked all the way up. Shen Zhiheng stopped in front of him, lowering his head and staring at him. And so, Li Yingliang suddenly realised one fact: when he could not see Shen Zhiheng, he was scared to death of this person, and even the thought of him would make him palpitate; but now that he was truly sitting before this person’s eyes, he was calm, a calmness as if his heart were dead.

When others were backed into a corner, they left their fate to the heavens; he did not leave his fate to the heavens, he had to leave it to Shen Zhiheng, leave his fate to him.

“That night, I didn’t want to kill you,” he mumbled, his voice hoarse like a broken gong, “but Kuroki Rika saw that my gun was already raised at you, and I could not not fire.”

“If you didn’t want to kill me, why did you raise your gun at me?”

“I knew I didn’t want to kill you, but I didn’t know what you felt. I was afraid that you would kill me first.”

Shen Zhiheng sighed, “Then in Shanghai?”

“That was Kuroki Rika’s idea!” He was so scared that he all but cried out. “She’s Japanese, how would I dare to go against her orders?”

“I don’t believe you.”

Li Yingliang choked down a sob, cowering as he quietened for a moment. He crawled up and knelt, lowering his head as he said, “I know, I don’t have the face to beg you again to spare me. I’ve hurt you countless times. If you were not Shen Zhiheng but a normal person, you would have died a long time ago.”

“I am truly unable to tolerate you any longer.”

Li Yingliang raised his head and looked up at him, finding him very foreign one moment, this face that was a cold, insincere mask, while still seeing him as the Shen Zhiheng in the dungeon the next moment, with his untidy clothes and stubble, picking his fingers till they bled when he was in a dazed moment of weakness.

These two impressions overlapped and flickered, the truth seeming false and the false seeming true. Suddenly, he extended his hand and clutched the leg of his pants, curling up and lowering his head, pressing his forehead against his shoe.

“Mr. Shen, please give me another chance.”

 Shen Zhiheng kicked his shoulder with a foot, and he flew out. His breath hitched in pain, and after a while, he finally made a sound, “I’m still useful, I can help you, I can do things for you, anything. Haven’t you fallen out with Situ Weilian? I’ll take over, let me replace Situ Weilian, I’ll find blood for you, as much as you want. I won’t follow the Japanese anymore, I’ll follow you.”

Shen Zhiheng took a step towards him, and then knelt down with one knee.

“You say that that night, you didn’t want to kill me. I believe you.”

Li Yingliang looked at him eagerly. He once thought that the sentence he could believe the least was this, yet little did he know that he actually believed him. There were actually such kindred [3] mortal enemies as them on this earth, to the point that for a fleeting moment, a rash thought actually gripped Li Yingliang – he really thought of abandoning his previous career, to follow Shen Zhiheng.

Yet, Shen Zhiheng followed up, “But as for your words thereafter, I completely do not believe you.”

Li Yingliang said, “You can look at my performance.”

Shen Zhiheng shook his head, “Your had only one chance of showing your performance and that was on the train, but you did not cherish it.”

At this point, he smiled, “There should be a destiny between us, but it’s a pity that we’re destined to meet but not fated to be together. You killed me a few times, I didn’t die; now we’ll exchange roles, it’s my turn to kill you.”

As soon as he said that, Li Yingliang grabbed his right wrist, clutching it tightly, as if by clutching this hand, he would be unable to kill him. The hot sweat on his palms immediately seeped through the cuff of his shirt. Shen Zhiheng lowered his head and glanced at him, then lifted his eyes and said, “Don’t be impatient, I won’t kill you today.”

As he spoke, he reached his left hand into Li Yingliang’s pants pocket, and hooked a small bunch of keys out of it. Then, he pushed off Li Yingliang’s hot and sweaty hand and stood up.

“I still have businesses to attend to. Wait for me to return. If everything goes well for me and I’m in a good mood, I will return.”

He turned and pushed open a small door in front of him, bending his waist and walking out. Then, he turned around, nodding at Li Yingliang while extending his hand and closing the small door. Li Yingliang belatedly lunged forward, his head knocking against the small door with a loud thump.

It was as if he had bounced off the small door: the half of his body that had knocked against the door seemed like it was falling apart, while the small door was safe and sound. Enduring the pain, he crawled up and moved towards the door to take a closer look, and realised that the small door was coated with a layer of steel. He did not know if it was coated with a layer of steel, or if it was simply a steel door.

It was impossible to shake the small door open. He looked around, realising that he was in a small, empty room. There were no windows, and there were no vents. A small lightbulb dangled down from the ceiling, emitting a dim glow. There was half a wooden door in the corner of the room, and when he pushed open the door to look inside, he saw that the space within was only enough for one person to stand, and in such a small space, there was only an empty toilet bowl.

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

I don’t know if it’s an error here on the part of the author, because I distinctly remember Yokoyama Akira calling Li Yingliang this in an earlier chapter (Chapter 5).

As in jealousy when it comes to love.

The actual word used here is 心心相印 (xīn xīn xiāng yìn), which literally means “two hearts beating as one” 👀

[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

The sky was dark.

Situ Weilian lay on the bed. There was another small bed beside the table, and on the table lay Mi Lan. It was a while since they had eaten their dinner, and the lights in the carriage had been turned off. They had been lying silently until now, in order to let the Japanese soldiers outside the door believe that they had already fallen asleep.

A false image like this was very easy to create. Even if they didn’t, Situ Weilian would sleep then eat and eat then sleep, and Mi Lan all the more resembled a spectre, making not a single sound. Let alone how the Japanese soldiers could not grasp what she was thinking; even Situ Weilian suspected that she had been abused by her mother to the point of stupidity. She looked like she had no thoughts in her head, and had nothing else to her name at all.

Suddenly, Situ Weilian said softly, “Oh, you’re already wearing your shoes?”

A little voice came softly from behind the table, “Yes, I’ve even hidden a pack of biscuits.”

Relaxing, Situ Weilian wiggled his toes in his leather shoes. In the early morning, when the mahjong game had ended, Shen Zhiheng had given him Li Yingliang’s IOU. At that time, he had thought there was something suspicious, and after bringing the slip back to have a look, as expected, two rows of small words were written behind the paper, telling him and Mi Lan to not sleep tonight, and to wait for him to escape together.

He did not know when Shen Zhiheng had written those two lines of words, but he trusted this person unconditionally. This person was quite awkward at being a vampire and was always quite aggrieved about it, but being a human was one of the things he did best and he flourished in it, and Situ Weilian knew that he was far inferior to him in that aspect.

 His leather shoes were thick and heavy, and somewhat stifling. It was time to get a new pair. He knew that he was about to go through a narrow escape of life and death, and he should be nervous and solemn at this moment. However, his thoughts had a mind of their own and refused to listen to his direction, thinking about new leather shoes one moment and hopping to Jin Jingxue the next, jumping messily from here to there with not a single focal point.

This was his natural weakness, and so he needed Shen Zhiheng.

At the same time, Shen Zhiheng had already started moving.

Shen Zhiheng knew that if he had enough time, he could win Li Yingliang over. Li Yingliang’s feelings towards him were that of passion mingled with hatred, and this space between passion and hatred was enough for him to take advantage of.

However, he did not have enough time. The train had already passed Fengtian, and perhaps was now about to leave Liaoning, and he was deep in the hinterland of Manchukuo. And judging based on his observations over these two days, before dawn today, or perhaps even earlier, the Asia Express would pass by this train, heading towards Fengtian at high speed.

He could not take Weilian and Mi Lan and walk back to Tianjin, he needed the Asia Express for the journey.

The first step of the plan was to tear a large piece of the blanket on the bed, and stuff it between the window and the metal bars. Spreading out the blanket and covering the glass, he stretched his hands through the bars and pressed outwards, exerting force.

The dull sound of breaking glass was completely masked by the sounds of the moving train. He broke the glass shards off one by one and tossed them out, at the same time, trying his best to hold on tight to the four corners of the blanket. Or else, the night wind would blast in and blow the doors of the train car till they shook. Japanese soldiers stood on guard outside the doors day and night, and they could push the doors open and enter any time.

Then, with a foot on the window frame and a hand grasping the bar, he slowly twisted the bar out of shape. For him, this did not require much effort; it was just that two hands were simply not enough, and he had his hands full busying himself with doing everything. When the space between the bars was finally enough for him to stick his head out, he silently withdrew the blanket. Fortunately, the wind was not as strong as he had imagined, and the doors were still and silent.

Ignoring the remnants of broken glass along the window frame, he first stuck his head out, followed by his shoulders, slipping out of the window bit by bit. The wind was strong outside the train, but fortunately, he was no mere human, or he would have been blown off the train. He climbed and crawled onto the roof of the train car, first looking forward and seeing the locomotive. It wasn’t possible for hostages to be kept in the locomotive, so he turned around, moving quickly towards the back. Four passenger cars were joined together at the back, and behind the passenger cars was an even longer stretch of boxcars. When Situ Weilian had spoken to him, he had mentioned that he and Mi Lan were still living quite well. Since they were living well, then they had nothing to do with the boxcars, and they could only be in one of the few passenger cars.

Walking past this passenger car, he jumped, landing softly on the roof of the second passenger car. The skylight of this passenger car was half open. He knelt at the side of the skylight and cast a glance inside. The insides of the train car were lit. There was a small bed, on which lay Li Yingliang. Li Yingliang had a cigarette between his lips while his hands were behind his head, as he lay on his back in a daze.

Shen Zhiheng continued crawling forward. The third train car also had its skylight open. When he looked in, he realised that this was a dining car, and right below the skylight sat Kuroki Rika and a Japanese officer. Behind the bar counter in one corner of the train car stood a waiter. Very good, there were two train cars remaining up ahead. He knew that he could soon meet the two hostages.

As he was about to continue moving forward, right at this moment, Kuroki Rika lifted her head as she laughed, glancing upwards.

The smile on her face froze, and she immediately stood up. The Japanese officer followed suit and lifted his head, pulling out a pistol and aiming it at Shen Zhiheng. Shen Zhiheng first wanted to hide, but nearly at once, he realised that Kuroki Rika could easily walk through the carriages and take control of the hostages in seconds, and so, might as well, he slipped into the train car. The Japanese officer – Major Aoyama – raised his right hand and pulled the trigger, the bullet brushing past Shen Zhiheng. Meanwhile, as he descended, Shen Zhiheng hugged his head and twisted, and even before Major Aoyama’s hand could fall, his head had already twisted around one hundred and eighty degrees.

Standing firmly, Shen Zhiheng turned towards Kuroki Rika, just in time to see her rush behind the bar counter and press a red button on the wall. Alarms immediately sounded in the carriage. She then immediately ran to the train car behind them, while Shen Zhiheng also ran towards the bar counter.

However, he was not there for the alarm; he had seen a small wooden door beside the alarm. Opening the wooden door and taking a look inside, he saw a row of switches and red and green electrical wires. Turning his head, he saw the waiter who was limp on the floor. He snatched a napkin from the waiter’s hands, wrapped it around his hands, and randomly flipped the switches and pulled the wires. Sparks flickered and the alarms went silent, while the five passenger cars instantly plunged into darkness. Shen Zhiheng snatched a dining knife from under the bar counter, before pushing open the door of the carriage and chasing after Kuroki Rika.

He did not know where Kuroki Rika was.

The fourth train car was already in chaos, with Chinese and Japanese alike shouting and screaming. They knew that Shen Zhiheng had come, but in the darkness, they did not know where to fire. Kuroki Rika held her breath and stood in the darkest corner. She no longer had time to take control of the hostages. Even if she could take the lead and barge into the carriage where the hostages were, Shen Zhiheng would follow after her quickly, and she did not dare to fight against him alone.

In the pandemonium, Shen Zhiheng killed a bloody path through, finally kicking open the door of the fifth train car. From the moonlight filtering in through the window, he saw a pair of neatly dressed people before him; they were Situ Weilian and Mi Lan. He did not know how long the two of them had been standing at the door. Situ Weilian was holding Mi Lan’s left hand, while Mi Lan was holding her walking cane in her right hand. Situ Weilian’s eyes were bright and shining, while Mi Lan’s face was cold and stoic.

Shen Zhiheng took Situ Weilian’s hand. “Let’s go.”

Situ Weilian leaned over, wrapping his arm around Mi Lan’s chest, clasping Mi Lan with a single arm just like a little girl clasping her doll with an arm. Right at this moment, the door at the other end of the train car opened, and rows of Japanese soldiers swarmed in, shooting in front of them indiscriminately.

At the point of time the guns started sounding, Shen Zhiheng had also opened the train door. Without any time to notice the surroundings outside the train, he pulled Situ Weilian and jumped. Just when they landed on the ground and rolled, the train screeched to a halt, sparks flying between the wheels and the tracks. At the same time, the standby power system powered up and the insides of the passenger cars shone brightly, lighting up the two sides of the train tracks.

Shen Zhiheng hurriedly crawled, noticing Situ Weilian sprawled on the ground and Mi Lan tossed out to his side. He first ran to hug Mi Lan and propped her up by her shoulder, and then he bent his waist and pulled Situ Weilian up. Without caring if they were injured, he took to his heels, running towards the forest beside the railway.

Stopping a train was a long process. As the speed of the train slowed down amidst sparks, the Japanese soldiers jumped down from the various joints of this long steel snake, streaming into the forest like a tide. Li Yingliang and Kuroki Rika reconvened, the two of them seeming a little terror-stricken. Without any counter strategy, they both simply led their men and started their manhunt.

It was a dark and cloudy night. At first, there was still a sliver of a crescent moon in the sky, but after only shining for a short moment, it had been covered by dark clouds, and it was so dark that one would not be able to see their own hand in front of them. There were moving lights in the forest, these were the Japanese soldiers’ flashlights.

Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng and Situ Weilian ran on the uneven ground unsteadily. Originally, Shen Zhiheng had not wanted to stray too far from the railway, hiding temporarily in the forest against the direction of the train. However, the current condition was out of his hands. He and the Japanese soldiers had all become headless flies, flying haphazardly together. Situ Weilian had sprained his foot when jumping off from the train, and he was now limping and holding him back. After holding him back for quite some time, he finally recovered his normal gait. Just when Situ Weilian returned back to normal, Mi Lan, who was on Shen Zhiheng’s shoulder, started to struggle. 

Burning with anxiety, Shen Zhiheng no longer cared if she was a young lady or a little girl, sending a slap to her buttocks, “Stop it!”

Mi Lan’s small, frail voice sounded beside his ear, “Is the road not easy to walk? Is the sky very dark?”

Situ Weilian replied, grimacing in pain, “It’s so dark we can’t see anything. We’re exactly like you now. Aiyo–” He stepped into a hole, staggering.

Mi Lan straightened her back, insistent on getting off Shen Zhiheng’s shoulder. Both of her feet landing on the ground firmly, she said, “Then let me lead the way. Where do you want to go?”

Shen Ziheng paused, “You?”

Situ Weilian rushed to answer, “Where we want to go doesn’t matter for now. In any case, just don’t let the Japanese soldiers catch up to us.”

Mi Lan extended the walking cane in her right hand, its tip brushing past the wild grass. She tilted her head and listened attentively, and then extended her left hand to the front.

“Mr. Shen.”

Shen Zhiheng took her hand. “Can you do it?”

She turned around, taking a step. “I can.”

She did not know that she, who had lived in a dark world for such a long time, had already stepped into a state of delusion. She even sincerely believed that she could lead Shen Zhiheng out. She had no reason, she just believed it.

 A part of his life had been moulded by her. And since she had personally moulded it, she had to personally save it. So, as long as she was still alive, he would not die. Brushing her walking cane through the wild grass, she thought of the biblical exodus she had heard of in the church, and in that moment, she imagined that the vast path in front of her was the Red Sea, and she was like Moses. As she extended her cane through the sea, the seawater separated, revealing a path.

This thought made her giddy with excitement. The more she walked, the faster she went, seeming as if she really knew her surroundings like the back of her hand. The blinking lights faded into the distance, as she led them to escape from the Japanese soldiers.

Suddenly, she abruptly stopped.

Shen Zhiheng supported her at her shoulder, looking around warily.

Situ Weilian was puzzled, “Why have you stopped? Are you lost?”

Mi Lan raised a pointer, going “shh”.

She had never moved about so vigorously before. Hot blood had gushed into her brain, and there was a roaring sound in her ears. Even worse still, strong winds were blowing. They shook the entire forest, causing the sea of trees to sound like waves as they continued to crash against one another, completely disrupting her senses. For a moment, she was confused, and in this confusion, she felt that she had vaguely heard something wrong again. She heard it, but she could not identify it, and this was what made her the most confused and anxious.

Subconsciously, she spread out her arms, blocking Shen Zhiheng who was behind her.

At the same time, a group of people, dressed completely in black, emerged from the front. The one at the lead held a broken flashlight. It was Li Yingliang.

Holding the flashlight that had stopped working halfway through in one hand, Li Yingliang held his pistol in the other. In the brief moment before he and Shen Zhiheng had met head-on, a bolt of lightning had flashed across the sky, casting a blinding light onto the people in front of them. Li Yingliang raised his pistol without hesitation, yet although his finger was on the trigger, he did not pull it.

Shen Zhiheng forcefully pushed Mi Lan, who was in front of him, into Situ Weilian’s embrace. Then, he started speaking to Li Yingliang. Li Yingliang knew that he was speaking to him, but the delayed rumble of thunder drowned out his voice, and he could only vaguely see his lips moving. He had a lot to say.

His right hand, which held the pistol, started to tremble a little. He should fire the gun. Once he did, his subordinates behind him would also follow suit. The dense rain of bullets would be enough to temporarily strip Shen Zhiheng of any form of resistance. But if that were to happen, Shen Zhiheng would be sent to Harbin, where he would be tied to an operating table and dissected and cut into pieces.

After a brief stalemate, another bolt of lightning lit up the sky, and in that flash of light, Li Yingliang suddenly saw Kuroki Rika behind Shen Zhiheng.

She brought a group of Japanese soldiers with her, and he did not know when she had approached. Furthermore, she already had her pistol raised towards Shen Zhiheng.

If he could see her, she could naturally see him as well, and how did he dare to let Shen Zhiheng go in front of the Japanese?

In fear, he fired. Hearing the sound, Shen Zhiheng collapsed, not because he had been hit, but because Mi Lan had pushed Situ Weilian aside and knocked headfirst into him, knocking him down. 

At the back, Kuroki Rika made a sound in annoyance. She wanted to provide supporting fire in the darkness, but Li Yingliang’s subordinates opposite her had fired before she could. Their original intention was to shoot Shen Zhiheng and his companions, however, the bullets flew around in a mess, forcing her to retreat. As she retreated, she returned fire, and the target of her returning fire was Li Yingliang. Li Yingliang had really gone mad. He could clearly see that she was behind Shen Zhiheng, and yet he still dared to shoot blindly in the darkness. Did he want to kill Shen Zhiheng, or did he actually want to kill her, who was behind Shen Zhiheng?

Standing in the crowd, Li Yingliang did not know if his earlier shot had hit Shen Zhiheng or not. Another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, and he once again saw Shen Zhiheng. Shen Zhiheng threw a cold flash at him, and he turned sideways to hide from it, but this was followed soon after by loud screams.

The cold flash was a dining knife, which had stabbed into his upper arm. At the same time, large raindrops, accompanied by thunder, pelted down. Kuroki Rika stopped firing, turning on her flashlight to glance at the scene before her. She saw Li Yingliang sitting paralysed in the middle of the rain, while his subordinates surrounded him like idiots. Meanwhile, there was no trace of Shen Zhiheng and his companions.

The heavy rain saved Shen Zhiheng.

After running aimlessly for a while, his foot finally slipped, and they were swept by a gush of muddy water into a small col. As the heavy rain pelted down, Shen Zhiheng sat up, extending his arm to feel around, and found Mi Lan. Pulling Mi Lan to his side, he touched her face, and after confirming that she was safe and sound, he extended his arm again to feel around for Situ Weilian. Situ Weilian was curled on the ground, and when Shen Zhiheng tried to pull him, he did not move. He crawled over to shake him vigorously. This time, Shen Zhiheng heard his feeble moan.

Situ Weilian was no delicate youth. He was used to jumping around, full of energy, and especially now, at this critical moment of life and death, he wanted even less to just lie down shamelessly. Shen Zhiheng’s heart plummeted. He bent down and placed his ear close to Situ Weilian’s lips, hearing this youth mutter and cry, crying that he was in pain, not a pain that was ordinary, but a pain so painful he wanted to die.

At the same time, Shen Zhiheng smelled the whiff of blood. Slowly placing his palms on the back of Situ Weilian’s neck, he felt downwards. The fresh blood had long been washed away by the rainwater, so he could directly feel the distinct bullet holes. One, two, and three.

He had been shot at least three times, and the bullets had created see-through holes in his body. The three bullets had shot through him through and through.

Shen Zhiheng’s blood turned cold.

With no spare energy to care about Mi Lan beside him, he scooped up Situ Weilian, bending his waist and hugging this youth in his embrace protectively. As he combed through his sodden curls with one hand, he wanted to use his body to block him from the rain, to the best of his ability.

“Weilian, don’t be scared. It’s just flesh wounds. Bear with it, I’ll figure out how to bring you home.”

At this point, he paused. His breathing was erratic, and if he continued speaking, his next sentence would be a breathless cry. He hugged Situ Weilian in both of his arms, as if he were an innocent and weak baby. Actually, he would rather that he were really a baby at this moment, confused and ignorant, and unafraid even right before death.

A pair of fists were pounding him at his side. It was Mi Lan, who was telling him, “there’s someone coming”, but he turned a deaf ear to her. Situ Weilian was now trembling slightly in his arms, moaning that it was so painful that he wanted to die. He continuously stroked this youth’s hair, like a father to his child.

“Don’t be scared, Weilian, it won’t be painful soon, very soon.”

As his tears mixed with the rain, he thought that Weilian was about to die. Once Weilian died, he would be alone in this world, and would return to being that lonely man once again. In getting to know him, Weilian had not received many benefits, and had eventually sacrificed his own life.

To die in the wilderness, such a death was not even a good way to go.

At this point, Mi Lan became anxious, pushing him violently, “They’re coming!”

Shen Zhiheng swayed under her push, and Situ Weilian, who was in his arms, rolled down. He hurriedly extended his arms to hug him back, but Situ Weilian rolled in the mud, and slowly sat up by himself.

Not only did he sit up, he even turned his head around, looking at Mi Lan.

Shen Zhiheng did not expect that he still had this energy in him, and was momentarily stunned. Meanwhile, Situ Weilian slowly extended his hand towards Mi Lan, and in the fleeting moment that his fingers and hers touched, a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, its light illuminating Situ Weilian’s face, as well as the two Japanese soldiers who were approaching behind Mi Lan with their guns raised. Situ Weilian’s face was ashen, but his two eyes bore a bloody red glow. Brushing Mi Lan aside with the wave of a hand, he stood up shakily.

Shen Zhiheng did not see what he did next clearly, and Mi Lan only felt a gust of wind blowing past the side of her face. The sounds of the wind and the rain were mixed with two short screams. Upon hearing that, Shen Zhiheng stood up and ran one step forward, and immediately ground to a halt.

In the darkness, Situ Weilian, squatting down, was a blurry shadow. One Japanese soldier was sprawled at a side, while the other was held in his arms. His head was buried at that Japanese soldier’s neck, his shoulders shaking as he used all of his strength to suck and swallow. Suddenly, he lifted his head and took a few deep breaths, pushing the corpse in his arms aside and grabbing that Japanese soldier beside him into his embrace.

The corpse he had pushed aside was light, so dry and withered that it did not seem like the corpse of a recently deceased person.

After a moment, the second corpse in his arms was also tossed aside. With his head tilted to the sky, he exhaled a long breath, and said, “Ah… it hurts to death.”

Then he stood up, walking wobbly towards Shen Zhiheng. “Just now, you told me not to be scared. I was in so much pain then that I didn’t have the strength to reply to you. Actually, I should be the one saying that to you. Don’t be scared, I won’t die.”

At this point, the rain suddenly became smaller. The clouds parted, revealing half of the crescent moon. Under the dim moonlight, Situ Weilian smiled at Shen Zhiheng.

Shen Zhiheng took a step back. “Who are you?”

Situ Weilian shrugged, as if Shen Zhiheng’s question had made him impatient. He lifted his head slightly, opening his mouth towards him. His young lips were bright red and soft, and when they opened to a certain degree, a pair of sharp needle-like bones lowered along his canines, their tips so sharp they seemed like silver wires, flashing with a cold glow.

Startled, Shen Zhiheng stared at Situ Weilian. He suddenly shouted, pushing him away forcefully, while moving backwards in a panic. As the ground was muddy, he staggered and fell into a seated position, and when he tried to get up, he ended up falling again. 

He struggled to sit up in the muddy water, convulsing with fear, “Who on earth are you?”

Situ Weilian lowered his body towards him. He seemed a little embarrassed but smug at the same time, revealing his secret as if he were presenting a valuable treasure, “Actually, I am your younger brother.”

Shen Zhiheng continued staring at him, his eyes wide with startlement. After staring for a while, he suddenly smiled. The smile appeared suddenly and left in a flash. Then, he lifted his hands to cover his eyes.

Lowering his head, he muttered to himself in a low voice, “How is this possible, I’m really crazy.”

He lifted his head and looked around him. “Where is Weilian?”

Situ Weilian tugged him. “I’m here! Are you also blind?”

Shen Zhiheng glanced at him, and as soon as he did, he turned his head away, as if he had seen something unsightly. Not only could he not face him squarely and look him in the eye, he could not even believe him.

“You are not Weilian.”

Situ Weilian lifted both of his arms, a gesture that made him look as if he were questioning the heavens in an opera show.

“Aiyo, my Shen-xiong, if you want to go crazy, can you go home first and then go crazy? If we don’t escape now, it will be too late! If we get caught by them again, you won’t be the only one going to Harbin, I will have to accompany you there.”

Then, he ran towards Mi Lan. Mi Lan had been lying exhausted in a ditch of muddy water all along. He grabbed Mi Lan’s hand, pulling her up and was about to go. But just as he took one step, he turned his head around, only to notice Mi Lan about to get up from her kneeling position on the ground, but when she tried getting up, her knees softened, and fell back down into a kneeling position.

“What’s wrong with you?” he bent his waist and asked loudly.

As he asked, he touched Mi Lan’s legs. Her legs were fine, and so he continued upwards.

“Does it hurt somewhere? Tell me.”

Mi Lan did not feel any pain anywhere, it was just that her head felt faint, and her four limbs weren’t listening to her.

Meanwhile, Situ Weilian suddenly exclaimed, “You’ve also gotten shot?”

A bloody hole had opened below Mi Lan’s collarbone; it was, without any doubt, a bullet hole. Situ Weilian turned his head to look at Shen Zhiheng in panic and shouted, shouting for Shen Zhiheng to come over. As she knelt, Mi Lan felt Shen Zhiheng run over, and she became both anxious and restless.

Before Shen Zhiheng could say anything, she caught his arm, speaking before he could, “I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt. I’m just tired, I can’t run anymore.”

Without hesitation, Shen Zhiheng pulled her and turned around, wanting to carry her on his back and leave. However, Mi Lan swayed and knelt down, lacking even the strength to sprawl herself onto his back. Situ Weilian gave a hand, pulling Mi Lan onto Shen Zhiheng’s back. As he pulled her up, Situ Weilian celebrated a small joy; Mi Lan looked tall, but she was actually nothing but a bag of bones and was a very light young lady, and would not hold them back while they were escaping. 

After arranging her, he asked Shen Zhiheng, “Shen-xiong, where do we go next–”

Shen Zhiheng hid violently aside, still not looking at him.

It was as if by not looking at him, he did not exist, and neither did his real face that he had just exposed exist.

Carrying Mi Lan, Shen Zhiheng started walking, his thoughts clear one moment but blurry the next, knowing only to flee for his life. The edges of the sky glowed faintly with a clear light; the sun was about to rise. This made Situ Weilian very nervous. As he walked quickly after Shen Zhiheng, he continued to ask questions in whispers from time to time. Shen Zhiheng could vaguely hear his voice, but he could not hear it clearly; not only could he not look at this person, he was not even willing to listen to this person.

However, Situ Weilian, ignorant of the elephant in the room, continued to ask Shen Zhiheng despite the latter’s silence, “Is the direction right? Don’t bump into their guns again.”

After a while, he asked again, “Just what route are you taking? Why am I confused?”

And after a while, he asked once again, “Why have the Japanese soldiers all disappeared? Could it be that after not finding us for a whole night, they’ve given up?”

Shen Zhiheng’s ears had filtered out his voice. After asking the heavens and asking the earth, from beginning till the end, he was only talking to himself.

Meanwhile, about two miles from them, Li Yingliang was planning to set the mountain on fire.

Li Yingliang was wearing a long-sleeved collared shirt, and his right sleeve had been cut away after being stabbed with a dining knife in his right arm, which was now messily wrapped with a few layers of bandages. Devoid of any expression, he faced the glow of the morning sun, ordering the Japanese soldiers to bring buckets of gasoline down from the train.

After searching for most of the night with Kuroki Rika, although they had not met with any success, he was sure that Shen Zhiheng had not managed to escape far. Given how heavy the rain had been last night, and that he still had two people holding him back, how could he escape? Even if he could fly, the heavy rain would have beaten him back down.

Last night, the heavens had been helping him. But now, the weather was pleasant, and while finding them was easier, so too was it easier for Shen Zhiheng to escape. So, the method of finding a needle in a haystack could no longer work. The only solution was to form a large circle around the area and then set fire to the forest, to force Shen Zhiheng out.

Force him out, and then send him to Harbin, and let him die there.

He still looked up to Shen Zhiheng, but last night, he had fired his gun at Shen Zhiheng, and Shen Zhiheng had also stabbed him. The relationship they had just started to build between each other – a tiny speck of a relationship that simply could not be explained clearly – had been killed prematurely by these knives and guns. Now, Shen Zhiheng would definitely take revenge on him, and if he wanted to live, he had to strike first.

Besides, he had to answer to Yokoyama Akira.

A large number of gasoline buckets had been brought down, and it should be enough. The train had stopped for a night, and to prevent the traffic from being blocked, it now had no choice but to move slowly towards the front. The Japanese soldiers pushed down the gasoline buckets, letting the gasoline gurgle out. Kuroki Rika walked to Li Yingliang’s side, the two of them having absolutely nothing to say.

A loud rumble came from the distance, and the earth started to shake. Li Yingliang turned his head around to look, only to see a fast, shiny train chugging out from the bright glow of the morning sun. This was the Asia Express. A sleek blue locomotive was pulling a long line of brown passenger cars, passing by at a speed of a hundred kilometres per hour. Li Yingliang watched this line of luxurious cars pass by him grandly and loudly, watching as it headed towards the distance. Very strangely, he was filled with both calmness and despair, as if he were at a funeral.

Suddenly, he raised his sleeve to rub his eyes, feeling as if he had seen the silhouettes of two people. Those two silhouettes jumped towards the Asia Express one after another. They jumped onto it, and then vanished together with the Asia Express.

Turning his head to look at Kuroki Rika, he asked in a trembling voice, “Did you see that?”

Kuroki Rika’s face was colourless. “You saw that too?”

The morning wind suddenly blew in a different direction, and a gust of black smoke engulfed them. Li Yingliang stared into that black smoke, realising that the forest fire had started burning ferociously!

And with the help of the wind, the fire was sweeping towards the railway tracks!

Leaving behind the majority of the soldiers to put out the fire, on just his two legs, Li Yingliang and Kuroki Rika ran to the nearest small train station, intending to make a phone call to the Fengtian Railway Headquarters and get them to stop the Asia Express.

The small train station indeed had a telephone, but the phone line was not long, and could only reach the two stations before and after it. At this point, Li Yingliang was suffering a nervous breakdown, and did not have any ideas at all. Furthermore, his eyes kept rolling up into his head from time to time, as if he was about to faint. Kuroki Rika was utterly disappointed with him, and could no longer be bothered to care about him. She directly took control and ordered each station to pass the message down from one station to the next in the fashion of a relay. Once the message was passed down to a bigger station with a radio station, that station would then send a telegram directly to Fengtian.

Because the reason for stopping the Asia Express involved a lot of secrets, she could only give an ambiguous explanation. And so, although her message was passed down from one station to the next, and it did indeed reach the Fengtian Railway Headquarters through the telegram before the Asia Express could arrive there. Upon hearing such an unclear and unreasonable request, just like how Kuroki Rika could now no longer be bothered to care about Li Yingliang, the headquarters also directly rejected her.

Anxiety burning in her heart, Kuroki Rika once again contacted the Yokoyama mansion station by station, and while waiting for a reply, she stood at the door of the small station, looking at the distance. She first saw the morning sunshine at the edge of the sky, burning like a fire, and then she realised that it was really too much like a fire, and this fire was even accompanied by a few columns of black smoke rushing towards the sky.

“Ah!” She widened her eyes. “Has sthe fire gotten bigger?”

The foundation on which this large fire burned was the large buckets of gasoline that the Japanese soldiers had splashed on order. With such a good foundation, and with the help of the morning winds, the fire naturally burned everywhere, spreading across the sky and blanketing the earth. Out of all the Japanese soldiers who had stayed behind to put out the fire, only a fraction had managed to escape, while the rest had all been cremated to death. And the large fire was still not content, following the railway and moving along in rather high spirits, burning and destroying more than three miles of railway tracks.

As the raging fire was spreading along the railroad crossties, the Asia Express was already pulling slowly into the Fengtian train station. The Yokoyama mansion finally managed to lend a helping hand to Kuroki Rika; just as the Asia Express stopped, there were already a few military police officers waiting outside the train doors. The Asia Express was only at the Fengtian train station for five minutes; the military police only had five minutes to search the entire train. They could not drag it out, as there was no shortage of international dignitaries and the ultra wealthy onboard. Since this concerned the international reputation of Manchukuo, even the Yokoyama mansion could not do whatever they wanted on this train.

After five minutes, the military police, having gained nothing, lined up and got off the train.

Four hours after the military police left, a freight train that was carrying timber slowly passed through the Fengtian train station, headed straight for Tianjin.

And hidden in this freight train were Shen Zhiheng and company.

Back in the forest, Shen Zhiheng had not been walking aimlessly.

Back then, he had shrugged off his shirt and shredded it into strips, tying Mi Lan tightly onto his back. Then, crawling on the ground, he had lain silently in waiting, until the Asia Express passed by as expected. He knew how it was organised, so even before it had passed by before his eyes, he had already gotten up and started to sprint. And when he had leaped towards the Asia Express, its locomotive had just happened to pass by, and he had managed to jump right at the junction between the locomotive and the carriage behind it.

The first carriage behind the locomotive was the luggage car.

The passenger cars of the Asia Express were all fitted with double windows and were fully enclosed. Only the luggage car was slightly shabbier, and that had allowed him to pry the door open to enter. Situ Weilian had followed closely on his heels, and when Shen Zhiheng had sat down in a corner of the luggage car, he had very wisely read the room and kept a distance from him, sitting down.

Throughout the journey, none of them had spoken. It was only when the Asia Express had neared Fengtian when Shen Zhiheng had pried open a few large pieces of luggage, choosing some clean clothes to change into. He had also found a women’s blouse for Mi Lan, in order to hide the gunshot wound below her collarbone. He could not tell if Mi Lan’s wound was serious or not; she had not made a single cry of pain, and had only nestled dazedly in his arms. He also did not know how much blood she had lost; just by looking at her shirt it was not obvious, as the rain had long washed away all of her fresh blood.

Situ Weilian had also found a jacket to put on. Actually, he was also in pain, but with Mi Lan being so resilient, and since the current situation was so dangerous, and given how Shen Zhiheng was still unwilling to give him any face, he had assessed the situation, deciding to bear with it.

Before the Asia Express had entered Fengtian, Shen Zhiheng had carried Mi Lan and jumped off the train.

Situ Weilian still followed closely after him. When Shen Zhiheng had jumped off the train, he had also jumped off the train; when Shen Zhiheng had sprawled in the grass by the railway to wait, he had also sprawled in the grass by the railway to wait. Then, when Shen Zhiheng had climbed onto a freight train carrying timber, he had also climbed onto it. The carriages of the freight train had no roofs and were exposed, with only a waterproof cloth covering the firewood. 

As they stayed curled in a corner, Situ Weilian had reached out both of his arms towards Shen Zhiheng, “Let me hug her. You should rest for a while.”

Lowering his eyes to look at Mi Lan in his embrace, Shen Zhiheng had finally given Situ Weilian a small response. “Do you have money?”

Situ Weilian had fished around his pockets, fishing out a crumpled, wet ball of banknotes, which were still quite substantial in denomination. “Yes.”

“This train is headed for Tianjin. When we reach at night, you will pick the nearest train and buy three third-class tickets.”

“Where to?”

“Nanjing is fine, Shanghai is fine.”

“So far? Why can’t we go to Beiping to hide?”

 “No. This time, I’ve completely fallen out with the Japanese, and have even alerted the Kwantung Army. I’m not scared of the Yokoyama mansion, but their military headquarters in the Beiping and Tianjin region are too powerful, I’m not currently their match. Besides, I can hide, but Mi Lan can’t. Mi Lan needs to be hospitalised and receive treatment.”

Upon hearing this, realisation had finally dawned on Situ Weilian, and he had understood the pros and cons.

But, glancing at Mi Lan, he had asked again hesitantly, “But what about her? Can she last until Nanjing, Shanghai?”

Shen Zhiheng had shaken his head, “I don’t know, but I don’t have a choice, this is the only way. The moment she shows her face now, she would be caught by the Japanese and be used as a hostage to threaten me. If the Japanese can’t find me, they will naturally not let her go; if the Japanese find me, she will be useless, and the consequences for her then will be even worse.”

Situ Weilian had lowered his head and spread out the banknotes, changing the topic, “It seems like this is enough to even buy second-class tickets. Do you want to get second-class tickets? There are too many people in the third-class carriages, and it’s always smelly.”

Shen Zhiheng had ignored him. He had lifted his hand to sniff his sleeve, and had barked in laughter, “I’m also smelly.”

Whether it was Yokoyama Akira or Kuroki Rika, neither of them had ever thought that this vampire called Shen Zhiheng was as elusive as a shadow, actually daring to return to Tianjin with some timber from Guandong, even openly holding three pieces of third-class tickets in his hand and boarding the train for Nanjing.

The third-class carriage, just as Situ Weilian had described, had too many people. Moreover, it smelled foul, and even the ticket inspectors, unable to squeeze in, did not check the tickets. In a corner, Shen Zhiheng sat on the floor, hugging Mi Lan who was curled up into a ball. Mi Lan’s face was thoroughly red and her body was boiling, she had unknowingly gotten a high fever. Hugging such a small ball of life, Shen Zhiheng was like a father hugging his small, newborn daughter. His heart was impassive and emotionless, he just simply hugged her.

 The dirty bottom of someone’s trouser legs brushed across his knees. He looked up along the pants, seeing Situ Weilian’s pale face. Situ Weilian was leaning against a wooden partition as he stood, with his head lowered and a smile on his face. His smile was quite brilliant, without a thought in his mind.

Shen Zhiheng turned his head away.

[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.

MAIN DIRECTORY ☾ READ ON AO3

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.

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

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!

MAIN DIRECTORY ☾ READ ON AO3 ☾ PREVIOUS CHAPTER

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!

MAIN DIRECTORY ☾ READ ON AO3 ☾ PREVIOUS CHAPTER

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.

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

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!

MAIN DIRECTORY ☾ READ ON AO3 ☾ PREVIOUS CHAPTER

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.

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

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 黑木 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.