Blood-sucking fangs

Chapter 19

“Go on, boy.” Xu Zuo patted Feng Nian’en on the back. “Don’t make so many people lose money.”

Feng Nian'en stiffened and looked at him suspiciously.

“Don’t take it personally,” he leaned forward, closing the distance between them, a malicious smirk on his lips, “I was the Susanoo here before you joined the vampires.”

"I haven't joined the vampire clan yet!" Feng Nian'en roared, his voice filled with intense resentment and unwillingness.

"Is that so?" He raised an eyebrow, saying nothing more. "Do your best."

"Wine! Wine! Wine! Wine! Wine...!"

The crowd kept shouting.

There was enough space at the bar, and Feng Nian'en and Zexi sat down. Two open bottles of beer were placed in front of them, and the two looked each other over. For some reason, Feng Nian'en felt that this seemingly rebellious young man looked familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere before.

Maybe we bumped into each other in a bar before.

After racking his brains but still couldn't remember, he told himself this.

"Same rules as always," the bartender began, "Whoever drinks the most within half an hour wins." He glanced at his digital watch, and as the minute hand moved again, he gestured, "Start!"

The two immediately grabbed a bottle and started chugging. They weren't drinking very fast, knowing that this was a test of endurance, not just speed.

Feng Nian'en was always confident in his alcohol tolerance; in fact, it was probably the thing he was most confident about. But after drinking two bottles, he realized something was wrong.

Beer is not just about how well you can metabolize alcohol, but also about how much you can drink. Although he drinks alcohol often, he almost never drinks large amounts of beer.

He already felt unwell when he drank the third bottle, the fourth bottle was practically forced down his throat, and his hands were trembling when he picked up the fifth bottle.

The people around him kept shouting and yelling. The noisy sounds and foul smells made him want to run out and vomit everything in his stomach. No, not just his stomach, but also his internal organs, blood, everything. He wanted to vomit it all out, leaving only an empty shell. He wanted nothing at all, not even the empty shell.

He kept pouring it in, relentlessly, even though he felt terrible. Grabbing the bottle, tilting his head back, tossing it down… he mechanically repeated these three actions, unaware of how much he had drunk. He couldn't remember the numbers, he remembered nothing at all, only knowing to pour, pour, pour!

Then, he didn't know which bottle it was, but he knew that his whole body was throbbing with pain as if it were about to explode. He couldn't take it anymore, he couldn't drink anymore. He numbly looked towards the girl, and saw that she was almost nestled in Suzuka's arms. And him? His hand was touching her face.

Yes, that pale hand, the ghost's hand, was touching that thin, pale face...

What are they saying? What are they saying? Why are they standing so close? Why are they being so intimate?

Doesn't she care anymore? Doesn't she care about this match? Otherwise, why wouldn't she even glance this way? Ah... she did look over, but why is her gaze so strange? Did he say something to her? What did he say? Did he say he was a ghost?

No! No way! He's a ghost too, he wouldn't say that, but why is he whispering in her ear? What are they talking about? What is their relationship?

"Don't worry," Suzaku patted the girl's shoulder, "there won't be any problems."

"Won't there be any problems?" Si Wen turned around, looking at him almost angrily. "Why did you have to interfere?"

“That’s not good,” Suzaku said, extending his right hand and shaking his index finger. “Didn’t you agree to this competition yourself? Why are you losing faith in him now?”

“I…” The girl took a drag of her cigarette in frustration. “When I agreed to Linda’s request, I thought he was sure to win. Damn it! How could I have thought that?” She shook her head, unable to understand her own mindset.

"What, now you feel he's bound to lose, so you're deliberately cheating by asking Mike to be the middleman?" The man's voice was like that of a father doting on his daughter.

"I don't want to quit the Moonlit Clan yet." The girl bit her lip, feeling extremely embarrassed. She was practically regretting it; how could she have thought of letting that idiot participate in the competition? Damn it!

"Oh, no way."

"How can you be so confident?" The girl looked at him suspiciously. "Did you know that idiot before?"

"It's our first time meeting." He smiled and patted her cheek. "But I trust your judgment."

"My judgment?" She curled her lip in self-deprecation. "He couldn't even ride a motorcycle until yesterday, and he couldn't even reach 100 km/h during the test ride just now. My judgment? I knew from the beginning that he was an idiot. He must have been bewitched to agree to this competition!"

"Oh?" Xu Zuo raised an eyebrow. "It didn't even reach a hundred. Heh, this is more interesting than I expected."

“You don’t seem worried at all,” she said, glancing at Feng Nian’en, who was desperately drinking. She could tell he was giving it his all, but was clearly lagging behind Jersey. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll renege on my promise? Then you’ll have to pay Linda for the same Harley.”

"What's there to worry about?" He shrugged. "It's no big deal if I leave the Moonlit Clan with you."

"You..." The girl looked at him, her beautiful face smiling, her expression as languid as ever, but her eyes, gleaming with a strange golden light, made it clear that she was not joking. "You, want to back out?"

"Shh..." he gestured and whispered, "Keep your voice down."

"You must be joking, this joke isn't like you." Her hand holding the cigarette trembled involuntarily.

"A joke?" He shook his head. "What's so funny about that?"

"You mean it? Damn it! You mean it?"

"Sweetheart, good girl, don't get agitated, it's nothing serious. We'll all have to leave eventually, and you'll leave too. We're the Moonlit Clan, aren't we? When the sun comes out, the moon disappears."

"Damn it! Damn it! How dare you say that to me!" Si Wen clenched his fists, his body trembling uncontrollably. "Damn it, how dare you say that to me! I won't quit! I'll never quit! Even if the sun rises, the moon will still be in the same place, it's just that ordinary people can't see it. And even the sun can't stay there forever!"

She waved her fists, trying to express her anger, but tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

"Shh..." Xu Zuo held her in his arms, his deep voice like a whisper in the night, "Don't cry, you knew all along, didn't you?"

"I don't know! I don't know anything!"

"Alright, alright. Stop crying, or you won't be the Ziguang I know."

"To hell with Ziguang! When did you ever know me? When did you ever know me?!" she cried, burying her head in his chest. She knew that something was about to leave her forever.

Suzaku sighed and said nothing more, letting her cry her heart out in his arms.

Feng Nian'en gulped down the food, desperately chugging it down with an anger he couldn't explain or even realize. He could no longer feel any discomfort; it was as if he had become an empty shell, a shell devoid of anything...

"stop!"

I don't know which bottle it was, but the bartender suddenly shouted. The noisy room immediately fell silent.

"Jersey won!" someone shouted first. "Suzuka got sixteen bottles, the newcomer..."

There are fourteen bottles.

"Jersey won!"

The room became noisy, with all sorts of sounds rising and falling.

"Jersey is still the best!"

"But what about my bet?"

"Don't worry, there are still two more things to consider. Suzaku won't misjudge people."

...

Feng Nian'en lay on the counter, unable to see or hear, only breathing heavily. Then, someone lifted him up and took him outside.

"Go ahead and throw up." The man patted him on the back.

The empty shell immediately turned into a balloon about to burst, and a large amount of liquid uncontrollably gushed out of his mouth.

He vomited almost everything he could, including alcohol, undigested food, and even bile, until he was so vomiting that people wondered if he was going to vomit his heart out.

Only then did he regain feeling in his body, and his consciousness gradually returned.

The fresh night breeze roused him from the numbness caused by alcohol and the murky smell. He looked up and found that the person standing next to him was Suzaku.

"Feeling better?" The lazy voice held no concern, and the face remained as indifferent as ever.

He nodded numbly, feeling that everything was so hazy. He felt he should say something, but he didn't know what to say. He frowned, disliking this strange feeling.

“Drink this.” Suzaku tossed a silver bottle over. “It will make you feel better.”

Feng Nian'en twisted open the lid, and an enticing aroma wafted out. He immediately and hurriedly screwed the lid back on.

No, I don't need it.

"Don't need it?" Xu Zuo raised an eyebrow, looking at him mockingly. "Even if you don't want to join the vampire clan, you already are, boy, that can't be changed. You need to drink it."

"No!" Almost angrily, he raised his hand, wanting to throw the bottle back, but found his arm weak and powerless. His legs also trembled as if unable to support his weight, and he quickly grabbed the wall for support. He gasped for breath, trying to draw strength from the fresh air.

"No?" Suzaku slowly shook his head. "You have no right to say no. Just as humans cannot live without food, vampires cannot live without blood. This is something that Ranga should have told you, but since this is a special case, I'll say it myself."

Listen, boy. Blood is everything to us. With blood, you can go without food, water, or even breathing. We can replace all of humanity's needs with blood. Of course, in that situation, we would need more blood.

Therefore, you should replenish your blood in time when you are in pain, suffering or injured. As long as you have blood, you can recover. As long as you have blood, you can even walk in the sun like a normal person without worrying about fainting. Although you will still feel some discomfort, it will not be too intense.

We are vampires, vampires! Do you understand? Blood is everything to us.

Feng Nian'en gasped for breath, desperately trying to escape the blood-red words one after another. He didn't want to hear about the needs of the vampires; he didn't want to be a ghost! He wasn't a vampire! But every word still reached his ears.

"Alright, drink that, then go back inside and continue your match."

"No! I won't drink it. I'm not like you. I don't need this. I don't need it!" he growled, as if making a vow to someone.

"Not needed?" Xu Zuo stepped forward, his deep whisper carrying a seductive wickedness. "So, you didn't replenish 800 milliliters of blood yesterday?"

Feng Nian'en froze, his cheek muscles twitching uncontrollably. He opened his mouth wide, wanting to say something, but only short, duck-like quacking sounds came out.

"It's up to you. Whether you drink it and go in to continue or throw it away and turn back, whatever you do, don't just go in like that, or you'll lose badly."

After saying this, he stuffed the bottle into his shirt pocket, turned, and walked into the bar, leaving a stunned Feng Nian'en leaning helplessly against the wall.

The night breeze was still cool and refreshing, but a faint, pungent smell of blood, tinged with the stench of alcohol, lingered in the crisp air…

Chapter Fourteen

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"Purple Light!" The big-headed snake struggled to squeeze through the crowd to the girl's side.

"You've arrived." The girl glanced at him indifferently.

"Sorry, sorry, I got tangled up by a guy." He wiped his sweat. "Um, wasn't this the bike you wanted to ride?"

Si Wen shrugged. "What does it matter?"

"No, we don't have any connection. But if that kid's skill level isn't quite up to par, you should probably have him get a different car. That car isn't for the average person."

The girl exhaled smoke rings: "Don't worry, it'll be fine."

"Since you say so, then there's no problem. I was overthinking it. Since Suzaku is willing to be the middleman, there must be no problem." Big-headed snake wiped the sweat from his face.

"Yes." She lowered her eyelids and forced a smile.

Just then, Feng Nian'en staggered in.

The people around him stared at him in surprise, whispering among themselves:

"Hey, he's in this state, how can you even compare?"

"Isn't Jersey already guaranteed to win?"

“But Suzaku is willing to be his middleman.”

"If we lose again, there's no point in playing the third match."