Feng Shui

Capítulo 6

Feng Nian'en's expression froze, and he stared straight at the cultivator.

"Vampires are like demons; their nature is evil, and they can't possibly learn to be good."

“But what if,” he said, catching his breath, “if a vampire wanted to become good? Wouldn’t God welcome him back?”

The monk looked him up and down: "I don't know why you're so interested in this question. If there really were vampires like you who wanted to become good, God wouldn't accept them. It's like a murderer who kills someone and then tells the court that he regrets it and won't kill again—can he escape legal punishment?"

"But what if that vampire hasn't done anything bad yet? I mean, what if he just became a vampire?"

"The fact that he would become a vampire proves that he was wrong. God would not allow a kind and innocent person to become a demon!"

After the monk finished speaking, he walked past Feng Nian'en and left quickly.

"Is becoming a vampire inherently wrong?"

He could no longer hold on and collapsed against the wall, sliding to the floor. He stared blankly at the rows of empty seats. The dust in the air, illuminated by the strange light, transformed into souls—the lives of God's servants. These souls sat quietly, enjoying the sunlight, except for him…

"Feng Nian'en? Feng Nian'en..."

He looked up, stunned for a long while before recognizing the person in front of him: "Teacher Li?"

"What are you doing here? Did you come to confess to the priest? He's already gone to eat."

"No, no." He stood up, leaning against the wall. "I'm here to ask a question."

"Question? Did you get the answer?"

Feng Nian'en lowered her head, paused for a moment, and then said, "Why is Teacher Li here?"

Li Zilin smiled slightly: "I'm a volunteer here, just here to get a form. Is your question related to Christianity? I do know a little about that."

Feng Nian'en thought for a moment before hesitatingly asking, "If you change one thing into another, is it possible to never change it back?"

"What kind of talk is that?" Li Zilin smiled, then affirmed, "Even if you become a vampire, it's not impossible for you to turn back!"

Feng Nian'en shuddered and dared not reply.

"Speaking of vampires, do you have some free time right now? I live nearby and can give you the information right now."

"Now? Won't that bother the teacher?"

"What's the trouble? Come on over."

Feng Nian'en staggered and barely followed Li Zilin into the room. Just as she was about to lean against the wall to catch her breath, everything went black before her eyes, and she collapsed, feeling weak all over.

It's over.

If I get sent to the hospital, I'm doomed.

Despite thinking this way and trying his best to support himself, he was still dragged into the coma.

After an unknown amount of time, Feng Nian'en groggily opened his eyes and saw Li Zilin feeding him something with a spoon.

"How many days have you not eaten?" Li Zilin asked when she saw him wake up.

"Huh?" His mind wasn't fully awake yet.

She shook her head: "If Teacher Ma hadn't been so sure you were suffering from malnutrition and heatstroke, I would have taken you to the hospital."

"Malnutrition? Heatstroke?" Feng Nian'en blinked. "No, no, I'm fine. I don't need to go to the hospital."

"Drink this bowl of salt water yourself," she said, handing him the small blue porcelain bowl.

Feng Nian'en hesitated for a moment, then, seeing that the other person was looking at him, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and force the salt water into his mouth. Unexpectedly, there was no adverse reaction as he had imagined. Could it be that he could eat as usual? Wasn't it just a matter of drinking blood once every ten days?

"The porridge is ready. Can you stand up now?"

Feng Nian'en nodded and followed her into the restaurant with a puzzled look. The rich aroma made him unconsciously touch his stomach, and his doubts deepened.

"Are you having some kind of trouble?" Li Zilin asked after he drank three bowls of rice porridge in one go.

Feng Nian'en blushed and shook his head, put down the bowl, and when he saw Li Zilin preparing to refill it for him, he quickly refused.

"Eat up, I can afford to treat you to this porridge."

"No, no, I'm really full."

Li Zilin put down her spoon and smiled gently: "That's true, you've been hungry for so long, it's not good to eat too much at once."

Feng Nian'en's face turned even redder. He now understood that when Lan Ya and Cang Ya asked him if he wanted to eat something, they meant ordinary food, not blood.

"Tell me honestly, is there some kind of difficulty at home?"

No, it's not.

"Then how did you end up malnourished? Did you break up with your boyfriend?"

No, no.

Li Zilin looked at him and didn't press him further: "Alright, I won't force you if you don't want to talk about it. But if you really have any difficulties, you can come to me anytime." As she spoke, she got up and went to the bedroom to take out a folder. "This is some information I've collected about vampires. Although it's not entirely complete, it should include various legends."

Feng Nian'en quickly accepted it and said gratefully, "Thank you, teacher."

"Don't say that. After all, nobody is really interested in vampires anymore. It's like with the advancement of science, all the legends are false. I'm already happy to see that someone is as interested as I am."

"The teacher believes..." he hesitated, "that vampires really exist in this world?"

"And you? Is this just a passing fancy, or do you have some special idea about vampires?" Li Zilin looked at him meaningfully.

“I… I think since this legend exists and has been passed down for so long, maybe… maybe it’s true.” Feng Nian’en lowered her head, not daring to meet her gaze.

"Really? I think the same thing."

"Well... then, I won't bother you any longer, teacher." He said, walking towards the door.

"The sun is blazing outside, why don't you rest for a bit before you go?"

"No, no need, it's alright."

Feng Nian'en practically fled the room. Although Li Zilin might have been worried about him getting heatstroke again, he felt as if she had something else in mind.

The sunlight still made him uncomfortable, but Feng Nian'en was overjoyed when he got out of the taxi.

He can eat!

You can eat like a normal person!

He excitedly rushed towards the elevator, only to bump into a girl who was coming out of it.

"Hey! Who's blind?!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said as he pulled the other person up from the ground.

"Is 'sorry' all you want? What about my skirt?" The girl wasn't going to let it go. She stood up from the ground and asked fiercely.

"Huh?" Even though he hadn't seen exactly where the dirt was, he quickly said, "I, I'll take care of washing it, um, dry cleaning."

The other person raised their face and looked at him mockingly: "Dry cleaning? I just wore my new dress and you want me to wash it? You bumped into me and hurt me so much, and all you want is to wash my dress?"

"Then...then..." He looked at her with difficulty, "Then what do you suggest we do?"

The girl looked him up and down and said, "Give me three thousand yuan."

"Wh-what?" Feng Nian'en was startled.

"What, you think it's too much? Do you know how much this skirt cost? Look at this brand, if you can buy the same one for less than five thousand, I'll consider myself unlucky and not take a penny."

"But...but three thousand..."

"Don't you know clothes can only be worn once? Don't you know clothes can't be washed? Don't you know I can't wear this dress anymore? If I go out wearing washed clothes, my friends will laugh me to death! Besides, you bumped into me and hurt me so much, isn't it generous enough that I only ask for the price of your dress?"

Feng Nian'en was dizzy from her string of words. Although she knew that the other party was trying to extort her, she had been Zhang Hanwen's follower for three years and had never seen her wear the same clothes twice. Once a piece of clothing got dirty, she would not wear it again. Even though she had to spend a lot of money on laundry every month, those fashionable clothes could only stay in the closet.

"Yes, three thousand..."

"What's wrong with three thousand? Do you think I'm lying to you? Just go ask anyone if a CACHAREL dress costs that much?"

"But the dress is just dirty." And the dust should be easy to brush off.

“I can’t wear this out if it gets dirty! Do you think I’d wear freshly washed clothes to meet my friends?”

"Yes, yes, I know." The other person's loud shouting gave him a headache. "But could you make it a little less? After all, the clothes are still there."

“That’s easy. Give me the money, and I’ll take off my skirt for you,” she said, with an expression that said she would take off her clothes immediately if he gave her the money.

Feng Nian'en's face flushed red, and he stammered, "But I don't have that much money right now."

"No? Come on! Someone dressed head-to-toe in Verri wouldn't be able to come up with three thousand dollars?"

"I really don't have it." Seeing that the other person still looked suspicious, he compromised and said, "How about this, I'll stay here, and you can come and pick it up at three o'clock tomorrow afternoon, okay?"

"7A, right?"

He nodded, looking at her with surprise.

The other person scoffed, "I live right next door to you."

"Next door?" Feng Nian'en was taken aback. He remembered there was a child next door, but it was a boy. He remembered clearly that the boy had a shiny purple buzz cut, a cigarette dangling crookedly from his lips, and always had a hole in his clothes, even in winter. The one in front of him, though domineering, was clearly a girl.

"You have no taste," the other person said, pulling off the wig to reveal a purple buzz cut.

"You...you're a girl?" he stammered.

The girl glared at him fiercely: "I am a girl!"

His face flushed again, and he quickly apologized.

"Hmph! You better not make me come all this way for nothing by 3 PM tomorrow!" The girl tossed her wig and walked out.

"Women, oh women..."

Feng Nian'en watched her retreating figure, shook his head, and realized he simply didn't know how to deal with this kind of creature. He sighed, took the elevator back to his room, and eagerly pulled out Li Zilin's file.

For the next few hours, Feng Nian'en spent at her desk.

Li Zilin's collected information was indeed comprehensive. It included everything from Cain, the first generation of vampires, to Methuselah, the oldest living vampire in legend. It was from this information that Feng Nian'en learned what the Camarilla Treaty, mentioned by Lan Ya, was.

However, while this information is quite complete, it's not entirely accurate. At least, vampires don't actually lack a heartbeat, can't be exposed to sunlight, or can't eat regular food as the information claims.

Just as he was about to finish watching it all at once, the alarm clock went off.

It's already 4:45. If he doesn't want to be late, he should get ready to leave now.

He stood up regretfully, put away the documents, changed his clothes, and left the room.

Zhang Hanwen's residence is not far from here; the two residential areas are right next to each other. This arrangement was made to ensure that he could be available whenever needed.

When he arrived at Zhang Hanwen's building, he dialed his cell phone and was told to drive his car out of the garage.