Chapter 100

Chapter 100

Why had he turned off his phone?

Ning Qiuyan couldn’t bring himself to say it.

That was right. It was true that he had gotten into the car because Wagner had mentioned he had some leads on Lu Qianque. And the reason he hadn’t replied to any messages was because of some inexplicable stubbornness welling up inside him-he had wanted to see if he could handle this on his own.

But there was no denying that later, when Wagner said he could offer him some advice on immortality, Ning Qiuyan had wavered. That was why he had decided to stay and deal with Wagner, and why he had turned off his phone.

Thinking of this, Ning Qiuyan suddenly remembered something and immediately warned Guan Heng, “Wagner seems to have been monitoring my network. He knows what I look at every day. You should hurry and have someone check the firewall and everything, or he might-”

“That’s not your concern.” Guan Heng cut him off. “I’m asking you now: why did you get into his car, and why did you turn off your phone?”

Ning Qiuyan: “…”

Guan Heng looked at him. He was still wearing the hoodie he had left in that morning. Aside from his slightly messy hair and poor complexion, he didn’t look as though he had been hurt in any way.

Recently, Guan Heng had noticed some changes in Ning Qiuyan compared to before.

The first time Ning Qiuyan went with him to Camellia Night, he had been naive and terrified, needing Guan Heng to hold his hand before he could take one step after another. Now, not only did he dare speak openly with Guan Heng’s friends from afar, he even dared to walk alone into an unfamiliar Vampire’s territory.

The immature boy was growing into a young man.

Guan Heng’s Blood Contract Partner was, of course, not some pet who only knew how to obey.

He wanted Ning Qiuyan to be safe, but he was also glad to see Ning Qiuyan feeling his own way forward and growing. He understood Ning Qiuyan, and knew Ning Qiuyan might have had his own reasons for doing this.

Guan Heng said, “If you tell me now, I won’t punish you.”

Ning Qiuyan froze. His face immediately grew a little hot.

Fortunately, Qu Shu was very quick-witted and had long since had the driver raise the soundproof partition. They couldn’t hear anything.

A chance to avoid punishment was rare. After all, the previous times had not exactly been pleasant experiences. Besides, Guan Heng looked so gentle, so patient.

Ning Qiuyan said, “Wagner called me and said he wanted to talk. He said he would give me some leads on Lu Qianque.”

Looking back, it really had been reckless.

Ning Qiuyan himself didn’t know what he had been thinking at the time.

Du Island did not keep useless people. Everyone at Guan Heng’s side had their own strengths. Perhaps he had truly wanted to prove that he was of some use too, that he could help.

Guan Heng asked, “So you went?”

Ning Qiuyan nodded.

Thinking back on everything that had happened these past few days, Guan Heng suddenly realized what he had overlooked.

He was used to placing the humans close to him under his protection, keeping them from being hurt or upset. But both he and Lu Qianque had neglected the fact that, whether it was Gu Yu or Ning Qiuyan, they were individuals with thoughts of their own, with pursuits that belonged to them alone.

Gu Yu was still young and very good at venting his emotions.

Ning Qiuyan would not make a fuss like Gu Yu, much less become hysterical like Gu Yu. When he was trapped in hardship, stifled until he could hardly breathe, he had a young person’s way of trying to cope.

Guan Heng’s voice cooled a little. “Things aren’t as bad as you think. Let me handle it.”

Ning Qiuyan believed in Guan Heng, but he said anxiously, “But if there really is a chance to get information, then it can be resolved sooner. Wouldn’t that be better?”

Guan Heng said, “Did you get any information?”

Ning Qiuyan said angrily, “Wagner is too cunning. After we met, he kept talking around it and brought up something else.”

Guan Heng asked, “What?”

Ning Qiuyan choked.

The car was quiet. They looked at each other.

Ning Qiuyan didn’t want to lie to Guan Heng.

“Wagner said he wanted to give me some advice about immortality,” Ning Qiuyan told Guan Heng. “And then Qin Weizhi arrived.”

That night, Guan Heng had of course seen Qin Weizhi. It was just as he had said: there was no need to waste his energy on someone merely passing through. Seeing Qin Weizhi stirred no more reaction in him than hearing Qin Weizhi’s name.

Linking Ning Qiuyan’s words together, Guan Heng understood what he meant without needing him to explain too clearly.

“Before I turned off my phone, I didn’t know Qin Weizhi would come, and I didn’t know that was what Wagner meant.”

Ning Qiuyan explained.

“I only wanted to hear what he was trying to say.”

“Ning Qiuyan.” Guan Heng interrupted him. “Not only did you fail to take in what I told you, you stubbornly clung to your own opinion without thinking it through.”

“I did think it through.” Ning Qiuyan defended himself urgently. “I know you won’t transform me, and that you don’t want me to be transformed, because you think immortality will make me suffer. But have you ever considered that I’m already suffering right now-”

The look in Guan Heng’s eyes brought Ning Qiuyan’s words to an abrupt stop. After a few seconds of silence, only once he had drawn breath again did he continue, “I turned off my phone because my mind really hadn’t changed. I was still clinging to a sliver of hope. But compared to that, what I hope even more is that you won’t be so absolute in your thinking. Maybe one day, if we discuss it again, I’ll get your consent. When that time comes, it will be done by you or by someone you appoint. In any case, that person could never be Qin Weizhi…”

“There will be no such day.”

Guan Heng said it calmly and with certainty.

Ning Qiuyan opened his mouth. He had wanted to say something more, but he couldn’t get even a single word out.

Guan Heng had already given him every warning he should have, and they had discussed this matter several times before.
Saying any more would do neither of them any good. It was no longer a conversation they should be having.

Ning Qiuyan looked out the window.

A long time later, when he spoke again, he had already changed the subject. “I think that Qin Weizhi definitely knows where Lu Qianque is.”

“He knows,” Guan Heng said. “But there is no way he will say it.”

Both of them had calmed down somewhat.

Ning Qiuyan turned back and asked Guan Heng, “Lu Qianque’s hand… was that Qin Weizhi’s doing?”

Guan Heng propped his forehead in one hand and gave a low “Mm.”

So Guan Heng had known all along. Ning Qiuyan was angry, and found it inconceivable. “Then why just let him off like this? Doesn’t the Blood Supervision Council care? There must still be fair and just people in the Blood Supervision Council, right?”

“It isn’t that simple,” Guan Heng said. “What he wants and what the forces behind him want are different. They use each other, and they pull against each other. These matters are far more complicated than what Li Tang told you. You don’t understand the background, and you can’t be of any help. Don’t get involved anymore.”

Ning Qiuyan froze for two seconds.

Then he nodded and turned back to look out the window again.
Guan Heng took Ning Qiuyan back to the Black House, then ordered Qu Shu to drive on. He had other matters to attend to that night.

Ning Qiuyan entered the house in the shivering night wind. He did not even shower before throwing himself onto the mattress and staring blankly into space. He did not want to be angry with Guan Heng at all, so why were there always reasons they had no choice but to disagree?

Wagner had said the thing he regretted most was letting his Blood Contract Partner go.

He regretted not transforming him.

At Wagner’s estate, Camellia Night was held again and again.

All sorts of that person’s belongings were displayed on the walls.

They were all memorials.

Did Guan Heng want to experience that kind of regret one day too?

Ning Qiuyan’s thoughts ran wild.

Soon, an even deeper thought emerged.

Wagner loved his Blood Contract Partner. Then did Guan Heng feel the same way about him?

The thought gave Ning Qiuyan a violent fright.

That was too much.

He scolded himself.

Although Guan Heng had never said the word “love” to him, he could feel it. Guan Heng’s words and actions, every frown and every smile, whether he was forceful or indulgent, all allowed Ning Qiuyan to sense Guan Heng’s feelings for him.

Leaving the island for him, wearing the bite restraint for him, taking him all around Du Island, giving him everything he was able to give… none of those were things someone would do for no reason.

Was that still not enough love?

Because he was too young, too ordinary, and not irreplaceable enough.

That was why Guan Heng clearly cared about him, yet refused to transform him.

Because love should mean absolute possession.

Ning Qiuyan rolled over and stared at the ceiling. His eyes were red and aching, but he forced himself not to shed a single tear. He did not like his cowardly self. Since the chasm between the two of them could not be filled, he had to find a way to cross it.

If he wanted something, he had to fight for it himself.

He remembered when he was little, when his grades had been poor and a suggestion he made in class had been rejected, his mother had once told him that only useful people had weight when they spoke.

The next day, Ning Qiuyan discovered that his range of movement had been somewhat restricted.

The men in black who had originally kept themselves hidden no longer deliberately maintained their distance. Instead, they followed him neither too close nor too far, visible the moment he turned his head.

Guan Heng no longer allowed him to ride his bike out on his own, either. He instructed Qu Shu to drive him to and from school.

“No running around.”

Guan Heng had only returned at daybreak. Now he was sitting on the edge of the bed, his smooth long hair falling around him, restored to his usual appearance.

He was somewhat busy, and the phone in his hand was still connected to a call.

“Okay.”

Ning Qiuyan answered in a hurry.

Halfway down the stairs, he turned back.

He stood hesitantly in the doorway. In the dim room, Guan Heng lifted his eyes and looked over, as if wondering why he had come back.

Ning Qiuyan walked over, knelt on the edge of the mattress, tugged at Guan Heng’s lapel, leaned in, and kissed him on the lips.

The latter had clearly not expected him to do this.

They kissed every day, but this was Ning Qiuyan’s first time giving him a farewell kiss with such a sense of ceremony. He had never been the particularly proactive type, especially when the person he faced was Guan Heng.

In front of Guan Heng, he preferred letting Guan Heng arrange everything and being the one who was commanded and received it.

Ning Qiuyan left as soon as the kiss was over.

When he went down the stairs, his arms and legs moved stiffly out of sync.

After he got into the car, Qu Shu asked why his face was so red.

He was far too embarrassed to say that from today onward, he had decided to make Guan Heng like him even more by being more passionate than before.

For the entire day, Ning Qiuyan kept zoning out.

When school ended, he also turned down his senior’s invitation to have dinner together. On the drive home, he read through a few driver’s license exam questions. While they were stopped at a red light, he saw several elementary school students crossing the zebra crossing.

They were all boys, laughing and talking, with soccer balls tucked under their arms and sweat on their foreheads.

They looked about the same age as Gu Yu.

Ning Qiuyan exited the page and opened his call history.

He did not have Wagner’s business card, nor had he saved Wagner’s number, but he still remembered the string of digits the other man had called from.

He did not know why, but he had a wildly reckless intuition.

When Wagner said he “would not harm anyone’s Blood Contract Partner,” he probably had not been lying.

Author’s Note:

Gu Yu: You’re the elementary school student. You’ll always be an elementary school student. (grumbling and cursing)