chapter 32
Chapter 32
“Addicted.”
These simple words made Ning Qiuyan freeze. A wave of heart palpitations swept over him.
He must be crazy.
A vampire addicted to his blood-such a dangerous thing-yet it made him feel as if someone had just confessed their love to him. His whole body flushed hot, every cell clamoring. He curled up, clutching his phone tightly, reading those two words again and again.
Addicted.
That was exactly how Guan Heng had replied. He wasn’t seeing things.
Gradually, Ning Qiuyan’s fevered mind cooled down. He bit his lip, forced himself to turn off his phone, and didn’t send Guan Heng any more messages.
It rained again that night.
Spring rain pattered on leaves, steps, and the ground, drifting in through the window. Raindrops clustered densely on the window frame, shining under the streetlights.
Ning Qiuyan lay awake for a long time, constantly recalling the cool fingers of Guan Heng gripping the back of his head, the strands of hair brushing his neck, the faint glimpse of fangs under those beautifully shaped thin lips, those deep, red-tinged phoenix eyes, and the strong arms and broad chest that held him.
Ning Qiuyan shrank deep into his blanket, burying his face in the soft pillow, unable to stop thinking about Guan Heng.
He craved touch.
He longed to be embraced.
And for the blood vessels in his neck to be pierced roughly again.
“Good boy.”
Guan Heng really had said that.
If he did even better next time, would Guan Heng praise him like that again?
Ning Qiuyan felt ashamed and conflicted by these thoughts. He knew he shouldn’t keep thinking about it, but shamelessly reasoned that since it was all hidden in his heart, as long as he didn’t say it, no one would know-so being a little more excessive didn’t matter.
This was his secret alone.
The next morning, Su Jianzhou had the morning off and invited Ning Qiuyan to lunch.
When they met, Su Jianzhou chatted with him for a bit, complained about work, then suddenly asked, “What’s going on with you?”
Ning Qiuyan seemed distracted, as if just snapping back to himself. “Huh? What do you mean?”
“You looked half-dead for a while, always gloomy. Today you look like you didn’t sleep well, but your mood seems fine,” Su Jianzhou said. “And you came out as soon as I called. Have you come back to life?”
Ning Qiuyan: “…”
Su Jianzhou: “Anyway, you’re acting a little weird.”
Ning Qiuyan didn’t know how to explain. He poked at his food with his fork. “I’m going to the library this afternoon.”
Su Jianzhou breathed a sigh of relief. “Ning Qiuyan, you finally remembered you have school next semester.”
“No,” Ning Qiuyan said, “I’m going to look up some information.”
Su Jianzhou didn’t ask more, but felt it was a good thing that Ning Qiuyan was pulling himself together.
After lunch, they said goodbye, and Ning Qiuyan went alone to the bus stop.
The rain hadn’t stopped, and Ning Qiuyan had forgotten his umbrella.
The lingering spring chill was sharp. He wore a loose black hoodie, pulled the hood over his head, put his hands in his pockets, and walked straight into the rain. After getting on the bus, he sat by the window and felt his phone vibrate.
He thought it would be from Su Jianzhou-they often continued chatting after meeting up.
But the screen showed: Guan Heng had sent a message.
Ning Qiuyan sniffled, leaned his head against the glass, and gazed at the screen with his lashes lowered for a while. Only when the display was about to go dark did he open the message.
Guan Heng: [Why didn’t you bring an umbrella?]
Ning Qiuyan immediately looked around. It was Tuesday, so there weren’t many people on the bus; passengers were few and scattered in the damp carriage. He looked out the window-raindrops slid down the glass, the street outside was empty and cold. There was no sign of anyone or any car sent by Guan Heng.
Guan Heng: [Photo.]
Ning Qiuyan saw a photo of himself.
It had been taken as he was walking toward the bus stop. The ground was covered with puddles, reflecting trees, the street, and his bowed figure moving forward.
Without the photo, Ning Qiuyan hadn’t realized how thin he looked. His hoodie looked empty underneath, and from the way his hands were in his pockets, the lines of his narrow shoulders stood out clearly.
Ning Qiuyan didn’t see this as surveillance. Guan Heng had never tried to hide his watch over Ning Qiuyan.
So he quickly typed a reply.
Ning Qiuyan: [I forgot my umbrella when I went out. I’ll remember next time.]
As a blood donor, he had a duty to maintain his health.
His patron, Guan Heng, didn’t scold him for his carelessness, but sent another message: [Where are you going?]
This bus route wasn’t the way home; Guan Heng must have known that.
Ning Qiuyan replied: [Library.]
Guan Heng: [What are you looking up?]
Ning Qiuyan found it hard to answer. Even though Guan Heng wasn’t in front of him, he was sure the other would know his face was red right now. He hadn’t planned to tell Guan Heng, but for some reason, he fulfilled his promise to “hand everything over to Guan Heng” once again.
Ning Qiuyan: [Looking up things about you.]
Guan Heng probably just wanted to confirm his whereabouts, not to chat.
After Ning Qiuyan replied, Guan Heng didn’t send any more messages-he didn’t ask what Ning Qiuyan was researching, nor did he praise his honesty. Ning Qiuyan felt a little disappointed for a few minutes, but soon let it go.
After getting off the bus, he hurried into the city library, scanned his ID, and went straight to the computer search area.
“Ning Qiuyan!”
Someone called his name.
Ning Qiuyan turned around and saw a girl in a long-sleeved dress, hugging a book and looking at him in surprise, whispering, “Long time no see!”
The girl was Ning Qiuyan’s high school classmate, Ran Ran.
They used to be in the same class. Ning Qiuyan wasn’t very talkative, but always drew attention, especially after he played the piano and sang at the school party, almost becoming the very image of “cool” and “melancholy.” Ran Ran had written him several love letters.
Ning Qiuyan never even opened them; after graduating from high school, he returned all of them to the other person.
Nearly a year had passed since they last met. The girl had been studying out of town and had grown more mature, while Ning Qiuyan hadn’t changed at all since high school-still tall and thin, a somewhat inexperienced boy from a small city.
Ran Ran had come back for the Qingming Festival holiday and hadn’t expected to run into Ning Qiuyan at the library. The two walked to a quiet spot and spoke in hushed voices for a few moments.
“How have you been lately?” Ran Ran had heard some things about his family and kindly expressed concern. “I heard you’re taking a break from school.”
Ning Qiuyan replied, “Not bad. I’ll be back in school in the second half of the year.”
Ran Ran asked, “Are you going to the Business School?”
Ning Qiuyan: “Yeah.”
Ning Qiuyan had serious subject preferences and changed his application at the last minute, barely making it into a mediocre university. But he felt that being able to study at all was already pretty good.
Ran Ran asked, “Since you haven’t started yet, Ning Qiuyan, your songs are so good, why not try applying to the Conservatory of Music again? The arts college entrance interviews haven’t ended yet this year…”
“I haven’t prepared,” Ning Qiuyan said calmly. “So I won’t go.”
Ran Ran respected Ning Qiuyan’s choice and only said, “What a pity,” without pressing further.
Just before they parted, she couldn’t help but ask Ning Qiuyan, “Um… do you have someone you like now?”
Ning Qiuyan’s heart skipped a beat.
Because that question suddenly made him think of someone.
Seeing Ning Qiuyan silent, Ran Ran laughed, “You’re so slow, Ning Qiuyan. I didn’t mean anything by it, just curious what kind of girl you’d like.”
Ning Qiuyan looked calm, but his heart was pounding.
He shook his head, “No.”
*
After the encounter with his classmate, Ning Qiuyan pushed aside distracting thoughts and buried himself in research.
There wasn’t much historical material on Qing Chao. After finding the books, he spent the entire afternoon in the library, diligently reading through all the information. It was so dry and boring that he kept yawning and nearly fell asleep several times.
Heaven rewards the diligent. In the end, Ning Qiuyan found Guan Heng’s name in a historical record.
In the long river of history, the brutal and thrilling battle that Guan Heng had experienced was described in just one short sentence. That single sentence even summed up the lives of Guan Heng and the entire Guan Family.
“Zhennan Marquis Guan Wei, ordered by the emperor to go on an expedition; his eldest son Guan Heng accompanied him and won the battle. Afterwards, the Zhennan Marquis incurred the emperor’s displeasure, and his nine clans were exterminated.”
Ning Qiuyan sat dazed before the book, staring at the light, floating words.
Exterminated nine clans…
To feel compassion for history over a thousand years ago is futile and meaningless-Ning Qiuyan understood this very well, and knew he had no right to judge history. Yet he couldn’t help but imagine what Guan Heng had gone through.
From Guan Heng’s speech and manner, there was no sign of such a painful past; he didn’t need anyone’s pity.
After calming down, Ning Qiuyan thought of Guan Ziming and everyone on Du Island.
They were all descendants of the Guan Family, so they must have found some way to survive back then. Or perhaps the historical record was mistaken, and the Guan Family didn’t actually meet such an end.
Maybe that’s why Guan Heng didn’t comment when Ning Qiuyan said he was coming to the library to research his story?
In any case, this was not a forbidden zone that Ning Qiuyan should touch.
Some people’s past cannot bear to be investigated.
It’s too heavy.
Ning Qiuyan’s drowsiness vanished; he was fully awake. He closed the books and returned them one by one.
The rain had stopped, and night had fallen.
Ning Qiuyan bought something to eat outside and chose to walk home.
He stepped through puddles, his mood unchanged by the end of the rain or the food-troubled by Guan Heng’s story, and by the dreams brought up by meeting his classmate.
Passing through the bustling district, the giant screen on a high-rise was playing a new tourism promo for Wutong, clearly aiming to boost the tourism industry. Wutong looked beautiful in the video, with the camera sweeping over several small islands nearby-Du Island flashed by among them.
There were still a few questions he could ask Guan Heng.
Ning Qiuyan gave up on probing Guan Heng’s background, took out his phone, thought for a while, and sent a new message: [Have you ever had dreams?]
Guan Heng replied.
[Many.]
Ning Qiuyan: [Have any come true?]
Guan Heng: [Of course.]
Ning Qiuyan: [What were they?]
Guan Heng: [Search for Guan Yan.]
Ning Qiuyan was puzzled. He paused, opened his phone browser, typed in the characters for Guan Yan, and the search results popped up quickly.
Guan Yan, 1879-1931, a famous oil painter… Immediately following were his representative works, many of which Ning Qiuyan recognized-they were all stunning pieces.
He quickly remembered the sunrise over the sea painted by Guan Heng that he’d seen in the studio on Du Island.
Wait-he realized something, his mouth slowly falling open.
Guan Heng, Guan Yan.
They were clearly the same person.
It was Guan Heng’s mischievous side-he disguised his identity, but was so lazy he didn’t even bother to change his name much, just altered the characters slightly.
Ning Qiuyan had never imagined this side of Guan Heng. His heart started beating irregularly again, greedy to know more.
Ning Qiuyan: [Have you used any other names?]
Guan Heng replied: [Including today, you’ve already asked three questions in total.]
Ning Qiuyan quickly scrolled up, then let out a frustrated “Ah!”
How did he, just like that, inexplicably use up his three questions?