Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Guan Heng never dissected himself.

Most of what Ning Qiuyan knew about him had either come from questions Ning Qiuyan had asked on his own initiative, or from things he had heard from other people.

To Guan Heng, the past was simply the past. Bringing it up would not change anything, so he always kept silent about it. Compared with dissecting the past, he preferred to look ahead.

Ning Qiuyan often felt that he understood all of Guan Heng’s habits and behaviors, yet just as often, he found himself unable to read him at all.

Guan Heng was like a sealed jar of wine, standing quietly in some unknown corner, occasionally letting a heady fragrance drift out.

Whenever there was even the slightest chance, no matter what intentions the other person had in trying to pry open that jar of wine, Ning Qiuyan would uncontrollably move toward the scent, trying to catch more of it.

But Qin Weizhi stopped there.

The winner was finally Wagner.

He slowly gathered in the cards and asked Qin Weizhi, “Qin, there’s something I’ve always been curious about. That knife you keep in your collection-is it Guan Heng’s?”

Ning Qiuyan had not expected Wagner to choose to question Qin Weizhi, much less to ask something related to Guan Heng. He looked up in confusion.

Qin Weizhi tossed down the cards in his hand and answered casually, “It’s his.”

Then he added, “Guan Heng used it for twelve years. Strictly speaking, it was his father’s knife. His father bestowed it on him when he was fifteen.”

Ning Qiuyan said nothing.

He found it a little strange. Why would Qin Weizhi keep Guan Heng’s knife in his collection?

He had clearly placed Ning Qiuyan under house arrest in order to test Guan Heng, yet now, at this point, every topic had suddenly begun circling back to Guan Heng.

These Vampires were very strange. The situation was confrontational, and on the surface it seemed to have reached a fever pitch, yet they remained utterly unhurried, almost unconcerned with when there would be any progress at all.

Even Guan Heng was like this.

Lu Qianque had disappeared, and Guan Heng had gathered new helpers, yet there was no trace of panic in him.

Those so-called helpers were the same. They arrived slowly and did very little. During the day, they had to catch up on sleep; only at night did they lazily appear.

If life had no countdown, then perhaps there truly would be no real panic.

In a situation like this, it was hard for anyone to guess the next move.

Only the humans caught up in it lost their rhythm, like warm flesh and blood surrounded by a pack of wolves.

Ning Qiuyan somewhat regretted impulsively following Wagner here.

He won another hand and, forcing himself to stay calm, asked Qin Weizhi to tell him another of Guan Heng’s “evil” secrets. At a time like this, he could not show fear. He could not let the other party discover his weakness, nor could he let the other party look down on him.

He did not want anyone to think there was a weak person at Guan Heng’s side.

“We’ve known each other for too many years,” Qin Weizhi said. “Forget one. As long as you want to hear them, I can keep talking.”

Ning Qiuyan could not help asking, “Were you two ever a couple?”

Qin Weizhi’s expression shifted slightly.

As for Wagner, his silver eyes revealed a rare trace of amusement.

“Of course not,” Qin Weizhi said. “Even as a young man, Guan Heng kept away from women. We were not the same sort of people.”

Ning Qiuyan had not really thought so either. It was just that such a strange idea had suddenly popped into his head, probably because Qin Weizhi had said he and Guan Heng had once been very close. But the answer was not important. He turned to ask Qin Weizhi, “Were you transformed together?”

“No. There were some years between us,” Qin Weizhi reminded him. “You’ve exceeded the number of questions.”

Ning Qiuyan fell silent.

In the next few rounds, each of them won and lost in turn.

When it was Ning Qiuyan’s turn, he asked a somewhat offensive question.

“I heard the older Vampires are, the more powerful they become. Why do they worship sir, but don’t seem to worship you much?”

Qin Weizhi and Guan Heng came from the same era, but before Qin Weizhi had appeared himself, Ning Qiuyan seemed never to have heard of such a person. Even if Qin Weizhi and Guan Heng were not part of the same circle, as a thousand-year-old Vampire, Qin Weizhi did not seem to have much presence in the Blood Supervision Council either.

Wagner laced his fingers together and watched them at leisure.

Qin Weizhi’s gaze fell on Ning Qiuyan. His expression remained fairly calm.

He looked Ning Qiuyan over once more before finally speaking. “Because of bloodline. Because the toxins flowing through Guan Heng’s body are closer to the original state of the Vampires.”

In that case, Qin Weizhi and Guan Heng had not been transformed by the same person either.

Ning Qiuyan thought that this could only mean Guan Heng’s transformer was even more powerful.

That legendary gray-robed figure.

This question seemed to have displeased Qin Weizhi somewhat.

After answering Ning Qiuyan, he paused the card game and had Wagner make a phone call.
A few minutes later, a young human boy walked into the room. At a glance, he looked about the same age as Ning Qiuyan.

The boy wore a loose short-sleeved robe, and he was kept extremely clean and neat, without a single unnecessary ornament anywhere on him. Ning Qiuyan was still sitting where he was, baffled-until the boy came to the card table and obediently knelt between Qin Weizhi and Wagner. Only then did it hit him.

This was one of the blood slaves, already prepared.

Ning Qiuyan rose to his feet and retreated to the sofa off to the side, barely managing to lean against the back of it.

The blood slaves extended his bare arm and tilted his head slightly to the side, exposing the two warmest veins to the two Vampire at the same time.

The blood slaves’ actions were entirely voluntary.

They were usually willing to exchange their blood for considerable rewards.

Wagner took the boy’s hand and used a sharp fingernail to slice open his wrist, elegantly collecting a little less than half a glass of blood.

Drip.

The final drop fell.

After Wagner gently wiped away the blood with a handkerchief, he tied it around the boy’s wrist, like some sort of soothing reward.

Qin Weizhi, however, simply used his mouth.

Food would receive no gentle treatment from Qin Weizhi.

Qin Weizhi opened his mouth, revealing snow-white fangs. Although he came from roughly the same era as Guan Heng, the difference in who had transformed them meant his physiology was vastly different from Guan Heng’s. Like ordinary Vampires, he had only one pair of fangs. Guan Heng not only had two pairs side by side; the pair used to pin down prey was also sharper and longer than those of ordinary Vampires.

The room fell utterly silent.

The fangs pierced the human’s skin, making him let out a muffled groan.

Ning Qiuyan felt violently uncomfortable. He was starting to feel a little nauseous.

Fresh blood flowed down from the human’s neck, but Qin Weizhi was in no hurry to lick it away. He swallowed slowly instead, his reddening eyes fixed on Ning Qiuyan the entire time, as if he wanted to enjoy the look on his face.

While tasting the blood in his glass, Wagner said to Ning Qiuyan, “Not used to it? Mr. Guan should have warned you. If you want to be transformed, then sooner or later, this is a process you’ll have to go through.”

Ning Qiuyan had no desire whatsoever to drink human blood.

He quickly turned his face away.

“It looks painful, but Qin is actually quite skilled,” Wagner said. “You could learn from him. He’s a very good teacher. Perhaps… someday, you may even need to ask him for guidance.”

Ning Qiuyan didn’t understand. Pale-faced, he looked at Wagner.

Seeing his astonishment, Wagner added gently, “After all, Qin is very likely the only person in the world who would dare disregard Guan Heng and transform you.”

With that, he raised his glass to Ning Qiuyan, as if wishing him good luck.

Ning Qiuyan’s heart gave several violent tremors.

He immediately understood. This was what Wagner had meant by offering him “advice on immortality.”

Whether or not Guan Heng agreed, as Guan Heng’s Golden Blood, it would be very difficult for Guan Heng to transform him personally. And he was also Guan Heng’s Blood Contract Partner. People like Lu Qianque, Li Tang, or any other Vampire would not dare touch a single hair on his head.

But Qin Weizhi was different.

Qin Weizhi looked as if he could not possibly care about Guan Heng’s feelings at all.

It would be a lie to say there was no temptation in it. Ning Qiuyan could not stop the tremendous shock rippling through him.

And yet, after that interlude, the card game continued.

Ning Qiuyan actually won another round.

His thoughts were a mess, and he wanted even less to linger here, so he asked Qin Weizhi directly, “Was it you who took Lu Qianque away?”

Qin Weizhi had already finished drinking blood and pushed the human aside.

With Vampires’ toxin now in his body, the human did not leave after being released. Instead, he curled up at Qin Weizhi’s feet, eyes gently closed, as if he had entered a sweet dream.

Qin Weizhi wiped his lips and leaned back in his chair. He had clearly expected this question, but he did not answer.

Ning Qiuyan guessed that he was deliberately avoiding it, so he tried asking another way. “Where is Lu Qianque now?”

Qin Weizhi finally spoke. “In a place no air can get into.”

Sure enough, Qin Weizhi was involved in this.

Otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence? Qin Weizhi just happened to show up at the club, and Lu Qianque just happened to have one of his hands cut off in a way that imitated Guan Heng’s methods.

Ning Qiuyan said anxiously, “A bet is a bet. That doesn’t count as an answer at all!”

Qin Weizhi smiled and said, “No, kid. The wager we agreed on was that I would give an answer and wasn’t allowed to lie. I’ve already answered honestly, so I haven’t broken the rules.”
“You-” Ning Qiuyan froze, then clenched his teeth hard.

Just then, someone knocked softly on the apartment door and reported from outside with utmost respect, “Mr. Jones.”

Wagner turned his cold silver eyes toward the door. “Come in.”

The person who entered was one of Wagner’s subordinates. He bowed his head and said, “Mr. Guan is here.”

All three people at the table stilled. Ning Qiuyan shot to his feet.

Wagner smiled and turned to Ning Qiuyan. “Let’s go, my young friend. It seems we have our answer.”
It was deep into the night, and the street beneath the small apartment building was silent.

The nearby buildings all belonged to Wagner. No one noticed the black sedan parked by the curb.

Ning Qiuyan stepped out through the stairwell’s stained-glass door and, from a distance, saw a familiar figure.

Guan Heng stood on the sidewalk, with Qu Shu behind him.

Ning Qiuyan had no idea what kind of occasion Guan Heng had attended tonight, but he had actually cut his long hair short. He had clearly come in a hurry, still dressed in a black formal suit. His entire bearing looked sharper than usual, much of his languid air stripped away.

No matter when or where, Guan Heng had an overwhelmingly powerful presence. The natural pressure of someone long accustomed to standing above others radiated from him. Even on such a quiet, ordinary street, his presence alone made the surroundings feel like a scene from a film.

After not seeing him for a whole day, Guan Heng merely cast Ning Qiuyan a faint glance.

Ning Qiuyan parted his lips, but he did not want to look weak in a setting like this, so he did not call out abruptly.

Wagner Jones was always perfectly composed.

He had taken someone from under Guan Heng’s hand, yet his attitude was as if nothing had happened. He even gave a polite nod, warm as though greeting an old friend. “Good evening, Mr. Guan. I merely invited my young friend over for a chat and was going to send him back shortly. I didn’t expect to alarm you, much less trouble you to come pick him up in person.”

Everyone knew Wagner was lying through his teeth.

Naturally, Guan Heng knew it too.

However, Guan Heng only looked at Ning Qiuyan. He did not so much as lift an eyelid for anyone else, and even more directly ignored Qin Weizhi, who stood behind them before the stained glass, bathed in mottled patches of orange and blue light.

“I’ve already released your people.” Guan Heng was looking at his own person, but his words were meant for Wagner. “I won’t interfere for the next three months.”

Clean and decisive, without a single unnecessary word.

Ning Qiuyan did not know what kind of exchange they had made during the time he had been out of contact, but he understood now. Wagner had completed his probe, and, incidentally, achieved his true purpose in placing him under “soft confinement.”

Wagner replied with a smile, “Thank you, Mr. Guan.”

With that, he stepped aside.

“Go on back, little friend. We’ll talk again next time.”

Ning Qiuyan was free to leave.

Guan Heng raised a hand, palm facing upward. No joy or anger could be seen in his phoenix eyes, but his tone was still full of patience. “Come here.”

It was a troubled season, and yet the older Vampire’s beloved little dog had recklessly barged into enemy territory, creating an interlude that should never have happened.

But it did not matter. This would not affect the overall situation. What needed to continue would still continue.

The ruby by Ning Qiuyan’s ear flickered in and out of sight.

He blinked, then suddenly lifted his head and looked back.

Qin Weizhi was still standing there, his expression hidden in shadow and impossible to make out. All Ning Qiuyan knew was that he was looking in Guan Heng’s direction.

“Xiao Ning!” Qu Shu thought Ning Qiuyan had been frightened and could not help calling to him softly.

Ning Qiuyan came back to himself and strode across the street.

When he was still two or three steps away from Guan Heng, the latter reached out to him.

Ning Qiuyan immediately took his hand. The two looked at each other.

Guan Heng’s features were cool and indifferent, his emotions unreadable. A faint, elusive crimson lingered in his phoenix eyes.

A chill ran down Ning Qiuyan’s back. His guilty conscience was unbearable.

Qu Shu had already opened the car door.

They got in. The back seat was spacious. Guan Heng sat on the left, about thirty or forty centimeters away from Ning Qiuyan. Ning Qiuyan looked at Guan Heng’s now even more flawless profile after the haircut and caught the faint scent of incense.

The fragrance was slightly different from before. It belonged to the diffuser stones Ning Qiuyan had placed in the walk-in closet at the Black House. Ning Qiuyan’s clothes carried it too.

Their scents intertwined, an unspoken intimacy.

The car drove forward. No one spoke.

After what felt like a century, Guan Heng called Ning Qiuyan by name.

He asked Ning Qiuyan, “Why was your phone off?”