Chapter 24: Going Home
Jiang Yao slept longer than Jiang Yan had imagined—an astonishing thirteen days—finally waking up on the last day of June, stretching her weak limbs and sitting up.
During these thirteen days, Jiang Yan had updated the notices outside the store three times, but spent most of her time by Jiang Yao’s side, never leaving her.
Life was calm yet dull; as time passed and with the hustle and bustle far behind them, Jiang Yan began to lose her motivation to reopen the business.
Sister Tan, after seeking help one night, had lost contact. Eventually, Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao restarted the store and resumed operations.
The business was quieter than expected, falling far short of being just a bit brisk; they could barely break even, turning Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao’s ambitious plans from a month ago into a source of anxiety.
Feeling responsible for the current situation, Jiang Yao’s mood sank, and she found it harder to smile at customers.
The only comforting aspect was that after thirteen days of deep slumber, Jiang Yao had actually reached the mid-level servant realm. If she exerted herself with boiling blood, even some lower-ranking knights might not be able to stop her.
The two external hormone inhibitors had long been used up, but fortunately, no worrying incidents had occurred in these days, allowing Jiang Yan to recover from her sense of luck.
In the days following their reopening, shop owners on the street whispered about alarming rumors.
Seven or eight days prior, several incidents occurred in Yushui Street, not only in the Taihe Community but also in several neighboring communities, where crazed individuals attacked others due to drug overdoses. The police had begun twenty-four-hour patrols.
Three days ago, identical incidents had occurred in neighboring Tongda Street and Fuping Street, further spiraling the situation out of control.
Every day, the street office’s spokesperson repeatedly disseminated warnings on various streets, with many community property management teams conducting self-checks and corrections.
Jiang Yan knew that the blood she had sent out that night seemed to be a lot, but for a pregnant blood clan woman, it might only be enough to last a week.
Sister Tan must have collapsed; perhaps it was for herself, but more likely for the child in her womb. After losing decades of real life, she had recklessly attacked ordinary people, be they neighbors or passersby.
The bloodthirst during her frenzy made every ordinary person Sister Tan encountered a victim of blood invasion.
However, why hadn’t Sister Tan left and was instead waiting for the dark arrow squad to arrive? What was she thinking?
Jiang Yan inexplicably developed a kind of indescribable sympathy for Sister Tan, or perhaps a desperate intuition.
After Jiang Yao learned about Sister Tan from Jiang Yan, this otherwise carefree girl also became noticeably dejected.
Perhaps this place, which had once made both girls consider living in peace, was now nearing the time for them to leave.
…
…
On July 2nd, Tuesday, at 7 PM.
In the secret base of the Hua country’s dark arrow squad at a military airport in the suburbs of City C, hundreds of men and women dressed in black combat uniforms stood fully armed in a conference hall, listening to the last briefing before departure.
“… In the past week, several vampire attacks on ordinary people occurred daily in the aforementioned urban streets, with more than half resulting in death from excessive blood loss or immune system failure. The others were, without exception, victims of blood invasion, leading to further attacks.”
“After intelligence positioning and on-site analysis, it has been confirmed that this is a large-scale blood invasion incident caused by a bloodthirsty black-blood knight. Due to the rapid spread and severe consequences, and because the opponent is extremely mad and cunning, this mission is designated as D+ level!”
“The mission area is the urban district, with numerous buildings and streets, and a permanent population of tens of thousands, so ensuring the safety of ordinary citizens is imperative!”
“… Relevant departments have coordinated to implement lockdowns, with the target locked on the Taihe Community and its surroundings on Yushui Street. This operation will deploy two assault teams and two support teams entering the lockdown area from four directions to initiate live captures, scheduled for 8 PM.”
After the female assistant finished her explanation and stepped aside, a tall young man expressionlessly approached the front.
Looking around at the serious and unfamiliar faces of the armored team members, Meng Huai felt a daze wash over him.
Before him stood the fully staffed armored squad’s assault team, restored after more than a month of renovations, totaling one hundred people. However, less than thirty had participated in the D City mission at the end of April, and the number of veterans was even more sparse.
With the squad nominally at full strength, the newly added recruits were almost all of ordinary blood type. This meant they had a significantly higher risk of blood invasion compared to rare blood type members, and worse compatibility with blood invasion immunity agents.
Though these young team members were elite recruits directly selected from regular army units, their military proficiency was extremely high, in Meng Huai’s view, the combat power of the assault team compared to a year ago had already fallen to less than half.
“The opponent is just a lone vampire knight acting in isolation with no other vampires supporting them. Just maintain high concentration as per your usual training, and even in a complex urban area, it can be managed easily. Now, let’s go!”
At Meng Huai’s command, the team members stood at attention, aligned and imposing.
On the main road leading to District J, dozens of military vehicles roared past, with traffic police managing the roads to ensure the convoy flowed smoothly.
On Yushui Street in District J, all roads leading to the outside and the various residential communities had long been sealed by the police hours ago. Residents within the barricades whispered among themselves, growing more excited and tense.
The police were finally taking action against the societal tumor hidden within the streets, and nearly every community owner group was filled with cheers of “Go for it,” “Support,” and “Strike hard.”
…
The old street corner, rendered deserted by the sudden lockdown, caught the snack shop off guard as they had just begun to set up operations.
All the furniture had already been brought back inside, and under the reminder from the street office staff, Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao obediently stayed inside the store, with the roll-up door tightly closed, waiting for the notification to lift the lockdown.
In their phones, various platforms still buzzed with joyous music or frivolous gossip; the commotion on one city’s street wasn’t enough to draw attention from the entire network.
Without needing to activate boiling blood, Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao could already feel the waves of turbulent and desperate energy spreading and roaming under the darkened sky outside.
One hour, two hours—time quickly flew by.
The sounds of semi-automatic shotguns, handguns, and even large-caliber anti-material sniper rifles were faintly heard. A justice operation in public view was in full swing.
Jiang Yan didn’t sit in a chair but stood in front of the roll-up door with her head slightly lowered.
“Brother… what’s wrong? Why hasn’t Sister Tan left…”
Jiang Yao seemed to sense something, slowly walking to Jiang Yan’s side and discovering that this usually serene and steady Jiang Yan had tear marks on her cheeks.
Jiang Yan touched the damp spots on her face, then slowly closed her eyes, the increasingly clear sound of gunfire outside accompanying her, while tears streamed down from the corners of her eyes like unvoiced lyrics.
Facing Jiang Yao’s terrified and anxious inquiry, Jiang Yan could only shake her head vigorously, remaining silent.
It seemed they both had a premonition of something yesterday, as Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao had early on injected hormone inhibitors and a few other drugs that could mask body checks. This decision was made in a last-minute contact with Zhao Peng a few days ago.
A familiar scent was approaching, and it felt even weaker.
Like waiting for an opera’s curtain call, Jiang Yan, clutching Jiang Yao’s arm, disregarding the street office’s warnings, pulled open the roll-up door and quietly looked out at the dimly lit street.
A staggering shadow rushed quickly across the old street, as if recalling something, turned around, and darted toward Jiang Yan’s store.
There, the roll-up door was wide open.
Finally, the shadow exhausted its strength, stumbling inside the snack shop.
Sister Tan, in all black attire, had been shot in the waist, exposing her charred flesh from silver ions; one torn sleeve revealed a distorted and damaged arm.
Her face, neck, and arms bore singed bloodstains on any visible skin. Her disheveled hair framed her face, and her eyes expressed a mix of fervor, despair, and fear, along with an atmosphere of chaos.
“Sister Tan!”
Jiang Yao exclaimed, about to step forward, but was held back by Jiang Yan. Turning around, she saw albeit Jiang Yan’s calm face now bore hints of coldness.
“Little girl, I… I want to go home… I miss my parents…”
Sister Tan lay back, spitting out a mouthful of charred blood, a faint smile of relief forming at the corners of her mouth.
“But you’ve harmed so many innocent people… I’m curious, why haven’t you left?”
Jiang Yan stared fixedly at Sister Tan on the ground, coldly speaking.
“Ha, this is my home… My husband treated me well; I’ve let him down. I want to be buried with him… Thank you for sending me on my last journey… You must live well…”
Sister Tan breathed weakly, her hands slowly covering her abdomen, gently patting as if comforting the small life within her that was not yet two months old.
A solitary purple butterfly quietly flew into the shop, fluttered a few times, then landed on Sister Tan’s hand, folding its wings, motionless.
Outside, distant street sounds grew louder with hurried footsteps approaching the only shop with its light still on at the old street corner.
A dozen fully armed men and women dressed in black combat gear surged into the snack shop.
Each of them held menacing semi-automatic shotguns, with many guns still emitting faint wisps of smoke.
“The target has been captured and is undergoing physiological exhaustion.”
A half-masked young female officer knelt beside Sister Tan, injecting an unknown substance into her, before turning her head to look at the two sisters standing stunned inside the shop.
The crowd parted, and another tall young officer strode in, first glancing at the incapacitated vampire knight on the ground and then examining Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao.
As he lowered his mask, the young man revealed his face.
Compared to Jiang Yan’s unchanged cold expression, Jiang Yao’s pupils suddenly constricted, and she lowered her head with a terrified expression.
“Don’t be afraid; it’s safe here now.”
Meng Huai looked around the shop’s decor with a relaxed face and finally directed his gaze at Jiang Yan.
The black-haired girl across from him, her big clear and cold eyes were also looking back at him.
They merely gazed at each other, devoid of emotion, as if she had no interest or fear of his appearance, creating an inexplicable familiarity.
“All right, stand down!”
Meng Huai slowly turned his head, slightly nodding to the female officer beside him: “Tao Qiao’er, please conduct a check on these two young ladies.”
Tao Qiao’er pulled down her mask, wearing a gentle smile as she approached Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao, taking out a portable thermal imager and a small box from her waist.
Body temperature normal.
“Please hold this in your mouth for thirty seconds, then take it out. If there has been any intake of prohibited substances recently, it will show a positive result.”
Opening the small box, Tao Qiao’er took out two flat plastic sticks and handed one to each of the two girls.
Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao exchanged silent glances and nodded in agreement.
When the time was up, the two testing sticks showed negative results for abnormal internal blood clan hormones, thanks to the potency of the internal hormone inhibitors, which could almost be mistaken for reality as long as they weren’t in a bloodthirsty state.
“Everything is normal, thank you for your cooperation. If there are any damages in the store, you can register at the street office, and there will be personnel dispatched for assessment and compensation. Goodbye.”
With one last envious glance at Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao’s figures, Tao Qiao’er turned to leave.
Sister Tan was carried out of the store and placed into a special black rectangular box before being loaded into a military vehicle.
Everything fell silent again, and at that moment, every community owner group on Yushui Street erupted in cheers.
Only at the old street corner did the two sisters stand still at the empty side of the road, looking up at the moon in the night sky in silence.
(End of Volume One)
