Chapter 16 Brothers
May 14, Tuesday.
In the snow-white single patient room, the faint scent of air freshener filled the air.
Meng Huai, dressed in a hospital gown, leaned against the head of the bed, still browsing a tablet in his hand. Suddenly, a news item appeared on the local hot search that made his pupils constrict.
“According to Mr. Wang from N City, a strange deformed biological corpse was discovered in the feed formulation room of his pig farm, and the scene was severely damaged.”
“After receiving the report, the police determined through the footprints at the scene and some surveillance footage that it was a human prank.”
“Expert identification revealed that the so-called deformed biological corpse was made of a special synthetic material. Based on the clues, the police quickly identified a certain university student from the N City Film Art Academy who conducted artistic creativity for his graduation thesis…”
“After being criticized and educated, the student has admitted his mistake, stated he will no longer engage in such actions, and is willing to compensate Mr. Wang for the related losses. The police reiterated that one should not believe rumors and not spread them.”
Then followed thousands of comments that were either exaggerated, silly, or conspiracy theories.
Meng Huai scoffed, tossed aside the tablet, rested one hand behind his head, and fell into deep thought.
There was a knock on the door, and Meng Huai turned to see Tao Qiao’er leaning on a crutch, with one leg and one arm in plaster, struggling to walk into her ward with the support of a nurse.
Only when the nurse exited the room did Tao Qiao’er show a sweet smile. “Captain Meng, you’ve been lying down for half a month; everyone is quite worried.”
“Just focus on your own recovery; why care about me… The attending physician has already confirmed that I’m fine, and I can be discharged this afternoon. I’ll return to the base the day after tomorrow.”
Meng Huai’s face was cold, not accepting the other’s goodwill.
Tao Qiao’er seemed to be accustomed to her captain’s attitude; after all, the rules within the Xuanjia Team were to keep personal distance from each other to avoid deepening relationships.
“Captain Meng, did Xia Yan and Gu Yao really escape…?”
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Tao Qiao’er lowered her head and spoke softly: “This time, we directly lost twenty-six people, and fifteen suffered permanent disabilities. Xia Yan and Gu Yao are missing. You were not awake before, so the intelligence team could only analyze through the recovered helmet recorder and found that Xia Yan and Gu Yao were infected with blood…”
“Yes, at that time, my physical condition was unable to handle things on the spot. I will submit a written report on the task summary and responsibility issues to my superiors.”
Meng Huai closed his eyes, and the scene of Xia Yan performing first aid on him flashed in his mind—her eyes reddened by the smoke and fire, and her plain smile.
“Um… Captain, what exactly was that big meatball that day… When you were unconscious, the superior ordered a confidentiality directive, and I heard that an investigation team even came from headquarters.”
Tao Qiao’er’s face turned a bit pale, as if she had not yet emerged from the shadow of that desperate bloody battle.
What caused the Xuanjia Team’s heavy casualties was not the big meatball; it was the vampire knights who rushed madly to protect it, which still sent shivers down Tao Qiao’er’s spine.
“Since it is confidential information, don’t inquire further. Soldiers obey orders as their duty.”
Meng Huai’s mind churned with memories of that time; even though he was reluctant, he could only silently accept the current outcome.
“Hehe, not dead yet, Meng Huai!”
At the moment of their silence, the door was pushed open, and a spirited female major with a mysterious smile appeared at the doorway.
Behind her, a nurse wore an awkward expression, seemingly having failed to stop her.
“You go back to your own room to rest; I’ll have a chat with Captain Han.”
Saying this, Meng Huai gestured to Tao Qiao’er and then coldly stared at the female major who walked in.
“After lying for half a month, you must have rested enough. Oh, you seem to be doing quite well!”
Watching the limping Tao Qiao’er leave, the major turned her head to look at the ward’s conditions, slightly nodding: “I heard that almost all the veterans in your Xuanjia Team have been wiped out; even the deputy captain was infected, yet you survived… sigh, I was thinking I could select someone from the Embroidery Team to be your replacement!”
“In my dreams… Han Xiao, regarding N City, I remember it’s under the inspection area of the Embroidery Team. How did a deformed vampire corpse get exposed?”
Facing the provocation and ridicule from the leader of the Embroidery Team, Meng Huai remained indifferent, his emotions showing no ripples, and instead threw back a topic that might embarrass her.
“Hmph… Isn’t it the result of your last oversight? To put it simply, it’s been confirmed that Tang Zhaowen from Tiantang Agricultural Trade, one of the escapees from your previous operation in D City, tsk tsk, a baron in the upper echelon. Probably snuck into N City after escaping, only to be ambushed by some unforeseen black blood clan members. They found him dead in a pig farm on the outskirts of N City the night before last.”
“I only arrived on site yesterday noon, hehe, a proper baron of the blood clan actually being forced into madness by the black blood clan; his body was mangled as if a dog had chewed it up, with most of the organs removed.”
“I guess it’s my bad luck this time. Not recovering the corpse is a common practice of the black blood clan, and I still have to clean up this disgusting matter! Sometimes, I really wonder if they are our helpers.”
Han Xiao didn’t care whether Meng Huai was listening or not, rambling on extensively.
“Are you here today just to pin this incident on the responsibility of the Xuanjia Team?” Meng Huai coldly scoffed.
“I just came to inform you that since the Xuanjia Team was severely damaged, the task of capturing Xia Yan and Gu Yao has been assigned to me.”
“The Xuanjia Team is not completely wiped out; what do you need to worry about? I will apply for a reconsideration to the superiors.”
Meng Huai was taken aback, then turned to stare intensely at Han Xiao’s somewhat mocking face, feeling a growing heaviness in his heart.
“I’m wondering if you have regretted turning the Xuanjia Team into this state? In my team, everyone can drink, dance, and fall in love; if anyone is unfortunate, they are just tied up, and then let the intelligence team’s security group deal with it.”
“In the Embroidery Team, although members might feel sad for losing comrades, there would be no cruelty in personally taking action. They could even turn grief into strength.”
Han Xiao frowned, seemingly quite averse to the cold relationship maintained between members of the Xuanjia Team, which facilitated handling situations when blood invasion occurred.
“Hehe, burying one’s head in the sand, eating one’s own children… You aren’t doing any better than me, Major Han.”
Meng Huai scoffed, the sarcasm on his face quite evident.
“You! Forget it; I’m not going to argue with a solitary commander!”
After finishing, Han Xiao took out a notebook, suppressing her emotions: “Alright, I won’t tease you anymore. I’m here today just to understand the situation of Xia Yan and Gu Yao; perhaps it’ll help in the next stage of our pursuit.”
Seeing the serious expression on her face, Meng Huai suddenly felt like laughing.
“Enough already, I’m not interested in discussing this; you figure it out yourself. Take care, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
Meng Huai issued an eviction order, and Han Xiao’s beautiful face suddenly showed anger: “Hmph, it’s no wonder you end up being all alone!”
After the discontented leader of the Embroidery Team left, Meng Huai felt a bit of relief.
“Nurse, please help me remove the IV drip.”
…
That night, an off-road vehicle with military plates drove into a high-end community in District Q of City C, stopping outside the central villa.
Meng Huai, dressed in military uniform with the rank of major, quickly walked into the main hall of the villa.
Perhaps having received the news of Meng Huai’s discharge earlier, Zhong Hai had the housekeeping team prepare a welcome dinner for his recovered eldest son.
Zhong Jing, who rarely returned home, also appeared, but at the dining table, he always wore a mysterious smile while occasionally glancing at his half-brother across from him.
Zhong Jing was dressed in casual formal attire, radiating a sunlit casualness, while Meng Huai, dressed in a crisp military uniform, appeared serious and stoic. The two brothers in the dining room exuded completely different images and temperaments. Zhong Jing was about 180 cm tall, while Meng Huai was at least over 185 cm, and they did not even bear much resemblance in their features.
Meng Huai was the product of a reckless fling when Zhong Hai was young, a euphemism for an illegitimate child, brought home at the age of four, just as Zhong Hai’s legitimate wife had given birth to Zhong Jing.
The atmosphere in the dining room was eerie; Meng Huai stoically focused on a dish before him, eating heartily, while Zhong Jing casually drank wine without touching his food. Most of the time, Zhong Hai and his wife silently exchanged glances.
“Eldest brother, what missions have you participated in to suffer such severe injuries? Last time at the hospital, you still hadn’t awakened.”
Zhong Jing raised a glass of wine, bending down to personally pour half a cup for Meng Huai: “You should be part of a regular army unit, right? How come you’re involved in domestic missions?”
“Military secrets, and you want to inquire? Mind your own business and stop messing around outside all day!”
Meng Huai frowned, slowly raised his head, his expression gradually growing serious as his sharp gaze pierced directly into his brother’s eyes.
“Hehe, I just think our Huaguo soldiers are very admirable; I respect my brother. Here’s to you!”
Zhong Jing avoided Meng Huai’s gaze, awkwardly smiling as he raised his glass.
“The wound isn’t fully healed; I’ll pass on the wine. You two enjoy, I’ll return to my room to rest; I have a meeting at the unit tomorrow.”
Meng Huai finished the last half bowl of rice and got up to leave the dining room, slightly changing the expression of Zhong Hai and his wife’s faces.
“Hmph, see? I said the eldest wouldn’t be grateful; it’s still little Jing who values brotherhood, calling you big brother on the left and big brother on the right! Forget it; come on, dear son, let’s drink!”
Cheerfully toasting with the socialite, Zhong Jing secretly glanced at his silent father Zhong Hai.
“Alright, as long as he can return, it shows he still cares about this family. Now that he’s fine, I can rest assured. He’s a soldier; protecting his home and country is his duty, so don’t go prying into things.”
After speaking, Zhong Hai put down his bowl and chopsticks and leisurely walked out of the dining room.
“Tsk, such self-comfort… By the way, dear son, do you have enough money? I’ll transfer some to you tomorrow.”
“Hey! Thanks, Mom!”
Zhong Jing smiled happily, but inside, his doubts grew even stronger.
…
In comparison to Zhong Jing’s extravagant living space, Meng Huai only had a small bedroom at home.
Sitting at his desk, he slowly pulled out an old photo frame from a drawer, quietly looking at the two figures inside.
The photo was taken by his biological mother on his fourth birthday, depicting an elegant and beautiful woman, dressed simply, alongside a young boy who faintly resembled her.
A considerable portion of the photo was stained with dark red blood, as if it had been dredged from blood long ago, appearing cruel and unimaginable.
Looking at the photo, Meng Huai’s lips began to twitch slowly, finally tightly closing his eyes as he groped to return it to the drawer. It was only when the slight sound of closing the drawer echoed that his expression relaxed a bit.
In his mind, the scene from shortly after his fourth birthday that haunted him for over twenty years resurfaced.
His mother, who had been his only companion, lay in a pool of blood, her entire body pierced by eerie, long, frozen blood needles, while a terrifying and twisted deformed monster was viciously biting at her carotid artery.
Accompanied by ominous sounds, his mother collapsed to the ground, her eyes still holding the last trace of clarity, staring intently at the little boy hiding under the bed.
Young Meng Huai fainted on the spot, and when he woke up, he was already in the hospital.
A few days later, when he returned to the small rental room with an aunt from the street office, the bedroom that had flowed with blood during that dark night appeared as tidy as if time had reversed, as if the horrific silent opera had never occurred.
Meng Huai’s biological mother, Meng Xiang, was determined to have died suddenly from a heart attack at night. During those days when Meng Huai was in a coma, she had already been cremated and buried.
Arranging for his mother’s funeral was a stranger, who claimed to be his father.
Meng Huai was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, with all his memories attributed to severe mental delusions resulting from his mother’s death.
From childhood to adulthood, Meng Huai could never confirm his experiences to anyone, growing up amidst the constant bombardment of nightmares.
Until the day he turned eighteen, when he received his college admission notice, a mysterious soldier stopped him at the high school gate and presented him with a mysterious military school admission notice.
Memories of people and events replayed in his mind; Meng Huai didn’t know how he drowsily climbed into bed, his face covered in tears, drifting off to sleep in a daze.
…
…
In a rental room in an old apartment in District J.
“Ah! Brother, you’re awake?”
Morning sunlight streamed into the bedroom, where Gu Yao, who had been beside the bed playing games all night, was about to get up to use the bathroom when he saw the black-haired girl on the bed move her arm, and her tightly closed eyelids showed slight changes.
Her long eyelashes trembled gently, as if consciousness was reviving.
Jiang Yan hurriedly put down the mouse, quickly walked to the bedside, and held the girl’s hand, feeling her pulse gradually improve from below thirty beats per minute to above sixty.
“Mm… I had a very long dream, dreamt that I was discharged…”
Opening her eyes slightly, Jiang Yan adapted to the glaring sunlight that drove away the darkness, mumbling softly.
“You’ve been asleep for three whole days! If you hadn’t shown no other symptoms, I would have thought…”
Gu Yao finally relaxed completely, slowly and gently propping her up.
I slept for three days!?
Jiang Yan was also slightly surprised, but that astonishment quickly dissipated, replaced by an indescribable sense of pleasure in her body.
Jiang Yan felt an overwhelming lightness as if she had filled up on nourishment after conserving energy for a long time.
“Brother, over these past few days, I felt your aura was… how should I put it, very impressive! Just like that Huang Gu we met! Did you break through to some… servant level?”
Recalling the sharp aura that Jiang Yan had exuded while sleeping over the past few days, along with the slight, peculiar fragrance emanating from her body, Gu Yao’s eyes were filled with visible envy.
“Hmm? You can sense it too?”
Jiang Yan’s eyes finally adjusted to the light, and she regained control of her body, extending her hands to examine herself.
Advancing to a new level is a term for a blood clan’s significant power breakthrough, usually entering a dormant state to enhance various micro-physiological functions of the body.
For example, Jiang Yan, who advanced to the level of a servant, now possessed night vision abilities that ordinary people could not reach.
As the level continually rose, the strength of the blood clan would grow stronger, leading to longer periods of dormancy. Once reaching the baron level or higher, the dormancy period after a breakthrough could often be measured in years, sometimes even ten or twenty years, during which the body’s metabolism would be at its lowest, akin to a state of suspended animation.
Of course, due to failed breakthroughs or even dying during the dormancy phase, there were quite a number of blood clan members who ended up perishing.
“Mm! I get it! You definitely drank the blood of that black blood clan knight! I should have licked a few drops too!”
Jiang Yan showed a hint of regret, as if she felt she had missed out on a fortune.
Just a few days ago, she was still a bottom-tier blood servant, and now she had been promoted to a low-level servant? It was an unheard phenomenon, and it was happening to her.
In truth, wasn’t Gu Yao also an existence that left people puzzled?
What exactly did that strange huge meatball monster turn me and Gu Yao into?
Looking at Jiang Yan’s excited yet slightly worried face, Jiang Yan gently shook her head, brushing away the current unanswerable questions from her mind, simply patting her arm and smiling silently.
By the way, how did I return to my home? Who changed me into this sleepwear?
Suddenly thinking of something, Jiang Yan touched her clean thigh, turned back, and looked at Jiang Yan’s face, saying nothing, just tugging at her own sleepwear.
“Hehe, it was that old hag who brought us back. Oh, I already prepared the blood and medicine we bought that day… uh… Brother, you must be hungry, right? I’ll cook some porridge for you! You should lie down a bit longer!”
Jiang Yan seemed to understand Jiang Yan’s expression, and halfway through her sentence, she diverted the topic, quickly walking out of the bedroom.
Hehe, what was I overthinking… Back at the welfare home, didn’t we share a bed? Her being able to help me change means she’s considerate.
Jiang Yan shook her head, a touch of self-mockery appearing at the corner of her mouth.
