Chapter 176: Recognizing the Truth of the World
Another morning filled with gratifying labor, Meng Huai returned to the small farmstead bare-chested. A large pot of noodles with seven or eight eggs solved his hunger problem, and a cold shower chased away all his fatigue.
Back in his room, Meng Huai turned on his phone—Hyacinth had issued a third-party-registered SIM card to each member.
News about Old Street in Northern Myanmar was scarce, and for the past month, it mainly centered around local armed conflicts in Northern Myanmar, showing no signs of more valuable content.
He searched for “Hyacinth.” Apart from some similarly named businesses operating in unknown corners, there didn’t seem to be any connection to the current Hyacinth Mountain Villa he was at.
The Jinhe Club was quite famous in City C, but the names of its registered corporate entities were unfamiliar, clearly indicating a well-packaged operation.
He never expected that the Jinhe Club, which he had frequented, was actually a gathering place for the outcast blood clan… Meng Huai couldn’t help but shake his head in silence.
Perhaps, it truly was only by becoming part of the blood clan that one could fully experience the helpless reality of blending into ordinary society.
His gaze fell beside the bed, and Meng Huai bent down to retrieve his “recovered” canvas bag.
The bank card, Myanmar passport, cash, and blood clan potions were all intact, and there was an additional sealed large envelope.
Opening the envelope, he found a household registration book, ID card, bank card, and a bunch of small items related to his new identity spilling across the table.
As he flipped through the brand-new household registration book and ID, Meng Huai smiled at the familiar yet strange photo and tossed it aside.
After counting the entire contents of the canvas bag several times, Meng Huai sighed softly, resting his hands on his head against the bed’s headboard, slipping into a thoughtful state.
Closing his eyes, the events of the past month flitted through his mind like a carousel, the memories piercing like needles into his temples.
Black blood clan, lunatics, addicts, Hyacinth, Jiang Yan… Reflecting on the changes in his mental and physical state and various actions over the past days, Meng Huai felt suddenly ridiculous, absurd to the point of almost not resembling his former self.
It was a strange half-awake state, and upon reflection, all that had happened felt unreal.
A soft knock at the door broke through his thoughts, and Meng Huai opened his eyes, nearly jumping up as he stared fixedly at the door.
It was a familiar aura; the corners of Meng Huai’s mouth twitched slightly as he glanced at the pile of things on him, took a deep breath, and grabbed the jacket from the bedside.
“Just a moment.”
After speaking, Meng Huai quickly tidied away the items on the desk, finally shoving the canvas bag under the bed.
The door opened, revealing Jiang Yan in sportswear, hands clasped behind her back, as if holding something, her face adorned with a faint smile.
The atmosphere felt strange; the two stood silently staring at each other, neither initiating conversation.
A few seconds later, Meng Huai’s hand, which hung at his side, curled into a fist, and he could only ask, “Is your sister feeling better?”
The opening line was awkward; Jiang Yan nodded gently and then lifted a large bag in her hand: “You don’t have many clothes to change into; I bought you some more online. The sizes should be fine.”
Saying that, without waiting for Meng Huai to express any opinion, Jiang Yan moved to the bedside and began pulling out more items from the bag—another new suit and several casual outfits and shoes.
Apart from the new suit, most of the items were already unpacked, clearly washed.
Meng Huai remained silent, simply watching as he felt increasingly uneasy.
Meng Huai, have you remembered everything by now, when it all began…
There were many memories; it felt strange… Meng Huai studied Jiang Yan’s profile, hesitating before nodding, “Now it feels quite unreal here.”
Are you disappointed?
Jiang Yan collected the old clothes Meng Huai had tossed at the foot of the bed and hugged them to her chest, her expression cool as she said, “You should have known since the day you were blood-infected that your life would be different from before.”
Unexpected events can happen at any time; I never thought that much.
Meng Huai glanced at the brand-new clothes on the bed, the restlessness he had been holding back for a few days growing more uncomfortable, and he sighed heavily: “Let’s go out for a walk; there’s a nice little stream nearby.”
By the unnamed mountain stream, a man and a woman walked before and after one another, the gentle spring water winding freely between the rocks. At times they would sit suddenly, exhilarating; at other times, it would spread out leisurely, relaxed; at times it would jam together, restless and agitated.
Why are you a blood clan member? You knew me a long time ago, didn’t you?
Jumping over a shallow stone blocking the way, Meng Huai turned back, reaching out to help Jiang Yan, suddenly asking.
Her finger stopped just a centimeter away from his fingertip, and Jiang Yan’s face paled slightly.
Both their fingertips trembled slightly, close yet unable to accept the touch of each other.
In Meng Huai’s mind, countless images flashed, like a fast-reversing movie, then suddenly paused: in the welfare institute’s children’s activity room, Jiang Yan was holding a three-year-old girl, looking at him with mild surprise.
Then, the scene continued to retreat to deeper memories, eventually freezing: in a small store, a pair of young sisters were staring blankly at him, fully armed, without a trace of fear; those eyes were strangely familiar.
Looking back at these memories through the lens of being a blood clan member, everything suddenly felt different.
Why were you at the welfare institute? Were you really just volunteering?
Meng Huai turned around and pulled the dazed Jiang Yan over the big stone, then sat down, bending to pick up a pebble from the stream and toy with it in his palm.
Does this matter? Do you think I have ulterior motives? Or is it that blood clan members don’t have the right to do these things?
Jiang Yan sat on another large stone not far from Meng Huai, took off her sports shoes, rolled up her pant legs, and her fair calves splashed in the stream.
Meng Huai turned his head slightly, his brows furrowed; the doubts in his heart only grew as he continued to dig into memories, the details he once ignored surfacing more and more.
I’m sorry, I just want to live like an ordinary person…
Jiang Yan lowered her head, her voice very soft.
It’s all just coincidences, right? Including… including how you saved me at the Wanquanli Commercial Plaza, and what happened on Old Street…
Meng Huai fixed his gaze on the black-haired girl, his tone gradually turning cold: “Answer me, did you know I was part of the Dark Arrow very early on?”
He was completely awake, yet you questioned me first?
Jiang Yan felt a chill run through her body; a blend of strong grievance and anger surged, clogging every crevice of her mind and body.
Meng Huai, do you think I have been plotting against you all along?
Who is it that clings to me every time to share a bunch of dead people’s stories?
Who was it that sold their misery with their life, desperately stirring me up?
Who was it that before waking up acted like a lunatic or an addict, clinging to me?
Do you think not shooting you in the head and making you suffer is not enough for you to endure the humiliation of this world?
Jiang Yan stood in the stream, gritting her teeth, her face alternating between red and white, all the discomfort she had bottled up for half a year spilling out.
Yes, do I even have the energy or time to consider your existence, to consider your feelings towards this world, or your views on me?
Shouldn’t I be more concerned for Xiao Yao’s safety? The truth surrounding her and me, the partners from Hyacinth, is the most important!
Without waiting for Meng Huai to react, Jiang Yan bent down, picked up a stone, and slammed it into the water, her anger boiling, retreating barefoot like a spring launched outward.
Meng Huai stood there, his mind a mess, yet his expression remained indifferent.
Tightening his grip, the pebble felt heavy in his hand; flipping it over, the pebble fell into the stream as though something was pulled from his heart and discarded, causing a pain that made his whole body tremble.
In the distance, Wan Yue stood quietly in a pavilion halfway up the mountain with Zhong Jing and He Jianqing, looking down at the rocky beach of the cave below.
“Perhaps the time for a meeting isn’t right,” Wan Yue smiled, turning away, “Zhong Jing, it’s a bit far, but it’s enough for you to recognize.”
Zhong Jing stood dazed, his expression complex. Surprise, joy, absurdity, and heaviness; it both met his expectations and left him shocked.
“I despise coincidences, but I have to admit, my brother’s life is at an extreme low, yet also at an extreme high; even like this, he can still be pulled back by the Master and Jiang Yan…”
Zhong Jing lit a cigarette, looking at the tall young man in the distance, who appeared as small as an ant, the mockery on his face growing heavier.
“Lord Wan Yue, was Meng Huai infected by normal blood?”
He Jianqing suddenly recalled the bits and pieces of Meng Huai’s so-called recovery and return home from last year, her expression slightly puzzled.
“Oh? Miss He Jianqing, do you have any insights?”
Wan Yue turned her head slightly, her tone carrying a nearly imperceptible chill: “As far as I know, the Dark Arrow wouldn’t easily choose someone with a rare blood type for espionage; that would be too easy to expose.”
Zhong Jing was also taken aback, slowly frowning, beginning to ponder.
Wan Yue sighed, looking up at the evening clouds, her expression very serious: “Being imprisoned in a basement by the Black Dragon Society, tortured into a cripple, even if he doesn’t die under Jiang Yan’s gun, he may never see the sun again…”
“Ordinary Dark Arrow members, if they fall into the hands of the black blood clan post-blood infection, probably won’t survive beyond twenty-four hours. He has many secrets; it’s indeed abnormal… but I don’t care about these.”
“The Zhong family’s grievances with the blood clan world and the Fujihara family need someone to resolve them; Zhong Jing is an ordinary person and shouldn’t be involved… Am I right, Miss He?”
Finishing her sentence, Wan Yue dismissed the two behind her and walked down the mountain.
Having walked just a hundred meters, Wan Yue stopped, turning slightly, a mysterious smile on her face—within her perception, there was not only the chaotic aura of Jiang Yan losing control but also another stealthy presence approaching.
“Jing-kun, once I complete my revenge, let’s get engaged…”
Wan Yue’s figure disappeared; once no one was around, He Jianqing moved closer to Zhong Jing, reaching out her hand and wrapping her arms around his waist.
Behind the layers of green forest, a light golden-haired girl stood next to a large tree, quietly observing the pair in the distance squeezed between the visual cracks, a cold smile on her slightly flushed face.
“Hmph, a defeated opponent is still trying to garner sympathy.”
Jiang Yao touched her slightly heated face, recalling the few minutes of hugging Zhong Jing in his room that morning, quickly turning away, feeling a bit unsettled and pouting: “It’s not that comfortable to hug, boring…”
After glancing back one last time, her heart warmed, and an uncontrollable urge spread within her.
Jiang Yao quickly took a few deep breaths, pinched herself hard, and forcefully resisted the thought of revealing herself, retreating hurriedly.
……
The food in the small farmstead was still made by himself and had been that way for many days; usually, it was just a large pot of noodles mixed with a bunch of eggs and vegetables stewed together.
Meng Huai was not picky; in other words, he never invested too much interest in his appetite.
The contents of the canvas bag reappeared on the table, and Meng Huai grasped them, rubbing them before putting them down. He then stuffed the ID card, bank card, cash, and other items into his pockets, ignoring the blood clan potions.
His gaze shifted to a side, landing on several sheets of written notepaper—an extensive list of memories strictly organized along a timeline recording the bits and pieces of his acquaintance with Jiang Yan.
“Was your appearance truly just a coincidence?”
“Is this the life of blood clansperson parasitizing ordinary society? Will I live like this in the future…?”
In his mind, the image of Jiang Yan’s expression filled with anger and disappointment from two hours ago arose, and Meng Huai found it rather ironic, absurd, and unbelievable.
“Can I come in?”
The knock on the door and a female voice came at the same time; Meng Huai quickly crumpled the notepaper into his palm, then glanced at the items on the table and got up to open the door.
It was Wan Yue, in a long-sleeved shirt paired with a pleated skirt, elegant and fashionable, looking to be in her thirties at most.
Beautiful and captivating, deep-set eyes held the wisdom of time, poised and composed.
If not for that unfathomable aura, it would be hard to believe that this sensually enticing young woman was a high-ranking blood clan member whose level was at least that of a baron, and whose true age was not to be underestimated.
“Sister Wan.”
Meng Huai straightened up, keeping his gaze steady.
“You need to change some of these little habits; this isn’t a military camp…”
Wan Yue casually walked around the room, looking around, “Very tidy, it seems you have some psychological preparation for starting anew, much better than Zheng Shaolin back then.”
“Zheng Shaolin?”
Meng Huai frowned slightly, recalling that cheerful guy who always liked to get close to him.
“In the two years after he was blood-infected, he kept his room fixed like a military barracks, even folding his blankets into tofu blocks… In fact, it wasn’t just him; I was also once a part of the Dark Arrow.”
As soon as Wan Yue finished speaking, Meng Huai’s pupils abruptly contracted, and the hand clutching the notepaper trembled slightly.
“Regardless of age, in any world, I can be considered your senior.”
Wan Yue slowly walked to Meng Huai’s side, lifting a hand to gesture at herself, “And furthermore, I’m an old woman who doesn’t take her blood clan identity seriously.”
“You mean it’s lucky for me to encounter Hyacinth?”
Meng Huai maintained a straight posture, lowered his head in thought for a few seconds, revealing a self-mocking expression.
Wan Yue walked directly in front of Meng Huai, arms crossed elegantly, composed and unhurried: “Do you think you understand the blood clan very well? Heh, I thought so too back in the day…”
“I once firmly believed that the blood clan world was a hellish place for ordinary people—arrogant, sinful, and greedy for blood.”
“It’s a group that will stop at nothing for blood, status, power, and longevity, viewing ordinary individuals as ants or dishes on the table. I don’t know what the curriculum at the current Dark Arrow training center looks like, but at least I accepted this perspective back then.”
After finishing her sentence, Wan Yue seated herself at the desk, her gaze inadvertently drifting across the items on the table, a trace of a mysterious smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.
“Isn’t it so?”
Meng Huai also sat down at the bedside, maintaining an upright position, his expression unchanged.
Wan Yue nodded: “Indeed, most of the blood clan community conforms to your perception; even traditional blood clans operate this way. Strength is respected, the weak are devoured, a strict hierarchy exists, with any baron-level and below considered insects, looking down on frail ordinary people.”
“In these past days, you’ve seen how Hyacinth lives and how we interact… We are not just playing house, nor are we trying to fabricate any semblance to move you.”
“But have you ever thought that Jiang Yan, who already has one foot in the baron domain, would treat you like a couple? What gives you, a lesser-rank, mixed-sourced blood clan knight, the right to enjoy such treatment?”
“Another whose status has also reached half a baron, Jiang Yao, can sulk like an ordinary person, wary of any closeness between you and Jiang Yan; why wouldn’t she just make you disappear?”
“Or do you still think you are from the Dark Arrow, able to unveil what you perceive, including me?”
Meng Huai fell silent, bowing his head, neither agreeing nor disputing.
“In your understanding, this does not resemble the blood clan world you envision, filled with pretentiousness, hypocrisy, and naivety. The blood clan world should not be this way; it should be bloody and brutal, filled with greed, madness, and bloodlust…”
Wan Yue stood up again, pacing back and forth in the room, her smile becoming sharper: “There’s a saying that the common people of Hua country always believe that all developing countries in the world should be like themselves, yet the truth is quite the opposite.”
“People in European nations naturally believe they should party, eat, drink, and have fun for at least two months a year without working. People in African countries, on the other hand, see going three days with nine meals as a general rule of life, viewing hunger as normal; being full is an exception.”
“People in North America grow up listening to gunfire; in their perception, it’s difficult to understand what safety means when going outside, and carrying a gun is a natural behavior. Meanwhile, common people in Hua country stroll out at dawn only to find themselves trending on social media if they witness a couple arguing…”
“Look at this; it’s the world of ordinary people, filled with countless closed, contradictory circles… So, what about the blood clan world? Besides all the negative and evil things you believe, is there truly no good side?”
“The world itself has no true reality; only the consensus and recognition achieved by the majority through the same observation angles at specific times exist.”
“Every human group is guided by common expectations or agreements, drawing conclusions from reality. Thus, the consensus of the majority forms the truth of their world in their eyes.”
Wan Yue walked to Meng Huai’s front and gently patted his lowered head: “Child, you are fortunate; not only for encountering Jiang Yan but also for having the opportunity to step out of old consensus, to regain your understanding of the world of ordinary people, the world of the blood clan, and yourself.”
“Now, we, including Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao, are still merely a minority within the blood clan world, but if we strive to become the ‘majority,’ we can ultimately transform our consensus into the truth of the blood clan world.”
“No matter how few we are, we are one of the undeniable truths of this world, only hidden beyond the consensus of the majority—because we are also human…”
……
Meng Huai lost track of when Wan Yue left; yet, her every word echoed in his ears.
This mysterious, powerful, sexy, and elegant leader of Hyacinth seemed to have a mission-like understanding of this blood clan world, attempting to influence everyone around her from every detail.
The nightmares and truths from his childhood, along with Jiang Yan’s appearance, were they all a summons for him to re-recognize a collective, to understand a new world?
So, am I lucky?
Meng Huai walked to the window, gazing at the dark and dense forest under the night, his face filled with confusion.
