Chapter 5: Rerecognition
Hengtong Town, straddling the national highway, controls a vital traffic route. During the May Day holiday period, numerous vehicles pass through, making all kinds of shops along the national highway doing well, bright and lively.
Gu Yao sprinted through the shadows of the streets, feeling as if he had endless physical energy. The blood intake he experienced while half-asleep felt dreamlike and satisfying, as if every cell in his body was celebrating.
He could see the multistory building of the town clinic ahead, but to cross the bright national highway, Gu Yao had to slow down, finally pressing against the side wall of a small restaurant.
Ahead at the intersection of the national highway, a temporary checkpoint suddenly appeared, with a police car swaying its blue and white flashing lights parked on the roadside, while a special police armored vehicle blocked a third of the roadway.
More than twenty vehicles obediently lined up in front of the temporary checkpoint, undergoing inspections similar to those for drunk driving.
Gu Yao’s pupils dilated as he spotted several men and women in black uniforms beside the special police vehicle; the special insignia on their arms clearly belonged to the Dark Arrow Unit!
Staring at the sign of the town clinic a hundred meters away, Gu Yao could only slowly retreat, planning to detour to a more distant stretch of the highway.
Minutes later, Gu Yao finally reached the exterior wall of the town clinic. With a slight push, his lightweight body flew into the greenery inside the wall.
He adjusted his uniform slightly, trying to make the outfit, which was already misaligned with his physique, fit better, then slipped into the power distribution room outside the medical building.
Inside the clinic, apart from the streetlights outside the main entrance and a few rooms equipped with emergency backup power systems, almost the entire building was dark, and the startled voices of medical staff could be heard in the darkness.
He climbed up to the third floor along the water pipes at the base of the wall. A tactical flashlight illuminated the wall’s directional map, and Gu Yao confirmed the locations of various departments. In less than two minutes, he found the blood bank.
At the town-level hospital, the inventory of the blood bank was naturally very limited, but for Gu Yao, it was more than enough.
He opened the temperature-controlled blood refrigerator and collected bag after bag of blood without even looking at the blood type labels, even taking related transfusion medical equipment.
Outside the blood bank, footsteps could be heard coming from the end of the corridor. Gu Yao climbed out the window, supporting himself with one hand on the water pipe, and slipped back into the dark night.
Returning to the small building where he was staying, Gu Yao realized he was drenched in sweat. The already foul smelling combat uniform and fitted T-shirt felt even more uncomfortable against his skin.
According to the first-aid manual he had studied, Gu Yao connected the transfusion device to Xia Yan’s vein, attached the portable electric blood pump, and finally tore open a bag of cold blood, stuffing it into his tactical T-shirt and pressing it against his stomach to warm it.
Uh, no, this is way too cold! It’s going to take forever to warm this up!
Feeling the increasingly weak breaths of Xia Yan and the undetectable temperature on her forehead, Gu Yao gritted his teeth and directly connected the blood bag to the transfusion device.
Before he knew it, the bright moonlight quietly spilled into the spacious living room, casting onto the white tiles and walls, gradually coating the room in a soft silver glow.
Under the moonlight, Xia Yan lay on the sofa with her eyes shut tight, her arm connected to the transfusion device. Amid the gentle noise of the electric blood pump, her breathing gradually stabilized, and the rhythm of her chest started to rise and fall.
Sitting backward in a wooden chair with his arms draped over the backrest, Gu Yao quietly watched the sleeping girl before him.
Moonlight intertwined with her black hair, a wet towel lay over her fair forehead, and her long eyelashes fluttered slightly with her rhythmic breathing, as if she were dreaming intensely. Below her delicate and gentle nose, her small mouth was tightly closed, and her lips were beginning to glisten.
“Hey, so beautiful…”
He mumbled suddenly, then was taken aback, raising his hand to give himself a phantom slap.
Uncertain of how much was appropriate, Gu Yao continued to transfuse Xia Yan with two bags of blood as the crowing of roosters echoed outside, and it was only when immense drowsiness overtook him, his eyelids heavy, that he propped his arm against the backrest and quietly fell asleep with his head resting on his arm.
…
“Brother… what time is it…”
Uncertain how long he had slept, Gu Yao hazily heard footsteps and caught a whiff of familiar instant noodle aroma. Rubbing his waist, he sat up from the sofa.
“You’re up? Quick wash up and eat…”
Xia Yan came out of the kitchen, two large bowls of shiny noodles in her hands, each topped with a boiled egg.
“Oh… ah? Brother, you’re okay!”
Gu Yao habitually twitched his nose, glanced around, and then realized that all the curtains in the room were drawn tightly, obscuring the outside view. He suddenly remembered the events of the night before.
In front of the coffee table in the living room, Xia Yan, wearing a dark green tactical T-shirt, bent over to place the large bowls on the table, her slender waist and long legs creating a subtle curve on her chest that slightly bulged.
“What are you looking at… eat and wash up quickly, you can’t wear those clothes anymore.”
A gentle yet straightforward voice emanated from the girl, as Xia Yan walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window, gently pulling apart the curtains to peek outside for a few seconds.
Only then did Gu Yao notice that the room was filled with a strange, foul odor from both Xia Yan and himself. After wearing the same clothes for over thirty hours, they had become so smelly that their sense of smell was dulled.
“Oh… okay.”
Gu Yao quickly lowered his head and began to wolf down the noodles, cracking the boiled eggs in just a few bites, stuffing his cheeks like a hamster getting ready for winter.
“Brother… how are you feeling?”
After finishing half a bowl of noodles in one go, Gu Yao finally raised his head.
How did he feel?
Xia Yan paused with her chopsticks, looking up at Gu Yao. Her once-bright eyes, now back to their normal color, sparkled with light, and she wore a gentle smile: “Xiao Yao, thanks, I feel great.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Yao suddenly felt his nose tingle, as if the tension from his daring night-time theft had only just released at this moment.
“Brother… I should be thanking you. If it weren’t for you yesterday, I would have been dead.” Gu Yao rubbed his nose, avoiding Xia Yan’s gaze.
“Alright, let’s not be so sentimental between us… Have you finished? Let’s wash up and change clothes. I found some suitable ones for us. By the way, remember not to open the windows to avoid drawing attention from the neighbors.”
Xia Yan reached across the coffee table, gently ruffling Gu Yao’s head. Only then did she notice that at some point, the white long hair Gu Yao once had now displayed a faint golden hue, making him look even more pleasing to the eye.
…
Walking into the bathroom, Gu Yao first saw a pair of youth-sized overalls, a snow-white loose T-shirt, and a fluffy white towel hung up on the rack.
“…”
Slowly reaching out to touch the overalls, he looked down at his stinky clothes and was momentarily at a loss for what to do.
Suddenly recalling something, Gu Yao quickly glanced down at his abdomen and realized that the puncture wound from the blood-and-flesh appendage last night had completely healed.
I… I’ve turned into a female vampire with my brother…
Gu Yao silently unzipped his black combat suit and tossed it to the corner, staring at the unfamiliar girl in the mirror with faint golden hair. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his tactical T-shirt…
Listening to the slight sound of running water from the bathroom around the corner, Xia Yan was in the living room looking at the map, feeling a tinge of embarrassment, her cheeks faintly flushed.
“Brother… I… I’m done.”
A soft mumble came out as Xia Yan shifted her gaze from the map and looked up to find a youthful girl with a mix of red and white coloring in her face.
After bathing, Gu Yao’s damp, light golden hair fell half-stuck and half-draped behind him; his thoroughly cleaned face and neck were flushed with a rosy hue.
The pure white T-shirt was paired with playful youth-styled denim overalls, with a pair of snow-white feet in slippers, and he didn’t know what to do with his hands cluttered with the towel.
“Okay, it’s my turn to wash up. I marked some locations on the map; you should take a look so we can discuss our next actions later.”
As she spoke, Xia Yan got up and walked down the corridor behind Gu Yao, and in that moment, she directly snatched the towel from Gu Yao’s hands.
“Something feels off… didn’t I forget something?”
The body sensations overlooked during yesterday’s desperate escape had returned, extremely heightened, and without the towel covering his upper body, Gu Yao felt a strange discomfort on his chest.
Damn! It feels like I’m only wearing a T-shirt, and there’s nothing inside!
Glancing at the mildly swollen white T-shirt, Gu Yao suddenly remembered something.
“Hey! Brother! Where’s the bra?!”
Gu Yao turned back and exclaimed in a baffled tone.
Inside the closed bathroom, the sound of a black-haired girl crashing to the floor was heard.
