Chapter 12: Lion Radiance
Yu Xian kept a close eye on Yu Wei all the way until noon. However, the teacher showed no signs of anything being amiss. His scent was that of a normal male adult, no tentacles were squirming beneath his skin, and his heartbeat was perfectly steady, indicating there were no foreign objects inside his heart.
Furthermore, through his prolonged observation, Yu Xian had discovered that Yu Wei suffered from various ailments, including kidney stones, lower back muscle strain, and rhinitis. He was just a regular middle-aged man. There were some signs that he worked out, but not much. It perfectly fit the profile of a Grade 9 PE teacher.
Yu Xian was baffled. If something really was wrong with Yu Wei, he wasn't able to figure it out. "Strange..."
Standing beside him, Zhang Shou couldn't help but ask, "Salted Fish, if you really think something is wrong with Mr. Yu, why not just report him to the soldiers? Once they lock him up and thoroughly check him out, we'll know for sure."
Yu Xian hit him with a barrage of questions. "And they'll just believe me if I report him? What if they don't find anything? By the way, where's Nora?"
Zhang Shou opened his mouth, just to realize he could only answer the last question. He explained to Yu Xian that Nora’s status was rather special, due to her father being the diplomatic envoy of the Blood Race, so her bodyguards had picked her up the previous night.
"Okay." Yu Xian sighed. He had originally wanted to ask for Nora's input.
Though Nora could be a bit airheaded at times, resembling a beautiful, dazed goose, she had a mind of her own. Or rather, it was precisely because she was too smart and thoughtful that she appeared a bit dazed during critical moments.
***
All the students were brought to separate tents to undergo investigation and questioning in the afternoon. Yu Xian entered one of the tents, where he met with a man and a woman. The pair first told Yu Xian not to be nervous before proceeding with the routine questioning.
"Name?" asked the female staff member.
"Yu Xian. 'Yu' as in surplus, 'Xian' as in virtue." [1]
"Gender?"
"Male."
"Age?"
"Seventeen."
"Race?"
"Human? Vampire?" Yu Xian replied, sounding rather uncertain.
The female staff member smiled warmly. "As long as you consider yourself human, you can mention human."
After a moment's thought, Yu Xian firmly said, "Human it is, then. Either way, I'm never drinking blood again for the rest of my life."
The two staff members filled out Yu Xian's basic profile, then asked him to carefully recall the previous day's events and narrate them in detail. Initially quite relaxed, the two took notes as they listened, but as the story went on, their expressions completely changed.
What? This kid is the one who discovered the Aberrant Parasites?
What? The Public Security Bureau was infiltrated?
What? He even encountered the suspected leader of the Aberrant Parasites?
Once they finished jotting down Yu Xian's story, the two couldn't help but exchange wide-eyed glances. They told Yu Xian to wait in the tent and hurriedly left with the report in hand.
After a tense hour of waiting, the tent flap opened once more. A square-jawed, middle-aged man entered alongside an imposing, fierce-looking young man. They took their seats across from Yu Xian.
The young man was the first to speak. "I am Jin Sheng, and this is Jin Dajun. We're here mainly to verify a few details with you."
The moment the young man stepped inside, Yu Xian thought he was staring directly into the sun. Moreover, the man's heartbeat sounded like a roaring lion. He was clearly no ordinary human.
Yu Xian took a deep breath, his expression tense. "Alright, I'll answer all your questions to the best of my ability."
Jin Dajun couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't be nervous. We already have a pretty good grasp of the situation. Not only did you expose the Aberrant Parasites' plot and force them to act prematurely, but you also saved so many of your classmates during the disaster. No one here is going to give you a hard time."
Jin Sheng pulled out a phone and played an audio clip. "Yu Xian, listen to this. Is it Zhou Tai's voice?"
The audio was incredibly noisy, punctuated by occasional, distracting screams. Yu Xian listened intently as a strange, awkward male voice spoke eerily in the recording.
—Director, isn't this world a fascinating place...
Chen Qingsong’s wife had secretly installed a listening device in his office, originally intending to gather evidence of an extramarital affair so that she could secure more assets in a divorce, although both of them were now dead. However, the listening device had recorded a highly critical conversation, which eventually wound up in the hands of Jin Sheng and his team.
With a serious expression, Yu Xian said, "The voice is about sixty percent similar, but the tone is practically identical. I'm certain it's him!"
Both Jin Sheng and Jin Dajun looked solemn. Zhou Tai had been extremely dangerous even as an ordinary human. Now that his twisted personalities could not only control the Aberrant Parasites but even inhabit the body of one, his threat level had skyrocketed. If they didn't deal with him soon, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Yu Xian couldn't resist asking, "May I ask what the Aberrant Parasites' original plan was?"
Jin Dajun took a deep breath. "If you hadn't exposed them, the parasites would have gradually devoured the entirety of Silver City. Every ordinary human would have become their food or host until Silver City turned into their nest. If it had truly come to that... I'm afraid we would have lost any chance of completely wiping them out."
Jin Sheng gave Yu Xian a deep, meaningful look, as if hinting at something. "Yu Xian, is there anything else you'd like to ask?"
The two were already fully aware of Yu Xian's background before entering the tent, knowing him to be a good kid suffering from ALS who was forced to become a wild vampire through illegal means. Moreover, despite barely being able to protect himself, he had still acted out of a sense of righteousness and ultimately made the right choice.
Because of his choice, at least tens of millions of people in Silver City had survived. It was a truly monumental contribution. With this kind of "golden shield" around him, the state would absolutely not leave him to fend for himself. Neither the Blood Race nor any other force would dare lay a finger on him.
Yu Xian rubbed his hands together, asking with a look of pure yearning, "Um... I wanted to ask, do I have a chance to join Qilin?"
Jin Sheng froze for a moment, then shot a glance at Jin Dajun. Jin Dajun immediately tried to clear his name. "It wasn't me! I didn't say a word. Just like you, this is my first time meeting Yu Xian."
"Yu Xian, who did you hear about Qilin from?" Jin Sheng asked.
Jin Dajun laughed. "No need to ask. If I'm not mistaken, it must have been Marcus's precious daughter, right?"
He couldn't help but boast, "Yu Xian, you've certainly asked the right person. This kid right here is a member of Qilin. Ranked 89th, codename Lion Radiance. As for me... I'm his old man! Hahahahaha!"
Jin Sheng stared at Jin Dajun, completely speechless. The reason he had immediately suspected Jin Dajun was that Jin Dajun had already bragged to every single one of his comrades, or anyone he ran into, that his son had joined Qilin.
Jin Sheng let out a sigh and looked directly at Yu Xian. "Are you certain you want to join Qilin?"
His original intention was for Yu Xian to request protection from the state. The state would simply need to notify the Blood Race, declaring Yu Xian was under their protection, and as long as he didn't leave the country, the Blood Race wouldn't even dare fart in his direction.
Even though the public constantly hyped up how powerful the Blood Race was, on the national level, it was merely a second-rate faction. After all, it lacked even a Dragon-rank powerhouse.
The main reason the Blood Race were usually allowed to hunt down and eliminate wild vampires was that most of those who became wild vampires weren't good people to begin with, often resorting to attacking ordinary humans to satisfy their thirst for blood. Consequently, the state turned a blind eye to it.
But for someone like Yu Xian, who possessed a clean track record and had saved a city of tens of millions, the Blood Race didn’t amount to a hill of beans in the eyes of the state.
1. The name Yu Xian is made up of the character 余 (Yú), which carries the meaning of 有余 (yǒuyú, surplus or abundance). This gives him a vibe of always having something extra or never running out of resources. Meanwhile, the character 贤 (Xián) is associated with 贤者 (xiánzhě, a sage or virtuous person), hinting at high intelligence, wisdom, or a strong moral compass. ☜