Chapter 72: The Forbidden Fruit Appears Again
The sunlight was just right, the breeze gentle, and everything seemed lovely. Yu Xian walked side by side with Nora along the street leading to the Supernatural Academy. Passersby who crossed paths with them couldn't help smiling like proud aunties witnessing something beautiful.
Both Yu Xian and Nora were exceptionally attractive and brimming with youthful energy. Walking together, they looked like a prince and a princess straight out of a fairy tale, a perfect match.
Nora watched other students heading to school in the distance and smiled. "I've always wanted to experience something like this. It feels wonderful."
Ever since she was little, she had always travelled to and from school in a private car. In elementary school, she would often look out the window with envy at groups of classmates walking together, chatting and laughing on their way to school. Now, she finally had a friend willing to walk to school with her. She was genuinely happy.
Yu Xian merely smiled in response. His attention, however, was focused on appraising Nora's status panel.
Name
- Nora Rex
Codename
- Dazed Goose
Race
- Mutated Mix-Blood Vampire
Gender
- Female
Age
- 17
Lifespan
- 5322
Rank
- Lower Ant rank
Affiliation
- Daughter of Duke Marcus Rex
[Abilities]
Daywalker
- Grants the user immunity to damage from sunlight while increasing resistance to various light-attribute attacks.
Blood Flame
- Can ignite and manipulate blood to create crimson flames with temperatures reaching 1,500 degrees Celsius, possessing extremely powerful destructive power.
Summary
- A beautiful weakling.
Yu Xian already knew Nora wasn't particularly strong. What truly surprised him was that her lifespan was the same as his. They were both seventeen years old and had a lifespan of 5,322 years. The coincidence was almost unbelievable. Could it be that Nora and I will die on the same day, in the same month, in the same year?
For some reason, a comic-strip-like sequence of images suddenly appeared in Yu Xian's mind. He and Nora graduated together. Then came marriage. They raised children together, watching them grow up year by year. As time passed, the two of them gradually grew old. Eventually, they lay side by side in a hospital bed, holding hands with contented smiles on their faces. Then, on the very same day, they peacefully passed away together while their children wept sorrowfully around them.
Wait. Something is wrong with that script. We are both vampires. Even if we could have children, neither of us should die of old age.
Walking beside him, Nora noticed that he had drifted off into thought. "What's wrong?"
Yu Xian looked at her. "Tell me, if you and I were destined to die on the same day in the future, what do you think it would..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Nora's fair face turned as red as an apple. Her eyes became bright and watery as she gazed at him. The sight was so unexpectedly beautiful that Yu Xian completely forgot what he had been about to say.
The atmosphere suddenly became a little awkward and intimate. The two fell silent and continued walking forward side by side.
***
Over the next half month, Yu Xian settled into a routine of attending school during the day and occasionally joining Zhang Kai on night patrols. As for his abilities, he first unlocked Super Stomach, then Super Gustation. The results were exactly as he had hoped, and he regained the ability to eat ordinary food.
Of course, Super Gustation wasn't without its drawbacks. It was simply too sensitive. As a result, his standards became extraordinarily high. Any dish loaded with additives or prepared carelessly would taste so bad that he would have to spit it out after a single bite.
One evening, Yu Xian was sitting in a patrol car while Zhang Kai drove. Zhang Kai glanced at the box of fish balls in the young man's hand. "Yu Xian, I've noticed that you really like eating fish balls."
For the past two days, he had seen Yu Xian carrying the same small paper box filled with fish balls.
Yu Xian replied, "This shop makes really good fish balls."
Among the many restaurants in the Eastern District, only one fish-ball shop used genuine ingredients and handled them with near-perfect care. It resulted in a flavor so good that Yu Xian never grew tired of it.
Naturally, quality came at a price. A small box containing only six fish balls cost him 320 yuan. Fortunately, he wasn't short on money and could afford to eat them every day.
Yu Xian had originally harbored another expectation for Super Stomach, hoping that consuming food would replenish energy and allow him to awaken new abilities sooner. However, he discovered that Super Stomach could only digest food and restore physical stamina. It could not, like Light Feeder, accumulate the energy required for his heartbeat.
It was because of this that he finally understood the true significance of the phrase "supply the various needs of the user's body" in Light Feeder's description. Clearly, a vampire's heart required an entirely different kind of energy. While ordinary vampires could only accumulate it slowly by drinking blood or letting it build up over time, Light Feeder allowed him to directly and rapidly replenish this specialized energy. That was why he had been able to awaken his abilities so quickly.
The two chatted as they patrolled, stopping from time to time to deal with supernatural creatures. At first, it seemed as though the night would pass uneventfully. But as their patrol car reached the Western District, a pillar of crimson light erupted from the Southern District. The beam shot upward from a residential building more than twenty stories tall, dyeing the entire sky red.
Yu Xian immediately created a bubble in front of the patrol car. Having witnessed his abilities before, Zhang Kai reacted without hesitation and slammed his foot on the accelerator, driving straight into the bubble. The next moment, the patrol car emerged in a park in the Southern District.
The two jumped out of the vehicle and sprinted toward the source of the light beam. The location wasn't far from the park, so Yu Xian didn't bother setting up additional bubbles. By the time they arrived, many residents had already evacuated the building and gathered outside.
The residents immediately broke into a heated discussion.
"The red light is coming from the sixteenth floor. It has to be Zhang Heng's apartment. I live directly below Zhang Heng. I heard him laughing hysterically just now. It sounded like he'd discovered a Forbidden Fruit in his apartment."
"A Forbidden Fruit? Doesn't that mean Zhang Heng is about to become a supernatural being?"
Yu Xian and Zhang Kai exchanged a glance. Yu Xian created a bubble around the two of them and rapidly ascended toward the sixteenth floor. Forbidden Fruits had never been all benefits and no drawbacks. The archives in the Qilin app contained countless tragic cases involving people who had consumed them.
Sitting inside the bubble, Zhang Kai continuously issued orders through his phone. He directed the incoming officers from the Combat Police unit to evacuate civilians and seal off the entire area to prevent potential mass casualties.
On the sixteenth floor, in what appeared to be the kitchen, a man floated in midair. He radiated crimson light. The blinding glow pierced through walls and ceilings as though they did not exist, forming a massive pillar of red light that stretched into the sky.
Zhang Kai could not help but remark, "I wonder what kind of wish he made. This is way too dramatic."
Yu Xian frowned. "I've got a bad feeling about this. If things go wrong, I'll immediately transfer him out of the city. Captain Zhang, go inside and investigate. See if he left a diary or anything similar. We need to figure out exactly what his wish was."
Zhang Kai nodded. "Got it. Be careful. If you can't handle it, retreat immediately. With your abilities, nobody can stop you if you really want to escape."
There was an unwritten rule regarding Forbidden Fruits—the greater the phenomenon, the greater the price. This crimson pillar could be seen from anywhere in Silver City. Combined with the fact that nobody knew what kind of power Zhang Heng had wished for, Yu Xian suspected there was a very good chance the man would be unable to pay the required cost.
Zhang Shou had already been remarkably restrained when making his wish, yet the Forbidden Fruit still put him through unimaginable suffering. Zhang Shou rarely talked about it, but one didn't need much imagination to know that repeatedly experiencing death could not possibly be pleasant. Worse, he had to regularly kill himself to reset his condition.
The current spectacle was on an entirely different scale. Yu Xian had already prepared himself for the worst possible outcome.