ATAPOW Chapter 21
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Chapter 21: Bloodthirst disease
A disordered dream.
‘In the chaotic darkness, a seemingly female voice was indistinctly whispering in my ears. The surroundings gradually emerged in front of my eyes as her voice slowly turned ever-clearer. What appeared was a broken village dyed in a scarlet hue, filled with dried and solidified blood deeply permeating its soil.‘
The surface of the ground was covered with disgusting and fragmented body parts that looked like a banquet prepared for vultures. The degree of damage done to the corpses made it utterly impossible to ascertain the race their owners belonged to. It was clear that the murderer was used to committing crimes with such an extremely savage, cruel, and proficient finesse.
A mournful wind brushed past, the sound it made was like the melodic sound of a symphony of instruments; joined together in a requiem for the vengeful spirits that had passed away. On a sandy hill, a girl was wearing a white gothic dress with black silk edges, her head hung down as she silently stood at the spot. Like two flowing rivers, her silver twin-tails flowing alongside with the wind. Her hands carried a huge, white sickle; A dragon skull was decorated on it while a red, iron chain winded around its body that was larger than two times the girl’s size.
The girl’s head silently remained lowered as apathy and dullness filled her gem-like scarlet pupils, as still, moist, blood drops continued to drip from the sharp sickle.
…………..
In a certain rental house situated on the outskirts of a human city.
“Ughh…” Creases could be seen all around a small bed. One could infer that the person sleeping on it didn’t have a peaceful night of rest.
A petite silhouette could be seen protruding out of a tightly wrapped blanket. It tossed and turned restlessly, unceasingly rolling back and forth from the front of the bed all the way down to its end. Only after repeating this procedure for a good number of times did a small head finally protrude out of its nest.
“Ummm…” A tuft of unbridled silver hair poured out in a torrent as it landed on the floor, while a pair of big scarlet eyes that carried a trace of sluggishness and drowsiness were stuck on a face filled with a confused, half-awake expression.
‘Thud.’ Alongside with the pressing sounds of a button, a somber white light filled up the entire room. A petite girl wearing loose male underwear was sitting in a loli-like manner on the bed. The light’s cool tint shone on her jade-white back as the girl’s eyes slowly began to focus.
“Umm… How could this be??” As he saw his silhouette from the bedroom’s mirror, Ji Bai slightly narrowed his brows. He had recalled that he was sure to have properly suppressed his vampiric side, so why did he automatically turn into a vampire during the night?
At the same time, thirst began to unbearably rush up from his throat while a hot, unstoppable passionate desire began to surface all throughout his body. This indescribable thirst and desire wasn’t something that could be eliminated by simply drinking some water. Only when he drank a certain amount of fresh blood from a sentient creature would he be able to temporarily allay this torturous desire.
‘Has this bloodthirst disease struck again? Darn it, didn’t I just drink blood yesterday? Why did it suddenly become so frequent now?’
He didn’t even have time to contemplate. Ji Bai quickly jumped down from his bed and rushed out of the bedroom, the thirst was so bad that he didn’t even consider bothering to wear his slippers. It wasn’t only until he arrived at the kitchen’s fridge did he stop.
The bloodthirst disease wasn’t actually a disease persay, but rather, it was a type of symptom. When a vampire hadn’t received the nutrients from fresh blood for a long time, their bodily functions would speed up their operations and cause their entire body to feel unbearably hot. If they were to still delay in drinking any of the blood forementioned, they would turn frenetic and their rationality would be incinerated under the fire of desire. They would then instinctively attack any living creature other than vampires until they manage to sate their hunger for blood.
“It’s just like how a human needs to eat when they’re hungry. However, when a vampire’s energy source is about to run out, the body will then instinctively release some kind of hormone that would accelerate their bodily functions while quickly burning the body’s remaining strength at the same time in order to find some food.” This was the explanation that Lilias gave to Ji Bai.
‘I-I found it! There’s still one remaining blood pack left~ Thank god!’
Just when Ji Bai had promptly decided to tear this blood bag open and pour it into his mouth, a voice suddenly resounded in his mind. ‘You’ll dirty your body that way! Alright?! What’s more, that posture is just too barbaric! It’s not lady-like at all!’
Thus, as if urged by the gods themselves, Ji Bai forcibly endured the heat that was thoroughly burning throughout his body. His slim fingers unhurriedly tore the package open, he gracefully took out a straw from his pocket with poise and then slowly inserted it into the blood bag.
By the time he had finished performing these actions, Ji Bai felt his tears were about to slip out.
This frightening habit had already been deeply embedded in his bone marrows. No matter the time or urgency, he would still have to execute it step by step as per customs.
‘It’s all thanks to that damnable, perverted loli! Sc*ew that deplorable vampire!’
As he verbally abused the seemingly distant and evil loli in his heart, the soothing scarlet liquid passed his taste buds. Ji Bai immediately felt extremely delighted; every cell in his body was giving out an ecstatic moan while the burning desire in his heart felt as if it was doused with basins of cold water; Whatever was left of its flames was slowly dying out within him.
‘Guru Guru~’ As he held onto the dried-out blood bag, Ji Bai heaved a long sigh. Only now did he realize that his back was already sobbing wet. A bitter smile began to uncontrollably form on his lips.
There were times when Ji Bai merely hoped to be just some opium addict that numbed their nerves and body. But what could this manage to accomplish? In order to prevent himself from turning crazy, this was already something beyond his control and an instinctive thing that he needed to do.
It wasn’t as if Ji Bai hadn’t harbored suicidal thoughts at the beginning. However, it was practically impossible as he was even clueless as to how to kill himself. For the idea of starving himself to death, it was even more ridiculous. Because of this illogical idea of his, he had previously gone berserk and slaughtered a number of villages.
‘Ring, ring, ring…’ Just when Ji Bai’s emotion was gradually subsiding, the phone heby his table began to vibrate. After picking it up and looking at the screen, he found out that it was from an unknown number.
Ji Bai oddly looked at the color of the skies outside. ‘It’s still dark outside, and from the looks of it, the time would be roughly 5am. Even without accounting for this fact, no one knows about this phone number, so who would give me a call?’
“Hello, may I know who you are looking for?” Ji Bai put the call through. What baffled him was how the other end had immediately turned silent after he/she heard his voice.
“… Have I dialed the wrong number perhaps? Isn’t this Ji Bai’s phone number?” The muttering voice on the other side made Ji Bai feel a sense of familiarity. It was as if he had heard this voice somewhere before.
“Sorry for being presumptuous~ May I know who you are?” Ji Bai asked tentatively.
“Ohhh! This big brother’s name is called Lin Tuo. I’m quite sorry, little girl. It seems that I dialed the wrong number…” A series of forced laughter began to echo out from the phone.