Rebirth of the Vampire's Iceberg Hunter - Chapter 1

In the opulent hall of a grand villa, an oppressive atmosphere of despair hung heavily over the few people present. Each person stared, pale-faced, at the large clock at the front of the hall, not uttering a single word. The relentless tick-tock of the clock seemed to strangle their breaths, as death drew closer with each tick.

“It’s all your fault!” a beautiful woman trembling on the sofa finally broke the suffocating silence, her voice shaking with despair. “If you hadn’t come up with those terrible ideas in the first place, the Chuan family wouldn’t be in this mess!”

“Hmph!” The man opposite her, dressed in an impeccably tailored suit and gold-rimmed glasses, sneered. “Don’t forget, Second Aunt, she’s your daughter! You showed no mercy when you struck her down. How can you blame us? Oh, and…” His smile turned sinister. “Perhaps she’s here to repay your maternal love!”

For him, a swift end was preferable to this agonizing wait. His voice carried the desperate resolve of a cornered beast.

The beautiful woman’s face paled as her sore spot was struck. Whatever she was thinking, the fear in her eyes deepened, yet she remained uncharacteristically silent.

“Shut up!” The head of the Kawai family, Kawai Yoru, equally stung, angrily hurled the water glass beside him at his nephew, who had dared to mock his wife. “Insolent brat! Even your father wouldn’t speak to me like that!”

“Ooh, what a lively scene! Did I miss some good drama?” A familiar, bone-chilling voice cut through the hall. Though the words carried a playful tone, the crowd seemed to choke, their breathing growing labored. No one had forgotten the horrors this voice had heralded in the past.

When the demonic figure materialized before them, every person in the room froze, afraid to even breathe. No matter how exquisite her appearance, it couldn’t mask her true nature as a devil. Bloody images connected to this woman flooded their minds.

Some, unable to bear it, began to vomit.

“You wretched child!” Seeing that familiar face, Chuan Ye felt no fear, only a sense of liberation. In just one year, he seemed to have aged ten years. During that time, he had witnessed the destruction of the Chuan family firsthand, yet he could only watch, powerless to intervene. As the head of the Chuan family, without the family, his life had lost all meaning. Staring at the blood-soaked woman before him, Chuan Ye’s greatest regret was not having strangled her at birth! This failure had led to the annihilation of the entire Chuan family. The memory of the Chuan family’s future hopes being slaughtered before his eyes drove him to curse aloud: “You wretched child! You’ll face retribution sooner or later!”

“A father who isn’t a father, a mother who isn’t a mother! And you still expect a filial child? Hahahaha…” How ironic! Though Chuan Mei had grown accustomed to her father’s twisted logic, she couldn’t resist mocking him: “Oh, by the way, where’s your filial son, my dear brother? I’d love to learn from him!” Of course, Chuan Mei knew that her “dear brother”—who had drained her blood for twenty years and then tried to kill her after she became a vampire—had been sent to his final destination just minutes ago.

Chuan Mei’s gaze toward Chuan Ye grew colder. Heh, were they being naive? Or had he failed to project sufficient power? They actually believed he would spare the mastermind behind his tragedy. No matter. He’d send them to reunite soon enough. Then they’d understand.

“You! You! What have you done to my Song’er?” The middle-aged woman seemed to come alive at the mention of her beloved son, her eyes widening with frantic energy as she shrieked, “He’s your brother! You monster! What have you done to him? Give him back to me!” She lunged at Chuan Mei as she spoke.

“Too noisy!” Chuan Mei impatiently picked at his ear and waved his hand dismissively. No one noticed the fleeting flicker of pain that crossed his delicate, pale face. Perhaps even if they had, no one would have believed it.

A large black bat immediately enveloped the woman. “Is it too late to remember I’m your daughter now?” the voice grew colder. “For nearly twenty years, your daughter has been supplying blood for your so-called younger brother and this family. I believe I’ve repaid the debt of my birth! Now, isn’t it time for you to repay what you owe me?”

Chuanmei struggled to calm her agitated heart, stirred by the resurfacing of unbearable memories.

Her heart, which she thought had grown numb, trembled at this absurd outburst. Chuanmei curled her lips into a sardonic smile. Even after witnessing this so many times, I still react this way. I truly am starved for affection!

Chuanrui suppressed the strange emotions rising within him. He had come too far to doubt himself now. This was the consequence of abandoning his faith and freedom—the outcome he had sought. How could he question it now?

The members of the Chuan family, seasoned hunters accustomed to grand spectacles, still found their legs trembling as they watched the black bat slowly turn crimson.

Seeing the anguish on everyone’s faces, Chuanmei told herself, This is what they deserve! This is what they owe me!

How ironic, she thought. After all this time in the vampire world, I still feel compassion. Wasn’t the lesson from back then enough?

“Stop wasting your energy. It’s useless,” Chuanmei said, glancing at Chuanye, who was repeatedly casting exorcism spells, only to fail each time. “Do you really think any exorcism spell would work against me?”

The bat enveloping the middle-aged woman suddenly released its wings, and a mummified corpse was tossed to the ground.

Watching the color drain further from the faces of the crowd, and then glancing at the wide-eyed, petrified corpse on the ground, Chuanmei suddenly felt a profound sense of emptiness. After a decade of struggle, sacrificing her freedom and abandoning her faith, risking her life for this very moment—a scene she had imagined countless times to fuel her hatred and remind herself who had caused her suffering—now that it was finally real, she found no joy in it. Instead, she felt utterly lost. The people who had pushed her into hell were now reduced to this, but she wasn’t as satisfied as she had imagined. There was no triumph, only a crushing sense of disappointment.

The vampire within her clamored incessantly, driven by its thirst for blood. Yet Chuan Mei felt utterly lost. What was the point of living now? Before, all her energy and passion had been focused on self-improvement and exacting revenge. But now that her vengeance was complete, where should she go?

Despite her inner turmoil, Chuan Mei hadn’t forgotten about the group of people she’d captured. Letting them go was out of the question, but she suddenly didn’t want to dirty her hands.

Expressionless, she released the blood demon she had starved for days. Then, she retreated from the place that held half a lifetime of painful memories.

Heart-wrenching screams erupted behind her. Chuan Mei didn’t even flinch. As she listened to the agonizing cries she had once imagined, her heart didn’t find the relief she had anticipated. Instead, she felt even more lost.

Emerging from the Chuan family’s ancestral mansion, Chuan Mei felt utterly adrift. Yes, adrift. Since she could remember, she had been alone, locked in a black mystic iron box until her eighteenth birthday, when she unexpectedly transformed into a vampire. During all those years, she had known almost nothing of the world.

When she was locked in the iron box, knowing nothing, all she did was wait. She waited for the doctors in white coats, even though each visit meant pain from blood draws and days of weakness. Little Chuanmei still longed for their arrival, because only then was she not alone. Later, when a gentle woman brought the person she believed to be her younger brother to her cage, a yearning bloomed in Chuanmei’s heart. Afterward… afterward… afterward, Chuanmei wished there had been no afterward, that she had never harbored such foolish hopes.

Wandering aimlessly through the bustling night market, she heard the hawkers’ cries and watched people stroll by—some alone, others hand-in-hand, or groups laughing and chatting. Seeing their radiant, happy faces, Chuanmei suddenly realized she had never truly smiled, neither in the Chuan family nor later as a vampire. She rubbed her face, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t force it into a smile like theirs. Had her facial muscles grown too stiff?

For the first time, a powerful longing stirred in Chuanmei’s heart. She recalled a childhood thought: Could I… could I smile like these people?

But why were they smiling? Chuanmei couldn’t grasp the feeling.

She grabbed a laughing girl passing by. “Why are you smiling?”

Chuanmei reached out, her hand trembling, to touch the girl’s upturned lips.

The girl startled, but her expression softened when she saw Chuanmei’s face.

Seeing the girl’s dazed gaze, Chuanmei frowned. “Tell the truth.”

The girl’s eyes drifted away from Chuanmei, becoming bright and focused.

“I’m smiling because I feel happy, joyful, or perhaps… content and fulfilled,” the girl said, her voice brimming with satisfaction, as if recalling a cherished memory. Her entire being radiated happiness.

Before Chuanmei could speak, a blinding light flashed before her eyes. Before she could react, a searing pain tore through her, and she lost consciousness.

In her unconsciousness, Chuanmei missed the bitter smile that crossed the girl’s face as she watched Chuanmei vanish into thin air.

This is the only thing I can do for you. The rest is up to you. I hope you find happiness. Don’t waste your life the way I did.