Rebirth of the Vampire's Iceberg Hunter - Chapter 6

Life continued unchanged despite the brief incident between the two. Yet Chuanmei grew increasingly bored. Gong Nan had abandoned her cynical demeanor, refusing to be provoked no matter how hard Chuanmei tried. Every time Chuanmei deliberately teased her, Gong Nan would simply look at her with the indulgent expression one might reserve for a child’s mischief, leaving Chuanmei feeling the full weight of the world’s malice. To have teased the Hunter World Queen, especially when she was still a Vampire. What a thrilling achievement! Something she had never managed in her previous life, now accomplished effortlessly in this one. How could this world betray her like this?

At first, Chuanmei had tried to strike up conversations with Gong Nan. But the more she interacted with her, the more Gong Nan seemed like a bratty teenager. Despite being a half-grown girl herself, Gong Nan would frequently glare at Chuanmei with an icy, unforgiving gaze. Deciding it was best to ignore her, Chuanmei reduced their interactions to barely two words a day. In Chuanmei’s mind, Gong Nan’s image had shifted from the cold, ruthless Hunter Queen of her past life to a cynical, short-tempered, angsty teenager, and now to this aloof, inscrutable half-grown girl.

With no one to talk to, Chuanmei felt truly lonely. Yet she refused to leave, still uncertain about what had happened to Gong Nan. Though she would never again mingle in the Hunter World or the Vampire World, knowing what had befallen the future Hunter Queen beforehand would be invaluable.

When bored, Chuanmei would stare intently at Gong Nan. At first, Gong Nan would glare back, but after realizing Chuanmei was completely unfazed by her icy glares, she stopped acknowledging her altogether. The more Chuanmei observed Gong Nan, the stranger she found her behavior. Especially when Gong Nan occasionally showed a restrained, almost suffering expression when outside, Chuanmei couldn’t reconcile it with the cold, aloof demeanor she displayed in her presence. Is she suffering from split personality disorder?

Chuanmei’s intuition told her Gong Nan was acting. There was no logical reason for this conviction; it was purely a gut feeling.

Don’t underestimate a Vampire’s intuition. Some call a Pureblood Vampire’s intuition prophecy… well, Chuanmei’s Pureblood status was a bit different. Her veins carried not only the Pureblood lineage of Vampires but also the Pureblood lineage of the Hunter Clan. So, when her intuition proved accurate, it was considered prophecy; when it failed, it was dismissed as a delusion. This made her no different from ordinary humans, except that her intuition was slightly more often correct than incorrect.

Utterly bored, Chuanmei found herself growing restless with these days of solitude—or, more accurately, days of being ignored.

Maybe I should go check out the others at the dormitory, she thought.

So far, she had only seen two orphans at the orphanage: herself and Gong Nan. Well, technically, neither of them were orphans; they were child laborers. Once, when Chuanmei asked Gong Nan why, Gong Nan glared at her and said in a slightly menacing tone, “Those who know too much don’t live long.”

Chuanmei silently pondered the lifespan of Vampires, then chuckled inwardly. Of course I need to know! I’m already worried about how to spend this endless life!

For Chuanmei, going anywhere was never a challenge—it all depended on whether she felt like it.

While Gong Nan napped, Chuanmei slipped away.

“So that’s how it is,” Chuanmei thought as she arrived at this life-shortening place. She now understood why Third Aunt’s attitude toward her had changed after learning she was a girl. The classroom was filled with boys, all around ten years old, sleeping face-down on their desks.

But what truly astonished Chuanmei was the familiar equipment in the classroom.

It was the Blood Refinement Instrument, a device she knew well from her time at the Vampire school. Its purpose, as its name suggested, was to improve blood purity. The instrument’s light deactivated certain transport proteins in cell membranes, preventing RNA responsible for translating specific blood proteins from exiting the cells. Over time, the concentration of these proteins in the blood would decrease, though they could never completely disappear. After all, Vampires needed to drink blood, and those blood sources would always contain traces of these proteins. Unless one was a Pureblood, there was no way to prevent their absorption. Unlike humans, who could break down and reabsorb proteins, Vampires absorbed them directly. Purebloods, on the other hand, lacked the genetic sequences for these proteins altogether.

Chuanmei was furious. These were just children, not vampires! How could they be treated this way?

For humans, lacking a single protein in their blood was a devastating blow!

Could this be why Gong Nan was here?

Chuanmei pondered.

“Hey, classmate?” A voice suddenly called out from behind her.

Chuanmei turned to see a pale-faced boy standing before her.

“Classmate, hurry back to your classroom! If the teacher finds you, you’re in big trouble!” The boy’s voice trembled slightly, as if recalling something terrifying.

“Then why are you here?” Chuanmei asked, standing in the corridor.

“I… I’m… Why am I here?” The boy’s face clouded with confusion.

In truth, Chuanmei was even more puzzled. She had entered invisibly to avoid detection, yet this boy could not only see her but also touch her. She examined the boy again.

Wait a minute! This isn’t a boy at all! It’s a girl!

“What are you doing here?” Chuanmei asked, feeling certain she wasn’t mistaken. This place seemed to be off-limits to girls for some reason.

“I… I don’t know!” the girl mumbled, lowering her head. “I just remember falling asleep one day in my dorm. When I woke up, the world had changed. I was in a strange building, even though I’d fallen asleep in my own room. I was terrified and ran outside, only to realize they couldn’t see me anymore. And…” The girl seemed to recall something terrifying, her body trembling violently.

“Don’t be afraid,” Chuanmei reassured her. “Those bad people can’t see you now either. Tell me everything you know, and I’ll help you get revenge!”

The girl’s courage surged at the words “those bad people can’t see you now either.”

She lifted her head and looked at Chuanmei. “Sister, do you really mean it? Can you help them get revenge?” Before Chuanmei could answer, she added, “You can see me, which means you’re stronger than those bad people! You must be able to help us get revenge!”

“When I came back, I realized they couldn’t see me anymore. Then, one day, I saw them make all the boys leave, leaving only the girls. And then…” At this point, the little girl’s tears began to fall, and she let out a soft sob.

Chuanmei understood. This explained why there were no girls here. But what was their purpose in raising these children? Why had all the girls been killed?

Chuanmei comforted the little girl for a while. Once the girl had calmed down, Chuanmei asked about the situation here.

Based on the girl’s answers, Chuanmei began to piece together a vague picture.

Originally, there had been girls here. But after the incident involving this little girl, the people here killed all the remaining girls. The remaining boys spent most of their days sleeping. In other words, they slept through all their time outside of mealtimes.

The little girl also mentioned something that caught Chuanmei’s attention: every year, for a few days, the boys would be taken to the tallest building in the orphanage and wouldn’t return for two days. The little girl insisted that while the number of boys returning was correct, they weren’t the same boys who had gone in.

This immediately piqued Chuanmei’s interest. She was certain that this was the key to uncovering the greatest secret hidden here.

“When did this happen?” Chuanmei asked.

“It was on June 16th,” the little girl replied, her memory crystal clear. That was the day she had fallen asleep and everything had gone wrong.

June 16th? That’s only a few days away, Chuanmei thought to herself.

“Come with me,” Chuanmei said, realizing that leaving the girl here was no solution.

“Sister… I… I don’t want to leave…” All her memories were here. Unlike her sisters, she had been abandoned as a child, and this place was her home. The other girls were her family. Because others couldn’t see her, she had overheard fragments of conversations, piecing together the reason her beloved sisters had died. It was all her fault. If not for her, they would still be alive! That’s why she had to stay here, to witness the villains’ demise with her own eyes before she could rest in peace and tell her sisters that their tormentors had finally faced retribution. She had failed them…

Seeing the fire ignite in her eyes, Chuanmei said nothing more. Everyone had the right to choose their own life. If she were truly just a little girl, Chuanmei would have tried to dissuade her. But she wasn’t. If Chuanmei’s intuition was correct, the girl’s current state was the result of a genetic mutation caused by the Blood Refinement Instrument. However, Chuanmei couldn’t determine the exact nature of the mutation. Perhaps staying here was truly the best option for her. Chuanmei saw a hint of reluctance in the girl’s eyes, unsure whether it was for the past or for the people who had once lived here. Chuanmei struggled to understand this behavior, but she knew she had a slight emotional deficiency, as the others had pointed out. That was why she couldn’t fully grasp it. Still, not understanding was one thing; interfering was another.

As Chuanmei left, she wondered about the likelihood of the Vampire World’s involvement in this matter.

Two days later, Chuanmei had found nothing beyond what the little girl had told her. The girl herself had vanished, as if she had been waiting solely for Chuanmei’s arrival. She wondered if her intuition was accurate this time…

No matter. June 16th was fast approaching.

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