What It's Like Being a Vampire

Chapter 58: Late in the Middle of the Night

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Chapter 58 Late at Night

After his mutation, Xiang Kun no longer needed to eat, or rather, was unable to eat.

The only things he could keep down without vomiting were water and fresh blood, so there was naturally no need to cook or prepare food.

Anyway, even before his mutation, he seldom cooked for himself. At most, he would prepare instant noodles in his rented room.

However, the memory of the Giant Owl rummaging through the rubbish pile, finding the bagged rabbit carcass that he discarded, made him aware that his waste differed greatly from that of normal people.

What do normal people’s household waste consist of?

All kinds of kitchen waste, used tissues and toilet paper, bottles and cans, various trash bags, and other various items.

But what about Xiang Kun’s trash?

Besides the multi-layered bagged rabbit carcasses, his other waste was minimal, basically just some packaging bags, plastic bags and the leftovers and excrement from cleaning the rabbit cages.

Because he barely sweats, doesn’t eat meals, and doesn’t snack or drink beverages, he uses very few tissues, so his garbage can is often empty.

Of course, in their city the implementation of waste sorting is not very strict. Although there are four-color bins, many people just use one trash bag and throw everything in the kitchen waste bin]. So, no one would pay attention to his waste. But it is still a hidden danger.

Moreover, inevitably people would see him bringing rabbits into the neighborhood.

Once or twice wouldn’t matter since he doesn’t need to buy it every day. But over a long period, people would certainly notice.

Given that he buys rabbits, he ought to provide an external explanation.

So, after feeding on their blood this time, Xiang Kun didn’t discard the three rabbit carcasses. Instead, he processed them a bit, and then froze them in the fridge.

He found a few rabbit recipes online, and when he came back today, he specifically went to the supermarket and bought the various ingredients he needed, as well as some kitchen utensils his kitchen lacked.

He planned to use three different methods for the three rabbits.

Braised rabbit meat, spicy rabbit meat, stewed rabbit…

Xiang Kun couldn’t be bothered to thaw them slowly and immediately soaked them in hot water. After all, he wasn’t really going to eat them, they were just for practice.

While processing the rabbit meat and cutting it into pieces, his knife skills were a bit rusty at first, but he quickly picked up the pace. While his skills were still far behind those of a professional chef, at a glance it was obvious that he wasn’t a novice to cooking.

After all, not only was he very physically strong now, but his ability to control various muscle groups, his grasp of force, and the flexibility of his fingers and wrists were also much stronger than that of an average person.

It was already the wee hours of the morning, but for Xiang Kun, it was the peak of his alertness and his physical condition was excellent.

He opened a music app on his phone, hit shuffle, and placed it next to the spice rack.

The volume was only set to one bar. Even without the exhaust fan switched on and the knife not touching the chopping board, and oil not in the pan, it would be hard for an average person standing nearby to hear the words clearly. So he wasn’t worried about disturbing his neighbors.

However, as long as he was willing, he could clearly hear the music. It was no worse than wearing headphones. Even the noise from cooking couldn’t drown out the details of the music – this was not only due to his enhanced hearing from the mutation, but also the result of his training in recent days.

Whether it was accurately capturing the sound he wanted from a pile of noise, or locking onto the scent he wanted from a variety of smells, these were basic tasks that Xiang Kun could do instinctively now.

The song that his phone randomly selected was one that Xiang Kun had never heard before, but both the lyrics and the melody were quite pleasant.

In the past, Xiang Kun would plug in his earphones and listen to music while doing repetitive tasks that didn’t require much thought. However, after his mutation, whenever he opened his music app, it was mainly for testing and training his hearing. It had been a long time since he had truly “listened” to music.

With the rhythmic songs playing, Xiang Kun’s speed in cutting the rabbit meat increased.

“You cannot leave when you really wanna go, You know the road better than the show,

And darkness makes you glow…”

Chilies, onions are chopped, oil is put in the pan, star anise and dried chilies are added to the pan for the fragrance.

“…Hey-hey-hey-hey-it’s a brand new day, ah-haHey-hey-hey-hey-it’s a bround new day…”

The rabbit meat is added to the pan, stir-fried.

The music switched to the next song, more rhythmic this time, unconsciously Xiang Kun’s shovel-holding hand started moving to the beat, his feet tapping the rhythm.

“In a world full of followersI’ll be a leader!

In a world full of doubtersI’ll be a believer!

I’m stepping out without a hesitationi ain’t got nothing left to be afraid…”

Add soy sauce, add cooking wine, stir fry. With a flick of his left hand, the rabbit meat in the pan starts to tumble, he throws the shovel in his right hand in the air, it spins around twice rapidly before he catches it again. But half of the rabbit meat was spilled on the cooktop…

Xiang Kun also sang along in somewhat off-tune and non-standard English:

“Gonna be making it count—-I -am- sold out (cracks)-” Add sugar, add salt, and take it out of the pan.

He took a bite, chewed for a while, and then spit it out.

Well, the taste…wasn’t that great.

Although he doesn’t need to eat anything now and whatever he eats, he spits out, his sense of taste has not deteriorated.

Moreover, because he no longer has an appetite, he can judge the taste of food without any bias and with more clarity.

He dumped all of the spicy rabbit meat into the trash bin and began preparing the second rabbit dish.

The music switched to the next song. Ah, he knew this one. It was “Demons” by Imagine Dragons. While cooking, he bobbed his shoulders and began to sing along in his tone-deaf voice and incorrect English pronunciation:

“Your eyes, they shine so bright-” “I wanna save that light

“I can’t escape this now–”

“Unless you show me how (cracked voice

As Xiang Kun waved the spatula, he made it look like a fantastic weapon. The song he was humming had somehow turned into the Hokkien song “Price of the Hero,” but the offbeat tune was consistent:

“Hey (cracked voice Loneliness is the price of a hero-”

“Hey (cracked voice- Every step could lead you into a chasm—”

Two minutes later, he switched to Cantonese, continuing to sing in an off-key manner along with Beyond’s vocals: “I’ve already suffered a lifetime of bitterness, regret, and sighs—” “But your eyes are now filled with tears–” “This world has unknowingly become empty (cracked voice x5)–”

“Howl— I don’t want you to leave-”

The braised rabbit was served. Xiang Kun threw the spatula onto the ceiling. The spatula he had bought only that afternoon for less than 10 bucks spun in the air rapidly. It paused for a moment just before reaching the ceiling, then descended. After plating the rabbit meat, Xiang Kun reached out and caught the spatula with no trouble.

The song from his mobile continued. This time it was Jacky Cheung. Xiang Kun sang with passion and excitement, but of course, he was still off key: “Against all humanity— Controlling the elements at will-”

“Eliminating morality and justice-”

“Confusing all mankind who foolishly compares itself with heaven–” “The red leaves eventually reveal their arrogance!”

Just as he was about to make the third rabbit dish and was on a singing high, Xiang Kun was interrupted by a persistent knocking at the door. Frowning, he looked towards the entrance. From the sounds, there were two people outside, both likely men, from the strong smells of sweat and tobacco.

Glancing at his phone, he saw it was already 3 a.m. Who would come knocking at this hour?

Furthermore, each building in their community had security access. Shouldn’t they contact him through the intercom first? Why bang on the door directly?

As Xiang Kun speculated, he turned off the gas and walked towards the door.

He didn’t worry about bad guys. After his brawl with the giant Owl, he knew if there were just two regular humans outside the door, they wouldn’t be a problem unless they were armed.

Plus, given his high recovery abilities, he had quite a margin for error.

Still, as he passed the living room, he discreetly grabbed a screwdriver.

After glancing out of the peephole, he was surprised to find that the two at his doorstep were security guards from the compound. He had seen both of them before, so he was sure they weren’t impostors.

After hiding the screwdriver, Xiang Kun opened the door somewhat puzzled.

“Mr. Xiang, we’re sorry to bother you so late. We tried the doorbell but you didn’t respond, so we had to knock.” The older security guard explained.

Xiang Kun was a little surprised: “You rang the doorbell?” He hadn’t heard it. Had he been so engrossed in cooking that he hadn’t noticed?

“I probably didn’t hear it because I was coding. What brings you here at this hour?” Xiang Kun said casually.

“Mr. Xiang, if you’re going to sing at home, please keep your volume down. It’s late, and the soundproofing here isn’t great. Many homeowners have already called to complain about the noise… you were singing quite loudly…”

At these words, Xiang Kun suddenly froze, as if struck by lightning.

Holy shit! What was I thinking?

He made sure to keep the volume down when he started the music to avoid disturbing others, so why did he just lose himself?

He hadn’t realized that he had been singing out loud along with the music.

“Mr. Xiang, Mr. Xiang?”

Seeing Xiang Kun, who seemed like he had turned to stone, the security guard called out a bit perplexed.

Xiang Kun snapped back to reality and quickly put his hands together in an apologetic gesture: “I’m really sorry. I was so engrossed in coding that I wore headphones and didn’t realize I was singing out loud.”

“Ah, as long as you keep it down, Mr. Xiang.” The security guard agreed with Xiang Kun’s explanation. They had originally thought that Xiang Kun was drunk and acting wildly, but when he opened the door, he was obviously sober without any smell of alcohol. It seemed he had indeed been lost in the music wearing his headphones and unintentionally starting to sing aloud.

However, Xiang Kun’s singing was just too loud, and without music, off-key and cracking, it was remarkably disruptive at night.

Once they finished explaining and Xiang Kun apologized, the security guards left. Xiang Kun closed the door, his face serious.

All his auditory attention had been on the music coming from his phone. In a sense, it was like wearing headphones; it isolated and blocked other sounds. This was how he could accurately capture the necessary sounds from a pile of noise.

During that time, he may not have been clear about the volume of his singing or how to control it, leading him to be overly loud.

But Xiang Kun didn’t believe this was why he hadn’t realized what time it was or that his voice was too loud. He had completely lost himself in a state of high euphoria, which was quite abnormal.

Since his mutation, Xiang Kun had tried his best to stay calm and rational. Even when driven by hunger and the desire to drink blood, he still had subjective resistance and control.

After the first mutation, he was instinctively drawn to buy a chicken from the market for blood drinking. He remembered the entire process from buying the chicken to returning home to drink its blood very clearly. He effectively experienced all the physical sensations and mental thinking without any loss.

But he always felt that it wasn’t a decision made by his brain or his subjective consciousness but by a deeper, instinctive desire in his body. That instinct was the same as the satisfaction and pleasure he experienced each time he drank blood, and the same as the longing and restlessness he felt each time he was hungry.

However, the state he was in just now was clearly not from the body’s instinct, but from his own subjective consciousness.

Because he was clear that all his actions during the whole process were his own decisions, his own consciousness was in control.

This made Xiang Kun even more worried. He suddenly realized that since his mutation, he had been focusing on the changes in his body but seems to have overlooked the changes in his spirit..

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