Rethinking His Plans

Xiang Kun lay down to sleep at 8:07 p.m. on August 5. Based on his previous few records, he should have woken up sometime after 9 p.m. on August 6.

But when he opened his eyes and picked up his phone to check the timer he'd set before going to sleep, he froze:

32:15:34.

He'd actually slept for thirty-two hours?!

He checked the date and time on his phone. It was already past 4 a.m. on August 7.

Something wasn't right...

Xiang Kun frowned, then closed his eyes and focused on the changes in his body after drinking blood.

Compared with the previous times, the changes in his body after sleeping and waking from drinking blood seemed much less pronounced this time.

Of course, he could still clearly feel that his muscles were stronger, and that his senses—smell, hearing, and sight—had improved to some degree. But the changes were nothing like the last few times, especially the last time he woke up, when the whole world seemed to have changed. The impact had been far less striking.

In other words, was his mutation—or evolution—slowing down?

Did that have anything to do with his longer sleep?

Or was it because he hadn't eaten enough?

After all, he'd still felt hungry after drinking 170 milliliters of rabbit blood.

And the drowsiness that had overtaken him after drinking this time hadn't been as strong as before, either.

He hadn't drunk much more blood than he had the previous few times. In fact, he'd drunk slightly less the time before, at 165 milliliters.

Did that mean his body's need for blood had increased?

But he'd have to wait until next time to confirm it. He had no intention of breaking his blood-drinking routine now.

He glanced at the rabbit he was still keeping by the bathroom door and wondered if he'd need the blood of two rabbits next time.

Next came the usual routine after waking: weighing himself, taking his measurements and photos, testing his eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell, recording how long he could hold his breath and how long it took to recover from an injury, and checking his body temperature.

Since he'd stopped training with maximum weights and switched to endurance and agility exercises, his muscle measurements had barely increased. But his weight continued to climb steadily after every time he drank blood. It had now reached 94 kilograms.

Xiang Kun was less than 1.8 meters tall. Even in a tank top and shorts, or close-fitting clothes, he looked sturdy, especially with his prominent pectorals and lats. But no one would guess that he weighed nearly 190 pounds.

Xiang Kun figured that after he'd changed his training routine, his muscles had grown more slowly in size, but their density had probably increased a great deal. If someone cut out a piece of muscle of the same volume from him and another adult man and weighed both, his would probably be much heavier.

As for the cut on his arm, it had taken twelve minutes and twenty-three seconds to heal, not much faster than the thirteen minutes it had taken before.

His body temperature had dropped again, from 28°C to 27.6°C. That suggested it wasn't falling all at once, but gradually, with each time he drank blood since the first.

After finishing his records, Xiang Kun checked his phone. He had several new WeChat messages.

A tenant had told him the apartment had been cleaned on August 6 and was ready for him to inspect whenever he had time, after which the deposit could be returned.

His mother had asked how work and his health were. Since he'd sent her a message before falling asleep to let her know what was happening, she hadn't called just because he hadn't replied.

Tang Baona had only sent a sneaking-a-peek emoji.

It was too late to reply now; dawn was almost here. He might as well find some time in the morning.

After thinking it over, Xiang Kun began planning his training for the next five-day cycle.

He could go see the apartment today and clean it up a little. Then he'd be ready to move in.

He'd already worked things out with his current landlord. He'd paid the rent for the month, giving the landlord time to find a new tenant, so moving out wouldn't be a problem.

Once he moved into his own place, he'd have more privacy, and he could do a lot of his training at home.

That area was developing quickly, too, and had plenty of residents. Still, compared with where he lived now, it would be easier to find somewhere with fewer people to do some more "private" training.

He remembered a small mountain about three or four kilometers from the complex, as well as a sizable lake. A developer had bought the land there, planning to build a luxury villa community. After all, it was "surrounded by mountains and water." But for some reason, construction still hadn't started.

But after moving, there was another problem Xiang Kun had to consider.

Money.

On July 11, his company had gone under, leaving him unemployed. When the results of years of hard work had vanished overnight, he'd been frustrated and bitter. He hadn't touched alcohol in years, but that was the first time he'd gone out alone to drink away his sorrows.

At the time, though, he still had some savings in the bank, and he didn't think he'd have trouble finding another job. With his technical skills, he might not be in high demand or land a high-paying offer, but finding work that would let him get by in the city shouldn't be difficult.

His dream for his career had been to help the company go public, earn equity, and watch his assets skyrocket. Maybe he'd even achieve financial freedom early. He'd live in a home near a good school, drive a luxury car, marry a beautiful, cultured woman, and have a few children. He'd bring his parents over and buy them a home, too...

But now, everything was different.

When his body first began to mutate, Xiang Kun had worried about life and death: whether this "illness" could be cured, and whether it would kill him.

But now, nearly a month had passed. Including the first time he drank chicken blood, he'd drunk blood five times and undergone six mutations. His fear of death and of what was happening to his body had steadily faded, replaced by growing curiosity and excitement.

There was no doubt that with every mutation, his body was surpassing the limits of ordinary humans, step by step, in his senses and in other physical abilities.

He wanted to know just how far his mutation—or evolution—could go.

Whether he was turning into a vampire or something else, he could at least feel that his body was changing in one clear direction: becoming stronger.

If he went looking for a job now, some of his unusual traits would make it difficult to spend long periods around people without giving himself away. And more than that, he simply couldn't work up the interest in earning money as an employee. All his energy was going into the changes in his body and the "training" he could use to guide them.

But living in a city required money. Even if he no longer had to worry about food, there were the regular water, electricity, property management, phone, and internet bills, along with all the other expenses he couldn't avoid. He also had to account for the rabbits he'd be using, whose numbers he could expect to increase steadily, and the mortgage payments he was still making every month.