The "Truth" About the Bloodline

Just when Xiang Kun thought he was about to witness a live sex show in his dream, Lao Xia appeared in his dream—a gigantic monster whose head almost touched the roof.

Xiang Kun was quite familiar with the monster; it was the image of the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving projected into Lao Xia's dream. However, it was surrounded by layers of mist, making it look somewhat unreal, yet adding to its mystery and majesty, which suited the style of the dream constructed by the "vampire patient." But Xiang Kun also knew that this Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster was merely an image that Lao Xia conjured up in his dream; it wasn't a true dream projection of the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving" and didn't possess the special ability to create deep-seated fear.

After the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster that Lao Xia manifested appeared, it stretched out two large hands, one hand pinching the head of the "vampire patient" and the other hand pinching the head of the handsome "Bloodline" in the dream, separating the two of them as if carrying two rag dolls.

Then, the monster casually flicked its wrist, and the "Bloodline" crashed into the wall, disappeared into it.

The monster, clutching the "vampire patient's" head, turned it towards itself and spoke in the same voice it had used in Mi Qiao's dream to imitate "Mr. Liang"—a voice that sounded like "Yang Kun + Optimus Prime + Coin rubbing together": "You stupid fool, you actually let that worthless bug use you! That kind of trash doesn't even deserve to be called Bloodline! Your blood has been tainted!"

Seeing Lao Xia's Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster act like this, if Xiang Kun in the dream could make expressions, he would probably be astonished—is it okay to be so domineering in someone else's dream? Won't it "scare" them awake?

However, he also knew that Lao Xia must have her reasons for doing things. But thinking about Lao Xia coming up with such "cringeworthy" lines, Xiang Kun couldn't help but laugh.

Next, the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster that appeared in Lao Xia's dream gave the "vampire patient" a storm of scolding and intimidation, turning her originally beautiful and ambiguous "spring dream" into a "nightmare" of a demon king descending.

But in the dream, the "vampire patient" knelt at the feet of the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster after being scolded by it, and wept bitterly, admitting his mistakes.

Then, under the almost commanding tone of the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster, she began to recall how that "Bloodline"—no, no, the one she now considered a "worthless bug" and "who had tainted her blood"—had "transformed" her and turned her into her current form.

Sensing the changing scenery around him and realizing that the "vampire patient" was indeed beginning to "recall" according to Lao Xia's orders, Xiang Kun knew that Lao Xia's "communication method" was indeed very effective.

Normally, communicating with and guiding someone's subconscious within Dream Within a Dream should follow the cognitive logic of that dream. However, Xiang Kun also realized that Lao Xia's Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster and his words were, to some extent, in line with the cognitive logic of the "vampire patient," only not according to her wishes. Instead, he used her worship and desire for "Bloodline" to create a new "monster" that transcended her perception of "Bloodline." Clearly, Lao Xia understood the "vampire patient's" "condition" much better than Xiang Kun, and thus accurately grasped the method of controlling her subconscious.

The surrounding environment changed from the fake castle to a mountain forest, where the tall "vampire patient" was washing his feet by a mountain stream.

As she was washing, she seemed to have stepped on a sharp stone, cried out, clutched her right foot, and rolled down onto the grassy bank of the stream.

A large amount of blood gushed from her wound, making her look extremely pitiful, as if she had been slashed, or even had her artery severed.

At this moment, a very handsome man dressed in a Western-style suit, who bore a striking resemblance to the "handsome Bloodline" who had appeared in his dream just now and in previous dreams, walked over.

Without saying a word, he simply pushed aside the "vampire patient's" hand that was covering her wound and pressed his own hand against it.

The bleeding stopped quickly, and the pain on the "vampire patient's" face subsided rapidly. She stared wide-eyed at the handsome man and asked, "Who are you?"

The handsome man's voice was very pleasant, a deep, magnetic baritone. "Do you want immortality? Do you want eternal beauty, to never die? Are you willing... to become Bloodline?"

Seeing this scene in his dream, Xiang Kun almost laughed, and even wanted to ask on behalf of the "vampire patient" who was currently lying in the arms of the "handsome man": "So, what is the price?"

This "plot" is developing way too much like an idol drama!

The vampire patient's answer was just as dramatic as something out of an idol drama, "I do."

Then the handsome man, or rather the handsome "Bloodline," bit her neck. Soon after, her eyes rolled back, her body convulsed, the surrounding scenery blurred, and the handsome "Bloodline" disappeared.

Soon, several people heard the noise and rushed over. The surrounding scenery became clear again. The "vampire patient" sat up from the ground, told the people that he was fine, and then casually put on his shoes and socks and left. The wound on his foot seemed to have disappeared.

Then, the environment changed again, and they were indoors. The "vampire patient" stood in front of the mirror, looking at his beautiful, fair face in the mirror, and showed a satisfied smile.

The environment changed again. She squatted in the kitchen, butchering a chicken. After cutting its neck, she began to suck on the wound.

After drinking the chicken blood, she lay down on the kitchen floor with a blissful expression. The "handsome Bloodline" reappeared, lying beside her and whispering in his pleasant baritone voice, "Enjoy the changes brought by the blood, enjoy the feeling of immortality. Don't go anywhere for the next few hours..."

The environment changed again. The "vampire patient" sat cross-legged in the kitchen, a recently deceased chicken before her. The "handsome Bloodline" stood before her, looking down at her sternly. "The chicken blood's energy is no longer enough. As a Bloodline, you need human blood. Go, I'll be watching you and helping you..."

Then, the surrounding environment changed to the street. It was late at night. The "vampire patient" got out of a van with three young men and tried to forcibly take a middle-aged man who looked drunk into the van. However, the man struggled violently and shouted, attracting the attention of a few passers-by and nearby residents.

But the "vampire patient" and her three companions did not give up and continued to drag the man into the car. As a result, the car was stopped by the police not far away, and all four were arrested.

When the "vampire patient" was dragged off the van, Xiang Kun noticed that the "handsome Bloodline" was also sitting in the van. He looked at her with a gloomy expression, shook his head, and then got off the van and walked away into the distance as if no one else was there, ignoring her shouts and pleas.

The police officers beside her, including the three young men with her, didn't even glance at the "handsome Bloodline," acting as if he didn't exist.

The "vampire patient" then used this visual memory method to show Lao Xia and Xiang Kun the entire process of her "transformation" into a "Bloodline".

From the moment they met by the stream, Xiang Kun knew that the image of the "handsome Bloodline" and the handsome man in the "vampire patient's" dreams were both figments of her imagination and most likely did not exist.

Her behavior after drinking chicken blood was clearly not that of a "Mutated Creature".

But where is the person who caused her to have this illusion, this perception?

Based on his previous intuitions and judgments of various information under his "Hyper-Sensory State," Xiang Kun believed that the "vampire patient" must have indeed come into contact with a real "Mutated Creature," and her current state should also be related to the influence of the "Mutated Creature."

But how did these "Mutated Creature" cause the effects?

In the dream, the "vampire patient" sat in the middle of her hospital room, looking at the enormous Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster almost filled half the room. She stretched out her hands, her face filled with pleading. "Take me away, sir, take me away! Please, purify me of my filth, let me become a true Bloodline, and I will offer you my loyalty..."

Just when Xiang Kun thought that Lao Xia would continue to ask some questions through the eight-armed monster in order to find out the culprit who caused the "vampire patient" to have such hallucinations, the eight-armed monster's voice suddenly became delicate and gentle, slowly guiding the "vampire patient" to recall the original memory by the stream.

Then the dream returned to the stream. The Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster that Lao Xia had manifested became as tall as her, squatting beside her as she washed her feet in the stream. His voice was slow and gentle. "You've forgotten who you are. Your consciousness has left, your body has gained freedom. You are now purely flesh, acting on instinct. Tell me, how do you feel..."

The surrounding light began to dim, but the body of the "vampire patient" and the area around her brightened. She suddenly screamed, pulled her foot out of the stream, and rolled on the grass beside her.

Xiang Kun discovered that there was a small wound on the right foot she was holding, but blood was gushing out. What was even more terrifying was that a small, spindle-shaped worm was struggling to burrow into the wound, half of its body already inside and the other half trembling incessantly.

The "vampire patient" tried to cover his wound with both hands, but found that his hands were stiff, his fingers were strangely bent and completely out of control, and he could not reach the wound no matter what he did.

After the insect completely burrowed into the wound, the bleeding stopped, and she began to collapse and convulse. All the surrounding scenery, including herself, became blurry. Clearly, after she had completely lost consciousness, this part of the experience could not be accurately reconstructed.

Next, she stood in front of the mirror. Her face in the mirror was extremely pale, with heavy dark circles under her eyes, giving her a sinister and terrifying appearance. She looked nothing like the fair-skinned beauty who had stood in front of the mirror earlier.

She lay Zero Zero One on the kitchen floor, with no handsome man beside her to talk to her, her skin covered in blood vessels and bruises, as if she were seriously ill.

Inside the van, the three young men she had bewitched had all gotten out and were taken into custody by the police. The drunk man who had been forcibly taken into the van had also been rescued. Only she remained in the van, holding a fruit knife that she had originally intended to use to threaten the drunk man, cutting her calf. After she cut open, an insect crawled out, mixed in with the blood, and fell onto the van floor. Then, the police rushed up, subdued her, and took her to the hospital.

The eight-armed monster's voice rang out again, forcing the "vampire patient" to prostrate herself on the ground, making her forget the "truths" she had just heard. In a commanding tone, it told her she was not entitled to drink blood and could only eat white and green foods. It instructed her to eat more rice, drink more water, eat more vegetables and fruits, and exercise more. Once she reached a certain weight and could do twenty push-ups, she would be given another chance.

Xiang Kun knew that this was Lao Xia's "treatment" of the "vampire patient," although the treatment method was very strange and special.

Lao Xia probably wasn't sure if the "vampire patient" would still remember that subconscious, deep-seated memory regression after waking up. If she did, would those images activate her true memories, making her realize the truth about what had happened over the past year?

If she were to suddenly learn these truths, she would most likely break down and be unable to accept it.

So, just like with Mi Qiao, Lao Xia had her forget part of the dream content and tried to gradually change her thoughts and perceptions through deep subconscious hypnosis.

After emerging from the dream, Xiang Kun, sitting in his computer chair, frowned. He hadn't expected that exploring the "vampire patient's" dream through Lao Xia's "Dream Within a Dream" method would yield so much information, and such shocking information at that.

He initially thought that the "vampire patient" had encountered a human "vampire" similar to Guo Tianxiang, and after being influenced by abilities such as hypnosis, had become a tool for the "vampire" to collect "prey".

But to his surprise, he only guessed the purpose, not the form of the "vampire".

If the deep memories that Lao Xia had the "vampire patient" reveal in his dream were Quanzhen School, then the "Mutated Creature" that caused her bloodlust and physical changes must have been that parasite!

Moreover, judging from the memories she showed, the parasite could not only affect a person's consciousness and create a certain cognitive illusion, but also use a person's emotions or sensory information to distinguish whether the host's environment might pose a danger to itself or affect its blood drinking, thereby controlling the host to detach itself.

In other words, this thing already possesses intelligence and is capable of communicating with humans.

Xiang Kun had observed the "vampire patient's" physical and cognitive information under his "Hyper-Sensory State," so he knew that the Mutated Creature parasite was definitely no longer on her. So, where had it gone?

Will it continue to control other humans, turning them into its predatory machines?