New Night / Another Voice

She stepped forward, ignoring Lin, and knelt down beside the vampire girl. She gently reached out to close the girl's eyelids and then softly stroked the girl's face, which would never move again.

"Theresa is very quiet when she sleeps, and she always likes to hug something while sleeping, even though she is no longer a child."

"..."

Lin stared at Kallen's figure and heard her soft voice. He paused for a moment, as if he had realized something.

"Lin." Kallen looked up at him and smiled brightly, all the gloom gone. "Thank you for everything you wanted to do for me, but... it's unnecessary, and it doesn't matter anymore."

Lin's pupils contracted. He took a step forward, wanting to grab Kallen's shoulder, but he was a step too late.

Like a falling meteor, the silver-haired girl with braided pigtails fell into a pool of bright red blood.

Her long hair was dyed red and spread out, as if ink had been dripped into it.

The hustle and bustle of the city is far away.

Lin stared blankly at Kallen lying in a pool of blood. He slowly squatted down, and the feeling of his heart being squeezed by a giant hand returned.

A repeat.

It has happened countless times.

Kallen's pretty face quickly paled, but she smiled faintly at the helpless man and said, "My life is tied to Theresa's. I'm sorry... Lin... I lied to you... I couldn't save those who were converted at all..."

In an instant, Lin understood.

When the vampire girl dies, the Honkai Beast within her also dies. Those who have been fed blood by her and injected with bacterial type Honkai Beast have their lives completely intertwined with the vampire girl's.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Kallen intended to kill Theresa, herself, and all the victims with her own hands.

"I think... 'Kallen' must have left long ago." Her lips trembled slightly, her eyes vacant, as if she couldn't see anything in front of her. "Inside this body... is just bacterial type Honkai Beast that has gained some of its memories..."

But... trapped in a body... longed for by others... in the fate of her younger sister... Bird in a Cage.

She never lamented the cruelty of fate, nor did she hate the real Kallen.

Because... to be born into this world as a new life is such a happy thing...

She met Theresa ... and at the end of her life, she met this man... a man who didn't treat her like anyone else, but allowed her to be herself...

"Lin... who... am I?"

As her blood drained away, this young girl, who had known him for so short a time, asked this question to a man who meant nothing to her at the end of her life, which was like a bird singing its mournful song.

Her gentle gaze seemed to see through everything beneath the cold man's expression.

Lin opened his mouth in bewilderment, and reached out his hand, but dared not approach Kallen and the vampire girl beside her.

"You are... Kallen, you told me that."

The girl laughed.

"Really...that's great...it's nice to meet you... Lin..."

"Don't do such foolish things again... You don't need to sacrifice for anyone..."

The man's roar was stuck in his throat; he clutched his neck, unable to make a sound.

Those hateful memories came chasing after him, trying to devour him and kill him.

"If only I had met you sooner..."

Then, all the sounds disappeared.

There will never be another girl named Kallen in this world. Her short and insignificant life dissipated easily in the rising sunlight.

But Lin was trapped in the eternal night before the light arrived.

Chapter Thirteen New Night

"Okay, which do you choose, left or right?"

"..."

The dark clouds gradually dispersed, revealing the moon, half-hidden behind a pipa. Unlike the intense sun that is impossible to look directly at, or the elusive stars that flutter and twinkle, the moon simply and gently embraced everyone it saw.

Heartbeat resumes.

The man stood there, seemingly a soul returning to his body. In a short moment, various micro-expressions and movements appeared all over his body, as if he had just experienced a terrifying ordeal.

What happened?

Lin covered his agitated head, the ringing sound echoing in his ears.

An unpleasant stinging sensation burned in his eyes, as if blood would flow at any moment.

"What's wrong?" The person in front of him looked at him with a slight confusion, while Lin shook his head, suppressing the inexplicable discomfort, and looked up at his surroundings.

Should I choose the left or the right...?

The red-haired girl, hands on her hips and with dead fish eyes, said, "Hurry up! A grown man shouldn't be so indecisive. Your wife will run off with someone else. What was the name of that comic I was reading last time? The main character was such a nagging old woman that his wife fell for another man..."

Himeko has so many idle chatter items; perhaps that's a sign of youthful energy. Rita often says that Rin is like an old man, quiet and still, without any youthful vitality...

Perhaps annoyed by Himeko's nagging, Lin casually chose a direction. "To the right."

"Okay! Remember to treat me to a late-night snack when I get back from the investigation as a reward for my hard work, but if you dare to run away, I will definitely catch you and give you a good beating."

"..."

A strange sensation came from under my feet, as if I were no longer on Earth, but inside the stomach of some creature, soft and mushy to the point of making me feel nauseous.

Lin walked through the intricate alleyways, surrounded by walls and branching paths, which made him feel unsafe.

His mind wasn't on the investigation at that moment, but rather on the feeling he had just experienced.

That's so strange.

But he couldn't quite describe what that feeling was like, like when he was sleeping or waking up at night, for a moment he felt like he was the only person left in the world.

"Da... da... da..."

All I could hear was the sound of my own footsteps; this place was so quiet it didn't feel like a big city.

"..."

A third of a minute later, Lin squinted and stared at the ground not far away.

Isn't it amazing how those plots in novels or anime go?

Even though we sometimes complain that the time machines that transport people to other worlds have gone from being the leaders of Cybertron to all sorts of bizarre things in recent years—you can travel to another world by brushing your teeth, eating a meal, going to the toilet, or even taking a sip of your semen in bed at night—we are actually quite envious of the beautiful life that can be enjoyed in another world.

Ideally, he'd also have a girlfriend, a cheat code, a harem, and then occasionally save the world, living a life of pleasure every night.

Of course, there is another kind of fantasy, which is based on real life but is often even more impossible than traveling to another world, that is... a beautiful girl falling from the sky, or a beautiful girl walking by.

Save your breath. This isn't the era where artificial angels could fall from the sky anytime, anywhere. And the idea of running into a vampire while buying adult books is even more unlikely...

Impossible?

Lin Mo silently stared at the white-haired girl lying on the ground not far away, and began to wonder if he was dreaming.

The Xiao Ke girl had long, pure white hair tied in twin ponytails, adorned with blood-red roses. She wore a gorgeous red and black dress, and black stockings that accentuated her princess-like aura. Her appearance alone was enough to make her incredibly endearing.

In the moonlight, a lonely man, a lonely girl.

How come there's a girl lying here?

Before he could figure out if this was some new kind of staged accident, the girl's furrowed brows and the painful groans escaping her lips brought him back to his senses. He frowned and walked forward, the strange feeling in his heart reaching its peak at that moment.

"Quick... go away... don't come near... me."

The girl sensed someone approaching, and the heavy, wet sound of her breathing seemed to cause her even more pain.

"What happened? Were you attacked?" Lin wanted to confirm if the other person was a new victim, but judging from her age, this girl didn't seem to fit the fetish of the serial vampire.

He reached out and placed his hand on the girl's shoulder, intending to check if there were any signs of blood being sucked from the back of her neck.

However, at this moment, a sudden change occurred.

"Whoosh!"

Alarm bells rang in Lin's heart. The girl's eyelids suddenly snapped open, revealing a pair of eyes that looked as if they had dyed the full moon blood red. They filled her entire field of vision, and even Lin was stunned for a moment.

Those were definitely not the eyes of a normal human being; they radiated an alluring charm that drew people in.

In that instant, he was tackled by the girl, whose strength was unimaginable, and his head slammed heavily into the ground.

Oh no—

Lin was quick-witted. After the other party revealed his inhuman red eyes and opened his small mouth to expose his delicate yet sharp canines, he immediately guessed that the other party was the real culprit of the serial vampire case!

He immediately tried to break free, but the girl's strength was beyond imagination. He struggled with all his might, but he couldn't budge her at all. Instead, this extreme behavior caused the girl to lose her mind even more. She immediately tore open his collar and bit down on his neck!

"Sizzle—"

The teeth easily pierced Lin's blood vessels, and a torrent of blood, as vivid as the girl's crimson gem-like eyes, flowed out, soaking his clothes, and his life was extinguished in an instant—

That didn't happen.

A soft touch trembled gently on Lin's neck like jelly; it was the sensation of the girl's lips making intimate contact with his skin.

"Hmm..."

The girl's wet and weak breath patted Lin's shoulder. He quietly turned his head and saw that the vampire girl, who looked like she had a high fever, had closed her eyes again, and between her pearly teeth, she let out syllables of saliva and unbearable pain.

... Lin stared at the vampire girl lying on him. Her body temperature was very high, which usually meant that the person was sick, but... vampires can get sick too?

"Quick... go..."

The girl spoke again, this time whispering in Lin's ear, her face contorted with rage as if she were enduring a monster about to burst forth from her body.

Vampire...

Lin slowly got up from the ground and looked in the direction he came from. Himeko should be not far away. He could bring Himeko back in less than five minutes.

Okay, let's do it this way. We'll hand the vampire over to Himeko and he can check if the reason for the vampire's twisted nature is something else.

Thinking this, Lin, oblivious to everything, retraced his steps, walking further and further away from the vampire girl on the ground...

Until the figure disappeared into the shadows.

Chapter Fourteen: Another Voice

Human life is mostly consumed by a philosophical question: Who am I?

Negative and positive attitudes, the stages of ego, id, and superego—all can provide answers; this is not a particularly difficult question to answer.

But the answer is not the end of thinking, but the beginning.

"Sister... Sister..."

The little boat of time rocks and drifts on the river, slowly moving towards the distant past.

When I first opened my eyes, the world was an endless expanse of white.

"White" is a void, a void where even consciousness cannot exist.

Even I, who possess the ability to think, cannot know what I am... or what I am?

When I opened my eyes again, I saw a blond man looking at me with excitement and joy. Later I learned that he was a man of elegant manners, yet he was so surprised and delighted to see me.

Should I be happy?

But the joy I feel is not about my existence, but about what I can do.

Yes... my world... is so small.

No matter how many times I open my eyes, all I see is the same unchanging, deathly white.

No matter how many times I open my eyes, all I see is the golden hue of fickle fate.

No matter how many times I open my eyes, what I see...

All are crimson, a color of suffering and torment.

What will I see when I open my eyes this time?

"Hmm..."

With a soft moan, Theresa slowly awoke. It seemed she was dreaming again of the time before she escaped from Schicksal, even though she had only been out for a short while...