Mysterious Creature (Second Update)
Liu Chang'an thought about it carefully and realized that he really didn't have any impression of Mrs. Karnstein, or more accurately, he didn't have any impression of the surname "Karnstein".
After all, whether it's Taiwan, Hong Kong, or most Western countries, none of them have undergone the baptism of socialist revolution or practiced the idea of equality for all. In a situation where women take their husband's surname after marriage, shouting about democracy, freedom, and women's rights is quite laughable. It's just that they've become accustomed to it. If Miao Yingying were to marry Lin Xinhuai, and Lin Xinhuai proposed that Miao Yingying be called Miao Yingying from now on, he would probably be beaten senseless by the Miao family.
So Liu Chang'an didn't recall much about Mrs. Karnstein; he immediately shifted his focus to the surname "Karnstein."
I still don't remember much.
"Is this all?" Liu Chang'an asked.
"I'm not entirely sure either. The person who contacted me wasn't this one. It was a name I overheard during a private conversation between the two people who hired me," Li Hongfang said in a low voice. "At first, I didn't hear it clearly, just the sound of it. But later, when I was researching, I saw a vampire with that name."
What information are you looking for?
Li Hongfang took Liu Chang'an's phone, looked at the screen, and was momentarily stunned. After all, he was still young at heart, used to using photos of female celebrities as wallpapers, but he didn't know which female star it was.
Li Hongfang opened her browser, entered the name "Mrs. Karnstein," and a bunch of information related to vampires came up in the search results.
"Is this how you find information?" To Professor Liu, this method of finding information was extremely unreliable. Even if you wanted to plagiarize papers to gain academic credit, you would use a professional database.
Li Hongfang is a professional, after all. Would a professional search for information like this?
"The key is, think about it, since the Living Coffin of the Living Coffin Exists, and the person who pays attention to it happens to have the name of a famous vampire, is it really that much of a coincidence? I think maybe she is a vampire herself." Li Hongfang unconsciously touched her neck, as if a living vampire was far more terrifying than the Living Coffin, which was known as "murderous and perverse."
Li Hongfang had never actually seen what was inside Living Coffin; it might just be another Lady Xin Zhui, which was of course nothing to her in terms of her profession.
"Hmm, that makes sense." Liu Chang'an only believed that there were no gods or spirits in the world that possessed the power to reach the heavens and the earth as commonly understood, but he did not think that there were no other mysterious creatures. If this Mrs. Karnstein was a vampire, then she was certainly not the kind of thing that could fight against Eastern cultivators according to the hierarchical system of viscount, earl, duke, prince, etc. in some systems.
"Take a look at her file, Karnstein... oh, it's the Countess. She doesn't seem as formidable as the Duke or the Prince..."
"This rating system comes from fantasy novels."
"Countess Karnstein, also known as Camilla. Camilla is a vampire who appears as a young woman. She is beautiful, tall and slender, elegant and languid, with radiant skin, large black eyes, and dark brown hair. She has a sweet voice and loves to talk. She does not like to drink men's blood, but specifically drinks the blood of virgins. Legend has it that every night she transforms into a black cat-like monster and attacks beautiful virgins traveling at night."
After reading through the "materials" she found, Li Hongfang hesitated. "There might be some professional research on vampires that could uncover more hidden stories, but ultimately it has little to do with me. I haven't paid much attention to it; I'm just doing my job for money."
How did you connect with them?
"The two people I met were Americans, and their ostensible identities were archaeologists... You know what those foreign archaeologists, explorers, photographers, geographers, and the like really do, right... At a conference forum, they were discussing Lady Xin Zhui's tomb, and I chatted with them casually."
Liu Chang'an nodded. He knew that Li Hongfang probably didn't know much either. Just like how he could change his identity, there were very few people in the world who knew his true identity. This Mrs. Karnstein might just be a stand-in or something.
"Alright, if there's any important information related to Mrs. Karnstein in the future, I can exchange it with you."
"I'll tell you, no exchange needed." Li Hongfang was happy to do a favor; befriending someone like Liu Chang'an, whose background was unfathomable and whose power was immense, would certainly be very beneficial to her.
"If the information you give me is useful enough, I can tell you the location of some ancient tombs. Maybe some lost treasures will be unearthed, such as the original copy of Wang Xizhi's 'Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Preface'..." Liu Chang'an smiled, looking at Li Hongfang's cat-like eyes. "Just an example, but you definitely won't be disappointed."
Although Li Hongfang didn't place much hope on it, the information Liu Chang'an possessed might not be a lie. Liu Chang'an knew about the Li family's closely guarded secret, the * Chronicles of Artifacts *, indicating he had definitely studied it. Especially since he repeatedly claimed the Treasure Map of the World was a hoax—even if Li Hongfang disagreed—it showed Liu Chang'an certainly knew some real treasure locations to deny certain aspects of the Treasure Map of the World *.
"Go back, your companions are already peeking around."
Li Hongfang wasn't curious why he knew what her companions were doing, even though his back was to the room where her group was staying.
After Li Hongfang left, Liu Chang'an continued to look through some information about vampires, mostly based on myths and legends.
He wasn't surprised that he had only recently learned about vampires and Living Coffin after living for so long, just as he had only learned about the basic structure of life, cells, cellular components, atoms, protons, neutrons, and so on... Anyway, he should be able to wait until humanity makes some progress in the research of dark matter.
The world used to be too vast. If he heard of mysterious creatures appearing in certain places, it might have happened ten, several decades, or even a hundred years ago. If he were to go through all that trouble to get there, it might be many years later, and everything would have changed.
Nowadays, a two-week trip is considered a long vacation, but in the past, Liu Chang'an would travel across mountains and rivers, cross oceans and continents, and if he encountered some things that delayed him, he might have spent decades or even hundreds of years there.
The explosion and spread of information have made great progress. Liu Chang'an finally saw something like Living Coffin, but he also hoped to encounter a living vampire. Maybe he had met one before, but he just didn't know its identity.
In a sense, wouldn't Shangguan be considered a vampire? Liu Chang'an wasn't bound by any particular concept; he didn't believe that a vampire had to show a mouthful of white teeth to bite someone's neck.
Various Requests