His muscles tensed and relaxed in small spasms. Xue Yanluo sat down on a somewhat battered chair and at first wasn't sure it would hold him, but in the end trusted his luck and sat.
Hua Zhenfeng's transformation was long—long enough that the woman came twice, worried about her son and about the guest. Each time, Xue Yanluo stepped out immediately, spoke with her briefly, and sent her on her way.
The spasms gradually eased, and his body gave one final crack before his head lolled and his eyelids opened, revealing pupils that were now red. Hua Zhenfeng swept his gaze around the room and got up at once, kneeling again.
"Thank you, my lord, for your grace in helping me complete my transformation."
"It wasn't much. But you don't hate me for turning you into a vampire—you're no longer human."
"I do hate you, but I also feel the change can't be undone, so it's better to accept it. You are my lord now and always will be." Hua Zhenfeng raised his head, and his gaze carried an extraordinary sincerity and devotion.
Xue Yanluo wouldn't rely on words alone, but the connection between them told him it was genuine—entirely free of any ill will toward him.
"You can stand. Do you know what you are now?"
"Only that I'm a vampire and that I apparently drink human blood. Nothing more."
"It's rather convenient, turning people…" he murmured to himself. "That's the most important thing, and beyond that, you should also have a reddish stone in your heart, and you can't be hit directly by sunlight—it would kill you."
Hua Zhenfeng, rather than standing, sat on the floor with his legs crossed and his head resting in one hand. "That's quite a nuisance…" he murmured. Little by little he closed his eyes to focus on feeling the stone in his heart.
After a while he opened his eyes and looked up. "I can see the stone, though it's quite a bit smaller than the one you described." His brow was furrowed slightly, a little worried.
"Don't worry about that. For now, focus on understanding your body and getting used to the crimson energy. I will reassign you as one of my close guards." Xue Yanluo was already heading for the door when his feet stopped. "I nearly forgot—you'll need to drink human blood to live. Find a way to do it. The quickest would be to take in a beggar; otherwise, pay a poor family."
"Yes, my lord. I'll be prudent."
Xue Yanluo closed the door behind him and found Mrs. Hua waiting outside. "Your son has woken up, but give it a few minutes before going in to see him."
The woman saw Xue Yanluo off with great warmth, a wide smile fixed on her face, thanking him for his visit again and again. He made his way back to the soldiers' post to return the paper he had taken.
"Thank you, Fourth Prince. I really should make copies of papers like these. No one ever gives them back."
"Not a problem. There's something I'd like you to do."
"I'll do everything I can to help, Fourth Prince."
"It's nothing difficult. The soldier Hua Zhenfeng is a hard worker—I've been impressed by his discipline and dedication to protecting the city." Xue Yanluo watched Tan Heiyue steadily, waiting for him to understand.
"I see. I agree he deserves a promotion. Don't worry—I'll see to it."
They spoke a while longer before Xue Yanluo returned to his courtyard. Seeing it now empty, a sharp pang hit him as he remembered how he had shoved Ruan Xueling and the look of surprise on her face.
He hadn't seen her since then, and he didn't have the courage to seek her out. It would be best for both of them to keep their distance until he had a better hold on what he had become.
He looked at the courtyard a little longer, dropped his gaze, and went to his room, where he sat on the bed with his legs crossed. Turning his attention to his dantian, he saw a red thread floating within it, and when he probed it, it shivered and released a small burst of energy—rich and refreshing.
He had obtained this thread after drinking Hua Zhenfeng's blood, and since then it had been resting inside him. He had noticed it had lost nearly a centimeter of its original length, eroded by the crimson energy released by the stone in his heart and his meridians.
Xue Yanluo channeled the energy released by the red thread. His closed eyelids trembled, and his brow furrowed as he bore down harder on it. This energy was not spiritual energy, but it could be channeled through his dantian and meridians and refined.
The corners of his lips quivered, barely containing his excitement—until now, he had believed he would never cultivate again. He worked at the thread for the rest of the day, exhausting it entirely.
The following day, Xue Yanluo was downcast. The cultivation session had not yielded much. The thread had given off energy he could refine through his meridians, but it didn't return to his dantian—instead it blended with the stone's energy and drove itself into his bones, muscles, and blood.
I'm a… body cultivator? I need to ask Ling to look into this… Xue Yanluo's thoughts came to a sudden stop, and he stared blankly for a while. He sighed and left his room.
In his courtyard, he searched the shed for a small stele. It was buried under dust and clutter, making it challenging to find. When he brushed its surface with his finger, the grime came away and revealed a sky-blue color beneath, sending a cold sensation through his fingertip.
The stone was slightly crystalline, more opaque at the center and darker there in color. It wasn't a large stone, carved into an oval shape. Xue Yanluo settled it in his palm and closed his hand around it a couple of times, checking for any discomfort—it still fit perfectly.
Then he squeezed with full force. The stone darkened, turning a deep blue; a second later it shifted to purple and began giving off heat that rose quickly, and then all at once it cracked. Xue Yanluo released it immediately and checked it over.