Accompanied by the moonlight came a girl with giant wings.
The girl's long silver hair danced in the wind, and her blood-red gaze looked down upon the Demon from on high.
"Domain activation, crimson hunt."
Following the girl's words, that full moon instantly turned crimson, and then the blood-red moonlight completely dispelled the thunderclouds, casting its light down upon the city.
The Demon raised his head, looking at Xia Yue, a trace of excitement flickering in his golden eyes.
He dropped Zhao Qiankun, who was nearly crying from the pain, and faced the girl floating beneath the blood moon.
"Wake up, Li Muhhan."
Xia Yue looked coldly at the Demon and said.
Yet the Demon possessed almost no reason other than a lust for blood.
By now, he regarded Xia Yue as another hunter—a hunter who had broken into his Domain.
Seeing that communication was impossible for the moment, Xia Yue let out a sigh and slowly extended her claws.
Boom—
Thunder roared once more. The Demon bent his knees slightly and then lunged fiercely toward Xia Yue in mid-air. He moved at terrifying speed with devastating force, like a lightning-charged cannonball.
Yet Xia Yue, having transformed into her vampire form, simply used a single hand to firmly pin the charging monster's face, then dove straight down to the ground, slamming the monster into the earth.
At the same time, the sharp tips of her wings drove down like nails, ruthlessly pinning the monster's two arms to the ground.
Through the gaps in Xia Yue's fingers, the Demon's chaotic eyes stared fixedly at the vampire before him.
Then came that eerie smile once again.
Xia Yue's face was as cold as frost. Seemingly knowing that the Li Muhhan beneath her was about to struggle, she pressed down hard with the hand holding his head just before he could resist, the force actually cracking the ground beneath them.
"Calm down, Li Muhhan. Learn to control this power; don't let it lead you by the nose."
Li Muhhan's pupils slowly drifted upward. The look he gave Xia Yue was filled with bewilderment, followed by mockery.
From his mouth poured a series of ancient incantations.
Immediately afterward, a bolt of lightning violently struck toward Xia Yue.
The wings behind Xia Yue beat rapidly, carrying the girl away from the lightning attack.
Having freed himself, the Demon grabbed Xia Yue—who had not yet regained her footing—by the throat with breathtaking speed.
Then, with a swish, that thick demonic tail pierced straight through the girl's body.
The girl's petite body was hoisted into mid-air after being impaled, fresh blood continuously gushing from her abdomen.
Yet there was no expression of pain on her face.
On the contrary, the Demon froze the moment his tail pierced Xia Yue. Then those golden pupils began to dim, and his body started to tremble.
Looking around, he saw nothing but shattered corpses. In that instant, Li Muhhan regained his sanity.
He had killed people—many, many people.
Finally, with a trembling, tearful voice, he looked at Xia Yue before him and said.
"Xia... Xia Yue? Is... is it me who hurt you? Did I... did I do all this...?"
Suspended before the Demon on his tail, Xia Yue slowly raised her hand, cradled the Demon's cheek, and spoke in a gentle voice.
"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you..."
With that, her wings slowly folded inward, wrapping around Li Muhhan's body.
Then Xia Yue opened her mouth wide, a pair of terrifying fangs gleaming under the flash of lightning.
Her sharp teeth sank into Li Muhhan's neck, acting as if she were injecting him with a tranquilizer.
His body gradually stopped shaking, the runes on his skin began to fade, and finally, the Demon's horns and tail receded.
He transformed back into his human form once more.
The barrier of lightning surrounding the area also dissolved into nothingness in that very instant.
Li Muhhan felt as though the power that had driven him nearly mad and the turbulent emotions within him were entirely sucked away, suddenly vanishing completely.
His expression began to grow calm, and his gaze regained its luster from the chaotic darkness.
"I... I killed so many people. What... what is wrong with me?"
He felt his limbs turn weak, and everything that had just happened felt like a nightmare.
"You're just tired. Sleep."
A trace of Li Muhhan's blood still lingered at the corner of Xia Yue's lips. After licking it away, she gently supported the sleeping Li Muhhan, then cast a glance at Zhao Qiankun, who was cowering on the ground, clutching his severed hand and pissing his pants in terror.
"No, no, no, don't kill me... I was wrong... don't kill me!!"
Zhao Qiankun already looked somewhat weak from excessive blood loss, his face stained with a mess of tears and snot.
Xia Yue ignored him completely, holding Li Muhhan's body directly. In the next instant, she transformed into a shadow that scattered into countless bats, vanishing into the silent winter night.
And the crimson moon in the sky gradually returned to normal.
Chapter 9: Calamity-Grade Anomaly
At this moment, inside a certain bank building in Tianhai City.
People were frequently entering and exiting the lobby on the first floor of the bank, long after business hours had ended.
Only, these people did not use the main entrance, instead taking a hidden elevator on the side straight down to the fifth underground level.
This was a specially established operation site for a certain organization.
Right now, a sharp and piercing alarm was sounding continuously on the fifth underground level, urging the staff to hurry to their workstations.
A woman was rubbing her sleep-filled eyes while putting on her suit jacket. Accepting a cup of coffee handed to her by a colleague, she walked quickly alongside others toward the innermost intelligence hall.
Four people had already gathered in the intelligence hall—two men and two women, each exuding an extraordinary aura between their brows.
"Domain signatures of two anomalies appearing at the same time?! Is this a turf war?! Does it have anything to do with that sudden thunderstorm just now?!"
Said a middle-aged man in a black trench coat, frowning.
"If it were a turf war, would we still be standing here discussing it?"
A shrewd and capable-looking woman wearing glasses said coldly to the man.
"According to our intelligence officers, the incident took place on a secluded path in the West District of Tianhai City, an area with almost no residents or shops nearby, and neither the streets nor the buildings suffered any damage."
Another tall woman projected the intelligence onto the screen. The footage showed a street where more than a dozen staff members in black uniforms were loading corpse after corpse into body bags.
"Ten dead at the scene, one injured, and the Domain signature of one of the anomalies is completely unrecorded in our database."
Hearing the tall woman's report, the man in the black trench coat let out a cold snort.
"And the other one?"
"Calamity-grade Domain signature."
At the woman's words, the man in the black trench coat abruptly stood up, cold sweat soaking his back in an instant.
"What?! Calamity-grade?! What on earth are the people at the Special Management Bureau doing?! How could they allow a Calamity-grade anomaly to appear in the city?!"
The girl who had been sitting quietly in a chair finally stood up. She was wearing a black suit uniform, looked to be around twenty years old, and had her short shoulder-length black hair tied into a neat ponytail.
An unfathomable smile always lingered on her face.
Now that she stood up, everyone's gaze converged on her.
"Regarding this matter, I'd like to explain: this Calamity-grade anomaly is an individual registered and managed by our Special Management Bureau."
As soon as those words were spoken, the others looked somewhat surprised.
"Tianhai City has a registered Calamity-grade anomaly?! Why have we never heard about this? Deputy Director Lin, care to explain?"
The girl addressed as Deputy Director Lin glanced at the man in the black trench coat, turning a deaf ear to his interrogation.
The rest of them also looked at the girl, seemingly sharing the same doubt.
She slowly picked up her coffee cup from the table, stirring it while smiling.
"The Special Management Bureau is independent of all agencies. Whether it's your Central Intelligence Agency, the Ministry of State Security, or the military, we have no obligation to report to you."
"Director Lin, that's not quite right. Since you don't need us, why did you call us here?"
The woman with glasses adjusted her thin-framed glasses and said with some dissatisfaction.
"Director Wei, don't be upset. Since we invited you here for this matter, we don't intend to keep it hidden."
The girl picked up a tablet casually and walked over to the screen.
"As everyone has just learned, there were two Domain signatures that appeared in the city this time. Among them, the Calamity-grade anomaly has been monitored and registered by us for fifteen years."
Her fingers tapped a few times on the screen, and the projection immediately displayed the file of a beautiful black-haired girl, with the name "Xalia" clearly written on it.
"Then you can start by explaining what the deal is with this Xalia."
Said the man in the black trench coat.
"Xalia, original name unknown, mythological origin unknown, lifespan unknown. She is a rather special anomaly belonging to the Blood Clan, yet different from ordinary vampires."
"She has no interest in creating thralls to expand her own influence; instead, she is hell-bent on embedding herself into human society and living like a human. Five years ago, she was adopted by an elderly couple and changed her name to Xia Yue."
"As for fifteen years ago, I acted as her guarantor to let her enter the Special Management Bureau. Now that she has made contact with another anomaly for no apparent reason and even used the power of her Domain, this matter naturally falls upon my shoulders. I will be responsible for investigating it thoroughly, including the newly appeared anomaly."
Fifteen years ago?
Everyone present was somewhat surprised.
This Director Lin claimed she guaranteed this anomaly's entry into the Special Management Bureau fifteen years ago, but she looked less than twenty years old—wasn't she just a child fifteen years ago?
As if sensing everyone's doubts, the girl smiled somewhat embarrassedly.
"A girl's age is a secret; I hope everyone can understand."
Fine. The Special Management Bureau was the specialized agency for managing anomalies. Who could say that someone capable of leading such a special agency wasn't another kind of anomaly herself?
After the brief explanation, Lin Ze put down the tablet, casually picked up her coffee cup again, and walked toward the door.
"Hey, where are you going?"
The man in the black trench coat called out to Lin Ze.
Lin Ze walked to the door, looked back at the man in the black trench coat, and smiled faintly.
"To investigate, officer."
With that, she closed the door and left.
"This woman is too rude! Just leaving us hanging here like this?! I'm going to lodge a complaint with her superiors!"
The tall woman patted the trench coat man on the shoulder and said earnestly.
"I advise you not to. By rank, you have to address her as Officer Lin, and the work she is about to do brook absolutely no delay."
"Ah?! Isn't she just a deputy director? She..."
"Don't you understand the administrative ranking of the Special Management Bureau? Besides, when it comes to anomalies, we ordinary people are completely helpless. Who made the Special Management Bureau so capable?"
"Then why were we called here?"
The man in the black trench coat sat down in his chair helplessly. Soon, his question was answered as a mission briefing appeared on the projection.
It was a photo of Zhao Qiankun, along with a brief mission summary.
"This is the sole survivor of this incident, Zhao Qiankun. His father is the head of the Zhao Group, so we hope all departments can work together to handle the aftermath."
The three people who saw the mission wore expressions of displeasure.
Especially the man in the black trench coat.
"They called us just to clean up the Special Management Bureau's mess?! What gives?!"
"Seriously not a shred of respect."
"I'm not doing this. If you guys want to clean up their mess, go right ahead."
This time, the heads of the top agencies reached a consensus. What kind of nonsense was this? Handing out tasks to them in this manner?
Did they really take them for lackeys?
Yet right at that moment, everyone's phones received a text message.
The message was sent by the same person, and everyone turned dumbfounded upon reading it.
This was someone whose authority they absolutely dared not defy.
The message contained only a single sentence: All department heads are to fully cooperate with the work of the Special Management Bureau without fail.
The few of them looked at each other, and eventually, all their displeasure could only turn into helpless, bitter smiles.
The special status of the Special Management Bureau in Huaxia could basically be described as an independent department detached from all administrative organs.
Its administrative rank was unimaginably high.
"Fine, since it's come to this, we might as well go back and get to work."
The tall woman was the first to express her stance.
She smiled faintly at the others and walked out of the office first.
The woman in glasses adjusted her glasses, nodded slightly to the man in the black trench coat, and also left the office.
Finally, only the trench coat man remained. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but in the end, all his unvoiced words boiled down to a single word.
"...Fuck."
......
Meanwhile.
Inside the top-floor operating room of Tianhai City's most authoritative First Hospital, a team of top-tier doctors who had rushed in from various places was anxiously operating on Zhang Qiankun.
Though his arm was intact, because it had been forcefully ripped off, the cells at the connection point were necrotic; even if reattached, it could never recover.
Right now, all they could do was preserve Zhao Qiankun's life to the best of their ability, ensuring he wouldn't suffer any lasting sequelae from this "car accident."
Outside the operating room door.
A tall man sat in a chair. He looked to be in his fifties with a stern appearance, especially his eyes, which were as sharp as a falcon's, staring fixedly at the door of the operating room.
He was none other than Zhao Zhijiang, the head of the Zhao Group and Zhao Qiankun's father.
Upon learning that his son had been in a car accident, Zhao Zhijiang immediately flew in from out of town. Though he had more than this one son, and this particular son didn't satisfy him much,
he was still his own flesh and blood when all was said and done.
Zhao Zhijiang didn't believe the car accident story told to him by the police.
The bodyguards accompanying his son were all dead, and when he had people check the scene, there were completely no traces of a car accident.
This was a targeted act of retaliation against him.
Having spent years navigating the business world, Zhao Zhijiang knew very well that the corporate world was a battlefield. He had offended far too many people; for a moment, he couldn't even pinpoint who the target might be.
Yet he swore that no matter what resources he had to deploy, he would make whoever harmed his son pay the price.
Li Muhhan suddenly opened his eyes. What he saw was the familiar ceiling; he had somehow made it back to his bed, and Xia Yue was slumped beside it.
It seemed his waking up had also woken the girl.
Xia Yue slowly stood up.
"What on earth happened last night?"
Li Muhhan vaguely remembered losing consciousness after being humiliated and beaten by Zhao Qiankun.
Yet he could still feel that he seemed to have seen a lot of blood, and many people dying by his own hands.
When he regained consciousness again, he had been held in the embrace of Xia Yue in her vampire form.
"Did I kill someone? Did I... did I kill someone?"
Li Muhhan looked at Xia Yue with a trembling gaze.
Xia Yue sat by the bed, gently raising her hand to rest on Li Muhhan's shoulder, and spoke gently.
"It's completely normal to lose control the first time you activate the power of your Domain."
"Then in the future, will I lose control every time I use this power?"
Just as Xia Yue was about to answer, a knock sounded at the door.
Chapter 10: A Monster's Perspective
It was already 9:00 PM. Who could possibly be visiting at such a late hour?
Li Muhhan didn't have many friends. Could it be Luoyang coming back for his bicycle?
Just as Li Muhhan was dazing, a young woman's voice came from the doorway.
"Excuse me, could you open the door? I'm not a bad person."
Hearing this voice, Xia Yue's expression visibly tightened.
When Li Muhhan got up and opened the door, standing outside was a tall, beautiful girl in a suit.
Her short hair was tied into a ponytail, an enigmatic smile played on her lips, and she was carrying a plastic bag in her hand.
"I bought some dinner on the way. May I come in?"
The woman raised the bag in her hand toward Li Muhhan.
The aroma of food drifted out from inside.
Li Muhhan didn't know this woman, but having grown accustomed to the ways of the world since childhood, he could read a hint of a message in the woman's eyes.
Though her face wore a smile, the woman's eyes concealed a certain murderous intent.
"Are you a salesperson? I'm not buying anything."
Despite this, Li Muhhan tentatively tried to refuse her.
Yet it was clear this woman came prepared.
She suddenly reached out and flicked Li Muhhan on the forehead with her finger.
Instantly, Li Muhhan felt his body grow as heavy as a thousand pounds, and he dropped to his knees with a thud.
"I'm already working overtime; I really don't want to waste any more time."
She bypassed Li Muhhan's body directly and walked into the room.
"What's going on...?"
Li Muhhan struggled to turn his head, watching the woman walk into the room.
He saw the woman casually toss the bag onto the table, then wave at Xia Yue, who was standing at the doorway.
"What are you staring for? Come sit."
She acted completely as if this place were her own home.
"Let him go first."
Xia Yue was far from friendly toward her, her blood-red eyes staring fixedly at the woman.
"Don't look at me like that. You know I'm susceptible to reason, not force. Call me 'big sister', and I'll let him go."
The woman pulled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, lit one for herself, leaned back in the chair, and looked at Xia Yue nonchalantly.
"Big sister..."
Li Muhhan was dumbfounded.
Was Xia Yue really this obedient? Or was this woman so powerful that even Xia Yue couldn't resort to brute force against her?
"Aha~ Good girl."
"Let him go."
Xia Yue's tone grew icy. The woman then slowly exhaled a ring of smoke and snapped her fingers.
Li Muhhan instantly felt the thousand-pound weight pressing down on him vanish completely into thin air.