Blood Neon

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Opening Ceremony

(Saw Zhou You’s livestream until around 9:40, then dawdled a bit before finally starting to write. But the Eagle Mercenary Card renewal was successful, yay! Season one animation is in production, yay Nine-colored Deer! Yay roguelike!)

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Lin Ying felt that she needed to provoke the boy in front of her a bit more, to observe further changes.

She had spent these past ten or so days, ever since gaining consciousness, entirely alone, and had never had such a suitable opportunity for interpersonal observation.

Originally, out of fear of the possible existence of secret organizations in this world—like the men in black and such—Lin Ying didn’t dare let anyone see her true form. Even when she devoured people, she was always extremely cautious, afraid of leaving behind any evidence of a supernatural creature.

But a student who got beaten to the ground by a bunch of street punks probably wasn’t some kind of demon hunter or the like.

As the first human she had genuinely interacted with in all these days, Lin Ying had learned a bit about him during their brief time together today. Based on her instincts, she felt she could talk a little more with Zhang Qiming.

Of course, that “a little more” had to stay within the bounds of not causing any lasting damage.

“You mean… this?”

Extending part of her body, gently resting it on her own shoulder, Lin Ying poked at the tentacle with her finger and asked the boy.

.

That familiar feeling returned.

The girl, her expression calm, spoke in a tone as if she were introducing a family pet, and Zhang Qiming’s eyes immediately locked onto that pitch-black tentacle.

This time, he could see it much more clearly than before.

A faint black mist shrouded the outside of the tentacle, and beneath the mist was an amorphous, indescribable substance. It wasn’t still—it moved constantly as if it had a life of its own. Deep, abyssal darkness formed the fluid-like interior, and occasionally, fleeting flashes of blood-red light flickered within.

A wave of intense unease swept through his mind. This feeling—it was like being abandoned by his father as a child; like that moment in a swimming pool when his mother, who had been holding him, suddenly let go.

Though not as overwhelming as the last time, it still made him breathe heavier.

“Yes…”

He instinctively gave an answer.

This time, Zhang Qiming’s mind didn’t fall into a trance. He could still think and observe rationally.

He could finally confirm that he hadn’t been mistaken before.

This girl, who appeared harmless and gentle on the surface… she was definitely not normal.

Why was she showing this to him?

What did she want?

Why had she followed him home—what was her goal?

What exactly was she?

A barrage of questions erupted in his mind. Zhang Qiming even found himself admiring his own ability to still think under such circumstances—so much so that it momentarily overrode the blaring alarm bells going off deep within him.

An intense curiosity surged within him, a powerful urge to know the answers to those questions.

And yet, his instincts kept telling him the same thing—

Danger. The danger of death.

From deep within his DNA, an instinct engraved into every human from birth was now blaring alarms, warning him—warning him of that primal fear of death.

Even though the feeling wasn’t as intense as before, it was still enough to suffocate him with pressure. Even speaking came with an oppressive weight.

.

“As you can see, these ‘limbs’ are a part of me.”

The girl let the tentacle gently rise from her shoulder, slowly slithering down along her arm before elegantly coming to a stop on the back of her hand.

Just like a dancer toying with a python.

“May I ask, what… who exactly are you?” The overpowering curiosity born from his chuunibyou soul briefly eclipsed his fear, and Zhang Qiming finally spoke up.

“I don’t know either.” A faint gloom flickered across the girl’s face. “But I’m definitely not human. As far as I can tell, I’m probably some kind of monster that feeds on humans.”

Ah, so she’s a monster. That makes sense now—wait, did she just say she feeds on humans?

Humans?

Did he hear that right?

Damn it, curiosity really did kill the cat. Why, of all things, did he have to go and dig out that answer? If a tiger started chatting with you amicably, then casually mentioned it liked eating people, you’d know exactly what was coming next. Zhang Qiming felt that no matter how angrily or desperately he tried to slide-tackle his way up a tree, it wouldn’t help.

“Earlier, when you fell down the stairs, I used them to catch you in order to save you. It’s just a pity I didn’t have time to retract them before you saw.”

The girl didn’t seem to care about the look on Zhang Qiming’s face and simply shook her head helplessly.

So what, your next line is going to be, ‘Sorry about this, but to keep you quiet, I’m going to have to eat you now’? The alarms in Zhang Qiming’s head were still blaring as he began mentally ranting like crazy.

If he had a time machine right now, he’d go back just a few minutes and tell himself to put his shoes on properly before going downstairs.

Who could’ve guessed that picking the wrong dialogue option would suddenly lead him down a Bad End route?

Swallowing hard, deeply feeling the bitterness of life, he could only cautiously test the waters and speak slowly.

“Um, Lin Ying… While there may have been some misunderstandings between us, maybe it’s not necessary to go that far. I swear I won’t tell anyone what happened today—not to the police, not to the news, no one.”

This was the best line he could think of under the current circumstances, given all his deductions. Zhang Qiming sighed inwardly. He’d said all he could to survive—whatever happened next was up to fate.

“Misunderstandings? Hmm, yes, we do have some misunderstandings.”

Lin Ying nodded and lightly pointed a finger at him.

“Just now, when you ‘woke up’ and saw me—did something come back to you?”

She wasn’t in a rush; she asked calmly and patiently.

“Did you experience a huge emotional reaction? Did you feel afraid, or something like that?”

Zhang Qiming couldn’t help but recall how he’d felt just moments ago… No need to think hard—his heart had indeed been filled with fear.

“Yes.”

“Then, was there anything else? Like… excitement?”

Excitement…?

Zhang Qiming was momentarily speechless.

Was he some kind of masochist? Getting excited in this kind of situation? That was just absurd. Faced with an obviously supernatural and terrifying being—especially one with a face that basically said ‘I might eat you~’—how could any normal person possibly feel excited?

…Though he had always thought that supernatural stuff was kind of cool…

Wait.

Zhang Qiming frowned. Because after mentally replaying what had just happened, he realized that maybe—just maybe—he had felt a little… excited.

He couldn’t help but look up at Lin Ying.

She had grasped his emotions even more clearly than he had himself?

A confused expression crept across his face.

.

Lin Ying realized she had been right—he really had just experienced a rollercoaster of complex emotions. And the feedback she had sensed had also been accurate.

Human emotions were incredibly complicated. In certain situations, it was completely reasonable for all sorts of strange, contradictory thoughts to arise simultaneously.

What truly mattered to Lin Ying was this: she had suddenly acquired the ability to sense another person’s emotions.

At present, she still wasn’t sure how this ability worked, what its range was, or what triggered it. For example, as she was currently talking with Zhang Qiming, she wasn’t picking up any strong emotional signals. At most, she could vaguely detect some chaotic “noise” from his scattered thoughts, and maybe a faint trace of fear—but nothing as clear or intense as before.

She nodded slightly.

“Let me explain. Just now, I suddenly sensed your emotions—very strong, very vivid. The moment I felt it, I immediately understood what it was.”

“And ever since I woke up here, I’ve never had my own ‘emotions.’ What I experienced today was truly a one-of-a-kind feeling.”

“I don’t know which conditions triggered that ability earlier, so I’d like to talk to you more, to try and find some clues.”

Lin Ying maintained a calm demeanor as she explained everything in one go. Even though her expression barely changed, a trace of rational excitement still slipped through—put simply, she started talking a lot.

“Wait, what did you just say? An ability? ‘This world’?”

Zhang Qiming was momentarily overwhelmed by the sudden flood of information.

“Mm, that’s what I was getting to. I believe what you said just now. I trust that you won’t reveal anything about me.”

Lin Ying gave a small smile, and the tentacle resting on the back of her hand quietly withdrew behind her.

“So, would you be willing to listen—to hear about me?”

The girl tilted her head slightly, showing a hopeful expression.

“Maybe you could help me research… what exactly ‘I’ am?”

“Alright?”

.

Zhang Qiming stopped thinking for a moment, then nodded.

“Alright…”