Suddenly, Hua Yan didn't smell the foul odor but rather a bewitching, fragrant blood scent. Distracted, she felt Elvin grip her shoulders, his fangs already touching the skin of her neck. With no time to think, she quickly raised the gleaming dagger and stabbed at Elvin's heart.

The sound of flesh being pierced and Elvin's groan filled the room.

Watching Elvin stumble backward, Hua Yan, fueled by adrenaline, quickly got up and kicked Elvin several times. Her only thought was to eliminate this monster. Despite her kicks, the creature seemed unaffected. Hua Yan grabbed a wooden stool and smashed it over Elvin. The solid wood finally made him groan and vomit a mouthful of blood.

"Stop, stop... it’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding..."

When Hua Yan stabbed his heart, Elvin gained a moment of clarity. This clarity prevented him from retaliating immediately.

A vampire's heart is their weak point. If Elvin hadn't suppressed the urge to lash out, he would have torn Hua Yan apart instinctively.

But as he battled his bloodthirsty and violent urges, Hua Yan relentlessly kicked and smashed him with the stool.

Elvin's pleas for mercy were ignored as Hua Yan continued to assault him with whatever she could find. Seeing Hua Yan's eyes red with rage, Elvin shivered, realizing she was out for blood. He knew staying any longer would mean death. He also heard footsteps approaching.

Not wanting to linger, Elvin clutched his bleeding chest, jumped out the window, and transformed into a bat to escape the rehabilitation base.

Once Elvin left, Hua Yan collapsed, panting in the pool of blood.

"Xiaoyan, what happened? Why is it so noisy in your room?" Father Hua and Old Yang's voices followed.

Hua Yan, using the moonlight, saw the gleaming black blood. She knew they couldn't see this scene, so she steadied her voice. "It's nothing. There was a rat, and I killed it... Don't come in. I'm going to sleep."

"You made such a fuss over a rat..." Father Hua scolded her lovingly.

Behind him, Old Yang glanced into the room, his eyes flashing. He also gave Hua Yan a few words of advice before leaving with Father Hua. He felt that things weren't as simple as Hua Yan said.

Listening to the footsteps fade away, Hua Yan finally relaxed. Her mind was in a fog, and she did things instinctively. Smelling the strange blood scent and seeing the pools of blood, Hua Yan staggered to the bathroom, fetched a basin of water, and some absorbent cloths, and began to clean the floor.

She then opened the windows to let the smell out. After changing the water multiple times, she finally managed to clean the bloodstains before dawn, disposing of the broken furniture in the backyard.

Exhausted, Hua Yan climbed into the bathtub filled with hot water, her head resting on the edge, eyes closed, reliving the events of the previous night.

As she calmed down, many details she hadn't noticed before came to mind.

At first, the man seemed normal, but after she felt the sting in her hand, he changed. Thinking about it, Hua Yan looked at her right hand and saw a half-inch-long wound with flesh exposed in the middle.

Clearly, she had bled a lot last night. Wrapped in a bath towel, Hua Yan lifted the covers and saw large bloodstains on the sheets and quilt. As she dried her hair, she thought it was likely her blood that triggered the man's transformation.

She recalled the man's last words, "Stop, stop... it’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding..."

Without a moment’s pause, Hua Yan turned to the internet to research everything about vampires. She had already guessed that the man from last night was not an ordinary vampire; his age was likely beyond her imagination.

The older a vampire, the more powerful they are. Standing in front of a full-length mirror, Hua Yan turned around and found no wounds on her body. She was even more convinced that the man had no ill intentions. Otherwise, with just one strike to his heart, her life wouldn’t have been enough—he could have easily killed her with a single slap.

Despite her multiple attacks, he still didn’t retaliate at all. “Serves him right, though. He couldn’t control himself and almost drained me dry.”

Hua Yan had many doubts, but without the man, she couldn’t figure them out on her own. The sky in the east was already turning light. Unable to sleep, she changed the bed sheets and covers, put the soiled quilt in a garbage bag, dried her hair, and dressed. She opened all the windows and doors in her room to let the fresh air in, then went to the backyard to check if she had cleaned the blood stains off the broken furniture.

Worried about explaining the blood stains to her father, Hua Yan meticulously cleaned them off the broken furniture pieces. After checking, she found that the already minimal blood stains were now completely invisible.

By chance, she noticed the rabbits in their cage, all huddled in the corners with their red eyes wide open, trembling. Hua Yan picked up a table leg that had blood on it and approached the rabbit cage. The rabbits started scurrying around frantically, confirming her suspicion that the vampire was a powerful one. Standing there unharmed, breathing fresh air, and seeing the sunrise felt like a miracle.

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Returning to her room, Hua Yan sniffed around. The blood scent was only noticeable when entering from outside. Remembering that white wine could eliminate the smell of blood, she fetched a bottle of ten-year-old Fengjiu from the liquor cabinet and sprinkled it around the room. Within moments, the rich aroma of the wine masked the blood scent.

At that moment, the maid, Chang Ma, who had risen to prepare breakfast, smelled the strong scent of alcohol and asked in confusion, “Why does Miss’s room smell so strongly of wine? Did a bottle break?” She was about to fetch a broom to clean up.

Standing at the door, Hua Yan quickly stopped her, “It’s okay, I’ve already cleaned it up.”

“Make sure all the broken glass is cleaned up thoroughly. We don’t want Chenchen getting hurt.”

“Chang Ma, isn’t there a cashmere carpet in the storage? Let’s bring it out and lay it in the room. It’ll be safer that way.” With the carpet covering the floor, even a faint scent of blood wouldn’t be detectable unless someone had a dog’s nose.

“That’s a good idea. Plus, with the soft carpet on the floor in this cold weather, Chenchen won’t have to worry about getting cold.”

Once Hua Yan and Chang Ma laid down the carpet, which perfectly fit the size of the bedroom floor, Father Hua walked in, carrying a rosy-cheeked Hu Chen.

As soon as he saw Hua Yan, Hu Chen reached out for her to hold him. Once in her arms, he planted a wet kiss on her cheek.

“Mommy, are you feeling better? Can I sleep with you tonight?” Hu Chen asked in his clear, childlike voice, his dark eyes filled with anticipation.

Before Hua Yan could respond, Father Hua, feigning anger, said, “You little rascal, last night you said you’d sleep with Grandpa from now on. How can you change your mind as soon as you see your mommy?” As Hua Yan watched them with a smile, she carefully observed whether her father detected any strange scent or showed any unusual expressions.

“But the little bunnies in the cage always sleep with their mommy. So, Chenchen should sleep with Mommy too. That way, I can grow up quickly.”

His innocent face, paired with his earnest expression, made everyone laugh. Father Hua, sniffing the air, suddenly looked at Hua Yan and asked, “You didn’t drink, did you? Why does your room smell so strongly of alcohol?”

“No, Miss accidentally broke a bottle,” Chang Ma quickly explained.

“You didn’t get hurt, did you? And you cleaned up all the broken glass?”

"No injuries, and I've already disposed of the broken wine bottle. Besides, I've laid down that cashmere carpet in the bedroom."

"You should have done that earlier. It'll make it safer for Chenchen to play on the floor."

"He has underfloor heating, so he's fine playing normally. Plus, that cashmere carpet we got is good, but it also attracts dust, doesn't it?"

"Both of you always have so many reasons," Father Hua teased Hua Yan, then left for his morning exercise.

Still feeling mentally drained, Hua Yan played with Hu Chen on the carpet in her bedroom. She held a piece of fine jade to absorb its warmth, and soon, Hu Chen nestled in her arms and fell asleep again.

By mealtime, Hua Yan's face had regained its rosy hue, showing no signs of the sleepless night. Reflecting in the mirror, she marveled at how the jade’s warmth was a natural beauty treatment, albeit one only she could benefit from, leaving other women envious.

During the meal, Old Yang occasionally glanced at Hua Yan, but her composed demeanor left him with no answers, and his doubts remained unvoiced. Instead, he joined the elderly residents of the convalescent home for chess.

Realizing Old Yang hadn't noticed anything unusual, Hua Yan finally allowed herself a relieved smile. She instinctively chose not to share last night's events with anyone. Partly to avoid worrying them, but also to protect the bat.

Only that bat could answer her questions. If it hadn't accidentally entered her room last night, it meant there were things she should know but didn't.

Avoidance wasn't a solution; Hua Yan decided to face future challenges with understanding.

While Hua Yan managed to brush off last night's events, Ewen couldn't simply write off his situation. To escape the convalescent home, he had returned as a bat with severe injuries. Until his heart healed, he couldn't revert to human form.

Frustrated, Ewen continued to drink animal blood in the forest, using primitive methods to mend his wounds. He worried if last night had terrified Hua Yan. Scaring his hostess could lead to disastrous consequences.

With his vampire bloodline not fully awakened and his powers not fully restored, a sudden shock could unleash an unconscious, bloodthirsty demon upon the world.

In a deep cave, he slept during the day to recuperate and hunted in the forest at night. After a week, only half the blood he drank was absorbed; the rest flowed from his wounds.

A month later, Ewen's heart wound finally closed. Due to the depth of the injury, nightly animal blood wasn't accelerating his recovery as expected. Human blood, especially Hua Yan's unique blood, would heal him after just one or two feeds and restore his abilities, not diminish them as they were now.

"Damn it... why am I thinking about her blood again? I deserve to die a thousand times over," Ewen sighed inwardly. "But her blood's scent is just so tempting. I need to keep my distance from her and even from Baloo."

Unable to return home for so long, Ewen wondered if Baloo worried about him. He could only keep these thoughts to himself as he hung upside down in the cave, missing his old mentor.

Unfortunately, he couldn't feed on human blood in this inland region. The multitude of skilled individuals here made it too risky for him.

Even after a week of consuming animal blood, Ewen still couldn't revert to human form. He would have to leave the inland and find human blood if he wanted to change back.

Despite this, as a bat, he had no trouble flying freely.

On another moonlit night, Ewen, who had been concerned about Hua Yan's well-being, stealthily returned to the convalescent home. He watched her soothe Hu Chen to sleep from outside the window, relieved to see her looking healthy and vibrant. It put his heart at ease.

He left silently, his black wings shimmering as he flew westward.

Meanwhile, on a night in the Golden Triangle, a horrifying scream echoed from Giku's armed base.

Qiang sat in his study, reading documents while listening to the news brought by Ma Zi from Giku.

"Qiang, Giku is still in bed. Reliable sources say he's lost control of his bladder and bowels. People are starting to think he might not make it..."

Qiang looked at Ma Zi in astonishment, puzzled. "How could this happen? What exactly did he encounter? Wasn't it just a young woman he snatched from a wealthy family in Myanmar who died?"

"It's because of this woman's death that he's in this state now. Giku was delighted with the young virgin he had snatched, and he and his brothers drank heavily. It wasn't until the moon was hanging from the branches that he staggered back to his bedroom. But when he kissed the person in his bed after a while, he sensed something was wrong. He turned on the light and screamed in horror..."

"Cut to the chase. What did he see? A mummy?" Qiang joked.

"You're quite sharp, Qiang. Indeed, that beautiful woman had turned into a skin that was still soft but had already dried corpse. And..." Ma Zi lowered his voice, continuing, "And there were two fang-sized bite marks on her neck."