Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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It was 4 p.m. on the weekend. Tang Xiaoxiao rolled out of bed, smoothed his tangled hair, washed his face, put on a T-shirt and shorts, sat down in front of his computer, grabbed a bag of chips, and began his workday.
Tang Xiaoxiao was an online writer, writing horror and supernatural novels for men. He had a five-year contract with Heiding Chinese Network and had completed several long novels. While not a top-tier writer, he was a moderately famous figure, earning a healthy income from subscriptions and tips. His life was, however, a complete reversal of days and nights. He would write until late at night, then fall asleep and wake up the next afternoon.
Unfortunately, today’s writing wasn’t going so smoothly. He had encountered a minor problem with the outline he’d prepared long ago, requiring him to start over. Tang Xiaoxiao was in a state of irritation, typing away on his keyboard. Just as he was getting frustrated, there was a knock on the door.
“Who’s there? I paid the utility bills!” Tang Xiaoxiao howled at the top of his lungs.
A calm male voice rang out from outside the door: “From the Public Security Bureau.”
From the Public Security Bureau! Tang Xiaoxiao was so frightened that he almost threw the keyboard away and began to carefully reflect on what he had written recently.
Could it be that the supporting actresses in the recent chapters were too hot? Could it be that he accidentally hit a high-voltage line that prohibited him from writing? As God and heaven are his conscience, he didn’t write about the underworld, senior cadres, red and black, police and gangsters!
“What…what do you want from me?” Tang Xiaoxiao responded bravely.
“…Checking the water meter.” The male voice outside the door was still so calm.
Damn it, he didn’t even bother to make an excuse, where did this arrogant police come from!
Tang Xiaoxiao went over in slippers and opened the door. Two men were standing outside the hollow security door. Neither of them looked like police officers. They were dressed in casual clothes and were extremely handsome. They looked like the male supporting roles in online novels who were defeated by ordinary male protagonists. But a closer look revealed that their temperament and aura were different from those of ordinary people. The one with slightly long hair looked fierce and strong, not to be messed with, while the other was too calm and cold, out of touch with reality.
Ye Qing showed his police officer ID through the hollow security door and politely asked if he could come in.
Tang Xiaoxiao scratched his head and let them in.
“It’s like this, we read the novel you published–” Li Yuebai got straight to the point.
“Woo woo…” Tang Xiaoxiao felt desperate, covered his face in pain, and howled: “Why! What did I write wrong again? Why don’t you arrest that top-ranked “shooting planes to the sky” “Juju”? He writes all kinds of dirty jokes, why are you arresting me! I don’t accept it, I want to appeal!”
“We’re not going to arrest you.” Li Yuebai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and hurriedly comforted: “There are some things about the content of the novel that I need to consult you about.”
Gu Xisha’s face looked a bit fierce. In order to pretend to be like him, Li Yuebai also made himself look ferocious a few days ago, but now he couldn’t hold it back anymore.
“Isn’t that just a euphemism for asking me to have tea[1]?”
“Don’t talk nonsense.” Ye Qing handed over a piece of printed paper with an expressionless face.
It was full of keywords.
Vampire, Countess of Karnstein, maid Ampsha, retractable silver necklace, possession, mind control…
Tang Xiaoxiao took the paper and took a look at it. He didn’t understand it very well and scratched his head: “I have written all these?”
“You don’t even remember it?”
“With my speed of updating 10,000 words a day, how can I remember so many after completing so many long novels…?” Tang Xiaoxiao protested.
“Then let me help you recall.” Li Yuebai stood up and paced back and forth on the floor that had been cleaned for more than ten days: “Over the years, there have been many works about vampires, novels, movies, TV series, animation… In these works, the reproduction method of vampires is generally set as [First Embrace].”
The so-called First Embrace is a classic setting – vampires use some complicated method to suck the blood of a human of their choice, and after the ceremony is completed, the human will become a vampire and join the blood clan.
However in Tang Xiaoxiao’s novel, there is no such thing as a First Embrace.
In other works, vampires are immortal and always live in the world.
In Tang Xiaoxiao’s novel, in the sixteenth century, vampires were defeated by hunters, and all of them hid in the form of dormant bodies, hidden in various objects and bricks, and fell into a long dormant period, and were never heard from the world again. Only when the time is right, they will break out of the shell, possess humans, and coexist with humans.
It was exactly the same as the facts that happened recently.
Not only this, but all other aspects could match Tang Xiaoxiao’s novel.
“So, why do you know so much?” Li Yuebai looked at the otaku writer in front of him with confusion. No matter how he looked at it, he felt that this person had a simple mind. He didn’t seem like a scheming person, let alone someone who knew any big secrets.
“Comrade police officer, you can’t reveal creative secrets at will, right?” Tang Xiaoxiao scratched his head and rolled his eyes: “I rely on this to make a living. If I tell you, isn’t it the same as destroying my own rice bowl?”
“Tang Xiaoxiao, don’t be so frivolous.” Li Yuebai changed to a serious tone: “Do you know why we are looking for you to ask this?”
“Why?”
“Recently, a murder occurred in the south of the city. The murderer left a diary at the murder scene.” Li Yuebai made up a lie without blinking: “The content of the diary happens to match the content of your novel, so you are a suspect.”
“Hey!!” Tang Xiaoxiao was startled and jumped three feet high: “You can’t just accuse a good person. I have an alibi! I have the right to remain silent! I, I still need a lawyer to defend me!”
“These words written in the diary are the exclusive nouns in your novel.” Ye Qing shook the paper.
“Then it might be my readers who committed the crime?” Tang Xiaoxiao argued, feeling unsure himself. His readers only read for the thrills and excitement, and they might not even remember the name of the protagonist’s father after finishing the book.
“Why don’t you simply reveal the source of your inspiration and the source of your setting.” Li Yuebai said, “It would save time and effort compared to hiring a lawyer, right?”
“Okay, okay!” Tang Xiaoxiao gritted his teeth and agreed.
He pulled out a thick notebook from the bookshelf and opened it. It was full of flamboyant handwriting that no one could recognize. It was ugly and sloppy, and there were many pictures and circles and dots.
“Vampires… vampires… that book seemed to have been started four years ago…” Tang Xiaoxiao flipped through the dirty pages of the notebook.
“What is this notebook?”
Tang Xiaoxiao explained unhappily, “It’s my handwritten outline book. I write down any random ideas before I start writing.”
“It’s not easy to recognize the words.” Li Yuebai praised sincerely.
“I got it! Tang Xiaoxiao flipped to a page and pointed at the dark words on it. “It’s clearly written here. I found the setting in an ancient book at home!”
“Ancient book?” Li Yuebai and Ye Qing exchanged glances.
“Yes, yes.” Tang Xiaoxiao slapped his head, suddenly realizing, “I copied it all from there! It’s not my fault, it’s the ancient book’s! The murderer you’re talking about must have read the ancient book too!”
Writers often harbored a certain fascination with antiques, and the ancient book Tang Xiaoxiao mentioned was in pristine condition. When it was taken from the safe, it was still wrapped in plastic to prevent oxidation.
Unwrapping the plastic revealed a blue silk-covered book with the inscription “A Study of Blood Charms” in bold characters.
Tang Xiaoxiao produced two pairs of disposable plastic gloves, handed them to Li Yuebai and Ye Qing, and warned, “Police comrades, you must protect the lives and property of the people, right? So, be careful when you turn the pages. Don’t damage this. This is a Ming Dynasty book, and it’s very precious.”
“Ming Dynasty?” Li Yuebai flipped through the pages carefully, and sure enough, he saw the reign title “Zhengde” written on the pages.
The inscription opened with the words: Portuguese Jesuit missionaries…
The Jesuits were the Christian missionary organization of the time.
“Wow! This is amazing! It’s a crucial piece of evidence for cultural exchange between the East and the West.” Li Yuebai was stunned. He often taught his students in class that during the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, Western European missionaries came to China for extensive cultural exchange. Among them was the renowned Matteo Ricci, who co-authored numerous technical books with Ming Dynasty officials and scholars.
“Exactly!” Tang Xiaoxiao beamed. “This book was co-authored by my ancestor and Portuguese missionaries during the Ming Dynasty.”
“How did your ancestors meet the Portuguese missionaries?” Li Yuebai wondered.
“Ahem, my ancetors settled in Guangzhou, Guangdong. It’s close to the sea, and since the Ming Dynasty, it’s been relatively open, so encountering foreigners wasn’t uncommon.” Tang Xiaoxiao exclaimed with pride. “My ancestor, Mr. Tang, was a scholar and a rather unconventional person. He never followed conventions. Back then, he was a pioneer! Through these interactions, he became acquainted with foreigners.”
The book was titled “A Study of Blood Charms,” and its content was, of course, a study of vampires.
According to Tang Xiaoxiao, his ancestor, Mr. Tang, was a truly romantic figure. From a young age, he had been fascinated by tales of mystical spirits and monsters like the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Tang legends, and Buddhist past events. After passing the imperial examination and securing a sinecure, he had some spare money and spent his days traveling the country, exploring the mountains and rivers, inquiring about all sorts of ghost stories. He built a large library at home, storing not books of sages but only books on ghosts and monsters.
One day, he heard that a few new missionaries had arrived on a Western ship and planned to stay in the Ming Dynasty for a few years. They needed to converse with the Ming scholars. Those pedantic and orthodox scholars were reluctant to meet these red-haired, blue-eyed foreigners, but Mr. Tang, on the other hand, was intrigued and went to meet them without further ado. At first, they couldn’t communicate, so they relied on gestures. But after a while, they ate, lived, and travelled together, and were able to speak to each other.
As time went on, their relationship deepened, and Old Man Tang began to harbor a sinister thought. He thought, “I’ve collected most of these Ming Dynasty ghost books. I wonder what ghosts there are in the West?” So he kept asking.
The missionaries sternly explained that there was a leader of all ghosts, named Satan, who was the source of all evil and must be criticized. Even after hearing the story of Satan, Old Man Tang remained undeterred and pressed for more information, but the missionaries remained evasive and refused to speak.
A few years later, one of the missionaries, with whom Old Man Tang had a particularly close relationship, was bitten by a poisonous insect while preaching in the countryside and fell seriously ill. Seeing his friend’s illness, Old Man Tang was deeply concerned and quickly sent for him to be brought to his home to take good care of him, spending every day by his bedside to chat and talk.
Knowing his time was running out, and moved by Old Man Tang’s care, the missionary finally confided in the secret after waking from a coma: the secret of vampires.
Upon hearing this, Mr. Tang was horrified and hurriedly copied it out himself. From dictation to transcription, he completed “A Study of Blood Charms” on his deathbed. Shortly after completing the book, the missionary passed away.
The book’s contents were so mysterious and cryptic that Mr. Tang dared not circulate it elsewhere. He simply copied ten copies for himself, preserving them for posterity.
Centuries later, through wars, famines, and numerous book-destroying disasters, most of the ten copies of “A Study of the Blood Charm” were lost. Only this one, miraculously, survived and remained in the hands of Tang Xiaoxiao.
“I wanted to write a cool vampire-themed novel, but when I looked up information, it was all the same and boring.” Tang Xiaoxiao scratched his head. “So I dug out the book our ancestor left behind and looked it up. Wow! It’s really exciting! I didn’t even read it carefully, but I just used all the settings.”
“We need to take this book back to the bureau and study it carefully,” Li Yuebai said. “I will return it to you in its original form afterward.”
“This…” Tang Xiaoxiao looked embarrassed.
“You can use it to pay the rent,” Ye Qing said.
Tang Xiaoxiao immediately held out the credit card machine with both hands.
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[1] In Chinese internet slang, being “invited to have tea” (喝茶, hē chá) is a euphemism for being summoned and interrogated by the state security police. The phrase emerged as a coded way for netizens to discuss such encounters without attracting further attention from authorities.