Chapter 8  : Wolves and Bats

“Lily, transform quickly!”

It was the one and only solution Hao Ren could think of at that moment. The familiar aura of bloodlust and chillness reemerged. He knew that he was no match for the human-like ‘mutant’ in front of him. He was just a normal human being after all. However, even after shouting out for Lily, he did not have high hopes. He was less than two meters away from this ‘girl’!

Hao Ren felt a gust of wind behind him and knew that it was Lily, who had transformed into a werewolf. She was coming to his rescue. At the same time, Hao Ren was prepared to leap aside to let the werewolf and what seemed like a vampire come face to face. It meant that he would be out of harm’s way!

Unfortunately, Hao Ren had either overestimated his reflexes or underestimated the opponent’s fighting capacity. Just as the thought to dodge crossed his mind, the girl with long, straight hair had already stretched out her hand. She had reflexes which were beyond human. She grabbed Hao Ren by the arm and with great strength which could have possibly broken his arm, she flung Hao Ren behind her. With a melodious voice, she cried, “Be careful!”

Hao Ren was stunned when he was flung across.

“It seemed like the dangerous mutant in front of me just told me to be careful.”

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Lily rushed to the door but she was slow by half a beat. Upon looking at her, Hao Ren was disappointed as the silly girl did not even transform yet or held any weapons. She was still in her cozy home attire. Her hair was not white and her ears were not out. She happily trotted to the door. “Landlord oh Landlord, here I come! Is it the delivery man?”

Deep down, Hao Ren was both sad and furious. He screamed to himself in disbelief.

“Oh this stupid girl! There is completely no tacit understanding between us at all!!!”

Lily’s actions made Hao Ren completely give up on his attempts to escape from the vampire’s grasp. Lily saw the black-haired stranger before her and came to her senses immediately. She transformed into a werewolf within a second and grabbed two bricks near the front door ready for battle but even so, Hao Ren still felt it was hopeless.

“I should not have trusted this stupid werewolf from the start! Hanging a ring of garlic around my neck by myself would be even more reliable than Lily!”

Of course, he would find out later on that garlic was useless when it came to a certain vampire.

Seeing that her landlord was taken by the enemy, Lily became upset. She grasped the bricks in her hand tightly and from her throat came a low growling voice, displaying her strength. “Vampire… it’s daytime now! You’re no match for me during the night, what more during the daytime! Let my landlord go and I’ll spare your life!”

The vampire had no fear. Being in the middle of Hao Ren and Lily, her right arm was put up in a defensive stance. Her sharp nails grew longer and chilling sense of bloodlust surrounded her body. She quietly moved her left arm to her back and swayed her hands a couple of times in front of a baffled Hao Ren. It appeared like… she was urging Hao Ren to leave at once?

“Werewolf, when did beasts start putting up an act and tried blending in within a human city!” The vampire’s voice was cold and disdainful. Although there was a sense of debility, her tone was beyond contempt (she was struck a couple of times by the werewolf using a brick). “Isn’t your actual duty hunting rabbits in the wild?”

“Hmph!” Lily answered furiously, “You stupid vampire, you must not have known that I am unable to catch rabbits!”

Upon hearing this, Hao Ren thought that he might as well be dead. Then he would not have to trouble the silly werewolf; She was such a stupid, stupid, stupid werewolf!

Even the vampire who was normally calm could not help but be taken aback by the werewolf’s reply, which did not make much sense. Nearly laughing out, she swayed her left hand towards Hao Ren again. Simultaneously, Hao Ren heard a voice in his ears, “Human, run first. I’ll hold this werewolf back… It should be no problem for me to hold her back although it’s daytime now!”

“… What?”

For once, Lily was smart enough to realize that the vampire was off guard. She immediately let out a deep growl and charged towards the vampire with the brick in her hand. She did not throw the brick at the vampire as she was worried that it might hit her landlord.

“Die, you winged rat!”

The vampire fearlessly welcomed Lily, who was charging towards her. Waving her hands, a pale, blood red streak coagulated mid-air. Her sharp fingernails grew to more than 10 centimeters in length and like a dagger, attempted to stab Lily’s chest. “Go to hell! You beast, who only knows how to catch rabbits!”

“You stupid vampire! I’ve already told you that I do not know how to catch rabbits!”

“Don’t hope that you can distract me using this method. You can’t use the same trick twice on a vampire!”

While Hao Ren was still in a stunned state, both mutants were already locked in combat. Like a silver streak, Lily was going from left to right attempting to reach Hao Ren. Although it was daytime, the vampire was no less powerful than Lily. The vampire transformed into a black shadow, dancing around in a red streak with sharp claws. She was able to block every advance from the werewolf. It seemed like the howls from Lily and cries from the vampire came from multiple locations at once. Their movements could not be caught by human eyes and ears!

As Hao Ren started to regain his senses, he realized that he had to stop the two from battling each other no matter what. It was not due to any particular reason… He was just worried that others might appear and witness the weird scene!

Although it was a deserted place, there were still people living there! The inhabitants would have come out anytime as it was already daylight. There would have been trouble if someone saw the commotion caused by Lily and the vampire. Lily could have been captured by the Science Academy, sliced and served in a canteen! Hao Ren was sure of the ‘food junkie’ culture in China!

Hao Ren was desperate when he noticed that someone was coming out of their house at the end of the alley. He shouted at the top of his voice, “Stop! That’s enough!”

His roar shook the ground. Hao Ren could already imagine his neighbors going around the next few days, asking whether he was a victim of domestic violence after hearing his scream. However, it was somehow effective: The storm formed by Lily and the vampire during the battle instantly stopped. They turned to Hao Ren with confused faces and immediately glowered at each other.

Lily still looked high-spirited, as if she had just warmed up from the battle. On the other hand, the vampire looked a bit tired. She was breathing heavily and her face was unusually red. After all, it was not easy battling a werewolf in broad daylight. Nonetheless, they had something in common; they did not break a sweat even though they went through such a tough fight.

The icy aura that radiated from the teenage vampire had a bone-chilling effect.

“There might be some misunderstandings between the both of you!” Hao Ren said Seeing the both of them glaring at one another, he knew that a fight could break out at any moment. He wedged himself between them (although he was leaning more towards Lily’s side of course) and said, “Firstly, I have to confirm something. You, vam… vampire, you actually have no intentions on killing me right?” Hao Ren felt awkward as the words left his mouth. However, he had no time to think things through because he knew that there had to be a great misunderstanding between the werewolf and the vampire.

Immediately, the vampire’s eyes widened. She threw Lily a cautious glance whilst taking a glimpse of Hao Ren. “I want to save you!”

Before Hao Ren could open his mouth, Lily leapt out and said, “Who are you bluffing?! You just want to suck on the landlord’s blood! I’ve watched TV before and you vampires never have good intentions!”

Suddenly, Hao Ren realized something. Why did most of the werewolf’s knowledge come from watching TV? Was it her first time meeting a vampire?

“You were the one who kidnapped this human in the first place!” The vampire narrowed her eyes, revealing a murderous look. “Kidnapping humans, forcing them to help you hide your identity so that you can integrate yourselves in the human city… You wolves aren’t that bright. You’ve been using this tactic for decades yet there’s still no change until now. No wonder you’re on the brink of extinction.”

They continued to throw deadly stares at each other. However, they were starting to lose their stamina.

After hearing bits and pieces of the conversation, a thought crossed Hao Ren’s mind. “Sigh…What is all this about… Stop fighting first! Let’s talk back at home!”