Part One

Chapter One

I have finally made my dream come true—ageless, immortal, living forever!

I am not afraid of death, but I am deeply terrified of the utter darkness and unknown that follows! Since I became aware of myself, this fear has gripped me tightly—I don’t know why, even though I was very young at the time. After that, I tried everything to escape this fear. I searched frantically, whether it was Eastern immortality techniques or Western magic, scientific technology or superstitious heresies, I hoped I could escape that endless, boundless darkness... I found it, yes, I really found it—vampires! Elegant and lonely wanderers of the mortal world—vampires!

Today marks the beginning of Edward Lewis's new life—perhaps, in the long false years to come, he will gradually forget his human birthday and only remember this day, the day he first became a vampire—the effects of the Embrace had just begun to show. Edward Lewis stood before the mirror, caressing his two long canine teeth as if stroking his own child—who says vampires can’t have a reflection in the mirror?

That old vampire used a full thirteen drops of blood to successfully Embrace Edward Lewis. Clearly, the number thirteen made the old vampire very happy, but it seemed that Asians naturally had some resistance to vampires. The old vampire said that to Embrace a white or black person, just one drop of blood was enough, but he hadn’t expected to use so much on him—even so, it still took more than ten days for the signs of the Embrace to appear. However, the old vampire’s thirteen drops of blood made Edward Lewis very pleased: a vampire’s power comes from blood, and the more blood he gave Edward Lewis, the more energy he gave me. It’s just that Edward Lewis still didn’t know which generation of vampire this count who gave him twelve drops of blood belonged to, so naturally he had no way of knowing what kind of power he had actually gained.

After years of pursuing vampires, Edward Lewis had already prepared all the daily necessities for a vampire’s life. In the days that followed, he was completely immersed in his fascination with his new vampire identity, falling into an even more frenzied state than before, fantasizing about being immortal, possessing great power and vast knowledge, winning people’s admiration and awe...

But this extreme arrogance only lasted for three months.

One noon, while Edward Lewis was sleeping, he was awakened by a knock at the door. Extremely annoyed, he rubbed his eyes and opened the door: outside stood a middle-aged man, wearing a suit and a ponytail, a faint smile on his face. “Who are you looking for?” Edward Lewis said grumpily—no vampire would be in a good mood if woken up in broad daylight. The visitor looked Edward Lewis up and down, a hint of fanaticism in his eyes, and slowly said, “I’m looking for you.” “Me? I don’t know you!” he said, trying to close the door. The man outside continued in that unhurried tone, “But I know you. It’s said that vampires are a noble and elegant race, so why are you making your guest talk outside the door?” A red light flashed in Edward Lewis’s eyes, and he threw a punch. A blue-glowing shield appeared around the man, and Edward Lewis’s full-force punch, which could punch through a wall, only caused a ripple on the shield and could go no further. A vase on the low cabinet by the door suddenly flew up and shot toward the man’s head—every vampire has one or two supernatural abilities, and this was the one Edward Lewis had just acquired: telekinesis.

The blue light rippled, and the vase was bounced away. Edward Lewis withdrew his fist and retreated, transforming into a black vampire bat and shooting toward the window like an arrow. A flash of blue light appeared on the window, and the glass, which should have been fragile, suddenly became as solid as a wall. Edward Lewis crashed into it headfirst, was immediately bounced back, and fell into a daze. When he came to, he found himself trapped inside a blue sphere. The man was already sitting on the sofa, smiling as he said, “If even you could escape my ‘Qi Manipulation Technique,’ then my seven hundred years of cultivation would have been for nothing. So, do you give up?” Edward Lewis quickly nodded his bat head—how could he not? The man hadn’t even moved his hands and he was already completely powerless to fight back.

As the blue shield was lifted, Edward Lewis returned to human form. He sighed, turned around, poured two cups of tea, handed one to the man, and sat down on the sofa opposite him with the other. The man took the tea, sipped it, and said, “That’s more like it, this is how you treat a guest.” Edward Lewis ignored him and asked, “So, what do you want?” The man didn’t answer, but instead asked Edward Lewis a question: “Do you think there’s any connection between vampires and the zombies that are so famous in our country?” Edward Lewis thought for a moment before answering, “I don’t know, but judging from their many similar habits, there should be a close connection.” The man nodded, “That’s right, I think so too!” After a pause, he extended his hand to Edward Lewis and said, “My name is Brian Lane, elder of the Western Yunnan Divine Sect!” Edward Lewis reached out in confusion and shook Brian Lane’s hand: “Edward Lewis, vampire.”