Chapter 217: Transformation!!

"Did you know it was going to be like this all along?"

In the evening, at Qiaosefu's home, Yun Mu looked at Dunn, who had a faint smile on his face, and asked with a hint of annoyance.

"Of course not, I cannot predict the future." Dunn waved his hand and looked at Qiaosefu: "It is just that a person's expression can reveal a great deal of information; I merely used the information I obtained to continuously make deductions."

"By the way, it wasn't until I entered the bedroom and saw her run away that I truly confirmed my thoughts."

He looked at Kamaier's younger sister, the girl who also had short, pale-gold hair.

"So, can you explain the current situation?"

Yun Mu stood with her hands on her hips, looking at everyone in the room.

Judging by the current situation, she seemed to be the only one left in the dark, knowing nothing.

"Would you like to explain?" Dunn looked at Qiaosefu.

"I—I will explain." Qiaosefu had calmed down by now; he sat on the sofa in his living room, head bowed.

"I am not entirely clear on the sequence of events myself. It all started three days ago, when Lixia came to find me, wanting to treat me to a meal."

Lixia was the name of Kamaier's sister; Yun Mu had already heard her introduce herself when she brought her back.

"Mr. Qiaosefu usually takes good care of me, so I wanted to treat him to a meal to thank him," Lixia explained from the side.

"Mm." Qiaosefu nodded with a calm expression: "Actually, there was nothing to it at first. The real turn of events happened afterward."

"It was truly a disaster." Qiaosefu clasped his hands together, his forehead resting against his fingers.

"There were a few good-for-nothing thugs in that shop. After drinking too much, they started egging one of their own on to harass Lixia. Nothing I said worked, and in the end, I got into a fight with him."

"I thought that giving him a beating would make him calm down, but the guy actually pulled out a small knife and slashed my arm."

"And then... sigh." Qiaosefu sighed at this point and looked at Lixia beside him: "The guy's accomplices ganged up on me, pinned me to the ground, and then grabbed Lixia by the hair and dragged her out of the shop."

"Tsk." Yun Mu clicked her tongue in disapproval, her brows furrowed tightly.

"And then?" she asked him.

"After that... we heard a scream from the alley. The thugs who were pinning me down heard it was their accomplice's voice, so they immediately let me go and ran toward the direction the sound came from."

"I followed them immediately, and when I arrived at the scene, I saw Lixia, covered in blood, biting the neck of that thug and draining his blood..."

"I—I don't know what I was thinking at the time!" Qiaosefu's tone trembled as he said: "Taking advantage of those bastards being distracted, I secretly picked up an iron rod, knocked one of them unconscious, and injured another."

"In the end, that guy was so scared he collapsed on the ground, and I... I didn't hold back..."

Qiaosefu covered his face with his hands, his fingers raking through his hair.

"It turned out I beat one of the guys to death. I really didn't mean to..."

"Do not be too hard on yourself, Mr. Qiaosefu. In your situation, this can at most be considered excessive defense."

Dunn patted his shoulder and comforted him.

"What about the other two?" Yun Mu interjected at this moment.

"They are both fine, I didn't kill them!" Qiaosefu immediately clarified upon hearing Yun Mu's question: "I found a doctor at an underground clinic to give them simple treatment, and they are currently locked in an abandoned warehouse outside the city."

"No need to be nervous, Mr. Qiaosefu." Dunn chuckled as he looked at his state: "As long as it was not intentional homicide, these are all minor matters. As for the illegal confinement... I can pretend I didn't see it."

Hey, hey, can you even face your Police Guard Uniform when you say that? And Qiaosefu, what is with that look of relief on your face?

Yun Mu raised an eyebrow and muttered to herself.

Of course, she was only muttering; she was actually quite satisfied with how Dunn was handling it.

After all, the dead cannot come back to life, and besides, the other side had initiated the violence. If Lixia hadn't killed that thug in self-defense at the time, it was hard to say what might have happened to her.

As for Qiaosefu, he was different from what she had expected; she hadn't thought he would unexpectedly be such a good-natured person.

"So, you were worried that you and Lixia would be arrested for murder, which is why you kept her at your place, without even notifying her own brother?" Yun Mu pressed.

"That was part of the reason, but the most important thing was that the corpse Lixia bit to death looked exactly like the corpses from the Dried Corpse Murder Case. At first, when I noticed this, I was very afraid—afraid that Lixia was the culprit behind the Dried Corpse Murder Case."

Qiaosefu spread his hands, forcing a smile onto his face: "But then, I dismissed that thought, because I didn't think the culprit of the Dried Corpse Murder Case would leave a witness alive after being seen."

"Combined with the fact that I had accidentally beaten a thug to death, after we discussed it, we took advantage of the night to seal the body in a Mud Sand Jar and threw it into the sea."

What a way to dispose of a body.

Yun Mu's brows arched again. These two really had a lot of nerve.

Honestly speaking, before she transmigrated, if she had been in their shoes, she really wasn't sure she could have done these things.

Well then, based on the existing clues, she already had some idea of how things had developed.

According to her speculation, as a member of the Scarlet Relief Society and Kamaier's sister, Lixia must have been infected with the Scarlet Curse for some reason.

But she herself did not know about it, and subsequently, while inviting Qiaosefu to dinner, she was dragged into the alley by that thug.

Perhaps because her attitude was too firm and she kept resisting, the thug, who had drunk too much, eventually beat her in a fit of rage. This would explain why Qiaosefu saw blood all over Lixia's head and face.

And during the pursuit, Yun Mu had also noticed a wound on Lixia's abdomen that seemed to have been pierced by a Blade.

The blood on the bed must have flowed from that wound... tsk, that bastard who got bitten to death really deserved it, and those guys who were egging them on and using Taunt weren't any better.

It was probably at that moment that the Scarlet Curse on Lixia erupted.

She was very lucky; just by drinking blood for the first time, she triggered the low-probability event of becoming a Bloodline.

But there were still many mysteries left unsolved. "You still haven't said why you let Lixia hide in your home and pretend to be missing, and what did you mean by that sentence you said to Kamaier at the construction site during the day?"

If the two of them just wanted to eliminate evidence of the crime, the things mentioned above should have been enough.

Why go through the extra trouble of pretending she was missing?

Wouldn't that just make it easier to attract the attention of the Guard Hall? "Th—this matter, let me explain it." Lixia, who had been silent until now, spoke up.

"The matter is actually very simple, not that complicated. It wasn't that I intentionally wanted to pretend to be missing, but that day, on the way back with Mr. Qiaosefu, for reasons I don't quite understand myself, I fainted on the road and didn't wake up until noon today..."

"After I woke up, I kept waiting in the room. Mr. Qiaosefu had just returned when there was a knock at the door, and then I heard words like 'Guard'."

"I thought that our murder had been discovered, so I used the bedsheet as a rope, jumped from the window to the balcony on the fourth floor, and then..."

"You should all know what happened after that."

"..."

The group was silent for a moment, then Qiaosefu added, "That remark during the day was because I've been under a lot of pressure lately, and on top of that, Kamaier kept bothering me, so I spoke out of impulse."

"Thinking about it now, I really regret it; my relationship with Kamaier was actually quite good originally."

"So, after all that, it turns out this whole thing was just a misunderstanding?" Yun Mu rubbed her forehead, her expression completely speechless.

"But why didn't you inform Kamaier about Lixia being in a coma?" She thought for a moment and asked again.

"This, it's mainly because I really didn't know how to tell him, and the scene of Lixia drinking blood at that time kept surfacing in my memory." Qiaosefu's arm trembled slightly, and he looked at Lixia with a complex expression: "I was very afraid, afraid that after she woke up, she would kill me too, just like that dead thug."

"I even wondered if the real Lixia had died long ago, and if what was sleeping in that shell was a demon, or perhaps something else."

"I even thought about killing her while she was in a coma, and those two thugs as well."

"Under such circumstances, how could I possibly tell Kamaier about this?"

"Huu."

Qiaosefu let out a breath as if a burden had been lifted; he didn't dare look at Lixia's current expression, only keeping his head down: "After saying these thoughts out loud, I really do feel much better."

"I've been lost these past few days, and I've felt immense Fear, but no matter what, I beg you, let my life return to peace."

After a pause, Qiaosefu tremblingly took a cigarette out of his pants pocket: "May I smoke?"

"This is your home, go ahead." Dunn shrugged indifferently.

"... I'll go outside." After a brief silence, Qiaosefu ultimately chose not to smoke inside, but instead stood up and walked toward the Gate with heavy steps.

"Wait, wait a moment!" Lixia suddenly reached out and grabbed the hem of Qiaosefu's clothes.

Without waiting for him to speak, she stood up, placed her hands folded in front of her, and lowered her head: "Please, please don't feel guilty because of those thoughts; when it comes down to it, this whole thing happened because I wanted to treat everyone to a meal!"

"I really, really thank you very much!"

"Heh, what are you saying to someone who wanted to kill you?" Shaking his head helplessly, Qiaosefu put the cigarette in his mouth and turned to walk toward the Gate.

Only this time, his steps looked much lighter.

"Huu."

Lixia placed her left hand over her chest and slowly exhaled, looking at Yun Mu and Dunn: "You two, may I ask if you have any more questions?"

"... Of course." Yun Mu and Dunn exchanged a glance and nodded.

"You must be very curious as to why you've become able to consume human blood."

"Ye, yes." Mentioning the consumption of human blood, Lixia's expression immediately became very tense.

She gripped her hem tightly, her tone somewhat agitated: "So you two really do know something? Earlier, when you heard that I had drained that thug's blood, there wasn't the slightest look of surprise or shock on your faces; I felt it back then..."

"Alright, alright, don't get agitated." Yun Mu immediately interrupted her, saying: "Detailed introductions and explanations can wait until later; we have a question we want to ask you now."

"Alright..." Lixia said somewhat dejectedly after being interrupted.

"Don't worry." Seeing her like this, Yun Mu decided to comfort her a little.

"Like you, I have also been infected with the Scarlet Curse. As for what the Scarlet Curse is, we will tell you when there is time later."

As she spoke, she slowly raised her right hand, placed it in front of her mouth, and then opened her mouth. "Hm?" Lixia looked at the scene in front of her in confusion.

The next moment, sharp fangs pierced the skin, and crimson blood flowed from the wound.

However, after Yun Mu released her mouth, only a few seconds passed.

The wound she had just bitten open healed completely.

"How was that done?"

Lixia looked at Yun Mu with a face full of surprise, the somewhat unhappy look from just before completely dissipated.

"Once you answer our questions, I will naturally tell you." Yun Mu chuckled and said.

"Mm-hmm, go ahead and ask!" The Young Girl with golden hair nodded without hesitation.

"Hmm, let me think..." Yun Mu looked at Dunn, and seeing that he had no intention of interjecting, she decided to improvise: "In the two weeks leading up to the day you fell into a coma, did you encounter anything unusual?"

"Unusual things?" Lixia tilted her head in confusion.

"Yes, unusual things." Yun Mu affirmed.

After the initial infection, the Scarlet Curse would quickly lead to the first Blood-Thirst State; if nothing went wrong, the other party must have been infected with the Scarlet Curse in the few days before the Blood-Thirst State erupted.

The reason she said within two weeks was simply because it would be safer that way.

"Hmm... it seems there wasn't anything particularly unusual." Lixia thought with her brows furrowed, and she looked at Yun Mu, saying somewhat uncertainly:

"My brother was rewarded with a box of high-priced fruit because of his excellent performance... does that count?"

"Did you eat that box of fruit? If you did, then of course it counts." Yun Mu said casually on the surface, but her suspicion regarding that box of fruit instantly maxed out.

So that was it, just food awarded to some of the workers.

Perhaps that could explain everything. (End of chapter)