Conversation with a Vampire

All Martial Arts stem from one origin, Harmony.

Balance between Yin and Yang, Heaven and Earth, Cold and Hot, even Female and Male.

All things were created with duality in design. This doesn't exclude the chance of corruption but all living things have always revolved around the delicate concept of duality. Even Martial Arts—while involved with death more than life—is one of the most vigorous forms of life's harmony.

Life from Death and Death from Life, such a non-ending circle is natural, pure, just, and good.

All the Orthodox ways of Martial Arts rely on harmony while the Unorthodox ways break Harmony, which makes them reliant on Harmony to break. This applies to the righteous and demonic ways as well but these are different spectrums from simply Orthodox and Unorthodox.

But what about Undeath?

A strange yet foreign concept that makes a mockery of life and death. A declaration of defiance to all the heavenly and earthly laws, in a way, it is more Demonic and Unorthodox it breaks all spectrums of Logic and Harmony.

As said, Undeath—in this case, Vampirism—is a very odd thing since it is a state of null duality, thus no balance.

Undeath is death but not quite, is also life but not quite. It has no opposite and doesn't follow the natural order. From that, it has nothing to do with Martial Arts, the pinnacle form of human harmony.

From that, the first hurdle Vallen faced after vampirism was his martial skills. He could no longer circulate inner energy as he was used to and even the external power of the body was different from what he once knew.

Force without Effort was the first thing he experienced as a fledgling vampire. Where his energy comes from and how it works baffled him greatly.

First, his new life was dependent on blood. All blood was different, warriors' blood was thicker than most, tainted with faint memories of how they swung swords, a hunter's blood was sweeter and lighter which gives strange abilities and boosts perception, a scholar's blood gave more focus, and animals blood alters the mood in many strange ways but gives explosive speed and swiftness.

These were the types of blood Valen tried so far and he was growing rather sensitive to different types with time.

But as a Martial Artist, he always wanted to regain his former strength as a first-rate warrior of the Tang Clan. He worked so hard and persisted so much to attain that level. Still, since his Qi center was shattered, there was nothing he could do even if he was no longer a vampire.

Which brings him to the bigger issue. How to get stronger as a Vampire?

Vallen learned one thing from his time as a Nosferatu: the more starved a vampire is, the stronger he becomes.

In other words, Vallen the Nosferatu is actually stronger than Vallen the Vampire. Hunger increases a vampire's strength dramatically which makes drinking blood a two-edged sword.

But would vampires simply rely on starvation for strength and risk turning into a Nosferatu and losing their rationality? 

The answer is an obvious No, for there is another way for a vampire to grow strong, and that is drinking blood.

When Dracula taught Vallen that, the latter was obviously confused.

"Master, how can drinking blood make me weaker in contrast to starvation but also stronger?" Vallen asked.

« Foolish servant! Didn't you realize that each time you drink blood, you get part of your victim's strength? »

Such an answer from the reflection in the mirror made Vallen's eyes widen. It was a strange insight into a strange power.

What Vallen understood was that he must balance his diet in terms of both quantity and quality. But just as he was getting his head wrapped around the concept, the Vampire Lord decided to bestow him with another gift.

He taught Vallen his first ever Blood Art, a technique called Shroud of Blood, and here Vallen managed to stand his ground against Yang Yuran and Oh Jiyong, backed up by the Qingcheng Daoists who survived Vallen's surprise attack.

Not long ago, those Daoists were subduing the Yaoguai of Shuangliu, the monster that terrorized many peaceful villages and cut the trade routes in the region by its excessive hunting for humans. The Daoists thought that they killed it once but it turned out the monster didn't die.

So with the help of Emei's Blind Phoenix's Sacred Binding Beads, they were almost successful at handling the monster for the second time if not for Vallen's interference.

At one moment, the unidentified young man was far behind Yang Yuran and Oh Jiyong, the following moment, he was hacking two Daoist disciples with his blade as if emerging from the shadows.

Oh Jiyong felt it but Yang Yuran managed to avoid the strange footwork performed by that unknown individual. In truth, Vallen wanted to get rid of the nuns first as he realized they would be a headache to deal with but ended up having to kill the Daoists instead. 

If he were to take the two nuns out, the Daoists would have been distracted anyway since the two women were stronger than them but he could only settle for that strategy.

As for those in front of him, they all readied their weapons and took their positions in anticipation.

"You villain! What do you think you are doing?" The one who started speaking was Han Taejin, the elder from Qingcheng.

"I apologize but… I can no longer stand and watch. This Ghoul is a property to my master."

Vallen surprised everyone with how he spoke. Certainly not like a bloodthirsty demonic martial artist but his way of speaking was somewhat dignified and refined.

He looked odd in all senses of the word. Not only was his shoulder uninjured, but he was also standing with two bloodied hands, and from the looks of it, he used his hands as weapons.

At the end of every finger on his hand was a talon-like claw, curved and sharp like the ones hawks and falcons use to shred their prey to pieces.

"This demon! Look at his hands, master!" One of the disciples spoke.

Vallen noticed them looking at his hands and on his part, he raised his hands to see blood on them. Suddenly, an irresistible urge took over his senses and he slowly started to lick the blood off his hand before shivering from surprise himself as he lost control for a second there.

"I… I apologize… that must have looked weird."

The unnatural sight unnerved all the humans present except for Yang Yuran who could not see but rather heard and deduced from the reactions around her. But what was weirder was his following words:

"I terribly apologize for the sight. Such fresh blood is… irresistible I may say. I mean no disrespect to your fallen comrades and if it is any consolation, their blood is… the best I have tasted."

"Bastard!"

As Vallen kept licking the blood, one of the young shamans lost his cool and charged at the demonic human driven by anger but he was immediately pulled from the nape of his robe by the elder shaman.

"Don't rush him alone, you fool!" Daoist Han Taejin said as he pulled back his disciple vigorously, causing the latter to tumble and fall on his ass.

Opposite him, Yang Yuran and Oh Jiyong were watching the vampire cautiously.

"Daoist Han, are you feeling it?" Oh Jiyong asked Han Taejin.

"Yes, Nun Oh. This demonic bastard has no pulse! It is as if he is not here." He replied.

"He does." Interrupting them, Yang Yuran spoke eerily, "When he attacked just now, his heart did beat."

"I am hoping you do not see me as a murder-crazed demon. I was simply doing what I was told." Vallen said.

"Told? Aren't you the master of the Yaoguai? Are you some kind of demonic martial artist?" Yang Yuran asked him.

"The master? No. That is not me, respected nun." He replied.

"Then what are you and what sort of martial arts was that?"

"My name is not of any importance. I'm but a mere servant and my master asked me to get rid of the ones who killed the Ghoul last night."

"Ghoul?" Yang Yuran asked with a deep frown, "And who is that master of yours?"

"I'm strictly forbidden from uttering his great name. But I do apologize for his temper, all the killing that happened around these parts was nothing I can do anything about."

"Enough, Yuran! Don't you see that the demon is mocking you?" Oh Jiyong said and looked at Vallen with hate, "He keeps speaking politely while licking blood off his fingers!"

"I apologize once again. It is a new habit I cannot quite resist."

Just as he licked all his fingers clean like a cat, Vallen's murder weapon was now seen brightly in his hand. His claws, his fangs, and his piercing red gaze with terrible hunger hidden within.

"We need to deal with two monsters now. Can you manage the Yaoguai while we subjugate the demon?" Oh Jiyong asked Han Taejin again.

"It will be difficult but I will take the lead myself." He replied.

"Sirs and ladies. I beg of you to end the violence at this point. I desire neither dying nor killing." Vallen spoke and cupped his fist.

"Master aunt, please wait!" Yang Yuran stepped up before turning to Vallen, "You seem to be trying to avoid a fight even though you started one."

"I was told to exact justice against the Ghoul killers. Not to fight you out. Believe me, I don't enjoy senseless murder." Vallen replied.

"Big talk! You said you were exacting justice but only one of those Ghouls died while you killed two of its killers. Tell me, is that justice?"

Unexpected by everyone, the calm expression on Vallen's face suddenly stiffened and he seemed terrified.

"You… you are right. Master's order… I messed up, didn't I?"

As if he seemed in real trouble, Vallen immediately shuddered from the thought of not fulfilling the orders he received, and his mind raced as his eyes kept looking around for a solution then his eyes froze as if they landed on the answer he was looking for.

Immediately, he picked up a sword belonging to one of the dead disciples then with a swift stab, he drove the sword into the mouth of the Ghoul beside him.

The Ghoul stayed unresponsive for a moment before…

THUD

It crumbled down all at once.

This demonic martial artist… did he just kill the monster he was trying to save?

This scene left everyone baffled and unable to understand how this demonic man thinks. Rather than seizing the opportunity to attack him now that he was all alone, all except Yang Yuran took a step back.

"Two for two, I believe this is justice." Vallen said with quite the resolve.

Yang Yuran perceived the situation in her way before taking a step toward the Vampire and asking:

"What are you?"

"Respected nun, I would answer you sincerely but I am not allowed to."

"Then what can you answer?"

"I… I can only say that I am sorry for all the death that happened and I will try to stop it. My master is quite hungry for blood and I do not think I can convince him to stop. However, even after I asked him so many times to relocate, he said that people would still die all the same."

"Then rather than innocents, why don't you go after the non-innocents?"

"I never thought I would hear that from a nun? Will the Buddha take a non-innocent life rather than innocent if only two choices were presented?"

Just like how Yuran surprised Vallen with her question about justice, Vallen surprised Yuran with his question about killing. She pondered for a while before answering:

"Amitabha! This nun must reflect. Thank you for pointing out my error." She said with a slight bow.

Vallen also bowed and replied:

"It is I who must thank you. I think I should have chosen the lesser suffering from the start. I promise to convince my master. For that, I must take my leave."

As the two pragmatic individuals met, each of them reflected something on the other but rather than departing in peace as they would hope, the Blind Phoenix had a duty to fulfill.

"Sadly, sir. I am obliged to stop you." She said.

"Oh! That would be quite unfortunate." He replied.

"I find myself agreeing with you once again. While taking a life is against the ahimsa (non-killing), the act of stopping a demon from causing death. As you said, I also must choose the lesser suffering."

Vallen smiled as Yang Yuran aimed her staff forward. Shaking his head wryly, he took his stance. His only option now was to fight for a chance to escape.