Chapter 42: How Did It End Up Like This
Chapter 42: How Did It End Up Like This
Let’s rewind the timeline slightly.
Fang Cheng entered the kitchen slowly under Maeda Kenichi’s gunpoint.
Rolling up his sleeves, he told Maeda Kenichi, “This is duck blood. If you don’t believe me, I can prove it.”
Maeda Kenichi realized his reaction had been excessive, particularly upon seeing blood.
But this was normal – countless enforcers had paid the ultimate price through carelessness.
With the bloody lessons of predecessors burned into him, Maeda would rather shoot suspects preemptively than let himself become monster food.
Moreover, Fang Cheng’s unnatural calmness under gunfire heightened Maeda’s wariness.
No teenager should possess such mental fortitude.
“How will you prove it?”
“By cooking spicy blood stew, like I said.”
Fang Cheng turned to prepare ingredients, treating the intruders like air. His movements flowed with practiced efficiency – the kitchen knife flashed in his hand, chopping vegetables with musical rhythm.
This wasn’t cooking. This was culinary theater.
Maeda Kenichi and Kujou Arata gaped, momentarily convinced they stood in a master chef’s domain.
“Senpai…”
Kujou whispered, afraid to disrupt the performance, “What’s spicy blood stew?”
“It’s… uh… food?”
Maeda’s uncertain reply betrayed his inexperience. He’d only heard rumors of blood-based dishes. Did people actually eat this?
Under their watch, Fang Cheng soon produced a bubbling pot of stew. When he carried it to the dining table, both noticed the small wound on his finger – likely from an earlier knife slip.
Their focus instantly shifted from food to injury.
Beyond blood-drinking, vampires were famed for immortality and rapid healing abilities – smaller wounds vanishing faster.
Noticing their stares, Fang Cheng examined his hand. He sucked the cut briefly before addressing them: “Wait, I need to stop this bleeding.”
“Use mine.”
Kujou produced a pink handkerchief featuring two underwear-clad wrestlers.
Fang Cheng: …
Maeda Kenichi: …
“Wrong one.”
Kujou Arata fumbled to stash the handkerchief and produced a medical bandage instead.
“Th-thanks.”
Fang Cheng gingerly accepted it between two fingers, worried using it might make him seem a bit too effeminate.
Maeda Kenichi and Kujou Arata exchanged relieved glances.
The persistent bleeding proved this man wasn’t a vampire.
Neither realized Fang Cheng could perfectly control his wound’s healing speed, slowing it beyond normal human rates.
Though he truly wasn’t a vampire, nobody ever believed him.
“Try some.”
Fang Cheng clamped duck blood with chopsticks and placed it in his mouth, then slid the spicy blood stew toward them.
“I’ll indulge then.”
Maeda Kenichi grabbed chopsticks and sampled duck blood too.
Though the bleeding suggested Fang Cheng wasn’t a vampire, the veteran needed to eliminate all doubts.
While unfamiliar with duck blood, detecting human blood was basic knowledge for any enforcement member.
As Maeda Kenichi chewed with furrowed brows, Kujou Arata watched anxiously, admiring his dedication.
His senior endured eating such grotesque food for work!
Then Maeda Kenichi swallowed and reached for another piece.
Third. Fourth. Fifth…
His chopsticks moved faster with each bite.
“Senpai! What’re you doing?”
Kujou Arata jabbed Maeda Kenichi’s side.
They’d agreed to just taste it!
Maeda Kenichi blinked, offering Fang Cheng an abashed grin. “Apologies – it’s shockingly good.”
The stew’s fiery numbness blended with silky tenderness, like the lingering pleasure of a lover’s tongue.
It perfectly suited Maeda Kenichi’s palate.
“Dig in! I cooked enough for three. You early birds must be hungry.”
Fang Cheng shoved bowls and chopsticks at them, generously ladling portions.
“We shouldn’t…”
Kujou Arata protested. They were on duty, not visiting some breakfast buddy.
“None of that! You protect our city. Least I can do as your citizen.”
Maeda Kenichi’s suspicions had dissolved into culinary fascination.
At Fang Cheng’s urging, he grinned. “Hah! Don’t mind if we do.”
Kujou Arata tugged his sleeve. “Senpai! The surveillance…”
“It’s fine, breakfast won’t take long.”
Maeda Kenichi felt awkward eating alone and immediately dragged Kujou Arata into it: “C’mon, try some. Tastes amazing.”
“No thanks, I’m good.”
“Don’t be shy!”
“Yamete!!”
Through Maeda Kenichi and Fang Cheng’s teamwork, Kujou Arata got roped in.
The trio ate heartily. The main dish wasn’t just spicy blood stew – Fang Cheng had also prepared a pot of steaming rice.
Drenching the rice with crimson spicy broth? Pure bliss.
Halfway through their meal, Kanzaki Rin stormed in.
Four pairs of bewildered eyes met. Maeda Kenichi and Kujou Arata blurted out: “Kanzaki? What’re you doing here?”
Kanzaki Rin stared at the dining trio, baffled: “Why are you… eating?”
She’d prepared for worst-case scenarios – Fang Cheng exposing his vampire identity, resisting arrest, battling Maeda Kenichi’s team with potential casualties.
Even her best-case scenario involved Fang Cheng fooling them into leaving.
Never did she imagine them happily sharing a meal.
What, you guys on a group date or something?
Kujou Arata jolted at her words.
Right! We came for vampire surveillance. How’d we end up feasting?
Maeda Kenichi, ever the veteran, dodged the “why are we eating” problem entirely. “Kanzaki, how’d you find us? Trouble at Countermeasures Department?”
Why not just call?
Cold sweat dripped down Kanzaki Rin’s neck.
She’d rushed over hellbent on saving Fang Cheng, never anticipating this scene.
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Now she needed to explain her urgent arrival and how she’d tracked them – but any flimsy excuse would get spotted by a pro like Maeda.
Her rescue mission backfired spectacularly. Fang Cheng had handled things, leaving her trapped.
Under their increasingly suspicious gazes, her heartbeat thundered. The harder she scrambled for excuses, the emptier her mind became.
As awkward silence thickened, Fang Cheng broke in.