"To think thirty percent of the entire school is parasitized..."
Yu Xian had arrived at school and carefully observed the students during morning exercises, and what he found made his heart sink.
The situation in Silver City was likely even worse than in Rongcheng. What was more, exposure was only a matter of time. Once the parasites came to light, it was only a matter of time before he was dragged in as well.
The danger was imminent; this crisis could blow up at any moment.
He had to do something!
Returning to the classroom, Yu Xian pulled out his phone and closely read through various reports on the Rongcheng Tragedy.
Six months ago, this parasite had been officially named the "aberrant worm," though its mode of transmission remained unclear to this day.
According to research, however, once an aberrant worm's eggs entered an organism, they rapidly entered the bloodstream and ultimately "took root and sprouted" in the heart, where dense clusters of worm tendrils burst from their shells.
These tendrils secreted a fluid that numbed the host to pain, then silently devoured flesh and blood along the circulatory system until only the brain remained.
At this stage, the host still retained self-awareness, yet lost all ability to perceive the outside world. Trapped in boundless darkness, they could only suffer in terror and despair—a form of torment that was pure psychological agony.
When the victim reached the depths of despair, the aberrant worm would gradually devour their brain. Once finished, it instinctively mimicked all the host's former behaviors, making it virtually indistinguishable from the real person.
This mimicry allowed aberrant worms to conceal themselves with great success.
Furthermore, while mimicking the host, the worm gradually realized it was not the actual person, but an independent entity possessing the host's intellect.
If the host was human, the aberrant worm acquired human intelligence, becoming extraordinarily cunning and difficult to deal with.
This was the aberrant worm's ultimate form.
Because large numbers of eggs were discovered inside worms in this state, it was designated the adult form.
During the Rongcheng Tragedy, several adult forms had surfaced. In the end, they were only eliminated at the cost of multiple Ant-rank combat officers and scores of SWAT police. Even so, many people remained missing.
Official authorities suspected those missing persons were likely adult aberrant worms, and manhunts were still actively underway.
"If she still has her mind..."
After reading through the materials on the aberrant worms, the image of that little girl greeting him this morning inexplicably floated into Yu Xian's mind.
Without realizing it, his grip tightened, and fine cracks instantly spiderwebbed across the phone's screen.
"Holy crap!"
Snapping back to his senses, Yu Xian realized his phone screen had been crushed to black. He hurriedly scrambled to inspect the damage.
After selling off the factory and shop, his only remaining source of income was the rent from a three-bedroom apartment. If he didn't pinch every penny, who knew when he would scrounge together enough money to buy silver.
***
Around noon, a commotion suddenly erupted outside.
Hearing the racket, students in the classroom streamed out into the hallway to peer down below.
"Salty Fish, big news! That little princess of the Blood Clan transferred to our school!" Zhang Shou hurried in from outside a moment later, his face flushed with excitement.
Yu Xian frowned. "Our school is just an ordinary high school. What could she possibly learn here?"
The Superpower Academy taught knowledge of the supernatural world, completely different from a standard school. Could it be that he had been exposed, and Nora had come knocking?
"No clue, but she's really here, and she's gorgeous—easily the prettiest girl I've ever seen," Zhang Shou gushed.
Just then, Chen Ling entered from the corridor, bubbling with excitement. "Do you guys know why the Blood Clan's little princess transferred here?"
"You know again-again-again?" Zhang Shou looked at her in surprise.
Chen Ling threw back her head and puffed out her chest, turning up her nose with a proud smirk. "Who do you think I am? There isn't a piece of gossip in Silver City No. 3 High School that escapes me."
"As expected of our class's Queen of Gossip. Hurry up and spill it—why did the little princess come to our school?" Zhang Shou asked curiously.
Chen Ling glanced around and lowered her voice. "It all goes back to when she was ambushed. You'd never guess, but the people who attacked her were all ordinary mortals!"
"What does that have to do with her transferring?" Zhang Shou asked, bewildered.
Chen Ling said smugly, "Zhou Jie from the next class is my bestie, and her second cousin works at the Security Bureau. Apparently, the investigation found the attackers didn't use a single supernatural ability. They were just a squad of well-trained mortals armed with silver weapons. Once word got out at her academy, she was completely ostracized."
"That does sound pretty humiliating," Zhang Shou muttered in understanding.
If he had supernatural powers and still got pushed around by a bunch of ordinary people, he'd feel thoroughly embarrassed too.
Students at the Superpower Academy held themselves in high regard and had yet to experience the cruelty of the real world. In their eyes, Nora losing to mortals brought shame upon the entire supernatural realm, so naturally, they isolated and shunned her.
Her standing within the Blood Clan was awkward to begin with. Moreover, the students weren't actually committing physical violence; they were bullying her with the cold shoulder, something even the Blood Clan couldn't do much about.
The Blood Clan held great power, but they were by no means an unchallenged hegemon.
Setting aside the official authorities capable of suppressing most factions, even the Elf race, the Wu race, cultivators, and martial artists possessed enough strength to rival them.
In the end, Nora had to transfer.
She hadn't chosen an academy in another city, opting for No. 3 High School instead. Even if she transferred to another city's academy, the students there would eventually hear the rumors and likely subject her to the same cold shoulder and exclusion.
In that case, she might as well attend a normal school. Vampires naturally grew stronger the longer they lived anyway.
At two in the afternoon, the bell rang for class.
Their homeroom teacher, Old Chen, walked into the classroom. Then, under the watchful eyes of every student, a cool, aloof girl with long blonde hair and a bandage wrapped around her right arm stepped inside slowly...
In that instant, time seemed to freeze. Every boy in class unanimously replaced their dream girl.
Even the girls were mesmerized by her flawless beauty. As an extraordinary creature, Nora was breathtakingly exquisite, her appearance simply stunning.
Though No. 3 High School had never held an official vote, from the moment Nora transferred in, the boys reached a silent consensus: she was, without question, the school beauty.
"Starting today, Nora will be studying alongside us..." Old Chen cleared his throat. Once the students snapped back to their senses, he began droning on.
Nora swept her gaze across the classroom, lingering faintly on Yu Xian at the very end.
In truth, twenty-five million was hardly twenty-five bucks; tracing such a massive transfer of funds was not difficult at all. Factoring in age and gender, the Blood Clan had locked onto Yu Xian quickly using only their peripheral network.
Originally, the plan was for Tang Bo to lead a squad to capture Yu Xian so Nora could execute him with her own hands.
However, after learning Yu Xian's background, Nora's father changed his mind. He ordered Luo Qi, Tang Bo, and the others not to lift a finger against him.
After all, Yu Xian had only recently turned into a vampire and was close to Nora in age, making him an ideal whetstone.
If Nora could hunt him down and defeat him on her own, she would surely grow from the experience.
At the very least, if she ever faced an ambush again, she wouldn't stretch her neck out like a dumb goose waiting for slaughter.
Within the Blood Clan, "Father's" command was absolute, which was why Nora had transferred here.
The gossip Chen Ling dug up was a mix of truth and fiction.
Her classmates at the Superpower Academy had indeed isolated her over the incident, but Nora had never cared about them. They weren't in the same social circle anyway, and she had never felt the need to please anyone.
Following her self-introduction, the teacher assigned Nora a seat in the fourth row on the right, directly parallel to Yu Xian.
Her first talent was Daywalker, and her second talent, awakened at age ten, was Blood Flame. Though she longed to incinerate Yu Xian with a blast of Blood Flame for turning her into the academy's laughingstock, she did not act rashly.
To her knowledge, Yu Xian shared her Daywalker talent and likely possessed the same high resistance to light and flame damage. She couldn't guarantee her Blood Flame would kill him in one blow.
If it failed, a vampire's rapid regeneration, combined with a male vampire's natural physical advantage, meant she might not beat him in a brawl.
Therefore, she had prepared a secret weapon: a silver dagger!
All she needed to do was blend in with the surrounding students and lower Yu Xian's guard. The moment he relaxed, she would drive the dagger into his heart with lightning speed.
It would be a guaranteed kill!
Chapter 5