A Special Preference

Mo Fan had Lingling replay the footage. Sure enough, in the recording Liu Xian's stride faltered mid-step — yet looking closely, there was nothing visible in front of her.

He noticed she took a few more steps forward. The lighting in that stretch was poor, and in the dim gloom her pace grew slower and slower until she stopped altogether. A column blocked most of her body, making it look, on the surface, as though she was leaning against it to rest — like someone having a sudden episode of illness.

But after watching the clip several times over, it felt far more like she had been seized by something, her body unable to move.

After a long while, she went limp and listless, as though she couldn't draw breath. Her body went rigid, then slowly crumpled to the ground.

Not long afterward, the surveillance footage captured Huo Tuo rushing over in a panic. He didn't go to check on Liu Xian first — instead he seemed to be chasing after something, hurling furious curses into the empty subway station.

After that came footage of Huo Tuo carrying Liu Xian out of the subway. By then, it seemed, it had been too late to get her any treatment.

"Looks like he really did see something," Mo Fan said.

"I reviewed this footage before. There was no one hiding inside that column — which is strange. Since half of Liu Xian's body was blocked from view, something does appear to have been holding her. Mo Fan, you're a Shadow Element Mage. Do you think someone could have used Shadow Element magic to conceal themselves behind that column? Surveillance footage is black-and-white to begin with, so any movement of shadows would be nearly impossible to detect." Lingling analyzed.

"Quite possible. In a place like a subway station with shadows everywhere, Shadow Element magic would let someone move completely at will." Mo Fan nodded.

That was all the surveillance had to offer, but it was enough to establish one thing with reasonable certainty: whatever had harmed Liu Xian possessed Shadow Element abilities.

Afterward, Mo Fan and Lingling went to question the person Mo Fan had been impersonating — only to find he was an utterly ordinary shop clerk who had nothing useful to offer them.

With no leads remaining, Mo Fan and Lingling had no choice but to head for the women's college where Liu Ru studied, hoping she could provide something more concrete. If they came up empty there, the bounty was as good as failed.

It came as news to Mo Fan that Shanghai had an all-women's university. The school apparently specialized in training nurses, flight attendants, and models — a paradise of beautiful women, as locals liked to call it.

Mo Fan had no objections whatsoever. Just those few keywords alone were enough to send the imagination running wild in every direction.

When they arrived at Liu Ru's classroom, Mo Fan found a room full of strikingly pretty girls and very nearly forgot why he'd come.

"You're looking for Liu Ru? She started feeling unwell today and headed back to the dorm early — probably her time of the month." A particularly forthright girl in the class volunteered.

Her remark drew laughter from the girls around her. One of the more full-figured students chimed in: "Who in the world gets it three or four times a month? More likely she's been running around with some guy outside and made herself sick."

"Don't be so harsh about it — her sister just passed away."

"We're just saying what's true. It's been going on forever. She's always calling in sick, and whenever anyone suggests she see a doctor, she refuses. Who knows what kind of illness she's too embarrassed to admit to."

It was plain that Liu Ru wasn't particularly well-liked by her classmates.

Then again, it made a certain sense. Liu Ru was delicate-featured and well-proportioned, with an air of fragile vulnerability and quiet melancholy that invited tenderness. From his brief dealings with her, Mo Fan had found her quite likeable — but in a pack of competitive girls, someone like that was always going to end up the target.

Mo Fan went to see her under the guise of being a friend stopping by.

The students were all in class at this hour, and the dorm had a house mother keeping watch — but for Mo Fan, with his Shadow Element skills, slipping into a women's dormitory was something he could manage in his sleep.

He found Liu Ru's room at the far end of a corridor near the grove outside. Rather than barging in, he knocked politely.

"Playing truant again, are we — oh. Why is it you?" Liu Ru's color was poor, and seeing Mo Fan clearly caught her off guard.

"I had a few more things I wanted to ask you. Your classmates told me you were unwell, so I came to check in on you." Mo Fan said.

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you for your concern. Also — I ran into the neighbor colleague my sister mentioned, yesterday. So please stop coming around to bother me." Liu Ru said, eyes guarded.

Mo Fan blinked. He hadn't expected his cover to be blown this quickly.

He gave an awkward smile and was just about to explain himself when Liu Ru shut the dormitory door in his face.

Mo Fan turned and left, feeling helpless and utterly at a loss. It was looking more and more like this bounty couldn't be completed — there were simply no leads. Even knowing that Liu Xian had been bitten to death by something, tracking down the actual Vampire was another matter entirely.

He regrouped with Lingling outside the dormitory building. She asked how it had gone.

"Think about it — Liu Ru's been constantly unwell lately. Is it possible..." Lingling said, her mind already racing ahead.

Mo Fan's eyes lit up.

*Her classmates kept saying she was having her period constantly. That basically means severe, recurring blood loss.*

*What if she wasn't sick at all? What if someone had been secretly draining her blood — and she had no idea?*

"Huo Tuo also mentioned that most Vampires develop their own particular preferences. Liu Ru and Liu Xian are twins — what if this Vampire's specific taste is exactly that: twin sisters? After finishing with the older one, it came right back for the younger!" Mo Fan said.

"So if we keep an eye on Liu Ru, we might be able to catch it." Lingling said.

The thought that the bounty was still within reach flooded Mo Fan with excitement, and he almost leaned in to plant a kiss on Lingling's clever little head — but she had seen it coming from a mile away. Her soft little palm rose with perfect timing and planted itself firmly between his face and her rosy cheek.

"Please. I still plan to get married someday." Lingling said, not deigning to grant him so much as a glance.

Mo Fan let out a dry laugh.

Mo Fan and Lingling kept watch until nightfall, crouching together in the grove behind the fence wall, lying in wait.

The first night yielded nothing. Liu Ru stayed in her room the entire time; even her meals were brought back by her dormmates.

On the second night, there was movement in the grove — but it turned out to be a student sneaking off to meet a boyfriend from another school.

"What's wrong with just getting a room?" Mo Fan muttered, hunched in the undergrowth and listening to the distinctly inharmonious sounds coming from nearby.

Good thing Lingling wasn't here for this. It wouldn't have been a great scene for her to walk in on.

As the night wore deep into its later hours, just when Mo Fan felt his eyelids growing dangerously heavy, he suddenly caught it — a faint trace of Shadow Element energy bleeding into the air around him.

Every nerve in Mo Fan's body snapped alert.

The fish had taken the bait!!!