After making a hot pot of tea, Hao Ren went back to the living room. He looked at the two unusual creatures sitting there and staring at each other.
A wary vampire and a furious Lily sat at opposite ends of the tea table, both ready to pick a fight at any moment. The atmosphere was cold and filled with raw energy as they threw deadly glances at each other. Hao Ren could almost see the greenish-grey cloud on the tea table revolving non-stop with his naked eye. Tea was served and both beautiful girls had no intention on setting aside their differences. During such an intense moment, Hao Ren could only shrug. It was the only way his fragile human body could cope with the immense pressure from both the werewolf and vampire. He was trying his best to figure out a way to make both of them believe what the other had to say.
Lily firmly believed that the vampire had the intention of sucking her landlord’s blood and everything the vampire said were just excuses for not being able to win the fight (she also wondered why the vampire was so self confident). Apart from that, Lily was certain that Hao Ren was already under the vampire’s spell and what came out of his mouth was nonsense. On the other hand, the vampire was adamant that Lily wanted to live under cover among the humans and everything Hao Ren said was due to the werewolf’s intimidation…
It was a deadlock. Both did not trust one another as well as the third party, who was Hao Ren! To make matters worse, there was no one else there…
In actual fact however, there was another party present. It was the black and white cat eating not far away. Oblivious to the chill in the room, the mysterious creature named Rollie was protecting its bowl of food as if protecting its own life. Hao Ren was quite convinced that the naive cat was an ‘oddball’ of its kind.
"You…" It was Hao Ren who finally broke the silence. He turned towards the vampire, where all the misunderstandings stemmed from. "Miss vampire, this meant that last night…"
"Please do not address me using the word ‘vampire’," said the plainly clad but still elegant girl with long, black hair as she frowned slightly. "Vampires are only common slaves with an uncontrollable desire to suck on blood. We, the ones who can restrain ourselves from the lust of blood are of royal blood in the Blood Clan. There are deep misunderstandings that humans have towards us hence, the confusion. You can call me Vivian; I can’t give you my full name for the time being."
"Oh." Hao Ren nodded. Hao Ren did not know the differences between a normal-blooded slave and a royal-blooded clan member. Even so, he knew that the girl with long, black hair in front of him was actually quite easy going. "Vivian. So, you’re saying that you weren’t attacking us last night? Instead, you were trying to help?"
"I saw a human walking with a werewolf. I did not know whether you were being deceived or threatened," Vivian said as she nodded in agreement. "I intended to snatch you away from the werewolf. No matter what spell she cast on you, it can easily be overcome as a werewolf’s magic is amateur. However, I was not at my best yesterday since…. since I was hurt by her concealed weapon. Beasts will be beasts. They will go to any lengths during battle. There is no aesthetics at all."
"You’re being unreasonable," Lily snorted. "Why find so many excuses. The fact is you just can’t beat me. Tell me, how did I threaten Landlord? He could have ran and jumped away anytime. I was not holding his neck."
The chill around Vivian grew stronger. "Werewolves’ claws are cursed. Do you think I am that stupid to not know such common knowledge?"
Upon hearing this, Lily immediately looked down at her own hands in astonishment saying, "Oh my goodness, am I that powerful?"
Hao Ren decided not to pay any attention to the two silly creatures. He turned to Vivian and with a sincere expression on his face said, "Look, I was not threatened at all! I swear to God that Lily did not put me under her spell!"
Vivian nodded her head upon hearing Hao Ren’s explanation. Just as Hao Ren was beginning to feel glad that the vamp… teenage girl from the Blood Clan had finally acknowledged the facts, Vivian’s facial expression turned serious. She then said, "Don’t worry. I know that you’re still not telling the truth. You’re still bound to the werewolf’s curse and unconfident in my ability. I’ll show you once I’ve fully recovered. This wild canine, who only knows how to throw bricks will be no match for a high-order member of the Blood Clan!"
Lily slammed her fist on the tea table after hearing this, leaving a big crack in the shape of a turtle shell on the table. "Who are you calling a wild canine?! You winged rat!"
Without suppressing her anger, Vivian also stood up. The tea table and sofa were covered in a layer of frost in a blink of an eye. "You think you’re that powerful? Let’s have a rematch! It’s because of folks like you who cannot control their instincts that made the world what it is today."
The murderous tension, which was initially confined to the tea table started to pervade the entire atmosphere. All the shouting followed by roaring which sent chills down one’s spine as well as indistinctive howling finally alerted Rollie to the situation. Rollie quickly wolfed down a couple more mouthfuls of food and darted to the first floor. Hao Ren was left to stare at his own furniture.
"My tea table…"
How he was able to withstand the murderous tension was a mystery.
"Landlord, do not worry. I’ll pay for the damage." Lily was a kind person at heart. After realizing her mistake, she pushed her boiling fury aside and immediately apologized to Hao Ren.
Hao Ren managed to make sense of the whole situation; the werewolf was a silly one whereas the one from the Blood Clan was just insane! Although Vivian had a normal appearance, she was neither smarter nor saner than Lily. Would it have hurt to have someone who had both brains and brawn at the same time?
As Lily and Vivian prepared to have another go at each other in the living room, Hao Ren finally lost his patience. He slammed his fist on the tea table and with an authoritative voice, he shouted, "That’s enough! This is my house!!!"
The yelling and fist slamming were actions rarely seen from someone who was good-natured and slow like Hao Ren. Both vampire and werewolf were finally aware that they were in someone’s house. Moreover, one of them realized she owed the landlord money for the broken tea table. Thus, both halted and turned their eyes to Hao Ren.
"Why are the two of you looking at me?" Hao Ren frightened himself when he yelled at the two ‘mutants’. He did not expect himself to have the audacity to shout at two magnificent creatures that could easily take his life (yet his roar alone managed to stop the two from fighting). In doing so, he felt a sense of maturity thus, he was brave enough to say, "Look at yourselves. One is an idiot and the other is as stubborn as a mule! I am involved in this, okay! Can both of you not jump to conclusions and ignore what I have to say?! And also.... just think for a moment whether your actions suit your identity. When did werewolves and vampires start protecting humans with their lives? Let me, the person who’s most confused about this situation figure this out first. Then, we will sort out the misunderstandings between the both of you. Okay?"
The last question was actually on Hao Ren’s mind the whole time. In a digitally advanced era where information can be easily exchanged, everyone knew the story between vampires and werewolves. One could easily find that at least 2 out of 10 science fiction movies involved these two creatures. Based on Hao Ren’s perception, blood-hungry and irrational werewolves as well as sinister and grim vampires were both creatures as sharp as a tack. So… what was wrong with these two in front of him?
Surprisingly, both Lily and Vivian shouted at the same, "I am different from that wild animal!"
Both looked at each other with an air of surprise and immediately looked away, each believing themselves to be telling the truth.
"I have no idea about the others who pick fights with the humans as though they can’t survive without doing so. As far as I am aware of, I have been mingling with humans since, forever," Vivian said whilst hugging herself. "Also, I inherently… hate others of the Blood Clan. Don’t ask me why. I have no idea myself. I’ve been like this since I was young and I’m not used to seeing other ‘mutants’ fighting humans. They’re just too stupid. So that’s that."
"I’ve never met other ‘mutants’." Lily sniffed the air like she was not fond of Vivian’s scent. "I woke up in a freezing place. Might have been a snowy region. I was in human form when I woke up. I was brought up by an old lady and I also lived with humans for several decades after that. I’ll only move when they start having doubts about me not aging. I like humans and I am used to them. Is there a problem with this?"
Hao Ren surveyed the two unusual creatures and decided to believe them.
Well, whether he believed them or not, there was actually no difference. He was still no match for either one.