Amber’s Midnight Hunt

Tang Xingwan’s thoughts were veering further and further afield when she suddenly grasped the core of the problem.

“How could that be!” she exclaimed, unable to contain herself.

The young girl’s sudden outburst startled Bai Muxue, whose small hand, clutching a cup, trembled, nearly sending the water glass crashing to the floor.

“Wh-what’s wrong?”

“Uh, nothing, nothing at all…” Meeting Bai Muxue’s surprised gaze, Tang Xingwan waved her hand dismissively, a hint of awkwardness coloring her expression. “I sometimes talk to myself; don’t mind it, don’t mind it!”

‘Honestly… Bai Muxue is a friend I’ve made, so how could I think of her that way!’

Tang Xingwan bit her lip, cursing herself inwardly.

“Oh, I… I see.”

Bai Muxue nodded brightly, secretly grumbling to herself that the girl was probably lost in wild fantasies again. ‘What on earth was she just imagining?’

She sighed softly, her gaze drifting to the deepening night outside the window, a hint of helplessness gracing her pretty face.

As a result, the day had passed so inexplicably, and the promised investigation had gone completely awry.

‘I wonder if that young girl Amber has found anything in her investigation,’ she mused. ‘If she truly traces it all the way back to me… that misunderstanding could become enormous…’

****

Meanwhile, in a certain alleyway, Amber, wearing a cowboy hat, suddenly sneezed, feeling as though she had been inexplicably caught in an AoE (TL Note: A gaming term, ‘Area of Effect,’ referring to an attack or spell that affects multiple targets within a designated area.) attack.

As night deepened, a sudden gust of wind swept from the street’s dark, unseen corners, stirring Amber’s long, golden hair.

With her small hands clasped behind her back, she ambled through the narrow, dim alley, the pale yellow orb of light floating beside her offering a meager illumination.

A profound silence enveloped the surroundings, broken only by the young girl’s footsteps and the soft hum of a song on her lips.

‘Something’s not right; it’s too quiet here…’

This old street had existed since before Wangdu underwent extensive development, and while it had lost its former bustle and vibrancy due to residents and shops relocating, it shouldn’t be so utterly silent that not a single sound could be heard.

‘Just a short distance away, the street opposite is brightly lit,’ she mused.

Amber silently considered this, her mind simultaneously recalling the information she had researched prior to setting out.

Moonlight dappled through the clouds, casting eerie patches of light and shadow that swayed with the wind on the unpainted walls.

The buildings lining the street stood silent and ominous, each window like a hollow eye observing the young girl’s every move.

Though Amber appeared relaxed and carefree, as if completely devoid of caution, the slight furrow in her brow betrayed her inner unease.

The dim, yellowish light stretched her shadow long before her as she followed the faint illumination, eventually coming to a halt at a specific spot within the alley.

“Ah, there it is, there it is! This young lady knew there was something amiss here!”

A faint smile touched Amber’s lips, seemingly because she had finally discovered what she sought, her glittering eyes fixed on the conspicuously distinct claw mark on the wall.

Surrounding the claw mark were sticky rings of bloodstains, shimmering with an ominous sheen under the dim light.

This blood slowly trickled down the wall, forming winding trails that ultimately pooled on the ground.

Amber’s gaze followed the direction of the bloodstains until a scattering of footprints on the ground appeared at the edge of her vision.

“Heh-ho, let me see, let me see. The paw print is wide at the front, narrow at the back, and its edges are indistinct.

It’s certainly not a human footprint. Is it a Calamity Beast? No, if it were a Calamity Beast, the size would be too small… Is it a Guàirén (TL Note: ‘Guàirén,’ a term for ‘strange person’ or ‘monster’ often used in web novels for mutated or superpowered individuals.)?”

Amber crouched down, her fair fingertips gently touching the residual bloodstains beside the footprint—the blood had begun to turn dark reddish-brown but still retained a slight dampness.

“The bloodstains look quite fresh; they shouldn’t have been left long ago…”

Amber slowly rose to her feet, and as her words faded, the eerie wind once again swept toward her, bringing with it an indescribable chill.

Even the orb of light floating in the air seemed to dim slightly.

The young girl snapped her fingers, and the orb of light flew directly into her eyes, intensifying the golden glow within them to an extraordinarily bright and dazzling degree.

As Amber ventured deeper, the footprints on the ground grew increasingly dense, and the pungent scent of blood in the air became ever more pronounced.

Relying on her eyes, which were imbued with concentrated magic, Amber could clearly discern the dark corners within the alley.

Finally, in a hidden nook of a residential building adjacent to the alley, the young girl uncovered the true reason for the abnormal silence.

Several pale-faced men and women lay sprawled on the ground, and upon them, a cluster of grotesquely twisted creatures feasted.

These monsters possessed pallid skin, eyes that glowed with an eerie green light, and sharp fangs plunged deep into the victims’ necks, greedily sucking their blood.

“…Are they Vampire Guàirén (TL Note: ‘Guàirén,’ a term for ‘strange person’ or ‘monster’ often used in web novels for mutated or superpowered individuals.)?”

Amber had previously seen news on television about Zijing defeating a Bat Guàirén, and having defeated many similar monsters herself, she wasn’t particularly surprised by the sight before her.

However, they felt much smaller than the vampires she had encountered before, and they lacked that sense of fatal danger.

Regardless of how strange these monsters were, if left unchecked, more innocent citizens would inevitably perish, so they all had to be eradicated.

That was all Amber needed to know.

The young girl took a deep breath, her small hand quietly resting on her pistol holster.

She could distinctly sense that some of the vampires had already detected her unwelcome arrival and were stealthily creeping up on her flank, concealed by the night.

Yet, Amber showed no trace of fear; a faint smile even curved her pretty lips.

‘If Zijing could easily take down a Bat Guàirén far more dangerous than these, why couldn’t I?’

The very instant she drew her pistol, a vampire, its face contorted in a snarl, lunged at her, its hands curved into claws.

Amber shifted her feet slightly, and a flash of white light streaked past the vampire’s eyes as its exceptionally sharp claws were cleanly severed at the base by a silver rapier.

Concurrently, a golden, star-shaped bullet pierced straight through the vampire’s chest.

The grotesque monster immediately let out a mournful shriek, its body convulsed violently, and then it dissipated into a wisp of white smoke.

“Tsk, is that all?” Facing the swarm of vampires that had encircled her, Amber held a sword in one hand and a gun in the other, a look of utter disdain gracing her pretty face. “Who’s next?”

Evidently, these monsters had not lost their inherent rationality; upon witnessing their comrade’s demise, fear flickered across their faces, and they hesitated, unwilling to approach Amber.

The two sides remained locked in a standoff for a long time, so long that the golden light in Amber’s eyes gradually faded, and darkness began to reclaim her vision.

The vampires clearly perceived Amber’s anomaly, and the moment the light in her eyes completely vanished, they immediately lunged at her, brandishing their sharp claws.

Yet, before they could even brush Amber’s clothes, and accompanied by the triumphant smile curving the young girl’s lips, one sugar pellet after another leaped from her pocket.

A dazzling white light erupted from beneath her feet, causing the vampires to shriek in agony as they disintegrated into ash and smoke in an instant.

“Hmph, these guys’ weakness to strong light hasn’t changed a bit,” Amber sighed, a hint of amusement in her voice. “Even with my toes, I could have guessed this young lady wouldn’t just surrender!”

Amber shook her head with a half-smile, half-sigh, and without further delay, she dashed deeper into the alley.