EGO POV Yibo

"Yibo? What do you say we don't go completely crazy with training for once today and go out together in the evening instead?" Zhan had asked me. I thought about it for a moment because I think training is very important. But then I thought, why not? Just having fun one evening isn't wrong either.

"Sure. And what do you want to do?" I asked him.

"Well, I could show you the city."

"What city? How do we get there?"

"All we have to do is take the forest road and then a long dirt road straight ahead to the city limits. A town full of vampires. A few humans live there too."

"Ahem, you're kidding right? A town full of vampires?"

"Yes. I don't understand why you think I'm joking? It's just like this castle, behind the portal."

"Oh aha, I see. So the portal doesn't just include the castle?"

"Um no. This castle, the small town and two villages."

"And what's in the town like that?"

"Well, we could go out to eat. There's a restaurant that makes super delicious food for people. Or we could go to the movies. Also, there's another exhibit at the Night Museum. Or, um no I'd rather not."

"Rather not what?"

"Never mind."

"Come on Zhan, tell me what else you wanted to say."

"I was going to say, or we could go for a drink."

"Alcohol?"

"Yeah, what else?"

"Well, I don't mind."

"But..."

"ZhanZhan, let's go eat something at this restaurant first, and then go to the Night Museum, and from there we'll go to the bar. I'd like to have something alcoholic again. And don't worry, I'll be with you. I'll take care of you."

"That's not what I'm worried about."

"What then?"

"Well, the bar is more for vampires and the..."

"Mhm I remember what you told me about the bar. I don't care if they make out there. As long as you only put your fingers on my body and no one else's!"

"So really Yibo. What do you think? You're the only one I want. I don't care about anyone else."

"You want me?"

"Sure. Who else?"

"If you want me, you can have me anytime ZhanZhan."

"Hey, not now."

"Why not?"

"Because we're at breakfast and my parents are at the table?"

"Oh haha. Sorry."

"Hahaha, go ahead. It's amusing to listen to you guys. You guys seem really close." Said Zhan's father and laughed out loud.

"Exactly. You guys are really cute together. Keep it up. We don't mind." Said then Zhan's mother laughing as well.

So slowly but surely I understand what Zhan meant when he said vampires are very open about sex. They talk about it as if it's something completely normal. Like when you tell someone about your last meal. As a human, I'm not used to that and I'm inhibited about it. But I don't feel these human inhibitions when I'm with Zhan.

Nevertheless, the conversation was over for now. It was a little embarrassing that I had completely forgotten that Zhan's parents were sitting at the table with us. At the moment, I really only seem to have eyes for Zhan. I completely tune out everything else. I even think much less about my existing problems. But, of course, they are not out of my mind.

I still wonder if Zhan and I can really have a future. I want that more than anything. But I still have to think about my parents and the fact that they depend on me financially. When I go back to work, I will hardly have any days off and will be on the road a lot, as usual. A long distance relationship would be possible. But that is not necessarily what I want. Because I would only be able to see Zhan a few days a year. And it won't be enough for me to see Zhan only every few weeks or even months.

Meanwhile, I know that a relationship between a human and a vampire works. And myself, well, I would like to be like Zhan. I wish he would make me one of them. But then I wouldn't be able to go to work. I wouldn't be able to see my parents and my brother. Even though we don't have a close bond, after all, they are my family.

It seems like whenever I think I've found a solution to a problem, new problems present themselves to me. And the more I think about it, the more complicated it seems to get. That's why I'd much rather just focus on Zhan at the moment. Because when I do that, everything is much easier. But at some point in the coming weeks of my vacation, I'll have to deal with my problems.

Since I have resolved to myself to also look for the pendant of Xiao Liang, I asked him to show me a picture of the pendant. However, I did not tell him why when I asked him. For the moment, I would like to keep this to myself.

When I saw the picture, the pendant looked familiar. I am sure I have seen it before. Not as a pendant, but as a decoration. I seem to remember seeing it on the hilt of a Night Black sword. Both the hilt and the blade of this sword are night black and studded with sparkling diamonds.

Unfortunately, however, I can't remember where I saw it once. I was just a child at that time and have no idea where the sword is located. Moreover, Xiao Liang explained to me that this was the symbol of his mage association at that time and this symbol appeared often. So it is not even clear if it is really the pendant with this sword.

What I also noticed is that I have a hard time thinking of my family's curse. What I mean by that is, I can't quite get all of this together. It's like the whole picture has suddenly fallen apart into thousands of puzzle pieces. And whenever Zhan wants to talk to me about it, everything inside me blocks. Suddenly I can only think about my problems and these thoughts don't allow me to understand what Zhan is telling me.

It's driving me crazy. All this crap around the curse, is just annoying now. So I asked Zhan not to talk about it anymore for now. I want to enjoy my time with him and be able to focus on him completely. I don't feel like having a headache anymore because I keep thinking about it.

In the evening, Zhan and I left after sunset. The long walk didn't seem that long to me. But probably that's normal when you walk with someone who means so much to you. We used this time to talk about all kinds of things. Nothing earth-shattering, but just about things that just came to our minds.

As we got closer to the city, I felt like I was transported back to the Middle Ages. Just like the castle, everything looked like it had just been built. But still, everything looked like it was in the Middle Ages. And even entering the city was like a little adventure.

We were actually standing in front of a city gate, where two guards were standing, while a man who looked like a bureaucrat was greeting the arriving visitors. He took down our names and then asked Zhan for a blood sample from himself. He explained it this way, "Since our town is predominantly inhabited and visited by vampires, it's safer if a human is marked with his vampire's blood to make it clear to other vampires who the human belongs to."

Zhan was then cut in the index finger and the blood, it was very little, was then dabbed on my neck and collarbone. "This serves as a marker and is a sign to all other vampires that you are not available." I was told.

Afterwards, Zhan took my hand and we were allowed to pass through the city gate. And so we entered a medieval town that took me back to the years between 500 and 1500. It had been like a very realistic movie set. There were some lanterns hanging from the buildings, but they hardly gave any light. In the middle of this city is a huge castle, where as Zhan explained to me, a real lord lives.

We walked slowly along the cobbled street until we came to a wooden sign with the name of a restaurant on it, which I could not read. When we entered the restaurant, it was nothing more than a medieval inn. Simple wooden tables and chairs. Candles on the tables and two lantern candles hanging from two massive wooden beams on the counter.

Zhan ordered for both of us in a language I didn't understand either. He had told me that vampires have their own language, but hearing this one was incredible. It seems like a mixture of different languages. Latin, Aramaic and a few other languages.

The food came only 20 minutes later and was brought to us with a pitcher of strong beer. Zhan had been given hot blood, the smell of which was very intense. How good that I do not mind this smell. I received rice, zongzi, fish, sweet potato slices, a light soup and that amount of side dishes. The waiter, who openly showed himself as a vampire, arranged everything nicely for me and wished me a good appetite.

I saw how all the guests and employees were watching me. Even the cook was standing in the doorway to his kitchen. I took a first bite of the zongzi and it was super delicious. I tasted everything else as well. Everything tasted just delicious. And so I ate it all, leaving not a crumb behind. The cook personally came to clear the dishes and beamed when I praised him for the meal.

Zhan told me that the cook was human and had been living among the vampires by choice since he fell in love with a vampire woman. "Soon, she will turn him. He has been living here for 10 years and recently decided to do so." Said Zhan. By the way, the meal cost two gold coins. Ehm, yes. I don't know what to say about that.

After dinner we went to the night museum. The vampire woman at the entrance held out her hand to me and said, "It's so nice that humans are also showing interest in our exhibition." Are almost all vampires this friendly? Or is it just because of Zhan's mark?

The exhibition included all sorts of things. But everything was somehow related to the history of vampires. There were even some weapons. And then there were things that, according to the information about them, came from Count Vlad Tepes, known as Count Dracula. There were even drawings of the count. And even of his son! I didn't know he had a son. Whereas, I didn't know much about Count Tepes anyway.

Of course, the weapons were what interested me the most. There were some very nice pieces, which would have made themselves well in my collection.

Then we went on to the Vampire Bar. Zhan didn't even have to tell me where it was. I already saw three vampires standing in front of the bar, wildly making out with each other. They were so busy with each other that they didn't even notice us.

"Do you really want to go in here?" Zhan asked me as we stood in front of the door.

"Sure. I want to see where you were hanging out back then." I replied. Admittedly, I had been a little queasy. In addition, I knew that Zhan was like the three vampires in front of the entrance. There gnawed already a little jealousy in me.

Finally, Zhan opened the door and we entered the bar, where there was largely dark red light. The bar was in a dark corner. Instead of chairs or benches, there were comfy couches. Everywhere I looked, they seemed to be making out with each other. Quiet music, apparently also in the vampire language, was playing over speakers invisible to me.

Zhan took me to a quiet corner of the bar and got us two drinks. I watched the vampires just let themselves go. Strange, but I wasn't even uncomfortable watching them make love. There were some who were having fun as a couple. And then there were even some who were making out in threes, fours, or even sixes.

When Zhan came to me with the drinks, I almost had to laugh because he brought me two drinks. Apparently, he guessed that I would finish the first one right away. "If it's too much for you, we can leave again." Said Zhan.

I shook my head, finished my first drink and pulled Zhan closer to me. "We just got here, didn't we? It's cozy here, isn't it?" I replied.

Two beautiful half-naked vampire women who noticed us came up to us and asked if we were up for some company. Zhan shook his head and looked at me. "We want to keep to ourselves. Thanks. Or do you want them here Yibo?"

"No, one vampire is quite enough for me." I said with a grin. The two women smiled, wished us a good time and moved on to the next where they had better luck.

After the second or maybe third drink, my inhibitions were gone as well. Was it perhaps because of the drinks? Was there something in it? Or is it just the whole surrounding? I don't know. All I know is, I grabbed Zhan and we made out wildly. We didn't have sex there. Although it was extremely close to it.

Sometime between the fifth and sixth drink and all our making out, Zhan said to me, "I never thought you could relax like that here. You'd really make a good vampire."

I grinned and replied, "We'll see." Zhan then looked at me thoughtfully for a moment and finally nodded with a smile before kissing me.

At 5 am, however, it was time for us to make our way back. I was already quite drunk and Zhan was also anything but sober. Nevertheless, we got home well and on time. And as soon as we were in Zhan's room, we could continue where we left off in the bar. And this time we were able to do it right!

All in all, this was a very special evening that I don't think I'll ever forget. And I think at least the bar, I want to visit more often with Zhan. It doesn't look like a bar, but rather a meeting place for vampires who want to have sex. But maybe that's exactly what attracted me. To see how uninhibited everyone was with each other. Free of everything they let themselves fall. And so did Zhan and I. I would like to have this feeling more often.