After two and a half weeks of stormy seas, high waves, ship rocking and rain, Lan Zhan did not wake up in the morning with a weak stomach as usual. Because that morning the sea was calm. Instead, something was stirring in his bed and under his covers. When he lifted it, he almost laughed out loud when he saw Wei Ying squatting between his legs and about to take off Lan Zhan's pants. "What are you doing?" Lan Zhan asked, amused.

"Well, I thought now that we're back here, I could wake you up and greet you in a very special way." Replied Wei Ying with a giggle.

"Oh okay. I would certainly enjoy such a greeting."

"Good, I've never done that before though. So I might not do it well the first time. But I'll try my best."

"Don't worry my cute Wei Ying. I will like it." Replied Lan Zhan and lay back on the bed as Wei Ying opened his pants and pulled them down. A brief touch from Wei Ying's lips had been enough to arouse Lan Zhan and make him moan.

With each successive kiss of the soft lips, the use of the tongue and finally the whole mouth, Lan Zhan's moans grew louder and more uncontrollable. Just before Lan Zhan couldn't take it anymore, he grabbed Wei Ying, pulled down his pants and penetrated him. "It felt wonderful. But this, when I'm inside you, feels a million times better." Lan Zhan whispered with a moan.

"I enjoy this more, too. Because it feels good when I have you inside me." Replied Wei Ying, spinning around and sitting on Lan Zhan moving up and down. Their lovemaking continued for almost two more hours until they came to their climax and fell into each other's arms kissing, exhausted.

Wei Ying handed Lan Zhan a wine bottle. "Drink. There is no wine in it. I guess you must be pretty hungry by now."

"How would you know?" Lan Zhan asked, wondering.

"You bit me several times when we made love. So take the bottle, drink the blood in it, and you'll feel better."

"Wei Ying, I bit you not because I was hungry, but because I was in ecstasy."

"Maybe so. But you're still hungry. You haven't had blood for weeks. So drink already."

"You're right. Thank you."

"You're very welcome. I brought three more bottles. That should be enough for now. And don't worry, we didn't kill anyone for the blood."

"We?"

"Youn helped me fill the bottles. We found some volunteer donors in Rome. Youn knows a lot about taking blood from people without hurting them or bringing them to the brink of death."

"I taught him. If something ever happened to me and I would need blood, I wanted him to know how to do it."

"That was smart of you."

"How is he doing now?"

"He's fine. As soon as we were down from the ship and on land, he felt more comfortable again. He recovered quickly."

"Where have you been?"

"During the day we were in Rome. At night at the temple."

"Is there any news about the war?"

"At the moment they are trying to avert the war through negotiations. But it doesn't look good. Both sides are showing disagreement."

"So it will come to war?"

"That is to be expected. We heard that even a war brigade is waiting to be deployed. But I think we'll be back in China before war breaks out. At least, I hope so."

"That would be desirable. I don't want Youn or Ali to get involved in a war."

"I can well understand that. Protecting them from such things is important. But if this keeps up with the wars, you won't be able to protect them from it."

"Well, you could take them to your temple. They'd be safe there."

"I won't do that. I can understand that you want to protect them from all the evils of this world. But locking them up in the temple is not a solution. Not only because they have free will and can decide for themselves what they want and what they don't want. But also because the temple is no longer a place to live. Only a small part of it is still intact. There are no people, no food, and very little water. They would be lonely."

"And what do you think I should do?"

"Teach them how to survive. Teach them how to fight. Youn has already learned how to fight in the last few years, after all. Teach Ali too and make them both excellent fighters."

"Yes my mentor and I have trained Youn and yes Ali will learn to fight as well. But of course it would be nicer if they didn't have to learn fighting at all."

"Sure, I understand that. You feel responsible for them and are a foster father to them. You have prepared Youn well for his adult life in the last few years. And you will do the same for Ali. Even if you have less time for that than for Youn. But Ali is very strong and learns very quickly. He will be well prepared."

"It seems to me that you already know that Youn and Ali will fight in the war one day."

"Well..."

"Tell me. Will they have to fight? And if so, will they survive?"

"Youn will be about 22 years old when he goes into battle with you and 23-year-old Ali. You will be battle buddies. And each of you will have your own reasons for fighting. And together you will be successful."

"What reasons might they have?"

"Love."

"Love?"

"Yes. Is there any better reason than to fight for love?"

"I'm sure there are many good reasons. But yes, love is a good reason."

"Trust them. You'll raise them to be good men and even better fighters."

"Okay. Now let's see what they're up to."

"I can tell you that. As soon as Youn and Ali saw each other again, they laughed and went out for breakfast. They'll probably be up on the deck now, killing time there."

"They'd better study."

"They have plenty of time for that. Let them enjoy the day today."

"All right. Then what are you and I going to do today?"

"Well my dear Lan Zhan. I'd like to say that we should stay in bed and enjoy ourselves. But today, you and I should mix with the other passengers. There will be a party in the evening. And I think I need to teach you how to recognize other vampires. Or have you already sensed the other two vampires?"

"What other vampires?"

"Mhhh, so your mentor didn't teach you that."

"I didn't know that was something you had to learn first."

"Actually, no. The thing is, well, you've lived among vampires for over 100 years with your mentor, and you've acted like humans incessantly. You've also never had to seriously fight vampires as far as I know. That means your inner creature, the vampire in you, has never learned to perceive the difference between humans and vampires."

"And how do I do that?"

"By connecting with the creature inside you."

"Huh?"

"Lan Zhan. Transform."

"Transform?"

"Wait a minute. Your irritated look doesn't mean you've never turned before, does it?"

"I didn't even know vampires turned."

"Fangs. Red eyes. Long pointy fingernails."

"Fangs, yes. But red eyes and pointy fingernails? No."

"All right. Then concentrate now and imagine your fingernails growing." Said Wei Ying. Lan Zhan nodded, closed his eyes and imagined his fingernails growing as hard as he could. However, nothing happened.

"What about now? It won't work!"

"Then we must tease the creature inside you until it shows itself!"

"Excuse me?" Lan Zhan asked, confused. The next moment Wei Ying grabbed him and a blink later they were in the temple. "What is this?" Lan Zhan wanted to know. Wei Ying slapped him across the face. "Stop it!"

"Come on. Show me the creature that's inside you!" Replied Wei Ying and struck again. Then again, and again. And with each strike, Wei Ying struck harder.

Lan Zhan became angry. He didn't understand what was going on. Another blow. And suddenly, deep inside Lan Zhan felt the creature tugging at the chains Lan Zhan had put on it so many years ago. And when Wei Ying struck again, and this time so hard that Lan Zhan slid at least 2 meters across the ground, Lan Zhan felt the creature free one of its claws.

A growling sound rang out from Lan Zhan's throat. It sounded so alien and distorted that Lan Zhan did not recognize his own voice. "Don't hit me!" Growled the creature. But Wei Ying was merciless and fearless. He struck again. He knelt on Lan Zhan's arms and punched him in the face several times in succession.

The creature inside Lan Zhan released the second arm as well. He could feel the thing inside him wanting to take control. He struggled with the creature. "Concentrate Lan Zhan. Come on. Open your eyes. Connect with the creature. It is not your enemy. It protects you and everyone you love. The Inquisitor is your enemy. Not the creature! Embrace it. Embrace it!

As if from a distance, Lan Zhan heard everything Wei Ying shouted to him. He concentrated on the voice of Wei Ying. He calmed down again and the creature also calmed down. Suddenly Lan Zhan understood that he was the creature and he could control the creature, himself. He embraced the creature and it was as if two beings became one.

Lan Zhan opened his eyes. He saw everything as if behind a red veil and that although it was absolutely dark in the temple. He looked at his hands. His fingernails were long and pointed, just like his fangs. "You have done well my dear Lan Zhan. Very good. Now undo the transformation."

"How?"

"By concentrating on it."

"Okay." Said Lan Zhan. He concentrated and felt the transformation go back.

"Very nice. And now that you are reconciled with the creature within you and know how to call it out, make use of it."

"Very well, I will try."

"Sure you need a little more practice. But soon you'll be able to control the creature properly."

"Okay. I'll practice it."

"Then we will return now and you will practice sensing the other two vampires."

"Can't I practice with you?"

"No. The binding ritual makes it impossible. Because it allows us to sense each other at all times."

"All right. Well then." Said Lan Zhan. Wei Ying was teleporting them both back to the ship. As soon as they were back in the cabin, Wei Ying demanded that Lan Zhan use his senses to scan the ship, piece by piece, searching for something that was like him.

Lan Zhan did what Wei Ying asked him to do. It didn't take long for him to tear his eyes open and say, "I sense them! But it's not just two! There are five now!"

"That means they've turned three people. We have to stop them. Because if we don't, this ship won't have any people on board when we enter the home port."

"Tell me Wei Ying. Why didn't you sense them the day we boarded?"

"Because they didn't board that day."

"Then how did they get on board?"

"You tell me Lan Zhan. You were here with Ali. Had anything unusual happened in the last two and a half weeks?"

"No, not really. Or maybe it has. Three days ago we anchored for two hours. I heard that there had been a fire on a small merchant ship and 2 people managed to save themselves by jumping off the ship and swimming to the byboat. They rowed the boat until they couldn't anymore. Supposedly they were out there for three days trying to fight the high waves until our ship spotted them."

"So that's how they got on board. And they started reproducing right away."

"And how do we stop them without anyone noticing?"

"They can sense you as much as you can sense them. Tonight we both go on deck and trust me, they will come out. My blood has made you much stronger. They smell your life force and they will want it. So they will come and try to take it from you."

"And can they sense you too?"

"No. You couldn't sense me either. No vampire can. Unless I give him some of my blood. Like I did to you in our bonding ritual."

"Okay."

"Thank goodness you brought your sword. You can cut their heads off with it."

"Yeah good okay. But the crew will be surprised if they suddenly disappeared. They and three more people."

"Sure. But if we wait any longer they will have turned more people. If there are more, then..."

"That's all right. I already know what you mean. We'll kill them tonight."

"Well, you can take their life force. Their strength."

"To become even stronger? My mentor once told me that I could get stronger by killing vampires and drinking their blood. But sucking the blood of five vampires, I can't do that."

"You don't have to drink all their blood. Just absorb the life force into it. It's in the heart of the vampire. Rip out their heart and drink the blood inside."

"Fortunately, I am a vampire and have lived a long time. Otherwise, I would have surely vomited now at the thought of drinking blood from a heart." Said Lan Zhan, shaking himself as if he was really sick.