A/N: I first have to find my way back into the story haha. There aren't many chapters left, meaning the book will have about 30 chapters total and then it will be complete. Unless I come up with something else. Which I don't think I will at the moment, since I'm already having a hard time coming up with anything for this chapter.

-28-

The darkness settled around them like a heavy veil as Zhan turned off the engine of his car. Yibo's senses were immediately active, he was completely focused and prepared for anything. He had to be, because they had been hunting again for some time. Hunting other vampires, created by Meng Yao and Emily Qin and the only thing these new vampires want, is to eat.

It had been quiet for over two years and no one had heard from Meng Yao and Emily Qin until recently when some bloodless corpses were found. Immediately, everyone from the Xiao clan went in search of the killers and picked up the scents of strange vampires.

Since then, Yibo and Zhan spend every night searching for these vampires. And it doesn't seem to matter how many they kill, new ones keep showing up. And they all report, before they die, that a mismatched couple turned them.

And more than once the names Meng Yao and Emily Qin were mentioned. And just at a time when everyone was finally starting to relax and stop waiting for Meng Yao to show up with a new group of fresh vampires and mess up their lives once again.

Even Yibo's brother and Cheng, meanwhile, were able to mate after Hai Kuan left his wife because he couldn't stand not being with Cheng anymore. And in the meantime, Hai Kuan is one of them. He is no longer a human. After mating, Cheng and Hai Kuan asked the elders for permission to turn Hai Kuan into a vampire and after much deliberation, they finally agreed and Cheng was allowed to inject Hai Kuan with his vampire venom and turn him into one of them.

It took a long time for Hai Kuan to overcome his thirst for blood and get used to the blood mixture. But now that he's along on the hunt and smelling the blood every day, he could quickly fall back into the habit. Because Hai Kuan knows how much better human blood tastes. Because after his transformation, he received human blood for a month to cope better with the transformation and the physical change.

Also that night, when Yibo and Zhan are out hunting, Cheng and Hai Kuan are with them. And that's what makes Yibo even more tense, even more alert. Zhan himself has trained him, taught him everything, emptied him of how to use his senses properly. How to control his inner vampire.

Yibo and Zhan move in the shadows of darkness, tonight the darkness seemed like an impenetrable veil that settled on them and would not let them go. There was something wrong here, Yibo could sense it very clearly.

As his neck hairs stood up, Yibo, using telepathy, warned Zhan. Something the two practiced until Yibo could control it. Now, especially when hunting, the two only talk to each other this way.

They ran into a cornfield and followed the smell of blood and death. Someone died here and it was not long ago. Yibo signaled Cheng to stay behind with Hai Kuan. They couldn't afford to have Hai Kuan go crazy over the smell of blood now. There was someone else here, they are not alone.

Yibo used one of his new skills. He put his hand on the ground and as if he could hear through it, he listened and felt. Then he stood up and pointed to the left.

Zhan always walked half a meter ahead of Yibo, not only because he was older and more experienced or didn't trust Yibo's abilities enough, but because Zhan was faster than the other vampires. Faster than Yibo or any vampire Yibo knew.

Something rustled near them, Zhan looked around and shook his head. "Just a rabbit." He spoke in his mind.

"Yeah, saw him." Replied Yibo in the same way. Yibo smirked because he just loved being able to see in the dark and yet Zhan told him what he saw every time.

Over the past two years, Yibo and Zhan had not only trained, but also grown closer in ways Yibo had never thought possible. It was only after they freed Zhan and his father back then and they were mated that he could really feel what a mate was. And by now it doesn't matter where Zhan is, he can hear and sense him everywhere.

Yibo loves being a vampire, he loves being Zhan's mate, and he loves it even more when the two of them fall over each other like wild animals and make love for hours. And they do the latter every day to his delight.

If someone had told Yibo just four years ago how his life would change and what he would be one day, he would have laughed and declared the person crazy. Even today, there are days when he himself cannot believe what happened to him and how much his life changed. And even less can he believe that he found his mate and his life with him, what feels for him like a dream.

He didn't know all these years what he had always missed so eagerly, because he had no memories of that time. But after he could remember, he realized that all these feelings, belong only to this one vampire. His mate, Zhan.

When Yibo suddenly heard the growl of Hai Kuan, he quickly turned and ran back to his stepbrother and Cheng. Zhan followed him at first and then overtook him with ease. When Yibo finally caught up with Zhan, he saw Zhan clutching his stepbrother tightly. Hai Kuan smelled fresh blood and it made him go crazy again.

Cheng brought chains and tied Hai Kuan up with them, then dragged him back to the van and locked him up there. Because of him, they had to make the van escape-proof. And Hai Kuan raged inside, hissing and growling, throwing himself against the walls and trying to get out. But the van held him captive.

"Hai Kuan, you need to calm down. Do you hear me?" Cheng called out to him.

"See, this is exactly why we don't take Yanli hunting anymore. Even though she overcame her addiction, the risk of relapse is too great." Said Zhan to his brother.

"Yes, yes I know. But Hai Kuan wants to go hunting with us now. But I think it will be better if he stays with Yanli and the others. Before another disaster really happens and he kills a person." Replied Cheng.

"I suggest you bring him back and then come back here. Meanwhile, Zhan and I will look for the body. Maybe there are more. We need to get them away before the police find them and the media goes crazy again. We don't need more people looking for the culprits and then ending up as blood bags." Said Yibo. Cheng nodded, got into the van and drove off.

Zhan and Yibo went back into the cornfield and whoever had been there, was gone. Probably alarmed by Hai Kuan's growling and hissing, he or she ran away.

Then after a few hundred meters, Zhan and Yibo found three bodies. Two were bloodless, the third about to turn. "Who's doing it today?" Yibo asked.

"I'll do it." Replied Zhan and rammed a wooden stake into the heart of the victim who was transforming. Once a vampire's poison has entered the bloodstream, this is the only way to keep the victim from getting back up.

They carried the three bodies to the edge of the cornfield and waited for Cheng. But even before Cheng arrived, something caught the attention of Zhan and Yibo. Both were suddenly completely focused, their senses fully heightened. "Blood." Spoke Yibo in his mind.

"Lots and lots of blood." Replied Zhan.

They both ran in the direction from which the smell came and saw a van with a tank on the loading area. They didn't need to see the color of the liquid to know that this tank was filled with human blood. They followed the van, but when it speeded up again, they couldn't keep up.

They continued to follow the smell of blood for a while, but it quickly faded and they lost the scent. "Damn, I'm sure they're on their way to Meng Yao and Emily Qin with this." Said Zhan.

"I think so too. We should gather everyone and search in that direction tomorrow. They have to be there somewhere. What's next there? A small village or?"

"There's just a small village. But there's a big cemetery with a big chapel behind it. And who knows, maybe there's another underground burial area, which was used to keep the bodies cool back then. Or to store the bodies there until winter was over and the earth was soft enough to dig."

"Then let's check it out with the others tomorrow. We'd better go back now. Hopefully Cheng will be back by now because the sun will be up in just an hour."

"Well then come here baby, I'll carry you. Because even with you on my back, I'm still faster than you." Replied Zhan. Yibo immediately jumped on his back and clung to him. He just loves it when Zhan carries him that way.

When the two were back at the starting point and the three bodies, Cheng just arrived and together they loaded the bodies into the van. Cheng explained that the group decided to send Hai Kuan to Gusu Lan for better training and to teach him how to control his blood thirst.

Yibo and Zhan think this is a good idea because there are no humans in Gusu Lan and even if there were, he wouldn't even come within a meter of a human. Besides, he needs the training, because with Cheng he doesn't learn as well as he should. And if they can't show the eldest progress with Hai Kuan soon, they'll eliminate him ice cold. And no one from the Xiao clan wants that.

Back at the new big family house, everyone gathered at a table in the meeting room and Zhan and Yibo told them about the truck with the blood tank. They showed the others on the map where they lost it and decided they would inform the other clans and tomorrow night they would go together to the small village and also to the chapel in the cemetery.