Bear School Astartes

Chapter 347: 347. [Blood Therapy]

Two little girls sat beside Lann, occasionally exchanging glances, and after doing so, they would shyly peek at Lann with flushed faces.

But immediately after, they would quickly bury their heads back into their plates.

Lann didn’t think the little girls had any ulterior motives; girls their age just liked pretty ’things’.

Dolls, little trinkets and such. It’s just because he, this ’doll’, could move and talk that they felt shy.

Only after thanking Viola, who arranged this table, did Lann begin to pick up his knife and fork.

In front of Lann, Viola appeared very calm, and Lann guessed it was because her eyes saw only Gascogne.

Eating with newfound friends, in his cozy home, together with his wife and children... this mundane, peaceful scene almost gave Lann a sense of detachment.

Compared to the extraordinary moonlight last night, the howling and stench of beasts under it, the silent slaughter by the Hunter, and the screams of ordinary people as they died, this mundane life felt too contrasting.

And everyone living in Yan’an, even little girls like Olivia or Victoria, seemed to have grown accustomed to this drastic contrast.

Or rather, they didn’t feel there was any contrast at all.

The bloodthirsty, frenzied nights and the normal, bustling days were meant to coexist in this city.

In the moment of realizing this feeling of detachment, Lann suddenly felt the hand holding his knife and fork ripple and blur before his eyes.

This kind of brain incoherence, seemingly caused by over-exhaustion, hadn’t occurred since he implanted a gene seed.

He didn’t show any difference on his face, and the strange visual misalignment and illusion disappeared very quickly. It only appeared for a brief moment.

”Mentos, conduct a full body check.”

The bio-brain responded immediately, integrating biochemical indicators from all over his body, and issued a standard report to him.

The examination result showed everything was normal, except for some brain fatigue.

”Sir, I also detected the visual blur you just experienced. But with our current level of knowledge, we can only conclude this: the visual signal disarray is due to brain fatigue.”

Lann didn’t say anything further.

Is it really brain fatigue? Before coming, he ate and slept well, how could he be so tired as to experience visual blur after just a night’s vigil upon arriving in this world?

This world is not right; it’s exerting an influence on me that I haven’t noticed.

Lann reaffirmed this.

”Is it not to your taste, Mr. Lann?”

On the other side of the table, Viola asked nervously.

Lann snapped back to reality, smiling mildly, ”No, it’s nothing. I just haven’t sat at a proper table for a long meal in quite some time after wandering outdoors for so long.”

”Ah, that’s good.” Viola breathed a sigh of relief.

”By the way, could you tell me more about Yan’an? I have never been to such a... peculiar? city.”

When describing this huge city built on the mountain, Lann chose his words very carefully.

Gascogne replaced his eyes with new bandages, cutting the food on his plate with a knife and fork, confirming to Lann.

”You want to know more about Yan’an. Hmm, let me think about what puzzled me the most when I first arrived... Ah! You must be wondering now why, knowing about Yan’an’s beast transformation disease, hasn’t this city been abandoned yet, right?”

”Indeed.”

Lann nodded.

Even in the Magic World where medical concepts aren’t advanced, people might even regard plagues as some deified symbol, colloquially saying ’for the plague’s sake’, or ’plague be upon us’.

And even among such culturally educated farmers, when an outbreak of plague occurred, they knew to flee quickly.

To stay away from the epicenter of the disease.

But in Yan’an, the beast transformation disease has become so severe that it needs a few specific nights for street slaughter just to maintain daytime stability.

Walking down the street, most people’s faces bear the proliferated black hairs of the disease after it has been controlled.

Yet few are leaving.

This is completely illogical.

In response to Lann’s question, Gascogne didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he grabbed an unopened bottle of red wine from the table and handed it to his wife.

”Open it for me, Viola.”

The hostess agreed cheerfully, her slender, snow-white hand gripping the cork, and with a gentle pop, the red wine was opened.

Viola poured a glass for herself and her husband.

The color of the wine was as red as blood, and the taste...

”Sniff, sniff-” Lann’s nostrils slightly quivered, then his eyebrows knitted together.

It was the smell of blood.

Ever since the cork was popped from the wine bottle, there’s been a thick, choking scent of blood in the air!

If it weren’t for the extraordinary senses of a Demon Hunter, he wouldn’t even be able to detect the sweet, alcoholic scent of the grape wine beneath that pungent smell.

But Gascogne and Viola were naturally sipping from their wine glasses, and Oliveira and Victoria, the two little girls beside Lann, showed no signs of discomfort.

Everything seemed natural, as if it was Lann’s sense of smell that was faulty!

”Pure alcohol doesn’t sell well in Yan’an, even though it’s a necessary commodity for people to relax their minds, it still doesn’t sell well. Until...”

”Until merchants added... blood to the alcohol?”

Holding up the wine glass, Gascogne nodded to Lann’s inquiry.

”Saying alcohol is unpopular in Yan’an is inaccurate. Yan Nan People don’t dislike alcohol; they are just more intoxicated by blood.”

Just like vampires, creatures whose mere mention conjures the image of ’bats flying out from the dark mist’.

The evil is their inherent color, as in many cultural backgrounds, blood-drinking is a symbol of evil.

Yet in Yan’an, this becomes a quite natural, widespread, and reasonable... habit.

That feeling of detachment came again.

The sunlight from outside shone through the iron grates wrapped in chains and the glass within those grates into Gascogne’s house.

A cozy home, a beautiful wife, adorable children, a guest visiting the home... everything was warm and natural.

But the husband and wife were drinking blood at the dining table!

Lann pursed his lips, telling himself this was merely a difference between worlds, nothing to be shocked about. After all, the blood in this bottle of wine didn’t come from humans, but from livestock.

Gascogne continued speaking calmly.

”No Yan Nan People would leave their homeland, for no one in Yan’an can do without blood, without [blood therapy].”

”Outsiders need [blood therapy] to sustain life, to fight terminal illnesses. And what if the terminal illness is cured? Then no one can do without [blood therapy].”

Gascogne set down his wine glass and continued eating his food with a knife and fork.

Lann, feeling somewhat unsettled under the stench of blood and the detachment in his mind, only ate the bread and mashed potatoes on his plate.

”Blood therapy... Gascogne, what exactly is [blood therapy]? Is it addictive?”

”As I told you, [blood therapy] is just a transfusion. It’s not addictive, as long as you’re not relying on blood therapy to fight a terminal illness, you can stop anytime without any discomfort to your body.”

Gascogne shrugged, speaking nonchalantly.

Finally, Viola, a true local, smiled and added.

”As long as you can let go, [blood therapy] can indeed be stopped at any time.”

”Let go?” Lann looked up at the casual-chatting Viola, ”Let go of what?”

”Let go of the vitality, energy, spirit filled in your body during [blood therapy]... It’s like returning to the peak state of your body and mind, worrying about where to expend your energy but never fearing depletion. Creativity and inspiration flow endlessly.”

Saying this, Viola, a native of Yan’an, showed a bit of pride.

”The technology in Yan’an is generally higher than the outside world, largely thanks to the enhancement provided by [blood therapy].”

”Hmm... Though this also leads to local xenophobia.”

By the end, Viola was a bit embarrassed in front of Lann.

Because she could easily imagine what cold words a newly-arrived outsider might encounter in Yan’an.