Chapter 3
The morning sunlight was blinding.
I stood in front of the sink in my apartment, scrubbing the bloodstains off my coat with cheap laundry detergent. The water from the tap was yellow, mixed with rust and detergent foam, swirling in the sink.
My phone vibrated on the table.
I dried my hands and picked it up.
mail.
The official email address of Holy Relic Private Academy.
I opened it.
"Dear Parents: Following a decision by the Board of Directors, your daughter, Emilia, has been expelled from school, effective immediately, for serious violations of school rules and regulations. Please come to the school before 10:00 AM today to complete the withdrawal procedures."
The signature was that of Vice Principal Osborne Gray.
There is no reason.
They couldn't even be bothered to make up an excuse.
I stared at that line of text for a few seconds, then tossed my phone back onto the table.
The sound of someone turning over came from the bedroom.
Emilia was still asleep, the blanket pulled over her head. She had cried for a long time last night, and her pillow was soaked with tears.
I walked to the window and lit a cigarette.
The three black SUVs downstairs are still parked in the same spot.
The passengers on the bus changed shifts, but the bus didn't leave.
I put out the cigarette halfway through.
I went back to the bedroom and woke my daughter up.
"Get up."
I patted her on the shoulder.
"Go to school."
Emilia rubbed her eyes and sat up, her hair a mess.
"Dad, can I still go to school?"
She asked in a low voice.
"able."
I said.
"Wash your face and change your clothes."
9:30 a.m.
I led my daughter into the administration building of the Holy Relics Academy.
The marble floor was polished to a shine, oil paintings hung in the corridor, and the air conditioner blew out cool air at a constant temperature. A young female vampire in a white shirt sat at the reception desk, her nails painted bright red.
Who to look for?
She lifted her eyelids to look at us.
His eyes looked like he was looking at two mice.
"Vice Principal."
I said.
"Have you made an appointment?"
"No."
She gave a cold laugh and lowered her head to continue scrolling through her phone.
"You can't go in there."
I didn't move.
I stood in front of the reception desk, looking at her.
She scrolled through her phone for two minutes before finally realizing something was wrong. She looked up and met my eyes.
Her smile froze.
"I...I'll go ask."
She stumbled to her feet and ran into the office inside, her high heels clicking on the floor.
I came out in two minutes.
His face was as white as a sheet of paper.
"Vice Principal Gray wants you to come in."
She pointed to the room at the end of the corridor.
His voice was trembling.
I led my daughter inside.
The door was open.
The office was large, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the school's garden. It featured leather sofas, mahogany bookshelves, and an oil painting on the wall depicting a hunting scene—several knights in medieval armor tearing apart a giant wolf.
Vice Principal Osborne Gray sat behind his desk.
He wore gold-rimmed glasses, a three-piece suit, and his hair was meticulously combed. In his hand, he held a wine glass, but it wasn't filled with red wine; it contained blood plasma.
He didn't even stand up when he saw us come in.
"sit."
He gestured with his chin towards the chair opposite him.
I didn't sit.
"The reason for dismissal."
I said.
He took a sip of blood plasma and slowly put down the cup.
"Violation of school rules."
Which one?
"Disrupting classroom order, spreading false information, and damaging the college's reputation."
He opened a document on the table.
"Emilia fabricated a false identity in her diary, seriously affecting the mental health of other students. Following a vote by the Parents' Committee, the decision to expel her was unanimously passed."
He looked up at me through his glasses.
His eyes were filled with undisguised contempt.
"Sir, Holy Relic Academy is an elite educational institution. We do not accept—"
He paused.
"We do not accept mud-based seeds."
Emilia gripped the hem of my clothes tightly.
I looked at Gray.
He picked up the blood plasma cup and waved it in the sunlight streaming through the window.
You should feel fortunate.
He said.
"Mrs. Victoria is only letting your daughter leave school, not leave the city. That's already very kind."
He took a sip.
"So, sign it, and take your daughter back to the sewers. Don't let me see you again."
I stared at the blood plasma cup in his hand.
Staring at that arrogant face.
A thousand years ago, I tore countless faces like this to shreds.
But that was a thousand years ago.
I'm currently a night shift worker at a slaughterhouse.
I took a deep breath.
"I won't sign."
Gray paused for a moment.
Then he laughed.
He laughed so hard his glasses almost fell off.
"Not signing?"
He laughed even louder.
"You think refusing to sign will work? Naïve."
He threw the pen on the table.
"Whether you sign or not, the result is the same. Your daughter will be expelled today. Not signing will only make you make a few more trips to the education bureau and waste a little more time."
He stood up and walked over to me.
He looked down at me.
"Do you know who the Secretary for Education is? Mrs. Victoria's cousin. Do you know who the Chairman of the School Board is? A shareholder of the Scarlet Club."
He patted me on the shoulder.
"A butcher like you wants to fight against the powerful and wealthy? What good is your futile resistance other than self-pity?"
He sat back down in his chair and picked up the blood plasma cup.
"Go ahead, go sue, go make a scene."
He waved his hand, as if shooing away flies.
"After you've finished suing and making a scene, and find that nothing has changed, remember to come back and beg me on your knees. Maybe then I'll be in a good mood and give your daughter a chance to clean toilets."
He took a sip of blood plasma.
"Now, get out."
I looked at him.
I watched it for a long time.
Then she took her daughter's hand and turned to leave.
I paused when I reached the door.
"Vice Principal Gray."
I said.
"Um?"
He didn't even look up.
"You'll regret this."
He smiled.
"I regret it? What do I regret? Regret not throwing away trash like you sooner?"
I didn't answer.
She walked out of the office with her daughter.
Quiet laughter drifted down the corridor.
The teachers and staff all hid behind the door and peeked.
Two o'clock in the afternoon.
I was walking with my daughter to the Education Bureau.
Holding a printed appeal document in my hand.
Even though I know it's useless.
But I want to try one last time.
Let's go through the process one last time, following the rules of this world.
Emilia stood beside me without saying a word.
Her hand was gripping the hem of my clothes tightly the whole time.
"dad."
She suddenly spoke.
Am I really useless?
I stopped in my tracks.
I crouched down to look her in the eye.
"no."
I said.
"This world is just too awful."
Her eyes reddened again.
"Then what do we do?"
I touched her hair.
"To walk this path to the end."
I said.
If that doesn't work—
I paused for a moment.
"Dad will give you a different path."
We continued walking forward.
Turn into a secluded alley.
This is a shortcut that will save you ten minutes.
The alley was narrow, lined with abandoned warehouses on both sides, the walls plastered with small advertisements. Garbage was piled on the ground, and the stench was overwhelming.
Halfway there.
Four people appeared ahead.
They were all men, burly and wearing leather jackets. The leader, bald and smoking, had a roaring wolf's head tattooed on his neck.
Werewolf.
I stopped in my tracks.
They stopped too.
Blocked at the entrance of the alley.
"It's him."
The bald man exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Mrs. Victoria specifically requested it."
He smiled at me.
The teeth are very white, and the canines are very sharp.
"Brother, don't blame us."
He pulled out a steel pipe.
"Blame yourself for offending the wrong person."
The other three also pulled out their weapons.
A steel pipe, a baseball bat, and a machete.
Emilia hid behind me, her little hands gripping the hem of my clothes tightly.
I looked at them.
Just watch.
The bald man seemed a little uncomfortable being stared at.
"Damn, what are you trying to prove?"
He lifted the steel pipe.
"I'll cripple both your legs today, and I'll slash your daughter's face a few times. I'll teach you a lesson: this world has classes."
After he finished speaking, he rushed forward with a sinister grin.
I glanced down at the appeal documents in my hand.
That piece of paper represents "secular compromise" and "peace agreement".
Then he casually threw it into the trash can next to him.
I slowly unbuttoned my flannel jacket.
