What It's Like Being a Vampire

Chapter 588: Chapter 588: A Great Show (Second to Last) (Thanks to guild leader “No’s Sadness”)

“Why do you think it’s this car, not any other?” Tang Baona couldn’t help but inquire, because melodies were generally associated with specific objects. Even for similar kinds of objects, there’d be slight differences among individual ones. And the melody she hummed was indeed that of this moving GL8.

Xiao Pingguo thought for a moment and said, “When I listen to the song Sister Nana hums, I can visualize sitting in this car, feeling the seat, feeling the car’s movement on the road, and it seems like I can even see the scenery near our Chongyun Village through the window.”

Tang Baona felt even more amazed because Xiao Pingguo’s description was very similar to her experience when she received the perceptive melody of this car.

So she hummed another tune, still just making humming noises, sometimes melancholic, sometimes soft, and about half a minute later, she stopped and asked, “Xiao Pingguo, what about this one, what do you think it represents?”

“It should be a tree. I seem to feel the leaves falling with the wind, and the moving branches. Right, it should be a tree with a thick trunk, a large crown, and dense leaves, like an arbor, a… a banyan tree? Yes, a banyan tree! And this banyan tree seems not far from our Chongyun Village, the scent is kind of familiar…” Xiao Pingguo muttered.

Tang Baona was even more surprised, scent? Xiao Pingguo’s guesses were becoming more and more outrageous! Can she actually hear scent from a melody?

“Right! It’s Chongyun Village, that huge banyan tree we pass by on the left when we leave home to go to town, the one that Jinshan loves to play on with the other birds!” Xiao Pingguo suddenly exclaimed excitedly, “Sister Nana, you’re so magical. A simple melody from you is so interesting, so… how do I put it? It’s so ‘cinematic!’ Although I’ve never seen anything, simply listening to you hum the melody feels like standing in front of the large banyan tree at our front door!”

But Tang Baona just laughed and said, “It’s you who’s magical, Xiao Pingguo! I only casually hummed a tune, yet you were able to hear so much out of it, even without me singing the lyrics.”

Both of them thought the other was magical and awesome. But if there were a third person present, they would definitely find both of these girls to be magical.

“Sister Nana, weren’t you humming about that big banyan tree?” Xiao Pingguo said.

“You got that one right… Now listen to this one.” Saying this, Tang Baona hummed another tune.

The tune barely started, taking no longer than ten seconds, when Xiao Pingguo quickly responded, “I know this one! It’s the street lamp in front of our house in Chongyun Village! It’s the exact lamp where Custard Pie peed and got scolded by Xiao Lingdang, hahaha!”

“And what about this one, woo~~lala~woo~”

“This is a range hood! Moreover, it belongs to Youlong Restaurant, not our home!”

“And this one, yi~~ah~ah~~~~”

“This one is tricky… Ah! I got it. It’s Sister Nana’s cell phone, or rather, something metallic inside the phone. I won’t know what it is until I disassemble it and feel it.” Xiao Pingguo said while rubbing her palms together excitedly.

“It’s my SIM card, no need to disassemble the phone!” Tang Baona laughed, “So, how about this one…”

“This is the simplest! It’s a coin! Moreover, it’s your one-yuan coin, Sister Nana!”

“And this one…”

“Pfft! This is Sister Zhen’er feeling hungry, uncomfortable and angry. Hahaha!”

After parking the car and waiting at the red light, Tang Baona couldn’t help but turn to look at Xiao Pingguo, sitting in the passenger seat, her fists clenched, eyes glinting, full of anticipation, waiting for her to continue humming. She reached out and pinched her small cheek, exclaiming, “Xiao Pingguo, you must be my gut instinct!”

Xiao Pingguo sat in the front seat, a bit shyly adjusting her position, and whispered, “Sister Nana, gut sounds ugly though, how about I be your liver?”

“Naughty!” Tang Baona lightly tapped her on the head.

Xiao Pingguo shrank her neck slightly and laughed, “Sister Nana, have you awakened some kind of superpower that allows you to turn everything into music?”

Whether it was Xiao Pingguo who said this, or Tang Baona who heard this, both took it naturally, as if the topic “superpower” was quite normal.

“Yeah, you want to learn?” Tang Baona asked half-jokingly.

Xiao Pingguo obediently nodded.

“Even if you don’t want to learn, I’ll force you. If not, then I’ll keep you confined in Chongyun Village, not letting you go until you learn. You can cry, but Heaven won’t answer; you can complain, but Earth won’t hear, haha!” Tang Baona laughed.

With a mixed look of amusement and distress, Xiao Pingguo responded, “Sister Nana, have you been possessed by Sister Zhen’er?”

“Damn! You actually found out, guess I have to kill you to shut you up!” After mimicking Yang Lao San’s tone, Tang Baona couldn’t help but chuckle. Then, hearing the honking sound of the car behind her, she realized the traffic light had turned green. She stuck out her tongue and quickly stepped on the accelerator, cheerfully heading to Tongshi Town in her GL8.

Xiao Pingguo’s discernment of various emotional melodies or object melodies gave Tang Baona a feeling as if, after aimlessly swimming in water and unable to tell the directions or find an island or a boat, a brightly-colored round mermaid appeared, taking her hand and leading her around to play.

Perhaps because Xiao Pingguo has been relying mostly on sounds to understand the world and construct all cognition since birth, she always has a special sensitivity to the information contained in sounds, able to hear things in these melodies that most people can’t perceive.

Tang Baona felt that perhaps she could cooperate with Xiao Pingguo to comprehend and understand the world through music and melodies, truly melodizing everything!

In that case, she would help Xiao Pingguo to better understand everything, while Xiao Pingguo would help her to understand the essence of these melodies more clearly.

Xiao Pingguo really is a perfect match for her powers!

Perhaps someday, Xiao Pingguo could discover the “Little Elf,” or even find a way to communicate and connect with the “Little Elf”.

Perhaps, they could change the world with melodies!

Ha! Following “Ling-Fruit Duo” and “Zhen-Ling Duo”, there will be another “Nana-Fruit Duo”!

Driving the car, Tang Baona’s eyes squinted like crescent moons, looking delighted.

After taking Xiao Pingguo to Youlong Restaurant for a feast, Tang Baona then took her back to Chongyun Village.

Originally, Zi Cheng and Chu Xiaoting were going to invite the two of them to join in a visit to an antique-style teahouse owned by Xia Tianhuo, Liu Caifu, and Liu Feibao, but Xiao Pingguo kept urging them to go back to watch the “big show,” so Tang Baona had to take her back first.

Actually, a little curiosity and anticipation was also growing in her heart, hoping that Xiang Kun really had some “grand performance” to showcase.

By the time they returned to Chongyun Village and passed the research base, Tang Baona stopped the car and gave Old Xia a call, asking her if she wanted to come back and watch Xiang Kun’s “big show.”

However, Old Xia told her she was already waiting at home.

After they got home, parked the car, and let Golden Shimmer out, they then went straight to the rooftop where they found Old Xia had already set up a Lazy-Boy and was sitting on it. Next to her were two empty similar Lazy-Boys and a small tea table. On the table were a water heater, kettle, teaware, tea, and even a box of egg yolk cakes and a jar of boneless chicken feet for snacking.

After Tang Baona sat Xiao Pingguo down on a lazy-man couch, she turned to Old Xia in awe, “Old Xia, did you move all these up by yourself?” She remembered these couches being in their first-floor game room when they left in the afternoon.

Xia Libing replied, “I had Liu Gaoshang and his men move them up.”

Tang Baona looked around skeptically, even peering down at the courtyard and its surroundings, she asked, “Where is Xiang Kun?”

“In the mountain,” answered Old Xia.

“Seriously, he hasn’t come back yet and it’s already dark? Has he eaten dinner? He couldn’t possibly be planning some… some ‘big show’, right?” Tang Baona became a bit nervous. She’d considered Xiang Kun’s mention of a “big show” to be a joke. But Xiao Pingguo mentioned a “drama”, Old Xia was acting like it was “battle-ready”, and Xiang Kun still hadn’t returned. Could there really be a “big show”, a “drama” happening?

Old Xia nodded, “There is.”

“What on earth is going on? Xiang Kun won’t do anything dangerous or illegal, right?” Tang Baona asked anxiously.

Old Xia assured her, “Don’t worry.”

Xiao Pingguo, touching the teacup, pointed out, “Sister Bing, there’s no tea.”

Old Xia responded, “Sister Nana makes it. Sister Nana’s brew is delicious.” She then began to heat up the water.

So, Tang Baona started to prepare tea for Old Xia and Xiao Pingguo, while curiously waiting for Xiang Kun’s so-called “big show”.

The golden bird landed next to Xiao Pingguo, chirping non-stop. Tang Baona didn’t need to sense the melody to realize it was asking for food because it was hungry.

“Didn’t I just feed you in town? And didn’t I put bird food in your carrier box on the plane?” Xiao Pingguo rubbed the bird’s head, frowning at its response, “You’re hungry again? Didn’t fill up? No way, remember we agreed you’re too fat and need to diet. You need to eat a little less for each meal, behave yourself… What? Custard Pie is fatter than you? But you’re a bird! Comparing your weight with a cat, don’t you have any aspirations at all…”

Listening to Xiao Pingguo’s earnest reprimanding of the bird, Tang Baona felt strangely comfortable and natural.

While chatting leisurely with Old Xia and preparing tea, a loud bang echoed from the distant Chongyun Mountain, that caused her hand to shake. She nearly dropped the teapot.

Tang Baona looked towards the noise and saw flashes of light in Chongyun Mountain. Thunderclaps echoed through the air, and the sounds traveled to where she was.

In a short time, a lightning storm had erupted. Even from such a distance, she could feel the storm’s ferocious, terrifying power. It was as if god was wielding a divine hammer, madly striking the earth, trying to shatter the ground.

Tang Baona couldn’t help but gape in awe at the sight, thinking, “Could this be Xiang Kun’s so-called ‘big show’?”

Thinking about what Xiang Kun had said in the afternoon, an image of a giant, bald man with lightning flashing in his eyes, and a divine hammer crackling with electricity in his fist, appeared in her mind. Each earth-shattering blow was accompanied by a cheerful shout, “Happy birthday, Nana!”

Most bizarre was that when she looked up at the sky above their rooftop, and over Chongyun Village, the starlit and cloudless sky.

Far away in the mountains, the lightning storm was like a separate, isolated “scene”.

This strong contrast made everything feel unreal and mysterious.

But all her senses were telling her it was real.

The sight was so shocking, magical, and wonderful.

She turned to Xiao Pingguo and saw that she was also watching the storm. Her gem-like eyes were wide open, reflecting the distant lightning and spectacular scene as if she could see it too.

Looking over to Old Xia, she was also calmly watching the storm. It seemed like she was watching a “performance” she was expecting. She even had time to take a sip from her teacup.

Not far away, the golden bird perched on the railing, frozen as it faced the distant spectacle. Its cheeky antics from a moment ago were completely gone, it was as still as a salute.

A chill ran through Tang Baona’s heart when she remembered that Xiang Kun was still out in the mountains, possibly in the area of the lighting storm. What if he was in danger?

“Old Xia! Should we call Xiang Kun? Could he be in the storm? Could he be in danger?” Tang Baona couldn’t help but ask.

“Don’t worry,” Old Xia replied. At the same time, Xiao Pingguo said, “Don’t worry, Sister Nana.”

Were these two… overly confident about Xiang Kun? Did they know something?

However, hearing their reassurances, though they didn’t provide any details, she didn’t feel worried. It seemed natural to her that Xiang Kun wouldn’t be in danger.

“Xiao Pingguo, that thunder and lightning over there… it’s very very terrifying. It’s like a monster going through a heavenly tribulation,” Tang Baona described what she saw to Xiao Pingguo.

Xiao Pingguo laughed, “Hahaha, Sister Nana, I can hear it. That lightning is awesome. Sister Nana, with this thunder sound and the monster’s heavenly tribulation, do you have a new song to sing?”

Old Xia also unusually chimed in, “Sing one.”

Tang Baona was about to say she didn’t feel anything, since Xiang Kun wasn’t around. She couldn’t sense the emotions of people and things around her like before, but then she felt something and tapped her thigh as she quietly hummed a melody.

Accompanied by the distant thunder, the melody she hummed surprisingly harmonized and resonated with the sound of thunder creating a bold and uplifting yet sorrowful and heroic melody.

At that moment, Xia Libing lifted up her left hand adorned with the black wristband gifted by Xiang Kun and gave it a slight shake.

The next instant, Tang Baona and Xiao Pingguo heard popping sounds overhead. They instinctively looked up and simultaneously witnessed firework after firework exploding above them. Of course, one was using her own eyes while the other was with Alice’s help.

They couldn’t see how the fireworks were launched, only their constant and increasingly dense and spectacular explosions.

In the far-off Chongyun Mountain, a lightning storm was showcasing the wrath and power of nature. Over Chongyun Village, a brilliant display of fireworks radiated with dazzling beauty.

Tang Baona, overwhelmed as she watched the spectacle, felt her senses blur.

Especially when a row of words formed amidst the fireworks bringing a smile to her lips.

— Happy Birthday, Nana!