Noon, Essex County, Moria Town.
Beneath the brilliant white clouds, two figures streaked across the sky, hovering above the town surrounded by forests.
Most of the wooden houses had peeling paint, and a single road wound through them, leading toward the distant forest.
Jordan Li put away his phone and pointed at the conspicuous three-story police station building on the street: "Over there, Andre is waiting for us at the entrance."
Wade looked at the sparse crowd below and brought him down toward the police station, noticing that most of the doors and windows of the buildings on both sides were hung with bundles of dark, budding branches: 'This must be some local custom.'
The sparse pedestrians on the street stopped one after another, watching the anomaly in the sky vigilantly; some took out their phones to film, while others made gestures across their chests.
At the police station entrance, Wade saw Andre pacing around irritably and landed in front of him: "Hey, what the hell is going on?"
Andre turned his head at the sound and caught the coin he had been tossing: "Luke and Sam are still inside the station. There were many eyewitnesses, and Sam won't be able to shake the charge of assault."
Jordan Li looked at several passing townspeople with wary eyes and asked in a low voice: "What happened at the time? Did Sam really have an episode?"
"I was questioning the ranch owner with Sheriff Evan at the time, and Luke and Sam were investigating the site of the livestock deaths. Everything was normal."
"Then, for some reason, Sam went crazy. He pointed at some cattle feeders, shouting that they were all vampires, and then rushed up to tangle with them, twisting one person's arm and breaking another's leg."
"Luke went up to stop and calm Sam down, and Sheriff Evan took them both away." Andre shrugged, looking helpless. "After all, our guy was in the wrong first, so we thought we'd cooperate... I've already asked my dad's lawyer to come over. Since no one died, we can still smooth this over. It's fine."
Wade had never believed that creatures like vampires existed, so he couldn't help but ask: "Does Sam carry his medication? Did he take it today?"
Andre rubbed his chin in thought for a moment and nodded: "Of course he did, otherwise we wouldn't have brought him out."
"Then Sam shouldn't have had an episode. He must have discovered something." Jordan Li crossed his arms, looking excited. "How about we bring some gifts and go to the clinic to see the injured?"
Wade spread his hands and raised an eyebrow: "Fine. Afterward, we'll go check the ranch and, while we're at it, close the 'mysterious livestock death' case you guys took."
"Follow me, let's go prepare." Andre waved at the two of them and then headed toward the clinic on the other end of the street.
A few minutes later, at the town clinic.
Under the guidance of the nurse on duty, the three of them arrived at the ward where the injured were staying.
Andre pressed the doorknob and whispered a reminder: "They were just traumatized not long ago, so don't take what they say to heart."
Jordan Li maintained his female form, clutching white garlic in his hand, and whispered: "They say vampires are afraid of this stuff. Let's see if they really have a problem."
"I really don't think this is necessary." Wade put on a gaudy bracelet, held a bouquet of flowers and a card, and followed behind him into the room.
The curtains in the room were drawn tight, completely shutting out the noon sunlight, leaving only a low-wattage wall lamp.
The two injured men were lying on hospital beds; their skin looked abnormally pale in the dim light, with almost no color to be seen.
The middle-aged white man with his arm in a cast immediately showed an angry expression upon seeing the visitors and cursed: "You damn Supes! Are you trying to silence us?"
A man with a cast on his leg and scratches on his face sat up excitedly, his tongue unconsciously licking his canines: "Pah—I knew you city folks were nothing good."
Wade observed that their canines were indeed abnormally sharp, but the blood flowing in their veins was no different from a normal person's, and there were no traces of compound v in their bodies, though the flow was a bit slow.
He snapped out of it, placed the flowers on the side table, and lowered his head to apologize: "I am terribly sorry. My companion is just obsessed with third-rate movies. I wish you a speedy recovery."
Jordan Li also placed a bouquet of flowers next to the other hospital bed and fanned the air: "We will try our best to compensate you for your medical expenses, lost wages, and emotional distress, so please don't worry."
The two remained cold-faced, cursing: "Hmph, that's what you should do." "Who told that kid to suddenly go crazy!"
The three of them exchanged glances, not wanting to make a fool of themselves, and turned to leave the ward.
In the corridor, Wade put away the silver cross bracelet on his wrist and curled his lip: "No reaction! Their teeth are just a bit sharp and their skin a bit pale, but we can't just call them vampires, can we?"
Jordan Li smelled the strong scent of garlic on his hands and frowned: "Forget it. Now Sam will have to increase his dosage when he gets back."
Andre walked toward the doctor's office and muttered: "Why don't we just ask the attending physician? This town only has over 1,000 people; they must be very familiar with strange happenings."
Inside the office, an elderly doctor wearing gold-rimmed glasses was sitting in front of a computer, slowly typing on the keyboard.
After learning the purpose of their visit, Dr. Brown smiled and patiently explained: "You mean Wade and Ken... We are quite isolated here, so some misunderstandings are normal."
"Let me see... please wait a moment." He searched the drawer for a long time and pulled out several yellowed paper medical records, placing them on the table. "Most of the people in town suffer from a rare porphyria. Sensitivity to light and bleeding gums are complications of the disease. Our town has had this situation for the last few generations."
Wade held the medical records, which also looked quite old, and quickly accepted the explanation: 'I knew it. There's no such thing as vampires; it's all just nonsense.'
Andre searched for information about the disease on his phone and couldn't help but nod: "That makes sense. We were overthinking it."
Jordan Li bowed to Dr. Brown to thank him: "Haha... we were just curious. Thank you, sir."
Leaving the clinic, Wade flew with the two silent companions toward the ranch outside of town where the incident occurred.
High in the sky, Jordan Li rested his hands behind his head and shouted loudly: "No need to check, right? With the vampire lead ruled out, there's only one possibility for those mysteriously dead livestock... The ranch owner wants to commit insurance fraud!"
Andre played with his phone and retorted: "Forget it. Livestock insurance only pays 75% of the value. If they get caught, they'll have to go to jail. It's simply not worth it."
Wade looked at the dense forest and vast grasslands below and said with a grin: "Maybe it's aliens? Like E.T.? Wasn't that popular in the last century?"
In the blink of an eye, the three of them arrived at the ranch where the incident took place.
At the scene, several dead cows lay on the grass, already visibly bloated and rotting, emitting a strong, foul stench.
On the edge of the ranch, near the dense forest, waves of putrid air drifted toward them.
Several dead cows were either lying on their sides or kneeling on the ground. Their corpses were bloated and rotting, with large numbers of birds circling and pecking at them. Patches of maggots gathered on them, exuding an air of deathly silence.
Andre landed on the ground, covering his nose, fighting back his nausea as he poked at the corpses with a branch: "There are absolutely no signs of large-scale mauling. It definitely wasn't the work of wild beasts."
"Hey, there are holes on the neck." Jordan Li squatted on the ground to observe and reached out to point at the neck of one of the cow carcasses.
Tiny, invisible ripples emanated from his fingertips, and the matted fur on the cow's neck slowly parted.
Wade leaned down to inspect and found that there were indeed two blackened holes there. He opened his mouth to compare the size and position: "It's about the size of a human bite. Could someone have done this afterward just as a prank?"
"This one has them too!" Andre inspected the carcass of another cow and exclaimed, "This one has two extra pairs of bite holes on the sides of its neck, and the skin is obviously shriveled and sunken... Is someone actually drinking blood?"
Wade pressed down on Jordan Li's shoulder and smiled: "Don't they say vampires only come out at night? Why don't we stay a while longer and see what happens... If there really is a problem, wouldn't that clear Sam of suspicion?"
Jordan Li punched him on the shoulder twice and nodded in response: "I agree. Anyway, we've finished our assessment for today, so it won't be too late to go back tomorrow."
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