A band, or a battleground?

Seeing this, Qi Yuan asked, "Are you doubting me?"

The girl snapped out of her daze and immediately shook her head.

Qi Yuan asked again, "Then why are you staring at me?"

Ning Qianyu took a deep breath and said, "I suspect everyone, and you are no exception."

She couldn't very well say that she had been staring at Qi Yuan's pensive profile for a moment and found it rather attractive, so she was mesmerized, could she?

Ning Qianyu led everyone back to the Queen's main bedroom, secretly wondering as they walked—what was wrong with her? Qi Yuan had only put on some makeup and changed his appearance, what was so interesting about that?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

During the subsequent separate exploration phase, Qi Yuan arrived at the room of the vampire cultivator, Song Nia.

He noticed the photographs on the table.

It was a framed black-and-white photograph. The person in the photo was clearly Shen Yihan, but the smile on her face looked somewhat cold. This indicated that the person in the photo was not the Queen's stand-in sister, Shen Feina, but the Queen herself.

He thought to himself, "The actor is indeed an actor; he can capture such subtle expressions so well."

Suddenly, Shen Yihan walked into the room and asked, "Are you looking at that photo?"

Qi Yuan turned around and said, "Yeah, just taking a look."

Shen Yihan walked up to him with her hands behind her back and glanced at the photo.

She was the one taking the photo, of course, and it was taken before the show started recording. But in the script, she certainly couldn't say that. After all, there were cameramen following her around.

So Shen Yihan smiled and asked, "Don't we look a lot alike?"

Qi Yuan answered in a low voice, "Yes, very similar."

Seeing that the two seemed about to add more drama, the photographer quickly moved to the side. This way, he could capture both of their profiles at the same time.

Shen Yihan said casually, "We've known each other for a long time, of course, you and my sister have known each other even longer. Before you became vampires, you two were a human couple, right?"

Qi Yuan lowered his gaze and nodded.

Shen Yihan asked again, "So you're just going to watch her wield absolute power, watch her go on a political marriage, and be content to just be her subordinate? Don't you feel even the slightest bit of resentment?"

Qi Yuan smiled slightly and looked up at the girl in front of him. There was some relief in his eyes, but more than that, there was a sense of weariness.

He said softly, "A century is a long time, long enough to wear down even the most intense and sharpest emotions. I no longer feel the same way about her. Now, obeying her is just a habit for me. To her, I'm just a convenient tool."

Shen Yihan stood there, stunned.

Most of the lines in this show are improvised by the guests; the script only tells you what you should know given your position.

Shen Yihan felt that she had performed very well, but she did not expect Qi Yuan to perform even better.

Is it because he's more immersed in the role?

Shen Yihan couldn't help but shake her head slightly. She didn't realize that it wasn't so much that Qi Yuan was getting into character, but rather that his weathered and helpless gaze had touched her heartstrings.

In the script, vampires' apparent age is unrelated to their actual age, so it's normal for them to look like teenagers when they're actually hundreds of years old. But what's not normal is...

Qi Yuan, this guy, is clearly just a young boy who is not yet an adult, so why does he act out a sense of vicissitude so naturally?

Shen Yihan was unaware that her emotions were somewhat unusual at the moment, but suddenly asked, "I look so much like her, would you mistake me for her?"

Qi Yuan asked in a low voice, "What's the use of treating you like her?"

Shen Yihan: "Will you fall in love with me?"

The photographers around them got excited, but they didn't dare to breathe.

“Before, no, because you weren’t her…” Qi Yuan’s eyes held a heartbreaking melancholy. “But now, I can no longer fall in love with anyone.”

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

186 Deeply Trapped in the Human World

Facing Qi Yuan, Shen Yihan's expression visibly wavered. Fortunately, she didn't forget that there were cameras nearby, and she couldn't show it too obviously.

If there's only a slight wavering, the audience can understand. But if it's expressed too strongly, and there's no romantic storyline between her and Qi Yuan's character in the subsequent plot, then everyone will start to suspect something's wrong.

To conceal her sudden emotional outburst, Shen Yihan turned and began searching for clues in the room.

And she actually found it.

"what is this?"

Shen Yihan found a hidden compartment in the wardrobe, where a small perfume bottle was placed.

Qi Yuan took the perfume bottle and examined it. Just then, a voiceover sounded: "The experienced knight smelled the scent of holy water from the bottle opening."

"Holy water?" Qi Yuan's expression hardened. "This is definitely something used to murder vampires!"

Shen Yihan also said solemnly, "This is Song Zhi's... uh, no, Song Niya's room, so did she use holy water?"

No sooner had she finished speaking than Song Zhi rushed in and shouted, "Mr. Zieg, we have found evidence of your crimes!"

Qi Yuan: "What evidence?"

Song Zhi raised the object in her hand, which was also a small bottle.

He Dong and Ning Qianyu followed her in, and He Dong said, "I am very familiar with this thing. Night's Sigh, a vampire sleeping pill that our family monopolizes."

Song Zhi added, "For ordinary vampires, this is a sleeping pill. But since the Queen has practiced forbidden arts, this drug will have a severe side effect on her!"

“You know she’s broken free from forbidden magic,” Qi Yuan said, shaking the perfume bottle in his hand. “So, you’re planning to use holy water to release her?”

Song Zhi was stunned.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

Ning Qianyu clapped her hands as she said, "Two more schemes have surfaced. According to the timeline we worked out before, Mr. Sieg presented the Queen with her bedtime blood at 12:30, and Ms. Sonja disappeared after 1:00. So, these are your key time points, right?"

He Dong asked, "Sister Sonja, why did you plot to murder the Queen?"

Song Zhi was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "It's because she practices forbidden arts. I used to be a nun in the church, but I was later converted into a vampire. It took me a long time to accept my new identity and to come up with new beliefs. My beliefs told me that vampire blood is noble and cannot be used by the Queen as a consumable for cultivation."

Ning Qianyu then looked at Qi Yuan and asked, "And what about you?"

Qi Yuan's eyes were still so melancholy.

Shen Yihan spoke up for him, saying, "Perhaps it's because she and my sister were lovers before they became vampires."

Ning Qianyu suddenly realized: "So that's how it is, she cheated on you!"

Qi Yuan's melancholy suddenly crumbled: "Can you please not say that?"

Ning Qianyu smiled broadly: "Lies don't hurt people, the truth is the sharpest knife!"

He Dong asked, "Then why didn't you attack me, but instead targeted the Queen?"

Qi Yuan sighed: "If it were just this family marriage, I wouldn't have done anything to her. But as you all know, she has practiced forbidden arts and needs to consume the blood of other vampires every day. And I would have to hunt vampires for her. This is not something I want to do."

Shen Yihan said in a low voice, "That forbidden technique can bring her greater power, but it also makes her no longer herself. You must have sensed her profound transformation, which is why..."

Qi Yuan nodded, but didn't accept Shen Yihan's comfort. Instead, he looked around and asked, "It seems that the sleeping pills I gave her made her lose her resistance, and with Ms. Song Niya's holy water, we all had motives and actions. So, who can judge our crimes?"

Song Zhi nodded: "The only difference between us is that some people succeeded, some failed, and some succeeded only halfway. If we find the real culprit, what should we do with her?"

“According to vampire tradition,” He Dong straightened his bow tie, “blood must be paid for blood, and the real culprit must be buried with the Queen. But if, for some reason, the crime must be forgiven, then it is exile.”

"So, who is the real culprit?" Song Zhi asked, her gaze shifting between Shen Yihan and Ning Qianyu.

At this moment, Qi Yuan thought of the scene before the recording began.

He had just come out of the dressing room when he saw Ning Qianyu leaning against the wall, looking completely dazed. Combined with her excited demeanor when she arrived, eager to become a famous detective…

Could it be because this girl read the script and discovered that her character wasn't a detective but a murderer, which is why she was so confused?

Qi Yuan thought about it more and more and it seemed more and more likely.

So now, there's only one question left: having guessed the murderer through underhanded tactics, how do you find evidence based on the answer?

The Queen suffered a fatal heart wound, but no murder weapon was left at the scene... Is it enough to just find the murder weapon?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Over the next ten minutes, Ning Qianyu became increasingly negative during the investigation, while Qi Yuan became much more positive.

Especially as he watched Ning Qianyu's reactions, probing her responses and observing her expression while piecing together the timeline and searching for clues, Qi Yuan increasingly found a certain kind of enjoyment in it.

Finally, in a corner of the palace, Qi Yuan led everyone to find a dagger.

The dagger was engraved with the name of Ninguti, a member of the queen's household.

"Now, the truth has finally come out." Qi Yuan held the dagger, looked at Ning Qianyu, and said meaningfully.

Ning Qianyu spread her hands: "Congratulations, you've found the real culprit."

Qi Yuan: "So it really was you."

Ning Qianyu: "Judging from your expression, didn't you already guess it?"

Shen Yihan suddenly raised her hand: "It seems you've missed someone; you haven't found any clues about me yet!"

Ning Qianyu sighed: "Then just tell me directly, what did you do?"

Shen Yihan recalled the script and said, "As is customary, I was supposed to say goodnight to the Queen, but upon entering, I found her collapsed on the floor. I realized this was a perfect opportunity, so I retrieved the bloodletting needles that had been prepared beforehand. If you carefully examine the floor of the bedchamber, you will find that a large amount of the Queen's blood has been piped into a bucket..."

He Dong suddenly realized, "So when Ninguti finally delivered the killing blow, the Queen not only suffered from the side effects of falling into a coma, but also lost a lot of blood?"

Song Zhi muttered under her breath, "She died not unjustly because she was betrayed by everyone."

Ning Qianyu raised her hands in surrender and asked, "What do you plan to do with the real culprit?"

Just then, everyone heard a long sigh.

The sigh came from Qi Yuan.

He walked to the queen's body, picked up the mannequin dressed in a long dress, and headed towards the bed.

Qi Yuan placed the dummy corpse on the bed and said in a deep voice, "We have all committed crimes, including the Queen herself. The real culprit is not special either. According to tradition, it is either sacrifice or exile, so we should all be exiled."

Shen Yihan couldn't help but ask, "So, what are you going to do now?"

Qi Yuan gently stroked the mannequin's face: "I want to write a song for her."

Song Zhi couldn't help but exclaim, "You've got songwriting inspiration again?!"

But as soon as she finished speaking, she noticed that the people around her didn't seem very surprised.

Song Zhi finally realized that everyone already knew that Qi Yuan was going to write a song for this episode, except for her.

What is this? Is this discrimination against guests with low-profile status?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Interview with the Vampire (187)

A young man in a black trench coat sat on the edge of the large bed. On the dark red velvet high-backed bed lay a mannequin dressed in a long red dress.

With a black veil covering her face and long hair obscuring her features, she really did resemble a real corpse unless you looked closely.

The gazes of the other four guests, as well as several cameras, were all focused on Qi Yuan, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. In his lap, there was an electric guitar decorated with dark red embellishments.

In people's minds, solo performances usually involve acoustic guitars. But Qi Yuan did not follow this convention. What's even more unusual is that the song he sang had no intro or gradual build-up; he went straight into the high-pitched chorus, strumming the strings.

"Full of sorrow, yet unable to shed a tear."

"Extremely exhausted but unable to fall asleep"

"Only day and night"

"And then day and night."

"Endless days and nights"

"Forever trapped in the human world!"

After a few striking high notes, a solo guitar riff begins.

After playing for a while, the verses began to be sung:

"I am a bat, but I cannot fly."

"Trapped on the streets day after day"

"The Endless Hunt"