茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Chapter 33: Re-planning

Xiang Kun went to bed on the evening of August 5th at 8:07 pm. Based on his previous experiences, he should wake up around 9:00 pm on August 6th.

However, when he opened his eyes and checked the timer he set before sleep, he was shocked:

He had actually slept for 32 hours?!

When he looked at the date and time displayed on his phone, it was already in the early hours of August 7th.

That wasn’t right…

Xiang Kun frowned, then closed his eyes, feeling the changes in his body after drinking blood again.

Compared with the physical sensations after the previous few cycles of drinking blood, falling asleep, and waking up, this time changes seemed less significant.

Of course, he still clearly felt that his muscles were stronger, and his sensory abilities such as smell, hearing, and vision had certain degree of enhancement, but compared to previous instances, particularly the stark change he had experienced upon awakening the last time, this was a massive step down.

Could it be said that the speed of mutation, or rather, evolution, had slowed down?

Was this related to his extended sleep time?

Or was it because he was not eating enough?

After all, even after drinking 170 ml of rabbit blood, he still felt hungry.

And after drinking the blood this time, the drowsiness he experienced was less intense than before.

His blood intake had not really changed compared to previous times, but was slightly less at 165 ml the time before.

So, did it mean that his demand for blood had increased?

To verify this, he would have to wait until next time he drank blood – he had no plans to disrupt his drinking schedule now.

Looking at the rabbit still kept outside the bathroom, Xiang Kun thought that he would have to take the blood from two rabbits next time he drank.

What followed was standard protocol after every awakening: measuring his weight and circumference, taking photos, testing the enhancements in his vision, hearing, smell, holding his breath time, recovery time after injury, as well as other data like body temperature.

Sure, after changing his training regimen from solely strength-based to also include endurance and agility, Xiang Kun’s muscle growth had slowed significantly, but his weight was still steadily increasing after each time he drank blood. He now weighed 94KG.

Xiang Kun, who was just short of 1.8 meters tall, if dressed in a tank top and shorts, or other body-hugging clothes, may appear robust and well-built, especially with notably broad chest and back, but no one would suspect that he weighed nearly 190 pounds.

Xiang Kun believed that after changing his training style, his muscle growth speed had slowed down, but the quality of his muscles should have greatly improved. If his muscle mass would be compared to that of other adult males of the same volume, his muscles would likely weigh significantly more.

Besides, his recovery time from the knife wound was 12 minutes and 23 seconds, which was not much faster than the previous 13 minutes.

His body temperature had also dropped from 28 0C to 27.6 0C, indicating that the drop in body temperature had not been a sudden occurrence, but rather, slowly decreased after every time he drank blood.

After taking all these measurements, Xiang Kun checked his phone and saw that he had several new messages on WeChat.

One tenant messaged him to say that the apartment was cleaned up on August 6th, and they were waiting for him to inspect it whenever he had time, so that they could return the deposit.

His mom asked him about his work, how his health was, etc. But as he had already notified her that he was going into a deep sleep, she did not call him directly when he did not reply.

There was also a message from Tang Baona, consisting of a prying stick figure emoticon.

It wasn’t a good time now to reply to them as it was already nearly dawn; it would be better to find a time in the morning to do so.

After some consideration, Xiang Kun started planning for the next five-day cycle.

Today, he planned to go check the house and then tidy it up a bit; it should then be ready for him to move in.

He and his current landlord had previously agreed that he had already paid this month’s rent to provide the landlord with a buffer period to find a new tenant, so there were no issues with him moving out.

Once he moved into his own house, he would have a much larger private space, and many exercises could be done at home.

Also, even though the new place was developing quickly with many residents, it was relatively easier to find quieter spots compared to where he currently lived. Thus, it was more suitable for certain “private” training sessions.

He remembered that there was a small mountain and a sizable lake about three or four kilometers from the residential area. A property developer had originally purchased a piece of land next to these spots with the intention of building high-end villas, given the area’s “mountainous and waterside” appeal. But for some reason, no construction had started yet.

However, after moving, Xiang Kun would have one more problem to consider.

That was the issue of money.

On July 11, his company went bankrupt and he became unemployed. When the results of his years of hard work vanished overnight, he was frustrated and felt stifled, driving him to drink in an attempt to dispel his worries, even though he’d not touched alcohol for years.

Even then, he did not lack savings in his bank account and did not worry that

he would not be able to find work. With his technical abilities, even if he might not be highly sought after and offered lucrative opportunities, he felt there should be no problem in finding a decent job.

In previous years, Xiang Kun’s career goal was to help the company go public and receive shares, which would result in a rapid increase in assets, even early financial freedom. He dreamed of living in a school district house, driving a luxury car, marrying a beautiful and sensible wife, having a few children, bringing his parents to live with him and buying them a house…

But now, everything was different.

At the very beginning of his mutation, Xiang Kun’s main concern was his survival, whether he could cure this “disease” or not, whether he would die.

However, in the nearly one month period that has passed now, including the five times he had drunk chicken blood and six ensuing mutations, his fear of death and fear of bodily changes have diminished more and more, replaced by increasingly strong curiosity and excitement.

Without a doubt, with each mutation, his body was step by step exceeding the boundaries of common human beings in terms of sensory abilities and other physical functions.

He was eager to know, to what extent could his mutation or evolution go?

No matter if it was becoming a vampire or any other being, he could confidently feel that he was “getting stronger.”

Now he did not feel like finding a job again. First, some of his special characteristics were indeed not suitable for long term human interaction and could easily give him away. Plus, he really could not muster up the will to work and earn money. All his energy was focused on his body mutations and how to guide them through “training.”

But living in the city would certainly require money. Even without the pressure of eating now, he still had to pay for water, electricity, property management, phone bills, and the internet. Further, there were various other miscellaneous fees that could not be avoided, along with the steady, foreseeable increase in rabbit consumption, as well as the monthly mortgage repayment. All these necessitated preparation..