Son of the Devil

Huang Xiaotao then instructed downstairs, "Visit the hospitals and investigate these strange cases of vampirism at the same time."

"Wait! I want to go to the orphanages in Nanjiang City later." I added.

"Song Yang, what else have you discovered?" Huang Xiaotao really didn't know why I wanted to go to the orphanage.

"No, this is just my guess. If you really can't spare anyone, I'll go alone, but you have to give me a letter of authorization." I said to Huang Xiaotao.

"I'll go with you!" Huang Xiaotao said, then asked everyone to go investigate separately.

Wang Dali and I immediately got into Huang Xiaotao's car. Huang Xiaotao searched on the GPS and said, "The nearest orphanage is Ciai Welfare Institute. Let's go there and take a look."

"OK! I'm going to take a nap first, I'm really sleepy." After saying that, I reclined the passenger seat and dozed off, soon falling asleep.

I was shaken awake by Huang Xiaotao after a while, "Wake up, we're here."

I saw a white building covered in ivy outside the window, with a "Ciai Welfare Institute" sign hanging over the gate. I yawned, the short nap really refreshed me and I felt more spirited.

Huang Xiaotao pulled out a wet wipe and wiped my face. I said "Thank you."

While wiping my face, I said, "You police officers work so hard, often not getting enough sleep, yet your skin still looks so good?"

Huang Xiaotao opened the storage box, inside were piles of sheet masks, "I put on hydrating masks whenever I get the chance to sleep!"

"Wow, these are imported masks! You seem to spend money freely, what does your family do?" Seeing those masks costing hundreds of yuan each, I was completely dumbfounded.

Huang Xiaotao gave a mischievous laugh, "It's confidential! Let's go investigate."

In the back seat came sounds of snoring, we looked back to see Wang Dali fast asleep. Huang Xiaotao was about to shake him awake, but I waved my hand, "Forget it, let's go down ourselves. We might not find anything anyway."

We went into the welfare institute and asked the person in charge if they had ever taken in a child with ghostly pale skin, afraid of sunlight, and no body hair. The person in charge took us to the clinic and flipped through a thick medical record, ultimately confirming that they had never admitted such a child. We thanked them and left.

Huang Xiaotao asked puzzledly, "What's your reason for investigating orphanages?"

I replied, "Can't reveal for now. There are only a few orphanages in Nanjiang City, I'll tell you after we get through them all."

"What if we don't find anything?" Huang Xiaotao asked.

"Then I'll treat you to a meal!" I said.

Huang Xiaotao sneered, "A poor student like you treating me?"

"It would be my honor to treat the beautiful police officer." I slightly curled the corners of my mouth.

We immediately went to three more orphanages after that. With Huang Xiaotao's car it was very convenient, if Wang Dali and I had gone it would've taken all day.

But we still found nothing at these three orphanages. At noon Huang Xiaotao parked in front of a fast food restaurant and ordered two combo meals. While ordering, Wang Dali suddenly sat up, "I want chicken wings, large Coke with ice."

Huang Xiaotao glared at him, "How is it that you only wake up when it's time to eat?"

Wang Dali grinned, "That's how my biological clock is, no matter how late I sleep the night before, I'll definitely wake up when it's time to eat the next day. Pretty awesome right?"

"You live just like a pig!" Huang Xiaotao rolled her eyes, then asked for another combo meal.

After we finished eating, Huang Xiaotao searched on the GPS, "Song Yang, there's only one orphanage left in Nanjiang City. If we still can't find anything, you'll be treating me to dinner tonight."

"Deal!" I nodded.

"But don't think you can get away with taking me to a roadside stall, be prepared to bleed your wallet dry." Huang Xiaotao smiled mischievously.

More than an hour later, we arrived at the last orphanage, Sacred Heart Orphanage. This orphanage was in a remote location. From afar you could see a church-like building standing in a birch forest, quiet and secluded. At the top of the building was a white cross.

"Isn't that a church?" Wang Dali said.

"I remember this orphanage was donated by Christians in Nanjiang City, so it was built like this." Huang Xiaotao explained.

We went inside. The yard was very quiet, with many fallen birch leaves on the ground.

An auntie sat in the gatehouse knitting a sweater. Seeing us come in, she asked who we were looking for. Huang Xiaotao explained our purpose. The auntie suddenly exclaimed, "Ah, I do have some impression of that child!"

Huang Xiaotao and I exchanged glances. Looks like we came to the right place!

The auntie said the child was adopted twenty years ago when he was only seven. Because of his bizarre appearance and fear of sunlight, the nuns, priests and director had fiercely debated at the time, believing he might be a devil's child and suggesting they simply abandon him. But the kind-hearted director firmly refused. He said even if the child was a devil's, the light of God could still redeem him, so they took him in.

The child rarely ate anything, not touching milk, meat, peanuts and such. He was thin and malnourished from a young age. Once he fainted from malnutrition and a nun gave him a nutrient injection, which nearly killed him. His whole body broke out in blisters and he rolled on the ground shrieking in pain, scaring everyone witless.

There was an aura of horror around the child. Once when the auntie was patrolling at night, she discovered all the chickens in the coop were dead. Thinking it was a weasel, she was shocked to see the child squatting in the coop, mouth full of blood, eyes glowing eerily, scaring her out of her wits!

Because of this incident the child was confined in isolation for three days, but he was naturally solitary, so confinement had no punitive effect on him. Rather, he seemed to prefer being shut in the dark room.

Later he even bit and injured a nun, on the neck, nearly killing her. Everyone felt they could no longer tolerate this and threatened a strike unless the director expelled the child. Some even said the child was a descendant of Cain and should be killed by the sun.

The director firmly refused. He said the child had a pitiable nature and would likely not survive a single day if driven out. He also said that when God banished Cain, he declared 'whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance sevenfold'. So if the child really was a descendant of Cain, killing him would surely bring misfortune!

Thus the director brought the child to the atonement chamber and educated him for a whole day, using the Bible to redeem him.

The director was a compassionate saint in everyone's eyes. The child seemed to really be reformed, no longer biting anyone after that. Of course everyone was still wary, not letting him get too close to the other children...

Until he turned 18 and escaped from the orphanage himself. There was no news of him after that. For the orphanage staff, the nightmare was finally over.

After hearing the auntie's account, I was certain this person was the killer we were looking for!

"What was his name? Are there detailed records?" Huang Xiaotao asked eagerly.

"I don't know the specifics. I'll take you to see the director." The auntie said.

"Alright, thank you for your help!" Huang Xiaotao nodded.

On the way, Wang Dali curiously asked me, "What does descendant of Cain mean?"

"Cain is a biblical figure, also considered the legendary progenitor of vampires. Later vampire counts, vampire queens, all belong to the clan of Cain." I explained.