ADOMANIA || zhong chenle

chapter 68

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SANGUINARIA CANADENSIS - 1754

in the year 1754, somewhere in the province of gangwon-do, a pact was closed between two elderly men. they swore, that with the help of the blood shifting powers in their genes, they would take down the element shifters that had taken control of the country.

who those men and their families were is still unknown, but they manifested their rage by brutally murdering people — mostly politicians or other people of importace — and terrorising the whole population. whenever they commited a crime, the would leave a single flower behind at the scene — sanguinaria canadensis, also known as bloodroot.

legend has it, that the two families found more of their kind, and kept expanding, creating something like a secret organisation, who unofficially went by the name of their signature flower.

every member is known to have a tattoo of the plant somewhere on their body.

not many people knew of the special abilities the blood shifters possess, though there were (and still are) lots of rumours.

it was only about ten years ago, that the incidents came to a halt. many suspect that sanguinaria canadensis surrendered after all those years of fighting, while others believe that they are still somewhere out there, planning something greater than anything they had done before.

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"when was this written?" daiyu finished reading and turned to her friend, eyes wide in shock.

"about 50 years ago."

the two teens turned around, startled by the voice behind them.

"and speak in korean please, i can't understand that much mandarin."

min eunji had now reached her desk too, grabbing the page.

"we saw the other part of the page." chenle stated, not sure if the information was actually useful to the witch.

"yeah, i should've honestly just taken a picture and not ripped the whole thing out. especially since i didn't even manage to do it cleanly. glad it was you who found it though. this might have provoked questions."

"why did you need it though?"

daiyu sat back down on the chair, curiously eyeing the young woman.

"well... it's a lot to explain, but i suppose it's better if you know."

now they were definitely eager to know.

"so, it happened that your assault a few months ago caught my attention. i was worried, to say the least. not many people know of the existence of blood shifters, but those who know all fear them. they possess powers no ordinary shifter can go up agaist, and they know how to use it to their advantage. it's a mystery to me how they didn't succeed in taking over korea in their first time being active already."

"but i only actually started to investigate when this boy visited the infirmary. kim seonwoo is his name, and he just transferred here this year."

daiyu nodded, snorting a little at the satisfied look on chenle's face. he was never going to let her hear the end of how he was right from the very beginning.

"yeah, we know him."

"you do? then do you also know that he has the sanguinaria tattoo on his back?"

she definitely hadn't expected the two to nod.

"oh. then you know a lot more than what i thought."

"but anyways — the whole organisation itself was founded by one of his ancestors. he's the most direct heir of sanguinaria canadensis. there is his older sister too, but his father disowned her as a punishement to seonwoo, because he fucked up one of his first missions. she's only a year older than you and managed to rebuild her life. she has erased every trace of her past."

"okay, i drifted off. well, as you know, the blood shifters have been actively murdering again, and nobody had been able to stop them yet. trust me when i tell you that the government is trying. and talking of the government — daiyu, do you know why they're after you of all people?"

'oh, here it comes.'

the chinese girl had been waiting for that piece of information to be revealed to her since forever, and the witch seemed to have all of the answers.

"no, i don't."

chenle too was listening closely as the nurse started explaining.

"it's simple, actually. they wanted to use you to get back at your father. they were the people he helped before running away, and they're still searching for him. even though it's more of a side-mission, that was the whole reason seonwoo was even transfered here in the first place. it would be impossible to kidnap you as long as you were studying here, right? so he tried getting you kicked out. framing you to have stolen zhong chenle's wallet was one of the first things he did."

daiyu felt like throwing up. she felt pretty stupid now, considering that she could've connected the dots herself and conclude everything the nurse had told her.

"how did you find out about this though? that they're the ones after my dad?"

that was the only part that she couldn't have found out herself.

"i have my connections. it's not that important right now."

although she didn't totally agree with eunji, she decided that there would still be many opportunities for daiyu to ask her again.

"what is important, is that i have evidence of seonwoo having the tattoo, and i'm planning on showing it to the director."

"evidence? as in pictures? is that legal?" chenle questioned.

and eunji seemed to be prepared for that question. "is what he is doing legal?"

nobody had a good answer to that.

"anyways — that's pretty much it. do you want to check up on yua?"

daiyu didn't think chenle wanted to stay and visit her best friend as well. he had no reason to do so, but he stayed right behind her as she entered the treatment room, where yua was resting, her arms tightly wrapped in white bandages.

her eyes were barely open, and she wore a drunken smile on her lips.

whatever the nurse had given her must have been kicking in already.

"hey guyys~"

"hey yua."

daiyu plopped down on the bed, while chenle decided to keep standing.

"are you feeling better now?"

"yeah. thong, your friend is a bitch..."

he furrowed his brows, not sure who she was referring to.

"jisung...?"

that was really the only friend of his he knew yua to have a connection to.

but he never got his answer, as the japanese girl had fallen asleep.

"is she- wait— did she literally fall asleep right after saying that?"

daiyu was just as baffled, worriedly examining her friend's face.

chenle was about to say something again, when the notification sound of daiyu's phone beat him to it.

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that was a lot to write lol