Chapter 17: The Vampire’s Prey (17)
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Lin Qiuzhe’s smile faded. Yu Jiao gave him a reassuring look. “Wait a moment. I need to take care of some family business.”
She walked towards the twins.
The light tapping of Xie Yanchuan’s fingers stopped.
Xie Zhenye slowly stood up straight.
The two similar faces were both expressionless. Seeing this, Yu Jiao also put on a sour face.
It was like a meeting of enemies.
The onlookers, who were secretly watching, were muttering to themselves, ready for a good show. But the next moment, their jaws dropped.
Before the young woman had even gotten close, Xie Zhenye’s long arm shot out and pulled her into his embrace. He roughly tousled her hair. The gesture looked fierce, but it was filled with an unmistakable intimacy, like a dog vying for affection, desperate to rub its scent on its master.
“Why are you with that guy again?”
His tone was sour.
Yu Jiao struggled to no avail and stung him with her words, “Then who do you think I should be with? Xue Zhu?”
“No, I…”
His anger deflated like a popped balloon, and he slumped against her dejectedly.
Xie Yanchuan peeled the leech-like dog off of Yu Jiao. He then naturally smoothed her collar and straightened her hair, like a family elder, every move both considerate and domineering.
Finally, he looked down at her. “Let’s go home. I had the kitchen make your favorite dishes.”
“I won’t,” Yu Jiao said, lifting her chin high. “I already have plans with Lin Qiuzhe.”
Xie Zhenye’s face darkened. He glared at Lin Qiuzhe, then at Yu Jiao, and said fiercely, “But I want to eat with you too.”
Yu Jiao was unmoved. “Get in line. We can talk tonight.”
“Tonight we have—” Before Xie Zhenye could finish, the expressionless Xie Yanchuan jabbed him, and he slammed the brakes on his words.
Yu Jiao raised an eyebrow. “Oh? So you’re hiding something from me.”
She narrowed her eyes, her expression cold, like an impossibly arrogant kitten.
“No,” Xie Yanchuan sighed in surrender and confessed, “It’s a Secret Society event. We have to attend. It’s a bit dangerous, and we don’t want you to get involved.”
Yu Jiao didn’t believe that excuse for a second.
Either Xie Yanchuan hadn’t dispelled his suspicions about her, or the twins had another hidden motive for their actions tonight. In that case, it could only be… a mission from their father.
Her heart stirred, but she showed nothing on her face, only pouting, “Who cares.”
With a flick of her ponytail, she turned and walked away.
The onlookers who had witnessed the entire exchange thought they were seeing things. They had actually seen a look of longing on the faces of the unapproachable Xie twins.
The young woman’s retreating figure paused. She left behind a slightly awkward parting shot, “Then let’s have a late-night snack together when I get back tonight.”
The light, airy words were like a magic spell. The cold, tense aura around the twins instantly softened. But when they saw Yu Jiao walking side-by-side with the guy surnamed Lin, their expressions darkened again.
…
The Xie twins’ scorching gazes were like needles on his back. Lin Qiuzhe hesitated, wanting to say something.
“It’s alright,” Yu Jiao said, forcing a smile. Her slender frame swayed slightly, making her look fragile, as if she were enduring some great hardship.
Lin Qiuzhe’s expression grew even more grave, his mind filling with imagined scenarios. He didn’t pry, just wracked his brain for topics of conversation, trying to pull the poor girl out of her gloom.
Thankfully, once they were out of the twins’ line of sight, Yu Jiao’s expression gradually returned to normal. Lin Qiuzhe let out a sigh of relief. Just then:
“Yo!”
A familiar, jeering voice approached. “Brother Lin, on a date?”
It was the same group of dandies from last night. They strolled over, laughing, and greeted Yu Jiao with a swagger, “Hello, sister-in-law!”
Lin Qiuzhe’s face was steaming hot. He flailed his hands and stammered as he pushed them away.
Yu Jiao scanned the group but didn’t see the flamboyant figure of Wei Changlin.
When Lin Qiuzhe returned, she asked, “Why isn’t that annoying friend of yours here?”
Lin Qiuzhe was taken aback for a moment, then realized. “Changlin? He comes and goes as he pleases. He hardly ever attends class.”
Yu Jiao nodded.
It seemed Wei Changlin’s absence wasn’t because he had been taken offline after being caught last night.
Yu Jiao suppressed her disappointment. He was a capture target, after all. He wouldn’t be taken out that easily.
With that thought, the two of them rounded a corner. Suddenly, a voice drifted down from the teaching building a few steps away.
“Miss Yu.”
Yu Jiao looked up at the sound.
On the second floor.
That Mr. Song was leaning against the window sill, a smile on his face.
“Miss Yu, could you come to my office for a moment? There’s a problem with your test paper.”
“Mr. Song, it’s lunchtime,” Yu Jiao refused coolly.
Mr. Song pushed up his glasses and said slowly, “Is that so. Then I’ll just have to put this off for a while. It doesn’t matter to me…”
The moment his words fell, a burning sensation shot through Yu Jiao’s chest. The pain was slight, like a small punishment.
“…I just don’t know how things are on your end,” he added leisurely.
Yu Jiao closed her eyes, her face cold and dark.
Wei. Chang. Lin.
She didn’t know if it was a game setting, but she could never see through his disguises. At most, she would feel a strange sense of aversion.
Yu Jiao gritted her teeth. “Wait.”
Mr. Song, who had been pretending to leave, curled his lips into a silent smile. “Ah, has Miss Yu changed her mind? Alright then, I’ll be waiting for you.”
“Qiuzhe, you go to the cafeteria first. I’ll be right there.”
With that, Yu Jiao left a bewildered Lin Qiuzhe and walked quickly into the teaching building.
…
Taking a deep breath, Yu Jiao pushed open the ajar office door. Mr. Song, or rather, Wei Changlin, was sitting at his desk with a composed air, pretending to look over a lesson plan.
“Miss Yu is here? Find a seat for yourself.”
He’s really getting into this act.
Yu Jiao snorted and ignored him. She looked at the staff roster on the wall. The teachers’ ID photos were neatly posted. The Mr. Song in the photo wasn’t wearing glasses and had an ordinary, shy face.
Realizing that Mr. Song was Wei Changlin’s disguise, it was as if a fog had lifted from her mind. All the strange things she had overlooked now came to the surface.
Yu Jiao suspected that this guy could not only change his physical form but also perform some kind of mental hypnosis.
“Miss Yu, your grade is not ideal.”
Wei Changlin rustled the test paper from that morning with a great show of pretense. “Since you’re a new transfer student and aren’t familiar with our pace, I will reluctantly give you some tutoring.”
He swiveled his chair to face her and smiled, his lips curling.
The black-framed glasses hid most of his facial features, making it impossible to see his true face. Yu Jiao wasn’t surprised. After all, if a BUFF like [Plausibility of Cross-Dressing] existed, a [Plausibility of Black-Framed Glasses] was also perfectly normal.
Her gaze swept over his high-bridged nose, sharp jawline, and beautifully shaped lips. Yu Jiao lowered her eyes and obediently approached.
“Then I’ll have to trouble you, sir…”
When they were an arm’s length apart, she suddenly struck. But her sharp attack was deftly neutralized. Wei Changlin feigned surprise. “Oh my, why the sudden attack, Miss Yu?”
His tone was gentle, but his movements were decisive, stopping her attack in just a few moves.
“Evolved from a weak young master into a dangerous element?” Wei Changlin raised an eyebrow. “Your skills have improved quite a bit, Miss Yu.”
He held her wrists in a tight grip, making it impossible for her to struggle.
Seeing his leisurely air, as if he were toying with a small animal, Yu Jiao narrowed her eyes. She suddenly went with his force, actively closing the distance between them.
The young woman’s stunning face drew infinitely closer. Wei Changlin, who had been so composed, faltered for a moment.
Taking advantage of his momentary daze, Yu Jiao gave a triumphant smile, turned her head, and bit down on the frame of his glasses, yanking her head back.
The glasses fell.
They bounced twice on the floor with a clatter, the transparent lenses reflecting a somewhat scandalous scene.
—A girl dressed as a student was pinning down a young man dressed as a teacher. One of her legs was bent, her knee pressed against the seat of the chair between his legs. They were extremely close.
After staring at the face before her for a long moment, Yu Jiao pouted. “Tch. Still a disguise.”
Wei Changlin blinked. “How do you know this isn’t my real face?”
Yu Jiao didn’t answer.
There’s no way a capture target in an otome game would have the face of a random NPC, she thought.
Looking at the star-bright peach-blossom eyes on this otherwise unremarkable face, Yu Jiao sneered, “Your disguise skills are terrible. Did you just copy and paste the eyes?”
Wei Changlin smiled. “No matter how bad the disguise is, you still couldn’t recognize me.”
Yu Jiao broke free from his grasp with a cold face and strode towards the door without looking back.
Wei Changlin didn’t try to stop her, just propped his chin on his hand and clicked his tongue. “Miss, I helped you yesterday. Is this your way of turning on me now?”
Seeing that she was determined to leave, Wei Changlin sighed theatrically and adopted a lecturing tone. “This student is not being well-behaved.”
The moment his words fell, Yu Jiao’s movements froze. She was forced to a halt.
—This beast in human clothing had issued a command through the curse. She had lost control of her body.
Light, unhurried footsteps approached, and a clear, low voice drifted into her ear. “How should the teacher punish you?”
A long pointer stick pressed against her waist, tapping twice, not too heavily, not too lightly.
“What an act!” Yu Jiao spat.
“Not at all,” Wei Changlin smiled. “I’m just very curious…”
He slowly walked in front of her. The hand holding the pointer was well-defined. As he moved, the thin black stick tapped against the palm of his other hand.
“You were so repulsed by me before. You said being insulted by a low-life of unknown origin like me was disgusting. You said you’d rather be silenced than live on to keep my secret?”
“Why the change of heart?”
Wei Changlin twisted his wrist, and the pointer traced a line across her cheek, playfully stirring her hair.
He leaned down, his glistening, amorous peach-blossom eyes like a drowning pool of spring water. “Why are you now colluding with the low-life of unknown origin you spoke of?”
Here it comes.
From the moment she had set the trap for Wei Changlin by playing the ‘noble, unyielding young master’, she had known she would be questioned like this sooner or later. If she couldn’t give him a satisfactory answer, all her previous efforts would be for nothing. It would only arouse his suspicion and disgust.
“I…”
Yu Jiao’s long eyelashes trembled. She lowered her eyes, like a lost, young animal.
After a moment, her voice came out hoarse. “I discovered the Xie family’s plot. They… they were planning to use ordinary humans as sacrifices.”
Wei Changlin stared silently at her butterfly-wing-like eyelashes. He suddenly released the command of the curse and tipped her chin up, as if wanting to see her expression clearly.
“What, turning over a new leaf?”
“Don’t flatter yourself!” Yu Jiao turned her head away. “I was forced to cooperate with you for a time. We are not the same.”
The young woman wrinkled her nose. “Do you think you’re some kind of saint?”
Wei Changlin’s eyebrow arched as he listened to her accusations. “The first time we met, you were threatening to kill me. You fed me poison, threatened me, and forced me to do your bidding. You even snuck into my room and scared me. You’ve made me a pariah. If my identity is exposed, I’ll be cast out by my family.”
The young woman seemed to be listing off grievances from a mental ledger. The more she spoke, the more wronged she sounded, her voice even taking on a tearful tone.
Finally, she concluded loudly, “You don’t respect me at all!”
Wei Changlin almost laughed in exasperation. “Please. You’re a prisoner. Why should I respect you?”
Yu Jiao glared at him. “Since when do prisoners have no human rights!” She turned her head away fiercely and muttered, “You’re not a good person anyway.”
As if recalling all her grievances, or perhaps because her tense emotions had been suppressed for too long, her round, cat-like eyes welled up with tears.
The young woman’s lips trembled, and glistening teardrops began to fall, one after another. Soon, it became a torrent, and she gave up trying to hold back, crying until she was out of breath.
Seeing her like this, Wei Changlin felt a lump in his chest. He sighed.
She’s just a kid who’s barely an adult.
“Stop crying.”
The command-like attempt at comfort only made the young woman turn her back in a huff. She wiped her tears fiercely with her sleeve, rubbing her delicate face red, trying to stifle her sobs, which now came out as small, weak sniffles.
Wei Changlin pressed his temples, a headache forming. He conceded, “Alright, I apologize. I apologize, okay?”
The young woman’s trembling shoulders stilled. She turned back, her eyes blurry with tears. “Really?”
“Your voice is all hoarse from crying,” Wei Changlin said, abruptly changing the subject. He handed her a bottle of mineral water, but she turned her head away. “I don’t want cold water.”
Wei Changlin was taken aback. “No good deed goes unpunished.”
Yu Jiao: “Did you just apolo—”
Before she could finish, he shoved a thermos into her hand, cutting her off. “It’s hot. Is that okay?”
Yu Jiao unscrewed the thermos. “What is this? It smells so sweet.”
The sweet, rich aroma wafted out, like a soft, boneless hand. Wei Changlin shot to his feet and walked to the window. “Just drink it. Stop talking so much.”
“Why are you so fierce?”
The young woman muttered a complaint, carefully blew on the liquid to cool it, and took a sip.
“…Red date milk?”
“Ahem.”
Wei Changlin turned his head away uncomfortably, his Adam’s apple bobbing.