Chapter 35: The Vampire’s Prey (35p2)
Yu Jiao walked between the twins.
She listened to Xie Zhenye’s rambling. “Stay away from that guy in the future. The old man Xie has already stepped down. The Xie family doesn’t need you for a marriage alliance anymore. This engagement will be broken sooner or later. Don’t worry about that guy. We’ll take care of this trouble for you. He’s just a madman, a pervert…”
Yu Jiao hummed in response.
Xie Yanchuan ignored the annoying, buzzing voice and asked, “What class do you have next?”
Just as she was about to answer, a hostile figure suddenly blocked their path. Xie Zhenye’s rambling stopped, and he narrowed his eyes, his aura fierce. Xie Yanchuan’s face was blank.
And Yu Jiao’s eyebrow arched. She answered meaningfully, “Combat class.”
“Eldest Miss.”
The person greeted her with a semblance of respect, but he couldn’t hide the crazed hatred on his face, and a sinister smile appeared.
—Lin Wei.
Yu Jiao crossed her arms, her chin slightly raised. “What is it?”
Though she had been reduced to prey, she still had a superior air, which made people’s teeth itch. They wanted to trample her under their feet and torture her.
Lin Wei’s face twisted for a moment, but he was very wary of the twins beside her. So he suppressed his anger and put on a fawning smile. His gaze shifted to the figure behind them, and his eyes lit up. He called out, “President, according to tradition, all prey needs to be injected with the Holy Blood. I wonder… is the Eldest Miss an exception?”
At his words, the secretly watching crowd fell silent, their ears pricked, waiting for an answer.
Following his gaze, Yu Jiao turned around.
Xue Zhu was approaching. He casually took off his riding helmet and, with a pale, large hand, swept his hair back, revealing a pair of sharp, long, narrow phoenix eyes, exceptionally dark and heavy.
He looked at her with an unreadable expression, about to answer, but she cut him off. “Of course. President Xue has already given me a private injection.”
At her words, many hot gazes instantly fell on her.
…That’s… Holy Blood!
Previously, the few groups who had come looking for her were just bored and looking for trouble. Most people were still watching from the sidelines, because when she was chosen as prey, she hadn’t followed the Secret Society’s usual ritual—a public injection of the Holy Blood. So, almost everyone thought she didn’t have the Holy Blood. In that case, hunting her would be a thankless task.
Now, she had admitted it herself…
More and more greedy gazes gathered on her.
Among them, Lin Wei was the closest. His eyes were red and glowing, and he was breathing heavily.
—If I can kill this woman and get the Holy Blood in her body, my strength will more than double! Then, we’ll see who dares to look down on me…
His gaze made her frown in disgust. Just then, Xie Zhenye stepped forward, blocking the disgusting stare. He asked in a low voice, “Jiao Jiao, when did he inject you? That stuff is very harmful to the body.”
Xie Yanchuan’s cold gaze was like a blade. “President Xue is really ruthless,” he said coldly.
Xue Zhu was silent.
From the moment she had admitted to having the Holy Blood, he had been watching her without a word, his gaze as deep as a dark pool, his thoughts unknown.
Yu Jiao pulled back the two of them, who were about to confront him, and shook her head. “Don’t worry. Nothing will happen. Trust me.”
Previously, the Holy Blood injected into the ‘prey’ was diluted and modified. While it would temporarily boost their physical abilities, it would also destroy their bodies.
Only those who had already awakened or had the potential to awaken would not suffer a backlash.
And Yu Jiao, as an ordinary human with a pitifully small amount of blood-race blood, had taken Xue Zhu’s pure heart’s blood. It was quietly stored in her body. Although it had no effect, it also didn’t destroy her body.
But this was clearly not something to be discussed in public.
Facing the worried twins, she said in a heavy voice, “Promise me, no matter what happens next, don’t interfere. I have my own plans.”
“…”
The twins paused.
Under her calm, focused gaze, they both nodded.
Yu Jiao stepped out of their protective circle and faced the ambitious ‘hunter’.
Lin Wei licked his lips, his dark gaze like his tongue, viscously and greedily sweeping over the slender young woman before him.
“Since I’m the first one here to initiate the hunt, then I’ll be taking the Holy Blood.”
He was smug, his face a picture of triumph.
Yu Jiao looked at him coldly. “We’ll see if you have the life to take it.”
The young woman was dressed in a red riding suit, her back straight, her expression cold, a heroic and valiant figure.
In the crowd of onlookers, someone sighed with regret. “Alas… one step too late. This Miss Yu looks completely defenseless. Lin Wei has this in the bag.”
“That’s not right. She beat back several groups of troublemakers a while ago. She’s pretty fierce,” someone retorted.
“Tch! A few unawakened kittens. How can they compare to an elite member of the Secret Society?”
Someone chuckled maliciously. “But, this Miss Yu is really alluring. After Lin Wei wins, I wonder if I can get a taste of her…”
Before he could finish, a whooshing sound came, and something struck him fiercely, almost piercing his throat. The man’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed, unconscious.
The dark weapon landed on the ground and rolled twice.
The crowd looked closely. It was a small, blood-stained stone.
A light clicking sound.
They looked over and saw one of the twins, it was unclear if it was the older or younger brother, tossing a stone in his hand, his gaze cold and fierce. “Shut your filthy mouths.”
The other crossed his arms and looked at the person on the ground, his tone unreadable. “A member of the Chen family.” Then, his pale gaze slowly swept over them.
The whispering crowd fell silent.
The few who had been pessimistic were swept over by his gaze, and their faces immediately turned pale, as if their throats had been crushed. They fell silent.
…
Yu Jiao was unaware of this little interlude.
She was facing off against Lin Wei.
The vast lawn of the riding arena had become a natural arena. The onlookers were all standing far away, under the sunshades, leaving plenty of space for the two of them.
—Although most people thought this fight would only last a few minutes.
Lin Wei, of course, was no exception. He sneered, cracking his knuckles. He shouted without any restraint, “You bitch! There’s no one to back you up now! Just lie down and die!”
The breeze stirred her long hair. “Now are you going to explain why you hate me so much?” she said coolly.
Lin Wei’s face twisted for a moment. “Have you forgotten? Just because of a few careless words from you, I was kicked out of the Secret Society! I became the laughingstock of the entire academy—”
As he was rambling, the slender young woman suddenly flashed forward and kicked his lower body.
He was in the middle of his tirade and was caught completely off guard. She didn’t hold back at all. His face instantly went pale, and a cold sweat broke out as he clutched his lower body, almost collapsing to the ground.
“You… how could you use such a low-down trick!?” he cursed.
Lin Wei was just an ordinary blood-race elite. He certainly didn’t have the monstrous physical abilities of Xue Zhu or the twins. Now that he had been hit in a vital spot, he couldn’t recover for a long time.
As she pressed her advantage, Yu Jiao raised an eyebrow. “You, an awakened vampire, are fighting me, a weak, ordinary person. Isn’t that bullying and a low-down trick?”
“You?!” Lin Wei was furious.
…
The onlookers were stunned as they watched the one-sided battle.
…Wait, how did Lin Wei get beaten back so badly right at the start?
He was a rare blood-race elite who had awakened and joined the Secret Society!
Unlike the others, who were shocked, the twins both frowned, not optimistic.
—Although Lin Wei couldn’t fight because of the pain, with a vampire’s amazing healing abilities, he would recover in a moment and turn the tables.
Remembering her words, the two of them suppressed their desire to interfere and watched the battle quietly.
…
Just as they’d expected, after he recovered, the tide of the battle instantly turned.
Dominated by shame, anger, and other emotions, his attacks grew fiercer. The slender young woman had to avoid his sharp attacks.
It seemed she was at the end of her rope, but no one saw the dark glint that flashed in her eyes.
Unhurriedly, as she moved around the arena, she scattered an invisible powder from her sleeve.
She was no brute.
The reason she had agreed to fight him was to use the new, short-term solution she had learned to awaken her blood-race bloodline in public.
Wei Changlin had said that this method was equivalent to ‘borrowing power’—copying the bloodline power of an awakened blood-race member onto oneself.
But considering that everyone’s body had a different tolerance, he had advised her not to choose the twins or Xue Zhu, who were close at hand.
Their bloodline power was too strong, and there might be a risk of her body exploding.
And Lin Wei was the ‘borrowed power’ target she had carefully chosen—awakened, with a moderate bloodline power. She had just had Wei Changlin, in disguise, mention the Holy Blood in front of him, and the fish had taken the bait.
Yu Jiao’s lips curved.
During the fight just now, she had already set up most of the array.
Only one last step remained—
The fleeing, dodging young woman slowly stopped, as if exhausted.
A look of excitement flashed in Lin Wei’s eyes. He rushed forward, raised his dagger high, and stabbed!
The young woman weakly raised her arm to block. The glittering dagger cut through her sleeve and left a thin gash on her wrist. A bead of blood slid down her arm, about to fall to the ground and become the invisible eye of the array.
At that critical moment!
A sharp whistling sound came, stopping beside her, making her long hair fly. Then, a long leg in white breeches and black boots, as fast as lightning, ruthlessly kicked Lin Wei.
He was sent flying over ten meters, only stopping when he hit a hitching post. A grating, cracking sound was heard. It was unclear if it was the hitching post or his spine…
Lin Wei’s triumphant expression was frozen in that moment. He spat out blood and passed out.
“…”
Yu Jiao was stunned.
She watched with wide eyes as her borrowed power tool was kicked out of the array.
The culprit paused, then slowly retracted his leg.
Yu Jiao slowly looked up and met a pair of dark, long, narrow phoenix eyes.
After two seconds of staring, he looked away, looking strangely guilty.
Yu Jiao: “…”
She knew that Xue Zhu would lose control and save her when she fell from the horse, but she had never thought that, even though he had already guessed part of her plan, he would still lose control and save her at the critical moment???
…What the hell! Is he doing this on purpose?!
Xue Zhu pressed his lips together and forced a light, breezy smile, explaining with a guilty conscience:
“My dear, I saw that you were about to lose. But considering that I don’t want to die yet, I stepped in.”
Yu Jiao looked at him with a blank face and sneered, “A straight man’s mouth.”
“…”
Their conversation was not heard by a third person.
At this moment, the onlookers were stunned. After a few seconds, a roar of discussion erupted.
“Isn’t that against the rules for President Xue!”
“No, President Xue is the rules.”
“And, the reason for the first-come, first-served rule is to prevent the hunt from turning into a bloodbath among the blood race. As long as someone breaks the rules and wants to snatch the prey, they have to be prepared to face the encirclement of the other blood-race members. But…”
The person stopped, his tone meaningful.
Another person picked up where he left off:
“Who would dare to encircle President Xue!”
Everyone couldn’t help but agree, “That’s right. Who can beat him? Do you want to die?”
As they spoke, two tall figures emerged from the sunshade across from them. Their target was clear. Like a biting north wind, they walked towards President Xue and the ‘prey’, who seemed to be talking in the arena.
The crowd: “…”
Take it back.
There really are some who are evenly matched.
Exciting, truly exciting.
…
Yu Jiao was unaware of this. She was busy covering her wound, trying to prevent the bead of blood from falling to the ground and activating the array.
She sighed.
Looks like I’ll have to find another chance.
Seeing her helpless look, Xue Zhu held a fist to his lips and coughed twice. He held out his other hand, wanting to pull her up.
He said in a low voice, “Although I don’t know your specific plan, I’ll do my best to make it up to you—”
Before he could finish, a sharp whistling sound came, and a round, black stone shot towards his palm like a bamboo spear, as if it wanted to pierce his flesh.
It blocked his hand from reaching her.
Xue Zhu flipped his wrist and caught the deadly stone between two long fingers. He casually tossed it aside and lifted his dark eyes.
Yu Jiao sighed again.
The sound of rustling footsteps approached.
She heard Xie Zhenye’s lazy, drawn-out voice, “President Xue is really unpredictable. It was you who made Jiao Jiao the prey and injected her with the Holy Blood. And you just kicked that idiot away. What’s this? A self-directed hero-saves-the-damsel act?”
He sneered, and as his words fell, he fiercely attacked Xue Zhu. The two of them began to fight.
At the same time, a ghostly, cold presence enveloped her.
Xie Yanchuan helped her up, his eyes lowered. He took out a clean silk scarf and gently bandaged her wrist.
Yu Jiao pressed her other hand to her temple and said with a headache, “Make them stop fighting.”
His pale gaze fell on her face.
“Alright.”
With that, he turned and walked towards the two who were locked in a fierce battle.
—And then joined the fight.
The next second, Xie Zhenye’s angry curse was heard. “Why are you hitting me? Hit him!”
Xie Yanchuan: “I am.”
“…”
Yu Jiao: “?”
…So, his way of stopping the fight is to have two people fight together?
Yu Jiao was speechless.
Looks like this won’t be over for a while. So she sat back down on the ground. Her bored gaze swept over the area and suddenly froze—
There, Lin Wei’s dagger was lying on the grass not far away. A trace of her blood remained on the sharp blade. Under the pull of gravity, it slowly formed a bead of blood.
Drip.
It fell.
The array was complete.
“…”
Known: The three strongest vampires were all in her ‘borrowed power’ array.
And: Each one of them possessed an unparalleled bloodline strength.
Conclusion: She was about to explode and die.
Yu Jiao: “…”
I’m screwed.