Chapter 36: The Vampire’s Prey (36)
The crimson blood fell onto the green lawn.
Like a drop of water into the sea, it vanished instantly.
Except for Yu Jiao, no one noticed this small interlude. All eyes were focused on the three men, who were fighting with a world-shaking intensity.
“President Xue is like he’s on cheat mode. The two from the Xie family can only hold their own against him by working together.”
One person whispered, “I heard he used some kind of evil technique to get to his current level. The two young masters of the Xie family are relying solely on their natural bloodline strength.”
Another retorted, “Not everyone can use evil techniques. President Xue is the undisputed number one!”
“Tch, a number one who cheats.”
“Pah! The twins are the ones who have wasted their bloodline. They might as well have used an evil technique to merge into one.”
Seeing that the fans of both sides were about to start fighting, someone sighed, “These two sides have always been at odds, with constant friction, but this is the first time they’ve officially fought, right?”
“Thanks to this Miss Yu, we get to see such a famous scene,” the person said, looking at the cause of the fight. Suddenly, his expression changed:
“…Wait! Look at her!”
His high-pitched cry of alarm made several people around him look over.
In the center of the vast riding arena, the slender young woman was shakily getting to her feet. Her long hair was flying, though there was no wind. Her head was bowed, her expression unreadable.
Her entire body was as tense as a sword in battle, trembling slightly, as if she were enduring some intense pain, as if she were about to break at any moment.
***
An invisible current of air flowed along the lines of the array.
In the array, the three men, who had been locked in a fierce battle, felt the anomaly and couldn’t help but stop, all looking towards the eye of the array.
They were all stunned.
“Jiao Jiao?”
Hearing the voice, the young woman looked up. Her rich, beautiful face was completely devoid of color, as pale as paper. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead. Her light grey eyes were rippling with a dark red, and her flying hair was turning snow-white from the roots.
She parted her lips, and her canine teeth grew into sharp fangs at a visible rate.
—She… she had awakened!?
An uproar went through the crowd.
“But that’s strange. Because the bloodline has been thinning, there hasn’t been an awakened one with white hair and red eyes for many years. Even President Xue and the Xie twins only have their eyes turn red and grow fangs when they use their powers.”
“Could her bloodline strength be comparable to the powerhouses of the blood race’s peak era? But she’s just an ordinary person with a mixed, lowly human bloodline?! This is so surreal…”
Someone couldn’t help but mutter, “So making three men fight over you… can make you awaken?”
Yu Jiao stood unsteadily amidst the numerous shocked and envious gazes. Only she knew how much pain she was in. It felt as if a rampaging hot current was rushing through her body, destroying and rebuilding everything in its path.
Under the torment of this intense pain, she lost consciousness and collapsed. The next moment, she fell into a familiar embrace.
“…”
“This doesn’t look like a normal reaction after awakening.”
One person sneered, “I’m afraid she used some kind of underhanded method. To escape the fate of being prey, she’d use any despicable trick. She really is an unpresentable illegitimate daughter—”
His sour muttering was suddenly cut off by a helpless sigh. Then, a long, slender leg rose and kicked him in the back, sending him stumbling.
A lazy, impatient voice sounded.
“Get out of the way.”
The young master, who had fallen flat on his face, glared at him. “Who are you!?”
“Your illegitimate father.”
A cold scoff.
The tall, lean man walked past him without looking back, heading straight for the center of the riding arena. His figure was dashing and untamed, and he looked extremely difficult to deal with.
The young master stood up, rubbing his backside. “Who is he, acting so arrogant?”
“I don’t know. But, he’s been stirring up trouble from the beginning, saying that Xue Zhu is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, Xie Yanchuan is a beast in human form, and Xie Zhenye is worse than a beast… Oh, right, he also said they were all bad apples.”
“Wait, that sounds so familiar.”
“Could it be—”
“The vampire hunter.”
Xue Zhu, holding the softly groaning young woman, narrowed his eyes and looked at the newcomer.
The tall man was dressed as an ordinary student of the academy. He was striding over, stepping over the unconscious Lin Wei. His peach-blossom eyes were as dark as a deep pool.
Xie Yanchuan’s gaze was cold.
The strange figure gradually overlapped with the arrogant culprit from his memory.
“It’s you.”
Thinking of how he had broken into the Xie Manor and taken her away, and had done that right under their noses…
For a moment, new and old hatreds combined. Xie Zhenye’s voice was full of killing intent. “Is this your doing too?”
Having a black pot thrown on him the moment he arrived, Wei Changlin was displeased. “What are you talking about? Tsk, you’re more of a hindrance than a help.”
His ‘everyone here is trash’ arrogant demeanor aroused the anger of the crowd. Before his words had even faded, he was forced to meet the twins’ fierce attacks.
As he dodged, he cursed, “Can’t you get your priorities straight?”
As he spoke, his somewhat anxious gaze was fixed on the young woman not far away.
“It hurts…”
Her low, weak cry made the twins freeze.
Wei Changlin pushed the two of them away and rushed forward.
The young woman was curled up in Xue Zhu’s arms, her hands clutching his shirt. She frowned, her white hair disheveled, her ruby-like eyes hazy, teardrops clinging to her long eyelashes.
Wei Changlin’s breath caught.
His long fingers caressed her pained face. He gently opened her mouth and fed her a black pill.
He said in a low voice, “It won’t hurt when you wake up.”
The unknown pill took effect quickly. The young woman’s expression gradually calmed, and she closed her eyes, falling into a quiet sleep, seemingly out of danger for the time being.
Watching this scene, Xue Zhu lifted his deep phoenix eyes. “What did you mean just now?”
Wei Changlin shot him a glare.
You’re the idiot who messed things up in the first place, he thought.
He suppressed his anger and snorted, “Bad apple.”
—Although these three had stumbled into the array by mistake, fortunately, she had their blood in her body, and they had subconsciously not resisted her ‘borrowing power’, so she hadn’t been consumed by the sudden surge of powerful energy. But how to digest this power was a problem…
Facing the three men’s questioning gazes, Wei Changlin certainly wouldn’t reveal her entire plan.
So, with a look of disgust, he took the opportunity to retaliate. “Can’t you see? Do I, a human, have to teach you? She is at a critical moment of her awakening. The reason her life is hanging by a thread is because of you lot—”
His cold, peach-blossom eyes swept over them, one by one, as he counted off their crimes:
“First you, with your ridiculous hunting game, making her the prey and forcing her to deal with those with ulterior motives. And you two, with your imprisonment and coercion. You’ve caused her psychological and physiological problems. It’s a wonder she can awaken at all.”
“…”
“I almost forgot,” Wei Changlin dredged up old scores and narrowed his eyes. “The reason her awakening is so painful is because she has your blood in her body. What’s with all the blood-feeding? Tsk, vampires really are un-evolved beasts.”
“…”
Of course, the three of them didn’t believe his nonsense. They could all see that he was just shifting the blame. But being scolded to their faces like this, the three of them were as silent as ducks with their mouths sewn shut, not a single one of them retorting.
Seeing that they were no longer on guard against him, Wei Changlin had achieved his goal. His tone changed. “I have a way to help her complete her awakening safely and smoothly. It just depends on whether you’re willing to help.”
Hearing this, Xie Zhenye said impatiently, “Cut the crap. Just tell us what we need to do.”
“First,” Wei Changlin looked at the crowd of onlookers, “we need a quiet room.”
Xue Zhu lifted the unconscious young woman into a bridal carry and said in a heavy voice, “Let’s go. To my lounge.”
Seeing his ‘main palace’ attitude, the others, though dissatisfied, did not act up at this critical moment.
Although they had formed a temporary alliance, the four of them all had sour faces, as if they were holding their noses as they walked together.
They were silent all the way, the pressure in the air heavy, like a funeral procession.
As they were leaving the riding arena, Xie Yanchuan stopped. His cold gaze swept over the crowd, and those who were eager to follow were frozen in place, watching their retreating backs with resentment.
They scratched their heads, unable to figure out how these mortal enemies had managed to shake hands and make peace.
…
The young woman lay quietly on the bed, her white hair spread out, her hands crossed on her chest, her breathing so faint it was almost invisible, like Sleeping Beauty in a fairy tale.
In front of the other three, Wei Changlin locked the lounge door and drew the curtains.
Now, the perfectly fine lounge was dim and ambiguous.
Under the three suspicious gazes, he walked to the bed and began to unbutton her clothes.
“What are you doing?”
The cold, questioning voice was accompanied by a pale, large hand, which pinned his wrist. Then, a dark, blade-like glare flew over.
“…”
Wei Changlin was speechless.
He first shot a glare back at Xie Zhenye, then shook off Xue Zhu’s hand, and finally answered Xie Yanchuan’s question:
“Setting up an array, big brother. If you’re a layman, just shut up and watch from the side. Don’t tell me what to do, okay?”
A silence fell in the room.
The three laymen shut up with cold faces and stood by the bed, watching.
His long, nimble fingers took off her long boots, then her riding suit, and unbuttoned her light-colored, high-collared shirt.
The young woman’s snowy skin and beautiful body were like a scroll, unrolling bit by bit.
And along with it, the new and old red marks on her flawless skin were also revealed.
“…”
The air froze.
A strange, awkward atmosphere spread, with a hint of a strange… tacit understanding that was not for outsiders.
Only Xue Zhu’s face was dark as he shot a dark glance at the other two, who had strange expressions.
“Ahem.”
Wei Changlin coughed lightly, his face as normal as ever. He took out a bottle of red paste and a brush from his pocket, then, without a shred of guilt, ordered the genuine fiancé:
“Help me get some water.”
The usually composed, elegant, and noble President Xue, without a word, maintained his last shred of dignity and went to the washroom.
While he was getting the water, Xie Yanchuan and Xie Zhenye had already taken it upon themselves to fold her discarded clothes and place them to the side.
A display of feigned virtue.
Xue Zhu withdrew his cold, dark gaze and handed the glass of water over.
“Here.”
Wei Changlin took the glass and casually placed it on the nightstand.
Then, he dipped his brush in the water, mixed it with the red paste, and, holding the brush, looked at the young woman on the bed.
She now had a head of snow-white hair, her lips were also colorless, her eyes were closed, and her cold, white body was nestled in the soft bed. She looked as if she were made of snow and jade.
A beautiful, waiting canvas, waiting to be destroyed.
The soft, wet brush moved, making her frown and let out an unconscious moan.
“Mmph…”
The faint, cat-like sound was also like a soft brush, lightly tickling their ears.
And like a long spoon, stirring a pot. Under the constant heat of the open flame, the hot soup in the pot gradually boiled and thickened.
Xie Zhenye couldn’t take it anymore. “Can’t you draw faster!”
Wei Changlin sneered without looking back. “As if you don’t like watching.”
Just then, Xie Yanchuan took a sip of cold water and added coolly, “Prim and proper.”
Xie Zhenye: “…”
On the ‘canvas’, the scattered, intersecting marks were like red plums in the snow. Thin lines were drawn, intersecting with them, outlining one strange, magnificent, and symmetrical symbol after another.
Like a red spiderweb, or fine cracks, covering the young woman’s porcelain-white body.
An ultimate sense of foreboding, magnificence, and beauty.
As he drew the last stroke, the symbols connected, and a faint golden light seemed to flash.
An invisible wave of energy spread out.
The men gathered around the bed, holding their breath as they watched the unconscious young woman, who was like Sleeping Beauty.
Suddenly, her butterfly-wing-like eyelashes trembled, and she slowly opened her eyes.
Catching their gazes, she narrowed her dark red eyes, which were like thick, hot sealing wax, roiling with a deep emotion.
Her crimson lips parted, and she silently murmured something.
As if dominated by some intense desire, she struggled to sit up, her snow-white hair brushing against her beautiful face and graceful body.
Cold, yet rich and beautiful.
She looked at them with a longing gaze and held out a slender, pale hand.
Like an invitation, or a reward, a fatally attractive lure.
Wei Changlin stood up and, looking at the three men with their dark gazes and tense faces, raised an eyebrow and asked, his tone light and breezy:
“Who’s first?”