Chapter 43: The Vampire’s Prey (43)
A large, cold hand slipped under her skirt, caressing her waist. Like a coiling snake, it lingered, unwilling to let go.
Xue Zhu lowered his head. Their foreheads touched, their breaths mingling.
He gently cupped her face, as if he were looking at her deeply through the thick blindfold.
“May I kiss you?”
Yu Jiao immediately shook her head.
His lips curved. “If you don’t speak, I’ll take that as a yes.”
With that, he tilted his head and kissed her.
Her eyes flew open. Is this guy’s intelligence back? Is he doing this on purpose!? He knows I can’t speak…
Soon, she was dizzy from his kiss.
This kiss was not as aggressive as before. If his previous kisses were like a giant python, swallowing its prey, then this one was like a small, palm-sized snake, nimble and soft, weaving between one’s fingers.
“…”
Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings came from above. Something flashed in her mind. She struggled to look up and met a pair of blood-red, beady eyes.
—A crow.
Ever since she had left the surveillance range of the teaching building, she had been occasionally encountering two or three crows.
She had a premonition that these crows were definitely the school board’s surveillance.
The sound of flapping wings was like a series of cocked rifles.
She looked around and saw a dozen crows perched on the high and low branches, all of them staring at her with their red eyes.
…It was like a multi-camera setup!
The thought of a group of people hiding behind a monitor, watching the two of them being intimate like it was some kind of nature documentary, made her scalp tingle.
She bit down hard on his entangled tongue.
Sensing her resistance, he pulled back slightly, a little aggrieved. “What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?”
She pulled his hand and wrote in his palm: They’re watching us from behind a monitor.
But he didn’t seem to care what it meant, only feeling the alluring itch in his palm.
A vibrant red flush appeared on his pale, handsome face. His thin lips parted slightly, his tongue flashing out, wanting to press against her again.
Just then, the crows tilted their heads and, all at once, opened their small beaks, letting out a harsh, hoarse cry, like a baby’s wail, or a pained scream. It echoed in the silent forest, raising goosebumps.
The moment the cry sounded, Xue Zhu, who was on top of her, suddenly froze. He pressed his temples in pain, the blue veins on his pale skin bulging.
At the same time, her head felt as if it were being chiseled, over and over. She barely had the strength to lift her hand.
Shared pain.
Xue Zhu’s face grew even paler. He braced his arms on the tree trunk behind her, his five fingers digging deep into it. “Yu Jiao, it hurts so much…”
He buried his head in the crook of her neck in discomfort.
Amidst the frantic cawing of the birds, he subconsciously ground his teeth and bit down on the side of her neck, which was emitting an alluring fragrance. His sharp fangs tore the choker and ground against her delicate skin, a random, light bite.
She sucked in a breath. He immediately paused, like a child who had done something wrong, and said in a low voice, “I’m sorry. Does it hurt?”
As he spoke, he licked her reddened skin as if to please her, the wet, cool, and soft touch soothing the stinging pain.
After a moment, the simple licking changed. He began to kiss her, as if by instinct.
She pushed him away.
—Now is not the time for this.
An unknown sense of danger warned her.
Rejected, he looked up, aggrieved.
She, who was forced to share his pain, also had a throbbing headache. It had just subsided. Why is it back again?
Wait.
As she pressed her temples, a flash of lightning went through her mind.
—Could it be that when he is aroused, he can suppress the pain from the crows’ cries?
Her expression grew even more strange. She glanced at the crows, which were screeching madly at her.
She knew this must be the old man’s doing. He probably wanted to drive him mad, to make him bite her to death and drain her dry.
With that thought, she narrowed her eyes and looked provocatively at the ‘surveillance’. She reached a hand down.
“Hmm…”
Xue Zhu froze. He buried his head in the crook of her neck and let out a low, husky, and pleasant gasp.
The dangerous, man-eating python had turned into a soft, coiling snake.
“…”
The cawing of the crows strangely fell silent.
Then, as if enraged, they began to flap their wings frantically, their cries growing higher and higher. At one point, it seemed to have entered a frequency that the human ear could not detect, spreading out from their location, almost covering the entire academy.
For a moment, the ground trembled, the leaves danced, and an ominous feeling of impending doom filled the air.
Something was approaching.
Her gaze darkened. She gave a light squeeze and then pulled her hand away.
Like a beautiful piece of music, cut short at its climax.
“Yu Jiao?”
Xue Zhu let out a low hum, his scorching breath washing over the crook of her neck as he whined in dissatisfaction.
She pushed the clingy, tall young man away, wiped her hand on his shirt, and, standing on her tiptoes, leaned in close to his ear.
—After the choker had been bitten through, she could now make a faint, breathy sound.
At this moment, she exhaled a cool, ghostly breath that brushed past his flushed ear. “We’ll continue after we’ve dealt with them.”
“…”
The sound of heavy footsteps approached.
He looked up.
Like a beast, disturbed, he slowly turned to the uninvited guests.
Several figures formed an encirclement, emerging from the layers of grass and tree shadows. There were both men and women, all of them vampires, participating in the hunt. They must have been attracted by the strange cawing of the crows.
They were clearly all driven mad, like primitive beasts, roaring as they charged towards her.
Bang!
The one running fastest was sent flying, crashing into a tree trunk and instantly losing consciousness.
Xue Zhu gracefully retracted his leg and met the next one.
It was a crushing battle, like a magnificent performance.
Yu Jiao crossed her arms and watched him beautifully deal with one after another. Soon, the ground was littered with bodies.
Under the clear moonlight, the tall young man strode forward, like a victorious general, eagerly awaiting the emperor’s reward.
He pressed his lips together, his pale, demonic face flushed with a faint red, looking strangely shy.
“Can we continue now?”
Yu Jiao couldn’t help but sigh. The brain-damaged Xue Zhu was much cuter than usual.
She let out a soft laugh and gently hooked his collar, pulling him closer.
As if he had been granted permission, Xue Zhu immediately seized her waist with his large hand and pressed himself against her, his other hand supporting her back to prevent her from being scraped by the rough tree trunk.
Yu Jiao wrapped one arm around his neck and tilted her head up to meet his eager, clumsy kiss, her other hand continuing to play its tune.
“…”
Just as the continuing melody was about to reach its climax, he suddenly froze, his hand pressing against his left breast in pain.
“What’s wrong?”
She gave him a tentative push, and to her surprise, the tall young man collapsed, strengthless.
She looked at the unconscious Xue Zhu on the ground.
Yu Jiao: “…”
Is he really that weak?
Just then, the sound of the broadcast came from afar:
“Warning: One beast hunter, due to a lack of diligence and interference with the work of other beast hunters, has been dismissed from his position by the school board.”
…It seems it was that old man’s doing.
He naturally didn’t want Xue Zhu to help her through the hunt, and he certainly didn’t want to see them being intimate.
Her eyebrow arched. She looked at the crows and said deliberately, “Old Master Xue, does your Xue family have some kind of hereditary disease?”
As her words fell, she sighed theatrically, squatted down beside Xue Zhu, and, with a smile, tapped the unfinished melody. “It seems I’m not so lucky.”
On the other side of the monitor.
Not only was the old man fuming, but the twins’ faces were also stiff, their feelings complicated. Having watched the entire thing, they didn’t know whether to be relieved that a certain event had been stopped, or to be worried about her perilous night ahead.
***
Yu Jiao moved through the forest.
Caw—caw—caw.
The flock of crows circled above her head like ghosts, their strange cries revealing her location to the other vampires.
After dealing with a few of them, she was a little exhausted. In a fit of anger, she picked up a stone and threw it at the crows. They fell to the ground, one by one, and, as they struggled, she quickly stomped on them, crushing them into a pile of shattered machinery.
With the annoying crows gone, only the camera on a distant utility pole was pointed at her. She didn’t care about its prying eyes and sat cross-legged on the ground to rest.
After a moment, she suddenly opened her eyes, rolled on the ground, and narrowly dodged a surprise attack from a sharp claw.
Clutching her bleeding left arm, she looked up and saw a slender woman hanging upside down from a tree branch like a bat. Her hair was disheveled, and the smile on her face was so wide it almost reached her ears. A scarlet tongue darted out from her lips and licked her sharp fangs.
“Xie Ning?”
Yu Jiao was taken aback.
How did she end up like this?
She lifted a hand that was embedded in the tree trunk. Her nails were sharp and long, stained with blood and wood chips. She casually pulled off an earphone.
“Found you.”
She licked her lips greedily.
Looking at the earphone, which was still flashing on the ground, she understood: It seems the school board sent her here.
“Die!”
Xie Ning kicked off and, like lightning, shot towards her, her five sharp claws glinting with a deadly cold light in the moonlight.
Shing!
Blood splattered on the grass.
Yu Jiao had another wound.
This isn’t normal.
Her speed is not normal at all!
Her appearance was also like that of a demon. She licked the blood from her nails and giggled. “This will be your grave. I will dye this place with your blood!”
Her expression grew cold. “Did they feed you some kind of drug? Or perform some kind of surgery?”
A strange, low laugh.
“So what if they did? I have nothing left… just this worthless life… It doesn’t matter. Even if I go to hell, I’ll drag you with me!!”
Yu Jiao didn’t know how the twins had dealt with their father and Xie Ning, but seeing her alive and kicking, they must not have dealt a fatal blow, which had only given her the chance to become even crazier.
***
“Madwoman!”
Xie Zhenye clenched his fists. “We shouldn’t have left her alive. Instead, she was rescued by the school board and honed into a sharp blade.”
Seeing his dark, cold face, the young masters and ladies in the room dared not make a sound. Even the ones with the dirty mouths could only swallow their lewd remarks.
They secretly glanced at the surveillance screen.
There, the madwoman with the long claws was toying with the young woman like a cat with a mouse. She wasn’t in a hurry to kill, just cutting her skin, over and over. Her dress and trousers were in tatters, covered in long, thin wounds.
Though she was panting and dodging, her face was still calm and cold.
It only made one want to bully her even more, to see that arrogant, beautiful face stained with an alluring color…
Click.
The surveillance screen suddenly went black.
Xie Yanchuan coolly retracted his foot. The plug was hanging crookedly on the ground.
He shot them a cold glance, and the dissatisfied groans immediately fell silent.
Over there, Xie Zhenye suddenly stood up, his eyes cold and fierce. “This is clearly against the rules of the hunt. Since this madwoman can enter the hunting ground, then I’m sure we don’t have so many restrictions either.”
He strode towards the door.
“Save it, Second Young Master Xie,” an old voice said leisurely.
As his words fell, the fire sprinklers in the room suddenly went off, spraying a fine mist of water with a strange, faint fragrance. The people in the room immediately began to sway.
Xie Zhenye stumbled and leaned against the wall. “You!”
In the second before he passed out, he seemed to see his brother, bracing himself on the table to keep from falling, his deep blue eyes looking at the hated oil painting.
A cold voice sounded:
“Old Master Xue, let’s make a deal.”
…
Swoosh!
A claw slashed, leaving a deep gash on her pale white skin.
Ignoring the pain, she lifted her leg and kicked her hard in the head.
Xie Ning was caught off guard by this mutually destructive move. As she retreated, spitting blood, she didn’t forget to reach out and claw her from the inside of her thigh to her calf.
Her trouser leg was hanging by a thread, her long, slender, pale legs covered in scratches, blood trickling down.
As she fought with her, Yu Jiao noticed that she was growing more and more agitated, and the flaws in her movements were becoming more and more apparent. Although she was the one with the most injuries now, she was sure that Xie Ning would be the first to fall!
Her gaze was sharp. She picked up the crowbar and attacked.
As she attacked the flaws in her form, she also attacked her psychological defenses. “This state of yours can’t last much longer, can it?”
Xie Ning froze.
She had never thought that the awakened Yu Jiao would be so difficult to deal with.
She had used an evil technique to burn her own life force to increase her combat power, yet she still couldn’t take down this little bitch.
The two of them fought for a long time, both of them exhausted, at the end of their ropes.
Seeing her chance, she swung the crowbar at her. “Xie Ning, your speed is getting slower and slower. It seems you’re just a disposable tool they sent. You’re about to be scrapped, meaninglessly.”
“Shut up!”
Xie Ning violently counterattacked. “You think you’re so great? Weren’t you the one whose traitorous identity was exposed by me! Even after awakening, you’ve still fallen into this situation… Even if I fall, you will die today!”
Her anger rising, she clawed at her face.
Yu Jiao didn’t dodge. She found the right angle and struck her long claws with the crowbar.
Crack.
The sharp, tough claws broke.
At the same time, blood flowed from the wound on her face, but she didn’t care. Like a wrathful demon from purgatory, she curled her lips and said coldly, “Don’t tell me you still think that on the day of the engagement banquet, it was you who pushed the glamorous me into the mud?”
“…What do you mean?”
“Don’t be foolish. I was the one who had someone deliver the anonymous letter and the revealing potion to you.” She kicked the stunned Xie Ning down and pressed her advantage, beating her until she couldn’t get up.
“From beginning to end, you were just a tool for me to achieve my goal. Goodbye, self-righteous buffoon.”
She coldly raised the crowbar.
…
The empty forest.
The sweet smell of blood spread.
After the fight, the crisscrossing wounds on her body stung even more.
She leaned against a tree, panting.
Not far away, Xie Ning was lying in the dirt, her chest still rising and falling faintly.
—Of course, she wouldn’t kill her. She didn’t want to dirty her own hands.
Besides, she didn’t have much time left to live. This was the price she had to pay for making a deal with the devil, for being willing to be used.
She staggered away.
This was not a place to stay. The smell of blood was too strong. It would attract covetous eyes sooner or later.
However, her whole body was covered in the scent of blood. After just two steps, she bumped into a panting, drooling vampire.
She tightened her grip on the crowbar.
Not good.
I’ve just been through a fierce battle and haven’t fully recovered. I’m afraid I’ll have to get new injuries now.
The vampire was blindfolded. He sniffed greedily, unable to resist the temptation any longer, and lunged.
She raised the crowbar, preparing to fight. But the next moment, an agile black shadow flew out from the bushes to the side and, as if stealing the kill, pinned the vampire to the ground.
A low, bestial roar sounded.
The tall, strong vampire, in front of the black shadow, looked as weak as a kitten. The huge black shadow raised its sharp claws and beat the vampire until he saw stars.
Yu Jiao was stunned.
After a moment, the vampire’s screams disappeared. The black shadow stood up, like a small mountain.
It slowly turned and walked towards her.
The cool moonlight, like a light gauze, fell on it, like a celestial cloak, illuminating its light brown fur, its tall, strong body, and a pair of bright, golden, beast-like eyes.
“It’s you?”
She only came up to its chest. She had to tilt her head way back and ask, “What are you doing here?”
The werewolf squatted down and hooked her with a claw that was as big as her face.
She was already exhausted. The force of the pull made her fall into its furry embrace, and the blood on her body soaked its fur into strands.
Leaning against its broad, warm chest, her tense back relaxed slightly. She looked up and nuzzled its chin, sighing, “Anyway, thank you.”
It retracted its sharp claws and patted her back with its thick paw pads, as if to say: It’s nothing.
The embrace was safe and reliable. Having lost too much blood, she was a little dizzy. Her reason was like a person walking on a tightrope, swaying, about to fall into a deep darkness… Just then, a wet, slightly hot thing brushed against her neck.
The familiar sensation triggered a memory switch. Half-asleep, she pushed, “…Xie Zhenye, stop messing around.”
The soft thing paused, then came again, the force slightly heavier, as if in dissatisfaction.
She frowned and buried her head in the soft fur. “Xie Yanchuan, control him!”
“…”
It seemed ‘Xie Yanchuan’ didn’t control him. The thing continued to disturb her sweet dreams, over and over. She vaguely realized that something was wrong. “Xue Zhu?” she asked, puzzled.
“…”
The strange touch stopped. Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, after a moment, it retaliated by wrapping around her sensitive earlobe.
“!”
A jolt shot through her. She snapped her eyes open and returned to reality—the round moon, the wild, the tree shadows, the fur, the night wind, the smell of blood.
“What… what are you doing?”
The huge wolf’s head was very close. It hadn’t yet retracted its pale red tongue, and its soft, bright, beast-like eyes were looking at her innocently.
As if it had nothing to do with the strange thing that had been messing with her in her dream.
However, the next moment, it shot its tongue out and licked her neck again. The wet, soft, and warm, familiar touch made her eyes widen. She immediately covered its mouth and pushed it away.
“…”
It blinked, puzzled, and licked her palm.
She snatched her hand back with a whoosh.
Meeting its bright, shining golden, beast-like eyes, her memory returned. She realized it was helping her lick her wounds.
But she slowly frowned, her expression extremely conflicted.
Leaving the wounds as they were would not only impair her combat ability but also continuously attract vampires. She really needed to stop the bleeding.
And there was no doubt that its healing ability was fast and convenient.
The problem was, she had wounds all over her body! She couldn’t possibly…