Chapter 30
—The succession of the Progenitor’s power is not limited to a single path.
She hadn’t had such grand ambitions a moment ago; after all, just staying alive was a challenge.
“…As long as you drink the heart’s blood of all the Princes, you can become the next Progenitor.”
Yan Zhu knelt on the floor, showing no awareness that he was committing treason against his own race.
“I hold the power of a Prince, and Xie Rin and Pei Wang are among them as well…”
There were a total of seven vampires with the power of a Prince. Fu Xia had now met three of them. Three out of seven, only four targets left.
Yan Zhu spoke slowly, his mind already racing, planning the next steps. Xie Rin was unconscious next door; taking his heart’s blood wouldn’t be difficult. If anything went wrong, he could use his perception-altering ability to temporarily control him. As for Pei Wang… he never read books. Leaving that book in his home was clearly a deliberate, malicious act. The tyrant had already lost all his prestige in front of her; taking a bit of his heart’s blood shouldn’t be hard either.
“Want to give it a try?” Yan Zhu said, his face alight with an excitement that bordered on madness. “I’ll do everything I can to help you.”
Fu Xia raised a hand and gently pushed his advancing head back. She stared into his strange eyes for a few seconds. “You make it sound so simple. What do I have to do?”
Yan Zhu looked at her with pleading eyes. “First… you have to be turned into a vampire.”
Fu Xia had no particular attachment to her human identity. As long as she could live comfortably, she didn’t care if she was human or a ghost. Seeing no resistance in her expression, Yan Zhu’s dormant heart seemed to give two heavy thuds.
“…The turning process is very fast. And you don’t have to worry. I’m the only one left in my family. After you’re turned, all my assets will be yours. You can have whatever you want.”
He spoke quickly. “And do you like the sun? If you like it a lot, I’ll find a way to lessen its effect on you.”
His torrent of words was making her a little dizzy.
“But,” she interrupted, “are the other Princes you haven’t mentioned easy to deal with?”
Yan Zhu thought for a moment. Among the current Princes, Xie Rin was the most difficult to handle. The others were mostly cunning old foxes.
“You’ve seen my combat ability. Can you take care of the other four Princes?”
The smile on Yan Zhu’s lips stiffened slightly. “…”
His silence said it all.
Fu Xia sighed.
But it would be a lie to say she wasn’t tempted. She had nothing right now. Her parasitic family meant that even with good grades, a bright future was not guaranteed. But if she could become a vampire… she would have the power to crush her biological father and stepfamily, and she would possess wealth and power that an ordinary person could never earn in a lifetime. In its own way, wasn’t that a bright future?
She looked at Yan Zhu, who had placed her ankle on his knee and was slowly stroking it. “How much are your assets worth?”
He named a number that made her head spin. She had once seen a post saying that with a hundred million in the bank, the interest alone would be enough to cover daily life. And his family’s liquid assets alone far exceeded that number, not to mention the various industries scattered around the world.
Yan Zhu lowered his head and shyly kissed her knee. “As for after the turning… you don’t have to worry about managing anything. The family can sustain itself for at least a few hundred years.”
They would have an eternity together.
Fu Xia was genuinely moved.
“So I just have to drink your blood to become a vampire?” she asked.
“Before that,” Yan Zhu said, “you need to drain your human blood first.”
Draining the human’s blood and then feeding her a large amount of vampire blood was the necessary process for turning a human into a vampire. It was what they called the First Embrace.
Fu Xia stared at him.
“It won’t hurt,” he said guiltily.
“Do you have experience?”
“…That’s what other vampires say.”
Great. Not only a virgin for hundreds of years, but it’s also his first time giving the Embrace.
Fu Xia took a deep breath. She got dressed and off the bed. Yan Zhu remained kneeling, looking at her with pleading eyes like a scolded puppy.
It wasn’t the pain that bothered her. It was that she had suddenly thought of something she needed to verify with Xie Rin next door.
She pulled Yan Zhu back to Xie Rin’s room. The ethereally beautiful young man was still asleep, but he looked restless. The skin not covered by the blanket glowed white.
Yan Zhu took one look and concluded, “He’s about to wake up.”
Fu Xia rummaged through the room and found a pair of metal shackles. There were quite a few similar toys in this room. At first, she thought it was because he was impotent and needed external help, but now she thought they were perfect for the occasion.
Yan Zhu obediently assisted her. He was so docile he hardly seemed like a vampire, his gaze frequently landing on her, a well-hidden covetousness in his eyes.
…Fu Xia had learned the truth from him. That alone gave him the confidence that he would be the first vampire by her side.
Fu Xia quickly shackled Xie Rin’s wrists and then wrapped them with rope several times. That way, even if he tried to break free, it would take a few seconds, giving Yan Zhu time to act first.
Ten minutes later, Xie Rin woke up.
He slowly opened his eyes, first seeing Fu Xia by his bed. But the sweet smile quickly froze on his face.
…A vampire’s sense of smell was incredibly keen. He could smell him on her.
Xie Rin let out a cold laugh. “…What did you two do behind my back?”
He didn’t even call her “sweetie,” just stared at them with venomous eyes.
Fu Xia’s courage was at an all-time high. We’re all non-human creatures now. The worst that can happen is death.
“Because you’re impotent,” she said coolly.
Xie Rin was about to explode. “Sweetie… you’d better take that back.”
“And thank you for that,” Yan Zhu added.
“How dare you, how dare you…!” Xie Rin struggled. “I’m going to kill you both…!!”
The metal shackles clanked. Fu Xia ignored him, cut her palm, and dripped the blood into a prepared utensil. Yan Zhu couldn’t help but swallow. Her blood held a fatal attraction for him, but he could endure it—that was his specialty.
Xie Rin instantly understood: Yan Zhu had betrayed him.
But no one paid any attention to his crazed ranting. The only response he got was a spoonful of her blood being shoved into his mouth.
The moment he swallowed it, the violent rage in his eyes dissipated. His eyelids fluttered, and the next second, he collapsed.
Fu Xia: “…”
A third time, a fourth…
Each time, she only gave him a small amount of blood. The first few times, he had glared at her and Yan Zhu with sinister eyes. Yan Zhu, having completely abandoned his brother, looked at the ceiling and the floor while helping her hold him down.
…This guy thrashed around more than a pig at New Year’s.
But soon, Xie Rin lost the ability to resist. The moment he regained consciousness, her blood was fed into his mouth.
After several rounds, she had figured it out.
Pei Wang had said that night that there was something in her blood.
…Her blood had mutated!
Taking advantage of the fact that he was unconscious again, she looked at Yan Zhu. “…Can the First Embrace still be performed under these circumstances?”
Now, just a few drops of her blood could knock out a Prince-level vampire.
Yan Zhu: “…”
Without being able to drain her blood for the exchange, she couldn’t become a vampire.
He was a little dejected. “That shouldn’t be… Did something happen when I wasn’t around?”
Xie Rin and Pei Wang had both drunk her blood before, and it seemed to be fine then.
Fu Xia sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the shackled Xie Rin. She stared at his beautiful face and began to think. He had passed out several times and was a bit dazed when he woke up. Seeing her extend her hand, he had instinctively stuck out his tongue, as if begging her to grant him a drop of blood.
Fu Xia boldly pinched his cheek.
Xie Rin blinked slowly. “Mmm…?”
His face was truly beautiful. She stared into his now-black eyes for a while, her mind racing, reviewing everything that had happened recently.
A handsome face flashed through her mind.
Fu Xia released him. “…I think I know who it’s related to.”