Chapter 22: The Vampire’s Prey (22)
The young woman leaned lazily against the bed, bathed in the warm light. Her figure was slender, and her glistening grey eyes shone with a thick light, like a sticky, soft, melting candy.
She narrowed her eyes and beckoned to him with a slender, pale finger.
A sweet temptation.
Like a magnet with a fatal attraction.
011’s breath hitched, and he immediately lowered his eyes.
Behind the mask, his thin lips were pressed into a firm line. Finally, he took a heavy step and approached her.
However, that glistening foot was still on his abdomen.
It pressed down twice, not too heavily, not too lightly.
A soft, pushing force.
She lifted her chin slightly, her voice cool and detached.
“You’re too tall.”
The tall man paused.
Then, a broad, distinctly adult male hand gently took her ankle. The rough, calloused palm was a stark contrast to the young woman’s delicate, smooth skin, yet they fit together perfectly.
It was as if a powerful, soft mycelium was growing from the point where their skin touched.
011’s fingers were stiff, his movements careful. He made no further transgressions, simply holding her ankle steady to prevent it from slipping.
He slowly bent down, obediently following her command, and ‘lowered’ himself.
The young woman’s emotionless voice sounded again.
“Look at me.”
Under the flickering red candlelight, 011 slowly looked up.
The simple action had a strange solemnity to it, like a devout ritual.
And so, her cold, rich, beautiful face came into view, inch by inch… so close, it was as if, in a daze, he was lifting the veil on his wedding night… a fleeting illusion.
Like a drop of ice water slipping into his collar, the young woman’s slender fingertips landed on his chest, tracing slow circles.
The friction of her fingertips against the stiff uniform created a soft, rustling sound, like a faint electric current, that entered his ear.
The tall man suddenly froze, his hand around her ankle tightening involuntarily.
“You’re hurting me.”
After the cold, petulant reprimand, her beautiful foot, like a cunning fish, broke free from his grasp and slid down his waistline to the small of his back.
It sent ripples of sensation through him.
A tantalizing punishment.
011’s breath caught.
He was rigid, not daring to move, like an ancient, decaying stone statue.
And she was a delicate, dependent vine, slowly climbing him.
Her arms wrapped around his neck, as if revealing her softest inner self to him, completely filling his vision. The young woman’s cool, glistening eyes blinked, as if she were about to cry.
“Father is sending me to Xue Zhu.”
Her beautiful voice was filled with sorrow. Like a sailor lured by a siren, 011 couldn’t help but reach out his large hand to support her suspended back.
She whispered, “I’m so scared. I don’t want to be like an object…”
As she spoke, her long, bare legs became like coiling water snakes, wrapping around his muscular waist.
She was like a beautiful ghost, coveting the lives of the living. She was clearly evil and dangerous, yet… so alluring.
The distance between them shrank again. She breathed by his ear, her breath like an orchid:
“…Can you take me away?”
The hot, moist air swirled by his ear, carrying with it an all-pervasive, ghostly chill.
With a warm, soft body in his arms, 011’s Adam’s apple bobbed. His mind was like a city with its gates breached.
“I…”
The candlelight flickered twice.
Before he could give an answer, he heard a light, cheerful laugh.
“Pfft.”
It was like a basin of cold water poured over his head, turning his crumbling city into a muddy, embarrassing mess.
“You didn’t actually believe me, did you?”
The young woman drew out her words, shedding her weak, helpless facade. She narrowed her eyes and smiled, like a mischievous, ill-tempered child.
The hands that had been clinging to him slipped away, and she pushed him away without a shred of mercy.
Losing her support, she fell back onto the soft bed in a relaxed, completely open posture.
Yet, she was as untouchable as an immortal, drunkenly reclining on a cloud.
011 lowered his eyes.
He belatedly thought: The dodder vine is also known as ‘the devil’s thread’. It is not a weak creature to be trifled with.
Yu Jiao’s gaze was leisurely as she watched the tall blood servant slowly retract his hands and stand up straight.
The light from above hit him, making him look like a silent, solemn statue, or perhaps a puppy abandoned by its master. He looked rather pitiful.
Yu Jiao’s eyebrow arched. She said deliberately, “What are you still standing there for?”
011 misunderstood her. He paused, gave an impeccable bow, and then prepared to leave.
But then, he heard a leisurely voice from behind him:
“Did I say you could go?”
The meaning was unclear.
011 obediently stopped.
“Miss, what are your orders?”
His voice was low, rich, and warm, showing no flaw, but he didn’t turn to face his master—which was against etiquette.
It wasn’t a deliberate transgression. He just… didn’t want to face her flippant gaze anymore. He didn’t want to face his own lowliness.
There was no answer.
Only the sound of slow, unhurried footsteps approaching.
Then, the young woman’s faint, ghostly fragrance drifted over.
“Turn around.”
Hearing the command, 011 paused, then slowly turned.
He was tall, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs. His figure was superb. His firm, solid muscles were encased in the uniform, and although it softened his sharp edges, he still radiated an intense pressure.
Inevitably, he made the young woman standing before him look like a palm-sized, proud little cat.
Yu Jiao narrowed her eyes in displeasure.
She grabbed his tie and yanked it down.
011 was a little surprised, thinking she was about to attack. He offered no resistance and bent at the waist, going with the force.
However, to his astonishment: the cat showed its claws, but only tapped him with its soft, pink paw pads.
—She had planted a kiss on the side of his face.
As if the moon had come rushing towards him.
A conspicuous, crimson lip print appeared on the blank white mask. Behind the mask, 011’s usually calm eyes slowly widened.
He looked a little dazed, and a little comical.
Seeing his stunned expression, Yu Jiao burst out laughing. The corners of her glistening eyes tilted up, and her voice was sweet. “I was very satisfied with your performance just now.”
She reached out a soft, boneless hand and smoothed his collar, finally giving his tense chest a flirtatious pat.
“This is your reward.”
“…”
011’s brain seemed to have stopped working. He repeated in a low voice, “Reward?”
Yu Jiao stood on her tiptoes and leaned in close to him with a smile, answering slowly, “Yes, a reward—”
“—I look forward to your performance next time.”
Her smile was deep and mysterious, as if she had casually scattered a handful of seeds, waiting for a vast field of unstoppable sprouts to grow in his heart.
“…”
Before he could react, Yu Jiao suddenly turned and walked towards the bed. “Alright, I’m going to rest now.”
A dismissal.
011 hesitated, wanting to speak, but then stopped. Finally, he said in a low, husky voice, “Good night.”
…
A dreamless night.
The next morning, a blood servant was waiting outside her door, urging her coldly, “Please hurry, Second Miss. Young Master Xue is already waiting.”
It was probably her father’s doing. The blood servant watched her like a prison guard, not leaving her side for a moment. The second she was ready, he was to escort her outside.
The Xie Manor was empty, not a soul in sight.
Walking down the long corridor, looking at the closed doors, Yu Jiao thought idly: I wonder which room the twins are being punished in.
Of course, Yu Jiao didn’t feel sorry for them.
She just hoped they would regain their freedom soon so that her plan could move to the next stage.
As if thinking of something, a wicked smile appeared in her eyes.
—I can’t wait to see the look on the twins’ faces when they see me engaged to Xue Zhu.
…
Outside the Xie Manor, just as she’d expected, her impeccably dressed new fiancé was waiting, his eyes downcast as he toyed with a vibrant rose in the flowerbed.
Black hair, white skin, and a blood-red flower—it was a painting of rich tones, with a heavy, twilight air.
His dark eyes shifted and caught her figure. In an instant, his entire being came to life. A bewitching smile slowly bloomed on his face, and he opened his arms, ready for an embrace.
“Good morning, my fiancée.”
Yu Jiao walked past him with a cold expression. She pulled open the car door, about to get in, but then she heard:
“Wait.”
Xue Zhu smiled slowly. “My dear, you forgot something.”
Yu Jiao: “?”
She followed his gaze and saw several blood servants carrying out luggage and other items not far away.
The one in the lead, 011, stood there and gave her a respectful bow.
He paused, his deep voice tinged with a certain bitterness. “The family head has ordered me to prepare your luggage. Today… it will be sent to the Xue family.”
“…”
Yu Jiao’s eyebrow arched, and she sneered, “So, I’m being kicked out?”
011’s breath caught. He was so pained he didn’t know what to say. The eyes behind his mask looked at her deeply.
Yu Jiao still planned to use his feelings for her later, so she wouldn’t make things difficult for him now.
But she couldn’t let it go so easily either. At the very least, she had to make him unwilling to continue being her father’s tool…
As she was thinking, a long, pale hand suddenly wrapped around her waist. A smiling voice sounded by her ear, “My dear, looking at another man for so long right in front of me… I’m so jealous.”
A spoiled tone.
“Besides,” he nuzzled her neck affectionately with his chin, “how can this be considered being kicked out? This is the beginning of our new life.”
Yu Jiao pushed him away with a cold expression, turned, and walked towards the car. She curled her lip. “I can’t wait.”
Xue Zhu gallantly opened the car door for her. After she was seated, his gaze shifted, and his deep eyes met 011’s heavy stare.
Thump.
The car door shut, blocking their line of sight.
The slender, beautiful young woman was sealed in a gift box, like a doll.
…
The car moved at a steady pace, passing through a lush forest of tall trees, heading towards the academy.
Inside the car.
Yu Jiao stared quietly out the window, then suddenly spoke, “Stop staring at me like a pervert.”
She turned her head and met Xue Zhu’s smiling gaze.
“I was just thinking,” Xue Zhu said, propping his head on his hand. His gaze was like a precision instrument, examining her without blinking. His voice was husky and full of emotion. “Just how many faces do you have?”
“Weak, passionate?… Innocent?… Proud?”
He lifted a strand of her hair with his long fingers. “Or cold and wicked?”
Yu Jiao slapped his hand away and turned back to the window. “We have a long life ahead of us. you can take your time figuring it out,” she said coolly.
A soft laugh.
He clapped his hands in delight and sighed, “That suits me just fine.”
…
The car stopped at the academy.
Xue Zhu began his theatrical performance again.
He gracefully opened the car door for her and then wrapped an arm around her slender waist as she got out.
Their intimate gestures, and the fact that they had arrived at the school gate together, attracted wave after wave of shocked stares. Many people’s expressions were complicated, their eyes all saying: This woman is not simple.
“You see,” Xue Zhu whispered in her ear, “in the eyes of others, we are such a loving couple.”
Hearing this, a cool, sad, and sarcastic look appeared in the young woman’s eyes.
She said nothing, like a beautiful vase being toyed with in a collector’s hands.
Seeing this, the onlookers’ gazes immediately turned accusatory, their eyes all saying: This man is a tyrant.
Bathed in the various stares, Xue Zhu’s lips curved. He tightened his arm around her waist and teased, his meaning unclear, “I’ve discovered a new face. What a—surprise.”
Yu Jiao pretended not to hear.
Suddenly, a large group of people appeared in the distance. They swarmed over and, with great respect, performed the blood race’s formal greeting to Xue Zhu.
Then, they turned to Yu Jiao and said in unison, “Hello, sister-in-law!”
…They were truly a perceptive bunch.
On the surface, they showed no objection to this “new sister-in-law,” but a deep-seated appraisal and disdain could be seen in the depths of their eyes.
Yu Jiao narrowed her eyes and suddenly said, “I don’t like that title. It’s so tacky. It sounds like a title shared by countless mistresses of some triad gangster in a cop movie.”
As she spoke, the young woman pouted.
Though her expression and tone were wicked and unlikable, she radiated a natural, arrogant pride.
The underlings were stunned into silence.
Isn’t she implying that our boss is a gangster? How dare she??
But then they saw their boss smile. To their horror, they saw a look of doting affection on his face??!
They saw their boss, who had never been close to a woman, affectionately wrap his arm around the young woman and say in a gentle, lingering voice:
“If you don’t like it, they won’t call you that anymore.”
The light, airy words landed like a clap of thunder.
The underlings immediately began to flatter her, “Sis—no… Miss… ah, no, Second Miss Xie… hmm, that doesn’t sound right either… Eldest Miss! Eldest Miss, you have such great taste!”
“Such integrity!” “Such style!”…
And among this group of sycophants, one person made Yu Jiao slowly raise an eyebrow.
It seemed to be Lin Qiuzhe’s arrogant cousin.
“…Lin Wei?” the Eldest Miss called out suddenly.
The various fawning voices fell silent. The man named Lin Wei was taken aback, then approached obsequiously. “You called me?”
“Hmm, I remember you said before,” the young woman said, leaning against Xue Zhu’s chest, as proud as a lazy cat, her arms crossed nonchalantly, “that as a member of the Lin family, associating with the Xie family is a sign of depravity?”
She was shamelessly using another’s power to bully him.
Hearing this, Lin Wei’s face tightened, and he immediately stammered, “I-I, no, I didn’t.”
After the earlier scene, everyone understood that this woman held a special place in Xue Zhu’s heart. Seeing that Lin Wei had a history with the ‘Eldest Miss’, they all looked at him with a strange, schadenfreude-filled gaze.
His isolation was already apparent.
Lin Wei’s face was pale, and he looked as if he were about to collapse.
—When he had ganged up on Lin Qiuzhe, he had never thought that he would have his own day of reckoning.
“…”
Like the short blast of a final referee’s whistle.
“Hmm?”
Xue Zhu’s delighted gaze finally, reluctantly, left the young woman’s cold face. His pupils were as deep as the barrel of a gun, aimed at Lin Wei.
He smiled and asked, “Did such a thing happen?”
It sounded like a good-natured inquiry, but it was equivalent to a death sentence.
—The old families valued alliances above all else. One move could affect the entire structure. And the Xue family, Xue Zhu, was the ultimate decision-maker in this circle.
Lin Wei was on the verge of collapsing. His eyes were filled with despair… It was over. He would be cast aside by the Lin family.
No one cared about the collapse of all his hard work.
“The Eldest Miss has such a good memory!”
“The Eldest Miss has such a strong sense of family honor!”
…
Another round of creative flattery. The young woman let out a light yawn.
She covered her mouth with her slender, pale fingers, her glistening grey eyes filled with a moving, tearful light.
Seeing her lack of interest in the situation, Xue Zhu said considerately, “Let’s go.”
Yu Jiao nodded. Suddenly, someone cried out. Like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky, a spark in the cold night, it instantly dispelled her drowsiness.
“Isn’t that the Xie family’s car!”
“Speaking of which, the two Xie young masters haven’t been to class for a few days. They’re finally coming…”
Yu Jiao didn’t pay attention to the rest of the words. Her gaze was fixed on the familiar car as it slowly pulled up, a signal that the main event was about to begin.
—They’re here.