Chapter 26: The Vampire’s Prey (26)
“I can keep you company.”
The moment he said it, the noisy cafeteria fell strangely silent.
—President Xue had only been particularly moody in the first few years after his awakening. Once that madness passed, he had maintained a bizarre state of being ‘stably insane’ in recent years, almost never initiating a conflict with anyone.
But today…
A few pitying gazes fell upon the man across from Xue Zhu.
This uninvited guest was tall and slender, with beautiful, sparkling peach-blossom eyes that were fixed on another man’s fiancée.
He looked like a dissolute young master, about to harass an innocent woman.
After his line of sight was blocked by the fiancé, he slowly moved his gaze upwards, looking the fiancé up and down with an expression of utter disgust, as if he were looking at a bedbug.
“You?”
A single syllable, the ultimate provocation.
“…”
Xue Zhu’s smile didn’t change. “What is it?”
His voice was soft, but it was like a silk thread, stained with blood.
Both men were tall and slender, and both had fake smiles plastered on their faces. As they faced off, it was as if sparks were flying between them. At the very least, it looked like a blood feud.
“It’s nothing,” the uninvited guest said, drawing out his words lazily, his glistening, amorous peach-blossom eyes shifting. “It’s just that I heard that the vampire hunter is tall, burly, majestic, and both brave and resourceful.”
“…?”
Bathed in the numerous disbelieving gazes, he continued without a change in expression, “And Miss Yu, overcome by this man’s heroic spirit, has been colluding with him, flirting with him, making eyes at him, a perfect match, a match made in heaven…”
He rattled off a string of idioms without taking a breath, then suddenly changed his tone. “And I—as a disloyal and unjust member of the blood race, simply cannot tolerate such a shameful act of abandoning the light for the darkness.”
“…??”
“So I wanted to break them up, to teach this…” he paused, his gaze successfully finding a gap, bypassing the fiancé and landing on the fiancée. His watery eyes were like a pair of mischievous hands.
He stared at Yu Jiao and slowly finished, “…to teach this pitiful young lady, who is swimming against the current, bravely pursuing love without regard for worldly views, a lesson.”
His words slowly faded.
“…”
A strange silence spread.
Yu Jiao, who had been watching the show as if it had nothing to do with her, slowly formed a question mark in her mind.
“?”
Shameless.
His speech was so full of holes, and he himself was so brazenly self-righteous, that for a moment, no one even suspected his true identity. They just thought he was a bit crazy.
—On par with President Xue.
Xue Zhu, one of the only two people who knew this madman’s true identity, slowly narrowed his eyes. He didn’t expose him, but instead repeated with a smile, “Colluding, making eyes, a perfect match, a match made in heaven… break them up, swimming against the current, bravely pursuing love.”
With each word, his voice grew softer, but his gaze grew deeper. Finally, he let out a light, cold laugh.
“I don’t know where you got such a delusion.”
A barely audible sigh. “It’s time to wake up.”
The moment his words fell, a fierce attack, carrying the weight of a mountain, struck at the man’s vital points.
Without mercy, a killing blow!
One of the onlookers closed their eyes, unable to bear the brutal sight of blood splattering, but then they heard a lazy voice. “Isn’t this a bit dry? Shouldn’t there be a prize?”
The man had actually parried the attack with ease and even had the mind to joke!
Just then, someone belatedly realized, “He’s the vampire hunter!”
“What?!” The room erupted.
“That face… I knew it looked familiar, but I couldn’t place it. So it was a disguise.”
“No wonder he was spouting all that nonsense. It’s subversion! It’s brainwashing!”
“How terrifying. It’s impossible to guard against.”
All eyes, filled with shock, fear, and anger, shot towards the audacious vampire hunter.
He and President Xue were locked in a life-or-death battle, yet they hadn’t damaged a single thing in the cafeteria. All their deadly attacks were aimed only at each other.
It had to be said, it had a certain violent aesthetic.
In the eye of the storm.
Xue Zhu swept his leg out and looked up with a smile. “What prize?”
Wei Changlin dodged and threw a punch. “I mean—”
Seeing Xue Zhu dodge, Wei Changlin gave a triumphant smile, nimbly retreated, and in a few steps, was close to Yu Jiao, who was watching the show from the front row. He suddenly leaned down and stole a kiss from her cheek.
“…”
Time seemed to slow down.
The onlookers were dumbfounded, watching in horror.
—If one ignored the genuine fiancé, whose dark expression looked like he was about to kill someone, the scene was actually quite beautiful and moving.
The young woman, sitting on the table and swinging her legs, widened her eyes slightly. The tall man braced one hand on the table and leaned down to plant a gentle kiss on her snowy cheek.
He tilted his head slightly, the sharp line of his jaw connecting to his neck and a slightly bobbing Adam’s apple.
It added a hormonal, sensual quality to the pure scene.
The next second, a sharp dinner knife pulled the youth romance film into a thriller.
The knife flew straight for the scoundrel’s neck with an unstoppable, deadly force, as if it were about to sever his carotid artery and make him bleed out on the spot.
In that split second, Wei Changlin reluctantly retreated.
The glittering knife brushed past him and embedded itself in the white wall, leaving only the handle exposed, a spiderweb of cracks forming around it.
Wei Changlin chuckled and wiped a trace of blood from his neck. “Quite a temper, President Xue.”
Xue Zhu gave him no time to breathe. A storm of thunderous attacks rained down on him, but Wei Changlin, having achieved his goal and feeling triumphant, had no desire to fight him now.
“I’ve already claimed today’s prize. President Xue will just have to try harder next time.”
Wei Changlin dodged the attacks with a grin and, in a very punchable way, gave him a ‘you can do it’ gesture. In a few moves, he had broken through the encirclement of the other blood-race members, his movements utterly free and bold.
“You were sweet today,” he winked at Yu Jiao and blew her a kiss. “See you next time, darling~”
With that, he was gone.
Yu Jiao didn’t respond, only calmly pocketed the note in her hand.
—It was the note Wei Changlin had slipped her while pretending to steal a kiss.
Although, she had a reasonable suspicion that stealing the kiss was his real goal, and the note was just an afterthought.
Now was not the time to look at it.
Yu Jiao hopped off the table, pulling the ‘tablecloth’ down with her, and met Xue Zhu’s dark, cold gaze.
He was staring at the side of her face with an unreadable smile, his eyes heavy, as if he were contemplating how to carve that piece of flesh away.
Yu Jiao’s tone was gentle. “Look at you, all sweaty from the fight.”
As she spoke, her concerned gaze fell on his pale, flawless, and completely sweat-free face.
“Here, put on your jacket. Don’t catch a cold.” With that, she shook out the ‘tablecloth’ and was about to put the grease-stained uniform on him.
The scene had a strong ‘Da Lang, it’s time for your medicine’ vibe.
The onlookers were horrified.
She’s not even trying to hide it? After meeting with her accomplice, she immediately turns on her nominal fiancé with sweet words and a hidden dagger. What a venomous woman!
After staring at the smiling Yu Jiao for a long moment, Xue Zhu suddenly curved his lips and said softly, “Alright,” obediently putting on the grease-stained uniform jacket.
Yu Jiao looked at him with a pitying expression. “It’s alright. It’s just one loss. Next time—”
Before she could finish, she was pulled into a tight embrace.
“My dear, I’m so touched,” he said, his voice ghostly, enunciating each word.
Yu Jiao’s gentle, kind facade instantly vanished. Her face turned green as she felt him slowly tighten his arms, deliberately rubbing the grease stains onto her!
“…Get off!”
…
After giving Xue Zhu a good beating, Yu Jiao’s evening on campus was peaceful.
It was unclear if it was out of fear of Xue Zhu or something else, but no one came to bother her again.
But for some reason, this peace gave her a feeling of the calm before the storm.
Her eyelid had been twitching all day.
After evening classes, Yu Jiao walked through the dark, silent campus with her backpack. The tree shadows were like ghosts, the moonlight like a funeral banner.
A soft rustling sound.
Yu Jiao stopped.
Dozens of tall blood servants with blank white masks stepped out of the darkness. Under the pale streetlights, they were as silent as living corpses, awaiting orders.
—The Xie family’s men.
Without any greeting or ceremony, they surrounded her in a uniform formation and attacked.
Unlike the spoiled nobles at the academy, these men were well-trained. In the end, Yu Jiao was no match for them.
But their movements were hesitant. They were clearly afraid of hurting her.
Yu Jiao understood.
Well, she thought, I have to deal with wave after wave of people at the academy anyway, and that bastard Xue Zhu won’t help at all. I might as well go back with these guys now, stay in a little dark room, eat and drink well, and after a few days, the mission will be more than half complete.
Her mind made up, Yu Jiao revealed a few openings and let herself be captured.
Her hands were bound, her eyes were blindfolded, and she was knocked unconscious.
…
When she woke up again, she was tied to a chair, unable to move. It was pitch black before her, as if she were wearing a blindfold.
As if sensing she was awake, the sound of light, slow footsteps approached.
The blindfold was suddenly ripped off.
The intense light made Yu Jiao squint, and a physiological tear fell from her eye.
Vaguely, she saw two figures, as cold and hard as the edge of a blade.
“…”
After gradually adjusting to the bright light, just as she’d expected, two familiar figures stood before her.
The two identical faces were marked with a dark, cold expression. They were dressed in formal attire, looking down at her from a superior height.
Xie Zhenye gave a sinister yet gentle smile:
“Miss Prey, I’ve caught you.”
Like a hungry predator, grinding its fangs, he looked extremely dangerous.
Two cool fingers pinched her chin, pulling her attention to him.
Xie Yanchuan’s eyes were downcast. He coolly wiped the tear from the corner of her eye.
His voice was cold and indifferent. “If you cry now, what will you do later?”
Yu Jiao: “…”
Would it be rude to laugh right now?