Chapter 46: The Vampire’s Prey (46)
This array was too realistic.
The melodious music, the magnificent lights, the mingling people, the gazes from above.
Yu Jiao felt as if she had truly returned to yesterday’s auditorium, to continue the unfinished trial.
—But the subject of the trial had changed.
A strong, powerful arm came from the side, wrapping around Yu Jiao’s waist. A broad chest pressed against her back, fitting her perfectly, like a Venus flytrap.
Yu Jiao calmed her breathing and enunciated each word coldly, “Wei Changlin, don’t make me hate you.”
Hearing this, Wei Changlin let out a soft laugh. A cool, dark breath brushed past Yu Jiao’s ear. Kisses fell like a fine, dense rain. Finally, Wei Changlin nipped the tender flesh of her nape, licking it slowly. His tone was sticky. “Little liar, you clearly like it.”
As Wei Changlin spoke, his hand slipped under the wide hem of her nightgown. It was as cold as ice. As it brushed past, it was as if it had taken a layer of her skin, making Yu Jiao shiver.
For a moment, Yu Jiao thought it was Xue Zhu’s hand.
Wei Changlin’s movements grew more and more audacious. The coldness faded, and the heat rose.
Yu Jiao couldn’t stop struggling. But her hands were still held by another pair of pale, cold, large hands. Yu Jiao frowned and met a pair of strange, serene phoenix eyes.
‘Xue Zhu’ was diligently pinning down her struggling hands. His familiar face wore a mask-like, composed smile, but his dark phoenix eyes were fixed on her, with a strange, innocent, and curious focus.
:=
Yu Jiao closed her eyes in shame.
Like a fish, out of water, Yu Jiao gasped for breath. A rich, vibrant red rose on her pale white face. Her loose nightgown was half on, half off. Her delicate skin glowed dazzlingly in the magnificent light, like a glorious, suffering statue of a goddess.
A crystalline teardrop slid down the young woman’s beautiful cheek, about to fall.
Hearing her low, suppressed sobs, Wei Changlin paused and teased, “Crying with joy?”
“…Shut up.”
To escape the “suffering” behind her, Yu Jiao couldn’t help but push forward, as if offering herself, hovering a few inches in front of ‘Xue Zhu’.
‘Xue Zhu’ slowly blinked. The fingers around the young woman’s pale wrist tightened. As if drawn to her, ‘Xue Zhu’ lowered his head, and his crimson tongue darted out to lick the teardrop from her cheek.
The sudden coolness and wetness made Yu Jiao’s eyes fly open. ‘Xue Zhu’s’ bewitching face was extremely close. His eyelashes were lowered, and he looked as if he were in a trance.
Meeting her incredulous gaze, ‘Xue Zhu’s’ lips curved. ‘Xue Zhu’ tilted his head and moved closer, his tongue lightly licking the corner of her eye, catching the teardrop. A cold, lingering kiss landed on her eyelid.
“Xue Zhu?”
Yu Jiao almost lost her voice.
As her words fell, a sharp pain suddenly shot through her lower back.
—Wei Changlin had given her a light bite, as if in punishment.
“Don’t say his name.”
Yu Jiao took a deep breath, turned her head to avoid ‘Xue Zhu’s’ kiss, and said sarcastically, “If I don’t say his name, should I say your fake name?”
“…”
The pressure in the room suddenly dropped.
Wei Changlin’s voice was very soft, a mixture of a laugh and a sigh. “That’s right…”
Yu Jiao let out a cry of alarm. Her half-limp body was pushed down, falling towards ‘Xue Zhu’. Just as she was about to struggle to sit up, she heard Wei Changlin’s cool command, “Hold her tight. Don’t let her turn back.”
The next moment, ‘Xue Zhu’ seized Yu Jiao’s hands. With his other hand, ‘Xue Zhu’ cupped the back of her head, pressing her tightly against his pale chest.
Yu Jiao could only hear the heavy thud of his heartbeat. “Let go…!”
Wei Changlin’s long fingers tapped the small of her back, tracing slow circles, making the young woman’s slender, soft waist immediately collapse.
“My lady, if you can’t remember my name and my face, then at least this, can stay in your memory and…”
Wei Changlin’s words were lost in a very gentle kiss.
…
…
When Yu Jiao woke up again, it was noon.
The sun streamed in through a crack in the curtains, bringing a slight, burning heat. Yu Jiao was lying in a dry, warm bed. The discomfort in her body was minimal. Instead, she felt…
I really don’t know what got into Wei Changlin.
With a sour look on her face, Yu Jiao rolled out of bed, pulled open the curtains, and looked out.
For some reason, the grand, bustling academy looked empty. The tall buildings stood starkly in the blazing sun, giving off a strange, eerie feeling.
Yu Jiao looked at the notification on the system interface.
【Main Quest: Successfully get selected as prey by the Secret Society, and survive for one week (100%)】
Yu Jiao frowned and asked the system, “I’ve already completed the main quest. Why can’t I leave this game instance yet?”
【I’m very sorry. You need to collect all four ending fragments (1/4) to be considered to have cleared the game.】
Remembering the cold system notification when Xue Zhu had died…
“Do the ending fragments drop when a capture target dies?”
【…】
【No. You just need a capture target to give up what they cherish most for you, or to give you what they cherish most. It doesn’t have to be their life.】
Yu Jiao nodded.
So this is the game system’s ultimate goal.
What Xue Zhu gave me… should be his true heart.
Then what do Wei Changlin and the twins cherish most? And how can I get it?
Yu Jiao had no idea. Yu Jiao pushed the door open, about to leave, but then she suddenly stopped. With a cold face, Yu Jiao walked back to the bed and picked up the neatly folded men’s school uniform, changing into it.
Yu Jiao suddenly felt a folded piece of paper in her pocket. The texture was very special, as smooth as human skin.
Yu Jiao frowned.
Yu Jiao recognized it as the note Wei Changlin had secretly slipped her in the cafeteria, so that they could communicate with their handwriting, like a paper version of a social media app, which would burn after reading. It was a good tool for spies to communicate intelligence.
—Though most of the time, Wei Changlin was the one writing meaningless flirtatious remarks and cheesy, tacky love notes. It was only when Yu Jiao wanted to escape the Xie Manor that she had contacted him. After she had succeeded, Yu Jiao had completely forgotten about the note.
Now, it had appeared along with the school uniform. It was clearly Wei Changlin’s doing. Yu Jiao’s face was blank. Just as she was about to tear the note, a line of text appeared on it:
[The person you’re looking for is in Teaching Building B, basement level five. After you get there, I’ll tell you the specific room.]
“…”
The writing gradually faded. Yu Jiao put the note in her pocket, left the lounge, and walked out onto the silent academy road.
Ding, ding, ding!
A harsh bell suddenly rang, like a white silk ribbon, strangling one’s throat, echoing in the deserted academy.
“Class is over!!”
As if a switch had been flipped, heart-wrenching cries and pleas for mercy suddenly erupted from all around, as if from a desolate human world, one had fallen into a hell of slaughter.
Bang!
In the distance, a high window was being frantically pounded by a hand, at the end of its rope. Then, the struggling hand disappeared, leaving only a bloody handprint.
Yu Jiao’s heart sank. Yu Jiao entered a nearby teaching building. A teacher with a name tag was trembling as he fled, almost knocking her over.
The teacher’s figure soon disappeared. The sound of shrill laughter, roars, cries, and wails came through the half-closed classroom door, echoing in the corridor.
Yu Jiao hid outside the door and carefully peeked in.
There were clearly two groups of people. The ones with crazed expressions were brandishing knives and clubs and beating the terrified ones.
A glint flashed in Yu Jiao’s eyes. Yu Jiao suddenly found a more obvious way to distinguish them—the crazed, bloodthirsty ones were all wearing the uniform of a specially-admitted student, while the ones being beaten, with no power to fight back, were all blood-race students.
Watching this chaotic, hellish scene, something flashed in Yu Jiao’s mind. Before she could think it through, a gust of wind brushed past her ear. Yu Jiao subconsciously dodged, but she couldn’t avoid it. A coolness on her neck, and then, warm blood flowed down.
Yu Jiao clutched her wound and looked up to meet a pair of crimson eyes. The student was glaring at her, but his lips were curled in a sinister smile.
“There’s another beast here.”
As the student spoke, he licked the blood from the blade of his knife. The specially-admitted student’s uniform he was wearing was already stained with dried, black blood. It seemed he had just come from another classroom.
“Such fragrant blood…”
The next moment, the student greedily attacked.
After losing the power of the blood race, Yu Jiao was now weaker than an ordinary person. Besides, this person’s speed was incredibly fast, and his strength was like that of a wild bull.
—He was just like a previously awakened vampire.
Yu Jiao was injured again and again. The smell of blood attracted more crazed specially-admitted students. The first one who had appeared roared at his own kind, “She’s mine! Follow the rules of the game! You can have her after I’m done playing.”
Yu Jiao leaned against the wall, her expression grave.
I really don’t know what has happened to these people in just one day. They’ve completely regressed into beasts.
After declaring his ownership, the student approached with a sinister smile.
Yu Jiao had nowhere to retreat. The student raised his dagger, a cold light flashing—
Bang!
Accompanied by a low, angry, bestial roar, the sound of a body hitting the wall with a heavy thud brought the scene to a close.
A huge shadow fell over Yu Jiao.
“Lin Qiuzhe…?”
The tall werewolf let out a low response, gently protecting her. Lin Qiuzhe turned his head and roared fiercely at the other eager specially-admitted students, who had no choice but to retreat resentfully.
All was quiet, except for the sound of crying and pleading from a few classrooms, echoing. Yu Jiao buried her head in Lin Qiuzhe’s warm, dry embrace and asked in a muffled voice, “What’s going on?”
Lin Qiuzhe clumsily stroked Yu Jiao’s head with his claw. His large tail was wagging restlessly, and he was letting out a series of whimpering, guttural sounds. His bright, golden, beast-like eyes were dark and glistening, as if he were about to cry.
“…”
Yu Jiao already had a few guesses.
Yu Jiao looked up at him as he gestured wildly, thinking, How does he look even more pitiful than me?
After a moment’s thought, Yu Jiao tilted her head, revealing her bleeding, slender, pale neck. “Want to lick it?”
Lin Qiuzhe subconsciously let out a slurp.
Then Lin Qiuzhe froze and looked at her carefully.
His foolish look made Yu Jiao’s heart soften slightly. Yu Jiao feigned disappointment. “If you don’t want to, then forget it. Just let me bleed to death.”
The young woman’s soft, pale face was stained with blood, her eyes lowered, like a small flower, about to be extinguished in the wind.
It was unclear which word had stimulated him, but Yu Jiao only felt his thick, beastly claws press on her shoulders. The next moment, the familiar sensation came.
Lin Qiuzhe stared at Yu Jiao seriously, extended his pale pink tongue, and meticulously healed all her wounds. After licking, Lin Qiuzhe smacked his lips and was once again a shy, foolish-looking creature.
“Thank you,” Yu Jiao curled her lips and took his furry claw. “Can I ask you to stay by my side and protect me for a while?”
Unsurprisingly, Lin Qiuzhe’s beautiful, golden, beast-like eyes lit up, and his large tail wagged happily.
“Awoo!”
***
With her dog-knight escort, Yu Jiao arrived at Teaching Building B, basement level five, without any trouble.
Unlike the hot, bright outside, this place was another extreme, cold and dark, like a prison. But the biting cold air made Yu Jiao feel a little at ease.
—I wonder if the twins or 011 are locked up here.
Yu Jiao walked past one locked room after another and arrived at the end of the corridor. After confirming that it was the room number Wei Changlin had written, Yu Jiao knocked on the door.
“Is anyone in there?”
A soft rustling sound.
“Jiao Jiao?”
A familiar voice, hoarse and deep. Yu Jiao took two seconds to recognize it. “Xie Zhenye? Is that you?”
“It’s me.”
This time, the voice was closer, as if Xie Zhenye were standing behind the door.
Yu Jiao’s heart leaped with joy. Yu Jiao looked up at the tall, strong werewolf beside her. “Can you help me break this lock?”
The werewolf nodded, and with a swipe of its claw.
Thump!
After the lock was broken, the door was immediately pulled open. Then, Yu Jiao fell into a hot embrace. Coarse, wild hair brushed against her neck. “Jiao Jiao…”
“Alright,” Yu Jiao pushed him away, then suddenly paused. “Where’s Xie Yanchuan?”
“…”
The soft question made the atmosphere instantly drop to freezing point.
Xie Zhenye let go of her. His expression was even darker and colder than the dim room. His beautiful, sharp eyes were now bloodshot, a morbid red, covering his glistening blue pupils with a layer of blood.
“What?” Xie Zhenye sneered. “Is that guy so important to you? You miss him to death? You’re so worried, aren’t you?”
Yu Jiao: “…”
I’m so tired of this. Why are they all like this?
Perhaps Xie Zhenye’s fierce aura made the sensitive Lin Qiuzhe feel threatened. Lin Qiuzhe suddenly put Yu Jiao behind him, lowered his body, and let out a threatening, guttural sound.
Xie Zhenye smiled coldly, his eyebrow arching, his aura fierce.
“If I remember correctly… Lin Qiuzhe, is it? Tsk, you were like a dog before, couldn’t even be chased away. Now you’ve completely degenerated into a beast.”
Amidst Lin Qiuzhe’s increasingly ferocious growls, Xie Zhenye looked at Yu Jiao, his handsome face expressionless, like a balloon, filled to the brim, on the verge of exploding, the thin string offered to her.
“Jiao Jiao, come here. Come to my side.”
The ready-to-pounce werewolf paused, slowly turned its head, and its bright, golden, beast-like eyes stared at Yu Jiao without blinking.