Hate?
Shi Yu’s lips pressed into a thin line, and then he let out a light laugh.
How could it merely be hate?
An ant riding the coattails of blood hunters, casually chatting with him face-to-face about how to serve his fellow tribal cubs onto dining tables, while showing off his ugly, smug triumph over bullying those little ones.
This was simply marvelous.
For the first time since he could remember, Shi Yu felt a wave of anger surge from deep within his chest. The emotion of hatred raged and grew increasingly turbulent in his heart like waves capsizing a ship.
Some people were striving to find a balance between vampires and humans, working to bridge the rift between the two races.
Others hypocritically stood from the perspective of victims, cloaking their greedy profits in self-righteous pretense.
The young man’s pupils deepened, a thick, un-erasable crimson swimming at the bottom of his eyes. “He is truly so noisy.”
“Mm.” Wen Si hooked his fingers through Shi Yu’s intertwined hand. “I think so too.”
The gloomy alley welcomed another round of rustling footsteps several ordinary blood hunters had arrived.
“You’re here,” the man assumed a pompous posture, an unspeakable smugness etched across his brows as he explained, “Every day at this time, we have to pick a batch to send onto the carriage; those restaurants are waiting for them, and they can’t open for business without our goods. We also have to keep a batch to test the newly developed potions.”
As he spoke, he leaned in and murmured to them with a pointed look, “This can’t be done out in the open. After all, our blood hunters are already at peace with vampires, so it can only be done quietly.”
Wen Si still wore little expression, merely casting a deep glance at the man.
That pair of pitch-black eyes drifted over him indifferently, bringing with it a chill and cold goosebumps rising straight up from the spine.
He felt as though he were being watched by danger, an ominous premonition slowly descending.
Yet the man merely comforted himself that he was overthinking.
“So let’s test them as soon as possible.”
Shi Yu’s long eyelashes veiled the gloom hidden deep within his eyes, half-drooping as he lowered his gaze, putting on an extremely sensible and well-behaved appearance.
He smiled and said, “Lest we delay your time and fail to dispose of these vampires promptly.”
The junior blood hunters who had just arrived followed the sound and looked over, freezing for a moment, finding it hard to pull their gazes away.
Such a breathtakingly handsome young man standing at the mouth of this gloomy alley was like clear, fresh snow, utterly out of place in this wretched spot.
The man could not see the obscure, dark killing intent hidden in the young man’s eyes, but he felt that what the person under the challenge platform had said earlier was quite right the fellow surnamed Wen probably couldn’t bear to part with his younger brother.
He was too gorgeous.
And occasionally gentle and obedient; probably anyone would want to test the waters and provoke him.
The man’s sticky gaze was revolting, yet Shi Yu suddenly found himself growing delighted. He thought of a method.
It was an exquisite form of punishment.
The killing intent shouldn’t have to burst forth from him; the true victims were those vampire cubs. Upholding the principle that grievances have their debtors, Shi Yu felt the cubs would certainly be more than happy to enjoy a hearty meal.
Tasting the blood of their enemy would serve as the cubs’ finest appetizer.
“Aren’t you in a rush?” Wen Si furrowed his brows, stepping past the young man’s side to block the man’s line of sight.
Even after experiencing a round of fighting, Wen Si would not let a single speck of dirt stain that white.
At this moment, Wen Si and Shi Yu stood pressed close together, making their white shirts look exceptionally striking.
It was like vines wrapping inch by inch around a rose, the flamboyant flower enveloped within the thick layers of a greenhouse where no one else was permitted to touch even a fraction of it.
“Ahem”
Aware of his momentary (lapse in composure), the previously smug man cleared his throat before continuing awkwardly, “Then let’s begin.”
The most traditional method of selecting blood hunters needed no introduction—it had been known to everyone since thousands of years ago.
Releasing the lowest-ranking vampires and having the testers attack them with anesthetic guns. It was nothing more than a test of marksmanship and reflexes. Inferior vampires possessed weak strength; at worst, one would only get bitten, which was a minor injury posing no threat to life.
The man lifted his chin, and the few blood hunters immediately signaled, running over to the cages holding the little bats.
The crisp sound of iron chains colliding echoed as several blood hunters each unlocked a cage.
The vampire cubs were currently in a weak state; forget aggressiveness, even spreading their wings took effort.
The blood hunters then produced a small bottle of liquid presumably some sort of potion.
“Wait”
The man, however, stopped their actions.
Shi Yu’s brows twitched, sensing that things were not so simple.
He didn’t think the man was kind enough to let him smoothly enter the ranks of blood hunters.
Sure enough, the man was racking his brain to make things difficult for him.
He said, “Don’t use the previous potion; switch to the new one we brought.”
At those words, the blood hunters looked at one another in dismay.
Incredulity surfaced across their faces as they glanced at Shi Yu, their expressions laced with panic.
Remaining still for a long time, only one of them dared to speak up.
“There’s no need, right? That new potion hasn’t been tested yet, and its potency is several times stronger than the original. If we use it now…”
His words trailed off, but everyone present understood.
An uncertain effect meant it was an experiment.
Conducting an experiment while Shi Yu was undergoing his test—plainly speaking, it was meant to make him retreat in the face of difficulty.
The man was doing this on purpose; this mission was no joke, and those participating were elite blood hunters. Bringing along a fragile youth who was nothing more than a pretty face would only increase the difficulty of their mission.
He didn’t care whether Shi Yu lived or died, but he absolutely could not let him become a drag on them.
The blood hunters also understood this was a deliberate obstruction, and they all waited for Shi Yu to back down.
To their surprise, the outcome was different from what they had anticipated.
“Then let’s do as you say and try out the new potion.” Amusement laced the young man’s words as he curved the corners of his eyes. “I am also quite looking forward to the effects of the new potion.”
Time was tight, and this batch of inferior vampires needed to be dealt with immediately. Yet the youth lacked situational awareness and insisted on tagging along with his older brother; there was simply no helping it.
The man frowned. “Use the new potion.”
The newly developed potion was recently researched by the upper echelons of the blood hunters; it could cause vampires to lose their minds and plunge into a state of frenzy. They were attempting to continue researching along this line, forcing vampires to mutually harm each other so they could sit back and reap the spoils as fishermen.
The man added, “To be clear, your brother cannot help.”
Shi Yu answered promptly, “Of course.”
The youth glanced back at Wen Si.
Far from being worried, he radiated an intense eagerness to try.
The scene felt deeply familiar.
Shortly before, Shi Yu who had stood beneath the challenge platform jeering and waiting to watch a good show had looked precisely like this.
Shi Yu hooked the corners of his lips and smiled slowly.
They all thought he was weak.
What a pity, then, that he possessed ancestral bloodlines.
He was a natural-born powerhouse.
Within the vampire hierarchy, bloodlines were the ultimate standard for measuring strength. Shi Yu possessed the sole ancestral bloodline, holding natural deterrence over everyone else within the vampire race.
That was an instinct hidden deep within the bone and blood that compelled submission.
The effects of the newly concocted potion were apparent as the blood hunters placed it beside the inferior vampires.
After merely sniffing it for a moment, the several little bats visibly grew frantic, faintly attempting to burst out of their cages.
The narrow alley they had traversed upon arrival was dark and damp, and the darkness constantly lingered behind them like a shroud; they were merely standing in the open space, mistakenly believing themselves safe.
With the sound of iron chains hitting the ground, several frantic baby bats flew out.
They made a beeline straight toward Shi Yu without the slightest deviation.
In a corner where no one was watching, Wen Si narrowed his eyes lazily.
Everyone stood not far from Shi Yu.
Unable to see his expression, the blood hunters only saw Shi Yu standing stock-still, assuming he had been frightened out of his wits.
Yet they had guessed wrong.
Seeing numerous inferior vampires charging an attack against him, Shi Yu displayed not a shred of panic.
To be precise, his expression carried cherishing and composure.
They were all merely cubs.
Pitiful, and adorable.
The young man slowly closed his eyes, as though something was about to break free from its bindings and sprout right from the tips of his fangs.
A vampire’s primal nature was arrogance and cold detachment; stripping away the gentle facade, only pure instinct remained.
Suddenly, Shi Yu opened his eyes.
His shallow amber pupils vanished, replaced by a deep, intense crimson. The appearance of a vampire contrasted starkly with his usual self; the aura surrounding him was both dangerous and mesmerizing.
The surrounding shadows transformed at that moment into ferocious and ominous claws, gnashing and clutching like evil spirits. Like the youth’s most loyal hounds, they crawled and coiled around his entire body, preventing anyone from harming him.
Within the reach of the light, the crowd only saw Shi Yu lift his slim, snow-white chin slightly, casting his gaze upon the inferior vampires charging toward him.
It possessed the heart-stopping, soul-stirring beauty of a swan’s death at the falling of the curtain.
Unbearable reluctance arose within the hearts of several blood hunters; no one wished to see such a gorgeous person get hurt because of this.
All changes happened in the span of a split second.
The inferior vampires, who had previously lost their minds and been consumed by blind fury, abruptly altered their trajectory, swooping downward instead toward the back of Shi Yu.
“No…”
Seeing Shi Yu making no moves, the man felt his internal unease intensify, realizing something at last.
Alas, time had run out for him.
“Ah-ah”
Seeing the bats lunging toward them, the blood hunters instantly threw everything into chaos. They were merely the most ordinary handymen among the blood hunters, possessing no genuine skills.
The current situation had clearly surpassed the scope of control.
These could no longer be considered low-level vampires; their eyes were no longer black, but instead displayed the pure crimson exclusive to pure-blood vampires.
The blood hunters all woke up to the danger.
A friend in need is a friend indeed. This was the moment to test character whether the blood hunters would unite as one, or scatter like birds and beasts when disaster struck.
As he had anticipated, the blood hunters clearly chose the latter.
“Pfft”
Shi Yu laughed offhandedly.
Exhausting every last shred of energy they had, the blood hunters inevitably wound up bitten with numerous bloody gashes.
Very quickly, they discovered that the target of these frenzied cubs’ attacks was no longer them. As if driven by purpose, the bats continuously bit and scratched at their boss instead.
As for these blood hunters, they had only sustained claw wounds because they were clustered around the outside of the man.
“Run, run”
“These vampires aren’t coming after us!”
In a mere instant, instinct drove them to scatter uniformly without looking back, speeding outward into the pitch-black alley behind them.
Facing the test of life and death, how could they possibly still care about the man.
Bereft of the human shields surrounding him, the inferior vampires were finally free from repression and let loose completely.
Having collapsed to the ground amidst the shoving of his subordinate blood hunters, the man had barely tried to move his body when he felt an excruciating, piercing agony blossom across his limbs. Not a single patch of flesh on his entire body remained intact. Emitting wails of agony, his miserable shrieks grew piercingly shrill.
The physical pain clearly articulated a stark reality: his hand tendons and foot tendons had all been severed, sliced apart by the sharp claws of these little vampires.
He had lost his mobility.
Like a pitiful wooden doll whose joints had been snapped, he lay there motionless.