What was that saying again? Reaping what one sows.
Some people looked pitiful, but once you understood the hidden circumstances behind them, you would feel they truly deserved their fate.
Shi Yu never had any excess, indiscriminate sympathy.
Yet the man’s wails were genuinely grating on the ears, causing Shi Yu to involuntarily knit his brows.
“So noisy?”
Jade-like hands lifted. Wen Si’s palms always carried a coolness; he rubbed his palms together, and only after his palms grew warm did he gently cover them over the youth’s ears, muffling the man’s full-throated screams and wails.
The world instantly grew quiet.
Yet it also made certain heartbeats all the more distinct.
Wen Si could not see Shi Yu’s expression, but he roughly knew that Shi Yu’s anger had largely dissipated.
However, the moment Wen Si’s words left his lips, the inner peace within Shi Yu vanished into thin air.
The youth’s earlobes were as white as his own, yet at this moment they were dyed with a pale pink, resembling the lingering, romantic, resplendent glow across the evening sky.
Shi Yu’s ears were a sensitive zone. In the past, no one had ever dared to touch them, nor would he allow anyone to initiate contact.
It was just that ever since waking up from his slumber, Wen Si had already touched his ears twice.
“That’s enough.”
Shi Yu’s voice was slightly stiff, as though he had forced it out after holding his breath for ages.
“How could that do?” Wen Si had no intention of letting go easily. He shook his head, taking the opportunity to brush his thumb against the youth’s earlobe.
With thoughtful consideration, he said, “It’s still very noisy.”
Shi Yu: “…”
He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he experienced this feeling—a breath blocked halfway in his chest, neither rising nor descending.
The greatest obstacle after waking up was probably being driven half to death by a little puppy he had saved with his own hands.
“Then make him shut up completely.” Thinking it over, Shi Yu made his decision.
The man who had been strutting arrogantly just moments before now lay paralyzed on the ground half-dead, not a single patch of skin on his body intact, heavy with the stench of blood.
On the contrary, Wen Si was here covering ears.
Covering them in a manner resembling flirtation.
A thin anger stained the youth’s fair face, and Wen Si withdrew while the going was good, regretfully retracting his hand though in the process, he very “carelessly” brushed the tips of the youth’s hair.
How soft his hair was, how explosive his temper.
Wen Si laughed inwardly.
There was a reason why those low-level vampires had swarmed forward.
Shi Yu was precisely that reason.
Logically speaking, low-level vampires should only have black pupils. The dangerous crimson flashing within them now was simply a result of Shi Yu’s commands and control.
The strength of an ancestral bloodline was unquestionable, but his current physical body remained merely that of an ordinary human, incapable of withstanding such a heavy burden for long.
Merely commanding these little ones had already left a thin layer of sweat across Shi Yu’s back, making his legs feel somewhat weak.
Annoyed, Shi Yu despised this body that easily grew feeble right now.
Therefore, he had to recover his strength, and the Mermaid Tribe’s sacred artifact was the first step.
Shi Yu’s pupils constricted slightly as the crimson receded like a tide, transforming into a pale pink.
Swiftly, tiny amber pebbles replaced the pink glass stones. Shi Yu lightened his breathing; the instinct of his bloodline tempted him to act recklessly, and he had almost grown careless.
In his own territory, there remained an immense threat.
Shi Yu could not expose too much in front of Wen Si; an ordinary human ought not to possess the ability to command vampires.
Relying on the deviation of angles, Shi Yu moved his fingers imperceptibly, retracting the ability and control he had bestowed upon the little ones.
Deprived of power, the little ones ceased their attacks. They landed in a swarm on the ground, their innocent gazes flashing with bewilderment.
The cubs: What just happened meow (OvO)??..
Secretly exhaling a breath of relief, Shi Yu maintained a natural demeanor. “The new potions recently researched by these blood hunters work remarkably well.”
Attributing the abnormalities of the low-level vampires to the credit of the new potion researched by the blood hunters was a perfectly logical explanation.
Who asked the blood hunters to insist on showing off before an expert? The true efficacy of the new potion had no accurate result anyway, making this explanation highly convincing.
With a deep gaze, Wen Si smiled and said, “It really is quite good.”
“Those blood hunters who ran out earlier will probably be back before long.” Contemplating the matter, Shi Yu knew he had to seize the time. “With so many people talking, shouldn’t we clean up the scene before then?”
“Mm.” Wen Si agreed.
With merely a slight movement of his palm, the low-level vampires that had escaped their cages flew back toward them, as though they had received an order, orderly and methodically targeting the iron locks.
In the span of a brief moment, iron lock after iron lock dropped to the ground, and the vampire cubs successively fled their narrow cages.
The dense, pitch-black silhouettes resembled clouds pressing close before a thunderclap, deep and fathomless.
Lifting his head, Shi Yu watched with his own eyes as their figures gradually faded into the distance.
Having been captured by bad guys once, they ought to grow a bit wiser. On future dining tables, small little ones were destined never to appear again.
Rubbing his eyes, Shi Yu said, “It’s over.”
Pondering for a moment, Wen Si informed him, “There’s still a little bit left.”
Looking at him strangely, Shi Yu remained silent, quietly waiting for the rest.
“We are both much too clean.”
Having experienced a round of fighting without sticking to a single speck of dust, Wen Si could easily explain it away with his formidable strength.
Yet Shi Yu was the opposite; during the test, the blood hunters had sustained injuries to varying degrees, while he the tester hadn’t even gotten a speck of blood on him. That was indefensible.
Even with the potion as an excuse, why on earth would the crazed cubs exclusively swarm and attack the man alone?
Shi Yu: “So…?”
Wen Si: “We need to get some blood on us.”
Paralyzed on the ground, the man forced his eyes open with all his might. He seemed as though his mute acupoint had been sealed; his throat emitted a rattling gurgle-gurgle sound, exhaling far more than inhaling, utterly incapable of uttering a single word.
Seeing Wen Si’s approaching footsteps, visible panic and disorientation seized him, his wretched face twitching violently.
“No”
Though uncertain, Shi Yu couldn’t help letting his mind wander.
Wen Si had mentioned getting some blood on them, and a ready-made blood bag lay right there on the ground, the man’s entire body covered in blood so red it appeared black.
As a vampire, how could Shi Yu fail to smell the stench emanating from the man’s blood.
It was food he wouldn’t want to lick even if he were starving to death.
If he took a lick, he’d worry about poisoning himself to death.
Surely Wen Si didn’t intend to harvest the ready-made blood?
Dwelling on this, the youth frowned anxiously.
“We’re going to get his blood on us?”
“How could that be.” Amused by the youth’s thoughts, the corners of Wen Si’s long, narrow eyes curved upward as he stated, “I won’t let you touch the garbage on the ground.”
A man injured to the point of imminent death like him was long since garbage that would waste land even upon burial.
Walking up to the man, Wen Si’s shoe tip avoided the blood-soaked garments, and he bent down to pull something from the man’s person.
It was a small dagger.
The dagger rested in its sheath at the man’s waist. Gripping the hilt directly, Wen Si drew it out, thorough in his refusal to let garbage contaminate him.
Walking toward him amidst the shifting play of light and shadow, Wen Si illuminated the unhesitating action upon his hand.
Grasping the hilt while the blade faced himself, he leisurely opened his palm.
A flash of cold light crossed, and Shi Yu was forced to narrow his eyes against the reflection off the blade’s surface.
Opening his eyes once more, blood had already stained Wen Si’s palm.
Drip, drip, the sound echoed.
To date, Wen Si had done numerous things that caught him off guard. Oddly enough, every single one of them seemed to tread precisely upon his desires, bringing him extreme delight.
An intense fragrance immediately permeated the air—unsuited to the narrow, gloomy alley was the little puppy he had selected a millennium ago.
After a long lapse of years, Shi Yu confirmed once more that Wen Si was undoubtedly the most delectable meal he had ever tasted.
And a meal that no one else had ever sampled besides him.
After all, craving the blood of a vampire duke sounded far more like an Arabian night’s tale.
“I think you should be able to accept my blood.”
As though insensible to pain, Wen Si smiled and extended his hand toward him. Droplets of blood slid down the traces of the blade’s cut, condensing into a gorgeously colored droplet that fell.
The blatant temptation hung right before his eyes.
Remaining silent, Shi Yu answered with his actions.
The youth grasped Wen Si’s wrist; his slender, tender, white skin contrasted against the cold whiteness, forming an extreme merging of gentleness and glacial chill.
Opening his palm, he caught the bead of blood about to drip from the Duke.
The youth’s raven-feather-like eyelashes trembled lightly. Seemingly deeply unsettled, bewildered by the sea of blood before him, he shook his hand as he caught Satan’s bestowal.
This was a gift from the demon.
Intended to bewitch the youth.
In reality, Shi Yu was losing his mind.
From hunger.
Though he had spent these millennia slumbering in a state of physical dissolution, that did not mean he could not feel a hazy sense of starvation a hunger that intensified exponentially upon his awakening.
No one, having once tasted the ultimate delicacy, would remain infatuated with plain porridge and side dishes.
As the saying went: it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality.
Shi Yu felt as though he had tumbled into a dead end.
Having tasted Wen Si’s blood, instinctively he found it exceedingly difficult to swallow the blood he had once considered delicious.
It was as though he had been bewitched, unable to attain what he desired.
He could not taste Wen Si’s blood, nor did he have any avenue, in the guise of an ordinary human, to treat the vampire duke as food.
Now, however, Wen Si was voluntarily bringing a knife and offering his hands.
A pair of beautiful hands still dripping blood.
The puppy was so proactive.
Asking himself in his heart, did he really not want it?
The answer, naturally, was yes.
He wanted it to the point of driving him mad.
Slap,
A drop of blood stained the youth’s scallion-white fingertips. Lifting his hand, he feigned nonchalance as he licked across his parched lips.
Clearly something that could have been delivered straight to his mouth, halfway there he had to change trajectory, smearing it across his cheek instead. Crimson stained his snow-white cheek, resembling white glaze brushed with rose juice.
Gulp,
Swallowing his saliva, Shi Yu’s delicate Adam’s apple bobbed. His gaze remained entirely glued to Wen Si’s bleeding palm, naturally rendering him blind to the bottomless darkness within the other’s eyes.
Acting as though indulging the youth, Wen Si asked, “Is this enough?”
What sheer nonsense.
Shi Yu was entirely incapable of answering with a negative word.
At this moment, his heart told him he had been bewitched.
He could only utter: “Not enough.”
“Want some more?” Wen Si coaxed step by step.
A flustered expression crossed the youth’s gorgeous features. Contemplating it helplessly, he ultimately failed to suppress his urges as he voiced his thoughts.
“I want it.”
Shi Yu could hardly control himself any longer. He urgently longed to enjoy a hearty meal.
Subduing his prey with absolute strength, pinning down the prey’s neck beneath that cold, white skin lay the sweetness he had yearned for long.
Hearing the satisfying reply, Wen Si grasped the injured palm by way of reward.
Without sparing an ounce of strength, though he felt no pain, Shi Yu seemed to experience it firsthand as an ice-cold tremor shook the soles of his feet numb.
The Duke gripped his palm, causing the blood to flow even more freely. Disregarding the blood droplets falling to the ground, he fixed his gaze entirely on the single drop resting upon his fingertips.
Shi Yu, too, instinctively locked his eyes onto his fingertips.
Thus, the sweetness he had yearned for drew close to him.
With gentle fingertip movements, Wen Si used a touch of compulsion to tilt Shi Yu’s jaw upward, smearing the blood from his fingertips across the youth’s pale pink corners of the lips.
Deep crimson and pale rose intertwined, blossoming into an alternative, ultimate beauty.
Shi Yu could endure no longer.
Complying with his heart’s desire, he pressed his lips together, his tongue-tip obediently licking away the bead of blood on his lower lip.
That was the sweetness he had sought for so long.
Wen Si remained his most delectable meal.
“Such a good boy.”
Wen Si’s voice grew hoarse.
Who on earth was treating whom as prey,
And who was keeping whom as a pet?
Through blood, or a single kiss.