"You need to be good, understand?"
Ren Siyi couldn't move.
To be precise, she was frozen in fear, letting the man carry her horizontally out of her room, through the pitch-black, cold corridor, and slowly up to the third floor.
The third floor was territory Ren Siyi had never set foot in—even Shen Du wasn't allowed up there. It was Shen Shen's private space.
Now, Shen Shen was carrying her up there, into his room.
The room was large, and empty. The curtains were heavy and black, blocking out all light from outside. The dark gray bed was so perfectly neat it seemed almost obsessive-compulsive, as if no one had ever slept in it.
The room was cold. Ren Siyi was certain the air conditioning wasn't on, so that chill seeping through the air was emanating from his body.
It made her shiver, goosebumps rising all over her arms.
Shen Shen placed her on his large bed. Ren Siyi, terrified, shrank backward, pressing herself into the small corner against the headboard.
She didn't even dare look at him, nor speak.
She only prayed he wouldn't come near her—please, don't come near.
Shen Shen walked to the liquor cabinet, poured a golden-orange drink into a beautiful square glass, and held it out to Ren Siyi.
Ren Siyi didn't dare take it. She shook her head desperately, averting her gaze from his.
So Shen Shen set the glass on the nightstand, then sat down on the single armchair directly across from her.
"You… you're not human. Are you ghosts?" After a long while, seeing that Shen Shen showed no intention of harming her, Ren Siyi finally spoke, trembling.
Shen Shen answered her: "No. We are the Blood Clan."
"The Blood Clan…"
"You must have heard the legends of vampires."
Ren Siyi: …
It suddenly dawned on her—that Li Er had mentioned to her that her father had become a vampire.
Ren Siyi had never believed vampires existed in this world. She'd thought he was just some charlatan trying to fool people. She never expected…
She looked up at the man before her.
His skin was cold and pale, his dark pupils eerie and strange. A night lamp cast light across his face as he propped his head on one hand, tilting it to look at her, as if waiting patiently for her to slowly accept the truth.
Ren Siyi touched the bump on her neck. It didn't hurt, didn't itch—no different from a mosquito bite.
Shen Du had been sucking her blood just now!
And not just now—there were several mosquito bites on her legs and arms too. All of them were…
It suddenly hit her: the excessive drowsiness she'd been feeling lately, and fainting today—it was because Shen Du had been drinking her blood!
They really were vampires!
Terror deepened in Ren Siyi's eyes. When she was a child in the countryside, she'd been so afraid of ghosts she wouldn't dare walk the mountain paths at night. But she'd never actually seen a ghost—her grandmother's fake haunting antics didn't count. At least the things she feared most had never caused her real harm.
But these two "people" in front of her—they truly would drink her blood, truly would kill her…
Ren Siyi was so scared she started crying. Her voice trembling with tears, she said, "You… are you going to kill me? Am I… your food?"
"No," Shen Shen said. "Humans are not the Blood Clan's food. We survive by relying on your blood. History has proven that any act of draining the pond to catch the fish brings destruction."
"Then what about Shen Du? He nearly killed me just now."
"Your blood does have something extraordinary about it that makes him lose control. But as long as I'm here, you won't die."
Ren Siyi raised her tearful eyes to look at him. "You won't eat me?"
"I won't."
"Then why did you bring me here?"
Shen Shen let out a very, very soft sigh.
Before tonight, he'd only wanted to send her away. But after learning she was a Hetero-blood, Shen Shen wavered.
"You may not believe it, but right now, you are under my protection. No one will harm you."
Shen Shen took a small black mud pill from an old rosewood cabinet, placed it on a ceramic dish, and set it in front of Ren Siyi. "This is Blood-Replenishing Medicine. You're anemic now—not too severe yet. With some rest, you'll recover."
Ren Siyi shook her head desperately. She didn't dare touch anything of his.
She didn't trust this guy at all!
However, Shen Shen didn't intend to give her a choice. He walked over to her, reached out, and clamped her jaw.
With a slight squeeze, her mouth was forced open.
The pill was shoved into her mouth, and Shen Shen held her chin, forcing her to swallow.
The pill was slightly bitter with an astringent taste. Ren Siyi wanted to spit it out, but with his grip on her jaw, she couldn't open her mouth. Still, she was stubborn enough to hold it in her mouth, refusing to chew.
Tears streamed down her smooth face, while he stood before her like a deity—or perhaps a demon—not letting go, waiting patiently.
He wasn't in a hurry. Human lives were finite; time was precious.
But he possessed immortality. The one thing he least feared wasting was time.
The two faced off for a while, until Ren Siyi felt the pill slowly dissolve, turning into liquid that trickled down her throat.
There was nothing she could do. Even if it were poison, she'd have to swallow it.
Only when he saw her swallow did Shen Shen finally release his grip. Expressionless, he said to her, "You need to be good, understand?"
With that, he turned and walked to the counter, poured a glass of warm plain water, and held it out to her.
Ren Siyi was dying of thirst. She had already taken his medicine, thinking that even if she were to die, at least she might as well die comfortably.
She took the cup and gulped down a big mouthful.
Raising her flushed, tearful eyes, she looked at him: "What… what exactly do you want me to do! If you're going to do something, just give it to me straight!"
The fear and panic had subsided somewhat, replaced by intense anger.
"I told you, I won't take your life."
At least, not now.
"Then let me go!"
"Your blood is different from other people's. If I let you leave, you'll be in great danger."
Ren Siyi didn't believe a word of it. She'd lived eighteen years without any danger, so why would she suddenly be in danger just because she was here with him?
Staying by his side was the most dangerous thing of all. Who knew if he'd suck her blood while she slept? Who knew if he wasn't a hypocrite with honey on his lips and a dagger in his heart?
Even though she thought this, Ren Siyi didn't want to provoke him. She could only continue pleading pitifully—
"Let me go, please, I'm begging you, Mr. Shen. I don't even need the remaining days' wages. Just let me leave."
"If I let you walk out that door, you'll die." Shen Shen was not a patient man. At the very least, no one had dared to bargain with him to the point of exhausting his patience in all these years.
"Even if… even if I die, I'll accept it. You have no obligation to me. Just let me go." Ren Siyi crawled to his feet, kneeling at the foot of the bed. "Just let me go, and I promise I won't tell anyone about this. Please!"
Shen Shen looked at her terrified face, her crimson eyes.
He let out a soft sigh.
He didn't want to force her to stay, or even imprison her. If she wasn't willing to cooperate, there would be a thousand ways for her to escape.
That would make things very difficult later.
He wanted her to follow him willingly, even to beg for his protection and never leave his side.
"In that case, you may go."
Ren Siyi was stunned. She hadn't expected him to agree so quickly: "Really?"
"If you want to leave, then leave. I won't force you to stay. But I must warn you—the world outside is more dangerous than you can imagine. You need my protection."
"Thanks, but no thanks!" Ren Siyi immediately got off the bed, her steps still unsteady. She didn't even bother changing out of her nightgown and ran straight down the stairs with a clatter.
The butler Lu Sen was standing at the front door, the heavy door shut tight behind him.
Ren Siyi stopped in her tracks, looking at the poker-faced man: "He… he said I can go."
Just then, Shen Shen appeared at the top of the stairs on the third floor. Lu Sen looked up at him.
The man nodded.
Finally, he slowly stepped aside, and the villa's heavy door swung open before Ren Siyi. Moonlight streamed into the airtight old mansion.
Ren Siyi sprinted out of the villa at full speed, still wearing her slippers.
Running into the courtyard, she caught a glimpse of Shen Du. He was sitting sprawled out in the garden.
He'd been blasted away by Shen Shen earlier and seemed not to have recovered yet. He lay collapsed among the Lucifer roses that filled the garden, hands propping him up, facing her with a bewitching smile curling at the corner of his lips—
"SiSi darling, leaving already?"
Ren Siyi felt her skin crawl. She ignored him and ran out of the villa in a panic, plunging headfirst into the dense, lush forest.
She hadn't expected Shen Shen to let her go so easily. She was afraid of getting lost in the woods, trapped in some ghostly maze. Fortunately, that didn't happen. Following the tree-shaded path that blocked out the sky, she quickly made it to the central plaza area of Central Park.
Occasionally, couples passed by arm in arm. It wasn't too late—just past ten—and there were still pedestrians strolling in the park, along with men in athletic wear out for a night run.
Ren Siyi let out a sigh of relief.
"There are vampires, there are…"
She shouted this out, but no one paid her any attention. People continued with their own business, and her voice gradually faded.
They'd think she was crazy.
Ren Siyi shut her mouth. Shame overcame fear.
Now, there was only one thought in her mind: call the police and let them deal with that pair of bloodthirsty brothers.
There was a police kiosk right at the entrance of Central Park, and Ren Siyi stood at its door.
She kept drafting in her head, thinking about how to phrase it so they would believe her.
Running in and saying she'd encountered vampires who wanted to suck her blood—that was too absurd. No normal human would believe her.
And if they didn't believe her, or if they sent someone to the villa but couldn't prove the two brothers were vampires, wouldn't they come after her in revenge?
Having barely escaped, Ren Siyi didn't want any more entanglements with them.
Ren Siyi was the type who did little but thought a lot.
To put it nicely, she was thoughtful and deliberate. To put it bluntly, she lacked initiative.
Sigh…
She gave up on calling the police and left Central Park, heading to the busiest commercial district in the southern part of the city.
Walking on the street, among the crowd, she felt a bit safer.
But she couldn't fully relax, because as long as anyone in the crowd glanced at her a moment too long, her skin would crawl.
She had no idea how many vampires were mixed in among humans. The man who had kidnapped her last time, the group of men in that shabby rental apartment—they were all vampires!
Oh my god, Ren Siyi felt so lonely.
No one would believe what had happened to her—they'd definitely think she was crazy.
Just then, Ren Siyi thought of someone.
She pulled out her phone, scrolled down through her WeChat chat list, and found Li Er's username—
Dragonfly Immortal Venerable.
She was in a hurry, so impatient that she directly called him via voice call.
The conman brother actually had a custom ringtone—it was Cyndi Wang's "Love You." The pleasant melody played for a few seconds before his lazy voice came through—
"Hello there, why'd you suddenly call me?"
"I ran into a vampire!" Ren Siyi stood by the bus stop, avoiding people, covering her mouth and whispering, "I believe you now! Vampires really do exist in this world."
"Shh, don't say that word, watch your surroundings." Li Er reminded her, "We usually call them mosquitoes."
Ren Siyi warily looked around. At this hour, there were no more buses running, so there weren't many people at the stop.
"I ran into a mosquito." Ren Siyi lowered her voice, correcting herself. "Can you help me? I can't find anyone else to turn to. If I go to the police, they definitely won't believe me."
Li Er didn't hesitate and said, "Send me your location, I'll come pick you up."