Sunlight fell upon Shi Qi’s silver hair, casting a soft glow.
He thought to himself—when Lady Lingxi woke up, the first thing she’d see would be him and this cup of fresh blood. She’d definitely be touched, right?
She’d definitely forget about all the unpleasant things from last night.
Maybe she’d even praise him.
The more he thought about it, the happier he became, the corners of his lips curling higher and higher.
The other Sentinels stood not far away, watching Shi Qi’s silly, delighted expression, feeling sour inside.
Pei Jin muttered quietly, “If I’d known, I would’ve pushed myself a bit harder earlier…”
Ji Xiao lowered his head, regret flashing in his eyes. He should have pushed harder too.
Cang Lan’s face was taut, but in those sapphire-blue eyes, a small line of text was clearly written: A little envious.
Mingzhou stood at the outermost edge, his gaze resting on Ye Lingxi’s peaceful sleeping face, silent and unmoving.
…
After a while longer, Ye Lingxi’s lashes trembled slightly.
She slowly opened her eyes.
What entered her view was an unfamiliar sky. The sunlight wasn’t harsh—a large emerald-green leaf happened to block the light shining on her face.
And that large leaf was held in the hand of a man with silver hair.
She blinked, her mind blank for a few seconds.
Then, the memories from last night came flooding back. She had transmigrated.
These were the Sentinels she had mistaken for vampires.
Before the images in her mind could string together into a complete narrative, a clear, bright voice reached her ears.
“Good morning, Lady Lingxi!”
Ye Lingxi was startled by the sudden greeting.
She blinked rapidly, her vision gradually focusing.
Seeing that she was awake, Shi Qi’s smile grew even more radiant. On his youthful face, his eyes curved into twin crescents. “Lady Lingxi, yesterday you invited us to eat very delicious and very strange food, and we also swore to you that from now on, we would provide for you!”
As he spoke, he brought out a silver-white metal container from beside him and presented it to her with utmost respect.
“This is the breakfast I prepared for you—my blood.”
His eyes sparkled, and his tone carried twelve parts of anticipation. “Yesterday you didn’t like the Commander’s blood. Today, try mine. Mine is definitely better than the Commander’s!”
Ye Lingxi: “…”
Staring at the cup filled to the brim with blood before her, she was completely dumbfounded on the spot.
Truly dumbfounded.
Her eyes went straight and vacant as she looked at the silver container, at the deep red liquid filling it, her mind a complete blank.
What did he mean, she didn’t like the Commander’s blood?
Try his?
And it was definitely better than the Commander’s blood…
Was this even something that could be compared?
She refused to drink blood last night—could it be that they thought it wasn’t because she didn’t drink blood, but because she found Mingzhou’s blood unpalatable?!
Shi Qi was completely unaware of the storm raging inside Ye Lingxi’s mind. Seeing that she wasn’t speaking, he assumed she was hesitating, so he pushed the container forward a little more, his tone even more eager: “Lady Lingxi, don’t worry. My blood is very clean. I take good care of my body and never eat random things. You definitely won’t have any problems drinking it!”
As he spoke, he extended his other arm, rolled up his sleeve, and revealed the freshly healed wound on the inside of his wrist. “If you don’t believe me, you can drink it fresh! Fresh is definitely better than blood that’s been sitting out for a while!”
Ye Lingxi looked at that wound, at the faint pink scar of the healing mark, and felt utterly unsettled.
She struggled to open her mouth, her voice a little floaty: “You… cut your wrist?”
Shi Qi blinked. “Just a small cut. It didn’t hurt at all, and it heals quickly. You don’t need to worry about me!”
Ye Lingxi: “…”
She took a deep breath, trying to make her voice sound steadier: “Shi Qi, I don’t drink blood.”
Shi Qi froze for a moment, the smile on his face dimming slightly. “Lady Lingxi, is it that you don’t like drinking blood that’s been sitting out? That makes sense—it does taste different after a while. Then drink it fresh!”
He pushed his arm forward again, his wrist directly in front of Ye Lingxi’s mouth. “Just bite down and drink it fresh!”
Ye Lingxi instinctively leaned back, almost falling over.
She scrambled to brace herself on the ground, steadying her body. Seeing that Shi Qi was still about to push his arm toward her face, she quickly called out to stop him.
“Shi Qi, wait!”
Shi Qi’s movement halted, his arm still frozen mid-air. His silver lashes fluttered as he looked at her with a bewildered expression.
Ye Lingxi closed her eyes, trying to make her expression look as sincere as possible: “Why do you want to give me blood? And why do you think I need to drink it?”
Last night, Mingzhou had brought her a cup of blood, and she hadn’t drunk it.
This morning, Shi Qi came with another cup, and even shoved his arm right up to her mouth.
She was beginning to realize that there might be some misunderstanding in all of this.
They had used some logic she was completely unaware of to arrive at the conclusion that “she needed to drink blood.”
She felt that she and these Sentinels needed to have a proper conversation.
She wasn’t a bloodkin. She didn’t need to drink blood.
Not far away, Mingzhou had been watching the commotion closely.
Seeing that Ye Lingxi refused to drink the blood, he immediately strode over.
Almost the next moment, his figure appeared beside Ye Lingxi.
The tall man crouched down, meeting Ye Lingxi’s eyes at her level.
“Lady Lingxi,” he began, his voice low and gentle, as if afraid of startling her, “do you not understand why we gave you blood to drink?”
Ye Lingxi nodded frantically.
She really didn’t understand at all!
Mingzhou watched her like this, the corners of his lips curving slightly. The Guide was still so lively—that was good.
He didn’t like seeing her heartbroken and in tears like she had been last night; it made his heart ache.
His faint smile faded as Mingzhou looked at Ye Lingxi seriously. “There is no food in our supplies that suits you.”