Inside the bathroom, Lu Yi tore open the seal and practically poured the blood directly into her mouth.
As the blood slid down her throat, she felt no disgust at all.
Instead, she felt comfort.
Satisfaction.
Blood…
Compared to any other food, it was incomparably delicious.
Lu Yi was horrified by the psychological changes happening inside herself, yet at the same time, she desperately craved even more blood—
Click.
A faint sound of a door opening came from the bedroom.
Lu Yi immediately hid the blood bag and stared nervously at the half-open bathroom door.
There were no footsteps outside.
Yet her vampire instincts vaguely told her…
Something was standing outside the door.
“Who’s there?!”
Lu Yi raised her voice sharply. In her panic, she accidentally caught sight of herself in the mirror again.
The silver-haired female…
Her vampire form!
“Meow~”
The cat’s cry lowered Lu Yi’s guard slightly, but she was also afraid her vampire appearance would provoke the kitten into attacking again and leaving claw marks on her other arm too…
So she immediately shouted harshly:
“Don’t come in!”
The bloodlust slowly faded. She heard the cracking sounds of her bones shifting, knowing she was changing back again.
“Meow?”
Hermoke obediently remained outside the door, but his nose caught the overwhelming scent of blood.
Unlike the faintly sweet perfume scent lingering on Lu Yi before, this was the pure smell of blood…
Hermoke’s pupils suddenly contracted.
Even if he had scratched Lu Yi hard enough to draw blood, there was no way the scent could be this strong!
What exactly was Lu Yi doing?
“Cat…?”
Lu Yi’s weak voice drifted out.
After hearing it, Hermoke gently pushed open the bathroom door with his small head. The frantic splashing of water immediately sounded inside.
Before him, Lu Yi sat inside the bathtub, exposing half of her pale shoulder.
Wet black hair clung to her face, and unease filled her black eyes.
Yet her lips remained brilliantly red, adding the most vivid color to her pale face.
Then his gaze slowly shifted toward her arm—
Bright crimson scratch marks stood out clearly against her skin.
Obviously Hermoke’s handiwork.
The instincts of a sand cat were built for hunting. Earlier, Hermoke’s claws had nearly sunk deeply into Lu Yi’s flesh.
It must have hurt terribly.
Seeing Lu Yi’s reddened eyes and her aggrieved yet restrained expression, everything about her seemed to silently accuse him of wrongdoing while simultaneously enduring his troublesome behavior.
At this moment, Hermoke completely lost all thoughts of investigation.
He only wanted to move closer and apologize to her.
Using the identity of a pet to approach her felt both despicable and disgusting.
He should not have grown this impatient.
His front paws shifted slightly as Hermoke stepped half a pace forward.
When Lu Yi did not reject him, he moved another half step…
Until Hermoke finally arrived beside the bathtub.
“Meow~”
Lowering his head obediently, Hermoke sat beside the tub like the perfect well-behaved pet cat.
Although Lu Yi still remained wary of him, seeing the kitten widen its eyes and act cute caused some of the exhaustion in her face to soften.
“I’ll just pretend… you came to apologize.”
“Meow!”
Hermoke flicked his tail, indicating she was correct.
“Forget it. What would a cat even know about apologizing?”
Lu Yi brushed aside the hair along her cheek and slightly turned her body, resting her small head against the edge of the bathtub while staring at the kitten.
“Hey… how do you even have the nerve to come over here?”
Hermoke’s lightly swaying tail instantly stiffened.
“I saved you and even fed you. Not only did you scare me by climbing onto my bed, you even scratched my arm.”
Lu Yi had never spoken this much to him before. It was as though she wanted to pour out every grievance all at once.
“Look. It still hurts.”
She raised her injured arm.
Under the warm yellow lighting, the red-and-white wounds looked especially eye-catching.
For some reason, Hermoke suddenly felt his head becoming hot. He could not stop himself from licking his lips.
“…You’re not going to scratch me again, are you?”
Seeing that reaction, Lu Yi immediately pulled her arm back cautiously.
“Meow~”
Hermoke realized something.
This Lu Yi truly disliked cats, which was why she always imagined the worst about him.
Though to be fair…
He was not exactly a good person either.
“Meow~ Meow~”
Imitating real pet cats, he rubbed his head against the bathtub while acting spoiled.
The girl in the tub remained silent for a while. Water splashed softly, droplets landing upon Hermoke’s golden fur.
Lu Yi cautiously extended her hand toward his head, only to stop right before touching him.
Knowing she was hesitant and uneasy, Hermoke simply tilted his neck upward and主动 rubbed against her wet palm himself.
Lu Yi’s body stiffened.
Only after a long moment did she finally move again.
White foam stuck to the kitten’s head, but Hermoke could not focus on anything else. His entire mind was occupied by the way Lu Yi squeezed and scratched his fur while petting him.
What a strange feeling.
Hermoke had never been treated like this before.
Could this be the sensation those pet cats experienced when lying across their owners’ laps while purring contentedly?
Thinking this, he unconsciously began purring too.
Feeling the kitten’s obedience, Lu Yi gradually became bolder. Water splashed again inside the bathtub as her other hand slowly rested upon the kitten’s back.
“The fur feels way better than the nose…”
Her soft little hands gradually soaked the fur along his back, absentmindedly pinching it into little tufts until she had basically turned the cat into a hedgehog.
Hermoke could not help shaking himself, flinging foam from his fur.
But when he looked up toward the culprit behind all this, his entire body froze.
Tiny white bubbles clung to Lu Yi’s smooth pale shoulders.
At that moment, she stared at Hermoke with innocent curiosity, completely unaware that beneath her collarbone, soft creamy skin nearly spilled into view…
Hermoke’s head became even dizzier.
His temperature uncontrollably rose. Instinctively, he stepped backward twice—
Only for Lu Yi to lean closer instead.
“Meow…”
If he kept staring any longer, he truly would become a pet cat.
Hermoke fled the bathroom as though escaping disaster and transformed back into human form within a hidden corner of the balcony.
His golden head hung low while his gray-blue eyes lowered toward the ground. His mind remained filled with the snowy white image from moments ago…
“This isn’t a heat cycle…”
Hermoke had not lost control.
Although his skin had turned frighteningly red, once he forced himself to stop thinking about Lu Yi’s expression, he eventually suppressed the burning sensation again.
The feeling of being influenced by Lu Yi was truly awful.
If so many people were not already watching Lu Yi, he never would have impatiently resorted to a field mission like this.
After all, this was his first time.
Compared to physical investigations, Hermoke was much better suited for controlling Weimang Star’s surveillance systems and networks.
And besides…
Over these past few days, Hermoke had discovered no direct clues whatsoever.
After calming himself for a long time, he transformed back into a sand cat and returned to Lu Yi’s bedroom.
The girl was already asleep.
Sleeping deeply.
And still maintaining the same rigid, proper posture.
Leaping onto the pillow beside her, he could not resist lifting a paw to pat her face gently.
Her body temperature was still cold.
Turning his head toward the bathroom, Hermoke fell into thought for a moment before quietly stepping inside.
Inside the trash bin lay a square preservation bag stained with traces of leftover blood. At the opening was a puncture connection port.
…A medical blood bag?
Hermoke paused.
Then, using his front paws, he climbed onto the edge of the trash bin and picked up the blood bag in his mouth.
While mocking his own actions internally, he still perfectly acted the role of a pet cat as he swaggered confidently out of Lu Yi’s villa.