“Malicious? Slander?” Shi Sheng raised her brow. “I’m seeing it with my own eyes! If that’s malicious slander, then pray tell—what were you two doing just now?”
Ai Wei wanted to explain but was stopped by Zuo Lie. “Mi Nai, are you picking a fight?”
‘This woman clearly knows, yet she pretends not to. Just what is she planning?’
“Don’t have the energy to. How about you share some of your food with me and we fight after I’ve had my fill?” Shi Sheng tilted her head, a hint of an evil smile playing at her lips. This smile caused Ai Wei to feel rather uncomfortable.
Zuo Lie frowned and his tone turned sharper. “Mi Nai, you want to make an enemy of me?”
‘Even daring to covet my person! How gutsy!’
Shi Sheng curled her lips and harrumphed coldly, “Since when were we not enemies?”
There wasn’t much enmity between Zuo Lie and Mi Nai—but there wasn’t much goodwill between them either, so Shi Sheng wasn’t wrong to say this.
She licked her lips. “Come on. Good things should be shared, am I right? It’s not very nice of you to keep all the food to yourself.”
Ai Wei cast Shi Sheng a surprised look and was just about to speak when Zuo Lie’s grip on her hand tightened, stopping her.
“Don’t touch my person, else you will have to deal with the consequences.” Zuo Lie pulled Ai Wei along as he headed out of the rose garden. Shi Sheng didn’t follow them, instead staring thoughtfully at Zuo Lie’s departing back.
Only once Zuo Lie had pulled Ai Wei a safe distance from the rose garden did he stop. “In the future, avoid that woman when you see her. Got it?”
Before, he at least had some understanding of that woman’s personality. But now, he couldn’t see through her actions at all.
Ai Wei spoke hesitantly, “She’s a vampire too?”
Zuo Lie gave her a look and nodded. “Keep my words in mind; don’t oppose her.”
Ai Wei felt surprised. ‘Just how many vampires are there in this school???’
Beneath the sunlight, her pale, fragile neck seemed to glimmer with a tempting light. Zuo Lie’s eyes darkened and he suddenly pounced, knocking her into the bushes by their side as he bit at her neck.
“Ah—Zuo Lie, can’t you be gentler?” Ai Wei sucked in a cold breath from pain. The only reply she got was the sound of gulping.
……
Although Ai Wei’s family’s finances were pretty healthy, she’d been raised to take care of herself so she would work a part-time job when free. The place Ai Wei worked at was a bar that was mostly frequented by students and was a pretty lively place.
“Xiaowei, my stomach hurts a bit. Can you help me deliver the wine the customers at that table over there ordered?” Ai Wei’s colleague, who was in the same shift, handed a tray over to Ai Wei with a pleading expression on her face.
“Sure. Are you okay? Wanna go ask the manager to take leave?” Ai Wei agreed readily before expressing her concern. Her colleague merely waved her hands, rejecting her suggestion, “It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll be fine after a trip to the washroom. I’ll have to trouble you.”
“Well, go ahead then.”
Her colleague rushed off into the employees’ corridor. Ai Wei sighed before delivering the wine to the table that was pointed out. The clients there appeared to be a bunch of ne’er-do-well youths. Ai Wei kept her head lowered as she set the wine down. “Your wine, sirs. Please enjoy.”
The one seated closest to Ai Wei was a yellow-haired youth. His gaze casually swept towards her. The light just so managed to reach her, so he could see her features clearly.
His eyes lit up and he grabbed onto Ai Wei’s hand that she hadn’t managed to take back in time. He laughed as he teased her, “Yo, this gal’s quite the looker!”
Ai Wei was startled and she started struggling fiercely. “What are you doing?!”
Yellow Hair was very strong. Not only did Ai Wei fail to escape his grasp, she was even pulled into his arms. He leered as he patted Ai Wei’s face. “Please, stop pretending; you’re in this kind of place, after all. Come, let bro have a feel. There’s plenty of money in it for you.”
The other youths laughed rambunctiously, their words turning lewder.
Ai Wei was both enraged and humiliated. “Let go of me, you stinking hooligan!”
“You’re a spicy one, girly! Me likey! Come let big bro have a taste…” Yellow Hair shoved his face towards hers as he said this.
Ai Wei felt a surge of disgust well up in her as she saw the pockmarked face getting closer to her. She stomped on his foot and took advantage of when he relaxed his grip, due to the pain, to run towards the bar’s counter. But she hadn’t managed to get very far before someone yanked her hair from behind.
“Ah!”
“Stinking bitch! Don’t know what’s good for you! You dared to attack me…”
The hullabaloo attracted the attention of other people in the bar. Soon, the manager was called over.
Yellow Hair appeared to be a regular customer, for the manager appeared very familiar with him. In fact, it seemed that the manager rather feared him—he bowed and scraped as he apologised. In the end, not only was Ai Wei forced to drink in apology, she was also fired.
Shi Sheng was seated in a corner, the shadows hiding her figure. Her gaze was aimed downwards, not paying the ruckus over there any heed.
[Hidden Quest: A Rose Wedding] System’s voice rang out all of a sudden.
Shi Sheng blanked out for a moment and then raised her head. ‘Hidden quest? There wasn’t one in the last world…’
[Mission Target: Xi Yin. Complete a Blood Pact with Xi Yin.]
Shi Sheng, “…”
‘Never heard of him. Weren’t the hidden quest targets all villains? Did it change to random bystanders now? Fuck, you’re really getting more out of hand…’
[To increase the difficulty of missions, information related to the Hidden Quest had been wiped out from the plot description.] System revealed.
‘Wiped out… Fuck! Really gotta question your developer’s whole family! So did I activate blindfolded mode? And the hell’s a blood pact?’
[The highest spousal contract amongst vampires. One that links the life and death of both parties.]
Shi Sheng, “…”
[A friendly hint: Host’s distance from the mission target is 5m… 4m… 3m… 2m… 1m…]
Shi Sheng turned to look at the corridor. A thin young man walked past her, illuminated by the strobing lights. She managed to make out his perfect profile; the corner of his lips was slightly raised. She could even see his long eyelashes and the pair of eyes that reflected golden luster.
‘He’s a vampire.’ Shi Sheng could tell almost the moment she saw him. She turned to look in Ai Wei’s direction before turning back to look at the figure of the young man who was exiting the bar.
‘The FL’s not gonna run but this guy will! If he runs off, I’ll have to spend bloody ages looking for him. A hidden quest…he might be Feng Ci.’
Shi Sheng immediately chose to chase after Xi Yin. Outside, it appeared that a light drizzle had started at some point. As Xi Yin walked beneath the dim street lamps, the drizzle blurred his figure. Though the distant neon lighting was brilliant, his figure appeared rather lonely. He seemed to be walking aimlessly yet they ended up in a more deserted area.
Once the sounds of traffic could no longer be heard, he suddenly halted. He just so happened to be standing in the darkness between street lamps, effectively hiding his figure. He turned around, his gaze landing indifferently on his stalker.
Shi Sheng remained standing underneath the faint yellow lighting the street lamp provided, not attempting to hide at all, with a calm expression on her face. The corner of Xi Yin’s lips lifted as he spoke with some hint of laziness and contempt, “A Pure Blood. What’re you following me for, eh?”
“Took a liking to you.”
Author’s note:
Little Fairy: Are you guys going to vote today?
Little Angels: Guess.
Little Fairy: You guess whether I’ll guess.
Little Angels: Not guessing, bye.
Little Fairy: *drops to knees and reaches out hands* Come back! I was wrong! Don’t abandon me! I need your magic (votes)!