She was quietly regulating her breath and cultivating when hunger struck.
Opening her eyes, her once-black pupils had begun to turn red. At this moment, food was no longer on her mind—only the image of crimson blood lingered.
Here we go again. The madness was returning.
Frowning, she took a deep breath and clutched her stomach tightly, pressing in hard.
A jolt of pain shot through her. Her eyes lowered, and though it hurt, the pain helped suppress her hunger.
She did not want to drink blood.
But this method, while effective, was extremely harmful to the body. Unless in desperate situations, it was best not to use it.
Click.The door lock turned. Mu Qingyun's head snapped up at the sound, only to see Yin walking in slowly.
"You must be hungry," he said blandly, glancing at her. He raised a hand, his sharp nails slitting his wrist. Purple blood began to flow from the wound.
"Come here."
"..."
She stared at the blood, desire rising violently from deep within. She wanted nothing more than to pounce and bite down, drinking it all.
"Come here," Yin repeated, frowning at her lack of response. He extended his bleeding wrist further toward her.
"I'm not hungry. Go away."
Mu Qingyun bit down hard, resisting the urge to drink. She could still hypnotize herself into calm when he bit her before, but rushing up to drink like a blood-starved beast? She simply could not accept that.
"Hurry up. I have things to do," Yin said impatiently, annoyance flickering in his eyes. To him, her refusal was just her being difficult.
"I said I'm not hungry." She shot him a cold glance, then turned her back to him entirely to avoid temptation.
So annoying.
"What are you doing? If you won't drink my blood, you might as well wait to die." Yin lost all patience and snapped at her.
I'm being difficult?
That was it. Mu Qingyun could no longer hold back.
She laughed coldly. "Who's being difficult? If you hadn't turned me into a blood slave, would I be like this? If you hadn't knocked over my Qingsu, would I need your blood?"
Her gaze turned icy. Holding back the urge to strike him, she scoffed, "Su Qiluo and I came here for a reason. We don't have time to entertain your twisted games."
Her words were followed by silence.
Just as she was about to speak again, Yin finally said, "So, have you decided? Do you want revenge or cooperation?"
"We agreed to cooperate under the condition that your vampires did not harm innocent people," Mu Qingyun replied without hesitation. "You resent us because you haven't hurt us, yet we still see you as a threat. But I'll say it again—if you hadn't hurt others first, no one would know that vampires crave human blood."
"So, you are saying revenge is non-negotiable?" Yin's voice was calm, but a hint of killing intent flickered in his eyes.
Mu Qingyun said nothing, but her stance was clear.
Her left hand flickered with a green plant-based energy, alert for any sudden movements behind her.
Though she did not want to fight, if it came to that, she would not hesitate to go down with him.
Dracula had more than one prince. And not all rulers had to be princes.
"A step back," Yin exhaled. "He will apologize. You let him go."
Though he was not afraid of her, as a prince, he had subordinates to consider. Not even Su Qiluo—or perhaps even Mu Qingyun's flames—might stop them all.
"Prince Ancestral! Prince Ancestral! Something's wrong—Prince Brauer and Prince Leicester are fighting!"
A young vampire rushed in, panting heavily. "They're making such a commotion, they woke everyone up!"
Fighting?
Yin frowned. Those two were usually partners in crime. Why were they fighting?
"Got it."
He followed the young vampire, not forgetting to lock the door behind him.
Mu Qingyun watched them leave and tilted her head slightly.
It looked like Su Qiluo had made his move. And he was thinking the same thing she was—a step back each.
She thought of the old man's battered body, her eyes dark and cold. Just an apology would never be enough. But still… a step back? Perhaps.
Her lips curled into a faint smile as she leaned back on the bed and resumed her cultivation.
Not long after, the door lock clicked again.
Back so soon?
Mu Qingyun looked up. The door creaked open, and a fully-armed man dressed in black entered.
"…Who is this?"
She stared at him. There was no need to study him in detail—he was completely covered in black, even his face was hidden.
"So you're the slave my brother gave his first embrace to, huh? You're really plain-looking," he said, scanning her from head to toe with disdain. "He gave you eternal life? What a waste."
"You should ask your brother about that," Mu Qingyun replied, confused. Do vampires even have siblings? Aren't they unable to reproduce?
"Do you know why I'm here?" the black-clad man asked quietly.
How would I know why you're here?
She remained silent, simply meeting his gaze.
"Say something. It's awkward if you don't," the man said, visibly annoyed.
"Fine. Why are you here?" she asked, like humoring a child.
Satisfied, the man raised his chin proudly and chuckled. "I'm here to kill you."
"…Did your brother order you to?"
"No. He doesn't know about this."
Now she was interested. "Then why do you want to kill me?"
"Because you don't deserve the eternal life my brother gave you," he said, shaking his head like a child throwing a tantrum, despite speaking of murder.
"Then you should take it up with your brother, not me." Her eyes grew cold, her right hand beginning to glow red with energy.
"I'd never blame my brother. I'll only blame you," he said with absurd righteousness.
That actually made a strange kind of sense.
Mu Qingyun looked at him and could not help but chuckle. That logic… I've heard it before. In her past life, she had protected her little brother in the same way. Maybe she wasn't as unreasonable as this guy, but she had gone to great lengths too.
"What are you laughing at?" the man snapped, annoyed his threats had only made her laugh.
"None of your damn business," she replied slowly, every word steeped in mockery.
"You—!"
Infuriated, he roared and lunged at her with both clawed hands.
Mu Qingyun didn't flinch. She closed the distance first.