Chapter 19: Drunkenness

“The special edition, please.”

“Here is the drink menu. Please take a look.”

Ye Xi looked at the menu blankly.

The various drinks listed were unlike anything she had seen before.

Seeing her hesitation, a hint of calculation flashed in the man’s eyes.

“It looks like this is your first time drinking, isn’t it? And you’re alone too. I recommend the Tequila Sunrise. It has a low alcohol content and is quite beginner-friendly.”

Ye Xi rubbed her temples in frustration.

“Just give me the strongest one.”

“But — “

“No ‘buts’.”

Ye Xi spoke in a tone that allowed no room for argument.

The man intentionally put on a troubled expression and shook his head.

“Alright then, please wait a moment.”

With that, the man turned around and began preparing the drink.

Ye Xi had only one thought now: ‘I want to temporarily forget Shen Ji.’

She had heard before that loving someone was a mix of pain and pleasure.

At the time, she hadn’t taken it seriously, even thinking her unrequited love could break the barrier between them.

Looking back, the way Shen Ji had been hesitant and distrustful…

‘Maybe I was too impatient.’

Something always felt missing in their relationship.

‘Or does Shen Ji simply think the start of this relationship was a joke?’

As Ye Xi felt lost in her thoughts, she suddenly realized there were multiple auras of her own kind around her.

Looking back, she realized there weren’t any humans around at all.

Everyone drinking was a fellow member of the Blood Race.

Ye Xi couldn’t help but clench her fists.

‘When did so many of our kind appear in Nanjiang City?’

Aside from her family, she had never seen so many of her kind together.

Based on their accents, most were from out of town.

Weren’t they afraid of being rounded up by The Official?

Just then, the man placed a glass of Long Island Ice Tea in front of Ye Xi.

Ye Xi frowned and sniffed it.

It didn’t have the pungent smell of alcohol she expected.

Instead, the brownish, crimson-tinted liquid had a faint scent of cola.

“A lot of our kind have arrived from out of town recently. Word is that something big is about to happen in Nanjiang City. Have you heard anything?”

Ye Xi took a sip and set aside her messy thoughts, acting nonchalant.

“Instead of trying to fish for information from me, you’d be better off asking those outsiders.”

The man pursed his lips and said awkwardly, “I think you might have misunderstood. My name is Mo Wenxin. I’m not trying to pry; I just wanted to exchange some information.”

Ye Xi glanced at him.

Seeing that he had introduced himself, she replied coldly, “Ye Xi.”

“Ye Xi?”

“What about it?”

Mo Wenxin masked his surprise.

“It just sounds a bit familiar. Have you heard of Ye Hai?”

Ye Xi nodded and then shook her head, her face calm.

“I’ve heard of him, but I’m not familiar with him.”

Mo Wenxin sneered inwardly.

This woman really didn’t know the height of the heavens.

That was Ye Hai, the pinnacle of the Blood Race in Nanjiang City.

In his youth, he had escaped the pursuit of three Seven-evolution Blood Kin from The Official all by himself, and he had even nearly killed one of them.

“Miss Ye, you really like to joke. That’s Ye Hai, the pinnacle of our local Blood Race.”

“Oh.”

“Do you think the arrival of so many outsiders will catch his attention?”

Ye Xi narrowed her eyes.

She clearly remembered Ye Hai telling her that The Official was going to move against the Blood Race, and that they had even developed methods specifically targeting them.

He had urged her to leave as soon as possible, which was why she had planned to confess everything to Shen Ji.

But now it seemed like that was just a smokescreen to get her to leave.

She, his own daughter, couldn’t even see through his true intentions.

A bold thought emerged in her mind.

“Maybe he’s the one who invited them here.”

“How could that be possible?”

Ye Xi scoffed.

That man was someone who could sacrifice even his own wife to achieve his goals.

There was nothing he wouldn’t do.

They continued to chat idly, and without realizing it, drunkenness crept into Ye Xi’s mind.

She gradually lost consciousness and slumped onto the table.

She continued to mutter under her breath, “Shen Ji, you bastard…”

Mo Wenxin looked at Ye Xi’s drunken state and listened to her calling out someone else’s name.

The malice in his eyes was no longer hidden.

He had been deeply attracted to her from the moment she walked in.

Even his “consideration” for her had been a tactic to make her lower her guard.

He had intentionally brought up information about the foreign Blood Race members to catch her attention, but she had shown little interest.

Fortunately, his specially prepared drink had taken effect, saving him a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Mo Wenxin was about to reach out and pull Ye Xi into his arms to offer “comfort.”

But before his hand could reach her, Ye Xi suddenly bolted awake.

A deep crimson swirled in her eyes, even tinting a stray tear red.

In an instant, a chill directed solely at Mo Wenxin erupted from her.

“Get lost!”

Mo Wenxin froze from the shout.

The surrounding Blood Race members noticed the scene and cast mocking glances their way.

Mo Wenxin felt he was losing face.

He said, as if explaining to both Ye Xi and the crowd, “Miss Ye, you’re drunk.”

Ye Xi shook her foggy head.

Her remaining rationality made her gradually suppress her Blood Tribe Form.

She didn’t want to cause a scene yet; Shen Ji was still waiting for her to come back and take care of him.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to do.”

“Miss Ye, I didn’t mean it like that — “

Before he could finish, Ye Xi shot him a look of blatant disgust.

Whispers began to spread through the crowd.

“This owner is disgusting. If he wanted to hit on her, he should have just said so instead of waiting for her to get drunk.”

“Bah, I was wondering why he wouldn’t let anyone else sit at the counter today. Turns out the owner had a plan all along.”

Hearing the noise and Ye Xi’s disgusted gaze, Mo Wenxin felt as though someone had taken a size 45 shoe and slapped his pride repeatedly.

Not only that, but they were trying to shove the shoe into his mouth.

Mo Wenxin’s face turned the color of pig liver.

He had always believed his methods were foolproof, but he had never been in such an embarrassing position before.

He grit his teeth, no longer caring about appearances.

He said gloomily, “All of you, shut up! You’ve all had my special edition drinks. Do you really think you can just walk out of here?”

The room went silent.

This sentence successfully intimidated most of the Blood Race members present.

A few didn’t believe it and activated their Blood Tribe Forms to attack Mo Wenxin.

But after taking half a step, they all collapsed onto the floor.

Mo Wenxin spoke with the posture of a victor.

“I don’t intend to make things difficult for you. This was just a measure to prevent people from causing trouble in my shop. As long as you don’t interfere with me, the effects of **[Drunkenness]** will wear off on their own in 30 minutes.”

The people who had been condemning Mo Wenxin immediately turned like grass in the wind, pretending they hadn’t seen anything.

“Ye Xi, let’s continue.”