Their lips parted.
Shen Ji puffed out his cheeks, hesitating to swallow.
At that moment, someone behind them noticed Ye Xi’s arrival.
Ye Xi’s expression turned cold.
She delivered a swift hand-chop toward Zhou Yang, who had just made a sound.
She was so fast that Zhou Yang couldn’t even see her movement before he drifted back into unconsciousness.
After dealing with the nuisance, Ye Xi looked at Shen Ji with a suspicious gaze.
**[Ding! Detected host is absorbing raw cow blood. System panel will unlock once fully absorbed]**
‘What? It’s just cow blood?’
Shen Ji didn’t care anymore.
Even though it tasted foul, it was at least manageable.
Suppressing his nausea, Shen Ji forced an appreciative expression onto his face and gulped it all down.
Ye Xi nodded, looking satisfied.
“What about your roommate, Zhou Yang? He seems to have discovered our identity.”
Although he had swallowed it all, the system panel had yet to appear.
Shen Ji had no choice but to deal with Ye Xi first.
“Should I silence him?”
Shen Ji asked, sliding his hand across his throat in a cutting motion.
Currently, the only people in the dormitory besides the unconscious Zhou Yang were Ye Xi and Shen Ji.
Ye Xi relaxed her guard and sat on Shen Ji’s bed.
She crossed her legs, revealing a portion of her pale, slender thighs, and scoffed, “Idiot. I really don’t know how you’ve survived this long. If you kill him, do you think you can escape suspicion?”
Shen Ji breathed a private sigh of relief.
He had only been testing her attitude.
If she had actually intended to kill Zhou Yang, he would have risked exposing his identity to call for help from the neighboring rooms.
“Then, in your opinion, what should we do?”
“Come with me. We’ll leave this place and create a world that belongs only to the Blood Race.”
Ye Xi’s hands gripped the white bedsheets tightly, and her breathing grew rapid.
“For so many years, we have constantly hidden ourselves, yet humans still refuse to let us go. How many of our compatriots have been given a price tag on the black market? Surely you know this in your heart?”
‘You make a very good point, but I’m not actually part of the Blood Race,’ Shen Ji thought.
Instead, he replied, “No, I can’t leave with you yet. My sister, she still…”
“Shen Wan, right? We can take her with us. As for her illness… there is nothing a sip of vampire blood can’t solve.”
“How do you know? Have you seen her?”
Shen Ji’s heart, which had just settled, leapt into his throat again.
He could pretend to be a vampire, but his little sister definitely could not.
Ye Xi noticed his pupils dilate and felt a hint of suspicion.
She narrowed her beautiful eyes.
“Why? Is there a problem?”
Shen Ji realized he was acting too agitated.
He took a deep breath.
“No, I’m just curious how you know about my situation.”
“I saw the poverty grant application you filled out before. Your family situation was written clearly. It looks like leukemia, but in reality, it’s just that you’re unwilling to feed her even a little blood. Although it’s addictive, it’s better than being half-dead.”
“That has nothing to do with you. I just don’t want her to become like us…”
“Fine. That is your business, and I won’t interfere too much. But now you must give me an answer. Are you coming or not?”
“Let me consider it. Two large living people vanishing into thin air will definitely attract society’s attention. If my sister disappears as well, it will be hard for people not to suspect something.”
Ye Xi sighed.
“Let me tell you another secret. The Official is preparing to move against the Blood Race, and they’ve even developed a method to confirm our identities.”
“In a few days, you’ll see it on the news. They’ll claim a vampire appeared in some location and that The Official captured them to maintain peace. Even if you don’t run now, you’ll be targeted sooner or later.”
Just as Shen Ji was listening intently, the Vampire Hunter System’s panel finally activated.
[Status Window]
Host: Shen Ji
Passive Skill: Simulate Vampire (Cannot be deactivated)
Detection Range: Within line of sight
First Evolution Progress: 10%
Evolution Count: 0
‘Wait, don’t screw with me! The Official is about to move against the Blood Race, and I can’t turn off the simulation?’
‘And what the hell is this evolution?’
**[Reminder to Host: Every evolution results in a qualitative leap. The host can obtain Evolution Points by killing members of the Blood Race]**
**[Current requirement for first evolution: 1 Evolution Point]**
‘In other words, I can not only absorb blood to evolve like a vampire, but I can also evolve by killing them.’
‘By the way, how many times has Ye Xi evolved?’
**[The host cannot view information for Blood Race members with a higher evolution count than their own]**
Shen Ji was so frustrated by this treacherous system that he wanted to curse.
Meanwhile, Ye Xi saw Shen Ji staring blankly and assumed he was simply finding the news hard to accept.
After all, she had been incredulous when she first found out.
Years of hiding had made her accustomed to a peaceful life.
How much more so for Shen Ji, who had hidden himself even better than she had?
At this thought, Ye Xi retracted her vampire form.
The crimson in her eyes receded like a tide, and her pointed ears returned to their normal state.
She casually tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
“Classmate Shen Ji,” she said softly.
“I know this is hard to accept, but this is the reality we must face. Don’t worry, at least we still have a choice right now.”
As she spoke, Ye Xi reached out and grasped Shen Ji’s hands.
It had to be said that Ye Xi was even more alluring in this form.
Who could resist the usually cold School Beauty whispering gently in their ear?
Shen Ji shook his head.
The Vampire Hunter System panel vanished from his sight.
He looked straight into her beautiful eyes and, following her gaze downward, saw a deep, shadowy cleavage.
Shen Ji closed his eyes to steady his mind.
He took a step back and gave an ambiguous answer.
“I’ll handle the matter regarding Zhou Yang discovering us. As for leaving, I think we should plan it more thoroughly. Leaving right now is too hasty.”
Ye Xi nodded noncommittally.
She had hoped to take him away immediately, but now, she was curious to hear his plan.
“First, the enemy is in the dark while we are in the light. We don’t know their methods, but they can easily distinguish our identities.”
Shen Ji glanced at Ye Xi, who was listening with great interest, and continued, “Therefore, the most important thing right now is intelligence. Only by knowing The Official’s methods can we find the right solution.”
“So… what do you plan to do?”
“Infiltrate the enemy’s internal ranks.”
“Oh? Tell me more.”
“For example, I can pretend to have been attacked by a member of the Blood Race. The higher-ups will definitely send someone to investigate. When the time comes, I’ll push you forward, and you can pretend to be captured. Not only can you learn The Official’s methods, but we can also work together—one in the light and one in the dark.”
Ye Xi laughed, but her laughter was cold.
She rested her chin on her hand.
“You certainly cleared yourself of suspicion quite nicely. I came here out of the goodness of my heart to take you with me, and you want to turn me over to the authorities in exchange for your life?”
‘This woman is pretty sharp,’ Shen Ji grumbled internally.
‘But I never actually intended to hand you over to The Official anyway.’
“School Beauty Ye, surely you’re joking? We’re in the same boat now. How about this? If we can’t start with The Official, we can start with the black market.”
“What same boat? Get to the point. Do you have an informant in the black market?”
“To tell you the truth, I’ve been working as a Drug Trial Participant in the black market. I can contact my informant to see what the word is regarding The Official’s recent stance on the Blood Race.”