It was early morning; the sun had been up for a while.
The servants were busy cleaning, and Li Ruoxi was having breakfast at the long table.
“Miss, did you not sleep well last night?”
Nangong Li saw her chopsticks reach for the shrimp in the bowl several times without picking any up.
Instead, she stared blankly at the empty chopsticks, her gaze drifting nowhere, taking empty bites of air.
Li Ruoxi didn’t respond.
Nangong Li waved her hand in front of her face.
She still didn’t react.
“Miss~”
Nangong Li pressed her slender, fair hand to Li Ruoxi’s forehead.
“Her temperature is normal… Could it be…”
Li Ruoxi’s pupils were completely unfocused; she stared absentmindedly at the distant potted plant in front of her.
“M…”
“Sis… Sister Li, is there something you need?”
Nangong Li finally got a response from Li Ruoxi.
“Miss, what’s wrong?”
“N… Nothing… I just didn’t rest well last night…”
Li Ruoxi dazedly came back to her senses.
Her mind was replaying the indescribably wonderful story that happened with Vivian late last night, scene by scene.
“Miss, your face is red. Do you have a fever?”
Nangong Li was puzzled.
She had just felt her forehead, and there was no sign of fever.
Now her face was all flushed.
What was going on?
“Ah… Well… Maybe I didn’t sleep well… a… and I think I caught a cold…”
‘How could she not catch a cold, being naked like that.’
Li Ruoxi wore a shy smile, lowered her head, and picked at the shrimp in her bowl with sporadic bites.
“Miss, use a spoon.”
Nangong Li placed the spoon into the shrimp seafood congee.
Li Ruoxi didn’t respond.
She stared at the shrimp in the bowl, their pale white with a hint of tempting light red…
The shrimp piled together, like two…
Ahem.
Li Ruoxi quickly switched to Nangong Li’s spoon, opened her mouth, and quickly ate a few mouthfuls of the now-cold seafood congee.
Then she put it down and said, “Sister Li, I’m full. I’ll go back and take a nap.”
“Mm, then we won’t go look at those schools today. You rest first. I’ll arrange the time when you feel better.”
Nangong Li nodded in return.
“Mm, I just didn’t rest well. Sister Li, you don’t need to arrange for them to come and check my body.”
Li Ruoxi, remembering how Nangong Li would clap and summon a crowd to examine her this and that, preemptively refused such surveillance this time.
“No, Miss, you…”
Before Nangong Li could finish, Li Ruoxi ran off.
…
Li Ruoxi lay in bed, covering her face with a soft blanket.
‘What should I do? Every time I think of it… I blush and feel hot. Do I have some disease? Or is Vivian the pathogen? She actually wants to infect me this way.’
Li Ruoxi messed around in bed, thinking random thoughts.
Last night’s duration… was especially long.
Maybe it was because the vampire’s physical fitness was too strong, making this period of pain and pleasure for Li Ruoxi unusually long, almost exaggerated.
‘Why do I only remember feeling good… I can’t recall anything else… I really got the short end of the stick.’
Vivian’s wonderful figure—even Li Ruoxi had to admit that she was moved and secretly a little expectant.
In the end, it really happened, but she couldn’t remember clearly, only leaving that… incredibly pleasurable feeling.
‘No! Li Ruoxi, you cannot become a vampire’s sex slave! This absolutely won’t do!!’
Li Ruoxi suddenly threw off the blanket covering her face, her cheeks flushed, and spoke to herself with a serious expression.
“You will never have a good ending if you’re with her.”
Li Ruoxi saw the girl in the floor-length mirror, her small face red and bashful, yet speaking seriously about things even she didn’t believe.
‘Ah!! So annoying!’
Li Ruoxi buried her head in the quilt again, her mind churning with inner struggle.
She thought too much, lying in bed spread-eagled like a starfish.
Li Ruoxi decided not to think too much and focused on maintaining her breathing rhythm.
Deep inhale…
Exhale…
Slowly, slowly, relax her entire body.
The accumulated fatigue from last night gradually released.
…
Li Ruoxi seemed somewhat at a loss.
A broadsword was thrust straight at her.
Suddenly, a black shadow pushed her away from the sword tip at the critical moment.
Splurt—
Blood spurted.
She watched with her own eyes as a broadsword pierced straight into Vivian’s heart.
Instantly, the black flame that had been blazing on Vivian slowly weakened.
Li Ruoxi hurriedly came up from her side, but saw the broadsword wobbling, then stopped moving, and quickly walked over to her.
The huge broadsword caused a shocking wound, blood gushing uncontrollably from a gash as long as a palm and as wide as a finger.
‘No, no, that’s not right.’
Li Ruoxi’s head spun, and the scene before her changed again.
The broadsword was thrust into her own heart.
The person holding the sword was shrouded in a fog, blurry, and the string of purple Ouroboros bracelet on their wrist was glaringly conspicuous.
This time, Li Ruoxi felt it vividly; the muscles all over her body stiffened at once.
Her heart, which was pounding, suddenly slowed its rhythm.
She clamped her hands on the broadsword and slowly, bit by bit, pulled the blade outward.
“Xiao Xi! Why! Why are you stopping me!!”
As soon as Li Ruoxi tried to speak, a sweetness rose in her throat, and she coughed up blood mixed with small, polyp-like fragments of internal organs.
Blood dripped down the sword blade, falling to the ground.
Thud—
Li Ruoxi fell to her knees. Her white dress was already tattered, and her once smooth skin was stained with blood streaks, covered in cuts of various sizes.
“Why!! Why are you stopping me!!!”
“I…”
Li Ruoxi saw tears glistening in the sword holder’s eyes, but their face remained blurry, unchanged.
“I… don’t want to…”
‘Don’t want what?’
‘Don’t want what!!!’
The sword holder seemed to be shouting, but Li Ruoxi was already silent.
The image grew blurrier, until Li Ruoxi felt her entire body falling into an abyss, and her loud shouts had no echo.
Hah—
Haah—
Li Ruoxi sat up with a start, looking around.
“What kind of dream is this? Why would I have such a dream…”
‘That feeling of being stiff all over, pierced through the heart, unable to even speak.’
Li Ruoxi reached out and touched her chest; she could still faintly feel the tearing pain.
She realized she must have had a nightmare.
“I’m drenched in sweat. This dream… was too real.”
Inside, there were rubble and stones, thick, choking smoke, just like a battlefield ravaged by gunfire.
What was it?
Li Ruoxi was a little exhausted.
She called the servants in a low voice and asked them to prepare her clothes.
She had the maids who wanted to help her bathe wait outside.
Li Ruoxi soaked alone in the pool, which was as big as a bed.
Pink petals floated on the water, and the air was filled with a faint, pleasant floral scent.
She cupped some water and washed her face.
Water droplets dripped from her chin onto the petals.
Li Ruoxi brushed away the petals floating on her chest.
She looked at the reflection in the water.
She couldn’t see it clearly, but she could tell that the reflected figure’s eyes revealed deep exhaustion.
Her mind still echoed over and over:
Why are you stopping me!
Why!
Li Ruoxi closed her eyes again and poured warm water over her face.
The other’s heart-wrenching accusations made her inexplicably flustered inside.
“Who is it, really?”
She reviewed the clues in the dream again.
Every brick and tile there felt familiar yet unfamiliar, and even that person’s voice felt very familiar.
“It’s not someone I’ll meet in the future; it’s someone I’ve already met… Who is it… Why did they stab me…”
Li Ruoxi’s head hurt.
She thought that leaving Vivian would save her own life, but she didn’t expect to have such a dream.
“I need to think clearly… think more clearly… Who would want to kill me…”
Li Ruoxi was very confident in her harmless, even endearing appearance.
Absolutely no one would want to attack her without reason.
“Is it because I did something so heinous…”
Tap tap tap…
Clack…
The bathroom door was pushed open.
Li Ruoxi turned around and saw Nangong Li walking in step by step.
“Miss, don’t hide your illness from me.”
Nangong Li walked up to her and looked at her seriously.
“The more you don’t want to trouble me, the more trouble it will cause me in the end. You know that?”
“Th… That… Sister Li… I…”
“If you have any problems, say them directly. Don’t bottle them up alone. No one here will set you up. Even if there is, you can tell me privately. Don’t hide like this.”
Nangong Li spoke, suppressing her anger.
“Did someone sneak into your room last night!”
Nangong Li said seriously, “Our estate’s Three-Layer Surveillance Net was not triggered… But during my cultivation today, I sensed a surge of energy in our estate. Miss, have you met that person…”
“Energy?”
Li Ruoxi’s face flushed with shame.
She stammered, “N… No… What person? I just didn’t rest well last night… Sister Li, what’s wrong with you?”
“As long as you’re okay, Miss.”
Li Ruoxi’s evasive words clearly showed she didn’t want to say.
But Nangong Li was certain someone had come to the estate.
Moreover, that person was no ordinary one.
“But your body, Miss, I need to make sure it’s fine.”
Nangong Li stared straight at Li Ruoxi.
“Miss, alright?”
“O… Okay, I’m fine…”
Nangong Li continued staring.
“Th… Then fine, just have the checkup.”
Li Ruoxi replied weakly.
A smile appeared on Nangong Li’s cold face.
She clapped her hands.
A crowd of people filed in, all wearing white medical robes, carrying various stethoscopes and tools.
Then another crowd filed in, carrying Chinese medicine pots emitting faint smoke.
The bitter, thick scent of herbal medicine mingled with the floral scent, becoming a special fragrance.
“Si… Sister Li… Can I at least finish my bath… first”
Nangong Li smiled and clapped again.
“Miss, let the professionals help you with your bath.”
Li Ruoxi’s smile froze…
This whole crowd watching her bathe—that’s one thing.
But another group, helping her bathe?
“Sister Li!”
Li Ruoxi said indignantly.
“I want to be alone… alone for a while!”
“Alright.”
Nangong Li ordered, “You, turn around.”
Then she pointed at the maids who were supposed to help with bathing, and said to the two in front, “You two, come and help Miss with her bath.”
The others turned around.
The two young maids put towels on their shoulders and came over.
Li Ruoxi: “…”