Chapter 60: Delicious but lacking in nutrition?

“…What’s wrong with you?”

“St-stop licking my nose, I can’t breathe!”

“Haha, that tickles, let me go…”

“I, I have a lot more of this potion! Calm down first!!”

More…?

Only when she heard those words did the red light in Lilique’s eyes fade slightly.

She stared blankly at the girl beneath her, panting in disarray,

and extended her small hand in a threatening manner…

Looking entirely like she’d say, “If you don’t give it to me, I’ll lick you into a mess.”

“…H-here you go.”

Luwei’s head was still buzzing, so she had no choice but to pull out another Life Potion from her bosom…

But this seemed to let Li Ke find some sort of pattern—

Not only did she snatch the Life Potion from Luwei’s hand, but unsatisfied, she also reached under Luwei’s clothes, carefully checking if there were any more stashed away.

“…!”

“Stop… I only brought two bottles, there really aren’t any more!”

Luwei tried to push Li Ke off herself, but the other girl seemed much stronger than her.

With one hand, she subdued both of Luwei’s hands…

“Haha… stop searching…”

Only after confirming that Luwei really had no hidden stash did Li Ke reluctantly stand up and begin studying the Life Potion in her hand.

“Phew, cough, cough…”

Luwei finally had a moment to catch her breath.

“What on earth…?”

For a moment, countless questions flashed through her mind,

even leaving her unsure where to begin—

Was Li Ke really just an ordinary person?

Why did she react so strongly to a Life Potion?

And also…

A flicker of frustration and indignation passed through Luwei’s eyes.

Why couldn’t she handle a little girl shorter than her??

She wiped the saliva from her face… and wobbled to her feet.

Only to find that Li Ke was already taking small sips of the Life Potion in her hand.

A look of immense satisfaction appeared on her face.

“Is it… that delicious?”

Luwei observed Li Ke’s reaction with considerable surprise.

So… so blissful…

Lilique felt her consciousness soaring into the clouds.

The incredibly sweet medicinal liquid enveloped every taste bud the moment it entered her mouth.

Immediately following was that surging Mana, washing over every inch of her body like a tidal wave, like a long drought meeting sweet rain, a dry riverbed filling with water once more.

A sense of fullness washed over her limbs and entire being again and again, making Lilique feel incredibly relaxed and comfortable all over.

Her mind and body were immersed in this unprecedented sense of satisfaction…

“What is this…?”

Smacking her little lips, Lilique hadn’t yet recovered from this intense stimulation.

But as her body finished digesting the potion’s effects…

Lilique carefully probed her own Mana,

only to find that the intoxicating sense of fullness she had just felt was actually just an illusion.

Her Mana had indeed recovered somewhat, but the degree of recovery was far less than the stimulation her senses had experienced…

Recalling that euphoric, floating feeling, she had almost thought she’d drunk something like Ancient Dragon’s Blood!

But in the end, its effect wasn’t even as good as taking a bite of the white cake in front of her?

“Could this thing be poisonous!?”

Lilique questioned mercilessly.

Unknown composition, unknown effects… its only purpose was to lure her into taking a sip?

She was starting to suspect this was some kind of weapon humans had developed specifically to deal with her!

It deceived her senses, but did nothing to sate her hunger, and the amount of Mana recovered was pitifully small.

“Eh, wait…”

But soon, Lilique realized just how important this was to her.

Did this magic potion… bypass the Curse on her body??

The Curse’s effect was to seal her ability to feed, specifically, her ability to digest the power contained in blood.

But now, after drinking this strange magic potion, Lilique actually felt some of the Mana in her body recover.

“This, th-this this this…!”

Lilique’s pupils trembled violently.

She knew very well what this meant—

Vampire food was highly specialized; they could almost only consume the blood of other races!

From ordinary food, herbs, or materials high in Mana, Vampires could absorb only a minuscule amount of Mana.

And now, this small bottle of magic potion could actually restore the Mana within Lilique,

with an effect equivalent to drinking a large mouthful of ordinary human blood!

Although this potion was highly stimulating and its side effects were unknown, as long as it could replenish her Mana… in such a desperate situation, even if the pleasure from the potion scrambled her brains and turned her into a drooling fool, she’d be willing!

Thinking this, Lilique looked at Luwei beside her with ill intent and licked her lips.

“How much more of this magic potion do you have?”

Having regained her energy, Lilique spoke with confidence.

“Listen, perhaps we can make a deal.”

Her tone was mature, her gaze sharp, as if she were a completely different person, none of that earlier fragile demeanor remaining.

And Luwei, having noticed this, was completely bewildered.

What just happened?

Where did that delicate, soft-spoken Li Ke go?

Who was this fierce, mature little shorty…?

“Hey, are you even listening to me?”

Li Ke added in a flat tone, “I won’t take your potion for free.”

“In exchange, you can boldly state your wish to me!”

Although Li Ke’s words were somewhat cryptic, Luwei still managed to interpret their meaning.

“You still want this kind of Life Potion?”

Could it be that Li Ke was truly injured?

And one low-grade Life Potion simply wasn’t enough for her to recover…

“Life Potion? A very good name… I did indeed feel a surge of immense vitality.”

Lilique rubbed her chin.

“That’s right, I need many such Life Potions. Name your price.”

But after she finished speaking, Luwei didn’t look intimidated by her imposing manner as she had imagined…

Instead—

“Hmm…?”

Luwei circled around Lilique, once, then again.

Until the calm expression on the latter’s face began to falter—

Luwei finally sighed in relief.

“If little Li Ke is injured, you can just ask me directly. These magic potions aren’t anything valuable.”

“…Really?”

She’d just give them away for free?

But Lilique grew wary instead…

She was someone who was most suspicious of people offering favors for no reason!

Those who flattered her, those who tried to please her, all had ulterior motives—

“Only~~”

Sure enough, Luwei’s tone shifted, as if she wanted to add something.

“What do you want?”

Lilique asked generously.

She had originally thought Luwei would seize the opportunity to make exorbitant demands, ask about her origins, try to extract information, or even covet the gemstones in her pocket.

But…

Luwei’s eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked at her with an expectant face.

“It’s just… could you… revert back?”

“I still prefer you the way you were before, all soft and gentle.”

As she spoke, Luwei playfully imitated it.

“Not good… I almost fainted from hunger…”

“Wah~ so embarrassing~~”

Lilique’s face instantly darkened.

“Are you looking for trouble!?”