After venting for a moment, the woman noticed that Shen Ji’s body had stopped trembling.
She gently pressed her hand against his shoulder.
“Alright, stop acting so miserable. My name is Liu Yao, and I’m with the Official. I’m going down to investigate the Blood Race trade. Since you’ve been there before, you’ll be my guide.”
Shen Ji slowly lifted his head and used his sleeve to haphazardly wipe his face.
“Sister Liu, you’re clearly a member of the Blood Race. Why did you join the Official?”
Liu Yao looked at his face, which still bore traces of tears, and didn’t rush to answer.
Instead, she pulled a pack of wet wipes from her back pocket and began to wipe his face unhurriedly.
In Liu Yao’s eyes, although the young man’s complexion was slightly pale, his features were sharp.
His high nose bridge was perfectly balanced with the elegance of his eyes and brows.
This caused her gaze to soften with a rare warmth, inevitably reminding her of someone she knew all too well.
“Let’s talk about you first. I still don’t know your name.”
“My name is Shen Ji. I’m currently a high school senior at Nanjiang No. 1 High School.”
“Do you have any plans after graduation?”
Shen Ji gave a bitter smile.
“Not yet. Sister Liu, you know the higher-ups have been cracking down on the Blood Race lately. My teacher even mentioned it in class. I… I don’t know how much longer I can stay hidden…”
After saying this, Shen Ji’s hands slumped powerlessly at his sides.
Those few sentences seemed to have drained all of his strength.
“Shen Ji, remember this: the world isn’t just black and white. I can give you a chance to stop hiding right now, but you’ll have to bear the cost yourself.”
Shen Ji’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Is… is that true? I don’t want to leave this place yet. My sister still needs me.”
“Don’t get your hopes up too early. I only said there is a chance.”
At this point, how could Shen Ji not see that the woman in front of him wanted to recruit him and make him risk his life for the Official?
However, he had his own plans.
A position with the Official might be a perfect protective amulet, but that was only as long as the Official needed him.
If they didn’t, that amulet would turn into a death warrant.
Liu Yao looked at the hesitant Shen Ji and sighed softly.
“Don’t rush to give me an answer. You can think it over. Here is my contact information; let me know when you’ve decided. Also, take this.”
Liu Yao pulled a bottle of dark red liquid from the inner pocket of her jacket.
“This is a blood plasma specially researched by the Official for the Blood Race. After taking one bottle, it doesn’t matter if you don’t consume any blood for one month.”
Shen Ji took it slowly, his gaze sweeping over Liu Yao with suspicion.
He couldn’t understand why she would go to such lengths for him.
This unearned favor made him feel a flicker of unease.
“Sister Liu, why are you being so good to me?”
Liu Yao looked at the wary Shen Ji and reached out to take it back.
“If you don’t want it, forget it. I only get two bottles a month myself. Giving one to you leaves me short.”
Shen Ji retreated half a step and stuffed it into his backpack with lightning speed.
‘I can let Ye Xi try it anyway. Even if there’s a problem, she’s so strong that she should be fine, right?’
“Sister Liu, this is the first gift you’ve ever given me. I have to take it home and keep it as a collectible.”
Liu Yao’s lips twitched.
“Fine, stop being a smart-mouth. Come down with me.”
“You got it.”
Shen Ji hurried forward, entering the elevator first and skillfully pressing the buttons in a specific sequence.
Liu Yao stood with her arms crossed, seemingly deep in thought.
“By the way, Sister Liu, can you wait for me to collect my money before you shut down the Black Market?”
“What are you thinking? Breaking the law right in front of me? Besides, do you really think I could shut it down all by myself?”
“Then why are you here?”
“The higher-ups recently came into contact with an organization called the Midnight Society. They’ve been trading half-breed Blood Race members on a massive scale lately. I’m just under orders to investigate the sellers.”
“Half-breeds?”
Seeing Shen Ji’s confused expression, Liu Yao explained, “You, me—those of us who can exist in human form are called Half-breeds.”
“So, that means there are Pure-bloods too?”
“Exactly. Because they cannot maintain a human form, they are much rarer.”
Shen Ji swallowed hard, suddenly realizing his current situation was somewhat dangerous.
Since the trading of the Blood Race had been causing such a stir lately, wasn’t it risky for him to go down there?
“Are we just going down like this?”
“Are you scared?”
“No… not at all.”
“Don’t worry. Sister here has undergone Evolution three times. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have noticed you following me.”
Shen Ji played dumb and asked, “What Evolution?”
Liu Yao slapped her forehead in exasperation.
“You really are a complete newbie. We of the Blood Race can achieve Evolution by absorbing the energy in blood.”
“For Half-breeds like us, the ability gained after one Evolution is a Blood Race appearance and a massive increase in physical attributes. Someone with a weak aura like yours, who hasn’t even evolved once, probably only started absorbing blood recently, right?”
Shen Ji nodded noncommittally.
“But you must also understand that once you start drinking blood, it’s addictive. You’ll become obsessed with the feeling of your strength rapidly increasing. If the blood energy isn’t replenished in time, you’ll exhibit signs of losing emotional control.”
Shen Ji scratched his head.
He didn’t feel any sense of obsession.
As for losing emotional control, he had seen Ye Xi choking him—could it be because of the system?
It had only simulated the beneficial aspects of the Blood Race, while the negative side effects were filtered out.
Just then, the elevator doors opened.
The first things that came into view were the beams of flashlights cutting through the darkness.
Scattered shops could only be glimpsed in their original state when a beam of light accidentally swept across them.
Liu Yao squinted her eyes, clearly not yet adjusted to the dark environment.
Shen Ji, however, felt like he had returned home.
After walking out, he began to wander around.
Generally speaking, the items sold at the various stalls were a mixed bag, but most were jewelry, stones, and jade.
To find real rarities, one had to go deeper.
After the two had walked some distance, Shen Ji stopped in front of a pharmacy and paced back and forth, occasionally glancing back at Liu Yao.
Liu Yao’s brow furrowed slightly.
“What are you doing wandering around here?”
“Sister Liu, this is the shop where I heard the news about the Blood Race trade last time. Instead of wandering aimlessly, it’s better to ask the owner here for information.”
Liu Yao let out a cold snort.
“Are you very familiar with the owner of this shop?”
“Yeah.”
Shen Ji replied subconsciously.
It wasn’t until he noticed Liu Yao’s gaze turning cold that he changed his tune.
“Actually, I just know him. We’re not close at all.”
“Go in by yourself first. I’ll wander around outside.”
Shen Ji immediately understood.
This was Liu Yao hinting for him to go in and collect his money first.
Since she carried the status of the Official, she could only pretend she hadn’t seen it, as if it never happened.
With that established, Shen Ji didn’t hesitate and turned to enter.
Inside the dim pharmacy, scattered medicine bottles were placed everywhere.
A middle-aged man in a white lab coat with scruffy stubble sat on a recliner with his eyes squinted.
“Doctor Bai, I’ve finished the trial for the final phase of the medicine. There were no adverse reactions.”
Doctor Bai rubbed his messy hair.
When he looked up and realized it was Shen Ji, his hand froze in mid-air.
A flash of shock appeared in his cloudy eyes.
“Shen Ji? You’re actually still alive?”
‘Is the person in front of you a ghost then?’
“Doctor Bai, you really know how to joke.”
“If I remember correctly, you were trialing the Type 1030 Reagent, weren’t you?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Everyone else who used that batch of medicine with you is dead.”
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