Night fell once again. Near the national highway, a family of three was preparing for their May Day holiday trip at their rural villa.
After loading the luggage into the trunk of their small car, the man of the house called impatiently for his wife and daughter, who were still dawdling inside.
Another half hour passed before his wife and daughter, clearly made up and dressed for the occasion, hurriedly emerged with various bags. The small car carrying the family quickly disappeared into the distance.
Once the villa and its surroundings returned to silence, Xia Yan peeked out from the bushes nearby.
Setting down Gu Yao, who had become so weak that she staggered with every step, Xia Yan rushed to the outer wall of the villa in a few quick strides. She pricked up her ears, confirming once more that no one remained in the pitch-dark house, before finally breaking into a smile.
A few minutes later, in the dark rural villa, Xia Yan finally laid the confused Gu Yao on the living room sofa, then stumbled into the kitchen with an almost imperceptible flush on her face.
Finding some noodles and seasonings, she boiled water and cooked the noodles. Xia Yan didn't know how she was still managing to hold on, though by now she felt her entire body burning up, sweating profusely as if she were in a steamer.
The high-energy food bars they had brought along were long gone. Although they had briefly replenished some energy, a certain emptiness and anxiety within their bodies had grown increasingly clear.
After hastily finishing a large bowl of noodles, Xia Yan finally sighed with relief, but that peculiar hunger permeating her mind continued to haunt her every thought like a specter, making it impossible to find peace.
Returning to the living room, she didn't dare turn on the lights, relying instead on her tactical flashlight to clean Gu Yao's face, feed her some warm water, and check her condition.
For the past hour, Gu Yao had been in a semi-conscious state of exhaustion, her body burning hot, similar to Xia Yan's condition but more severe.
With the soot and grime wiped away, the white-haired girl's face was now more clearly visible. Her skin was smooth to the touch and delicate, but abnormally flushed. Her half-open eyes were a disturbing crimson color.
"Brother... am I dying... I can't see anything. Brother, are you still there..."
Gu Yao mumbled, her words unclear, confused, and weak. Her small hands clutched Xia Yan's arm without strength, and a pair of small fangs, deformed at some unknown point, looked both cute and creepy.
In her mind, Xia Yan recalled knowledge from her Shadow Arrow Force training center—this was a typical first blood thirst reaction after blood infiltration. Fresh blood must be consumed quickly, or the newly turned blood servant will likely die from organ failure.
After a minute of hesitation, Gu Yao's breathing became increasingly shallow. With no more time to waste, a look of pain and determination flashed in Xia Yan's eyes.
Holding the tactical flashlight in her mouth, she slowly removed her combat uniform top and tossed it aside, then extended her left arm and raised a fruit knife she had found in the kitchen cabinet.
In the circle of light, her fair and smooth wrist was visible, with several slender, scallion-like fingers trembling slightly. A beer glass caught the fresh blood as it flowed from the wound on her wrist, drop by drop, pooling in the glass, quickly accumulating to about 100 milliliters.
After haphazardly wrapping a bandage around her wrist, Xia Yan brought the glass of fresh blood to the white-haired girl's lips.
"Xiao Yao, drink this..."
As if catching a scent, the white-haired girl suddenly tensed her body, her hands gripping the beer glass tightly. Though her eyes remained unfocused, she had clearly sensed what she needed most was right before her.
The tactical flashlight's beam reflected off the white walls, dimly illuminating one corner of the living room. Xia Yan, with a faint smile, held the girl beneath her, stroking her smooth white hair and watching her face, while greedy gulping sounds reached her ears.
Xia Yan gradually felt her vision fading, and everything before her grew dim as her consciousness blurred.
The white-haired girl felt extremely comfortable now, warm inside and out, as if floating in the amniotic fluid of a mother she had never met, drifting gently, secure and warm.
...
...
In the dead of night, Gu Yao suddenly sat up as if waking from a dream, her face filled with terror and confusion, a slight pain still lingering on the back of her neck.
Brother knocked me out earlier... Where am I now? Where's Brother?
Her vision wasn't hindered by darkness. On the tiled floor not far away, a tactical flashlight, nearly out of battery, was making its final struggle. At her feet, beside the sofa, lay an unconscious black-haired girl whose black uniform top had been removed, leaving only a grayish-green tactical T-shirt.
Her slender, petite figure was vaguely discernible. Under the disheveled black hair, her face was pale with traces of a sickly flush.
Yes, that's Brother! It's him!
"Brother! Brother, what's wrong with you!"
Gu Yao quickly bent down to check, her gaze falling on an overturned beer glass on the floor. Inside and outside the glass, traces of congealed blood had formed lines, with a fruit knife discarded nearby.
Feeling the other's forehead, it was clearly over 40 degrees Celsius, with irregular, chaotic breathing.
"Brother, don't scare me! Please don't scare me!"
Gu Yao's voice grew hoarse, tinged with tears. She half-carried, half-dragged the black-haired girl onto the sofa, then crouched beside it, frantic and at a loss.
Yes... blood thirst, it's a blood thirst reaction. Brother needs to consume fresh blood now! I can't panic, there must be a way!
Gu Yao clutched her hair, her eyes wild as she looked around frantically. Finally, she noticed the bloody bandage on the body's wrist.
Her gaze fell again on the overturned beer glass. Gu Yao suddenly realized what had happened, grabbed the glass, placed it on the coffee table, rolled up her sleeve, and picked up the fruit knife.
No... she remembered the instructor once saying that for vampires who feed on their own kind, once one has consumed the other's blood, the latter cannot feed on the former's blood, or there's a risk of serious blood fusion. She couldn't remember the exact probability, but she wasn't willing to gamble now.
Seemingly remembering something, Gu Yao jumped up and rushed through each room. Finally, she found a computer in the study.
Fortunately, there was no login password! She entered the operating system, opened a web browser, searched for a map... and found it—the address of the nearest township health clinic!
After confirming the direction, Gu Yao tidied her uniform, grabbed the tactical flashlight, picked up the now-empty pack, and slipped the dagger into her combat boot.
However, the combat boots now felt very uncomfortable, probably because her foot size had changed after becoming a vampire. But there was no time to worry about that now!
Her stomach rumbled with hunger. Seeing a bowl of noodles congealing into a cold mass on the coffee table, Gu Yao didn't care about the taste and swallowed it all hastily.
Taking one last look at the dark living room, Gu Yao took a deep breath, rushed out of the villa, and disappeared into the darkness.