CH 43

The lights that flashed across the sky were pretty, but Ji Ning was too worried to appreciate the sight of them.

He knew that this lightshow was caused by Ark and that the energy contained in them was incredibly destructive. It was obvious that Ark had restrained himself, since the shards of light that touched the ground barely singed the grass. However, inside the tight security of the Federation, the origins of these unknown energy sources would soon be detected by the optical network and security aircrafts would be sent to examine the area. 

Why do they keep fighting…Ji Ning felt a little suffocated.

He was certain that Huo Wuling started it, as Ark was very good natured and wouldn’t normally start a fight on his own.

Ji Ning was just wondering how to attract the attention of the three protagonists when the energy beams abruptly stopped. It appeared as if the fight was over. A pair of ice cold hands suddenly stretched out from behind him, gently wrapping around his waist.

“You’re finally back.” 

A low voice murmered into his ear. Ji Ning flinched, both from surprise and the chill from the ghost’s cool body. Huo Wuling chuckled at his response and rested his head on Ji Ning’s shoulder.

“If you didn’t come back,” Huo Wuling said softly, “I was going to go back into your dreams to steal you away.”

“Were you fighting with Ark again?”

Ji Ning ignored his teasing and mercilessly swept Huo Wuling’s hand from his shoulder as he turned to look directly into his eyes, “Why do you always bully him?”

“Do you think it’s my fault?”

The handsome man spread his hands and widened his eyes, saying innocently, “But it was them who started it. The two of them joined hands to bully me, can’t I fight back?”

“Maybe you didn’t make the first move, but before that, you must have said something.” Ji Ning’s expression was flat, “Neither Herinos nor Ark are unreasonable people.”

“That’s right.” 

Fu Ji, who had stood and listened for a long time, could no longer stop himself from defending his friend, “Ark didn’t want to cause you trouble so he endured it for a long time, it’s just that this guy…”

Before he could finish speaking, Huo Wuling sent him a look. There was a smile in his eyes but Fu Ji couldn’t help the shiver that ran down his back, causing him to fall silent. He understood it, he shouldn’t have spoken.

“Ningning, I’m so happy that you know me so well.”

Huo Wuling kissed Ji Ning’s cheek and gracefully settled on the sofa. Then he frowned slightly and said. 

“But they should also share responsibility. I didn’t want to fight with them, it’s a pointless waste of my recovered power.”

As he spoke his eyes darkened slightly and the corner of his lips curled up, revealing a dangerous edge to his smile, “If it was up to me, I would simply wait until my power had recovered enough to kill them all.”

“Huo Wuling…”

With such a dangerous person lurking in his house, Ji Ning felt that he was starting to get a headache. He stood in front of Huo Wuling and held on to his shoulders to talk to him. 

“Can’t you just…” having started this, Ji Ning abruptly froze as he realised how impossible this was, but he still forced himself to finish, “…get along with them?”

“Oh? Well, it’s not impossible.”

Unexpectedly, Huo Wuling answered quite reasonably, but his next sentence revealed his true purpose, “If you come and kiss me, then I’ll think about it.”

He leaned back on the sofa with his arms folded and smirked at Ji Ning, as if he was certain Ji Ning wouldn’t dare to. 

But the next moment the dark haired man felt a soft and warm touch to his lips. Although the feeling was fleeting, it still left him stunned.

“Is that enough?”

After kissing him, Ji Ning straightened up and asked, not meeting his eyes.

“…” Huo Wuling blinked, then without warning, reached out and grabbed Ji Ning’s wrist, pushing him down onto the sofa. He climbed on top of him and said with a wicked smile, “No, it doesn’t seem to be.” 

He had just lowered his head to kiss Ji Ning when the door of the villa opened abruptly and a cool wind blew in from outside, as a handsome, snowy haired angel stood in the doorway. He seemed to match the ice and snow of the weather outside, while the small black bat fluttered around his head.

When he saw Huo Wuling pinning Ji Ning to the sofa, the angel’s eyes flashed and energy gathered at his fingertips again. Seeing this, Fu Ji spluttered and hurriedly leaned over to whisper something to him.

“…”

Ji Ning didn’t know what Fu Ji said to him but Ark extinguished the light from his fingertips and ruffled his feathers out, before walking over to Ji Ning. He knelt down in front of him, grabbed his hand and said softly. 

“Sorry, it’s my fault for causing you trouble.”

His eyes drooped downwards, eyelashes softly trembling. He looked so docile and obedient that Ji Ning couldn’t help but stroke his hair and comfort him, “It’s okay Ark, I know this wasn’t your fault.”

Ji Ning pushed Huo Wuling away from him in displeasure. Huo Wuling didn’t know whether to laugh or not, refusing to admit his mistake. He raised a corner of his lips and said playfully to Fu Ji, “A retreat is the best way to advance? You really played that trick well.”

“…” 

Fu Ji’s face twitched and he shifted his gaze to one side but he still felt that he’d done the right thing. Ark had a simple personality and it was too easy for him to suffer when facing Huo Wuling. What was wrong with giving his friend some advice?

However, facing Huo Wuling, he still felt quite stressed, so he quickly changed the subject, saying to Ji Ning.

“Since we’re all here now, please explain your situation little fish. We were too overwhelmed when we followed you and didn’t understand anything about it. Is this an ability of yours, space shifting?”

“It’s similar to space shifting, but my ability is unusual and out of my control. I don’t know when it will appear or disappear.” 

Ji Ning thought about it for a bit, then briefly explained without going into too much detail, “It’s more like a curse than an ability and it’s caused me a lot of trouble.”

“Oh?”

Fu Ji had just been asking casually, but now he was interested, “When did this start happening to you? Also, you can appear both as a human and a mermaid, does your chaotic space shifting ability change your appearance?”

He looked at Ji Ning with curiosity. The more time he spent with Ji Ning, the more intrigued he was by the mystery of him. He knew there was no way that Ji Ning’s identity was simple, but he really didn’t know anything about him. 

Whether he was a mermaid once raised by Ark, or the lover of Ozer, the Emperor of Mo Ling, it was impossible to tell which was true, as if a layer of mist shrouded his identity.

He was dangerous but attractive.

Although Fu Ji was used to acting cautiously, as a mercenary he was naturally attracted to stimulating and dangerous things. Of course, he wouldn’t try and rob Ark of his lover, it was just that the more dangerous he appeared, the more he wanted to help Ark win over Ji Ning. The deadliest treasures were often the most beautiful.

But it really wouldn’t be easy to snatch him from these weirdos… 

Especially when he thought about the Emperor from that monstrous Empire. Fu Ji laughed dryly, deciding not to think about that for now. There was still some basic issues he urgently needed to solve. He needed to understand the specific political situation of the country they were currently in as soon as possible, as well as sort out their identity and monetary issues. They still needed to complete the task the republic of Anmoya had assigned them.

“Yes, they seem to be related, but I’m not very clear about the specifics.”

Hearing Fu Ji’s question, Ji Ning was a little surprised by his sharpness, as he was able to link his spatial distortions with his changing appearances but he only answered his question vaguely. After all, this was a matter related to the system, so he couldn’t explain it to outsiders.

The red haired man nodded. Assuming that it was a private matter, he didn’t press further and turned to take out his computer from the luggage he had brought, asking, “Can I connect to your network here? I mean, if your country can connect to websites outside of its borders?” 

“It’s not a problem, you just have to connect to the extra domain network.”

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This left Ji Ning with the three other people inside the room. Huo Wuling was sitting on the sofa, staring at Ji Ning with a half smile, “What else is there about you that I don’t know?” 

Ji Ning avoided his eyes. Huo Wuling had already seen through most of his secrets because the roles he and Huo Wuling played were so similar. Both of them had travelled through different worlds to complete various tasks.

Fortunately the biggest secret, that ‘they all came from the worlds of novels’ hadn’t been exposed. Even if Huo Wuling used what he knew as a way to blackmail him, he wasn’t completely compromised. The fact that he had travelled across various worlds would be revealed but Yun Yuan and Fu Qinghan were already aware of it, so it wasn’t a huge secret.

Herinos, who had kept silent for a long time, landed on Ji Ning’s lap in his bat form and said, “I think you need to give me an explanation Ji Ning. Like he said, what are you still hiding?”

Sure enough… 

Although there was no blame in Herinos’ tone and he was simply asking Ji Ning for the truth, it still made Ji Ning feel a little uneasy.

This was because, ever since Herinos had appeared, he had pretended to have amnesia. He’d used Herinos’ guilt and trust in him in order to protect himself from Huo Wuling, and now because of this, Herinos was so weak he had to remain in his bat form.

He knew that even if he told him the truth, Herinos wouldn’t blame him, but that was what made it so hard to speak.

The little bat’s dark eyes were fixed on Ji Ning, waiting for his explanation. Just as Ji Ning was considering his words, the door of the study suddenly opened and Fu Ji burst out. 

His expression was a little ugly, as if he’d seen something grim. Glancing at the people in the room, he cleared his throat then spoke.

“I just saw on the news that the spaceship we were on was diverted to the Mo Ling Empire instead of Anmoya.”

Everyone looked up at him when they heard his words. Fu Ji licked his dry lips and continued.

“All passengers were escorted off the ship to undergo a strict inspection. There was a large number of troops stationed around each of the spacecraft’s exits and the Emperor Ozer was sighted.” 

“Although the report didn’t explain why Ozer was there, it…” He looked at Ji Ning blankly, “He definitely went there to find you.”

Ozer had actually appeared to look for him himself…

Ji Ning’s body turned cold in fear. If the spatial distortion hadn’t ended then, it wasn’t difficult to imagine what would have happened.

Even with Huo Wuling and the others by his side, their injuries hadn’t yet healed. The Mo Ling Empire was the central capital star of its galaxy, it would have been impossible to pass it undetected when there were countless spiritual power users and spacecrafts to intercept them within its territory. There was no way they could have escaped. 

“But why?” Fu Ji was puzzled, “Hadn’t we erased the memories of those security officers, how did the information leak out?”

“…”

A thought occurred to Huo Wuling and he squinted his beautiful eyes, musing, “When the spaceship stopped at the Mo Ling Empire, there were two passengers, a mother and her child. At the time, I thought there was something wrong with that woman but there was no abnormality when I checked her. It’s possible she might have used some methods we couldn’t detect.”

Ji Ning had lived for years inside the interstellar world and knew that the people of the Mo Ling Empire had all kinds of spiritual powers. It wasn’t impossible for them to possess various hidden, strange or unique abilities. 

But he had no power in this world. Except for the distortions, he was a completely ordinary person. He had no way of detecting these powers and had no impression of the mother and child that Huo Wuling mentioned.

Back then, the spatial distortion happened to end and he escaped Ozer’s pursuit by chance. Next time, would it be possible for him to escape again?

Ji Ning felt anxious in his heart. Although the Federation’s security was extremely tight due to the existence of the central optical brain and claimed to be one of the safest countries in the universe, there were invariably oversights. There had to be spies from other worlds and there could easily be ones from the Mo Ling Empire.

What’s more, he was still an actor and there would be photos and information about his works on the internet. Even though there were vast quantities of information on the optical network and he wasn’t particularly popular across the galaxy, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t be discovered. 

Ji Ning considered the situation for a while, but still contacted the optical network to partially lock his data so it couldn’t be routed through extra domain networks. However, he didn’t lock it completely as he still wanted to shoot a movie with Gu Chen. If information about him stopped circulating entirely, the development of the plot would be affected.

Even after doing this, Ji Ning was not at ease. He touched his face, briefly wondering whether it was necessary for him to change his appearance and leave the country for a bit.

Without any of his powers, it would be much harder to change his appearance. He couldn’t have plastic surgery, but other methods were illegal inside the Federation. It was a really difficult situation.

“Leave this to me.” 

Sensing Ji Ning’s worries, Fu Ji patted his chest and said confidently, “Whatever you need, I can get it for you.”

“Thank you Fu Ji, then please.”

Ji Ning thanked him with a smile but he knew that no method was foolproof as the Empire could always conduct a spiritual power fluctuation check. Everyone’s fluctuations were unique and impossible to fake. Ji Ning’s spiritual fluctuations had already been recorded at the Imperial Military Academy. If they really checked him, they would know who he was.

Anyway, it was better to hide… 

Ji Ning thought about all this and at the same time, couldn’t help but feel depressed.

Since the worlds had started their abnormalities, the system operator had always said it was looking for a solution and expected to find one within a week. That time limit had long passed but the system operator was now playing dead. It seemed its only skill was rejecting his requests.

Over the next few days, Fu Ji explored their options for escaping from the country undetected, while the others remained in the villa, reluctantly maintaining a forced peace.

Being watched by three men at the same time, even if Ji Ning wanted to seduce Gu Chen, he didn’t have the guts, so he could only stay at home with them. 

Ark was extremely curious about everything in Ji Ning’s villa. His attention was soon drawn to a photo album that had photos of Ji Ning as a child. He hugged the album to his chest and stared at the pictures without blinking. It wasn’t until Ji Ning called him for dinner that he reluctantly put it down.

“Which one is ‘braised pork ribs’?”

At the dinner table, the white haired angel blinked his eyes and carefully examined the dishes in front of him. Previously, Huo Wuling had mentioned that Ji Ning liked to eat braised pork ribs, but Ark hadn’t heard of them before and had been worried about it ever since.

He said to Ji Ning very seriously, “I want to learn what it is and cook it for you.” 

“You want to learn?” Huo Wuling looked at him with a half smile, “You really want to be a housekeeper for Ningning?”

“…”

Ark pursed his lips and looked pitifully over at Ji Ning. Ji Ning sighed and said helplessly, “Huo Wuling…can’t you let us eat one good meal?”

“Then you’ll need to block my mouth,” Huo Wuling smirked, “Why don’t you come and feed me?” 

Ji Ning didn’t even look at him, “You’re not allowed to eat anymore.”

Huo Wuling was still shameless, “You can also feed me by kissing.”

“Who are you speaking to?”

The little bat that perched on the edge of a glass drinking artificial plasma raised his head. He glanced at Huo Wuling and a few bats composed of black mist appeared in the air and flew towards Huo Wuling, “I think these kids would love to feed you.” 

“Not at all.”

Huo Wuling waved his hand and scattered the bats into dark mist again. Looking between the remains of the bats and the blood in the bat’s cup, Huo Wuling raised an eyebrow.

He could sense that the vampire’s power was returning and at a rapid pace. Together with the android, the two were very difficult for him to deal with.

As he had told Ji Ning before, attacking those two people would just waste his power. It would be better for him to return to Ji Ning’s shadow to gather more energy and kill the vampire before he fully recovered. 

“I really don’t like you guys with wings.”

Huo Wuling sighed softly, and in front of everyone’s surprised gaze his figure slowly faded, disappearing into Ji Ning’s shadow.

Ji Ning looked down at his own shadow. He didn’t know why Huo Wuling had chosen to go back but it seemed out of character. In the end, he guessed that it was because he was tired. After all, he had to change the memories of an entire spaceship and then fought against Ark and Herinos…It must have used up a lot of his energy.

Not to mention how Huo Wuling felt, even Ji Ning felt tired so he went to rest early after dinner. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been in bed for long, when a strange feeling suddenly appeared in his body. 

Like a wildfire, an intense longing rose from the depths of his soul, as if something was calling him, attracting him.

It was his blood pact with Herinos acting up again…

Ji Ning pulled at the collar of his pyjamas, gasping for breath as sweat dripped from his forehead. He stumbled out from his bed and left his bedroom, searching for Herinos.

A small bat flew out of the shadows of the dark corridor. Herinos had already sensed his distress and came to look for Ji Ning. 

Weakened, Ji Ning stumbled and fell forward, his vision darkening. In a wave of motion, the bat’s wings transformed into a long cloak, as a black gloved hand caught Ji Ning in Herinos’ strong embrace.

The handsome blood prince looked down at the man in his arms and without hesitation, cut into his wrist, letting the blood that flowed out pour into Ji Ning’s mouth.

With the influx of blood, the pain caused by the blood contract quickly dissipated. Ji Ning collapsed into Herinos’ arms, sweating all over, and said in a low voice, “Thank you…”

“I’ll take you back.” 

Herinos stroked his hair and carried him back to his bed. Just as he was about to leave, Ji Ning suddenly grabbed at the corner of his sleeve and stopped him from moving.

“Are you okay?” Ji Ning asked, “You can suck my blood to restore your strength.”

After saying this, he sat up and pulled at the collar of his shirt, exposing his pale neck to Herinos.

“…” 

Herinos moved towards him immediately. He wanted to respect Ji Ning’s wishes but at the same time, he had no reason to refuse if Ji Ning offered first. He sat next to him on the bed and pulled his body close, sinking his fangs into the pretty, unblemished skin of his neck.

Being fed on by a vampire had never been a painful thing, on the contrary, it caused an airy and pleasurable feeling that was almost addictive. When Herinos finally raised his head, Ji Ning was still immersed in the feeling and felt a little dazed. It took him a while to regain his senses.

Herinos slowly licked the blood from his lips and smiled at Ji Ning, dropping a gentle kiss to his forehead, “Thank you.”

“…Actually, I should be thanking you.” 

After a brief silence, Ji Ning said, “And I’m sorry Herinos, I’ve taken advantage of you.”

After considering it, Ji Ning told him the truth, including how he remembered his past with Herinos and that he had crossed through many worlds, but he explained it as reincarnation. He said that his way of living was relatively special as periodically he would change bodies and live a different life.

Herinos could understand this kind of explanation because in his world, some vampires really liked humans. In order to live among them, they would disguise their identities and integrate with human societies but because they are near immortal, every few decades they would have to leave their old lives and move on to find a new place to live.

However, Ji Ning stressed that his way of life was different to those vampires. He explained that these identities were not chosen by him and he could only accept them passively and live the life he was given. 

“I don’t really hate you.”

Ji Ning said, “But I could only treat you in that manner and later I hid the truth from you. I’m sorry.”

Herinos raised a hand and stroked Ji Ning’s face with a faint smile that contained a trace of bitterness.

His feelings were complicated, he hadn’t expected that Ji Ning had kept him in the dark all this time. 

From the first moment he saw Ji Ning, he had a very good impression of him, so he had never doubted him. Even though he had noticed some irregularities in his behaviour more than once, he subconsciously chose to ignore them because of his emotional bias. He was willing to trust Ji Ning.

His suggestions also had no effect on Ji Ning’s memory. He suddenly remembered how he had modified Ji Ning’s memories several times before. Ji Ning must have remembered everything, but pretended as if his memory had been modified without saying anything. Herinos’ mood became even more complicated. At this point, he really wanted to give himself a suggestion so he could forget about those things.

Even though he had lived a long time, in front of the person he liked, he couldn’t help but appear young, clumsy and inexperienced because Ji Ning was the first and only person he’d ever liked.

“You’ve been lying to me all this time, but…I’m very happy.” 

After a moment of silence, Herinos smiled and looked at Ji Ning tenderly, “I’m happy you haven’t forgotten our past.”

He paused for a while, then added, “I should also apologise to you. Didn’t I use the same method? I thought you had forgotten me after you reincarnated, so in order to make you accept me I used suggestions on you so you’d stay by my side. I deceived you.”

“I’m sorry Ji Ning.”

He apologised solemnly to Ji Ning. 

“Of course I won’t blame you, Herinos.” Ji Ning said, “Do you forgive me?”

Herinos smiled softly, “Since you still have your memories, you should know I could never stay angry at you.”

Hearing him say that, Ji Ning felt a sense of relief, but he still felt guilty. As if sensing his thoughts, the blood prince suddenly took his hand and held it to his chest, asking in a low voice.

“I want to know how you really feel about me.” 

“…” Ji Ning considered the question for a few seconds before replying, “I like you a lot, but only as a friend. I think of you as my friend.”

“Okay…”

Herinos showed a hint of disappointment, then quickly laughed, “My friends are also very important to me. At least I know that you don’t hate me, I should be satisfied with that.”

Hearing him say that, Ji Ning felt a little sorry for him. In fact, inside that world he originally had nothing against Herinos, the reason why he had to hate him was because of his backstory. 

Inside Herinos’ world, his identity was a vampire hunter. His entire family had been killed by vampires, leaving only him and his sister who depended on one another. His role inside the novel was not only to hate Herinos, but to hate all vampires.

This world was particularly special to Ji Ning, as it was the first world he had experienced. But he wasn’t supposed to have seduced the hero, Herinos, but the heroine, Flora.

The Western vampire novel was called ‘Queen of Moonlight,’ and told the story of how Flora, who was a mixed race of human and vampire, grew from a weak noble girl to a vampire queen. Ji Ning’s original role inside the novel was the third male lead.

When Ji Ning first met the system Future, his initial mission was very ordinary. He was supposed to seduce the heroine and make her fall in love with him, but a serious deviation occurred because of Herinos and from then on, he had to walk the path of seducing the male protagonists. 

In the beginning of the novel, the heroine Flora met the human prince, who was the book’s second male lead. The prince secretly liked Flora and when he learned that her unusual bloodline caused her to often be attacked by low level vampires, he used his authority to assign Ji Ning as her bodyguard in order to protect her.

Ji Ning, the third male lead, was the genius young hunter of the Blood Hunting Association. He was cold as ice and held a strong hatred towards the blood clan. Naturally, he also disliked the mixed race Flora.

This was the very first mission Ji Ning had attempted. He was a low level transmigrator with no authority to act out of character, so he had to follow the plot exactly and act as someone who hated Flora in the early stages of the novel.

It was just that his acting skills were still developing at the time. Flora was gentle and smart and could tell that Ji Ning didn’t really hate her, so unlike in the original book, she wasn’t scared by Ji Ning’s cold face at all. Every time she saw Ji Ning she smiled at him, which made Ji Ning feel a subtle sense of frustration. 

But in any case, it was a good thing. His relationship with Flora was getting better by the day and Ji Ning thought he would be able to complete his mission smoothly. This was, until he met Herinos.

The first time he saw Herinos was at an evening party. In the original plot, this was also the scene where Flora first met Herinos. It was a masquerade party which meant that everyone’s true faces were hidden. Flora had danced with Herinos, who was disguised as a human and the two left a deep impression on one another.

As Flora’s bodyguard, Ji Ning naturally attended with her. He had no right to prevent Flora’s first encounter, so he folded his arms and waited in the corner of the room, drinking as he waited for Herinos to arrive.

Perhaps he had looked at Flora so seriously it had caught the attention of others, as before the music had begun to play, a low and pleasant voice spoke into his ear. 

“Aren’t you going to invite that beautiful young lady to dance?”

Ji Ning turned around to see a young nobleman, dressed in a black tuxedo and cloak. He wore a half mask but was obviously handsome. His dark hair and eyes looked as if they had been stolen from the night sky, giving him a mysterious and elegant aura.

The young nobleman moved closer and spoke to him with a smile.

“I noticed you keep looking over at her. Do you want to invite her to dance? Why not try it? She’s an attractive lady, if you don’t act quickly someone else will ask her. Don’t you feel unwilling?” 

Ji Ning glanced at the nobleman but didn’t speak, continuing to watch Flora in silence. He was waiting for Herinos to invite her to dance. He couldn’t change the established plot, so he could only use other methods to express his ‘jealousy’.

He didn’t know exactly what Herinos looked like, but he had read his description in the novel and knew that Herinos invited Flora to dance just before the first song began.

After a while, a young man in a mask stepped forward and invited Flora to dance. Ji Ning observed the man’s appearance. He had black hair and his clothes were similar to the novel’s description, wearing a black suit, cloak and a half face mask.

There should have been a dark red coat of arms tied across Herinos’ chest. It was how Flora would recognise him in the future, but because the man was wearing a cloak, Ji Ning couldn’t tell if there was a coat of arms and could only assume that the man was Herinos. 

It was time for him to step forward and express his dissatisfaction for Flora dancing with other men.

Ji Ning was preparing his emotions when suddenly, someone grabbed his wrist. It was the young nobleman who had spoken to him before.

“The dance has already started, do you still want to invite her?” The noble said, “That is not in line with the etiquette of a banquet. Even if you regret it now, it’s too late. Just give up on her.”

“This has nothing to do with you.” 

Ji Ning said coldly and tried to walk towards Flora, but found he was unable to break free from the young noble’s hand. Surprised, he turned to look at him.

As a vampire hunter, he had exceptional strength. An ordinary person shouldn’t be able to stop him, yet he was completely incapable of removing the man’s grip. Instantly he became alert as he realised that the nobleman’s identity was abnormal.

“Don’t go,” said the young noble.

“Why did you stop me?” 

Ji Ning frowned slightly, wondering if this was the inevitability of the plot. He wanted to interrupt Flora and Herinos, but was stopped in the middle. He looked at the young aristocrat with a blank expression, “Do you want to be her next dance partner?”

“No.” The noble smiled, “The person I want to invite is you.” After saying that he bowed slightly and stretched out a hand towards Ji Ning, “I hope you will come and dance with me.”

“Stop joking.” Said Ji Ning, “We’re both men here.”

“I’m not joking,” The corner of the young man’s lip curled slightly, “Please come with me.” 

He took Ji Ning’s hand and dragged him across the banquet’s venue into the large gardens. He then led the two of them through a winding maze of bushes, twisting and turning until they reached the centre. It was a quiet and open place and the music from the banquet could still be faintly heard.

When they arrived, the young noble removed his cloak and mask, revealing his incredibly handsome face.

He brushed back the loose strands of his hair from his forehead and said to Ji Ning with a grin, “If we dance here, no one will disturb us.”

Ji Ning didn’t answer, his eyes focused on the nobleman’s chest. There, illuminated by the moonlight, was a blood red coat of arms, surrounded by roses. 

That coat of arms was unique and belonged only to Herinos. This was the coat of arms Flora recognised Herinos by the next time they met after the masquerade.

Seeing this coat of arms in front of him, Ji Ning’s heart suddenly had a very bad premonition.

Could it be that this strange man was Herinos?

If he was Herinos, who was dancing with Flora? 

Ji Ning’s expression twisted slightly and he grabbed at the sleeve of the young noble, asking, “What‘s your name?”

“Dan.” The young nobleman smiled and said, “You can call me that.”

That was the pseudonym Herinos gave Flora when they first met.

There was no doubt that this man was Herinos. 

It’s over!

Ji Ning’s whole body froze. If Flora didn’t meet Herinos, then each of the following plots would also collapse which would cause him to be turned to dust by the system operator!

No, he couldn’t just accept his fate. He had to return Herinos and make sure he and Flora were acquainted before the masquerade ended.

“Come with me.” 

He grabbed Herinos’ hand and tried to drag him back out of the maze, but even though he was the young genius vampire hunter of the Blood Hunting Association, it was impossible for him to compete with the power of a pure vampire. Using just a little force, Herinos tugged Ji Ning back and wrapped his arms around his lower back.

“A new song is about to start.”

Herinos picked up Ji Ning’s hand and placed a kiss to the back of it, “It doesn’t matter if you want to leave, just dance once with me and then I’ll let you go.”

Ji Ning couldn’t understand why Herinos hadn’t invited Flora to dance, but had chosen him instead. It was unbelievable and didn’t make any sense at all. Now Herinos was even refusing to let him leave and insisted on dancing with him. Helpless, he asked him, 

“Why do you have to dance with me?”

“You’re asking why…”

After a brief silence, Herinos raised the corner of his lips. Beneath the moonlight, his face revealed a trace of inhumanity in its beauty.

“There’s no reason. I was just interested in you at first sight, that’s all.” 

【A serious deviation has been detected within the plot. If it cannot be corrected, your soul will be destroyed.】

The voice of Future spoke in Ji Ning’s head.【There is a second option that will allow you to make dramatic changes to the plot without repercussions. It is your choice whether to accept it or not.】

「What is it?」Ji Ning asked quickly.

Future’s voice was clinical. 

【Change the target of your attack; give up on Flora and make Herinos fall in love with you instead.】

Guys these chapters are going to kill me. It was nice knowing you all.

I would say I’m sorry for the chapter being late, but you should be used to me by now!