CH 24.1

After realizing what she had said, Sofia’s fingers trembled, and she took two panicked steps back.

She stared warily at Bai Lixin and Dijia for a moment before saying cautiously, “I haven’t seen you guys before.”

Bai Lixin, “We just entered the castle today, to attend the wedding in seven days.”

At the word “wedding”, Sophia’s face went white again, but she quickly recovered.

She was silent for two seconds before she spoke tentatively, “I saw you two leaving the hall earlier. Why didn’t you suck the blood of those people together?”

There was an expectant look in her eyes, as if she was expecting an answer that would reassure her.

“Because we brought our own food.” Bai Lixin replied.

At this answer, the anticipation in Sophia’s eyes flew away. She withdrew her gaze and looked sideways at the moonlight outside.

Perhaps not so long ago, she stood by her bedroom window every night, waiting for her gentle lover to open it.

“But we prefer each other than sucking humans.” Bai Lixin hooked the end of his fingers into the black lace collar, exposing two bite marks that had not yet fully healed.

Sophia immediately turned her head and looked at the two tiny wounds out of the corner of her eye, “Bloods can live by sucking each other’s blood?”

This question…

Bai Lixin turned to face Dijia.

Professional questions, of course, should be given to a professional.

He felt that drinking Dijia’s blood was able to relieve the pressure of appetite in some way, but whether this was a psychological effect or not, he did not know.

Dijia was cued, and he said softly, “Yes.”

“But for the average Blood, the blood of one’s own kind is not that tasty, and is even unpalatable. So Bloods prefers the fresh blood of humans.”

Not only was Sophia taken aback, but so was Bai Lixin.

If they could survive by sucking each other’s blood, wouldn’t it be possible to suck one’s own blood?

Wasn’t that like a perpetual motion machine?

Dijia guessed Bai Lixin’s direction of thought and hurriedly said, “But it’s not much use to drink your own.”

Bai Lixin muttered in a low voice, “What kind of ingenious logic is that?”

Dijia, “The principle of blood absorption is actually different from that of human feeding. Humans absorb nutrients through gastrointestinal digestion. What Bloods absorbs is the vitality in the blood.”

“There are different wavelengths of life flowing in the body, and the collision of wavelengths produces energy. Absorbing the blood of other Bloods is useful because each Blood has a unique wavelength of life, but absorbing your own is useless.”

It finally dawned on Bai Lixin and Sophia, “So that’s how it is.”

Sophia let out a “Huh” and looked at Bai Lixin in confusion, “How come you don’t seem to know that either?”

Bai Lixin thought for a moment, “I am a newly transformed Blood.”

Sophia’s eyes lit up. “You were human before, weren’t you? That’s why you don’t want to take human blood. I knew it. How could humans accept drinking human blood so easily?”

She hesitated for a moment and looked at Bai Lixin, “Can you do something for me?”

In Bai Lixin’s mind, the system beep suddenly sounded a little.

[Ding! Hidden task triggered.]

[Players can raise Sophia’s goodwill by helping her, and when the goodwill reaches 100, they can obtain a hidden clue: Mr. Mo’s name.]

Mr. Mo’s name?!

The moment the system’s words fell, a golden character appeared in the air above Sophia’s head: Goodwill 5.

Without hesitation, Bai Lixin immediately spoke, “Of course I can. I’d be happy to help you.”

The goodwill level above Sophia’s head jumped twice as rapidly.

Goodwill 10.

Sophia put her hands together and was moved to tears, “Kind Miss Blood, you are too kind. I hope you can help me get Hall out of here. If I go and save him, Mr. Mo will be furious when he finds out.”

Bai Lixin, “Is Hall the youth you saved earlier?”

Sophia, “Yes, that’s him. So, can you?”

Bai Lixin stared at the goodwill level above Sophia’s head, “Yes.”

Goodwill 20.

Was this a protagonist’s welfare NPC delivered to his door?

Sophia broke into a smile. As she held onto the wall and was about to leave, Sophia cried out and fell to her knees, her head oozing with cold sweat.

Bai Lixin could see Sophia’s stomach undulating with an exaggerated amplitude.

Even her red dress could not stop the struggle for that power.

A gradual bulge tore the dress open, followed by a second bulge right next to that one.

Soon, Sophia’s stomach was bulging like a frightened puffer fish.

The baby inside stretched and moved its limbs at will, without any regard for the mother’s distress.

Sophia had fallen to the floor in pain, and Bai Lixin knelt down and placed his hand on her stomach. The next moment, his face changed, and he withdrew it.

On that fiery red silk evening gown was the shape of an ugly, beastly face outlined.

It had a huge round head with a pointed jaw.

The baby’s eyes were tightly closed, its whole face was tangled up, and its wide open mouth took up almost half of its face.

Sophia covered her stomach and begged, “Mummy was wrong. Don’t punish mummy any more. Please forgive me.”

The baby fussed for a while and gradually fell silent, shrinking back into the stomach.

It’s just that the stomach seemed bigger than before, as big as that of a human woman at eight months of pregnancy.

As her stomach grew larger, Sophia’s face also showed a fading that was visible to the naked eye.

The face that was full of collagen a moment ago was now sunken. The eye sockets sunk, and fine lines appeared at the ends of the eyes and the corners of the mouth and neck.

In an instant, Sophia, who looked like a budding flower, seemed to have aged by more than ten years.

Sophia remained lying on the floor for a while.

After running her hand over her stomach and feeling that it had grown once again, Sophia burst into tears.

She curled herself into a ball and tried to hold her legs, but as if she was afraid that they would squeeze her stomach, she put them back down halfway.

At that moment, cries of wretched despair echoed through the empty corridor, while not far away downstairs, the happy and sated Bloods were feasting happily at the banquet. No one noticed that there was a lady on the verge of madness wailing for help.

Bai Lixin easily picked up Sophia, “Where is your room?”

Sophia cried as she pointed in the direction, “Go ahead and turn left at the end. It’s the third room.”

Bai Lixin and Dijia looked at each other. Wasn’t that the room of Lady Rose of the Surface World?

Along the way, Sophia’s goodwill kept jumping.

Sophia’s favorable rating above her head had risen to 40 by the time Bai Lixin placed the frail Sophia on the bed.

Sofia looked at Bai Lixin gratefully. Her hand clenched his wrist tightly as she pleaded, “Thank you, you… Can you stay with me?”

Bai Lixin, “Okay.”

Goodwill 45.

Sophia paused and looked at Dijia, who had an ugly look on his face, from the corner of her eyes, “Can you let him leave first? I’m a bit scared of him.”

Dijia’s face got even darker.

Bai Lixin, “Okay, I’ll go see him off and come in later.”

Five minutes later, Bai Lixin reappeared with a tiny, imperceptible bite behind his long black hair.

A pale Sophia surveyed Bai Lixin’s face for a moment, then asked, “Why are you so red in the face, Miss Xin?”

Bai Lixin, “Eh, it’s a bit hot.”

Sophia, “And why is your mouth a little swollen?”

Bai Lixin, “… It’s on fire.”

The room was no different from the layout in the surface world. There were roses occupying every possible place.

The windows were not sealed and one could clearly see the garden outside through them.

However, the garden now had not been planted with such an exaggerated number of roses, and a few men dressed as gardeners were pruning the branches of the roses under the moonlight.

Bai Lixin’s gaze was fixed on a coordinate in the distance.

It was still a barren clearing, but in the surface world, tunnels ran under it.

Out of Sophia’s sight, a furry, white bat poked its head out from between Bai Lixin’s hair.

It lazily adjusted its angle and gently flapped its wings to land on Bai Lixin’s shoulder.

The tiny body nimbly nudged itself through the gap in the puffy sleeve on the shoulder. The soft fluff slid across his collarbone, and Bai Lixin’s breath suddenly heaved.

Dijia, “The hair is too slippery to hold onto.”

Bai Lixin: “….”

Sophia sat up with her hands propped up on the clean white velvet sheets. Her body leaned weakly against the headboard, and the light in her eyes was gradually fading.

“In your opinion, Mr. Mo loves me very much, right?”

Sophia’s voice was sad as she spoke slowly, her smile bitter, “I think he loves me too.”

Bai Lixin dragged a chair and sat down beside Sophia, crossing his fingers on his legs in a very ladylike position.

Sophia continued, “He knew I loved roses and casually decorated my room with roses all over. He even thought up my title.”

“He said that when we were married, he would be the Count of Bloods and I would be his Lady Rose.”

Bai Lixin’s clasped hands suddenly tightened.

So, Sophia was the first Lady Rose.

Lady Rose was a nickname? Every one of Mr. Mo’s wives is called Lady Rose?

“But will I make it to my wedding day?” Panic flashed in Sophia’s eyes and she pointed to her bulging stomach, “He’s been desperately trying to absorb my strength. I can feel it.”

Bai Lixin stood up and walked over to the coffee table, which had a set of heated teapots on it.

He put the black tea in the teapot, added water, and heated it.

“Earlier, I heard you say that this baby was so strong and couldn’t fall out.” Within moments, wisps of white mist rose from the spout of the rose-shaped teapot, “Did you try to abort before?”

The white mist curled up and the tea smelled good.

Sophia’s lips were a little dry, and she sighed, “I don’t know why I find you particularly kind even though I’ve only met you once. I shouldn’t tell you these things, but I can’t help it.”

Sophia, “Yes, the moment I found out I was pregnant, I panicked.”

“I didn’t even think I would get pregnant. Being pregnant out of wedlock is a big crime in our town, and my first thought was to seek help from Mr. Mo.”

“When Mr. Mo heard that I was pregnant, he quickly decided he wanted to take me away from there. I packed up everything and said goodbye to my maid.”

“That night, Mr. Mo left a letter and took me away from my family.”

The white mist grew and Bai Lixin waited for the gurgling to come out before bringing the teapot down, “Would you like some sugar?”

Sophia was pulled back from her thoughts and replied, “One sugar, please.”

A teacup was taken and a sugar cube was dropped in. The bronze-colored tea immediately poured from the teapot.

Bai Lixin approached Sophia with the tea cup in hand.

“Thank you.” Sophia caught the saucer and handle. The hot mist rose above the brown tea and floated up to her cheeks, immediately giving her otherwise pale face a little moistness.

Sophia’s face eased a little, and Bai Lixin saw that the goodwill rating had reached 50.

At this pace, a few more words of conversation and they could hit 100 tonight, right?

“Mr. Mo was so perfect in front of me, so perfect that for a moment, I thought the world’s hatred of the Bloods was just because of racial prejudice.”

“Coming here, I thought it would be the beginning of a better life. That night, when I wrapped my arms around Mr. Mo’s neck and he held me in his arms as I soared through the sky, all I could think about was finally becoming a Blood.”

“Until I found out the truth.”

Sophia suddenly stopped looking at Bai Lixin and said, “He loves me, but he really isn’t a good man. Not only does he have no need to kill the humans, but he also abuses them in the most brutal way.”

“I’m scared.” Sophia shivered, “Humans are all food to him, and I’m just one special one of the food. He loves me but also really wants to eat me. He has put his teeth on my neck several times and almost bit through me.”

“I simply cannot accept that in my mind, the most elegant and gentle count is a murderous demon.”

I’m terrified; I don’t want to become one of those heinous Bloods, and I certainly don’t want to have this child. It makes me feel like I have betrayed the whole human race.”

“So I tried having abortions in secret, and I used many methods.”

“Falling down the stairs.”

“Deliberately soaking in ice water.”

“Constantly hitting my abdomen with a heavy object.”

“Taking pills.”

“I tried them all, but no matter what I did, the baby grew healthy and grew faster and faster.”

“Mr. Mo soon sensed what I was thinking. He told me to either become a Blood and stay with him forever, or be eaten by him now.”

Sophia took a sip of her black tea to suppress her shock, “I’m really scared.”

Bai Lixin stared at Sophia for a long time without speaking.

He hadn’t found this sort of problem in the Trial copy where the evil spirit boss used silk threads to pull all the corpses together to move.

All the actions of the villagers of River God Village were done under the evil spirit’s manipulation.

So those villagers acted very stiffly, and there were only so many verbal movements. They looked like a set game program.

But the characters in this copy are too vivid, such as Sophia in front of her.

She had the ability to think with complete logic and had rich emotions. She isn’t like a piece of programming, but more like a real being.

For example, he tried to ask Sophia a question unintentionally, and Sophia was able to answer it completely.

Aren’t the characters in this copy too vivid?

Was the game too powerful, or was there something he didn’t know?

Sophia looked at Bai Lixin. “If we’re going to save Hall, it’s best to do it tomorrow during the day.”

“My belly is too big to delay anymore. Mr. Mo said he would take the baby out of me tomorrow and give me my first embrace. He will be with me all day tomorrow and will not have energy to focus on anything else.”

“Daytime is when the guards are weakest,” Sophia looked at Bai Lixin with some guilt, “I’m sorry, I forgot you were a Blood too. Is it convenient for you to move during the day?”

Bai Lixin, “Yes, I’ll help you release Hall tomorrow during the day.”

Sophia gave Bai Lixin another grateful look, “I’m so grateful. I don’t know how to repay you. Is there anything I can do to help you?”

Bai Lixin looked at Sophia’s 55 goodwill and shook his head, “Not yet. I’ll tell you when I think of something.”

Sophia nodded her head vigorously, “Okay. As long as it’s something I can help you with, I’ll definitely say yes.”

As his eyes swept across the room, Bai Lixin saw the books on the desk.

The very thick copy of the Holy Book was not there; only a few thin books and ink sat in the corner.

“You like to read?” Sophia sensed Bai Lixin’s gaze.

Bai Lixin, “I don’t like it.”

Sophia’s mouth slightly opened, and she was about to say something when she heard footsteps in the distance outside the door.

Hearing these footsteps, Sophia’s face went pale, and she quickly said, “Mr. Mo is here. Please, we must keep what we said tonight secret.”

Bai Lixin: “….”

I have to say, Miss Sophia really doesn’t have a long memory.