ue Yunxue moved swiftly, forcing herself to ignore the exhaustion and pain tearing through her body.
With a firm yet hoarse voice, she directed the young girls. Those still capable of driving were immediately ordered to help the others—those injured, trembling, and barely able to stand—into the armored vehicle.
Suppressed sobs, ragged breathing, and pale faces crowded together inside the steel cabin.
The door slammed shut.
The engine roared.
Just as the vehicle began to move, a silver shadow fell from the sky and slammed into the ground directly in front of Xue Yunxue.
Boom—!
The earth trembled lightly, dust scattering into the air.
It was Xiang Shuai.
Before the echo of the impact faded, a low hum followed from above. Yun Wu landed not far behind him, his anti-gravity vehicle hovering to a precise stop. His eyes swept the surroundings—sharp, alert, and filled with predatory instinct.
Xiang Shuai's gaze immediately locked onto Xue Yunxue.
He froze.
Behind them, the armored vehicle began to move away. At Yun Wu's brief command, the driver accelerated, taking the girls as far as possible from this hellish place.
Leaving four beast beings behind—amid blood and death—to settle matters that could not be resolved with words.
The girl standing before Xiang Shuai was almost unrecognizable.
Her face was smeared with drying blood, a thin cut slashing across her smooth cheek. Her black hair was tangled, clinging to her skin with sweat and dust. Her clothes were torn, stained, and in tatters.
She looked nothing like the always-neat Xue Yunxue.
More like someone who had just crawled out of hell alive.
Like… a beggar forced to survive between death and brutality.
The corner of Xiang Shuai's lips lifted slightly—cold.
"It seems you had quite some fun without us," he said flatly, his sharp tone slicing through the air.
Yun Wu and Xiang Shuai then looked around.
The ground was blackened with pools of blood. Bodies lay scattered chaotically, eyes wide and empty, limbs twisted at impossible angles. The stench of iron and death filled the air, so thick it burned the throat.
Amid it all, Lu Xiao stood casually.
As if the massacre were nothing more than routine.
A dark aura wrapped around him—cold, heavy, oppressive—
the aura of an apex predator long accustomed to killing.
Xiang Shuai glanced briefly at Yun Wu.
He had always known—
wolves and vampires never got along.
Yun Wu stepped forward.
His aura sharpened instantly—feral, hostile, brimming with killing intent. The air between them tensed and vibrated, as if two apex beings were silently measuring each other—deciding who would tear into the other first.
Xiang Shuai felt it clearly.
This wasn't mere hostility.
It was an invisible war.
Xue Yunxue moved to follow Yun Wu, but a hand seized her wrist.
Xiang Shuai.
He didn't turn around, yet his grip was firm—a wordless warning.
"What is this cowardly vampire doing here?" Yun Wu sneered coldly, his voice thick with old hatred.
Lu Xiao glanced at him.
His dark red eyes held no emotion.
"And what is a foolish wolf like you doing in a place like this?" he replied calmly—
too calmly.
Yun Wu's fangs burst forth instantly.
His aura exploded, killing intent surging without restraint.
Xue Yunxue gasped.
So this was it…
When the wolf was happy, his ears and tail would appear.
But when he was enraged—
his fangs emerged first.
Unlike Yun Wu, Lu Xiao did not react at all.
He stepped forward, casually walking over the corpses, then entered the dark, ruined factory building.
Several seconds passed.
Then he came back out.
Dragging someone behind him.
The only survivor.
Sang Min.
The man, barely over thirty, had gone deathly pale. His legs could hardly support him. Terror filled his eyes as he looked at the man before him.
He knew.
He knew exactly who this man was.
"Y-You… You are the First Son of the Lu Family… of the Vampire Clan…" he stammered, his voice shaking violently.
Lu Xiao did not respond.
With one calm motion, the black blade in his hand swept across Sang Min's neck.
Blood sprayed.
The body collapsed, severed, then was casually tossed onto the ground—worth no more than trash.
Xue Yunxue closed her eyes.
Her chest trembled.
Watching someone be beheaded right in front of her made her stomach churn and her body shudder.
In this world…
mercy was not law.
Lu Xiao slowly raised his hand.
Fresh blood clung to his fingers—warm, thick.
He licked it without expression.
Disgusting.
That was the only thought in his mind.
He then walked forward casually, as if Yun Wu didn't exist at all, passing the wolf while ignoring the hostile aura still surging in the air.
He stopped directly in front of Xue Yunxue.
Very close.
Too close.
Lu Xiao's gaze fell on the girl's lowered face. Her black lashes trembled slightly, clearly unwilling to meet the cold, brutal eyes of a vampire.
Xue Yunxue held her breath.
Her deepest instincts screamed—
do not look at this predator.
On the other side, Xiang Shuai was still gripping her wrist. When he glanced down and saw the delicate skin reddened and scraped from earlier struggles, his grip loosened slightly.
A fleeting emotion flashed in his eyes—something rarely seen.
Concern.
Or perhaps… restrained anger.
Lu Xiao's dark red eyes narrowed.
He inhaled the air.
Scratches, wounds, and blood from Xue Yunxue's body wafted outward—
the sweet, warm, intoxicating scent of living blood.
To a vampire like him, it was the most dangerous invitation.
Suddenly, something inside Lu Xiao surged violently. The vampire instincts he had suppressed for years nearly broke free.
Blood.
That sweet aroma stabbed mercilessly into his senses, awakening a primal urge long imprisoned.
The instinct to drink fresh blood!
His jaw tightened.
Lu Xiao closed his eyes.
He took a deep, heavy breath, forcing the impulse back down into the depths of his consciousness.
If he lost control for even a second—
the woman before him would become prey.
"Don't get close to her!"
Yun Wu's rage exploded like thunder, as if he sensed Lu Xiao's predatory instinct toward Xue Yunxue.
Without hesitation, the wolf lunged aggressively, fangs flashing, killing intent overflowing.
But Lu Xiao only moved half a step.
One light shift.
One black shadow.
Too fast.
Calm.
Silent.
And when Yun Wu stopped—
what he had attacked was nothing but empty air.
Lu Xiao was already standing elsewhere, completely unaffected, as if the attack had been nothing more than a passing breeze.
"Lu Xiao."
Xiang Shuai's voice was calm, but heavy—cold and calculating.
"What exactly are you doing here?"
The serpent spoke without raising his voice, yet hidden concern pulsed behind his gaze. He knew exactly who stood before him.
The First Son of the Lu Clan.
A half-vampire.
Lu Xiao's power level had risen drastically—approaching 80.
Far surpassing Xiang Shuai's 60—
even exceeding Yun Wu's 69.
Lu Xiao glanced at them briefly, then returned his gaze to Xue Yunxue.
"I merely passed by," he replied flatly.
"I happened to see this girl fighting alone against a level-fifty beast human… and a dozen bandits."
His tone was calm, as if what he said were entirely ordinary.
"So I helped her," he continued lightly.
"Voluntarily."
Xiang Shuai and Yun Wu both fell silent.
Hard to imagine—
a girl with a level barely around twenty
fighting alone in a hell like this.
But even harder to imagine was Lu Xiao helping someone voluntarily. Even when the king and queen had once been in danger, he had chosen to remain indifferent. The only person he had ever helped was Hu Shui, when she was kidnapped two years ago.
Lu Xiao narrowed his eyes, a faint—almost invisible—smile touching the corner of his lips.
"Besides," he said softly,
"this girl feels very familiar to me."
The air instantly tightened.
"Other than controlling the plant element," he continued,
"and possessing strength around level twenty—of course, still very weak in my eyes—"
His gaze deepened.
Sharpened.
"She resembles someone."
Yun Wu's and Xiang Shuai's hearts raced.
Lu Xiao lifted his gaze, his dark red eyes glinting faintly.
"From the scent of her blood… and the type of spiritual energy she possesses—"
He paused.
Then said it clearly.
"She resembles Hu Shui."
Xue Yunxue heard it clearly.
That name—Hu Shui—hit her ears like a distant echo from another life.
Her body tensed slightly, breath catching for a fraction of a second. But there was no excessive shock on her face. No panic.
Only a subtle tremor in her chest.
She had expected this.
From the very beginning—since the aura and gaze of that high-level beast human had felt too familiar—
she knew this name would eventually drag her back into the light.
Xue Yunxue opened her mouth to speak.
But before a single word escaped—
Yun Wu's voice exploded, shattering the tense air.
"She is not Hu Shui!"
His voice was loud, forceful, filled with undeniable anger and resolve.
"She is Xue Yunxue."
All eyes turned to him.
"As we all know," Yun Wu continued coldly but firmly,
"Hu Shui is already dead."
Those words fell like a hammer.
Xue Yunxue stared at Yun Wu, eyes wide. Her beautiful almond-shaped eyes shimmered with shock—and something brighter. Yun Wu glanced briefly at her; upon meeting her gaze, he felt slightly flustered.
Xiang Shuai was also shocked.
The serpent's eyes widened slightly, pupils contracting, the tail beneath his robe stirring restlessly—a rare reaction. He looked sharply at Yun Wu, then back to Xue Yunxue, reassessing everything he had seen from the beginning.
Lu Xiao fell silent.
He turned his gaze back to Xue Yunxue.
It was no longer the gaze of a predator judging prey,
but that of someone seeing layers of the past overlapping the living person before him.
Xue Yunxue finally raised her face.
Her black eyes were clear—no avoidance, no trembling.
"Yes," Lu Xiao said softly, his voice low and cold like night fog.
"But I… am the same as you."
His dark red gaze fixed directly on Xue Yunxue.
"My soul-binding mark," he continued,
"also exists on this body."
Xue Yunxue froze.
Slowly—almost imperceptibly—Lu Xiao's cold hand brushed her neck.
The touch made her neck muscles tense reflexively. Her skin was damp with sweat, her breathing faltered slightly. The next second, just beneath her jaw, a glow appeared.
It took the shape of a rose.
Its petals opened one by one, glowing blood-red, emitting a cold and oppressive aura. The energy pulsed briefly—
then vanished, as if it had never existed.
Xue Yunxue swallowed hard.
How could this vampire know?
Her thoughts churned violently.
Yun Wu and Xiang Shuai exchanged glances.
They had forgotten one crucial fact.
The half-vampire before them was no ordinary vampire. Lu Xiao could see spiritual energy, read the deepest auras, and recognize things invisible to other beings—
the soul-binding mark.
Lu Xiao withdrew his hand.
"I never held hatred toward Hu Shui," he said flatly.
"And I was never pleased when she died."
His words did not sound like a lie.
But his gaze changed.
"However, I am very curious," he continued slowly,
"about how your soul came to control Hu Shui's body."
Lu Xiao raised his hand again.
He grasped Xue Yunxue's chin, his fingers cold but gentle—just enough to force her to lift her head and meet his gaze.
The red gleam in his eyes pressed down, intimidating, yet strangely… restrained.
Lu Xiao smiled faintly.
The smile of a noble of darkness.
His vampire fangs were faintly visible behind his lips.
Xiang Shuai and Yun Wu did not fully understand Lu Xiao's meaning.
But their instincts screamed—
this conversation was dangerous.
As Xiang Shuai and Yun Wu moved to take Xue Yunxue away, a black shadow shifted.
Lu Xiao was already standing in front of them, blocking the path.
"Relax," he said casually.
"I have no intention of stopping you."
He turned slightly.
"I have one of my hideouts," he continued,
"several dozen miles from here. Very safe—so our little Xue'er can rest and recover."
Yun Wu immediately refused.
"No need," he growled coldly.
But Lu Xiao looked at him directly, emotionless.
"I swear," he said quietly but firmly,
"I will not touch, harm, or bind any of you."
Silence fell.
A vampire's oath—especially from a noble clan—
was not something spoken lightly.
Yun Wu clenched his teeth.
He looked at Xue Yunxue, then at Xiang Shuai.
Finally—
Reluctantly, with extreme caution, he gave a slight nod.
They would follow Lu Xiao—for now.
But one thing was already clear—
From this moment on, Xue Yunxue knew she had to be wary of this vampire.The secrets of Hu Shui, the soul bond, and the foreign soul within a dead body could no longer be hidden.
And she was deeply afraid of this vampire.