“We’re almost at the foot of the mountain!” Joanna ran downhill, breath like white mist, while the class monitor kept pace beside her like a steady metronome.
Other classmates flew past like leaves chased by a cold wind, the path a river of footsteps in a life-or-death rush where one thought burned like a lantern—stay alive.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Gunshots rolled down the slope like iron thunder, each crack closing around their hearts like a tightening fist.
Fear slammed through Joanna like a wave breaking against stone, and she spun on her heel to race back uphill.
“Don’t go! We’d be dead weight to Xiaoxue, like stones tied to her ankles,” the class monitor snapped, grip fast as a hawk’s strike.
“What do I do then! I—I almost lost her once,” Joanna choked, tears spilling like warm rain; “do you want me to lose her again?”
She crumpled against a rough-barked tree and sobbed, grief beating like a drum under her ribs.
“We think of Xiaoxue’s safety only if we’re safe first,” the class monitor said, voice cool as night water. “The tighter the crisis, the steadier we hold.”
His hands rested on her shoulders like anchors, her tear-bright brown eyes meeting his calm black gaze—amber to obsidian, trembling to still.
After a few heartbeats, the storm in Joanna’s chest eased like clouds thinning, and she drew a deep breath.
“Right. I go down first, find help, then come back with them to save Xiaoxue,” she said, voice raw but steady, like a blade reborn from fire.
With their goal set like a flag in the wind, they ran on toward the foot of the mountain.
About half an hour later, consciousness rose in Little Loli’s head like a bubble breaking the surface, and pain followed like needles under skin.
It still stung like nettles, but compared to before, it was a softer ache, like embers instead of flame.
“System, are you there?” She leaned her back against a gnarled root, trying to steady her breath like a dancer finding her rhythm.
“Yes, Host. What are your commands?” The metallic voice rang like steel chimes, and her restless heart settled like dust after rain.
“What’s with this random stabbing pain?” Little Loli asked, urgency flaring like a match in the dark.
“It’s an early-stage side effect of skill usage,” the voice intoned, crisp as a rule carved in stone. “As release grows fluent, the pain will fade.”
“Host previously gained skill reinforcement counts. Available upgrade: Claws—upgrade sharp claws to Crystal Claws, with stronger piercing and extended reach.”
“Sounds so meh,” she muttered, lips twisting like a ribbon, dissatisfaction pricking like thorns.
“Skill upgrade: Blood Crystal Arrows—Defensive. Form an indestructible Blood Crystal Shield, a full-spectrum floating guard for the Host.”
“That one!” Little Loli cut in, choice snapping into place like a blade into a sheath.
“Upgrading skill...” The System’s tone hummed like a forge, and the blonde girl sagged against the root, breath slow like a tide.
Around her, Blood Crystal Arrows flickered into being like crimson fireflies, then knitted together at speed like a flock into formation.
In a heartbeat, a half-body Blood Crystal Shield hovered before her, clear as iced ruby and hard as winter glass.
“Move...” She pushed with a thread of will, and the shield glided like a silent moon across a dark lake.
“Great, it worked!” Little Loli grinned, eyes sparking like garnets, and tested it left and right like a dancer tracing arcs in air.
“Scatter!” Her word cut like wind, and the shield burst into a storm of Blood Crystal Arrows, shards wheeling like starlings.
“This ability’s pretty nasty,” she murmured, respect settling like a weight in her palm, as the arrows faded like embers dying in ash.
Her mind dimmed like a lantern running low; she could feel her spirit draining drop by drop like water from a cracked jar.
“Anyway, I need to get out of here,” she said, resolve hardening like frost; “forget it—maybe I should go home first.”
She ran the situation through her head like beads through a hand: classmates had seen her change, her killing, the bodies piled like fallen logs.
The bodies didn’t scare her like shadows; the classmates did, like eyes carved into the dark.
Kill them to keep quiet? The thought flashed like a snake and she crushed it underfoot like a twig.
“I’m not some bloodthirsty monster,” she breathed, a wry laugh dry as old paper. “How could I do that? Heh.”
Being found was only a matter of time, the future closing in like fog; before the run, she’d see her parents once more like a last warm hearth.
The silver pendant at her chest lay cold as ice, a little moon against her skin, and its chill sank deep.
After a brief reset, Little Loli rose, legs steadying like roots gripping earth.
“Lin Fan...” The name surfaced in her mind like a steady star, a boy she could trust like a rope in a climb.
“Right—Lin Fan might be able to help.” Hope fluttered like a sparrow, and she pulled out her phone, pale screen glowing like milk glass.
She dialed the number he’d called her from that night, fingers tapping like rain on tile.
“The number you have dialed is powered off.” The robotic reply fell like a dead leaf, light but final.
“Fine. I’ll rely on myself.” She pocketed the phone, smoothed her golden strands like silk over her shoulder, and sprinted downhill like a streak of sunlight.
By the time the class monitor and Joanna reached the foot, rescue had arrived like a steel tide—soldiers in full gear leaped from trucks like wolves from a ledge.
The driver came too, tires hissing like snakes, and he ran over, worry bright as neon. “Miss, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Get up there and save Xiao Qianxue—she’s still entangled with those people on the mountain,” Joanna said, pointing up the slope like a drawn bow.
“Move out!” A soldier broke forward like a spearhead, and the rest surged after him like a wave.
About a minute later, the blonde girl appeared like a phantom stepping from mist, soft voice landing like petals. “Hey, Joanna, you made it!”
“Xiaoxue! You’re okay!” Joanna wrapped her tight, relief flooding like warm sunlight.
“Ugh… mm… keep squeezing and something’s gonna snap,” the blonde girl gasped, wriggling in her arms like a cat.
“Miss Xiao, glad you’re safe!” the driver said, relief relaxing him like a loosened knot.
“Xiao Qianxue, who are you really?” the class monitor asked, doubt sharp as a blade.
“Sorry, Monitor—just a vampire, yo~” Little Loli’s scarlet eyes gleamed like wine, and the tips of her fangs peeked like frost, identity bright as a banner.
“Forget it. This is on me,” Joanna cut in, guilt heavy as iron. “If not for those people, Xiao Qianxue wouldn’t have exposed herself to save us.”
“Then I’ll go organize the classmates,” the class monitor said, turning away like a door closing, stride steady as a path.
“Xiaoxue, did you take care of them all?” Joanna asked once he’d gone, curiosity flickering like a flame.
“Of course,” Little Loli said, lashes dipping like wings, “though it was a bit tough,” she added, eyes red and bright like coals as she looked up from Joanna’s arms.
“Let’s talk in the car,” the driver cut in, practical as a compass. “Want me to call the others down?”
“Forget it. Let them go look,” Joanna said, glancing at Xiaoxue like checking a sign. The blonde girl nodded, a small tilt like a feather.
The three returned to the Bentley, its leather cocooning them like night silk, and the world outside felt far as a distant shore.
“Xiaoxue, I might have to leave soon,” Joanna said first, words falling into the quiet like pebbles in a well.
“Me too...” Little Loli’s features softened back to their usual, the change melting like snow. “After this, there’s no quiet life waiting for me—same as last time.”
“Sorry, Xiaoxue, I dragged you into this again,” Joanna said, apology heavy as rain.
“Don’t say that—if you still count me as a friend,” Little Loli answered with a small smile, gentle as spring light.
