Chen Yan looked at the silver-haired Vampire Princess curled up inside the cardboard box. She looked like an abandoned white stray cat, hiding in a box she thought was safe, too scared to step into the world outside, waiting for some kind passerby to take her home.

Chen Yan crouched down and reached out to pat Su Yue on the shoulder. “Are you okay? Tss... you’re freezing.”

He found that Su Yue’s body temperature was so low, it felt like touching a block of ice. It wasn’t the temperature a living creature should have.

And yet, her unconscious body was still trembling nonstop in the cold. That proved this Little Vampire was still alive.

Chen Yan brushed aside the coat on her body, soaked through with rainwater. He took off his own jacket, wrapped her up completely, then lifted her into his arms.

Unconscious, Su Yue curled up in Chen Yan’s embrace. Warmth came from his chest, a body heat that made people feel safe. She refused to let go of this hard-won heat source, and unconsciously nuzzled a little deeper into his arms.

“Now she really does look even more like a kitty.”

Chen Yan couldn’t help reaching out to stroke Su Yue’s cheek. Su Yue, having lost consciousness, didn’t resist his touch at all. Instead, she cherished every bit of warmth, and even rubbed her head into his palm on her own.

That special sensation from his palm made his heart tremble.

“Better take her home first.”

Chen Yan knew this Little Vampire’s condition was bad. He circulated the magic power in his body, wrapped Su Yue in a current of warmth, then pushed off with the tip of his foot, stepped on the alley wall, and leaped onto the rooftop.

“Good thing I live nearby.”

Chen Yan locked onto his own window, took a running start, and in one jump crossed dozens of meters. Then he stepped across several buildings, shifting his body through the air again and again, and after a few agile turns, flew in through his own window.

He had never expected that the Vampire Princess would be hiding only a few hundred meters from his home. Maybe this was what people meant by hiding in plain sight. If not for today’s heavy rain making him restless, filling his mind with the image of that tiny silver-haired Vampire Princess, he never would’ve wandered around near home. And maybe he would’ve missed Su Yue forever.

He carried Su Yue to the bed. Her whole body was soaked, and the rainwater on her clothes dampened the sheets. Chen Yan frowned, pushed the magic power inside him out through his palm, and used its warmth to dry Su Yue.

“Mm...”

Maybe the warmth had brought back a little of her awareness, because Su Yue let out a soft, adorable whimper.

Chen Yan smiled and increased the flow of magic. Very soon, both Su Yue’s body and clothes were dry. Then he brought over another blanket and gently covered her with it.

But Su Yue was still trembling nonstop. Her body was still as cold as ice. Chen Yan’s warm magic had dried the rainwater on her, but it hadn’t brought her even a trace of warmth.

“What’s going on?”

Chen Yan frowned. He felt Su Yue’s current state wasn’t normal. In past hunter missions, he had dealt with quite a few vampires, and their bodies had never been this cold.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Yan turned around, pulled a thick book from the shelf called Complete Guide to Heterogeneous Species, flipped to the vampire chapter, and began reading carefully.

After a while, he put the book down and looked at Su Yue, who was still trembling on the bed.

“Going by the description in the book, she should be lacking blood.”

Chen Yan found it hard to understand. Bloodkin raised by humans would only drink their master’s blood, because their master’s blood would be the first intelligent creature’s blood they ever tasted. From that point on, something like a contract would form. They would become addicted to the first blood they tasted, and all other blood would be completely flavorless to them. A lot of domesticated vampires simply couldn’t accept anyone else’s blood. Part of it was taste, and part of it was some strange sense of loyalty.

But Su Yue was already this big. She should be a wild Bloodkin who had run into human territory from outside. When wild Bloodkin are born, their direct blood relatives feed them blood. If their first taste is blood that is similar to their own, yet still different, then that addictive contract won’t form. They can taste the differences between different kinds of blood.

That meant Su Yue should’ve accepted any blood that came her way. And in the city, not everyone could use supernatural powers or magic. Plenty of ordinary people could’ve been her prey.

“Could it be because she’s afraid of the Supernatural Investigation Bureau? Or maybe her injuries are too severe, so she can’t hunt?” Chen Yan reasoned.

No matter what, this Little Vampire was already on the verge of dying from blood loss.

Chen Yan found a fruit knife and forcefully cut open his own wrist. Then he held his hand to Su Yue’s mouth. Scalding fresh blood flowed out and into her mouth.

As the blood entered her body, Su Yue’s temperature gradually began to rise. Chen Yan touched her forehead with his other hand. Her condition seemed to be improving.

Right then, something unexpected happened.

Su Yue suddenly opened her eyes. A faint layer of red blood mist appeared around her body.

Su Yue’s consciousness abruptly returned. She felt her body growing hot again. The sweet taste in her mouth kept stimulating her brain in waves. The exquisite sensation of blood flowing across her mouth sent electric tingles through her whole body.

“Ah~”

Su Yue couldn’t help letting out a moan as she opened her eyes. She saw an arm shoved right up against her face, feeding her blood, while the owner of that arm showed half his head from behind it.

“It’s you? Leaf Person!”

Su Yue wanted to speak, but she also didn’t want to move away the blood meal blocking her mouth. So she blinked her big eyes at Chen Yan, trying to convey exactly that.

Chen Yan very obviously failed to receive her strange brainwaves. Otherwise, he definitely would’ve complained: what kind of bizarre naming style was “Leaf Person” supposed to be?

“You’re awake? Do you still remember me?”

Seeing Su Yue blinking her big eyes at him, Chen Yan thought she was expressing confusion.

“I remember. You saved me?”

Su Yue kept transmitting signals with her big eyes.

“Are your eyes uncomfortable?”

Why did this vampire girl keep blinking so much?

Well, that settled it. The signal had not been received at all.

Su Yue shot Chen Yan a helpless glare, then pushed away the hand he had pressed to her lips.

“Um... ngh—!”

At that moment, a tingling sensation shot from the base of Su Yue’s spine straight to the back of her head. She couldn’t help letting out a mournful cry.

At the same time, the blood-red mist floating around her gradually solidified. It spun and gathered at Su Yue’s pale, slender neck, forming a red ring around it. Then it slowly sank into her skin, leaving behind a dark red thorn-pattern choker tattoo on her neck.

A current of blissful warmth suddenly welled up in her heart. It spread from her chest to the tips of her ears, dyeing her cheeks red. Su Yue’s little head grew dizzy, as if she were stepping on clouds. The dark red sphere inside her abdomen absorbed the blood from outside and instantly swelled to two or three times its size. It pulsed inside her body like a second little heart. With every beat, Su Yue felt a wave of tingling spread from her lower abdomen. It was as if several nimble fingers were tapping lightly, skipping all the way up her spine, climbing to the back of her neck. Then another gentle hand brushed over her lower belly, then her full thighs, her slender calves, all the way to the soft soles of her feet and her delicate toes.

Su Yue’s hands clutched the bedsheets tightly, and enticing moans spilled from her lips.

“This is...?”

Startled by the scene before him, Chen Yan picked up Complete Guide to Heterogeneous Species again and quickly flipped to a certain page.

On that page were the bold words: “Signs of a Domesticated Bloodkin’s First Blood Meal.”

Looking at the illustrations and written description below, they matched Su Yue’s current state exactly.

“So this is actually her first time drinking blood.”

Chen Yan found that deeply unreasonable. The white-haired vampire in front of him looked small and petite, but she was obviously not a newborn Bloodkin.

“Could she really have survived until now only by drinking the blood of non-intelligent creatures? That’s impossible too. A Bloodkin raised that way would never grow this big.”

Chen Yan kept thinking through the reason for Su Yue’s strange condition.

“Ah~ mm...”

Su Yue let out another even more alluring, delicate gasp. She tried hard to press her legs tightly together, feeling as if something had reached its limit. The friction of the blanket, the hot breath she exhaled brushing past her lips, the strands of hair sliding over the back of her neck like teasing fingers—every tiny stimulus that would normally go unnoticed was now infinitely magnified. Su Yue couldn’t suppress the shameful sounds slipping from her mouth.