Chapter 37

A fine drizzle fell densely upon the ground, forming a shallow puddle at the bottom of the steps outside the classroom. Wei Jing’an stepped into the water, the splashing droplets wetting her exposed ankles. The icy sensation brought her back to reality, and she realized she was already standing in the rain.

She had been like a person possessed, drawn by the scent of damp earth, and had slowly walked into the rain.

Wearing only a thin short-sleeved shirt, she was soaked through, but strangely, she didn’t feel uncomfortable. Instead, the icy rain brought a faint sense of satisfaction from deep within her.

Ignoring the strange feeling, she started to jog.

Back in the dormitory, she changed into clean clothes and took out a sealed letter from her desk drawer. The letter detailed everything that had happened since she started university, almost like a diary, occasionally even mentioning what she had for breakfast, going into great detail.

The recipient of the letter was the kindhearted person who had been supporting her for years.

Wei Jing’an was an orphan. In her memory, she had been taken in by her single grandmother, and they lived in a remote and impoverished mountain village. She didn’t know the appearance, age, or family of the kindhearted person. She only knew that on a day of continuous rain, the village chief came to her home with a stooped back, telling her that a gentleman from the city wanted to sponsor a girl from the mountain village.

And she was lucky enough to be chosen.

Ever since she was chosen, her contact with the kindhearted person had never ceased. When she was still young, she only received money and necessities from him. When she turned fifteen, along with the necessities, came sanitary pads.

And a letter.

The letter said: I need to know how you’re doing.

Fifteen-year-old Wei Jing’an held the letter from the city. The handwriting was neat and elegant, unlike her own scrawling, and the white paper had a faint, sweet fragrance. She was at a loss, her first communication with the other person beyond money, making her instinctively shy and hesitant. With a nervous heart, she wrote a few lines on the white paper he had sent.

He didn’t reply. But when she forgot to write every month, he sent a letter urging her to do so.

Wei Jing’an thought, he must be a righteous and gentle man, perhaps with a considerate wife, who could even think of her need for sanitary pads and thoughtfully prepare them. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that she learned about the use of sanitary pads, including the difference between day and night use, from the letters sent by the kindhearted person.

He wrote detailed instructions on every new and strange thing in the city that Wei Jing’an had never seen before. He wrote them all by hand.

Wei Jing’an was very grateful to him.

The man she imagined was a middle-aged man in his forties, with a serious face and kind eyes, who used his slightly wrinkled hands to write neat characters, teaching her many things she had never been exposed to.

She wanted to repay him, but for her now, there was no better repayment than living a fulfilling life and studying hard. But she still felt she should do something. Coincidentally, the commercial street was near Qingda University, and she used her saved money to buy wool.

She bought the softest wool, choosing a navy blue color suitable for middle-aged men. The weather would soon turn cold, and he would be able to wear it. She took advantage of the breaks during military training to knit a scarf, wrapping it several times.

The letter and scarf were packed together.

Wei Jing’an held an umbrella and mailed them.

The address was in the suburbs of Qingcheng City. She pursed her lips and repeated the address in her mind, then looked down at the staff putting them in a bag and attaching a label. Only then did she turn and leave.

She didn’t tell him in the letter that she had found a part-time job.

During her high school winter break, she had worked at a milk tea shop for a few days. After telling him, he seemed very angry. Wei Jing’an felt at the time that if she hadn’t quit immediately, he might have come to her right away.

After the milk tea incident, the money he sent increased.

Wei Jing’an tried to communicate several times to no avail. She saved all the money except for her daily expenses.

The part-time job was at a tutoring agency outside the school, mainly watching over nearby children and occasionally answering their homework questions. The hourly wage wasn’t high, but it was enough for Wei Jing’an.

Walking towards the tutoring agency in the rain, a cool breeze carried a sticky sweet scent.

The fine drizzle was like a large net, trapping Wei Jing’an’s thin frame.

At eight o’clock in the evening, after all the children had left, Wei Jing’an packed up and went back to school.

The path after the rain was silent.

Wei Jing’an put away her umbrella, putting it in her small bag. She walked quietly towards the dormitory. When she passed the staff dormitory, her steps slowed.

The shadows of the trees on both sides of the road were distorted by the streetlights, looking like monstrous creatures, exuding undisguised malice and terror.

A rough, gasping sound, accompanied by faint meows, broke the quiet night.

Wei Jing’an stopped, turning around. The distance between the two buildings wasn’t far, and only a few lights were on in the windows of the buildings. Not many people lived there, perhaps because it was the weekend, and most people had gone home.

The small path between the buildings seemed particularly quiet, even dead.

The meows grew fainter.

Wei Jing’an lightened her footsteps and walked inside.

In the place where the light couldn’t reach, a dark figure crouched in the corner. Beside it was a pile of discarded tables and chairs that hadn’t been cleaned up yet, forming a hidden space.

Jiang Chang was holding a small cat by the neck with one hand. The frail cat was forced to tilt its head back, its thin neck tightly pinched. The cat’s meows grew smaller and smaller. Jiang Chang’s throat let out excited gasps.

The cat’s desperate and pained eyes brought him genuine pleasure.

The stacked tables and chairs were old objects that had been used for many years, with broken connections, piled into a messy mountain. The mountain that Jiang Chang was leaning against made a clattering sound, and he subconsciously turned his head back, not paying attention.

Immediately, the back of his head was hit hard.

He covered his head and looked back.

Wei Jing’an was holding a fallen table leg in both hands. The edge of the table leg was rough with splinters. Her palm must have been torn, but the pain wasn’t enough to cover up her anger. She had seen this cat before. Although it was a stray, it was well-fed by passing students and teachers. Its eyes were clean and affectionate when it looked at people.

She would occasionally bring it food.

Jiang Chang covered the back of his head: “You’re fucking sick!”

Wei Jing’an didn’t speak. Her lips were pale, and the hand holding the stick trembled slightly. Her palm was covered in a layer of sweat.

She kept an eye on Jiang Chang while holding the cat in her arms.

It was still breathing. She felt relieved.

“What you’re doing is wrong. I’m going to tell the teacher. You’re going to be punished.” Her lips were dry, and she unconsciously stuck out her tongue to lick them.

The back of Jiang Chang’s head must have been torn and bleeding.

Wei Jing’an’s gaze was fixed on his face, and she swallowed a few times, feeling like her throat was dry.

Jiang Chang was several times Wei Jing’an’s size. When he lunged at her ferociously, she didn’t dodge. She stood there, her eyes seeming to eagerly want to see the blood on the back of his neck.

Her wish didn’t come true.

Jiang Chang was kicked away hard, landing like a rotten piece of flesh among the pile of tables and chairs.

Lin Yanzhou gave her an icy glance.

At this moment, the moonlight broke through the clouds. Behind him, a huge shadow seemed to writhe, something twisting and struggling beneath his suit. A strong fishy smell came with the wind.

Wei Jing’an stared blankly at the man in front of her. The inexplicable craving for blood that had surged within her gradually dissipated, replaced by fear and dread of the unknown creature. The intense pressure made her brain stop working, her breathing becoming rapid and long. After a long time, she finally couldn’t take it anymore and fainted.

Living creatures in nature have an instinct for self-preservation.

When faced with an overwhelming terror that they cannot handle, they choose to faint.

The rough, muddy ground was replaced by a soft touch, and the released soft touch slowly expanded to the thickness of a grown man’s thigh. Dark red veins, like vascular networks, flowed on the surface of the soft touch.

Soft, sticky, and cool.

Wei Jing’an was enveloped in the expanding soft touch, like lying on the soft bed that Princess Pea had slept on. Her whole body sank into it. The black veins covering the surface of the soft touch pressed against her face, and the blood flowing seemed to slow down, wanting to prolong its intimacy with its beloved.

Wei Jing’an was unaware of this.

The surging clouds covered the moonlight again, and the dark alley returned to darkness. The deep night was pitch black.

Lin Yanzhou walked over and knelt beside her.

Another tentacle involuntarily wriggled and wrapped around her.

“It still doesn’t work,” he sighed, leaning down to stare at her overly pale face, and said solemnly, “You can’t drink other people’s blood.”

His cool eyes were as deep as the night. The head of the protruding tentacle was scratched with a deep mark, and the winding veins were broken there. The black liquid that flowed out fell into her throat along her lips.

The tentacle shamelessly squeezed into her mouth.

Wei Jing’an’s eyelids twitched, but she didn’t open them.

Lin Yanzhou stared at her intently until she stopped swallowing, then he retracted the tentacle. But the tentacle seemed to have its own emotions, unwillingly hooked onto her teeth, licking her mouth all over before proudly swaying in front of him, then quickly shrinking back in.

His tailbone was suddenly gnawed by dense ants, crawling along his spine towards his brain. His eyes were filled with a deep crimson.

The tentacles born within his body, their touch was his touch.

Wei Jing’an’s mouth was indeed sweet and alluring to him. Her teeth were neatly arranged, with a few slightly pointed ones at the edges, rubbing against the soft tentacles, as if she was holding him in her arms and slowly gnawing on him

When could it be?

Lin Yanzhou pursed his lips, his eyes restrained as he looked at her serene face. He pressed the back of his hand against her cheek, and after a long time, he sighed, “After drinking my blood, you can’t covet others. Wei Jing’an, I’ll be angry.”

Wei Jing’an didn’t answer, only the sound of her breathing gradually becoming steady.

The crazy desire surging in his chest was about to drive him mad, but he just restrained himself and knelt beside her. Except for the tentacle that exposed his inner desire, he did what he had thought about a thousand times in his mind. He didn’t do anything. The back of his hand retained Wei Jing’an’s warm temperature.

He secretly warned himself. Not yet. She’s too fragile.

If he were to expose himself to her in his true form now, the intense and powerful pressure would be too much for her to bear.

Wait a little longer. Wait a little longer.

When Wei Jing’an opened her eyes, she found herself being held in Lin Yanzhou’s arms. Her brain quickly recalled what had happened before—

Jiang Chang lunged at her, Lin Yanzhou kicked Jiang Chang away, and she… seemed to have fainted from fear.

Was she that cowardly?

But now wasn’t the time to puzzle over her fainting. She was actually being held in Lin Yanzhou’s arms!

Lin Yanzhou was kneeling on the ground, his legs spread, and Wei Jing’an was leaning against his chest. Her back was pressed against his slightly cool chest, and she couldn’t move her hands or feet. She lowered her head, blushing, and the man’s long, white hand was on her waist.

Should she close her eyes and pretend to be unconscious?

Sensing the awkwardness of the person in his arms, Lin Yanzhou looked down and scrutinized her. Not finding any fear in her expression, his expression softened.

“You’re awake.”

His cold voice rang in her ears, and Wei Jing’an felt like her heartstrings were being plucked. She completely forgot to mind her image, supporting herself on the ground with both hands, scrambling out of his arms like a small animal. After standing up, she hid her dirty palms behind her back.

She hummed in response, taking a breath, and added, “Did I faint just now?”

After saying that, she wanted to cover her mouth.

Lin Yanzhou caught her expression and rubbed his fingertips together, lowering his head.

He said, “Are you feeling better now? I can accompany you to the hospital for a checkup.”

How could Wei Jing’an dare to trouble him? She was about to say no, but when she looked up, she saw him raise a hand, half-clenched into a fist, with a conspicuous bloodstain at the base of his index finger.

She looked down at it for a moment, then glanced at him.

Wei Jing’an hurriedly asked, “Did you get hurt just now?”

Lin Yanzhou shrugged, unconcerned, and lowered his hand, “It’s nothing.”