5. Light Gray Handkerchief

The abilities of supernatural races are not as powerful as humans imagine, especially in times of peace. Most of the time, the abilities of the supernatural are not needed and gradually decline.

The abilities of the Werewolf race mainly manifest in strength and speed. With proper training, they can easily snap a steel pipe with their bare hands or chase after a car like Qiu Rong and Meng Baichuan.

Apart from their inherent abilities as a race, a small number of werewolves can also possess innate talents, and these individuals usually become leaders of the Werewolf pack.

For example, Qiu Rong’s father and brother are both skilled in studying formations and spells. Qiu Rong, on the other hand, follows his mother and possesses the gift of healing.

Although it’s called healing, it cannot bring the dead back to life or regenerate bones. It can only heal non-life-threatening flesh wounds.

Qiu Rong has a high level of talent in healing, but no matter how high it is, he cannot save his own family.

Therefore, during his adolescence, Qiu Rong often felt resentful. He resented that his awakened talent was not in spellcasting, which at least could have become an aid for his revenge.

However, complaining was useless. Qiu Rong could only carry this resentment and train his physical fitness, combat skills, and practice how to use his fangs to tear apart his opportunistic uncle who had taken advantage of the situation.

Those were all things of the past.

With the reclaiming of the position of clan leader and the start of a completely unexpected new life with a human, Qiu Rong’s pursuit of power has diminished. 

He is willing to completely let go of the past and live a peaceful and heartwarming life with Yan Ling once he finds the person responsible for the death of his family and makes them pay the deserved price in blood.

Although his talent cannot save his deceased family members, it can protect the delicate cat in front of him, whose skin can be easily scratched by a sheet of paper.

And that’s the best he can do.

In the silent conference room, the “delicate cat” raised a finger and tapped the table, sternly threatening the dozen or so vampires with a history of biting: “During this period, you are not allowed to leave the company’s surveillance range. Those who violate this rule, don’t blame me for being merciless.”

“Don’t forget, the vampire race is different from other races.”

“The abilities bestowed by birth can be taken away again.”

Working eight hours during the day, having dinner on time while watching the news, and then being pulled into a meeting where they were threatened and informed that they would have to hand-copy the regulations for supernatural control. The group of vampires in the room could only respond with a blank expression.

They had no idea what madness the esteemed vampire prince had been going through lately. Although these vampires in the meeting room had a history of biting, they had long reformed, embraced Buddhism, and committed to a “vegetarian” lifestyle.

Because they had a stable supply of blood and Vincent’s supervision, Yan Ling had never bothered to pay much attention to them before. There weren’t as many rules and restrictions.

But in the past couple of days, their lives suddenly reverted to the days when they were first captured and transformed by the New Moon organization.

Living under constant surveillance every day was extremely painful.

No matter how much they complained in their hearts, because they had just finished eating the special version of duck blood vermicelli soup, they didn’t dare to resist Yan Ling for even a second. They could only obediently follow the orders.

After the reprimand, Yan Ling allowed them to return to their overtime work.

When everyone had left, Yan Ling breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back in his chair, feeling a slight headache.

“Your Highness?” Vincent approached.

Yan Ling waved his hand dismissively. “It’s nothing.”

Releasing so much blood in the afternoon had an impact on Yan Ling as well. Being a vampire with pure atavistic bloodline, Yan Ling had a greater need for blood than ordinary vampires.

Combining hunger with blood loss, his body inevitably protested.

The instincts of the vampire race clamored within their blood.

Seeing Yan Ling supporting his forehead with a pale face like paper, Vincent furrowed his brows and then reached up to undo his cufflink.

His neatly trimmed nails pressed against the pulsating veins on his wrist, but just as Vincent was about to exert force, Yan Ling closed his eyes and calmly said, “Leave.”

Vincent’s fingertips froze, and he looked at Yan Ling.

After a moment of hesitation, he obediently walked out of the conference room.

Qiu Rong sat in the CEO’s office chair, reading a paper for a while, when he received a summons from Yan Ling.

He packed up his things and headed downstairs to the meeting room.

As a cultural and entertainment company, New Moon Media had many veteran actors and popular idols. Even though Qiu Rong didn’t pay much attention to the entertainment industry on a regular basis, he knew a few of New Moon’s artists.

Qiu Rong only gained some understanding of the entertainment company after getting to know Yan Ling. In addition to artist management contracts, New Moon Media was also involved in film and television development, production, and record distribution.

The company headquarters had many employees, but the artists were usually filming or attending events all over the place. Qiu Rong had been in a relationship with Yan Ling for over a year and hadn’t seen many big stars. In fact, he had only encountered a flashy idol group at the elevator entrance.

Perhaps it was because they were in an entertainment company, but there seemed to be quite a few striking individuals among the ordinary staff at New Moon.

The elevator doors quietly slid open, and Qiu Rong immediately saw Vincent standing quietly at the entrance of the meeting room.

This personal assistant who followed Yan Ling and was available 24/7 had exceptional looks.

Hearing the sound of the elevator, Vincent paused in his mechanical action of wiping his glasses. He put on his gold-rimmed glasses to conceal his distinctive peach blossom eyes, neatly folded the handkerchief in his hand, and tucked it into his pocket. Then he turned around and greeted Qiu Rong, “Master Qiu.”

Qiu Rong glanced at the light gray handkerchief that Vincent stuffed back into his pocket and looked into Vincent’s eyes through the lenses.

“Has the meeting not ended yet?” Qiu Rong asked. “Yan Ling just messaged me saying we can go home.”

A flicker of indifference flashed rapidly in Vincent’s eyes, and he replied without much fluctuation, “It’s over. Mr. Yan is feeling a bit unwell, resting inside.”

Qiu Rong’s thoughts were interrupted upon hearing that Yan Ling wasn’t feeling well. He raised his hand to knock on the meeting room door.

Before his hand could touch the door, Yan Ling opened it and walked out.

“I’m not feeling unwell,” Yan Ling said with a slightly reassuring tone to Qiu Rong. Then he glanced at Vincent and added, “You can go attend to your duties. We’ll discuss the rest tomorrow.”

Vincent fell silent for two seconds and nodded, saying, “Alright, please take good care of yourself and rest more after you get home.”

Qiu Rong’s interrupted thoughts resumed, and he stood on the side observing the interaction between the two. His heart skipped a beat.

The traffic in the city center at night didn’t decrease, but at least it wasn’t as congested as in the afternoon.

Qiu Rong rolled down the car window, feeling the gentle night breeze of early summer as his mind gradually drifted away.

Qiu Rong hadn’t interacted with Vincent much in the past and regarded him as an ordinary assistant. It wasn’t until tonight, when he saw the handkerchief wrapped around Yan Ling’s hand in the lounge, that he suddenly became slightly alert.

Yan Ling didn’t have the habit of carrying a handkerchief, but it was Vincent who often had a neatly folded pocket square in the pocket of his suit.

And today, Vincent’s pocket was empty.

Qiu Rong was sure that he hadn’t mistaken it. Just now, at the entrance of the meeting room, Vincent was holding the handkerchief that had been wrapped around Yan Ling’s hand.

Once you notice certain small details, it’s easy to discover other clues along the way.

Through deliberate observation, Qiu Rong also didn’t miss the fleeting indifference in Vincent’s eyes when he spoke to him. It was an emotion he was familiar with but had never paid attention to in the past.

Qiu Rong faintly sensed that Vincent seemed to resent him calling Yan Ling by his name directly, as if addressing Yan Ling by his name was a great disrespect.

He also recalled Vincent’s behavior of intercepting him and not allowing him to go to the CEO’s office in advance, which seemed to have become suspicious.

Had Vincent’s attention to Yan Ling exceeded what a normal subordinate should have?

Upon hearing the rustling sound of plastic, Yan Ling looked at Qiu Rong and asked, “Do you want to smoke?”

Qiu Rong snapped out of his thoughts and realized that he unconsciously took out a piece of mint candy.

Just as he knew some of Yan Ling’s small habits, Yan Ling was also well aware of his. Every time Qiu Rong chewed on mint candy, Yan Ling knew that he was feeling annoyed.

Qiu Rong unwrapped the mint candy and shook his head, holding the candy between his teeth.

The candy swirled in his mouth and was crushed with a “crack.”

The gentle piano melody echoed in the car as Qiu Rong’s fingers brushed against the steering wheel. He asked, “Vincent mentioned earlier that you weren’t feeling well. Are you sure it’s nothing serious? If you’re feeling unwell, don’t hide it from me.”

Yan Ling smiled at his words.

He did feel a little unwell, but it wasn’t a big deal. Vincent was just being nosy.

Yan Ling replied, “It’s just that I’ve been working too much lately and feeling a bit tired.”

He reached out and rubbed the back of Qiu Rong’s head, saying, “Tomorrow happens to be the weekend, so resting for two days will be fine. Don’t worry.”

Qiu Rong tilted his head and lightly bumped Yan Ling’s hand in an affectionate and coquettish manner. He glanced at Yan Ling’s slightly pale face, and the questions about Vincent at the corner of his mouth were swallowed back. “Then tidy up and go to bed early when we get home.”

Due to Yan Ling’s poor complexion, Qiu Rong quickly put aside thoughts of Vincent after returning home. He didn’t cling to Yan Ling for cuddles and kisses as usual but urged him to wash up and rest.

Yan Ling rarely fell ill. Despite spending long hours in the office, he never neglected exercise, so he had the muscles he needed. However, compared to Qiu Rong, he appeared slightly slender.

In addition to Yan Ling having a lower body temperature, with his hands and feet always feeling cold throughout the year, Qiu Rong always felt that Yan Ling’s health wasn’t very good.

Before going to sleep, Qiu Rong rubbed Yan Ling’s slightly cool hands together in his palms. As a Werewolf, Qiu Rong had a naturally higher body temperature, and he liked to hold Yan Ling in his arms while sleeping. The next morning, “Snow Baby” Yan Ling would be warmed up by his body heat and would be reluctant to get out of the warm blanket. This often gave Qiu Rong a sense of inexplicable accomplishment.

This was the situation in winter, while in summer, the little Werewolf cub couldn’t stand the heat and always involuntarily hugged his mate to dissipate heat.

Fortunately, Yan Ling never minded and even said it helped warm his hands.

Qiu Rong often marveled at how they were truly made for each other, even their body temperatures complementing each other.

“If you feel unwell at night, call me,” Qiu Rong kissed Yan Ling’s forehead and said.

Yan Ling helplessly smiled, “Vincent really exaggerated.”

Qiu Rong: “…”

Let’s not bring up that topic.

Perhaps genuinely tired, Yan Ling quickly closed his eyes to rest. Qiu Rong looked at Yan Ling’s peaceful sleeping face, pursed his lips, and once again buried the matter of Vincent deep in his heart.

It was 2 a.m.

Moonlight struggled to penetrate the thick blackout curtains and gently illuminated the silent bedroom.

The early summer night was filled with heat, and as Qiu Rong slept, he unconsciously threw off the thin blanket on him and snuggled up to the only source of coolness beside him.

The scorching heat enveloped the Prince, whose body temperature continued to drop.

The sound of blood rushing through the veins echoed clearly in the ears as a pair of crimson eyes quietly opened in the dark night.

The cold gaze shifted and fixated on the exposed neck of the person beside him, who was completely defenseless.

It seemed that Vincent’s concerns were not unfounded.

When he cut his palm to let blood flow in the afternoon, Vincet had warned Yan Ling that Qiu Rong’s blood had a considerable attraction to him. Sleeping together at night might make Yan Ling even more uncomfortable. However, clearly, Yan Ling hadn’t paid much attention to that at the time.

Vincent’s words were still too subtle.

This wasn’t a matter of comfort or discomfort. stumbling upon a mukbang video in the middle of the night couldn’t even begin to describe Yan Ling’s current state of mind. After all, the delicious food in mukbangs was separated by a screen, while Yan Ling’s delicacy was right in front of him.

The feeling of hunger grew exponentially at night, and Yan Ling swallowed, his tongue instinctively brushing against the protruding fangs.

The arm draped around his waist tightened once again, and Yan Ling was pulled into a warm and soft embrace.

The young human was completely unaware of the danger he was about to face, and he relaxed his brows due to the alleviation of the heat emanating from the other person’s body.

Yan Ling’s nose nuzzled against Qiu Rong’s broad shoulder, and his lips pressed against the soft and warm skin.

Now, not only was the delicacy right in front of him, but it was also delivered to his lips.

Author’s Note:

Due to both parties having abnormal body temperatures, neither of them noticed the abnormality in each other’s body temperatures. (Thick Fog)

Advance chapters available on Patreon.