Chapter 94

Chapter 94

In those ancient, distant years, Guan Heng was not some mysterious, powerful elder among Vampires.

He was not a highly skilled, low-profile painter working under an alias.

He was not the gentle, elegant lord of an island.

He was not a legend.

In an age without advanced technology, without specially made ultraviolet equipment, Guan Heng was absolute power itself-and a synonym for brutality.

Together with the six founders, he established the Blood Supervision Council. His moods were impossible to read, but he was strict and composed, ruling with both grace and authority. He never showed mercy to anyone. Under the seven of them, the Blood Supervision Council’s administrators once expanded to thirty-two seats, spread across the globe, firmly controlling the veins of Vampires throughout the world.

In the night, Vampires hid and lay dormant, and they and humanity enjoyed a period of stability that lasted for centuries.

But like humans, Vampires were also highly intelligent beings. As long as there was a struggle for power, there could never be eternal balance.

The forces of the West rose and gradually expanded.

Especially after Golden Blood was proven effective, Vampires were swept into an unprecedented tide of revolution.

Humans were as insignificant as ants.

Vampires were unwilling to sink forever into darkness, unwilling to continue sharing day and night equally with humanity. They sought to replace them.

The Blood Supervision Council fractured. Founders defected. By the time the slaughter ended, only five of the thirty-two administrators remained.

Carrying the final severed head in his hand, Guan Heng walked down the high steps, drenched in blood from head to toe, his long hair soaked through, like a Hell Asura.

Very few people had witnessed that scene.

Later, Guan Heng lived in seclusion on Du Island, and even fewer people mentioned it again.

That night, Ning Qiuyan had many dreams. Again and again, he dreamed of Guan Heng emerging, dripping wet, from the sea beneath the dim moonlight, his pale body covered in wounds. He stepped across the empty beach, where a thin layer of ice had formed, and at last chose to set foot on Du Island.

Ning Qiuyan knew it was not real. Guan Heng could not truly have entered the sea.

But the Ning Qiuyan in the dream still stood atop the cliff, seeing clearly every step Guan Heng took after setting foot on Du Island. He saw Guan Heng searching in the dark for cracks in the earth, for rocks, for a suitable cave. He saw Guan Heng curl up, hiding where light could not reach, his clothes ragged, his body wasted to skin and bone.

Until the first great ship of the Guan Family appeared on the coastline.

The scene trembled faintly.

The tremor slowly drew Ning Qiuyan awake.

The morning light was thin. Before falling asleep last night, he had forgotten to close the sunshade panels and curtains of the Black House. The hazy light outlined a tall figure by the edge of the bed.

Guan Heng had returned.

Ning Qiuyan murmured, “Sir.”

Guan Heng gave a low response. “Mm.”

Ning Qiuyan turned on his side and reached out, pressing the switch on the wall by the head of the bed. With a soft mechanical sound, the sunshade panels and curtains closed automatically, plunging the room into darkness. This was a small modification Ning Qiuyan had made, hoping it would make Guan Heng more comfortable. Later, he could also use a program to read the sunrise and sunset times each day, making it even more automated.

Then the wall lamp at the bedside came on as well.

Guan Heng sat on the edge of the bed. Warm light fell over him, making his complexion look even more like lustrous jade.

Silent and soundless, his eyes were dark and deep.

He carried the cold, pure aura of Vampires.

“Where is Lu Qianque?”

This version of Guan Heng felt somewhat unfamiliar, and Ning Qiuyan asked timidly.

Guan Heng said, “I haven’t seen him for the time being.”

Guan Heng’s voice was low and mellow. The moment he spoke, he became the person Ning Qiuyan knew again. Ning Qiuyan sat up a little, looking at Guan Heng helplessly, because he could offer no advice and be of no help at all.

Guan Heng did not move, but with his eyes lowered, his cool fingertips lightly touched the back of Ning Qiuyan’s hand where it rested on the blanket.

Ning Qiuyan trembled. Then he crawled out from under the blanket and took the initiative to hug Guan Heng from behind.

After they met again, aside from that comforting embrace at the airport, the two of them had not had much physical contact at all, nor had they had time to seek each other out.

Ning Qiuyan had been waiting for this moment for a very long time.

Yet this intimate embrace was not only because of longing.

It was also comfort.

Although Lu Qianque would not truly die, he might be thrown into some unknown deep sea, there to endure eternal loneliness. That was torment more terrifying than death.

Ning Qiuyan knew how important Lu Qianque was to Guan Heng. Just as Lu Qianque had said, they were family. They would accompany each other for eternity after eternity, and their bond had long since surpassed blood.

Ning Qiuyan was wearing white cotton pajamas. His body still held the warmth of the blankets, and his skin gave off a warm fragrance.

Guan Heng raised his hand and rubbed the crown of his black hair, called his name, and then kissed him on the lips.

The kiss was slow.

His lips were drawn in and sucked gently, and Ning Qiuyan parted them in response. His breath was hot, as were his cheeks. His back, untouched for so long, trembled faintly. Kneeling beside Guan Heng, he was pulled over in one motion, both knees on the edge of the bed, the back of his head pressed down as Guan Heng kissed him.

Guan Heng drank a little of his blood.

“Sir…” he murmured, his hands pinned behind him.

“Mm.” Guan Heng answered, swallowing, his fangs fixed against the side of Ning Qiuyan’s neck, one large hand tightly locking both of the human’s wrists.

…………………………(omitted)

Time passed incredibly slowly.

Every sensation became doubly clear.

“Were you afraid when you opened the box?”

Guan Heng was asking about when Ning Qiuyan had seen that severed hand. He knew Ning Qiuyan had been afraid.

So now it was his turn to comfort him.

“I was.” Ning Qiuyan clung to his shoulders as he answered.

In the dimness, Guan Heng observed every subtle expression on Ning Qiuyan’s face, but his own expression remained indifferent. No one knew what he had thought of, only that his phoenix eyes were filled with danger.

He was in a poor mood, and seemed to need this to feel Ning Qiuyan, to confirm that the human in his arms was safe and whole.

…

There was no preparation, no bite restraint, so Guan Heng would not truly do anything.

It was only that the repression deep in his heart had been released through their embrace.

“…I’ll stay with you,” Ning Qiuyan said softly, moving his lips. “We’ll wait for Lu Qianque to come back.”
“Mm.” Guan Heng wasn’t paying attention to that anymore. His voice was hoarse as he tightened his grip in Ning Qiuyan’s hair. “Focus.”

It hurt a little when Ning Qiuyan’s hair was pulled.

But Guan Heng lowered his head again, gently plundering his breath with his lips and tongue.
The following evening, guests arrived at the Black House.

Aside from Li Tang, Professor Yu, and Sheng Huan, there were also two honored guests who had come from afar.

The big man with blond hair and blue eyes was named Joshua. The short-haired woman with Asian features was named Deshan. Deshan was relatively small and thin, with wheat-colored skin and totem-like tattoos on her face. She had once been one of the seven founders of the Blood Supervision Council, and like Guan Heng, she had left after the last reshuffling of the Blood Supervision Council’s administrators.

Joshua, meanwhile, was Deshan’s Blood Contract Partner, whom she had transformed long ago.

They were currently traveling the world.

Last winter, they had stayed in Longyearbyen, Norway, the city closest to the North Pole in the world, where the polar night lasted nearly four months.

If not for their skin being far too pale, the two of them would have looked like ordinary backpackers.

News of what had happened to Lu Qianque had quickly spread across the Vampires’ Internal Network. Deshan and Joshua had come to Sujing specifically to help Guan Heng.

Although Professor Yu was not a founder, he was on close terms with several of the other current administrators.

As Ning Qiuyan listened to their discussion, he learned that Deshan intended to exercise her founder’s voting rights to force the Blood Supervision Council to address the Newborn Plan directly. If the majority supported it, the plan would proceed. If the majority opposed it, the plan would be halted. Regardless of the result, Lu Qianque had to be handed over before the vote.

Ning Qiuyan understood now. This was the “multilateral game” Li Tang had mentioned before.

The Blood Supervision Council was facing a new reshuffling.

On the other hand, Guan Heng would not stop eliminating Huanle. Just as he had told Wagner, he would not allow them to break the rules because of Lu Qianque.

The Monsters had to be burned. Huanle had to disappear.

Lu Qianque had already reached a consensus with Guan Heng on this point long ago, and he had long since anticipated that one of them might end up facing a situation like this. That was also why Lu Qianque had sent Gu Yu away.

While the Vampires discussed the details inside, Ning Qiuyan and Sheng Huan stood outside, looking at the scenery.

Early spring was still cold, and both of them held a cup of hot tea.

“Lu Qianque will come back,” Sheng Huan said, comforting Ning Qiuyan. “He’s very capable. Maybe, somewhere we can’t see, he’s also doing everything he can to find a way back.”

Ning Qiuyan believed Lu Qianque would return, so he nodded.

While worrying about Lu Qianque, he found himself thinking about what he should do if the person taken this time had not been Lu Qianque, but him.

He had been kidnapped once before and had been lucky enough to escape. But the power behind this incident was not something a half-human, half-Vampires fugitive like Chi Yang could compare to. Li Tang had said that because he was human, he had escaped disaster. Those people had taken Lu Qianque, who could pose a long-term threat to Guan Heng.

But if, one day in the future, he also became one of the Vampires and faced a situation like this, would he have even half of Lu Qianque’s ability?

Among the people around Guan Heng, he seemed to be the weakest one. He was not even worthy of being used as leverage.

There was still so, so much he needed to grow into.

Looking toward the room from a distance, Guan Heng stood by the window, listening to Joshua speak.

Joshua had only been transformed a little over a hundred years ago, making him around the same age as Lu Qianque. Deshan, who was several hundred years older than him, stayed quietly by his side and listened. Between the two of them, Joshua seemed more like the one taking the lead.

It was obvious that their bond ran deep. Their tacit understanding had seeped into their very bones. It was exactly the kind of state Ning Qiuyan most longed for.

“Miss Sheng,” Ning Qiuyan suddenly asked, “after you transform in the future, do you plan to leave this place with Professor Yu?”

They could not stay in one place for too long.

Deshan and Joshua enjoyed traveling.

Ning Qiuyan thought that he would probably stay on Du Island with Guan Heng forever.

Sheng Huan followed Ning Qiuyan’s gaze. Her eyes also softened, but she said, “We won’t always be together.”

Ning Qiuyan was shocked.

What Sheng Huan meant sounded like she and Professor Yu would eventually break up.

He turned to look at her. Her expression was calm, and she openly confirmed his guess.

Ning Qiuyan asked, “But you’re Professor Yu’s Blood Contract Partner. Why would you still separate?”

“Rather than Blood Contract Partners, we’re more like soulmates,” Sheng Huan said. “Platonic ones.”

Ning Qiuyan was even more confused.

Sheng Huan was an adult, and she did not shy away from answering. “I’m his Golden Blood, the same as you and Mr. Guan.”

She looked at Ning Qiuyan, her gaze moving downward, and smiled faintly.

A suspicious blush rose on Ning Qiuyan’s face. Not only were there fresh bite marks on his neck, there were a few other marks as well. Because he had been relaxed at home, it seemed he had forgotten to cover them.

“Not everyone has Mr. Guan’s level of self-control,” Sheng Huan said tactfully. “From the very beginning, we were certain that what we needed to share was spiritual resonance and love. It does not include physical desire or life itself.”

Ning Qiuyan roughly understood what she meant. Embarrassed, he still found it somewhat incredible. “Then why not just transform?”

Sheng Huan said, “I love him. I won’t accept being transformed by anyone other than him. I’d rather remain human.”

Ning Qiuyan understood even less. Could Professor Yu not transform Sheng Huan?

Seeing the expression on the boy’s face, Sheng Huan finally realized that he seemed not to know certain important things.

So she set aside the answer for now and instead spoke from the heart. “I also don’t want to be a Vampire that badly… Life shines because it’s brief. If it becomes endless taking, then sooner or later, some things will all fade into the ordinary, won’t they?”

Ning Qiuyan stood there blankly, holding the steaming mug in both hands. His hair covered his ears, leaving only the gemstone on his earlobe exposed, red as blood.

“I’ve heard that… older Vampires have the ability to taste emotions,” Sheng Huan told him. “You’re still young. If you have doubts, or if there is something you want, you need to let Mr. Guan know in time.”