The Feast of the Full Moon and the Blood of True Feelings

Xie Chen's icy voice pierced through the door, its chill penetrating Su Nian's very bones. "Tomorrow, when the moon is full, I will personally taste your blood." The possessiveness and subtle killing intent in his words almost froze the already thin air in her room.

The final warning from the primordial being deep within still echoed in his ears—"If he discovers your special nature, he will stop at nothing to keep you here." "Only sincerity can heal suffering..."

On the night of the full moon, to personally savor it… this is far more than just eating. It's more like a test, a declaration, perhaps even a… ritual. Has the dark side of the throne already sensed her contact with the earth's source? Or is it merely out of curiosity and a desire to possess the "special blood pack" that has accumulated to a certain degree?

Su Nian clutched the silver leaf in her hand, its luster faded but its edges still sharp, her heart churning with emotions. She couldn't sit idly by and wait for death; she had to use this last bit of time to prepare. How, then, could she truly reveal her "sincerity" in this desperate situation filled with pain, darkness, and suspicion?

She sat down cross-legged again, no longer trying to communicate with the source of her pain deep within, but instead immersing herself completely in her own being. The power of ice flowed slowly through the cracks in her soul, bringing a subtle sense of healing, and also an unusual calm. She began to recall—not the painful fragments of memory, but those deeply hidden, warm moments—in the world of fantasy, his clumsy way of tying her hair; in the world of e-sports, his astonishingly bright eyes searching for her in the audience after winning the championship; even in the modern city of the first volume, his seemingly indifferent yet subtly caring actions…

These fragments, belonging to different "him," converged in her heart at this moment, like faint starlight trying to illuminate this boundless darkness. She carefully wove and condensed these emotions, these "sincere feelings," not as weapons of attack, but as an invisible, restrained layer of protection, covering the core of her soul, especially those few golden specks of light that had returned to calm.

She didn't know if it would work, but it was the only thing she could do at the moment.

The Eternal Night Dynasty had no day or night, but the night of the full moon was still special. As the ancient magic clock deep within the castle emitted a deep hum, announcing that the crimson moon had risen to its zenith, the door to Su Nian's room was silently opened.

Standing outside the door were not Derrick, but two high-ranking vampire guards clad in dark red armor, exuding a chilling aura. Their eyes were vacant, yet they radiated an undeniable pressure.

“His Majesty requests your presence,” one of the guards said coldly, gesturing for him to enter.

Su Nian took a deep breath and straightened her still-thin white dress—a mark of her status as a "sacrifice," and a vulnerability she couldn't change at this moment. She followed her guards through a corridor even quieter than before, as if all servants and lower-ranking vampires had avoided her. A tense atmosphere, a mixture of anticipation and fear, filled the air.

They finally arrived not at the magnificent sacrificial hall, nor at Xie Chen's usual languid, dozing palace, but at a more private and unsettling place—an observatory atop the castle, with enormous domed windows. Crimson moonlight poured down unhindered, staining the entire space with an ominous, blood-red hue.

In the center of the observatory stood a long obsidian table. There was no lavish food on it, only a dark red goblet of unknown material and antique design. Xie Chen sat at the head of the table, his back to the enormous full moon, seemingly blending into its crimson glow. Tonight, he wore an even more elaborate and formal black velvet tuxedo, the silver embroidery gleaming coldly in the moonlight. He didn't look at Su Nian as she entered, but instead tilted his head slightly, gazing at the huge red moon outside the window, his profile perfectly sculpted yet coldly icy.

The guards silently withdrew and closed the only door to the observatory. The vast space was now empty except for the two of them, and an oppressive silence.

"come over."

Xie Chen did not turn around; his voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable will.

Su Nianyi walked to the long table and stopped a few steps away from him.

He finally turned his head slowly, his blood-red amber eyes appearing even deeper and more inhuman in the moonlight. His gaze fell on Su Nian, like a cold scanner, scrutinizing her closely, from her slightly pale cheeks to her slender neck, and then to her fingers that were slightly curled up due to nervousness.

“You said your blood needs a special way of being consumed to bring out its best flavor.” He began, his tone unreadable. “On the night of the full moon, when the crimson glow is at its most intense, it is the best time to savor the ‘special’ flavor.” His fingertips tapped lightly on the obsidian tabletop, producing a rhythmic, soft sound. “Show me.”

His gaze finally settled on her exposed, slightly pulsating carotid artery, where the skin was fair and the veins were clearly visible.

The pressure felt tangible, pressing in from all directions. Su Nian could feel her heart pounding wildly, the sound of her blood rushing through her ears. She knew that letting him bite her neck and suck her blood was no different from ordinary blood-eating, failing to demonstrate anything "special" and potentially exposing the secrets hidden deep within her soul.

She must take control, even if only by a small margin.

Su Nian did not back down. Instead, she took a small step forward and calmly met Xie Chen's scrutinizing eyes.

“Your Majesty,” her voice was exceptionally clear in the silence, “the most perfect flavor comes from a willing gift, not from forced plunder. Fear pollutes the blood, while… peace and focus allow it to bloom.”

She slowly raised her right hand and extended it towards the dark red wine glass on the table. "Please allow me to present it to you in my own way."

Xie Chen's eyes narrowed slightly, and his fingers, which were tapping the table, stopped. He didn't stop her, but looked at her with an even deeper and more unfathomable gaze, as if he were watching an interesting performance.

Su Nian picked up the cup. It was cold and heavy to the touch, made of neither gold nor jade, with fine, vein-like patterns on its surface. She joined her left fingers like a knife, gathering a faint wisp of icy energy at her fingertips, forming an almost invisible glint of cold light. Without hesitation, she used this glint to lightly slice across the inside of her right wrist.

A tiny wound appeared, and drops of bright red blood quickly seeped out, gathering into a stream that dripped into a dark red goblet. The sound of the blood dripping was exceptionally clear in the silence.

She didn't look at Xie Chen, but focused entirely on her actions, trying to maintain her inner "calm," recalling those warm fragments, and quietly letting that concentrated "sincere" intention, like a silent blessing, flow into her flowing blood. She didn't know if it could be perceived, but it was all she could do.

The blood accumulated in the cup, not much, just a shallow layer covering the bottom. Strangely, the dark red cup seemed to flash with a faint light the instant it came into contact with her blood.

After doing all this, Su Nian gently brushed her wrist with the power of ice, and the tiny wound instantly froze, leaving only a faint red mark. She held the cup in both hands, bowed slightly, and presented it to Xie Chen.

"Please, Your Majesty, have a taste."

The pale blood in the cup, under the crimson moonlight, seemed to shimmer with an extremely faint, almost imperceptible, iridescent glow.

Xie Chen's gaze shifted from Su Nian's face to the cup. He looked at the blood in the cup, which shimmered with a strange light, and for the first time, a clear and genuine emotional fluctuation appeared in his blood-red eyes—it was extreme surprise, and a hint of...being touched and bewilderment.

He reached out, his movements seemingly a little slower than usual, and took the cup. The instant his fingertips touched the cup's rim, he paused almost imperceptibly.

He did not drink immediately, but instead raised the cup to his eyes, looking through the thin layer of liquid at the crimson moon outside the window, as if examining the essence of the blood in the cup through the moonlight.

After a long while, when Su Nian had almost exhausted all his strength to maintain his composure, he finally brought the rim of the cup close to his lips, tilted his head slightly, and drank the thin layer of blood in one gulp.

The moment he drank it, Su Nian clearly saw his Adam's apple bob, and his blood-red eyes suddenly contract, as if he had sensed something extremely impactful! The languid and world-weary aura around him abruptly stopped, replaced by an extremely brief tremor, like ice shattering!

He put down his cup, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the rim. His gaze returned to Su Nian, but this time it was completely different. Deep within his eyes surged an incredulous confusion, a strange sense of comfort as if a chronic illness had been slightly relieved, and... a deeper, more dangerous desire to investigate.

“This taste…” he said softly, his voice carrying a hoarseness and… longing that he himself was unaware of, “is very special.”

He stood up, walked around the obsidian table, and approached Su Nian step by step. As he drew nearer, that powerful sense of oppression descended once more, but this time it seemed to be mixed with a hint of disorder.

He stopped in front of Su Nian, so close that she could smell the cold scent of cedar and blood amber emanating from him. He reached out, not to strangle her neck, but with his cool fingertips, he gently lifted her wrist, which she had just cut, his thumb slowly stroking the faint red mark.

“It seems,” he leaned down and whispered in her ear, his warm breath brushing against her earlobe with a chilling quality, “that keeping you by my side was the right decision.”

His voice remained cold, but the possessiveness in his words was stronger and more real than ever before.

"From this day forward, you are no longer a sacrifice." He straightened up and announced, his gaze binding her like chains. "You are my... personal blood servant."

However, the instant his words fell, deep within Su Nian's soul, the dormant pull of the source of her subterranean pain suddenly stirred with an extremely faint yet incredibly clear tremor, a tremor mixed with an indescribable...

sad?

(End of Chapter 55)

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Next Chapter Preview: Is the identity of a "blood servant" an opportunity or a deeper imprisonment? What changes will occur after Xie Chen's dark side drinks the blood containing "true feelings"? What variables does the sorrowful throbbing from the earth's origin foreshadow? Can Su Nian use this delicate relationship to truly touch the sealed core of her pain? In the ancient castle after the full moon, the undercurrents grow ever stronger!