After the agitation of the Immortal Lord fragments was forcibly suppressed, an eerie calm descended upon the room. The pale blue energy field continued to flow silently, but the tense, suffocating feeling seemed to have temporarily eased. The illusory clouds of the immortal world on the walls had dissipated, leaving only a cold wall covered with photographs.
Xie Chen released his grip on Su Nian's wrist, the release somewhat abrupt. He turned his back and walked towards his "throne," his steps seemingly steady, but Su Nian still caught a fleeting, extremely slight sway in his back and the barely perceptible tremor of his fingertips hanging at his sides. The backlash from forcibly devouring and suppressing the fragments of the same origin was far more severe than he had shown.
He didn't look at Su Nian again, nor did he comment on her earlier statement, "It's because of you." It was as if that brief, bloody confrontation and that unexpected touch were merely an interlude that had been forcibly cut off.
He needs time to process, both physically and emotionally.
Su Nian rubbed her reddened wrists and silently sat back down on the sofa in the corner, her heart still pounding in her chest. The risky move she had just made still terrified her. But looking at Xie Chen's back, clearly showing exhaustion and forced strength, a complex, slightly bittersweet emotion quietly replaced some of her fear.
[Host! That was close! This system almost thought it was going to activate the emergency escape procedure! (Although it doesn't actually have that function tt)] 088's voice was weak with relief after surviving the ordeal. [But... was that last move of yours an acting performance? This system detects that your heart rate fluctuations and hormone levels... are a bit off?]
"Shut up, go eat your data snacks," Su Nian replied irritably in her mind, refusing to delve deeper into the issue. She herself didn't fully understand where her impulsive impulse just now came from.
For the next few hours, the two remained at peace. Xie Chen sat in his chair, eyes closed, resting, his aura slowly calming and adjusting. Su Nian leaned back on the sofa, seemingly relaxed, but in reality, her mind was highly focused, wary of the next possible "echo."
Night completely enveloped the city, and the distorted neon lights outside the window cast bizarre and colorful hues into the room through the specially made glass. Just when Su Nian thought she could catch her breath for a while, a new and completely different feeling began to quietly spread.
At first, a faint, cool fragrance, a blend of aged red wine and ancient roses, replaced the lingering scent of snow and ice in the air. Then, the light in the room seemed to be affected, becoming increasingly dim and ambiguous, as if veiled by a scarlet veil.
Su Nian sat up straight alertly and looked at Xie Chen.
His eyes remained closed, but his brows furrowed slightly, and the fingers resting on the armrest tightened unconsciously. A trace of... languidness, misanthropy, yet also an ancient elegance began to mix into the dark energy surrounding him.
He is a vampire prince.
The man who had given up blood for her, who handed her the ring in the soft light of dawn, saying, "Your blood is both a blessing and a curse." His echo, unlike the sharp, painful one of the immortal lord, was more like a silent permeation, carrying a seductive whisper and an eternal longing.
Xie Chen suddenly opened his eyes, and for a fleeting moment, a crimson light seemed to flash in his pupils, so fast it was almost an illusion. He looked at Su Nian, his gaze no longer purely cold or angry, but carrying a hint of... the interest of someone scrutinizing prey, tinged with aristocratic arrogance.
“He wants…” Xie Chen began, his voice lower and husky than usual, with a strange magnetism, “…a mark.”
"A mark?" Alarm bells rang in Su Nian's mind. In the vampire world, a "mark" often signifies a deeper level of possession and connection, usually... the Embrace, or some kind of soul-level contract.
Xie Chen's lips curled into a lazy yet dangerous smile, a stark contrast to his usual cold demeanor, clearly influenced by the fragments. "A proof. Proof that you belong to a specific being... an eternal mark." He stood up and walked slowly towards Su Nian, his steps as elegant as if he were attending an ancient court banquet.
As he drew closer, the cool fragrance of red wine and roses grew stronger, carrying a drowsy allure. Su Nian felt her consciousness slow down, and her body involuntarily wanted to relax and move closer.
[Host! Wake up! It's the vampire's innate charm! Even though it's just a fragment, it's still dangerous!] 088 hurriedly released a weak electric current into her mind.
Su Nian jolted awake, instinctively shrinking back.
Her resistance made the crimson light in Xie Chen's eyes more pronounced. He stopped in front of her, leaned down slightly, and gently brushed his cool fingers across the throbbing artery on the side of her neck.
"Are you afraid?" he whispered, his breath icy. "Or... are you expecting something? Expecting an eternal bond?"
Su Nian's heart pounded wildly under his fingertips. She knew that she was no longer facing the purely corrupted Xie Chen, but a more bizarre and unpredictable hybrid strongly influenced by the fragments of the vampire clan. A direct refusal might enrage him, leading to unpredictable consequences. But to submit? That would be tantamount to surrendering herself completely to an unknown abyss.
Her mind raced. The vampire prince… what was his core desire besides possession? Was it a longing for “uniqueness” and “reality” after growing weary of eternal solitude?
She forced herself to relax her tense body, raised her head, and met his eyes, which had a scarlet undertone, trying her best to make her gaze look sincere rather than fearful.
“An eternal mark…” she repeated softly, her voice carrying a perfectly balanced hint of confusion and… a barely perceptible sadness, “It sounds tempting. But… Xie Chen, are you really sure that the ‘you’ of now can give me ‘eternity’?”
Her words were like a fine needle, gently piercing the bubble built of allure and desire.
Xie Chen paused in his touch of her neck. The crimson light in his eyes flashed intensely, clashing fiercely with the darkness that had been there. A look of struggle crossed his face, as if two consciousnesses were vying for dominance within him.
"Me now...?" His voice was somewhat broken, filled with confusion.
“Yes…” Su Nian pressed on, her gaze sweeping over the sturdy energy cage around her, her tone carrying a helpless gentleness, “Can a soul that has cracks within itself and needs to constantly suppress its ‘echoes’ truly bear the weight of ‘eternity’? Could such a mark… be like a castle on the beach, seemingly beautiful, but possibly swallowed by the waves in the next moment?”
Instead of directly denying the mark itself, she pointed the finger at his current "unstable" state.
This statement precisely hits the core of the vampire fragments' pursuit of "eternity" and "perfection," and also stings the broken state of Xie Chen's own soul, which he is unwilling to acknowledge!
"Shut up!" he growled, abruptly withdrawing his hand to cover his forehead. The elegant languor surrounding him was instantly replaced by a violent aura, and the crimson hue in his eyes flickered uncertainly, as if it might be extinguished at any moment, or as if it might ignite completely.
The crimson light in the room fluctuated violently, and the energy field emitted an unstable hum.
Su Nian looked at him nervously, knowing that her words had once again had an effect, but had also pushed him to an even more unstable edge.
Just then, Xie Chen suddenly raised his head. The crimson in his eyes had not completely faded, but the unfathomable darkness had regained its dominance. However, within that darkness, there seemed to be a flame of utter rage and obsession burning.
“You’re right…” He stared at Su Nian, approaching step by step, his voice icy and chilling, yet carrying a terrifying determination, “The current ‘me’ is indeed not ‘complete’ enough, not ‘stable’ enough, and not enough to bear your so-called ‘eternity’!”
He grabbed Su Nian's shoulder with such force that she thought her bones were about to be crushed.
“So,” he leaned closer to her, their noses almost touching, his eyes swirling with a mad, all-consuming frenzy, “we need to speed up the ‘integration’ even more! Sweep away all the noise, smooth out all the rough edges! Until this soul is left with only one, powerful, enough to imprint you forever—me!”
The vampire's desire for the "mark" has not disappeared, but has been twisted and absorbed by the absolute possessiveness of the corrupted body, turning into another crazy driving force to accelerate the integration of the soul!
“Next.” He released her, as if making a decision, his voice regaining its commanding coldness, but the lingering crimson and burning obsession in his eyes foreshadowed an even more intense storm to come.
“That… tyrant covered in mud and reeking of blood.” He forced a cold smile. “What he wanted seemed to be more direct.”
Su Nian's heart sank. The tyrant… Xie Chen, who stood shoulder to shoulder with her in the slave dynasty, and who had also unleashed a reign of terror for her. What kind of impact would his echo bring?
And she, in this increasingly dangerous game of "accomplice," seems to be gradually... prying open something more fundamental.
[Host...this system has a bad feeling.] 088 said weakly, [The next one seems like a tough nut to crack...]
Su Nian watched Xie Chen turn and leave, his back still straight but inexplicably exuding a sense of desperate gamble, and gently clenched her fist.
The path to taming animals is long and arduous.
(End of Chapter 157)
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