Sure enough, the maiden’s scent was light and carried a hint of fragrance, like pine wood slowly warming under the sun, releasing an herbal aroma. Qianye found it very pleasing.
Without thinking, Qianye said, “Sit down!”
The maiden looked a bit flustered but did not refuse or struggle. She simply turned her head to look at the bar.
The man behind the bar shot a fierce glare at the maiden, then nodded vigorously. He tilted his head and gestured toward a bottle beside him.
Qianye saw everything and didn’t need complex thoughts to understand the situation.
“Another one,” Qianye said, and a silver coin flew from his fingertips, tracing an arc before landing on the bottle, spinning there without falling, creating a small whirl of silver light.
The muscles on the bar owner’s face twitched. This trick required not just skill but also a significant amount of origin power.
He turned and took out a bottle of strong liquor, opened it, and tossed it over the crowd. The bottle rolled through the air and landed steadily on Qianye’s table with a thud, without spilling a drop. It was a decent move, but not comparable to Qianye’s.
With a slight stiffness, the maiden forced a smile and sat down. She started helping pour the drinks, then joined Qianye in drinking, and finally relaxed, leaning against him. In the bar, all of this felt natural, as the noise made people naturally lean closer to hear each other.
From the first sip, Qianye entered a strange, pleasant state of tipsiness. This feeling made him very comfortable, his tense nerves relaxing completely. The initial gloom and irritability seemed to melt away like spring snow. The heat of the maiden’s body pressed against him, and every touch of skin felt full of vitality and smoothness. Her scent filled Qianye with comfort, and gradually, it seemed every breath was imbued with a fresh, invigorating fragrance.
Naturally, desire began to rise.
Qianye felt that whatever he said or did now seemed to come from his heart, like when he asked, “Would you come with me?”
Alcohol was indeed a wondrous thing.
The maiden blushed, then gave a barely perceptible nod.
Without delay, Qianye left the bar with the maiden. However, he didn’t notice that two pairs of eyes had been watching him from a corner. In his half-drunk state, Qianye missed many things, but his instincts remained sharp, alert for danger and hostility.
At a small table in the corner sat Yu Yingnan and the Second Master.
Yu Yingnan had a few fresh scars on her face and body, the result of Qianye’s traps. The female hunter was already in a bad mood, and this made it worse. She went back and dragged the Second Master out for a drink.
Perhaps it was fate, they happened to enter the same bar and saw Qianye. Yu Yingnan didn’t approach, as Qianye’s table had another unfamiliar maiden, a demure and slightly shy girl, clinging closely to him.
The Second Master tried to leave, but Yu Yingnan pulled him to a secluded corner.
Qianye was just drinking quietly, occasionally looking around blankly. Several times, Yu Yingnan felt Qianye’s gaze turn her way, but his expression never changed, ignoring her.
Finally, she saw Qianye stand up and leave with the maiden. They passed through the crowded, noisy hall, the youth’s slender yet powerful build moving easily through the throng. His left arm lifted slightly, parting the crowd, while the delicate yet youthful figure clung to his arm, as if it were her only support. Soon, the two figures disappeared into the dimly lit street, the night still long.
Yu Yingnan drank a full cup of strong liquor, silently refilled it, and drained it again. When she prepared to pour a third, the Second Master stopped her hand.
“This is what men are like,” she said, surprisingly calm.
“It’s no big deal,” the Second Master said, taking the cup and drinking it himself, sighing contentedly. “It tastes good.”
Feeling more spirited after the drink, the Second Master added, “Men can be impulsive, especially when drunk. Tomorrow, he’ll probably lose interest in that little girl. Hmph, what’s so interesting about her, with no chest or hips!”
“Do you think Qianye is drunk?”
“Obviously! You could tell from how he acted.”
Yu Yingnan laughed, her smile tinged with mockery and bitterness. She couldn’t believe that a few bottles of alcohol would affect Qianye so much.
Yu Yingnan snatched the empty glass from the Second Master, poured herself a small half-cup, and sipped it slowly, watching the women in the bar twisting their waists and hips.
Qianye had willingly used his body to block a snake demon’s bullet for her, but he had never thought of seducing her.
“As expected, no man wants a woman like me…”
Of course, Qianye didn’t go to Yu Yingnan; instead, he returned to his small house by instinct. To his surprise, it was clean, with no sign of disorder, and even the bed was neatly made.
With a wave of his hand, the maiden fell feather-light onto the bed, pulling him down with her. Her skin was pale and lacked color but was tight and smooth, like touching silk.
The instant gratification and relaxation filled Qianye with immense pleasure, especially the fulfillment from nothing. It was as exhilarating as the taste of blood when energy was depleted!
Qianye closed his eyes, letting his instincts guide him, feeling as if the entire world and the stars were spinning. Throughout, the pine-like fragrance filled his senses, and the maiden’s muffled moans flowed like a soft melody, rising and falling.
Pleasure washed over him in waves, like tides of origin power, finally reaching a peak! When the unimaginable joy crashed over him like a tidal wave, Qianye’s last bit of rationality was drowned.
Suddenly, a warm, sweet liquid, mixed with the maiden’s fragrant scent, flowed into his mouth!
Qianye’s eyes snapped open!
He had bitten into the maiden’s neck, a stream of blood entering his mouth. Startled, Qianye sprang away from her.
“Don’t move!” Qianye held the equally startled maiden, examining the wound on her neck. Thankfully, it was shallow, just breaking the skin, not reaching the artery. And Qianye, having woken up, immediately reined in his blood aura, the dark blood not yet contaminating her.
Qianye broke into a cold sweat, silently thanking his luck. He quickly got off the bed, fetched some medicine, treated the maiden’s wound, and bandaged it.
Throughout, the maiden simply hugged herself, trembling, allowing Qianye to do as he pleased.
As he treated the wound, Qianye recalled everything that had happened that night, unsure of what to say. But since it had already happened, there was no point in dwelling on it, especially since the maiden’s scent was very attractive to him. Thankfully, she wasn’t contaminated; otherwise, if his blood aura had entered her, it would have been uncertain whether it was a first embrace or mere contamination.
Qianye wrapped the maiden in her clothes and asked softly, “Are you scared?”
Hearing his gentle voice, the maiden dared to look up. For a moment, she even seemed a bit infatuated. Qianye’s unmasked face and demeanor were as dazzling as the stars in the dark city’s lower echelons.
The maiden silently put on her clothes.
Qianye walked to the table, then returned to the bed, holding a pouch of coins. He tipped the pouch, pouring dozens of silver coins into his palm, and offered them to the maiden, saying, “For you.”
The maiden was shocked, drawing back, mumbling, “Too… too much.”
Usually, a maiden in a bar earned one silver coin for a night, and the more popular ones might get two from regulars. Qianye’s offer was ten times more than the usual price.
Qianye opened the maiden’s hand, let the coins fall, and smiled, saying, “Take it, it’s what you deserve.”
“Also, I really like your scent,” Qianye added.
The maiden instinctively clutched the coins, her face showing a mix of relief and lingering fear.
“What’s wrong?” Qianye asked.
“I… I thought you were a vampire. You scared me,” the maiden said, patting her chest. Since Qianye had given her so many coins, he clearly wasn’t a vampire.
Commoners’ understanding of the dark races was limited, sometimes exaggerated, like the belief that blood slaves could spread contamination, and sometimes ignorant, like the idea that vampires couldn’t touch silver. In reality, silver was toxic to bloodline beings, and there were ways to resist or neutralize it. After Qianye’s bloodline advanced, he no longer feared common silver, let alone these low-silver content imperial coins.
Qianye smiled and shifted the topic, asking, “Is this your first time accompanying someone?”
The maiden’s face turned bright red, then she gave a barely perceptible nod, saying, “I really needed money, and also… because it was you.”
Qianye thought for a moment, shook the pouch, and a gold coin rolled out. He handed it to the maiden, saying, “This is yours. There’s no need to accompany anyone else.”
The maiden clenched her fist, not taking the coin, and looked up at Qianye, gathering courage to ask, “Will you come back to see me?”
Qianye smiled, saying, “I’ll be leaving soon and may never return.”
The maiden lowered her head, whispering, “Then I don’t want the gold coin. These silver coins are enough. I won’t go to the bar anymore; I’ll find a job as a hotel attendant or something.”
Qianye placed the gold coin in the maiden’s hand, saying, “If you want, you can help clean this house when you have time. This gold coin is for a year’s salary. If I haven’t returned in a year, you can stop cleaning and do as you please with the place.”
“Will you die in battle?”
The maiden asked a question that surprised Qianye.
Qianye thought carefully, then said gently, “I am a warrior, and fighting the dark races is the duty of every human warrior. Dying in battle is our innate destiny, and I cannot avoid it.”
The maiden suddenly embraced Qianye, kissing him on the lips, and said, “I can’t do much, but if… if you ever come back to Dark Blood City, I’ll make sure this place is clean!”
With that, the maiden ran out, disappearing into the night.
Qianye sat quietly for a few minutes, then remembered something, grabbed his gun, and followed her.
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