Chapter 32: Quite the Particular One, Aren't You?

Mo Yu wore a smile on his face, but his heart was filled with silent cursing.

So much for the promise that servants aren't food. How did he end up becoming an emergency ration? Is the moral baseline really this flexible?

"This... this is my honor."

Mo Yu unbuttoned his shirt, exposing his neck, and prepared himself to be bitten. However, he discovered that Elise was staring at him, completely motionless.

The two stared at each other.

After a minute of stalemate, Mo Yu couldn't help but ask, "My Lady? Are you going to drink?"

"Do you mean... you want me to drink on my own?" Elise countered. Judging by her expression, she wasn't teasing; she was genuinely puzzled.

Mo Yu spread his hands. "What else?"

Elise raised her chin, speaking with pride, "I would never resort to such a vulgar and barbaric way of feeding."

"Then what do you do when you're hungry?"

"Number 1 prepares blood plasma in advance, heated to 40 degrees, with three sugar cubes added."

"Tsk, how fastidious. What if Number 1 isn't around?"

Elise tilted her head. Blood-red thorns spilled from her body, wrapping around Mo Yu in the blink of an eye. She explained, "I just use blood magic to drain the vitality. It’s just that disposing of the corpse is a bit troublesome; it’s easy for demon hunters to find clues."

Mo Yu carefully pushed the blood thorns aside and stood up. "I'll go get a bowl to draw some blood."

Elise said, "Forget it. Just reach out your hand."

Mo Yu hesitated for a moment before extending his left hand.

Elise reached out with her small hands, grabbed Mo Yu's left arm, and examined it back and forth. She opened her small mouth several times and closed it again, as if pondering how to bite.

Mo Yu’s mouth twitched, and he suggested, "Why don't you bite my neck? You were quite proficient at it before."

Elise refused, "No, I only bite the neck for specific rituals and hunting."

As she spoke, she seemed to have found a way. She extended her small, pink tongue, licked the back of Mo Yu's hand, and bit down gently.

Mo Yu felt only a soft, cold, and moist sensation, followed by a slight prick, and then his entire arm felt numb and tingling—not painful at all, but rather pleasant.

A vampire's fangs have a numbing effect.

Being bitten felt good.

It was as if every nerve cell had been activated.

It wasn't quite what he had expected.

Mo Yu looked at Elise with a mix of amusement and helplessness. She was holding his arm as if it were a baby bottle, gently suckling on the back of his hand.

Ten minutes later, Elise finally let go.

The wound healed rapidly. By the time Mo Yu withdrew his hand, the bite marks had vanished.

Looking satisfied, Elise wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, left the chair, lay back on the sofa, and resumed reading.

After cleaning up the dishes, Mo Yu found an excuse: "I'm going out to buy some snacks."

"Go ahead."

Once Elise agreed, he finally had the chance to leave. He exited the apartment building and went to a distant convenience store to buy a large bag of snacks, stopping at a few suitable "rollback" points along the way.

He returned to the apartment.

He had just put down the snacks when Elise rushed over to snatch them.

Nothing happened for the rest of the afternoon. If one had to say something did, it was that two-thirds of the snacks were demolished by Elise.

At dusk, the maid walked in from the balcony and bowed to Elise. "My Lady, the room has been cleaned."

Elise acknowledged her, then rose and left. Both of them disappeared onto the balcony.

Finally, they were gone.

Mo Yu sprang up from the bed, signaled to Alpha, and checked the video footage.

In the video, Elise grabbed Alpha, inspected it, and then used it as a footrest while sitting down to read quietly.

She got up twice.

The first time, she walked around the room, observed her surroundings, and sat back down.

The second time, she approached the bed, stared at Mo Yu for a while, and took the mineral water bottle from the bedside table. She looked at Mo Yu, looked at the bottle, then looked back at Mo Yu, and then the bottle. Then she returned to the sofa, tucked the water bottle between her legs, rubbed her stomach, and continued reading. After a while, she finished the water and threw the bottle in the trash.

Mo Yu scratched his head, confused. There was nothing special; why did Elise react so strongly?

Could it be...

Mo Yu replayed the video several times and noticed that when Elise moved her body, her range of motion was quite large, revealing glimpses of fabric.

Pure white, with pink ribbon embellishments.

Was it because of that?

Mo Yu couldn't figure it out. He turned off the video, left the apartment, sent a signal to Elise that he was going out, stayed away for a while, and then returned.

He initiated the rewind, going back to the time after lunch when he went out to buy snacks, and released a mirror image.

He walked in a different direction to prepare for his next move.

...

The midday sun was somewhat scorching; summer was approaching, and temperatures were rising.

Abu, Fat Rat, and Shell sat at the entrance of a coffee shop, drinking cold beverages while looking around. They had contacted the "big shot" from the previous day via phone and agreed to meet at this corner café.

After waiting for a long time, a strange figure appeared around the corner.

He wore a clown mask but was dressed in a suit, groomed to perfection, carrying a large black leather suitcase in his hand.

The three glanced at him and then looked away. Texas had many strange people; they weren't surprised.

Shell slumped on the table and said, "Why hasn't the handsome guy come yet? I'm going to die."

Fat Rat looked unwilling. "Is the chance to climb the ladder gone?"

Abu scolded, "It's not time yet, what are you two arguing about?"

Shell retorted, "It's all your fault for insisting on coming so early."

As the three were bickering, a black leather suitcase was placed on the table, silencing the noise.

The suit-clad clown stood before the table.

The three froze instantly, their hands reaching for the weapon case. The atmosphere grew tense.

Mo Yu said, "Good afternoon. You're here so early. It's me—did you recognize me?"

The three relaxed immediately.

Abu complained, "Hey man, what are you playing at? Don't you know dressing up as a clown is scary?"

Mo Yu replied, "I just wanted to do something special. I even picked a codename for myself: Thug."

Abu clicked his tongue. "That codename doesn't sound like a good guy."

Fat Rat and Shell agreed.

Mo Yu said, "I'm not a good guy either."

Abu retorted, "We’re eradicating demons, so we are good guys! I suggest you pick something more distinct so people remember you."

Mo Yu asked, "It can't be 'Eight-Level Gale,' can it?"

The three replied, "That’s a great name!"

"Get lost."

The four argued about the codename for a bit, but in the end, they stuck with "Thug." The conversation quickly returned to the track, focusing on how to proceed.

Mo Yu immediately said, "When I killed that vampire yesterday, she let slip the location of their nest and taunted me, saying I wouldn't dare go."

The three looked at him blankly.

Is that something you can just say?

Is there really a vampire who exposes their own home like that?

Won't she get "cleaned out" for doing that?

"Anyway, follow me. We'll act while it's still light out," Mo Yu declared confidently.

The three looked at each other and decided to follow him to take a look.

Following the map, the four arrived beneath an apartment building.

It was a new apartment building nearly 30 stories high. In this old part of the city, it was a very modern structure with heavy foot traffic, people coming and going.

Shell asked skeptically, "Are you sure you didn't find the wrong place?"

"It's here. I saw the footprints," Mo Yu replied. He wasn't lying; in his vision, the ground was covered with dense footprints, all traces left by vampires.

Under the function of the Monster Compendium, as long as a vampire passed through this area, they would leave indelible traces for a certain period. The footprints were all less than 24 hours old.

Mo Yu led the three into the apartment and took the elevator to the second basement level.

The elevator doors opened.

The hallway was pitch black; the sensor lights were broken and wouldn't turn on no matter how much noise they made.

Mo Yu strode out.

Shell and the others were a bit intimidated, but they followed immediately, keeping close to him and pulling out flashlights to provide illumination.

Following the footprints on the ground, they wove through the maze-like basement.

After turning a dozen corners, a set of stairs leading downward appeared. The stairs were deep, and at the end, it turned right, hiding the view. A cold wind blew toward them, carrying a damp, moldy, and decaying scent.

Mo Yu made a gesture for silence, placed the suitcase on the ground, and opened it to assemble the firearms inside.