A strange emotion flickered in his eyes.

Hearing this voice, Yu Ning finally let out a sigh of relief, her heart that had been hanging in suspense finally settling. She turned to find Luo Chen standing behind her. The usually wicked charm on his face was now veiled by a layer of frost, not a hint of a smile to be seen, as though he was suppressing immense fury. His dark red eyes were filled with hostility as he stared at Luo Xuan.

Luo Xuan arched an eyebrow, looking at Luo Chen with a half-smile, half-sneer, and spoke, "Luo Chen, I truly can't fathom what kind of poison these women have given you, to make you so reckless as to disregard your own life, endanger the family's safety, and even disown me, your own brother. As long as the curse remains unbroken, I will never let her go. This is your last warning—next time, I will force you to bite her throat and drain her blood dry!" Luo Xuan cast a cold glance at Qiao Wei, then turned and left.

Once Luo Xuan was gone, Luo Chen reached out to help Qiao Wei up. The coldness that had just shrouded his face faded away entirely with Luo Xuan's departure, replaced once more by that roguish smile she had seen when they first met. Luo Chen leaned in close to Qiao Wei, his tone teasing, "What’s this? Didn’t I warn you last time not to come back? Are you seeking death, or did you simply miss me?"

Qiao Wei stared into Luo Chen’s eyes and said earnestly, "Luo Chen, I came to ask you—why am I able to come here? Is there some connection between us? And you… you’re a vampire, aren’t you?"

Luo Chen’s smile slowly disappeared, a flicker of emotion passing through his eyes that Qiao Wei could not decipher. "That’s right, I am a vampire. As for anything else, I don’t know. I’ll say it again—don’t come here again, or you’ll regret it."

Sensing the strange look in Luo Chen’s eyes and recalling everything that had happened these past days, Qiao Wei lost control and tore off the chain from her neck. Her voice, choked with agitation, trembled, "I don’t want to come here either, but this wretched chain and those persistent nightmares are all telling me something—what do you expect me to do?!"

Luo Chen gazed at the girl before him, and for a fleeting moment, he thought she was the one he had loved and yearned for over a hundred years. He walked over to Qiao Wei, took her hand, and led her to a clean patch of grass where they sat down together. Looking into the distance, he began to speak, his voice hoarse and low, "Would you like to hear a story?"

Qiao Wei nodded. The scent of earth and grass in the air gradually soothed her. She glanced at Luo Chen’s profile, the breeze ruffling his chestnut hair, and in his dark red eyes lay an unfathomable sorrow. For a moment, Qiao Wei was lost in thought—everything that had happened recently was beyond anything she had ever imagined, and as for what the future would bring, she had no idea.

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Just as I was halfway through writing, my vision suddenly went black—a power outage! The frustration is real! I almost wanted to bash my head against a block of tofu in despair. (T.T) During the pitifully short three-day May Day holiday, I’ve been diligently working on the story! Please support me, dear readers! Sigh… Enough rambling, time to keep plotting the novel. The next update will be right on time the day after tomorrow—please look forward to it~