“What’re you reaching your hand out for?” Shi Sheng dragged Xi Yin’s arm back in and shut his window. He grabbed her hand, shooting a smile at her.
She didn’t take it back and continued driving with the other hand. Her gaze turned to the side. She’d seen it too. The abnormality with the flowers.
But since Xi Yin didn’t say anything, she wasn’t planning on asking. After all, it was none of her business.
Once Shi Sheng parked the car in a deserted area, Xi Yin suddenly moved in for a kiss. It was just a light one, more to taste her than anything else.
A moment later, he asked in a low voice, “You clearly saw it. Why aren’t you asking?”Shi Sheng placed her hand against his chest and moved back. “Do you want to tell me?”
“If you want to know, I’ll tell you.” Xi Yin looked at her earnestly. She blinked.
Seeing his reflection in her eyes caused Xi Yin’s gaze to darken and he pressed down on her once more.
By the time Xi Yin released her, Shi Sheng’s face was a bit red. ‘Since when was this fellow so good at kissing? I nearly couldn’t help myself just now!’
“Many vampires died there once.” Xi Yin’s voice was very faint; had the interior of the car not been completely silent, Shi Sheng probably wouldn’t have been able to hear him.
She turned to look at Xi Yin only to find that he was looking at her, the barest hint of a smile on his lips. That smile contained no warmth, only a strange coldness.
“I killed them,” spoke Xi Yin.Shi Sheng stared at Xi Yin, feeling the stirrings of anger. ‘He’s still trying to feel me out! This idiot!’
Shi Sheng suppressed the anger with several deep breaths as her lips tugged into a smile. “I don’t care what you’ve done or what you want to do. Even if you wanted to kill off every vampire, I’d be on your side, got it?”
Xi Yin’s tightly clenched fist slowly loosened up, a true smile slowly appearing on his features.
He felt around his wrist for a while before Shi Sheng saw a pendant hanging off a red string appear in his hand. He pulled Shi Sheng’s wrist over and helped her put it on.
“This is...”
If she remembered correctly, this was the bracelet she’d seen in Mi Nai’s painting.
‘Is he that child? Just where did Mi Nai get the painting from?’
“It’s just an ordinary bracelet, but it was passed down to me by my clan. It represents your status,” Xi Yin explained in a low voice, “Your status as my wife.”
He raised his head and planted a gentle kiss on the corner of her lips. “You’ve made your choice, Mi Nai. There’s no turning back now.”
Shi Sheng scoffed, pinching his face as she spoke nastily, “Please! As if I was planning to! What I want most is to live and die together!”
Xi Yin appeared pleased. “As my woman, you should feel that way. You can’t die while I live, nor can you live when I die.”
Shi Sheng raised a brow. She felt like she was more selfish than him—she’d destroy the world in a heartbeat if pushed too far, especially if the person doing the pushing happened to be the one she liked.
But that didn’t matter, for she’d always find him again.
‘Still, this fellow wants to get married without even proposing? In his dreams!’
The bracelet would disappear when it was Xi Yin’s wrist, but not when it was on Shi Sheng’s.
Shi Sheng leaned against the driver’s seat. Her wrist was lifted in the air and she shook it every so often, her gaze fixed to the glittering pendant that swung due to the movement. Xi Yin found her childish behaviour rather funny.
“That painting...” Shi Sheng put down her hand and turned around, her expression hesitant.
“My mother painted it.” Xi Yin answered naturally. “That’s just half of the painting. I’ll take you to see the other half when we have the time.”
He lifted Shi Sheng from the driver’s seat and placed her on his lap, his fingers brushing against the red string on her wrist as his chin rested on her shoulder. “I’ve never seen the painting complete before. My mother said that if I ever found the person with the other half, they’d bring me salvation.”
“But...the age gap is so wide ah!” Shi Sheng was confused. Just what age did Xi Yin’s mother live in?
‘How was she so certain this painting would end up in a girl’s hands? What if a guy got it?!’
Xi Yin held Shi Sheng’s hands and didn’t speak. The important thing was that they’d met, wasn’t it?
The two continued messing around in the car. Only once night fell did Shi Sheng remember there were proper things that needed to be done.
“Too much beauty is a curse ah!” Shi Sheng ruffled Xi Yin’s hair, causing one strand to stick up and make him look endearingly adorable.
She nearly couldn’t hold herself back from taking him right here and now in the car.
‘The curse of having a beauty! In ancient times, I’d be a fatuous ruler for sure!’
......
The castle was brightly lit up at night and steeped in the thick fragrance of roses.
Shi Sheng was wearing the same black dress as she made her way to the castle, arm-in-arm with Xi Yin.
“Please present your invitation.” The attendant found it strange that there were people still arriving this late.
‘But these two look really good! They simply appear made for each other when they stand next to one another.
En... The woman looks rather familiar too.’
There was no way Shi Sheng could use her own invitation, so she looked at Xi Yin...who could only fall silent. ‘Why are you looking at me? I don’t have an invitation. Okay, it’s not that I didn’t receive one... I just threw it away...’
Shi Sheng, “...”
‘What happened to showing off? Villain-sama, is that face of yours not useful at all?!’
Xi Yin was rather innocent. ‘They’re too low level, so they can’t recognise me!’
While the two communicated silently using their gazes, the attendant looked upon them strangely.
‘Are these people trying to sneak in?’
Shi Sheng felt irritated. ‘Screw trying to show off! We can’t even get inside!’
She took out her phone and called Rui Yi to fetch her.
Rui Yi had probably just escaped from a throng of women, for he currently reeked of perfume and his clothes were all crumpled.
“Lil princess, why’ve you been kept out again?” Rui Yi wanted to give Shi Sheng a bear hug but she hurriedly ducked behind Xi Yin. Rui Yi ground to a halt a hand’s width away from Xi Yin, his expression changing quickly.
He grudgingly put down his arm and performed a nobleman’s greeting. “Lord Xi Yin.”
But in his heart, he was cussing non-stop, ‘Lord Xi Yin, my foot! Can’t even enter on his own! My lil princess is only going to suffer if she’s with him! This won’t do! I have to straighten out her three views and make her switch to a good man!’
Xi Yin’s lips lifted slightly. “No need to be so polite, big brother-in-law.”
‘Da hell? What’s with calling me big brother-in-law?’
Rui Yi lifted his head to look at Shi Sheng, who returned him a smile that caused her eyes to curve upwards and raised her wrist.
When Rui Yi saw the object on her wrist, his expression changed once more. Now, his gaze couldn’t help but contain more scrutiny as he looked at Xi Yin.
He straightened out his clothes and posture, put on a stern expression, and spoke in a formal tone, “Call me that a couple more times.”
Shi Sheng, “...”
‘Why is your reaction so weird?’
Xi Yin felt a bit speechless at Rui Yi’s reaction as well, but still called him a couple more times. After all, Rui Yi was part of her family. Although they weren’t her blood family, it appeared she rather liked them.
Shi Sheng cast a queer look at Xi Yin. ‘This villain-sama is very down to earth ah!’
“Fine, fine. Don’t think I’ll accept you just because you called me brother-in-law! I’m telling you, if you wrong my lil princess in any way, I’ll skin you!” Rui Yi brought the two of them inside, leaving behind the confused attendant.
‘That was Lady Mi Nai? Didn’t she arrive ages ago? When did she leave? And how come we didn’t notice? Also, when did Lady Mi Nai have a partner???’
