“Jing, where are you?” Xiaoya’s older brother called me from downstairs.

“I’m here.” I wore a floor-length white gown. I walked toward the banister and looked downstairs.

“Are you okay?” he asked nervously.

“Do I not seem fine?” I retorted.

“Junyu, who is she? Your girlfriend?” Someone teased him. It was Xing.

“No, no, she’s Xiaoya’s friend,” Xiaoyu rushed to explain.

“Why did you come back? Are you hunting royals here?” I didn’t care about their teasing.

“How did you know?” Xing was shocked.

“Xing, stop messing around,” Xiaoyu interrupted. “Jing, there really is a vampire in your house.”

“What does it matter? I have to sleep now. We’ll talk tomorrow.” I turned to leave.

“I found it. Bowen, you’re not getting away!” a voice shouted. A shadow darted out from behind Xiaoyu, and another shadow came out from the room to the left of me, heading toward me.

“No!” Xiaoyu shouted as everything stopped. The first shadow was Qing, who stood still on the stairs, while another shadow was behind me. Xiaoyu and Xing were still in the same place.

“Don’t move, or I’ll suck all her blood! I doubt you want this pretty girl to be a corpse, right?” I could feel a cold hand stroking my neck and moving slowly on my skin.

“Fine, we won’t move, but you can’t hurt this girl,” Xiaoyu had to agree.

“Move your hand,” I said icily. I didn’t care about the situation at all.

“Miss, you’re not afraid? How can you talk to me like this?” the person behind me asked.

“Jing, stay calm. I won’t let him hurt you.” Xiaoyu wanted to avoid any conflict between me and the vampire. He wanted me to stay safe, which I didn’t appreciate.

“This is between me and him. Don’t get involved,” I told him without any expression.

“What are you talking about? Junyu just wants to protect you,” Xing scolded me.

“Are you with the secret party?” I asked the vampire behind me, ignoring Xing.

“How did you know?” He seemed a little flustered. Maybe he didn’t think I’d ask a question like this.

“You were hiding outside the window for a long time, not hurting me; it’s probably because of your group’s number one rule—Avoid the world. Right?” I replied.

“Who are you?”

“But I should tell you to let me go. You can’t hurt me.” I didn’t answer his question.

“Who are you?” he repeated.

“She’s not human, hha!” With that grotesque laugh, someone else came out of the room to the right of me.

“Luvian, I really missed you, so I came for a visit. This is quite a party! Hha!” She was dressed like a Shanghainese socialite from the 1960s, in a purple qipao slit to the thigh and waving a small fan.

“Did you just come back from the club?” I made fun of her.

“Oh, you’re heartless. I came here just to see you. How can you talk to me this way?” She acted pathetically, like a woman wronged by her lover.

“Fine, I’ll give you something. Take the vampire behind me as a gift,” I said quickly.

“What do you mean?” the vampire called Bowen couldn’t resist asking.

“Just that Luvian said you belong to me now.”

“And who are you?” Bowen asked.

“She’s not human.” I described her the same way I was described earlier.

“Then what is she?” Xiaoyu seemed intrigued.

“A thousand-year monster,” I replied.

“Monsters?” Xing gave a look of disbelief.

“You don’t have to believe me. You can ask her yourself.” I put on a resigned expression.  

“So, pretty lady, what are you?” Xing actually asked.

“What do you think?” She wasn’t angry; instead, she answered in a coy tone.

“. . .” Xing didn’t answer.

“Jing, stop joking already. Who is she exactly?” Xiaoyu was making me answer them.