After five bigwigs in Beijing's elite circle fell into their trap, I fled.

Chapter 235 Old People and Old Stories
That was just a very random meeting.

His girl only exchanged a few casual words with the humble boy and gave him a painting; they never interacted again.

But it was this chance encounter that caused the boy to begin his transformation. He grew up step by step on blood, and before he knew it, over a hundred years, he had grown into a demon that everyone feared.

The demon accidentally obtained a long-lost butcher's knife and turned it on its people.

A bloody massacre, a change of power, the old ruler falls, and the new ruler rises, but behind the scenes, the blood of thousands of people is stained.

Including... the young lady's blood.

The wind outside the window grew stronger, and Li Yubai was suddenly jolted awake from his reverie!
His eyes still held the pain of losing his loved one, and he hadn't yet emerged from his grief.

As she approached, Jiang Shu unconsciously called out, "Li Yubai."

Li Yubai snapped out of his reverie and reflexively replied, "I'm here."

Hearing the sound, Jiang Shu fell asleep peacefully again. Li Yubai took a deep breath, looking at the familiar face so close to his, and the relief of regaining what he had lost finally dispelled the gloom in his heart.

He carefully moved closer to Jiang Shu's face, placing a feather-light kiss on her lips, and then pulled her close again.

His gaze, gentle and affectionate, never left her face that night.

And Li Yubai wasn't the only one who wasn't asleep.
In the living room, Ning Yunzhan leaned elegantly against the doorway, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a glass, drinking and watching the rain.

The wine's deep red color made his already pale skin appear even whiter, and his delicate, thin lips seemed to become exceptionally alluring due to the wine's hue.

He knew what awaited him tomorrow.

Knowing this, I am filled with many thoughts tonight.

In that civil war he instigated, blood raged everywhere. Li Yubai sighed softly, "You only met her once, yet she has given rise to such delusions..."

Was it just a brief encounter?

Actually, no.

During the years he spent recuperating, he lay in the shadows and secretly met with her many times.

From a great distance, he saw her and Li Yubai together, behaving intimately, even... a passionate kiss under the moon.

He mingled with the crowd, joining the other tribesmen to surround their young lady, listening to her talk and tell them stories she had heard from the outside world.

Someone in the crowd asked, "Young lady, what do you like most about the outside world?"

The girl smiled, her eyes filled with longing: "I love the houses outside the village the most. They're so much more magnificent and imposing than the ones in the village! If I could, I'd like to own a villa outside someday. It's more beautiful than any building I've ever seen. Of course, the world outside is developing so fast, I believe that day will come soon."

The boy, wearing an ice-blue mask and humbly hidden in the crowd, cautiously raised his head and asked in a hoarse voice typical of a teenager going through puberty, "What... kind of person do you want?"

The young lady did not recognize him.

She was lost in her imagination: "It has to be unique, magnificent, and preferably high enough, like it's in the clouds. It also has to have a window so you can see the most beautiful moonlight... Hmm, if it's full of Chinese elements, that would be even more perfect!"

That night, under the dim light of the wall lamp, the boy opened a tattered copy of "Architectural Design"...

Later, as the boy gradually gained fame, he became less inclined to appear in public.

He remained hidden in the shadows, silently expanding his strength, only daring to secretly search for her traces at night. He had seen her and Li Yubai enthusiastically cultivating a plot of land in the main hall, planting the legendary vegetables—at that time, he, like most of his lowly clansmen, could only survive by drinking blood. He had also seen her take out that magical staff, saving the people from suffering.

I've also seen her lazily hiding in a corner, engrossed in playing with Li Yubai's eerie black magical artifact puppet...

At that moment, Li Yubai's voice was both affectionate and helpless: "Baby, be gentle. After thousands of years of honing, the puppet seems to be starting to have its own thoughts and feelings..."

……

Later, Ning Yunzhan accidentally obtained the Blood Clan's sacred weapon, the Butcher's Blade, which had been lost for over a thousand years, and his fame spread throughout the Blood Clan in an instant.

It even reached the young lady's ears...

By then, he had grown into a handsome and perfect adult man, over 1.8 meters tall.

The legends about him in the tribe, besides his ruthless and bloodthirsty nature, also include his ever-changing face and his ice-blue mask.

But in fact, ever since he received the painting from the young lady, his appearance has never changed.

The face that girl created according to her own preferences was his rebirth, his redemption, and... the budding of delusion.

It might not be love, it could just be an obsession.

He deliberately chose a day when the puppets were out on a mission, leading thousands of equally lowly and humble clansmen to storm the main hall. But even without the puppets' assistance, Li Yubai's own power was still unimaginably strong, and even with the butcher's knife in hand, he was still slightly at a disadvantage.

The only difference between him and Li Yubai is that Li Yubai protects the vampire clan, while he only wants to destroy them.

Destroy all noble bloodlines, destroy all temple buildings, and also destroy the hierarchy, to rebuild the world you desire.

Destruction is inevitably much easier than protection.

Temple, Holy Shrine, Main Temple, Holy Spirit Academy...

Familiar buildings crumbled one by one, familiar clansmen died under the butcher's knife, and the beautiful young man behind the ice-blue mask watched coldly and expressionlessly as everything he loathed turned into ruins...

Until she appeared.

During his fierce battle with Li Yubai, the girl used her spirit staff to repair everything he had destroyed—things, people, and even her own clan. In its place, however, the girl's face grew increasingly pale...

After a moment of slight hesitation, he raised his blade towards Li Yubai. Only by defeating Li Yubai could he end the war as quickly as possible. But just as the blade transformed into a gigantic phantom and slashed towards Li Yubai, the girl's cold gaze suddenly turned towards him. Then, the staff in her hand, imbued with immense power, transformed into a cold stream of light, piercing through his body…

The butcher's knife recognized its master and sensed the danger to its master. It immediately changed direction and the knife, which was originally going to cut Li Yubai, slashed straight down at the young lady in that instant!

Everything was fleeting, lasting only a second, so sudden and unexpected.

It happened so fast that even Ning Yunzhan didn't have time to react.

As for the young lady, in that upheaval, she was like a shattered porcelain doll, her body instantly covered with countless cracks, her life gradually fading away...

Ning Yunzhan felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave!
Even his cold heart felt as if it were being slowly tortured by that eerie butcher's knife that had gathered countless undead, instantly writhing in pain so hard he could hardly breathe.

He stared blankly at the young lady. Her gaze was cold, and carried a hint of mockery.

Li Yubai held her in his arms in a daze, abandoning his demeanor as the vampire lord for the first time. He clung to her tightly, trembling all over, his face as white as a ghost.

"It's not time to cry yet." The girl's broken voice rang out...