No One Wants the Bloodsucking Sword Maiden? Come to Me—I’ve Got Plenty of Blood - Chapter 2:

Chapter 2: The Sword Maiden Looking for Free Food.

Clack!

After Alice set down the third empty bottle of spiritual power potion, Xu Ping’an finally confirmed one thing.

This Artifact Spirit girl who had collapsed outside his shop…

She was here to freeload.

Normally, when a Soul Artifact transformed into human form, its Artifact Spirit would only move around near its master. Even if someone genuinely intended to sell their Soul Artifact, they surely wouldn’t send the Artifact Spirit herself to negotiate the price, right?

How would that even work?

Sell herself to pay for her father’s funeral?

Xu Ping’an helplessly shook his head.

Although he had suspected this possibility from the beginning, as someone who had transmigrated here from China, he had still inherited the traditional virtue of helping someone in genuine need. If someone came crying about their miserable circumstances and asked to borrow money, Xu Ping’an might refuse.

But if someone told him they were starving to death and begged for a single meal, he genuinely couldn’t bring himself to turn them away.

Feeling a pang in his heart, Xu Ping’an opened the fourth bottle of spiritual power potion and carefully studied the girl before him.

‘Speaking of which, what kind of Soul Artifact is this Artifact Spirit girl? A Sword Maiden?’

‘This is actually my first time seeing a living Artifact Spirit. She looks completely indistinguishable from a real human…’

The girl had a beautiful, innocent oval face and a graceful figure, with long hair cascading over her shoulders. A fitted red cocktail dress hugged her slender, delicate body, making her fragile frame even more apparent, while creating a striking contrast with the fullness of her chest.

If the girl had not been so close to death that she could no longer fully control her human form, causing the faint outline of her true form as a longsword to appear, Xu Ping’an would never have recognized her identity.

Xu Ping’an quietly shifted his position to block the final two bottles of spiritual power potion sitting on the counter behind him, then asked, “Miss Sword Maiden, did you get separated from your master?”

Alice froze.

She remained silent for a long time before finally saying, “I don’t have a master anymore.”

Tears slid down Alice’s cheeks and fell onto her dress.

She hurriedly wiped her eyes, then carefully lifted the hem of her dress and began wiping away the tears that had landed on it.

This dress had been a gift from her master.

It was also the only possession she had left in this world.

‘Huh?’

‘A wild Sword Maiden?’

‘That shouldn’t be possible… Every Soul Artifact in this world is worth at least 1 million yuan, with no upper limit.’

‘Just how wealthy would someone have to be to casually throw away something as precious as a Soul Artifact?’

‘Whatever. That doesn’t matter right now. Since this little Sword Maiden personally said she doesn’t have a master anymore, there shouldn’t be any problem if I form a contract with her, right?’

After seeing what [Life Source Flow] could do, Xu Ping’an had extremely high expectations for the second skill granted by his cheat ability.

Right now, all he wanted was to quickly form a contract with a Soul Artifact, become an Awakened, and strengthen himself. Then perhaps he would no longer have to live every day constantly fearing that his secret might be exposed.

Xu Ping’an cleared his throat. “Ahem… Miss, you’ve probably already seen what kind of business I run.”

He deliberately softened his voice before continuing, “If you’re willing…”

“Boss, I understand!”

The little Sword Maiden stared earnestly at the handsome and refined face of the shop owner before nodding firmly.

‘I haven’t even said anything yet, and you already understand?’

‘What exactly did you understand?’

Alice said seriously, “I won’t freeload. I can work in your shop to repay you for the spiritual power potions I drank.”

In truth, the little Sword Maiden had considered becoming the shop owner’s Soul Artifact.

However, she knew her own circumstances better than anyone.

She had to consume human blood essence to survive and grow stronger.

Although she could control the amount she consumed so that her master’s body would not suffer irreversible damage, doing so also severely restricted her growth.

No one would want a Soul Artifact that could never properly grow stronger while constantly consuming its master’s blood essence.

The moment Alice regained consciousness, she had noticed the ticket beside the shop owner.

He was entering the Summoning Platform tomorrow.

He could easily find a much better Soul Artifact.

More importantly…

Alice was afraid.

She was terrified of losing everything again.

Terrified of once again being left with absolutely nothing.

That feeling had been far too painful. Rather than endure it a second time, she would rather disappear from this world entirely.

She was different from other Sword Maidens. No matter how many spiritual power potions she drank, they could only prolong her dying existence.

All Alice wanted was to do something for the benefactor who had saved her before the final moments of her life arrived.

“The spiritual power potions you drank aren’t a big deal. Anyway, I’ve been open for three months and haven’t had a single customer. What I actually wanted to talk about wasn’t that…”

Xu Ping’an scratched his head. This was also his first time dealing with an Artifact Spirit, so he genuinely didn’t know how to phrase his proposal appropriately.

“What I wanted to ask is… would you be willing to become my Soul…”

Before Xu Ping’an could finish speaking, Alice nimbly vaulted over the long table and landed beside him. She immediately pressed down on his head and forced him to hide beneath the counter.

Xu Ping’an had not even figured out what was happening when a cold, harsh voice came from outside the shop.

“Who’s the owner of this place?”

Xu Ping’an frowned.

‘That voice sounds familiar…’

‘Why does it sound…’

‘Like the black-market boss who removed my corneas this morning?’

‘The black market itself is anonymous. I even used a fake identity, and I never exposed my address.’

‘After taking every possible precaution, that bastard still managed to track me down?’

Through a narrow gap beneath the counter, Xu Ping’an could barely make out four people entering the shop. Several more shadows moved around outside, but he couldn’t tell exactly how many there were.

Alice rose and positioned herself in front of the counter. Without the slightest change in expression, she stared directly at the vicious-looking black-market boss and said, “I’m the owner.”

As an Artifact Spirit, Alice was exceptionally sensitive to malicious intent. She had sensed the violence and cruelty radiating from the black-market boss long before he entered the shop.

The black-market boss sneered, “Little girl, don’t joke around with me. I know there’s a young man here around your age. Fair-skinned, clean-looking. He’s the real owner, isn’t he?”

“I’m his friend. Tell him to come out. I just want to have a little chat with him.”

Faced with the black-market boss’s aggressive attitude, Alice raised her leg and launched a flying kick without hesitation.

The black-market boss had never imagined that such a delicate-looking girl could attack so viciously.

Caught completely off guard, he was kicked straight out of the shop.

The black-market boss crashed to the ground, his head spinning from the impact. With the help of his subordinates, he struggled into a sitting position and roared, “What the hell are you staring at?! Fucking get her!!”

The little Sword Maiden had no idea why these people had come looking for trouble with the shop owner, nor did she understand the schemes and conflicts between humans.

Her thoughts were very simple.

The shop owner had saved her life.

The shop owner was a good person.

So she would protect him.

Seven or eight thugs rushed into the shop simultaneously and immediately surrounded Alice.

Under normal circumstances, Alice could have easily dealt with all of them even while maintaining her human form.

But now she was already on the verge of death. Her physical capabilities were not even one-tenth of what they had been at her peak.

Surrounded and attacked from every direction, she gradually began to struggle.

Finally, after dodging a sweeping kick, a heavy fist slammed directly into her temple.

Alice’s vision instantly went black, and her body nearly collapsed.

Yet she forcibly steadied herself and remained standing.

She had sensed it.

The shop owner had already slipped away through the back door.

She needed to buy him more time.

“Damn, this little girl can really take a beating…”

Another thug stared at her and said with a lecherous grin, “I wonder if you’ll still be this feisty after we pin you down…”

“Hehehe…”

As they stared at Alice’s beautiful face, the thugs’ eyes filled with lust, and sinister, obscene laughter spread throughout the shop.

Alice did not understand exactly what they meant.

However, her instincts warned her that something terrible was about to happen.

She glanced painfully at her now filthy little dress, then raised a hand and wiped the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

Even so, she remained standing in front of the counter.

She refused to retreat even a single step.

Unable to restrain themselves any longer, the thugs began closing in around her in a fan-shaped formation.

At that moment, a furious shout suddenly came from behind them.

“Everyone, stop!! Fuck! All of you, get out here!!”

Hearing the familiar voice, the thugs froze simultaneously.

They turned around.

Only then did they realize that their own boss had somehow been taken hostage.

A gleaming fruit knife was pressed directly against the black-market boss’s throat.

Behind him stood an unfamiliar man whose expression was cold and terrifying, almost like a ghost…