No One Wants the Bloodsucking Sword Maiden? Come to Me—I’ve Got Plenty of Blood - Chapter 4:

Chapter 4: Come With Me.

Under the dim yellow glow of the streetlights, Huang Kaiwen followed the trail of blood deeper into the alley.

When he reached a dark corner, he cautiously stopped.

After spending years in the black market, Huang Kaiwen had risen from a penniless nobody who could barely afford a meal to the second-in-command of the largest gang in the black market. What had kept him alive long enough to climb that far was his instinct for danger.

This time, that instinct saved his life once again.

“You guys, go in and take a look.”

Huang Kaiwen gestured toward his subordinates while remaining at the very back of the group, his handgun raised and ready.

One by one, his men entered the dark alley.

Huang Kaiwen patiently waited for more than ten seconds.

Not a single sound came from within.

“Strange… Was my instinct wrong this time? Is that kid not here?”

Huang Kaiwen muttered under his breath. He cautiously edged forward until he reached the corner.

One glance was enough to freeze him in place.

His pupils abruptly contracted. Cold sweat instantly soaked his back, and every hair on his body stood on end.

The alley was littered with severed limbs and mutilated bodies. Dark-red blood had splattered everywhere.

In less than ten seconds, six of his men had been killed without making a sound…

There was only one kind of power capable of something like this.

Something beyond ordinary humans.

[Awakened.]

The terrifying realization had barely entered Huang Kaiwen’s mind when he turned and ran.

Unfortunately, he was already too late.

A young man with an utterly cold expression had appeared behind him, blocking his only escape route.

Holding a scarlet longsword, Xu Ping’an slowly stepped forward and quietly asked, “How did you find me?”

Huang Kaiwen knew that look in Xu Ping’an’s eyes all too well.

He often saw the exact same expression in the mirror.

It was…

The look one gave a dead man.

Without hesitation, Huang Kaiwen raised his gun and pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang!

Clang! Clang!

Alice’s reactions were far faster than her master’s. Before Xu Ping’an could even react, the longsword in his hand moved on its own and knocked both bullets out of the air.

‘Alice, that was freaking awesome!’

Xu Ping’an secretly marveled at what he had just witnessed and praised the little Sword Maiden in his mind.

Alice’s soft, ethereal voice immediately answered, ‘Awesome? What does that mean?’

‘Uh…’

Xu Ping’an smiled awkwardly. ‘I’ll teach you that later.’

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Huang Kaiwen had completely lost control. He simply continued pulling the trigger on instinct, as though the recoil traveling through the gun into his palms was the only thing capable of giving him even the slightest sense of security.

Xu Ping’an instinctively raised a hand to protect his forehead from a fatal headshot, blocking his own vision in the process.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Three more bullets were knocked aside.

Xu Ping’an grew increasingly satisfied with his Sword Maiden. ‘Damn… You can even do that?’

Alice explained, ‘When I’m in my Soul Artifact form, I sense my surroundings rather than relying on sight. So my master’s field of vision isn’t important.’

‘Nice, nice. I’ll give you an extra chicken leg later.’

‘Master… I can’t eat chicken legs…’

‘Then eat me. Same thing.’

Xu Ping’an said it with extraordinary generosity.

Faced with a monster he seemingly could not kill, Huang Kaiwen fell into complete despair.

He gripped the handgun tightly with both hands, using every ounce of strength merely to steady his trembling arms.

However, before Huang Kaiwen could pull the trigger again, Xu Ping’an gripped the sword with both hands and unleashed a vicious slash.

A terrifying blade of sword energy erupted forward.

It tore a deep trench through the ground as it surged ahead.

Huang Kaiwen stood 5 meters away, yet his body might as well have been made of paper. The sword energy passed straight through him.

A thin line appeared on Huang Kaiwen’s forehead and continued downward through his body.

Xu Ping’an completed his step, casually twirled the sword through the air, and calmly lowered it.

Dark-red blood began seeping from the thin line.

Huang Kaiwen’s corpse split cleanly into two halves. The cut was perfectly smooth, and his internal organs spilled onto the ground.

The moment Huang Kaiwen collapsed, the Sword Maiden slipped free from Xu Ping’an’s hand and transformed back into her human form.

Alice looked far healthier than before. Her bright, beautiful features were no longer deathly pale. Instead, a healthy flush now colored her face.

Xu Ping’an recalled the superhuman sensation he had experienced moments ago. The more he looked at the little Sword Maiden before him, the more pleased he became.

“Why were you in such a hurry to turn back into a Sword Maiden? I can tell you’re still not full.”

Xu Ping’an generously extended his right hand toward Alice.

Alice fearfully shrank back a step, avoiding his hand.

“Master… we only formed a verbal contract. It lasts for just one day… If I keep maintaining my Soul Artifact form… I’m afraid I won’t be able to control myself… and I might really drain you dry…”

Even recalling the sensation from earlier left Alice shaken.

This had been the first time since arriving on Blue Star that she had been able to freely drink her master’s blood essence to her heart’s content.

That sense of fulfillment rising from the very depths of her soul had nearly overwhelmed her. For a moment, she had almost lost herself in it and devoured every last trace of his blood essence in one breath.

“So you don’t plan on continuing to be my Soul Artifact?”

Xu Ping’an frowned. “Then everything you said earlier about becoming my Sword Maiden, protecting me from danger, and even becoming the stone monument over my grave after I die… Was all of that just something you made up to fool me?”

“No!”

Alice abruptly raised her head and exclaimed emotionally, “The oaths of our Crimson Clan are sacred! Once we speak an oath, it can never be changed!”

“But…”

“But…”

Xu Ping’an was no fool.

If he still couldn’t figure out what Alice was worried about after everything that had happened, he would have died long ago in this unfamiliar world.

He stepped forward and gently took Alice’s hand.

“I know what you’re worried about.”

“You’re afraid that I’ll fear your abilities. You’re afraid I’ll be terrified by your instinct to drink blood. Even if I form a contract with you now, you think there will eventually come a day when I abandon you again.”

“Am I right?”

Alice stared blankly at Xu Ping’an.

Painful memories flooded into her mind, and tears once again slipped from the corners of her eyes.

This was a girl who had refused to retreat even when facing death, yet she could not bear hearing Xu Ping’an put her deepest fear into words.

“I won’t abandon you.”

Xu Ping’an gently wiped the tears from her face.

“And it’s not only because I want a Soul Artifact.”

“More importantly, right now, I can feel your emotions.”

“I’m the same as you.”

“We both came here from other worlds.”

“We arrived in this unfamiliar place with absolutely nothing. Whether we struggle to become stronger or desperately work ourselves to the bone…”

“All we really want…”

“Is to survive.”

Alice was still Xu Ping’an’s Soul Artifact at this moment.

She could sense her master’s emotions.

She could distinguish whether his words were true or false.

And she could feel the sincerity behind every word he had spoken.

Alice’s beautiful eyes widened in disbelief, filled with both hope and fear.

Throughout the long life that awaited her, Alice would never forget this moment.

She felt a pair of strong arms gently wrap around her.

The warmth felt almost like her mother’s embrace.

Alice slowly closed her eyes and buried her face against that warm chest.

“Alice, you’ll never be abandoned again. You’ll never lose everything again and end up waiting to die alone by the roadside.”

“Come with me.”

“Alice.”

“After tonight, neither of us will ever be alone again.”

Alice could no longer remember exactly how she had answered him that night.

She only remembered nodding desperately, almost wishing she could open her own head and let her master see exactly what was in her heart.

She only remembered that the wind had been bitterly cold that night, yet somehow, inside her master’s embrace, she no longer felt cold.

Instead, she felt warm and comfortable.

She only remembered that the moonlight had been beautiful that night. The crescent moon curved gently across the sky, almost like a smiling face.

She only remembered that from that night onward…

She was never alone again.

And she never would be…

…