Chapter 1 Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Hey, wake up."

In a fitful sleep, the girl faintly heard a clear, slightly hoarse, and somewhat impatient young voice, drawing closer, rousing her foggy mind.

Her throat was parched and sticky.

Before her thoughts could fully coalesce, her body reacted first. With heavy eyelids, she lowered her head, acting on instinct, and took small sips from the bowl.

Perhaps it was her imagination, but she felt the person opposite watching her out of the corner of his eye, the water bowl tilted just out of her reach.

She weakly moved her lips, as if trying to say his name.

"...Tch, what do you want?"

Golden bangs covered his emerald green pupils, a small ponytail tied at the back of his head. He braced his leather boot against the tree trunk behind her, leaning down like a delinquent, his tone unfriendly.

Handsome and agile, even his rough actions couldn't inspire dislike—a leopard-like youth.

"A..." During these past few days of traveling together, she had heard her rescuers address each other in her half-asleep state, but actually saying one of their names aloud was a first for her.

"Alright, Archer."

Another clear, laughter-tinged male voice reached her ears.

"As hunters, we should have patience with people in distress."

A silver scabbard lightly bumped against a boot tip. The newcomer crouched before her, raised an arm, and his slender fingertips gently touched her neck through the bandage, bringing a warm, numbing sensation.

That was where the beast had bitten her.

She couldn't help but flinch.

"Sorry, did that hurt?" the red-haired man asked casually. The scene before her gradually cleared, and she saw his slightly raised eyebrows, sharp features, and a handsomeness tinged with a roguish air.

He wore a long black coat, a silver cross hanging from his neck, several studs along the cartilage of his ear beneath his red hair. Beneath his open collar was a form-fitting combat suit, with two long swords, daggers, and weapons she couldn't identify hanging from his waist belt.

Though dressed casually and unrestrained, over the past few days, she had occasionally sensed him coming to change her bandages in her sleep. He seemed to be the only one in the team with any medical knowledge.

—This was quite rare in this entire cold, hard-edged "hunter" squad.

Did the "hunters" in this world actually have an obligation to aid civilians?

"Wow, this is the first time you've been awake this long in days," the red-haired man chuckled, unwrapping her bandage with one hand to apply medicine, waving his right hand in front of her eyes. "So, do you remember any details from before the attack?"

She recalled this was her first week since crossing over, and the third day since she was attacked by a beast outside the village, left severely wounded and near death.

In her previous life, she had been bedridden with illness. After death came rebirth. Even though she had crossed over to a small town resembling the Western Middle Ages, becoming a homeless orphan girl, she held no complaints, only wanting to live well.

However, fate had played another joke on her.

Before getting injured, she had observed a corner of this world through this small, confined place.

—Though dressed in medieval clothing, with farming tools and methods quite ancient, even in this border town, people possessed a remarkably strict sense of hygiene, and the residents all seemed to hold mystical religious beliefs.

They worked from sunrise, returning in the afternoon. By dusk, not even cooking smoke rose from the entire village, and the chickens and ducks in the pens fell eerily silent.

Like a frozen oil painting, dark in color, carrying the necromantic aura of a grave.

The original body was a wanderer, with no fixed place to live, and naturally couldn't integrate into this village. Kindly old folks would slip her one or two pieces of nearly inedible black bread after nightfall, but most of the time, the villagers regarded her as a wandering spirit.

People avoided and feared some kind of nocturnal monster.

It wasn't hard for her to realize that, in fact, three nights ago, she had clearly experienced the terror of being hunted.

The human brain automatically filters out pain. Her mind was blank, and most details from that time were already hazy.

The only thing she remembered was the moment the fangs pierced her neck, blood bursting through her thin, tender skin and gushing out. Along with the loss of warmth and blood, deeply etched in her nerves was—

...pleasure?

That can't be right, can it? She didn't have any special fetishes in her previous life either!

But it was a fact that she had been bitten by a beast and lost a lot of blood. Now, she could only hope this world's good hygiene standards would work their magic, and there were no infectious diseases like rabies.

She had just woken up, the information in her mind too chaotic and disorganized. The more she thought, the more her head ached. Her thick eyelashes half-closed, her skin so pale it was almost transparent, delicate and pretty like a doll in a shop window.

Whether from pain or itchiness during the bandage change, she kept trembling.

Noticing this, the man lightly lifted his fingertip, not touching her skin again.

"Could you tell us your name, miss?"

The red-haired man stared intently at her expression, knowing her condition wasn't suitable for further questioning. He raised both hands, smiling handsomely in a harmless gesture.

"We're not bad people, you probably realize that by now, right?"

She nodded. Regardless of their purpose, she had barely managed to keep her life. Following them was her only way to survive.

"...Si." She let out a faint breathy sound.

The common language of this world wasn't Chinese. Her memories hadn't fully merged with the original body's, and she blurted out her real name.

"Sissi, your name is Sisi?"

Loki scratched his chin with a knuckle, chewing on the two syllables with interest. "I'm Loki Baitelaimu. That guy is Archer. Two others are out on a mission; I'll introduce them to you later."

Sisi had no strength left to speak. Breathing shallowly, she closed her eyes and nodded, a few strands of straw-like golden hair falling before her delicate, pale chin.

Dusk was approaching again. A sky full of bloody sunset drowned the light wheel at the horizon's edge. Over the dead, bare forest, only one or two crows flew sporadically.

The temperature difference between day and night here was huge. She hugged her knees with both hands, curling into a small ball to preserve her body heat.

Having finally gotten a chance at life, she wanted to live.

In her half-asleep state, Sisi faintly heard them conversing in low voices.

"Archer, how about you give her your coat?"

"Get lost."

"Don't be stingy. You're still wearing a hood anyway." Loki laughed it off.

"If she needs warmth, there's only horse fodder." Archer's reply remained as unfeeling as ever.

Loki fell silent and sighed. "Alright. Why did you avoid her earlier?"

"I'm disgusted by pathogens," the youth said coldly. "We're keeping her with us for surveillance, not pampering her like a noble lady. If she turns, I'll be the first to kill her."

"Don't be such a hypocrite. Do you think you're helping her?"

With those words, Archer stepped onto a branch, carrying his bow and arrows, and vaulted to a higher perch.

Their argument wasn't hidden from Gu Si, seeming certain that even if she heard it, she couldn't escape the surveillance of the "hunters."

Those chaotic noises faded away like flowing water, and the sound of boots approached her once more.

Loki knelt on one knee, observing her up close for a moment before casually removing his trench coat and draping it over her slender back.

The sturdy, warm coat... Gu Si gathered the hem and pulled it tight, her cheeks slightly flushed as she let out a soft sigh of contentment.

In her drowsiness, she became completely unguarded, like a small animal exposing its fluffy, pale belly.

Loki reached out and lightly touched her hair. Gu Si, seeking the warmth, tilted her head, her nose pressing against his half-finger gloves, catching a faint scent of leather and blood.

Not used to the smell, she frowned slightly.

The man gave a low chuckle, sounding amused.

"Don't be afraid."

Loki brushed her disheveled hair to the side, taking care to avoid her wound, his knuckles resting against the thin, warm skin beneath.

A pulse throbbed, a vibrant surge of life coursing beneath his palm.

It was still a human's warmth.

As if sensing danger subconsciously, she began to tremble slightly again.

"As long as you keep behaving this well, we'll let you stay with us." Loki smiled brightly, gently patting the back of her head in reassurance.

...

Gu Si realized that what had bitten her might not have been an ordinary beast.

The truth dawned on her late that same night.

Gu Si clung to the man's sturdy back, the oversized trench coat covering her thighs, trapping a pitiful bit of warmth against the rushing cold air. The scenery whizzed by in a blur, and a thick, overwhelming scent of blood permeated the air, while tree branches and leaves thrashed wildly.

Gu Si's hair was whipped into a mess by the wind. She rubbed her eyes, wondering if Loki and Archer leaping from branch to branch was just her imagination.

Were they even human?!

The frightened whinny of a horse followed closely behind them—the hunters' transport and the mount that had carried Gu Si these past few days. Like a beast facing a natural predator, a sudden, terrified neigh came from below, followed by the heavy thud of something crashing to the ground. Predators that had been lying in wait swarmed forward.

Gu Si glanced back in terror, catching only a spray of blood mist soaring high into the air.

In that instant, what lingered in her retina was a pair of vertical pupils glowing with a bloody light, their irises sharp as needles, set against pale, bluish skin, like that of a nocturnal creature.

Two similar dark figures closed in on them from both sides!

The resonant twang of a drawn bowstring sounded beside her. A silver weapon gleamed coldly, slicing through the fierce wind and striking the heart of the monster attacking from the right.

Due to the swift killing motion and the undeniable force behind it, the bow rebounded in Archer's hand.

"Fifteen Subspecies," he narrowed his green eyes, his gaze cold and wary as he scrutinized Gu Si. "Did you attract them?"

Gu Si wasn't foolish enough to miss the boy's targeting by now, but with limited information and still somewhat shaken, she kept her mouth shut and said nothing.

"Archer," Loki called out to his companion with a sigh, snapping his fingers. Another monster about to reach them was engulfed in flames erupting from the ground.

"Low-level Subspecies lack intelligence, but they have a sense of danger. Avoiding the scent of silver is instinctual for them."

Archer crossed his arms and sneered coldly. "Then they must want to reclaim their 'own kind.' How else do you explain this pack of vampire Subspecies acting against their very nature?"

Gu Si lacked experience in dealing with people. Slowly, she realized that while Loki's words seemed like an explanation, they were actually guiding her to prove her own innocence.

She had been attacked by these monsters before and was at risk of infection. Archer's trust in her was already hanging by a thread. One misstep, and she would be abandoned as bait.

Remembering the fate of that horse, she shuddered.

...What should she do?

Fortunately, Archer and Loki were formidable fighters. While waiting for her response, they effortlessly dispatched seven or eight monsters. During their high-speed movement, they reunited with their returning companions, and before long, all the monsters were dealt with.

Gu Si finally saw all the Church hunters while fully conscious.

But her crisis was far from over.

Only now, she was about to face interrogation from the hunters themselves.