OVPBM 12

Chapter 12 – Cold Lips Brushed Against Lu Yunwan’s Chin

“Let go of me!”

Lu Yunwan instinctively tried to pry open Chu Xuanzhou’s fingers, but a merman’s strength was obviously not something a “fragile human” could contend with.

Chu Xuanzhou barely used any effort. With his other hand, he seized both of Lu Yunwan’s wrists and pinned him firmly to the ground. Then he pressed his leg against Lu Yunwan’s knee, completely cutting off the human’s struggle.

The Regent who had been standing beneath the stars just minutes ago, delivering a speech to the entire interstellar realm, was now in a sorry state, utterly unable to move.

As the youth moved, the black velvet glove was pushed upward, revealing a stretch of cold, pale skin.

Chu Xuanzhou was already on the brink of his migratory period.

The cold vertical pupils of a marine creature fixed on him. Lu Yunwan felt that… in the very next second, he would be swallowed whole by that dark purple abyss.

“Cough, cough, cough…” As oxygen rapidly drained away, he began to gasp violently.

The merman’s long hair, stained red with blood, swept across Lu Yunwan’s cheek, leaving a long, vivid scarlet mark at the corner of his eye.

Physiological tears mixed with the blood at the edge of his eye and slowly trailed down his cheek, like tears of blood.

Chu Xuanzhou suddenly raised his gaze and stared deeply at him.

The human’s slender, fragile neck was trembling beneath his hand.

The return of blood flow tinged Lu Yunwan’s perpetually pale cheeks with an abnormal flush of red. Paired with his dark, sunken eyes and the bloodied tears between his brows, his beauty became striking, heavy with color.

At that instant, an unfamiliar scene burst forth from the deepest part of Lu Yunwan’s mind.

In the nearly ink-black depths of the sea, several merfolk trapped deep in their migratory period were coiled together, surrounding a human and tearing into his flesh, devouring him piece by piece.

Not long after, clarity gradually returned to his eyes.

…What was that?!

Even though he had once lived in a world overrun by zombies, Lu Yunwan was still startled by this nauseating image.

He instinctively wanted to close his eyes, but the memories accompanying the scene stopped him.

This belonged to the original host’s memories. Many years ago, he had taken part in an investigation related to Miliuya and learned from it that… human blood could temporarily alleviate the effects of this drug on merfolk!

He could not use mental power to attack Chu Xuanzhou right now. If Chu Xuanzhou suddenly awakened his mental power, everything would truly be over.

And relying on brute force, he was even less of a match for a merman.

In a split second, an utterly insane idea surfaced in Lu Yunwan’s mind.

—Lu Yunwan was going to try to make Chu Xuanzhou regain consciousness.

Fresh blood was the only bait that could awaken him.

Lu Yunwan’s limbs were still nailed to the ground by the other party. He could barely move at all.

At this moment, he had only one choice left.

Lu Yunwan forced himself to steady his breathing. He slowly loosened his numb teeth, paused for a few seconds, then viciously bit down on his lower lip.

Threads of pain spread outward.

Unlike a merfolk’s mouthful of sharp fangs, human teeth were flat and could not pierce flesh in an instant.

Lu Yunwan cursed under his breath. Gathering all his strength, he bit down hard on the tip of his tongue once more.

Blood spilled out.

Thin, dark red lines wound down from the corner of his lips, sliding over his sharp chin and seeping into his collar.

Miliuya could plunge the merfolk into hallucinations, but Lu Yunwan was, after all, a human. He had no way of knowing what scene the other party was seeing.

So even while enduring intense pain, he still slowly revealed a faint smile toward Chu Xuanzhou and gradually lifted his eyes to look at the youth before him.

“Your Highness, don’t you want to have a taste?” Lu Yunwan’s voice was low, edged with breathiness. Paired with his careless tone, it still carried an air of noble arrogance.

Even lying on the ground, his throat tightly strangled by another, he was still the Empire’s one and only Regent.

That faintly metallic-sweet scent seemed to truly call back a sliver of Chu Xuanzhou’s reason.

He bent down and looked at Lu Yunwan lying in a pool of blood.

A trace of blue light slipped in through the crack of the window, landing squarely on Chu Xuanzhou’s face.

His eyes were vacant, his exquisitely beautiful features devoid of even a breath of life.  

Like an innocent and cruel young beast.

At that moment, the merman hesitated. Then he suddenly leaned down and gently pressed his cold lips against Lu Yunwan’s chin.

After that, he slowly and earnestly began to lick away that hint of sweetness.

Sharp canine teeth occasionally slid over Lu Yunwan’s chin, bringing with them a faint sting of pain.

His body could not help but tremble slightly.

In less than half a minute, all the blood on Lu Yunwan’s chin had been licked completely clean by the merman.

The youth paused. He slowly lifted his head, following instinct as his gaze settled on Lu Yunwan’s lips.

There was more blood there.

…No!

This really won’t do!

Lu Yunwan didn’t even think about it. He mustered all his strength and raised one hand, striking the completely unguarded merman.

Accompanied by sharp pain shooting through his wrist, the merman, caught off guard, finally collapsed to the ground.

* * *

Lu Yunwan let out a long breath.

Only then did he clearly see that Chu Xuanzhou had somehow also been injured all over his body. The blood around them was likely all his.

Lu Yunwan staggered to his feet and wiped away the fresh blood seeping from the corner of his lips with the back of his hand.

According to the original host’s memories, once a merman regained consciousness, he would only retain a vague impression of what had just happened, like waking up from a severe hangover.

Lu Yunwan was not sure how much Chu Xuanzhou would remember. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he decided to call his subordinates over and have them take him away.

The signal had just been sent when he saw Chu Xuanzhou’s brows knit tightly together.

The youth curled up on the ground in pain, instinctively pressing his fingers to his temples.

…There?

The mental core!

Miliuya affected a merman’s mental core. Under normal circumstances, it might not have been a big problem, but recently Chu Xuanzhou had been undergoing experiments.

His mental core was in an extremely fragile state.

He could not just leave him here like this…

Worried that something might happen to the protagonist, Lu Yunwan immediately dropped to one knee in the pool of blood.

In the world he had lived in before, mental-type abilities had two development paths: healing and attack.

Lu Yunwan caught the edge of his glove between his teeth and tugged it off before gently placing his fingertips against Chu Xuanzhou’s forehead.

Soothing energy, like warm water, flowed out, winding around Chu Xuanzhou’s mental core like a soft ribbon.

Chu Xuanzhou’s mental power had not yet awakened. Normally, he could barely sense the existence of his mental core, and during experiments, he could only perceive the pain.

The sensation at his forehead now was something entirely unfamiliar and comfortable to him, like returning to the deep sea…

The tightly furrowed brows of the youth gradually relaxed.

This unfamiliar sensation of mental power brushing across his forehead was unconsciously etched into his heart.

A few minutes later, Lu Yunwan stopped and slowly retreated into the shadows.

* * *

The chaos was not over.

Just as Lu Yunwan finished tidying his clothes and waited for his subordinates to arrive, a merman in a dark red robe dragged his heavy steps toward him.

Only when he came closer did Lu Yunwan see clearly that the dark red was not the robe’s original color. It was all blood!

The desire to hunt drew his attention to Chu Xuanzhou lying off to the side.

And sensing the arrival of danger, the merfolk’s instincts stirred Chu Xuanzhou awake at that moment.

The youth snapped his eyes open and, before the other could even raise the quantum gun in his hand, smashed him heavily to the ground.

A dull pain struck the back of the man’s head, and blood flowed down the back of his neck.

Lu Yunwan could not help but let out a breath of relief.

…As expected of the protagonist!

However, before he could truly relax, the merman lying on the ground caught the scent of blood on his own body and suddenly became excited.

He sprang up at once and charged toward Chu Xuanzhou again.

Holy shit!

Lu Yunwan’s mind went blank in an instant. By the time he reacted, he had already strode to Chu Xuanzhou’s side and launched a mental power attack at the merman.

“Ah!” The merman screamed and collapsed to the ground.

Lu Yunwan had destroyed his mental core in an instant.

According to his character setting, wasn’t he absolutely not supposed to be this heroic?

Lu Yunwan fell silent.

“Your Excellency?”

Chu Xuanzhou’s gaze fell on him, and Lu Yunwan suddenly had the illusion of being appraised by a wild beast.

After a few seconds, he suddenly smiled. “Your Highness, you are still too merciful.”

After spending some time together, Lu Yunwan had already developed the instinct of slipping into character whenever he saw Chu Xuanzhou.

Having not experienced exile and blackening, Chu Xuanzhou was ultimately still a bit too kind. Just now, he had not even dealt a fatal blow to his attacker.

With so many political enemies awaiting him in the future, this really would not do!

Lu Yunwan bent down again, dropping to one knee in the pool of blood.

He carefully wiped the bloodstains from Chu Xuanzhou’s cheek and said solemnly, “When facing someone who wants to kill you, or any prey at all, you must completely strip them of any ability to fight back…”

“Hunters are never merciful.” Lu Yunwan smiled as he curled a lock of Chu Xuanzhou’s long hair around his fingertip, lowering his voice as he spoke softly. “Your Highness, when facing an opponent… especially when your opponent is someone like me.”

“You must remember to cut off all his escape routes and eliminate every possibility of counterattack.”

Lu Yunwan had long since tidied himself up and cleaned the blood from his body.

At this moment, aside from being a little pale, there was nothing unusual about him.

Chu Xuanzhou saw it clearly. Even though the surroundings were already in complete disarray, with everyone covered in blood and wounds, the Regent remained elegant and restrained, utterly out of place in this world.

There was a kind of cleanliness about him that did not match his identity or the rumors surrounding him.

Lu Yunwan was clearly kneeling on one knee in a pool of blood reeking of iron, yet Chu Xuanzhou felt as if he were standing upon a sacred altar, looking down at him.

Even though Chu Xuanzhou had already regained consciousness, the impulses at the edge of his migratory period had not completely faded.

An extremely dangerous thought suddenly arose in his mind.

He really wanted to drag Lu Yunwan down, pull him into this filthy pool of blood.

𓇼 ˚｡⋆ 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞⋆｡˚ 𓇼

Author’s Notes:

Chu Xuanzhou: Want to kiss—

Lu Yunwan: No way!!