Ji Bai interrupted his reminiscence, yawning widely before rolling out of bed and getting up. He walked to the bedside table and picked up the neatly folded clothes from the night before.
Ji Bai used to be a very carefree person. Apart from his principles and life creed, he was a rebellious, free-spirited, and elegant man. In the past, these clothes wouldn't have been treated so well. They wouldn't have been folded, let alone placed on the bedside table; they would have been thrown on the floor, waiting to be picked up the next day.
Indeed, that was how it used to be. But after a year of legendary and epic experiences, many of Ji Bai's old habits had vanished. Or rather, those habits he once thought were cool and carefree were broken by the cruel and merciless training of a certain sadistic, loli queen. She implanted a new, rigid set of vampire noble etiquette in him, something he had never practiced before.
To Ji Bai, these pretentious and overly formal noble etiquettes were a headache, but fortunately, in his human form, the influence wasn't too deep.
Ji Bai walked to the bathroom for a quick daily cleanup. After a brief check in the mirror, he put on a pair of flip-flops and headed to the small kitchen.
Closing his eyes, he willed the hidden patterns on the back of his hand to glow with an eerie crimson light. The light enveloped his body, and a swarm of small, pitch-black bats flapped their wings, emerging from the red glow and dispersing around him. They vanished upon touching the walls, and the figure within the crimson light gradually transformed into a petite, pale-skinned, silver-haired girl.
In the blink of an eye, the once disheveled young man had vanished, replaced by a small, sickly pale, silver-haired girl. Her long, thick eyelashes fluttered like tiny fans, and her bright, ruby-like eyes shimmered with a hint of melancholy. Her delicate face, devoid of any makeup, exuded a natural, ethereal beauty.
The girl wore a black Lolita dress, her slender, youthful legs wrapped in soft, white stockings. A black-and-white ribbon was tied around her thigh, and a pair of small bells jingled at her ankles. Her long, silky silver hair, held in place by bat-shaped hair clips, flowed in two ponytails that reached the ground. Her small, slightly pointed ears added to her otherworldly appearance.
The silver-haired girl opened her crimson, enchanting eyes and, through the kitchen window, caught a glimpse of her current form. A flicker of disgust crossed her eyes; this appearance was too similar to the creature she hated and feared the most. The clothes she wore were not of her choosing but were forced upon her by that despicable individual.
Her eyelids drooped slightly, and she sighed.
Following his old routine, Ji Bai, with his slender wrist, opened the refrigerator and took out a frozen piece of bread and a medical blood bag. He picked up the newspaper from the cat's eye slot and, with his small, pale legs, returned to the living room.
Sitting gracefully on the sofa, he closed his eyes, clasped his hands, and performed a standard feeding ritual. After a moment, he slowly opened the blood bag, inserted a straw, and began to sip while reading the newspaper.
Over the past year, Ji Bai had grown accustomed to the unique feeding method of vampires. He could now do it without his face turning pale or his heart racing, treating the pleasurable moment of tasting blood with a calm and composed mind.
In fact, Ji Bai didn't need to transform into a vampire every day to feed. It was purely out of necessity. If he didn't drink blood every five days, he couldn't guarantee that the intense craving for blood wouldn't drive him mad, leading him to hunt for 'blood bags' on the streets. Moreover, the blood he drank was always purchased through legitimate channels from hospitals, ensuring no harm to humans.
"Looks like the blood bags are running low," Ji Bai frowned as he read the newspaper.
As the saying goes, a penny can bring down a hero. Since Ji Bai's escape, his expenses had only increased. Not only did he need to meet his human energy needs, but he also had to satisfy his vampire's bloodlust. This was a significant challenge for his wallet. Now, with rent and other expenses, Ji Bai's pockets were nearly empty, causing him a great deal of anxiety.
He should have taken some valuable vampire artifacts when he escaped. They could have been sold for a good price, ensuring he wouldn't have to worry about food and drink for the rest of his life. But then again, vampires are immortal, right?
