Bite Your Fingertips

12th -【Don’t be afraid】

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One moment, it felt as if Chu Yu was being pulled into the center of the earth by a huge gravitational force, but then suddenly his body felt as light as a feather being thrown high into the clouds.

He was in such a state of confusion that he couldn’t even recall what time it was or where he was.

Driven only by his bloodline’s instincts, it urged him to greedily suck up the blood.

The blood flowed into his mouth like fine syrup as he was overcome with an indescribably sweet flavor.
His scorched and parched throat felt akin to dry earth welcoming sweet rain.
The turbulent, burning heat in his veins and entire body also gradually subsided.

Countless mouthfuls of blood were sucked out and devoured into Chu Yu’s body, and the immense giddy satisfaction sent an uncontrollable quiver through his whole frame.
He clung tightly to Lu Shi’s back, his fingers pressed hard, and he’d even unconsciously let out a faint hum.

The dream that had haunted him for several days appeared before him.

In the twisted alley, the sunlight was dazzling.
Lu Shi looked at him, his brow shadowing his cold, sharp eyes which made his expression frosty and intense as blood trickled down from the wound on his left arm.

This imagery — like a scattered jigsaw puzzle — maintained a hint of clarity in his mind.

Chu Yu heard heavy rain outside.

Thousands of raindrops rapping against the glass walls were coupled with the sound of flowing water.

He heard Lu Shi’s shallow breathing, felt his warm body temperature, and noticed his palm resting on his hair.

Chu Yu’s limbs felt like they’d been bathing in a hot spring; soft, limp, and weak.
His eyelids gradually became heavier.

He… was sucking Lu Shi’s blood.

The moment Chu Yu’s body collapsed, Lu Shi raised his hand and grabbed the waist of the person in his arms.

Allowing Chu Yu to lean on his right shoulder, Lu Shi looked down and found several bloody teeth marks on his left shoulder.
A bit of crimson blood spilled out, and soon after, the marks began to solidify and heal at an extremely abnormal speed visible to the naked eye.

After he lay Chu Yu down on the smooth, flat stone, he looked again and the wound had already scabbed over.

Lu Shi gazed down at Chu Yu.

His soft, light brown hair hung down naturally, revealing his smooth and white forehead.
He wasn’t sleeping well.
His eyelids and eyelashes were trembling lightly and his lips were still stained with rich blood.

As if an angel that had fallen into hell.

It was really… pleasant.

When Chu Yu opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Lu Shi.

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The rain outside hadn’t lightened and was cascading down the walls like a waterfall, isolating the entire botanical garden from the world.

Lu Shi, in accordance with his habit, had his hands in his pockets and was staring at the glass wall, lost in thought.
From Chu Yu’s perspective, he could see the curvature of his jaw, his thin neck and shoulders, and the cool color of his skin beneath his open collar.

After watching him for a long time, Chu Yu uttered, “Lu Shi.”

His throat clearly no longer felt numb, but Chu Yu’s voice was surprisingly muted.

Lu Shi turned his head and looked down at Chu Yu, his expression nothing out of the ordinary.

Unable to find any fear or disgust in Lu Shi’s eyes, Chu Yu turned to the side and his clenched fists slightly loosened subconsciously.

After taking a deep breath, Chu Yu asked, “The last time I was in the school infirmary… it wasn’t a dream, was it?”

Pretending not to hear Chu Yu’s words quaver at the end, Lu Shi replied, “Hm.”

“Then this is— this is the second time,” Chu Yu licked his dry lips and tried to calm himself before he continued, “the second time I’ve sucked your blood, isn’t it?”

“It is.”

Chu Yu wasn’t stupid.

Although he was usually indifferent to many things and too lazy to think, he wasn’t brainless.

That bizarre scent he’d smelled on Qingchuan Road, when he’d got home to take a bath that day and found that his hair and nails had grown, thirst that couldn’t be quenched by drinking water, hunger that couldn’t be satiated by food, and a persistent fever that couldn’t be identified.

And why, after sleeping in the school infirmary and waking up, his body had suddenly recovered.

It was because he drank Lu Shi’s blood.

Looking at his nails that were once again a bit longer, Chu Yu felt that he should be scared right now, or perhaps even panicked.

But after searching his heart, he was merely at a loss.

This shouldn’t be, why am I… No, I shouldn’t be like this.

What’s wrong with… me? 

Lu Shi was silent, acting as a spectator.

After a long time, Chu Yu raised his head to look at Lu Shi.
His lips moved and he tried to bend the corners, but he couldn’t show even half a smile.
“This isn’t a dream, is it?”

Lu Shi was still patient as he replied, “Un, it’s not a dream.”

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He turned his eyes to Lu Shi’s shoulder and the fragrant, sweet flavor seemed to explode at the tip of his tongue again.
Struggling to restrain the urge to suck, which seemed to be ingrained in his bone marrow, Chu Yu asked him, “Your shoulder wound—”

“It’s healed.”

Lu Shi pulled down the collar of his white shirt and showed Chu Yu the scabbing wound.

His pupils shrank.

The only bit of hope left in Chu Yu’s heart was crushed.

He tried his best to guess, to imagine, that maybe he was bloodthirsty only because of a rare mental illness.
Maybe something went wrong somewhere and he’d been infected with some rare virus, that was why he had consumed another person’s blood—

But a wound that scabbed so quickly, to the point that it was nearly healed, was abnormal.

Staggering to his feet, Chu Yu was stumped for a while.
He didn’t dare look Lu Shi in the eyes and kept his head lowered.
“I- I’ll leave first…”

After he finished speaking, he quickly walked out of the botanical garden.

The rain showed no sign of letting up.
Chu Yu walked straight outside and was soon soaked.
After quickly walking a few steps, he started to run and the cold rain hit his face, inducing ice-cold pain.

After passing the empty sports field and school buildings, Chu Yu stood at the school gate and said to the security guard, “I’m going out, to—”

Chu Yu was stuck.

Where should I go?

The security guard on duty knew of Chu Yu.
News spread quickly in the school so they knew what had happened in the school infirmary at noon.
Seeing the now drenched Chu Yu with a deathly-pale face and a hurried appearance, the guard guessed, “Are you going to the hospital?”

The rain flowed down his forehead to the bridge of his nose as Chu Yu absently nodded.
“Yeah, I’m going to the hospital.”

“The rain is very heavy, wait here!”

By the time the security guard came out with an umbrella, Chu Yu was already gone.

Jianing Private School was located in the inner ring and just one street away was a bustling avenue.
After picking a direction, Chu Yu ran forward, stepping into puddles which soaked his shoes and most of his trousers soon after.

He ran all the way to the nearest hospital, entered through the emergency entrance, and walked two steps in before rushing back out.

He couldn’t go to the hospital and get checked.

It might turn out the same as before— no problems found and very healthy.
But it was also possible that they’d discover his abnormality.

Rain water dripped down from his body, and soon, a small puddle accumulated beneath Chu Yu’s feet.

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People passing by saw him looking drenched and confused, and couldn’t help but stare.
However, too many life or death events occured in the hospital every day, this had long become a common sight.

Chu Yu took two more steps back in preparation to leave when suddenly, he heard a hubbub coming from the distance.
After a moment, a young man was brought in with a bone-deep wound on his thigh from which blood poured out.

A bitter smell hit his senses and Chu Yu couldn’t bear it.
Turning around, he supported himself with the concrete pillar at the entrance and retched.

After hesitating for a moment, Chu Yu walked into the hospital once more.
There were many patients sitting in the emergency area, a lot of them with bloody injuries.
In the medical trash can, even more blood was clumped in with gauze.

Chu Yu didn’t last for one circle around, he was unable to bear it and retched again.

It turned out that he didn’t want to suck every type of blood.
Not only that, all this blood smelled bitter and stinky to him, enough to cause a conditioned reflex of physical nausea.

Not wanting to abuse himself anymore, Chu Yu left the hospital and stood at the entrance for a while.
Then, he simply picked another random direction and continued walking.

The sky was already dark as neon lights gradually lit up the night, the brilliant lights hazy in the heavy rain.

Passing by a street park, Chu Yu ensured that there was no one present before he walked in and chose a flight of steps to sit down on.

Beside him were neatly trimmed green shrubs and a street lamp standing upright.
Under the warm light, one could clearly see the rain falling down.

Only then did Chu Yu realize that his whole body was shivering from the cold.

His drenched clothes were stuck to his skin, and his body temperature seemed to have been sipped away.

He hugged and rubbed his arms, exhaling as he did so.

Sounds of footsteps sounded from behind him, startling Chu Yu.
He cautiously turned his head and was instantly stunned.

It was Lu Shi.

Through the curtain of rain, Lu Shi held a white, transparent umbrella upon which raindrops dripped into lines along its outer surface.
His eyes were hidden under the umbrella.
His figure was slim and straight, with his hands naturally inserted in his pockets as he walked over the stream of rainwater covering the ground.

For a while, Chu Yu didn’t know what to do or how to react.

Until Lu Shi stood beside Chu Yu, bringing the boy under the umbrella and covering him from the heavy rain.

Neither person spoke.

Chu Yu stared fixedly at the puddles on the ground that reflected the street lamp’s faint yellow light for a long time before softly asking, “You… you’re not afraid of me?”

Lu Shi’s voice was indifferent as usual.
“Afraid of you for what?”

Chu Yu tugged at the corner of his mouth and joked, “Afraid of me suddenly turning violent and restraining you to then suck your blood dry.”

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Lu Shi caught a glimpse of Chu Yu’s hand on the steps.
He was so nervous that it had turned pale.

Looking away, he answered, “You can’t beat me.”

Although this was true, was it necessary to be so blunt?

But, perhaps due to the other’s attitude, Chu Yu’s emotions were strangely calming down slowly.

He shifted over to the side and asked Lu Shi, “Sit down?”

Lu Shi complied and sat down.

The transparent umbrella was propped over the heads of two people to block the wind and rain.
When one looked up, they’d see the raindrops on the umbrella’s surface as well as the dim, hazy light overhead.

Chu Yu put his chin on his hands and tilted his head to stare at Lu Shi’s profile.
“You— when did you realize? That I… I sucked blood.”

The lines of Lu Shi’s side profile were exquisite.
The unique beauty of a man verging on youth and adulthood was present and his double eyelids and prolonged eye corners were very beautiful.

He looked at Chu Yu who was feigning calmness.
“Earlier than you.”

“That’s right, you’re the study god, and your IQ is definitely higher than that of a mortal.” Chu Yu surmised, “Was it from when you came out of the school infirmary? No, it was during the standing punishment, right? You asked me a few questions that time, did you have it figured out then?”

“Close.”

When Chu Yu glanced at Lu Shi’s hand holding the handle of the umbrella, he noticed that beneath his cold, white skin were blue-green blood vessels.

Chu Yu forced himself to look away.
He was entangled for a while before he asked in a gentle tone, “You… really, you don’t think I’m a monster? Or a demon? I need to consume human blood.
I feel like I’m going to die if I don’t, like I won’t survive and perish at any moment.”

His voice dropped lower and lower.
Chu Yu didn’t know what was going on, his eyes swelled up and his nose soured.
If he didn’t care about his face, he would’ve cried on the spot.

He sniffed, his voice choked with sobs.
His eyes were red when he questioned Lu Shi, “Tell me, do you think I’m a monster, a kind of scary beast that can only rely on sucking human blood to survive?”

Lu Shi looked Chu Yu in the eyes and said earnestly, “Chu Yu.”

“Hmh?”

“Don’t you think that compared to monsters, human beings are a much more terrifying existence?”

Chu Yu was slightly taken aback.

He felt that when Lu Shi uttered these words, there were too many incomprehensible meanings hidden in his dark eyes.

Lu Shi raised his hand and touched Chu Yu’s wet hair.
“So, don’t be afraid.”