"Ahem! Do you not have any problem seducing a man?" Sarah asked anxiously with strange thoughts running over her pretty little head.
"I didn't 'seduce' him! It's this poison that comes out of my fangs without my consent. I don't like men, you know." Nero wanted to hide in a hole. To think that a cold-blooded killer would have such a shy side.
"You better. If you had that kind of wish, I would have to fix you..." Sarah started speaking in a normal tone, but in the end, it was almost like whispering.
"How to 'fix me'? What problems would you have if I like men?" Nero would never miss the chance to provoke the pure Sarah.
"Duh, you know. I am not 'man'..." Sarah knew he was performing with her, but that was good too. That kind of jokes kept them both sane.
"But seriously, this life-sucking way is insanely convenient. Holy shit! Nero, you're like a parasite that steals all the hard work the victim has had." Sarah was happy each time with increasing Nero strength, even if it cost the death of others as if no one except he worth nothing.
"Eh? Parasite? You make it look weird like that, not that humans deserve some noble treatment ..."
"Ahh, yes, Lord 'Vampire.' How was the amount and quality of Qi that you absorbed from it?" Sarah asked, even though she knew he couldn't get much because the Cultivator was Qi Refinement's first layer.
"It was much better than humans without cultivation. But it was still thousands of times lower than yours. My Qi that filled forty percent of my Dantian now fills almost half." Nero could choose even if he stole anything from the victim who sucked. In this man's case, he took it all, and even the guy's soul was now feeding the Dark Souls Stone.
"And now that you have his knowledge what is your plan?" After Sarah asked, Nero gave a brief explanation of the situation with the fox-girl and the group.
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"What the fuck! Can't you speak our language?! You stupid animal!" Dai Zhi was already out of patience, she thought that with a little torture, the fox-girl would talk everything, but until now, she held herself to not even making any sounds.
"Gah..." Xun Lan looked at Dai Zhi's show with dead fish eyes.
As Dai Zhi was about to kick Marie again, she heard footstep sounds from the henchman who came back from the bushes. At least it should be him, but why did this white-haired man come back in his place?
"Ooooh... MY FUCKING DAMN GOD! How can he be so devilishly handsome?" It was the same thought as Dai Zhi and Xun Lan.
"How the fuck does he have white hair?" Was Xun Feng's thought.
"Is he human?" Was Marie's thought
Well, the henchmen don't think much if they would be in another profession.
"Where is the 'beast'? And why didn't you check if I was alive? You fucking stupid maid! Answer me!" Nero said in a super angry tone as if he would kill the first person who came before him.
"Stupid maid? Beast? What?!" Everyone was confused, but no one got in the way of Nero, who went towards Marie.
"Oh. Excuse me, and I had a terrible day. First, my grandfather was killed by a demonic beast I had never seen, and then this maid ran away without even helping me." Nero stopped before reaching Marie and turned around performing as best he could.
"Wh-" Even before Dai Wen asked, 'who?' Nero continued his act. "Forgive my ways. My name is Nero. I live in Midnight Grove with my grand. Well, now it should be alone because he died."
Nero was doing an incredibly perfect act. Anywhere he would be considered a first-rate actor. But the hardest thing was to focus with Sarah laughing in his mind things like 'Midnight Grove? Really? Come on!'.
Seeing Nero's sad face when talking about his dead grandfather, the girls could barely hold back the tears.
"What the fuck is that???" Xun Wen did not understand the cause of the sadness of Xun Lan and Dai Zhi. Aren't these the most heartless, selfish, spoiled girls in town? "Was it just because he was handsome? To hell with this guy!" Xun Feng was smart to think and not speak those words.
"Do not be sad. Your grandfather would be proud of the man you are." Dai Zhi was the first to speak. She who had never been interested in men now felt that only this handsome stranger was worthy of his affection.
"Yes. Don't get depressed now. Tell us about this beast, and I'll help you get revenge." Xun Lan, like her rival, was already off guard with this beautiful stranger too.
"You don't wanna know where the hell is Midnight Grove?? Or why is he so pale? And what about this white hair? This can't be normal, right?" Xun Feng was already freaking out in his mind.
'Fucking stupid maid?' Marie was trying to understand why Nero told her that. "Did he confuse me with someone else?" It took her a few seconds to realize that, for some reason, he wanted to help her out of this situation. "Is that why he is also non-human?" Marie was increasingly sure that he was not human.
"Thank you, girls." Nero sniffed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. An impeccable performance for sure. "The beast. It killed my grandfather, who was too strong easily, now I followed the trail of destruction here..."
"I'm not reasoning. This beast is so strong I can do nothing against it. Unless you are
Qi Refinement third layer Cultivators, there are no chances of beating it. So it's bett-"
Nero couldn't finish giving his 'warning' when Dai Zhi held his hands and spoke excitedly. "Don't worry. I'm strong enough, and I will help you!" Xun Lan once again made his classic dead fish look, seeing this 'new' Dai Zhi. As if she hadn't fallen for Nero too.
"Seriously, will you help me?" Nero shook Dai Zhi's hands excitedly but then blushed and pulled her hands away shyly. "Sorry, I've never had contact with a girl before, and you're so cute..." What a perfect performance! Dai Zhi was so proud and shy at that moment that he became jelly and went limp of cuteness.
"But what about the slave? What shall we do with her?" Nero turned to Marie again with that angry look on his face.
"Doesn't it just kill her?" Xun Lan joined the conversation. She wouldn't let Dai Zhi have Nero without a fight, even though her father blamed her for it.
"Uhh... I'm not sure. She has been serving me as a maid since we were both children. I thought she was loyal, but I was naive." Nero then put his hand on his chin as he looked at Marie with a questioning look.
"I do not want the only 'thing' of my past to break. As the beast destroyed my house, this slave is all I can remember of my grandfather and my old life." It was strange to want to keep a non-human as a 'reminder' even though the story was convincing so far; this was still strange. And Nero knew he had to fix it.
"Well, I also want her to pay for not protecting my grandfather with her life and leaving me alone. I want to torture her for the rest of her life!" Nero spoke with a mischievous smile.
"Yes, now it makes sense that he wants to keep her alive just to play with her." That's what everyone thought. Yes, that was the fucking damn thought of humans.
Marie no longer knew what to think of Nero. "Is he such a good actor, or does he think he's human?" She was already grateful to him for the confusing thoughts, and then she could forget the pain for a while.
"Alright, you can have it. It's your family slave, after all." Dai Zhi spoke before Xun Lan did it. She had already understood that it was a battle for who would stay with Nero, and she was confident in winning.
"If it's okay, I think we should hunt the beast now." Nero didn't hide his sneer at Marie when he said 'beast.' Those subtle little details made his act so perfect. Dai Zhi, Xun Lan, and even Xun Feng did not doubt Nero's honesty.
Marie, on the contrary, was perplexed. She knew the story with her was a lie, but she wasn't sure if that had ever happened to Nero. "Be strong, you fox!!! Marie spoke to herself in her mind.
"Yes, let's all together look for..." Dai Zhi stopped in the middle of his words and looked at the Xun siblings with a provocative look. "Not everyone needs to go together."
Nero already knew about the disagreement between the Dai and Xun families from the dead henchman's memories. And this competitiveness between Dai Zhi and Xun Lan he plans to use to separate them.
Nero knew he couldn't kill everyone now without drawing the attention of the entire region and possibly some Cultivators stronger than himself. He just planned to help fox-girl escape and kill some idiots for blood and fun.
The girls were people he didn't want to kill now, but the way they talk about fox-girl, he had already blacklisted both Dai Zhi and Xun Lan.
"I think we'd better split up into smaller groups to find the beast faster." Nero threw his idea and gave a shy look between Dai Zhi and Xun Lan. "I can't concentrate too next to such beautiful girls. I'm afraid of doing something that will make you regret later." Nero made his point very clear.
"Wow! What a gentleman!" Dai Zhi and Xun Lan couldn't help but sigh with hearts in their eyes. "Whatever you do to me, I won't regret it even if I die next." Was the thought of both girls in love.
"Yes, we split into smaller groups sounds like the best idea." Xun Feng and Dai Wen talked together. They both didn't want the Ladies near this dangerous stranger.
"Alright, let's split up like this..." Dai Zhi split the group of six men in half. She and Dai Wen, along with a Qi Refinement's first layer henchman, went in one direction. In the other was Xun Lan and Xun Feng. Nero Stayed with three of Dai Zhi's henchmen and Marie.
"Whoa... Just let me get some rest. Running all over this forest after the beast made me very tired, a few minutes, and I'll catch my breath." Nero said, breathing fast as if he were exhausted and sat on the floor near Marie, who was lying on the ground all the time.
The henchmen didn't think much since it made sense that he was tired if he came running from who knows where. But Marie was eager, and she didn't know what she thinks. What is his plan? Can he beat them alone? Or does he hope I can help him?
As Marie became increasingly agitated, she tried to make a move trying to get up to see this stranger giving her the most beautiful smile she has ever seen in life, so full of affection and concern. At that moment, Marie was sure he would help her, or she didn't deserve to live if she was so wrong.
"Eh???" After smiling at Marie, Nero stood up abruptly and looked into the far bushes with a focused look. "Did you guys hear the growl? It could be the beast."
"Let-" One of Dai Zhi's henchmen couldn't finish talking before Nero continued. "One of you comes with me, and the other two watch over this slave. She must not escape," Nero spoke as he ran toward the bushes. The henchmen looked at each other before nodding their heads with mutual consent, and one of them, who was a Qi Refinement's second layer Cultivator, followed Nero away from the other two and a confused Marie.