Chapter 31: The Blood Clan with Extreme Territorial Desire
“Senior Jiang Yan~~~~ You told me not to trust anyone from the Royal Hall, but you kept such a huge secret from me~~~~” I squinted my eyes and leaned closer to him, teasingly staring at his face.
Senior Jiang Yan, completely unbothered, calmly continued eating his ice cream. “What? What kind of secret could I possibly have?”
I squinted my eyes again, biting down on my ice cream spoon. “You really don’t feel like telling me? For example… your connection to the Royal Hall.”
He paused for a moment, lifted his face, and looked as though he suddenly understood. Half-biting his ice cream spoon, he said, “Oh~~~ You mean that? Hmm, yes, that’s right. I used to be a part of the Royal Hall.”
Turning to face me, his gaze was so open and candid that it made the red of his gemstone-like eyes appear even clearer. His straightforward admission left me speechless, and I froze for a moment.
“Then… why did you leave the Royal Hall?”
A fleeting glimmer of sadness crossed the red hue of his irises, so subtle it was almost imperceptible. But he quickly covered it with an indifferent, nonchalant look and shrugged. “I accidentally killed the person I had a blood pact with. So… I was exiled.” He smiled faintly. “To be honest, after being exiled, I realized I could live so much more freely.” He chuckled softly, then turned back to lean against the window frame, continuing to eat his ice cream.
I stared blankly at his carefree profile. Did he truly not care? The way he said those words—about accidentally killing the person he had a blood pact with—how could he say it so lightly? What does “accidentally” even mean? He said he killed his blood pact partner, yet his tone didn’t frighten me at all. In fact, his words carried an inexplicable sadness that I couldn’t ignore.
I turned around and leaned back against the window frame, just like him. Taking the spoon, I stuck it into his ice cream tub and started eating it alongside him. I didn’t want to keep asking about his past anymore. I was afraid my curiosity would reopen a wound in Senior Jiang Yan’s heart.
I trusted my instincts. Senior Jiang Yan would never “accidentally” kill his partner. Maybe it really was an accident, but it was definitely not something he intended to do. I was certain of that. He had been trying so hard to protect all of us. Suddenly, I understood why he always worked so hard to keep us safe and why, at first, others thought of him as “cowardly.” He genuinely didn’t want any of us in the “Scrap House” to be hurt in combat. Or worse, meet the same fate as his partner.
The world fell silent again. Senior Jiang Yan and I leaned against the corridor bridge, eating ice cream together under the gentle sunlight and the cool breeze. It was probably already November in the human world. A sudden longing to fight surged within me—because only during battles could I return to the human world and be the closest to home.
But just as I had fully prepared myself for combat, Hei An Yang made me read books instead!
Those books were now floating around me, and it was so frustrating.
The corridor was still filled with quiet statue-like figures. I happened to stand in front of the portrait of a woman named Ren Ying. Looking into her eyes gave me a strange sense of familiarity and comfort, as though I were staring into the eyes of family.
Suddenly, I remembered something. I took off the pendant hanging around my neck. Though my father had told me never to let anyone see it, I wanted to know what it truly was. And in this immortal realm, the only person capable of identifying treasures was Senior Jiang Yan.
“Senior Jiang Yan.”
“Hmm?”
“Could you help me take a look at this?” When he instinctively turned to look at me, I raised my hand and opened my palm. Immediately, the pendant slipped from my hand and hung in the sunlight. It radiated a dazzling glow, and the crystal within seemed to flow, as though it contained a deeper, cosmic universe.
I noticed Senior Jiang Yan’s eyes had frozen completely.
He stared at the radiant pendant, his ruby-red eyes flickering constantly. I could tell he recognized it—or at least narrowed down its identity.
“What is it?!” I pressed him for an answer.
He snapped out of his daze and quickly turned his face away, hiding the brief moment of panic. “I don’t know. But don’t let anyone else see it again. This is a treasure—a very ancient treasure!” He quickly turned around, grabbed my shoulders firmly, and looked at me with a solemn expression. “Put it back on. It’ll protect you.”
“What exactly is it?” I asked urgently. This necklace was left to me by my mother—it was my only clue to uncover the truth!
“Shh!” Senior Jiang Yan suddenly hushed me. I froze. He hastily set his ice cream down on the windowsill and swiftly retrieved the necklace from my hand. As he leaned in to put it back around my neck, I found myself pressed against his chest. I could faintly smell the unique sandalwood-like fragrance on him.
As he withdrew his hands, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching from behind us.
I immediately understood why Senior Jiang Yan had told me to stay quiet. I quickly hid the pendant and turned around to see who was approaching. They stopped in their tracks, and for a moment, we locked eyes.
Standing before us were none other than Xuan Yuan Chen and Guang Shen.
The moment Guang Shen saw Senior Jiang Yan, his red eyes ignited with a fiery intensity, like the reaction of a predator encountering a rival. It was as if a lion suddenly discovered another equally powerful lion trespassing in its territory. That domineering aura of territorial defense immediately emanated from Guang Shen.
Compared to Guang Shen, Xuan Yuan Chen appeared far more composed. He seemed only mildly surprised to see me with Senior Jiang Yan, but the surprise quickly faded from his mirrored glasses, replaced by an air of inevitability.
He glanced at me, then at Senior Jiang Yan. But Senior Jiang Yan nonchalantly picked up his tub of ice cream and began walking away. “Let’s go, Xiao Lan.”
“When will you return now that you’ve broken your oath?” Xuan Yuan Chen suddenly asked. Guang Shen immediately looked at him in shock, and even I was surprised. From the way Xuan Yuan Chen looked at Senior Jiang Yan, it was clear they knew each other! But Guang Shen obviously had no idea that Senior Jiang Yan used to be a member of the Royal Hall.
“Heh.” Senior Jiang Yan chuckled and shook his head. Turning back, he muttered around the ice cream spoon in his mouth, “You’ve already got a blood clan member by your side, haven’t you?”
Guang Shen’s murderous gaze shifted back to Senior Jiang Yan, filled with more than just the desire to protect his position as the top blood clan member. There was something else—anger. Why was he so angry?
“Jealous, are we?” Xuan Yuan Chen tilted his head slightly, crossed his arms, and his glasses glinted coldly in the sunlight. I couldn’t help but admire my godfather. No matter how strong someone was, they always seemed to lose a bit of their confidence in front of him.
Senior Jiang Yan suddenly covered his face in mock frustration. “Ah, I’m just too handsome. Even men can’t resist me.”
“Pfft!” I quickly covered my mouth, but Senior Jiang Yan shot me a sharp glare from beneath his hand.
“Jiang Yan, it’s been so long. Don’t you think it’s time to man up and stand tall again?” Xuan Yuan Chen’s voice deepened, carrying the weight of a man’s authority.
Senior Jiang Yan spread his hands and lazily spoke around his ice cream spoon. “I think I’m pretty manly~~ Every bit of me is manly. Which part of me looks like a woman to you? Want me to strip and prove it?”
Xuan Yuan Chen frowned slightly and suddenly turned to Guang Shen. “I know what you want to do. Go ahead, but don’t destroy public property.”
The flames in Guang Shen’s crimson eyes flared briefly. He bent slightly at the waist, elegantly sweeping his arm across his chest. “Thank you, President.” Then he straightened, tilted his head arrogantly, and looked at Senior Jiang Yan. “Since you’re also a blood clan member, you should know the rules. In the immortal realm, there can only be one king of the blood clan. Your appearance today is a challenge to my throne! Especially—” His gaze burned with anger as it turned to me. “—when you’ve stolen my prey!”
Feeling the overwhelming possessiveness in his eyes, I shuddered, swallowed hard, and instinctively took a step back, pressing myself against Senior Jiang Yan’s arm.
Slowly, he extended his hand and placed it on my back, as though reassuring me not to be afraid.
I knew it. From the moment Guang Shen first saw me, he wanted to bite me. I knew why. Because I was the only human left in the immortal realm. Even the human mages, like Hei Mei, had lost the purity of their blood after gaining magic.
As a divine blood clan, Guang Shen wasn’t allowed to hunt in the human realm. After all, he was a god and had to abide by divine laws. But now that I was part of the immortal realm, as Senior Jiang Yan had said, if I didn’t suppress my blood aura, I would become the target of every blood clan member here. It was like throwing a piece of braised pork in front of a pack of wolves.
Senior Jiang Yan frowned again, his expression full of annoyance.
Xuan Yuan Chen stepped out from behind Guang Shen and approached me. I instinctively shrank back, retreating to Senior Jiang Yan’s side. Xuan Yuan Chen stopped in front of me, his glasses reflecting the sunlight. He reached out toward my neck, his fingertips brushing against a strand of my hair—only for his hand to be caught by Senior Jiang Yan.
Senior Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow and lazily said, “This girl has plenty of men protecting her now. She’s basically got a sign on her that says—” He released Xuan Yuan Chen’s hand and gestured from head to toe. “Don’t. Touch. Her.”
Don’t. Touch. Her???
I stared blankly at Senior Jiang Yan. He still had that carefree, mischievous look, winking at me before turning his gaze to Xuan Yuan Chen. Xuan Yuan Chen glanced at him, his glasses flashing coldly in the sunlight as he crossed his arms again. “So, is she truly your blood master now?”
“No.” Senior Jiang Yan and I answered in unison. He seemed surprised for a moment, glanced at me, then looked back at Xuan Yuan Chen. “It was an accident.”
“An accident?” Guang Shen sneered at Senior Jiang Yan. “As a fellow blood clan member, I highly doubt that. Enough talking. Let’s settle this.” Guang Shen spread his arms and slowly rose into the air.
Xuan Yuan Chen turned to me and commanded, “Leave. This is a fight between blood clan men.”
I looked at Senior Jiang Yan. He sighed and gave me a look that clearly said, “Get lost already.” Reluctantly, I followed my godfather and left.
