173: Chapter 174 Lovely Alice

When Chiba Ruri dragged her exhausted and dusty body back to the Ziyun Mountain Villa at noon, she was greeted not only by the familiar villa environment and the figures of the young ladies, but also by a completely unfamiliar silver-haired girl who was timidly hiding behind Lin Muyang, only revealing a pair of bright red eyes and half of her small face as she peeked at her.

"Master, I have returned. Is this... a new companion?" Chiba Ruri bowed respectfully, her gaze falling curiously on Alice. She sensed from the other party an Aura that was different from the "dead silence" of Gui Wanwan, but equally inhuman, along with a... craving for blood? Combined with those silver hair, red pupils, and sharp little fangs, her identity was clear.

"Yes, her name is Alice, she is a new partner, a Vampire." Lin Muyang introduced her simply, then looked at the small storage box that Chiba Ruri had brought back, "Did you bring the secret realm scroll back?"

"Yes, Master. According to your request, I received three secret realm scrolls that meet the requirements, all of which are Sovereign-rank and Emperor Level, with levels between 85 and 95." Chiba Ruri placed the storage box on the coffee table and opened it, revealing three scrolls neatly arranged inside, each emitting different energy fluctuations.

"You've worked hard." Lin Muyang nodded, signaling that she could rest. These three scrolls were of a relatively high level, so there was no rush to use them for now; he would wait until he finished the scrolls provided by Su Zongming that were suitable for bringing Su Qingyue along.

However, before he finished speaking, he felt Alice, who was hiding behind him, gently tug at the corner of his clothes. Lin Muyang looked down and saw the young girl gazing longingly with those pure, ruby-like eyes at Chiba Ruri, who had just put down the box and whose Aura was slightly active from her travels, her small throat swallowing unconsciously.

Lin Muyang: "..."

Chiba Ruri also noticed the burning gaze. She turned her head to meet Alice's eyes and instantly understood what was happening. She looked at Lin Muyang, then at the little Vampire who was full of desire and seemed to be staring at a delicious snack, a helpless yet amused and complex expression appearing on her beautiful face.

"Master, this little sister Alice, she..." Chiba Ruri asked tentatively.

"Yes, she is a bit... hungry." Lin Muyang rubbed his temples and said to Alice, "This is big sister Chiba Ruri, she will take care of you from now on. However, you must be moderate, do you understand?"

Alice nodded vigorously, her eyes sparkling, and her gaze toward Chiba Ruri was full of gratitude and anticipation.

Chiba Ruri sighed inwardly, but kept a respectful and gentle smile on her face. She was determined to become the Master's most capable and loyal servant, so how could she fail at such a small task as feeding a new companion? It was just a little blood, right? As a dignified level 82 sub-god level genius with a strong constitution and astonishing recovery ability, letting some be sucked was nothing at all.

"Little sister Alice, please." Chiba Ruri rolled up her sleeve, revealing a section of fair, smooth arm. She walked up to Alice, leaned down slightly, and offered her arm, her posture so elegant that it seemed as if she were not offering blood, but performing some kind of sacred ritual.

Alice looked at Lin Muyang, and after receiving an affirmative look from him, she carefully stepped forward and gently held Chiba Ruri's wrist with both hands. She did not bite like a beast; her movements could even be called gentle. She just lowered her head slightly, revealing those two small, sharp fangs, and gently pierced the skin of Chiba Ruri's arm.

A slight stinging sensation came, but it was quickly replaced by a strange, warm feeling with a hint of tingling. Chiba Ruri could feel her blood, rich in life energy, being slowly sucked away; the amount was not large, and the speed was gentle. She breathed a sigh of relief inwardly; it seemed this new companion knew how to be measured and did not lose control due to hunger.

The whole process lasted about a minute. Alice let go, licked the non-existent bloodstains from the corners of her mouth with her small tongue, and the sickly pallor on her face seemed to fade a little, replaced by a faint, satisfied flush. She looked up at Chiba Ruri, her bright red eyes full of gratitude and a hint of embarrassment: "Thank you... big sister Chiba Ruri."

"You're welcome, little sister Alice." Chiba Ruri withdrew her arm, the wound healing rapidly under the influence of her powerful constitution and magic, leaving only two almost invisible tiny red dots. She smiled, and the little bit of melancholy in her heart vanished. Being able to share the Master's burdens and take care of new companions was her duty after all.

Lin Muyang watched this scene and nodded with satisfaction. The problem of the food source was temporarily solved, and Alice's condition seemed better as well.

In the afternoon, Lin Muyang set off again with Su Qingyue. This time, he also brought along the fresh-out-of-the-oven, just "fed and watered" Vampire girl, Alice. The three of them arrived once again at the remote mountain outside the city.

Today, Su Qingyue had changed into a light green long dress suitable for movement, her long hair tied up simply, lacking some of the seriousness from the podium and having more of the leisure of an outing. When she saw that beside Lin Muyang, in addition to the familiar ones, there was an extra silver-haired, red-eyed little girl who looked timid and was clinging closely to Lin Muyang, she couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

"Lin Muyang, who is this...?" Su Qingyue asked curiously, her gaze falling on Alice. What a beautiful little girl, but her complexion was too pale, and her eyes were darting around, like a frightened little deer.

"A new companion, Alice, a Vampire." Lin Muyang introduced her simply, while taking out the first secret realm scroll to be used in the afternoon.

"A Vampire?" Su Qingyue blinked. It was her first time seeing a legendary Vampire with her own eyes, so she couldn't help but take a few more looks. And just at this moment, she noticed that the Vampire girl named Alice, upon hearing Lin Muyang mention the words "Vampire," had her bright red eyes suddenly light up, and then... she stared straight at her, her small nose twitching slightly, as if sniffing something.

The next second, before Su Qingyue could react, Alice actually took small steps and floated toward her, her eyes flashing with that familiar, hungry light for "food"!

"Eh?" Su Qingyue instinctively took a half-step back.

"Alice, stop." Lin Muyang was quick-witted, grabbing Alice by the back of her collar and hauling her back, sighing with a bit of a headache, "You can't drink from this one."

"Ah... sorry, I'm sorry." Alice was held in mid-air, her limbs flailing a bit. Hearing Lin Muyang's words, she immediately lowered her head like a child who had done something wrong, her small face turning bright red, and apologized in a soft, thin voice.

Watching this scene, Su Qingyue was a bit dazed at first, then realized what was happening and couldn't help but burst out laughing. So this little Vampire was hungry? Seeing her embarrassed appearance of wanting to eat but not daring to, and being held by Lin Muyang, she was really quite cute.

"It's okay, Lin Muyang." Su Qingyue held back her laughter and walked forward, looking at Alice, who had been put back on the ground by Lin Muyang and was still lowering her head and twisting her fingers. "This is my first time seeing a real Vampire. By the way, if I get bitten by her, will I also turn into a Vampire?"

She was purely out of curiosity. After all, in legends and film and television works, there were too many tropes where being bitten by a Vampire would turn one into a Vampire.

"If it's just normal blood-sucking, no." Lin Muyang pulled Alice to his side, ruffled her silver hair, and explained, "Only after undergoing the 'Embrace' ritual and having the progenitor's blood injected will one be transformed. Alice's level is still low, and also..." He glanced at Alice, who was looking at Su Qingyue with those pure red eyes, with an expectant expression of "I know my limits, I'll only drink a little bit."

Looking at Alice's well-behaved yet longing appearance, Su Qingyue's heart stirred. She knew that Lin Muyang valued these summoned companions very much. If she could get on good terms with this new, seemingly special Vampire girl, perhaps she could also shorten the distance between herself and Lin Muyang? This thought flashed through her mind, and she didn't even have time to think deeply about it herself.

"Then... how about we try it?" Su Qingyue said this almost involuntarily. After saying it, she felt it was a bit bold herself, her fair cheeks flushing slightly. She rolled up her sleeves, revealing half of her fair, slender arm, and offered it to Alice. "Just a little bit, oh, and you're not allowed to turn me into a Vampire."

"???"

Lin Muyang was really a bit surprised this time. His beautiful homeroom teacher, who usually looked gentle and intellectual, didn't expect to have such a "bold" side? Voluntarily asking to be bitten by a Vampire? This train of thought was a bit peculiar.

Alice was also stunned, her bright red eyes widened roundly. She looked at the arm Su Qingyue offered, then looked up at Su Qingyue's gentle, smiling face, and finally looked at Lin Muyang for help.

Lin Muyang looked at the seriousness and curiosity in Su Qingyue's eyes, and then at Alice's expectant expression of "can I? can I?", thought for a moment, and nodded: "Since Teacher Su doesn't mind, then... just a little bit."

With permission granted, Alice's eyes lit up amazingly. She first bowed politely to Su Qingyue, and said in a soft, delicate voice: "Thank you, Big Sister~"

Then, she carefully stepped forward and gently held Su Qingyue's wrist with both hands. Her movements were even softer than they had been with Chiba Ruri, as if treating a fragile treasure. Lowering her head slightly, her sharp little fangs pierced the skin.

Su Qingyue only felt a slight stinging sensation in her arm, like a mosquito bite, followed by a strange, warm feeling as if a warm current was flowing out from the wound. It wasn't uncomfortable; in fact, it was a bit... pleasant? She could feel a small portion of her blood being sucked away by the other, the amount was very small, and the speed was very slow.

About thirty seconds later, Alice released her mouth and gently licked the wound with the tip of her tongue. The tiny bloodstain healed rapidly, leaving not even a red mark. She looked up, the satisfied flush on her face becoming more pronounced, and the look in her eyes as she gazed at Su Qingyue was full of closeness and gratitude.

"Thank you, Big Sister." She said it again, this time with a bit more sweetness in her voice.

"You're welcome, Alice." Su Qingyue withdrew her arm, feeling completely normal. Instead, because of the peculiar experience just now, she felt a little more favorably disposed toward the Vampire girl in front of her. She looked at Lin Muyang with a teasing smile in her eyes: "It seems I'll have to carry some candy with me from now on to coax this little sister."

Lin Muyang shook his head with a laugh and didn't continue the topic. He activated the secret realm scroll in his hand, and the black vortex entrance appeared once again.

"Let's go, and continue our great cause of Dungeon grinding."

The afternoon's journey through the secret realms remained amazingly efficient. With Lin Muyang's heaven-defying experience Aura and the overwhelming strength of the young ladies, one secret realm after another was quickly cleared. Su Qingyue's experience bar continued to soar at a staggering speed.

During this process, Lin Muyang also roughly understood Alice's past through simple communication via the soul link. The result made him quite emotional.

Alice came from an alternate world called "Atlantis," which was also a world that had entered the era of universal Class Transferee, and its history was far longer than Blue Star's, having developed for several hundred years. In that world, human Class Transferees mastered earth-shattering power, and the social structure had undergone drastic changes as a result.

As for the Vampire race, as one of the native ancient races of that world, they were not incorporated into the "Class Transferee" system. They could not obtain classes, could not enter Dungeons or secret realms to level up, and their power grew slowly, relying entirely on bloodline talents and long periods of accumulation. In an era where the power of human Class Transferees expanded rapidly, the living space of the Vampire race was drastically compressed.

Worse still, they were regarded as "aliens" and "monsters," and were high-level wild monsters used by some Class Transferee teams to farm reputation and materials. Over the course of hundreds of years of history, the Vampire race was constantly hunted and besieged, and their numbers plummeted. By the time Alice was born, her race was already on the verge of extinction.

To protect this last bloodline, her parents and the remaining elders exhausted the wealth accumulated by their race and built a secret underground castle beneath the permafrost in the extreme north. They purchased the highest-level magic barrier scroll to completely isolate the castle from the outside world. Inside the castle, they stored a large amount of specially processed food that could be preserved for a long time—mainly frozen beast blood and some magic potions rich in life energy.

Ever since she could remember, Alice had lived in that cold, silent, sunless underground castle. She was accompanied only by the magic images left by her parents, ancient books, and that food which didn't taste fresh. She had never seen the sun, never seen any living person other than her parents' images, and didn't even know what the outside world looked like. Her world consisted only of that castle and a vague longing in her heart for her own kind and the outside.

Until the moment she was summoned by Lin Muyang.

The system's prompts, the connection of the contract, and the Aura on Lin Muyang that made her instinctively feel close and at ease made her realize that she had been reborn. She had come to a brand-new world, met a master who seemed very kind and would give her food, and many other big sisters who looked powerful and beautiful...

She cherished her current life immensely, even acting a bit cautiously, afraid of doing something wrong and making her master and the big sisters unhappy. So, even though she had an instinctive, strong craving for fresh blood, she was trying hard to restrain herself and obey orders.

After hearing Alice's simple narration, not only Lin Muyang, but also the young ladies like Elabess and Lilia, who were listening via the soul link, felt a tinge of pity in their hearts. Another little one with a rough life.

Lin Muyang suddenly remembered the Elf Princess Lilia. Although she was a princess, she had been strictly protected in the royal court since childhood and had almost no freedom. After coming here, she seemed to be enjoying herself so much she forgot home, never mentioning wanting to return. Lin Muyang had once asked her if she wanted to go back to the Elf Race to take a look, so her people wouldn't worry. As a result, the little girl shook her head like a rattle-drum, adamantly refusing. For her, although life in the royal court was free from want, it was far less comfortable and interesting than being by Lin Muyang's side; being able to accompany Lin Muyang to study art every night was her greatest joy.

Lin Muyang let her be. After all, the Elf world where Lilia came from probably also possessed top-tier powerhouses no less than the Nation-Guarding Level of Blue Star. Before she was strong enough herself, returning rashly might not be safe.

And now, there was another one, Alice. Lin Muyang looked at the silver-haired girl following closely behind him, occasionally stealing a glance at Su Qingyue, seemingly savoring the taste of that previous meal, and sighed inwardly: Why does my summoning always pick up these little poor things? But that's fine; at least here, they can live happily and grow quickly.

The afternoon passed quickly in the efficient clearing of secret realms. When the setting sun dyed the horizon a magnificent orange-red, Lin Muyang had finished the last secret realm scroll provided by Su Zongming that was suitable for bringing Su Qingyue along.

Golden lights flashed one after another.

Lin Muyang's level soared from 80 all the way to 84! The power within his body surged, and his attributes ushered in another leap.

And Su Qingyue even completed a staggering five-level jump, rushing straight from level 77 to 81! Feeling the vast, ocean-like magic power within her and an unprecedented sense of power, Su Qingyue stood where she was, her heart filled with complex and indescribable emotions.

There was natural joy, as the increase in strength brought by the soaring level was tangible. But what followed was a subtle sense of loneliness. The teammates and best friends she used to team up with to grind Dungeons and support each other had all been left far behind by her. Level 81 could be considered a core strength in Zhongnan City and even the entire Jiangnan Province; she needed to find new, appropriately leveled teammates and re-adapt to a high-level circle.

This could be considered a sweet trouble. Su Qingyue looked at Lin Muyang, who was counting the remaining scrolls on the side, her heart filled with gratitude. She knew that without Lin Muyang, she could never have reached this height in such a short time. As for the road ahead... she would take it one step at a time; at least now, she had a higher starting point.

"Alright, Teacher Su." Lin Muyang put away the last scroll and smiled at Su Qingyue, "Your current level should be enough for a short time. I'll handle the remaining scrolls with level gaps (level 85-93) myself first."

Su Qingyue nodded; she knew Lin Muyang had his own plans and needs: "Mm, Lin Muyang, really... thank you very much. I owe you a big favor."

"Mutual benefit." Lin Muyang waved his hand, not caring much. He took a look at his status: level 84, still a distance away from level 90. However, with the three scrolls that Chiba Ruri brought back, as well as those the "Oracle" organization might collect subsequently, plus the daily share from the National Treasury, it shouldn't take long to rush to level 90. If he was lucky, he might be able to reach the goal around the finals of the national Summoner Competition.

And this afternoon, it wasn't just Lin Muyang and Su Qingyue who gained a huge harvest. The Vampire girl Alice, who had been following the team and leeching experience, had her level skyrocket like she was on a super rocket, thanks to the "level catching-up" mechanism of the summoning contract and the terrifying bonus of the experience Aura, from a pathetic level 1 all the way to—

Level 62!

Crossing sixty-one major levels in a row!

Her originally pale little face was now glowing with a healthy flush, and her figure seemed to have grown a little bit taller; although still petite, she no longer gave the impression of being malnourished and frail. Her silver hair seemed to have more luster, and her red eyes were more crystal clear and spirited. Most importantly, with the leap in level, not only were all her attributes greatly improved, but she also awakened several brand-new, powerful skills related to blood and shadows!