You should know that the storage rings that someone can carry with them are not ordinary items, especially for someone of his status. In order to break into the vampire stronghold, he had specially put a lot of life-saving items inside.
It's only now that I realize why a race like the vampires, which has internal conflicts, has been able to survive for so long.
Faced with absolute power, he didn't even have the chance to take these things out.
Although Ji Zhaoming had no memories, there were several storage rings in his room for convenience. After all, Ji Zhaoming had traveled through so many worlds, and he could tell what they were by probing them with his spiritual power.
Besides, how many times has this person casually brushed their hand against their hand?
Ji Zhaoming simply smiled and said, "Then just answer whether you agree or disagree."
As soon as he finished speaking, the vampire behind him immediately took a step forward.
His eyes deepened to a deep red as he stared intently at the gold badge.
The Blood Hunter was already afraid of the vampire prince, and as the prince's arrogance grew stronger, he became even more timid. The sound of someone swallowing nervously was particularly noticeable in the quiet atmosphere.
This was like a failed retreat order, causing the remaining blood hunters to shrink back.
The golden badge looked into Ji Zhaoming's red eyes.
It was so dazzling that he felt he was almost lost in it. Being stared at by those eyes, he didn't even have the thought of resisting. He couldn't help but want to nod, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he immediately came back to his senses, bit his tongue, and came to his senses.
He wanted to scream that the other party was cheating, but he couldn't say it. No one around him even noticed his abnormality.
A strange idea was born in his mind.
No wonder this vampire prince looks so frail; it turns out that what he awakened wasn't a physical ability, but rather a mental one.
Right now, he didn't care about anything else; all he wanted was to escape this place: "Fine, I can give you the things, but you have to give me back the person."
Gu He smiled and said, "Wait a moment, I'll have someone bring Gu Yunzhou over."
“No need.” Gu Yunzhou walked up from behind. He had already taken off his mask and put on a black robe. This was how he usually looked in the Blood Hunters, and no one suspected that he had even helped the vampires earlier.
The man with the golden badge instantly frowned.
Gu Yunzhou was clearly able to move freely, which meant that he wasn't unable to come out before, but rather unwilling to.
Absurd, utterly absurd.
Gu Yunzhou tossed the Blood Hunter Badge up and down in his hand before finally putting it in his palm: "I'm just registered in the guild, but I'm essentially still a free agent."
His words, spoken so casually, caused the golden badge's pupils to shrink: "What do you mean?"
Gu Yunzhou shrugged and didn't reply.
Others may be afraid of the golden badge, but he isn't.
The golden badge chuckled in exasperation: "What, do you still want to stay in the vampire clan? Do you think they'll allow it?"
Gu He smiled: "If you are willing to join the vampire clan, we would certainly welcome you."
Gu Yunzhou certainly didn't intend to join the vampire clan, but he also had no intention of returning to the Blood Hunter Guild.
Gu Yunzhou smiled and said, "I'm just very interested in the vampire prince's abilities."
He wanted to know whether his reluctance to harm Ji Zhaoming was due to Ji Zhaoming's awakened abilities, or something else entirely...
Other reasons.
70
Chapter 70
<Marriage Matters>
Chapter 70
Gu Yunzhou didn't want to leave, and the Golden Badge couldn't forcibly take him away, since the vampires were happy to lend a hand in this regard.
He looked at the ring on the table. "In that case, I'll take the ring back. I don't want to lose both my money and my lover."
"How can you say you've lost both your lives and your property?" Ji Zhaoming chuckled lightly. "You're still alive, aren't you?"
Ji Zhaoming leaned back, the dazzling lights illuminating his handsome features clearly, a slight smile in his red eyes: "I thought I understood what this transaction was really about."
He didn't reach for the ring, but tapped it lightly on the table twice—he didn't even glance at the ring, his eyes fixed on the gold badge.
The man with the golden badge couldn't quite describe his feelings. The person opposite him showed no emotion whatsoever; there was neither contempt nor disdain.
But he felt that the person on the other side didn't see him.
Yes, it was as if he were just a speck of dust that had accidentally drifted in front of him, and after glancing at it casually without any emotion, he left.
Even though he realized he had lied earlier, he wasn't very angry.
The man with the golden badge said, "Yes, may we go now?"
"The gate is right there," Ji Zhaoming said. "You can come anytime. Or perhaps you'd like to stay here as guests?"
He would only visit this place if it were sealed off, barging into the vampire clan with a do-or-die mentality, only to almost lose his life and slink away like a drowned rat.
The man with the golden badge said firmly, "No need."
Before leaving, he turned back to look at Ji Zhaoming and Gu Yunzhou, who were also sitting on the sofa.
Although they were both people who had broken into this castle, Gu Yunzhou acted like a guest—and he didn't hesitate to express this side of himself.
The man with the golden badge said to his companion, "Let's go."
After everyone left, Gu He led the remaining vampires back to his room, then jumped up from behind the sofa and sat down on it, crossing his legs as he asked, "Aren't you afraid someone will go back and complain about you?"
He thought Gu Yunzhou would just pretend, or at least feign leaving and come back after it was all over. He never expected that Gu Yunzhou would actually break off all pretense.
Gu He couldn't quite understand this: "Aren't you a human? You're on our side. Do you really want to defect to us?"
There have been instances of humans seeking refuge with vampires in the past, but these people were mostly weak and pitiful, forced to rely on vampires for survival, or they had the ability but not the ambition to match it, and planned to cooperate with vampires temporarily. These things were all done in private, and no one would openly oppose them like this before.
Furthermore, Gu He didn't think Gu Yunzhou belonged to either of these two categories at all.
Could it be that she has really fallen for Wang?
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Gu He quickly dismissed it.
Someone like Gu Yunzhou must have ulterior motives; he might be deliberately acting this way to make Gu Yunzhou believe it.
However, although Gu He disliked Gu Yunzhou and didn't know what he wanted to do, a voice in his heart told him: Gu Yunzhou would never harm his king.
Acting on emotion is extremely irrational, yet Gu He believed it.
There was no reason.
Gu He raised his eyelids slightly and said perfunctorily, "Then should I reluctantly host a welcome banquet for you and announce it to the world?"
Gu Yunzhou didn't have the habit of explaining things to others.
He knew clearly that he was human, the opposite of the vampires. Even though Ji Zhaoming currently appeared to have no offensive power and showed no intention of attacking humans, he had the ability to control the entire vampire race, and Gu He was willing to serve as his envoy.
The saying "A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime" is enough to attract the attention of the entire human race.
Back when there were more vampire princes and the vampires weren't as united, humans already had a hard time dealing with them. Now that there's only one vampire prince, if something were to happen, humans would probably be unable to bear the consequences.
He chose to stay among the vampires for this reason as well; operating on human territory is never as direct as being monitored directly by the vampires.
Logically speaking, there's absolutely no need to tell Gu He and Ji Zhaoming these things; in fact, telling them might cause problems.
Gu Yunzhou looked into Ji Zhaoming's eyes.
Ji Zhaoming sensed the gaze, turned around, and smiled at him: "Hmm?"
“No need,” Gu Yunzhou said curtly. “I’m staying here to complete my mission.”
His mission clearly stated that he needed to kill the vampire prince before he awoke, and if he had already awakened, he needed to minimize the damage.
What kind of loss? Of course, it's the loss to the future of humanity.
According to Gu Yunzhou's usual practice for completing missions, if he couldn't kill the enemy, he would at least inflict a fatal wound. However, this mission now had a different interpretation.
For example, negotiating with the vampire prince to achieve friendly relations between the two races.
He didn't think Ji Zhaoming was that ambitious, and he might even have a good impression of humans. If it were any other vampire, he would have just killed the Golden Badge and taken the corpse to intimidate the Blood Hunter Guild.
You can't just snatch what you want.
It was Ji Zhaoming's actions that made Gu Yunzhou feel that even if he said these words directly, nothing would happen.
He was so open and honest, but Gu He laughed strangely: "Aren't you afraid we'll kill you?"
Gu Yunzhou smiled gently.
Unlike the Golden Badge, he was someone who had emerged from a sea of blood. Even if Gu He was truly enraged and wanted to kill him, he was confident that he could escape.
“You wouldn’t, would you?” He pronounced each word precisely as he looked at Ji Zhaoming.
Ji Zhaoming rubbed his ears: "Yes, I like honest people."
Gu Yunzhou said, "The grudges between humans and vampires are not necessary. If possible, I would like to establish friendly relations with your vampire clan."
"Do you keep your word?" Gu He asked. "You know, the way that person looked at you, it was like they wanted to kill you."
Gu Yunzhou said, "I can go back and talk to them."
After a pause, Gu Yunzhou continued, "And I just discovered something, your king—"
Ji Zhaoming then realized that he had never introduced himself, and continued, "My name is Ji Zhaoming."
“Ji... Zhaoming”.
Zhaoming means brightness. Gu Yunzhou said, "This is a good name."
It was a familiar name, like a seed buried in his heart breaking free of its cocoon, a flower that seemed to have been imagined countless times in his dreams. He should have this name, he should have this appearance.
Unconsciously, a smile appeared on Gu Yunzhou's lips. "I understand."
He spoke with great seriousness, as if he truly wanted to keep that name in his heart.
Even if Gu Yunzhou had read the name Ji Zhaoming a million times in other worlds, Ji Zhaoming's ears would still itch every time he heard it.
Ji Zhaoming: "Hmm, so what did you discover?"
"You may have awakened other abilities."
Both vampires and humans can awaken abilities, but because vampires have innate racial talents, very few people awaken other abilities. Even Gu He had never thought of it in this direction, and thought that Ji Zhaoming was so weak because he had just awakened and his abilities had not fully recovered.
Gu He was taken aback: "How did you know?"