"What have you done to my disciple?" Vincent was given time to answer as the woman cornered him with rapid questions.
Her dangerous blue eyes glowed inhumanly, as she bent her knees and squatted before Vincent. She extended her hand and pulled his chin.
The pain inside his body subsided for a few seconds before returning with double force.
Vincent, who felt the taste of relief, couldn't help but scream as the sensation and the pain returned to his body.
She was playing with his nerves. A physical pain can be controlled, but an internal pain can't. Rolling on the ground, he begged, "I will tell you everything, stop this."
But as if she would heed his word. The woman didn't stop the torture and remained in her squatting position unbothered.
Vincent could feel the beat of his heart on his fingertips, on the temple of his head, the back of his neck.
Wasn't his heart useless? When did it start working? But his body is already dead, so why was it working?
Nevertheless, he didn't care; he could count the possibilities later. Right now, all he cared about was getting rid of whatever shit was happening to his body.
Even being caged under the mountain didn't feel as bad as this.
Vincent finally crawled his body towards the woman, and held her sleeves and tugged while his other hand touched his temple, as he said while gritting his teeth, "I am Vincent, a lowlife vampire."
The woman intrigued raised her brows and snapped her fingers.
Vincent's muscles relaxed, he turned to his stomach, and heaved for breath.
"What is a vampire?" She asked.
"We are creatures of night, neither demon nor god," Vincent replied weakly and continued, "Neither alive nor dead."
His reply was followed by complete silence. The woman stood up and, without acknowledging his answer, said, "Free my disciple."
Vincent extended his hand and focused on undoing the spell. But he failed. He lifted his head only to see the woman looking at him with a questionable expression. Before, he failed to notice that the wound he had left was gone from her body, almost as if he had never marked her.
Who exactly was she? Vincent had no answer. But he knew she was something like that old fart and better to not with.
Vincent gulped down his saliva in fear as he failed to break the spell.
His ears turned changed into a shade of red as he stated, "I am unable to break the spell, since you just wrecked my soul."
"Are you playing with me?"
"I am not." Vincent's eyes teared with fear as he was almost two seconds away from crying.
The woman looked closely at him for a few seconds before she replied, "So, how much time will you take to heal?"
A hope glinted in his eyes as he replied, "My healing depends on the damage done to my body. Last time it took a decade for my body to heal, only to be damaged again, which took a century."
This time, Vincent noticed a visible change in the woman's expression, who had remained all deadpan all this time.
He didn't know whether to relax or to fear; therefore, he almost added instantly, "But drinking blood can make me heal in a shorter time interval.
"..."
****
Vincent sat silently in the corner of a room, facing the wall after carrying all those students by himself, which needed to be mentioned because it took him almost 5 hours to each of them from the cow cart to the apex of the mountain.
And now, when he was dead tired, the woman told him to kneel in a position where his feet carried the weight of his butt, [1]while telling him to repent his action.
Vincent sighed out a breath of exhaustion as he looked at his shadow, flickering in the movement of the candle.
He could feel his legs dying, thighs yearning for some rest, and his brain asking for some sleep.
But he couldn't sleep with the fear of what that lady might do if he disobeys her.
Also, he didn't know what made him fear her. Even Felix, who was worse than she had been, didn't make his skin crawl with an uncomfortable feeling of coldness.
While Vincent was busy with his thoughts, the wooden door behind him was slid open and a young voice reached his ears, "Wenzi gege, Shensi Shizun had called you in Lotus Pavilion."
Wenzi?
Vincent scrunched his nose at the given name. Do they really have to call him a mosquito? Seriously?
"It's Vincent." The vampire said as he attempted to stand up after sitting in the torturous position for an hour.
"Shensi Shizun wants you in the Lotus Pavilion within 5 minutes." The boy's hand was placed beside his side, while his eyes were looking at the floor. From Vincent's judgment, he looked like a delicate teen kid. "If you fail, you and both I will be punished."
Vincent gulped down his saliva and placed his hands on the floor, and stood with difficulty with the support of the wall.
But when he tried, the vampire immediately fell.
"Help me," Vincent whispered as he extended his hands towards the boy.
The teen boy immediately jumped to aid the vampire and supported him on his shoulder.
But since Vincent was taller and bigger than the teen boy, his feet dragged on the ground as the boy hurried to leave.
Upon reaching, Vincent noticed many figures in white robes sat in golden chairs, looking at him with keen eyes. While the woman whom he met earlier, or Shensi Shizun, or whatever they call her, stood beside a pillar.
The cold wind blew, cooling the sweat on Vincent's forehead while he, with the support of the teen boy, climbed the stairs.
The boy gently placed him on the ground while Vincent looked around with curiosity. All faces focused on him, looking at him with piqued curiosity. He gave them a cheeky smile in return.
"2 minutes late," Shensi said, looking at the boy.
The boy didn't fight back; instead lowered his head and waited for a hearing.
"20 laps around the pavilion. Now."
The teen boy immediately nodded his head, walked down the stairs, and started sprinting.
Now, Shensi turned her head towards Vincent before moving it towards the clan leader, who sat on a curule gold-plated chair, and stated, "This creature has intentionally or unintentionally created a Golden Bond with me."
"You want to keep him?" The person replied.
"Yes, if anything, he is not an enemy." Shensi replied.
[1] seiza position