One Thousand Years Ago
In ancient times, the world did not belong to humans alone.
There were ordinary mortals who tilled the land and built cities beneath open skies.
There were gifted beings known as the Celestial Wardens — humans born with abilities that defied nature. They commanded wind, flame, lightning, and spirit energy. They were protectors, rulers, and sometimes executioners.
And then there were the vampires — the ancient Crimson Court (赤庭) — creatures of blood and shadow who thrived in darkness, hidden from mortal sight.
For centuries, the Celestial Wardens and the Crimson Court waged war in secret.
Cities fell without explanation. Entire clans vanished overnight. Rivers ran red under moonlight.
But above them all stood one existence that neither faction could control.
He was not human.
He was not vampire.
He walked beneath the sun without burning.
He ruled the night without rival.
He commanded blood itself as if it were a living servant.
They called him,
The Night Sovereign.
His true name was Mo Chen.
Even the Crimson Court bowed their heads when his name was spoken.
Even the Celestial Wardens feared his gaze.
When Mo Chen declared that both factions would submit to his authority, the unthinkable happened.
Humans and vampires formed an alliance.
Under a rising blood moon, the strongest Celestial Wardens gathered at an ancient altar hidden deep within the southern mountains.
They burned their own lifeforce.
They shattered their own souls.
They activated a forbidden sealing formation powered by sacrifice.
The sky turned crimson.
The earth split open.
Mo Chen stood at the center of the formation, surrounded by blinding light and collapsing mountains.
He did not beg.
He did not kneel.
He only watched.
And then
He was sealed beneath stone and silence.
His name was erased from history.
The Celestial Wardens concealed the truth.
The Crimson Court buried the memory.
Over centuries, the legend faded.
"Just a fake story from ancient times," people would say with laughter.
And the world forgot him.
Present Day
Jiangnan University
Department of Historical Research
Sunlight filtered through tall glass windows, illuminating rows of display cases filled with pottery fragments, bronze mirrors, and ancient scrolls.
The research room buzzed with chaotic energy.
"Don't drop that!" Gu Yichen snapped as someone nearly knocked over a ceramic relic.
Chen Xinyi laughed. "Relax! It's a replica!"
At the center of the noise stood Lin Yue.
Bright eyes. Sharp smile. Hair loosely tied back as if she had more important things to think about than appearance.
Third-year student.
Historical Research major.
Leader of Project Group Seven.
She held a stack of documents in one hand and leaned casually against a desk.
"You're all too dramatic," she said lightly. "If ghosts were real, we'd have discovered them already."
She didn't believe in horror stories.
Ancient demons? Sealed monsters?
In her mind, they were nothing more than exaggerated folklore.
Their project topic read:
"Lost Seals and Ancient Artifacts of the Southern Provinces."
While other teams chose safe excavation sites backed by official records, Lin Yue chose something different.
Something forgotten.
A location buried within fragmented manuscripts and dismissed footnotes.
Qinghe Town.
A mountain settlement abandoned nearly eight hundred years ago.
No record of war.
No plague.
No famine.
Just disappearance.
One surviving document contained a strange line:
"The altar remains. The seal must never be disturbed."
That alone was enough to catch her interest.
Locals had another name for it.
Blood Moon Ruins.
Naturally, Lin Yue selected it immediately.
Qinghe Town
The road into Qinghe Town twisted through thick mountain forest.
When they arrived, silence greeted them.
Broken rooftops sagged under creeping vines.
Stone houses stood hollow and empty.
Wind moved through narrow alleys like whispered warnings.
An elderly villager watched them unload equipment.
"Young people," he said quietly, "don't go near the old temple."
Zhao Lian stiffened. "Why?"
The old man's eyes darkened.
"Something sleeps beneath it."
Lin Yue smiled politely.
"Thank you, Grandpa. We're just researchers."
But when she turned away, something about the air felt… heavy.
She ignored it.
The Ruins
The collapsed temple stood at the edge of town, half-consumed by time.
Inside, shattered pillars lay scattered like fallen giants.
As they set up equipment, Gu Yichen activated a ground scanner.
"There's a hollow space beneath," he muttered.
Before anyone could react,
The earth trembled violently.
Stone cracked.
Lin Yue gasped as the ground beneath her feet split open.
She fell into darkness.
She landed hard but unharmed.
Above her, her friends shouted in panic.
"I'm okay!" she called.
The chamber she had fallen into was enormous.
Moonlight filtered through a fractured ceiling far above.
Ancient murals covered the walls — intricate designs of sealing formations and celestial symbols.
And at the center stood a towering stone statue.
A man.
Tall.
Elegant.
Eyes closed as if in eternal slumber.
The sculptor had captured him with terrifying realism.
He didn't look imprisoned.
He looked waiting.
Lin Yue felt a strange pull toward it.
She approached slowly.
"Wow…" she whispered. "You must've been someone important."
She lifted her phone and snapped photos.
Then she reached out,
And touched the statue.
The world changed.
The chamber shook violently.
Dust rained from above.
Lin Yue stumbled backward, startled.
Her teeth caught her lip.
A sharp sting,
And a single drop of blood fell.
It landed on the statue's stone chest.
For a moment,
Nothing happened.
Then the blood disappeared.
Absorbed.
The stone surface darkened, spreading outward like ink in water.
Crimson light pulsed beneath the cracks.
Above the temple,
The moon shifted.
Silver light deepened.
Darkened.
Turned red.
Across the hidden world, the Crimson Court froze.
Within the headquarters of the Night Watch Division (夜监司), alarms erupted.
Energy spikes detected.
Ancient signature confirmed.
The seal,
Had broken.
The Awakening
The chamber began to collapse.
Rocks fell from above,
Then suddenly,
Everything stopped.
Midair.
Frozen.
Time itself had halted.
Dust hung suspended in air.
Falling stones hovered inches from her head.
Lin Yue tried to scream.
No sound came out.
Her body felt heavy, restrained by invisible force.
But her eyes could move.
She could see.
And she saw,
The statue cracking apart.
Stone shattered outward.
From within stepped a tall figure clad in black.
His coat moved in a wind that did not exist.
His hair framed a pale, striking face carved with cold perfection.
Then he opened his eyes.
Crimson.
Not ordinary red,
But the deep, glowing red of the blood moon itself.
Lin Yue's heartbeat thundered in her ears.
He looked around slowly, as if reacquainting himself with the world.
Then his gaze settled on her.
In the blink of an eye,
He stood before her.
Too close.
His right arm slid around her waist effortlessly, pulling her against him.
She gasped.
His touch was cool, yet burning.
His fingers lifted her chin slightly.
He studied her face.
Then his thumb brushed across her lower lip, collecting the faint trace of blood.
His crimson eyes darkened.
"So… it was you."
His voice was low.
Ancient.
Filled with something beyond human emotion.
The air felt heavier with each passing second.
The blood moon glowed brighter above.
Lin Yue's breath trembled.
She should have been terrified.
She was.
But beneath the fear was something else—
A strange pull she couldn't explain.
He leaned closer.
Slowly.
Inevitably.
Their lips met in a deep, deliberate kiss.
Not soft.
Not cruel.
But sealing something ancient and binding.
A contract written in blood.
The frozen world seemed to pulse once.
And then,
Darkness swallowed everything.
End of Chapter 1...