Useless Blood Magic

Vivian, not entirely convinced, squeezed out another drop of blood and smeared it on Hao Ren's hand. The two of them stared intently, waiting to see what would happen this time. Lily, standing beside them, also leaned in curiously.

The drop of blood, glowing with a golden-red halo, visibly quivered and spread on Hao Ren's skin for a few seconds before rapidly contracting and disappearing before their eyes, like a water droplet hitting a hot iron.

"It seems to have absorbed it," Hao Ren said, scratching the back of his hand curiously. Honestly, seeing the drop of blood wriggle like a living thing on his skin had startled him. If he hadn't known Vivian meant him no harm, he would have instinctively flicked it away. He hadn't paid close attention the first time, but now he saw it clearly, and it was truly creepy. "I don't feel anything, just a bit itchy and cold at first."

"Blood Clan members have slightly lower body temperatures than humans, it's normal," Vivian said, looking hesitantly at her finger. The small wound she'd bitten had already healed to the point of being almost invisible. She then gritted her teeth, as if making a great decision, and squeezed out her last drop of blood. "This... one last try. I can't spare any more, it pains me."

Lily immediately seized the opportunity to mock her. "Look at how stingy you are, it's just a drop of blood."

"What's wrong with a drop of blood! A drop of blood is still blood!" Vivian slammed the table. "Back when I wasn't used to human food, I survived solely on blood. My bad luck meant I was targeted by Demon Hunters almost every time I hunted prey, and I couldn't even afford to keep a few blood thralls. The poorest I ever was, I was even reluctant to let my period flow. You don't know hardship, you don't appreciate the value of things. Once you've been through tough times, you'll understand..."

Hao Ren couldn't listen anymore. Before the topic spiraled out of control, he quickly stood up to mediate. "Alright, alright, let's not bring up the past. Vivian, be mindful, this is for all ages—and don't describe your miserable life in such detail, my heart is too soft to listen..."

Lily immediately perked up. "Then Landlord, can you waive my rent for a month?"

"...What does it have to do with you when I'm talking to Vivian!"

After the three of them finished their bickering, Vivian finally remembered the main issue. She tried again, and this time, while smearing the blood, she whispered a few ancient incantations in a very strange tone. Hao Ren felt that cold, blood-scented atmosphere reappear around him, but the blood on his skin still behaved the same as before: it wriggled a few times, then quickly lost its potency and vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.

"The connection with the blood has also been severed," Vivian said, frowning. "This has never happened before. Blood Clan members have a fixed connection with their own blood unless they actively 'discard' a part of it. This connection won't be broken otherwise."

"So what do we do now?" Hao Ren scratched his face. "I was counting on your blood to ward off evil."

"How about trying Lily's blood?" Vivian turned to the werewolf girl. "Her blood should also be able to ward off evil."

"Huh? Werewolves can too?" Lily was even more surprised. "So I'm that powerful!?"

Vivian chuckled. "No, I heard from old Chinese people that black dog blood can ward off evil..."

Then the two superwomen started brawling in the living room again. Hao Ren was too powerless to stop them and had no inclination to do so. He could only sit on the sofa, staring blankly, watching a vampire and a werewolf jump around in front of him. When he couldn't stand it anymore, he'd shout, "Hey, be careful! If you break anything, you have to pay—Lily, remember you still owe me a coffee table. Vivian, think about your wallet..."

This statement had a significant effect. The two superwomen instantly quieted down and started settling their dispute by playing rock-paper-scissors...

Hao Ren looked down at his own unremarkable hands, not understanding why they could absorb the vampire's blood. He knew from various movies and novels that vampire blood was immensely powerful to ordinary people, sometimes even capable of dissolving bone and flesh upon contact. But for him, forget special effects, it was worse than ordinary blood—it was directly absorbed? Although Hao Ren was now certain that most descriptions of vampires in movies and novels were unreliable, the idea that "Blood Clan blood possessed special powers" couldn't be wrong. If nothing else, ordinary human blood wouldn't tremble or crawl around on its own...

"It seems the blood mark won't work anymore," Vivian said, finally remembering the main issue after a few minutes of messing around with Lily. She sized Hao Ren up, still not giving up. "If you trust me, I'll try using Blood Clan magic. I'm a high-level Blood Clan member, I can cast spells without a blood medium—it shouldn't get absorbed if there's no medium, right?"

Hao Ren chuckled. "What's not to trust? Go ahead and try."

"Most people really don't trust us," Vivian said, spreading her hands. "You're one of the few who's so easy to talk to. Normally, unless someone's missing a screw, how could they so happily accept being cast upon? Three hundred years ago in Europe, people resisted my blood magic to the death. I don't know why they were so stubborn."

Hao Ren muttered to himself: Has this vampire girl been interacting with humans for too long that she's forgotten how normal vampires deal with humans using magic?

Vivian told Hao Ren to sit still, then began drawing strange, twisted characters in the air with her finger. Hao Ren stared wide-eyed at everything. This was the first time in his life he had truly seen what "magic" was. His curiosity and excitement were beyond words, and seeing someone draw trails with a faint bloody glow in the air with their finger was truly eye-opening. But after watching for a short while, he found it quite boring: Vivian just kept writing lines of text in the air, and as she wrote, she would wave her hand to clear away what she had just written. The whole process was essentially a high-class, grand-sounding recitation. Aside from the special effects during the drawing of the bloody text... he didn't feel any special power or more spectacular phenomena.

Vivian's brow, however, was already slightly furrowed. She wrote faster and faster, and cleared away what she had written more frequently, almost erasing one line as soon as she wrote it. Hao Ren thought this must be the critical stage of the spell. At first, he didn't dare to make a sound, but after waiting for a long time without any new developments, he couldn't help but ask softly, "Um... is it done yet?"

"Hold on, I might have written it wrong. I'm correcting it..."

Hao Ren: "..."

So, this girl was erasing and rewriting because she wrote it wrong! Is there anything reliable about this vampire girl?

"Something's not right," Vivian didn't notice the subtle expression on Hao Ren's face. After repeatedly modifying the runes several times, she finally stopped. Shaking her head in confusion, she said, "Logically, this shouldn't be wrong. I've tried three different valid sentence structures, but there's no reaction at all... Hao Ren, do you feel particularly sleepy? Do you feel very calm? Or completely relaxed, or something like that?"

"No," Hao Ren stretched his arms. "I do feel quite calm, but it probably has nothing to do with your writing."

"That big dog over there," Vivian turned to Lily. "Stay there, don't move."

As soon as she spoke, Vivian waved her hand, scattering the bloody text into a trembling mist. The mist drifted past Lily, and she suddenly slumped onto the table, followed by a steady snoring sound.

"...The effect is too strong. How low must her resistance be?" Vivian frowned, then looked at Hao Ren. "I don't know why, but my blood magic doesn't seem to work on you."

Hao Ren's spirits lifted upon hearing this. He looked at his hands in disbelief. "Am I actually a very powerful person?! Is my hidden setting that I'm naturally magic-immune or something?"

Vivian spoke truthfully. "It's also possible that your nerves are too dull. For example, idiots are immune to all mental confusion-type magic..."

Hao Ren: "Ahem, watch it, you owe me money."

Vivian stuck out her tongue awkwardly. "Okay, no more jokes, but being naturally magic-immune is probably impossible. I'm very sensitive to living beings, and you should just be an ordinary person. Besides, aren't you also not immune to the cold air I generate? As for the specific reason, you should ask that Raven 12345 later. I have a feeling that your agreement with that so-called deity isn't that simple. Perhaps you've undergone some changes after returning from her. As for now... you should just use my amulet."

The final outcome was the same as initially stated: all the spiritual blood and magic were nonsense. Hao Ren, with a wry smile, received a treasure from the vampire to ward off evil: a Bagua Plate, supposedly from Mount Wutai, which could ward off evil and calm the mind...

When Vivian handed the Bagua Plate to Hao Ren, she repeatedly cautioned him, afraid that her precious item would be damaged. It was clear that this strange vampire girl cherished her collection of magical items, which touched Hao Ren deeply.

But would that thing actually work?