To Wield Such Prowess || ZHANYI/YIZHAN FF

Prologue

"My Lord."

Xiao Zhan casts a smile and removes his red silk coat, draping it over his chair before sitting in front of his desk. "Good day, Wen Junhui."

The man straightens up from his salutating bow to deliver his weekly report. "Many of your people have offered their blood to store for this month."

Xiao Zhan hums, picking up the notebook on his table and shifting his gaze to his right-hand man. "And you have made sure that all of them volunteered?"

"Yes, Sir," Junhui affirms. "Aside from human blood to store, you also have one live host who volunteered for today."

Xiao Zhan's eyes subtly widen. Another one this week?

Since the time Xiao Zhan had shared about how directly sucking blood from a living human refills energy more efficiently than stored blood, a lot of humans had begun to offer to take on the role of a live human host.

He used to get worried that Chongqing's humans were doing it in fear that he might go out and randomly kill one of them in the streets but they have always proven him otherwise.

Rather than coming from fear, it is a form of appreciation and support for the services he has been providing for them for over two centuries:

Keeping the peace in and protecting the people of Chongqing.

"Very well, then." Xiao Zhan takes a pen out of his desk's drawer. "Information about this live host? Age and sex."

"27, female."

"Safe to directly draw blood from? No health issues and complications?" Xiao Zhan speaks, pausing to wait for Junhui's response.

"No health issues and complications."

Xiao Zhan hums, jotting it down while nodding. "Will she accept something from me in exchange?"

"Yes," Junhui says, "She requests the most common favor."

A corner of Xiao Zhan's lips turns up for a smile. "Alright, then. Bring her in."

Junhui hums, bowing before Xiao Zhan and heading to the wooden door on the left to pull it open.

A woman steps inside with her head inclined.

Xiao Zhan leans in on his elbows to look, subtly squinting his eyes as he studies the blood composition of his live host. After deciding he's satisfied, Xiao Zhan gets to his feet, gesturing for Junhui to leave the room.

As they are left alone, Xiao Zhan shifts his glance to the lady, walking towards her using normal human speed so as to not scare her. Xiao Zhan places his hands behind his back and leans down, whispering a "Hello," and offering her a kind smile.

She raises her gaze and smiles back before bowing down. "Good day, Mr. Xiao."

Xiao Zhan hums, raising his hand and doing the first thing he requires all live hosts to agree on allowing him to do before he draws blood directly from them.

Xiao Zhan places a palm on her temple, reading into her memories to check for any indications of his vampire people coercing or intimidating the lady into heading here, ready to inflict punishment upon those who could have tweaked and cheated his rules.

However, he finds nothing besides the lady submitting herself to the blood bank and informing the blood distribution manager about her self-made decision.

Xiao Zhan sighs subtly in relief. "Thank you," he says, meeting eyes with the lady while trying to ignore the sound of her heart pumping fresh human blood.

Centuries of being a vampire have taught Xiao Zhan how to not go insane when he sees and smells—or even thinks about—human blood, but his nature still renders him unable to stop licking his lips in excitement.