1 PROLOGUE

500 years ago...

Jingyi was a righteous and capable young general that was well-respected by all the people in Guanting. With just twenty-five years of age, he had led armies to wars more than he could remember. And he always brought back victory. Never had he ever lost a single war in his life. Not until one day when he experienced the very first as well as the very last defeat from the group of peculiar foreign intruders he had never thought existed in the world.

Vampires.

Spitting silver blood from his mouth, he kneeled on the blood-soaked ground through the support of his sword that was digging deep into the ground. He peered at the discarded bodies, who were once his fellow soldiers, all around him. Each corpse had their neck ripped open, face and body paled from losing all the blood to the creatures in front of him. The side of his neck had blood-dripping holes that resulted from having two fangs inserted.

"From now on, you'll be turning into one of us. The very kind that you despise so much." Said the man who was their leader. "Live a life hating yourself boy. You have so much time on your hand. Just take it slow."

"I'll... just... kill... myself." Jingyi struggled with each word as his body grew weak.

"Oh no. You can't kill yourself you know. That is another curse for us vampires. Suicide is impossible. And we are one of the high-leveled vampires, meaning that we are hard to kill. Even by the same kind vampires. Only one sacred object can kill us, but I don't think I am stupid enough to tell you." Said a female vampire with long, blond hair. "But since you're handsome, let me give you a tip. Your curse can be lifted and you'll become human again."

A tall, black-haired female vampire, who wore beads around her head and dangled it down her silky hair as a part of the hair ornament, walked towards him and placed her palm on his head. She closed her eyes and focused as if she was trying to read something from him.

"Oh no. She is doing it again. Why does she always give out divination for free?" complained the blond-haired vampire.

Once the black-haired vampire opened her eyes, she said. "Until a boy with unique blood spilled his sapphire-blue blood, willingly, on your heart would your curse be lifted." Then, she looked down at him, her eyes showing pity. "But remember, once the curse is lifted, you'll undergo another cruel suffering that was worse than this curse itself."

"Is there even a thing worse than this curse?" Jingyi sneered at the answer.

"Never underestimate the pain of a broken heart."

And that was all he could hear before the venom started spreading through his veins, bringing a gut-wrenching pain that consumed all of his consciousness and only fed him back the darkness.

For the rest of his life.

Present time...

Sizhui, a boy widely known for being the luckiest one in the world and also the adoptive son of L conglomerate, was sitting in the back of the black limousine. Tonight was the graduation party night for all high school graduates. It should be one happy night but he didn't feel happy at all. Because tomorrow, he would be on a plane to The United States to further his study.

He knew it was his duty as an only heir to strive for the best, but for some reason, he didn't want to be away from home. He had been alone before in the orphanage, and the feeling of having to live alone again brought back his past fear. However, he didn't tell this to his parents. Because he knew once he said it, they would change their mind and cancel his studying abroad immediately. Sizhui wanted to be as filial as he could so he had to overcome this fear. Of course, he was going to miss his papa's bright smile and his father's voice. But he was a grown-up now. It was time for him to act like one.

Ring, ring

He took out his phone from his pocket and checked the caller ID. He smiled brightly and picked up. "Hello Papa"

"A-yuan, are you there yet?" Wei Ying asked his son. His father loved to call him by his nickname.

"Not yet. But I think I'll be arriving soon."

"OK. Text me when you get there alright? And don't stay out too late because you'll be on the plane early tomorrow."

"Yes, papa."

Wei Ying sighed. "I miss you already. How am I to survive without you for all those years?"

"You'll be fine, papa. Father will always accompany you."

"Lan Zhan? Huh" Wei Ying hissed under his breath. "He was so busy managing the company lately especially after signing that partnership. I could barely see him unless we are doing our every-day."

Sizhui coughed at the word our every-day. He knew exactly what that keyword meant. He was so glad he was alone in the car that no one could see his blushing face.

"Oops. Sorry I blurted out R-Rated stuff to a kid." Wei Ying faked his apologies.

"Papa, I'm no longer a kid. I'm eighteen now."

Wei Ying echoed his pretended sniff over the line. "Yeah, yeah, my A-Yuan is eighteen now. He's an adult. He no longer needs his parents."

"Papa, please. I'll always in need of you both."

"Even after you're married and have kids of your own?"

"Papa!" Sizhui blushed even more.

"Alright, alright. You must nearly be there now. No more talking. Enjoy your party. Just don't forget to text me once you arrive, alright?"

"Yes, papa. Goodbye."

Once the line was dead, Sizhui looked at the black screen on his phone and smiled. How lucky he was to have such caring parents. He put down the phone on the seat next to him and stared out the window. Something wasn't right. The road was getting quieter and darker. Surely not a route to the party place. He picked up the car's phone and rang his chauffeur to ask if they were lost. But the man said that the usual road was under construction so they had to take a detour, and the GPS provided him this path. Sizhui thanked his driver and disconnected the call. He continued to stare at the dark view outside the window when suddenly the car screeched and came to an abrupt stop.

"Young master, there's a body of a man blocking our path." The driver asked through the car's phone.

"Body of the man?" Sizhui was worried about that person. He must have been severely injured to lie down in the middle of the road like that. "Let's go and help him." Both of them get out of the car and left the car's engine running so they could use the headlights to illuminate the dark street.

There, in the middle of the street, a man in long, black hair was lying still on the ground. Sizhui ran faster and reached the man before his driver did. He touched the body and was so shocked that the man was as cold as ice. He placed two fingers over the philtrum to check if the man was still breathing, and was relieved to know that he still did. He shook the man gently but the man had no reaction at all. Without further delay, he reached out for his phone to call for help when he realized he'd left it in the car. He then turned to the driver who was kneeling next to him. "Mr. Zin, please hurry to the car and call 911. This man needed help from the paramedics as fast as possible."

The driver nodded his head and ran back to the car. As Sizhui was left alone, he checked to see if there were any injuries on the man but he found none, despite tattered clothes in a lot of places. He wondered how the man breathed when there was no movement on his chest at all. Absentmindedly, he placed his palm over the man's left chest to feel his heart. Instantly, the man opened both of his eyes, revealing silver pupils that were as sharp as blades, and slapped Sizhui's hand away. The man's strength was so strong that his slap sent Sizhui flying a couple of steps away.

Sizhui braced the fall using his hands, scraping them to the road. He winced in pain at the impact but tried his best to get up. When he was back to his feet, he looked to the spot where he was sent flying from only to realize that it was now empty. He turned around to search for the man from before but failed to see anything in sight.

"Young master, I have called 911 and they said they'd be here to pick up the man in..." the driver trailed off when he no longer saw the man. "Huh, where did he go?"

"I am sorry Mr. Zin but look like you'll have to make a call again to cancel the ambulance," Sizhui said with a smile.

"Did he just get up on his own and walked away?"

"Seems like it."

Standing with his mouth hung open, the driver murmured to himself as he was walking back to the car "I hope we aren't tricked by a ghost."

Sizhui stared at that spot one last time before he turned around and walked to his car. As he walked, he sensed something dripping from his fingers. He looked at his left hand to see blue liquids ran in rivulets from his wrist to his fingertips. He must have had injured himself during the fall back then.

Taking out a handkerchief from his pocket, he wrapped it tight at the wound to conceal it and continued his walk.

Yes, he was born with unique sapphire-blue blood.

<<<TO BE CONTINUED>>>