Blood Queen

Bridge Head Town, straddling the national highway, guarded a key transportation route. With numerous vehicles passing through during the May Day holiday, the various shops along the highway were doing good business, bright and bustling.

Gu Yao sprinted through the shadows of the streets, feeling like she had endless energy. The blood she had consumed earlier while half-asleep felt dreamlike and blissful, as if every cell in her body was rejoicing.

She could already see the multi-story building of the township health clinic ahead, but she had to cross the brightly lit highway. Gu Yao had to slow down, eventually pressing herself against the wall of a small restaurant.

At the highway junction ahead, a temporary checkpoint had been set up. A police car with flickering blue and white lights was parked at the roadside, and an armed police vehicle even blocked a third of the road.

More than twenty vehicles of various sizes were obediently lined up at the temporary checkpoint, undergoing inspections similar to those for drunk driving.

Gu Yao's pupils contracted as she saw several men and women in black uniforms beside the police vehicle. The special insignia on their armbands clearly identified them as members of the Shadow Arrow Force!

Looking at the sign of the township health clinic a hundred meters away, Gu Yao could only slowly retreat, planning to find a more distant section to cross the highway.

A few minutes later, Gu Yao finally reached the outer wall of the township health clinic. With just a light push, her nimble body flew over the wall into the landscaped area inside.

She quickly adjusted her uniform, trying to make the ill-fitting clothes match her new physique better, then slipped into the power distribution room outside the medical building.

Inside the township health clinic, except for the street lamps outside the main entrance and a few rooms equipped with emergency power supplies, almost the entire building went dark simultaneously. Exclamations of surprise from medical staff could be heard in the darkness.

Climbing up a water pipe along the wall to the third floor, Gu Yao illuminated the directional signs on the wall with her tactical flashlight. After reconfirming the locations of various departments, it took her less than two minutes to find the blood bank.

For a township-level hospital, the blood bank's inventory was naturally very limited, but it was more than enough for Gu Yao.

Opening the constant-temperature blood refrigerator, barely glancing at the blood type labels, Gu Yao stuffed bag after bag of blood into her pack, even taking related blood transfusion equipment.

Outside the blood bank, footsteps were already approaching from the end of the corridor. Gu Yao climbed out of the window, holding onto the water pipe with one hand, and slipped back into the night.

Returning to the villa where they were staying, Gu Yao realized her entire body was soaked with sweat. Her already foul-smelling combat suit and undershirt felt even more uncomfortable rubbing against her skin.

Following the field emergency manual she had studied, Gu Yao connected the transfusion equipment to Xia Yan's vein, attached the portable electric blood pump, then tore open a bag of cold blood and tucked it inside her own tactical T-shirt against her stomach, attempting to warm it with her body heat.

Ugh, no, this won't work, it's too cold! It would take forever to warm up this way!

Feeling Xia Yan's increasingly weak breathing and unable to discern her forehead temperature, Gu Yao gritted her teeth and directly connected the blood bag to the transfusion equipment.

At some point, clear moonlight quietly filtered into the spacious living room, spilling onto the white tiles and walls, gradually coating the room with a soft silver glow.

In the moonlight, Xia Yan lay on the sofa with her eyes tightly closed, her arm connected to the transfusion equipment. Amid the slight noise of the electric blood pump, her breathing gradually steadied, and her chest beneath the uniform began to rise and fall rhythmically.

Sitting backward on a wooden chair with her arms resting on the backrest, Gu Yao silently watched the sleeping girl before her.

Moonlight interwove with the black strands of hair, a wet towel covered her clean forehead, and her long eyelashes trembled slightly with each even breath, as if she were having an intense dream. Below her delicate, well-shaped nose, her small mouth remained closed, her lips gradually regaining their moisture.

"Hey, you’re really pretty..."

Having suddenly muttered this comment without reason, Gu Yao was startled and raised her hand to slap her own cheek.

Not knowing the appropriate dosage, Gu Yao continued until the sound of roosters crowing came from outside. She had transfused two bags of blood into Xia Yan. Only when heavy drowsiness overtook her, making her eyelids fight to stay open, did she rest her arms on the chair back, laid her head on her arms, and quietly fell asleep.

...

"Brother... what time is it..."

After sleeping for an unknown duration, Gu Yao vaguely heard footsteps and smelled the familiar scent of instant noodles. She rubbed her waist and sat up from the sofa.

"You're up? Wash up quickly and let's eat..."

Xia Yan walked out of the kitchen with two large bowls filled with glistening instant noodles, each topped with a boiled egg.

"Oh... Ah? Brother, you're alright!"

Gu Yao habitually sniffed a few times, looked around, and realized all the curtains in the room were tightly drawn, blocking the view outside. Only then did she recall the events of the night before.

In the living room at the coffee table, Xia Yan was wearing a dark green tactical T-shirt, bending over to place the large bowls on the table. Her slender waist and long legs were visible, with her chest forming a slight curve.

"What are you looking at... Eat quickly and then take a shower. These clothes can't be worn anymore."

The soft, calm voice of a young woman sounded as Xia Yan walked to the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room, slightly parting the curtains to peek outside for a few seconds.

Only then did Gu Yao notice that the entire room was filled with a strange fishy odor emanating from both Xia Yan and herself. After wearing the same clothes for dozens of hours, both had become so smelly they were almost numb to the scent.

"Oh... okay."

Gu Yao quickly lowered her head and wolfed down her food, taking a few bites to crack open the boiled egg, her cheeks stuffed like a hamster preparing for winter.

"Brother... how do you feel?"

After quickly finishing half a bowl of instant noodles, Gu Yao finally looked up.

How do I feel?

Xia Yan paused with her chopsticks, raised her head, her clear eyes—now restored to their normal color—sparkling brightly, the corner of her mouth bearing a gentle smile. "Xiao Yao, thanks. I feel great."

Hearing this, Gu Yao suddenly felt a tightness in her nose, as if the nervous tension from last night's tightrope-walking blood heist had only now relaxed.

"Brother... I should be thanking you. If it wasn't for you yesterday, I would have died." Gu Yao rubbed her nose, avoiding the other's gaze.

"Alright, let's not get sentimental between us... Are you done? Go take a shower and change clothes. I found some suitable ones for us in this house. Oh, and remember not to open the windows to avoid attracting the neighbors' attention."

Xia Yan reached across the coffee table and lightly patted Gu Yao's head, only then noticing that somehow, Gu Yao's previously white long hair now had a faint golden tint, making it even more pleasing to the eye.

...

Entering the bathroom, Gu Yao immediately saw a girl's overalls, a snow-white loose T-shirt, and a white bath towel placed on the clothes rack.

"..."

Slowly reaching out to touch the girl's overalls, then looking down at her foul-smelling attire, Gu Yao momentarily didn't know what to do.

Suddenly remembering something, she abruptly looked down at her abdomen and discovered that the puncture wound from the blood-flesh tentacle from yesterday dawn had completely healed.

I... Brother and I have turned into female vampires…

Gu Yao silently unbuttoned her black combat suit and tossed it into the corner. Looking at the reflection of the unfamiliar young girl with light golden hair in the mirror, she took a deep breath and pulled off her tactical T-shirt...

Listening to the faint sound of running water from the bathroom around the corridor corner, Xia Yan, who was reviewing a map in the living room, revealed a trace of embarrassment, her cheeks bearing an almost imperceptible blush.

"Brother... I... I'm done."

A soft murmur came, and Xia Yan shifted her gaze from the map, looking up to see a youthful girl with a face alternating between red and white.

Fresh from her bath, Gu Yao's damp, light golden hair fell partly stuck together and partly loose at the back of her head. Her thoroughly cleaned face and neck showed a rosy tint amid the fairness.

Outside the snow-white T-shirt she wore playful, wide-legged denim overalls in a girlish style. A pair of snow-white feet in slippers, and both hands, still holding the bath towel, seemed not to know what to do.

"Mm, my turn to shower. I've marked some locations on the map; take a look, and we'll discuss our next actions later."

With that, Xia Yan rose and walked toward the corridor behind Gu Yao. As they passed, she directly took the bath towel from Gu Yao's hands.

"Something feels off... Is something missing?"

The bodily sensations ignored during yesterday's desperate escape had now returned, and felt particularly sensitive. Having lost the towel covering her upper body, Gu Yao felt an unfamiliar discomfort in her chest.

Damn! It seems I'm only wearing a T-shirt with nothing underneath!

Glancing at the slightly bulging snow-white T-shirt covering her chest, Gu Yao suddenly remembered something.

"Hey! Brother! Where's the bra?!"

Gu Yao turned around, inexplicably shouting in a low voice.

From inside the tightly closed bathroom came the sound of the black-haired girl falling over.