Chapter 1 : The Sacrificial Girl

“Your noble… Blood Clan lords! This is our village’s offering this year!” The village chief spoke nervously as he tremblingly pulled back the red cloth draped over the wagon.

Beneath it was a cage glowing faintly silver.

Inside the cage knelt a young girl, her head lowered.

Silky, silvery hair cascaded over her shoulders, concealing her face.

“Silver hair? That’s quite rare,” remarked a tall, pale-skinned Blood Clan knight standing on the other side of the cage as he narrowed his eyes, looking the girl up and down.

“She—her name is Su Ling,” the village chief hurriedly explained, voice trembling, “she’s… one of the Aini people from the north, pure-blooded. I raised her myself. None of this is a lie!”

“Hah, a rare breed indeed. I bet she’ll taste exquisite,” the knight chuckled darkly, waving a hand at his attendants.

“Take her.”

“Yes, sir!”

Two armored soldiers stepped forward without a word and hoisted up the cage with the girl still inside.

Su Ling’s eyes suddenly flew open as she stared straight at the village chief, but before she could say a word, her cage was thrown into a dragon-drawn carriage.

The tattered red cloth was thrown back over the cage, cutting off her view entirely.

She let out a long sigh and released her hands from the bars.

“Ugh…” she sighed again.

Great. I just transmigrated here, my dignity’s gone, and now my life’s probably next.

Who could have guessed that yesterday she was just an ordinary guy, and today she’s somehow been reincarnated into some fantasy novel as a disposable background character named Su Ling!

And to make matters worse, since she never had the patience to read much, she only skimmed the beginning of this novel and barely knew the setup.

Forget cheats or insider knowledge — she had none of that.

All she did know was that this was the nation of Ansels, ruled by vampires, where all humans were subjugated to work, fight, and most importantly, serve as blood sources.

That old coot who handed her over? That was her “adoptive father,” the village chief from the novel — who was so eager to slash the village’s tax burden that he sacrificed his own daughter to the vampires as a blood slave.

Unbelievable!

And of course, a blood slave was nothing more than a walking meal to vampires.

Su Ling, this frail little girl, was sure to end up drained dry and dead — just like any other poor sacrificial lamb in the story!

“There’s not a shred of a chance to change my fate like this!”

She tugged uselessly at the iron bars of the cage.

But with her now feeble hands, she was far too weak — a far cry from her strength as a guy.

The dragon-drawn carriage rumbled along, a cool breeze lifting the corner of the red cloth.

Peeking out, Su Ling saw several other cages just like hers loaded up with other boys and girls — all of them sacrificed by their own parents and relatives to become blood slaves.

“Hey… do you guys know where they’re taking us?” Su Ling whispered.

No one answered.

Unlike her, the other youths lay motionless, their eyes empty, as though they were simply waiting for their fate to be sealed.

Forget it. Clearly, asking for help was pointless.

Time passed, the sun gradually sinking toward the horizon.

Finally, the carriage stopped.

From outside, she heard the respectful voice of the vampire knight.

“Sir, all the blood slaves are ready.”

“Good. Bring them in,” came an even deeper, more dignified voice.

“Don’t keep our lords waiting.”

One by one, the cloths were pulled off the cages.

They had arrived before a grand castle, flanked by grim-faced guards.

An older man in a steward’s uniform stood at the head of them.

Unlike the knight earlier, all these people were just ordinary humans — clearly servants to the vampires.

Before long, the guards escorted Su Ling and the other blood slaves into a vast stone chamber.

Click—

Chandeliers lit up, flooding the hall with light.

“Your Highness, these are the blood slaves carefully selected by the knights. Please have a look,” the steward said respectfully.

And through the door behind him, a woman appeared.

That was a woman whose beauty was as cold as ice.

Her waist-length hair, black as flowing ink, framed sharp eyebrows and a high nose bridge.

Her skin was almost too pale, and her blood-red eyes inspired an instinctive fear.

She walked gracefully in high heels, the embroidered velvet of her gown trailing behind her, its tassels swaying against the carpet.

Su Ling’s heart gave a jolt.

There was no mistaking it—this appearance, this air of ruthless beauty… she was the villainess of the novel, the cruel Blood Clan princess of Ansels, Sista Anderson.

Rumor had it that she was decisive in killing and incredibly suspicious.

Even her own kind kept their distance from her, let alone humans.

“These all look like poor stock,” Sista’s gaze swept indifferently over the blood slaves in the cages before she gave a dismissive order.

“As usual, send them off to the other nobles.”

“Yes…” The old steward nodded, disappointment obvious, though he didn’t dare protest. With a subtle gesture, the guards hurried to remove the cages.

Su Ling swallowed hard.

If even the princess didn’t want these offerings, they’d surely be sent to Count Sinuur Mongol, the gluttonous vampire who would suck them dry—and that was exactly as far as she’d read into the novel.

Was there really no way out?

Her eyes swept the room.

The heavy chains at the cage’s entrance, the fully armed guards at the only exit—it was impossible for a weak girl like her to escape.

“I don’t want to… die…” she whispered, panic slipping into her voice.

Crap!

Su Ling quickly covered her mouth.

She had been too lost in thought and accidentally spoken aloud.

But it was already too late.

When she cautiously looked up, she was met with a pair of chilling red eyes.

Sista stared straight at her, her gaze sharp and cold.

“What did you say?” Sista’s eyes narrowed.

“I…” Su Ling took a deep breath.

If she was going to die anyway, she might as well take a gamble.

Mustering all her courage, she met Sista’s gaze.

“I want to live… please don’t kill me. Let me do anything for you!”

Sista paused, a hint of surprise on her face.

“Anything, huh? That’s laughable. What could someone like you possibly do?” she replied, slowly approaching Su Ling’s cage.

Her fingers traced the iron bars, making a crisp metallic sound.

“Silver hair… this is my first time seeing such eyes…”

“Your Highness,” the steward jumped in eagerly, his face lighting up.

“This is one of the Ai Ni people who are nearly extinct. Her blood is said to taste exquisite. A flavor you have yet to try…”

But Sista ignored him, leaning down to peer into the cage, her eyes fixed on Su Ling’s, as if spellbound.

“If you’d like to keep her, Your Highness…” the steward began.

“Can you shut up for once?” Sista snapped, glaring at him so fiercely that the steward instantly fell silent.

“I’ll take this blood slave,” she finally declared, eyeing Su Ling with intrigue.

Then, with a casual raise of her hand, a red-haired maid emerged from a small side door.

“Clean her up. Tonight, she will serve me.”

Wh-what?!

Su Ling was completely dumbfounded.

She had just leapt from one pit into another!

—

Author’s Note

In this world, there is no absolute good or evil.

Please do not impose human or vampire moral standards.

Power struggles, internal strife, alliances, and betrayals can happen at any time. Even if you side with one party now, they might turn against you later.

The backdrop is just a side note—enjoy the yuri moments! (ˊᗜˋ*)