Chapter 164: Purple Pupils

Early summer, and the temperature was just right.

A gentle breeze, still lingering with a trace of winter's chill, blew softly by, carrying a faint, elusive scent of fresh grass that drifted unnoticeably into someone's nostrils.

She did not move, yet a figure slipped in sideways from outside the window.

Landing... without a sound.

A cold, austere scent mingled with a peculiar fragrance, devoid of murderous intent, yet still deeply oppressive to the heart.

"Who..."

However, Mu Qingcheng managed to utter only a single syllable before all possibility of speech was cut off.

The very next second—

Swish—

The curtains, which had been left with a narrow gap, were drawn completely shut, blocking out the last sliver of moonlight.

The room instantly plunged into pitch darkness, save for a shadow that was slowly drawing closer.

Mu Qingcheng's eyes were already wide open, the sudden darkness leaving her no time to adjust.

When she finally regained her wits, what she saw was an ambiguous figure shrouded in the gloom.

Extremely slender, paper-thin.

And what surprised her most were the violet pupils, still clearly distinguishable in the ink-black room.

Shrouded in an obscure, mysterious glow.

"Ah... ah..."

***

Mu Qingcheng frowned, trying to move her limbs.

To her horror, she discovered that her wrists and ankles had been pinned in place by silver needles at some unknown moment.

The technique was masterfully executed, completely painless, and pierced with absolute precision to exactly three-tenths of the depth of each acupoint.

It sealed every single pressure point she could use to fight back, yet stopped just short of robbing her entirely of sensation.

Broke out in a cold sweat that surged in heavy waves, Mu Qingcheng experienced a sudden spike in her heart rate, driven by the terror of being unable to struggle and forced to surrender to fate.

Her heart felt as though it was about to leap right out of her chest.

And the person standing before her—with those astonishing violet pupils—began to scan her downward, moving like a laser beam starting from her forehead.

Though she could not make out the intruder's features, she could distinctly sense that this person seemed to be deep in thought.

Yet, with no clues whatsoever to grasp, Mu Qingcheng felt like meat pinned to a cutting board, with nowhere to run.

She could not even cry out for help.

A moment later, after slowly sweeping her entire body with a gaze, the figure raised a hand and peeled back a corner of her blanket.

Her already wide eyes widened further in shock, only to watch as this person... proceeded to lift a corner of her pajamas as well.

Revealing a pale, slender, and tender stretch of her waist, the skin delicate and flawless enough to break at the touch of a breath.

"Ugh... ah..."

Mu Qingcheng completely panicked.

A sensation she had never experienced in her life descended upon her, and she involuntarily began to struggle violently.

Yet, after a long while, aside from soaking all her clothes in sweat, it was completely useless.

***

She could not even move a single finger, left with no choice but to watch helplessly as the figure observed her waist and abdomen without restraint.

After another moment, the intruder suddenly flipped a wrist, pulled an ultra-fine silver needle from out of nowhere, and then...

Pressed it firmly right into her navel.

In an instant, a massive wave of bone-chilling cold surged up from her lower abdomen, causing Mu Qingcheng to shudder violently.

The toxins suppressed deep within her body instantly spread to every part of her being.

Mu Qingcheng stared helplessly at the ceiling, her mouth wide open, yet not a single word could escape.

Shortly after, a large mouthful of dark, black blood welled up and spilled from the corner of her lips.

The figure simply stood by and watched, as if patiently waiting for this exact moment.

Almost simultaneously with the appearance of that pool of dark blood, the intruder took a syringe from a small pouch and forcefully plunged it into her own arm.

Following that... drawing out a tube of blue-violet blood.

*What... on earth is this?*

Too stunned by the cascade of unexpected events to recover her senses, Mu Qingcheng watched in horror as that tube of fresh, bizarrely colored blood was slowly pushed by the other party...

Straight into her own body.