In a small cottage, Tian Yu ate in silence. He wife sat beside him, hands folded on her lap, watching him with a gentle smile. The kind of smile that made her eyes turn tender whenever he looked up.
When he finished, she stood without a word and began clearing the dishes. Her movements were slow and careful, as though she feared making even the slightest noise that might disturb him.
Tian Yu found himself staring at her back as she worked. There was something tender about her, something patient and sincere… yet his heart resisted her. He didn't understand why.
"Why do I feel this way toward her?" he wondered. " was this marriage forced on us? If so… who was the woman my heart belonged to before all this?, why can't I remember anything about my past.
Nothing made sense.
His memories were full of holes, and the more he tried to fill them, the more confused he became.
What confused him more was her behavior. She never pressured him, never asked for closeness, never tried to seduce him. She treated him warmly but kept a respectful distance, as if she didn't want to frighten him.
He turned, and caught her looking at him.
Her eyes held a softness that looked real at first glance, but the longer he stared, the more he sensed the hollowness behind it. Her faint smile was gentle, too gentle, as though designed to be comforting rather than born from true affection. A strange unease curled in his chest, something instinctive telling him that what he saw… wasn't truly her.
He picked up his hunting tools.
"I will come back late tonight," he said, heading toward the door.
She didn't answer.
She only offered him the faintest smile.
He paused for a small moment… then walked out.
The forest air was cold when he entered the woods. At first, everything seemed normal. He moved through the trees the way he always did. But then a strange feeling crawled through his body, like heat and cold spreading at the same time. His breathing changed. His senses sharpened suddenly and painfully.
The sound of distant voices slammed into his ears as if the men were standing right beside him. The noise was too loud, too sharp. He winced and stumbled forward, trying to steady his breath.
Something is wrong with me, he thought.
Before he could understand what was happening to him, he was already standing in front of the two men he had heard earlier. The men jumped back in fear.
"H...How did you appear like that?!"
"Stay away!" The second barked.
Tian Yu didn't even remember moving. Confusion washed over him...but something else moved inside him, something darker and stronger. A deep hunger rose from within, clouding his thoughts. His body acted before his mind could stop it.
In one swift motion, he grabbed the first man.
His fangs extended, he didn't know when or how, and he sank them into the man's neck. Warm blood filled his mouth, and the man collapsed.
The second man tried to run, but Tian Yu was in front of him in the next breath. He caught him easily, his strength far beyond human control, and fed again until the man's body fell lifeless to the ground.
Silence returned to the woods.
Tian Yu stood there, breathing hard, staring at the two bodies on the forest floor. Blood clung to his lips.
As Tian Yu drained the men dry, the taste of blood only sharpened the hunger tearing through him. His throat burned, raw and scorching.
At that moment, a group of vampires emerged from between the trees, moving like beasts that had crawled out of the night itself. Their eyes glowed red. Their fangs dripped. They circled him with low growls, waiting for a moment of weakness.
Tian Yu reacted on instinct. His hand shot up, catching the creature by the throat mid-air, slamming him into the ground with enough force to crack the earth. Another attacked from behind, but Tian Yu twisted, grabbing his arm and hurling him against a tree. Bark exploded. More came, claws slashing, teeth snapping.
He fought them like a storm, fast and brutal. His senses were sharp and his strength too wild , every movement fueled by a fury he could not understand. The more he killed them, the more the emerged.
At that same moment, a streak of blue fire cut through the darkness.
Yuyan appeared behind him like a burst of moonlight, her palms blazing with witch-fire. Without hesitation, she joined the fight, burning one vampire into ash, kicking another off Tian Yu's back, her hair whipping in the wind as she attacked again and again.
"Tian Yu!" she called, but he was lost in the bloodlust.
Together they fought until the forest grew still and every attacker lay lifeless around them.
Then the hunger hit him again.
Harder and stronger.
He staggered, clutching his throat as the burning spread through his chest. His breath trembled. And then...he smelled it.
Human blood.
He turned sharpy
Then, he saw Yuyan breathing hard, face smudged with ash yet still impossibly beautiful. Relief warmed her eyes; after months of searching, she had finally found him. She smiled gently despite the way his monstrous form looks.
But to Tian Yu… she was only prey.
In a single blur of movement, he crossed the distance and seized her by the neck. Her breath hitched, tears filling her eyes from heartbreak of what Tian Yu has become.
"Tian… Yu…" she choked out, her voice thin with pain yet still soft.
The name fell from her lips like a bell echoing through a long-forgotten memory.
He froze.
Her face was streaked with tears, her lips shaking as she tried to speak. Even her scent felt strangely familiar. Tian Yu's chest tightened in a way he couldn't explain.
Why did she look familiar to him?
Why did his heart ache just from seeing her like this?
Who was this woman… and why did she feel like someone he should remember?
His grip loosened. Slowly, he stepped back, horror dawning on his face as Yuyan collapsed to her knees, coughing and gasping for air.
"Tian Yu…" she whispered, reaching for him. "It's me… Yuyan. Your wife."
Wife?
His mind cracked under the weight of confusion. Frustration surged so violently he could barely breathe. He clutched his head, staggering backwards.
"No…" he rasped. His voice sounded even strange to himself.
Then, with a scream that tore through the forest, he disappeared into the night.