Chapter 70: To My Love

Her one-meter-seventy-two frame curled into a tight ball.

Noah barely dared to breathe deeply.

Each expansion of her lungs exposed her chest to the sunlight.

The pain she endured was unimaginable.

But she knew Luoyao suffered even more.

Her little fool’s health was already frail, barely at a passing level, far from robust.

Yet Luoyao braced her hands against the wall, half-kneeling before Noah.

Her slender, fragile body shielded Noah from the deadly sunlight pouring in from the well’s mouth.

It was noon now, the sun at its most brutal.

Since the sunrise around five in the morning, Luoyao had held on for seven hours.

Her arms ached and swelled.

Her back, scorched by the sun, bore burn marks.

Her head drooped, sweat dripping from her nose.

Her breathing grew heavier, weaker.

Noah raised her hand, gently caressing Luoyao’s cheek, heart aching. “Rest a bit, Yaoyao. I’ll be fine in the sun for a moment.”

Luoyao shook her head.

“But— Your wounds haven’t healed since last night. That means you don’t have the strength to do so, right?” Luoyao asked.

“Mm…”

“With your condition, you can’t last ten minutes in the sun. Even if you could, you wouldn’t have the energy to heal.”

Luoyao’s forehead rested weakly against Noah’s, her fading strength in her voice. “I can hold on, Noah… I can hold on.”

Seeing her little fool, utterly exhausted yet refusing to relent, Noah’s heart broke.

Before wading into this mess, Luoyao was just a shut-in girl sketching at home.

Her frail body would sneeze at the slightest change in weather.

Now, enduring seven hours under the blazing sun.

What kind of belief sustained her?

More despairing, this was only the morning of the first day.

They’d barely survived one-sixth of this torturous ordeal.

Noah hugged her legs, burying her head in her arms.

Even she lacked confidence to endure.

She wasn’t sure if Luoyao’s suffering was worth it.

Should she give up entirely… or keep struggling, likely in vain?

It was… truly hopeless.

“Hey, Noah.”

A weak voice came from beside her.

Noah lifted her head, sniffing, wiping the warmth from her eyes, forcing a smile. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“Can… can you kiss me? I’m… a bit tired.”

Noah’s eyes welled up again.

Biting her lip, holding back tears, she nodded. “Okay.”

She leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to Luoyao’s pale, cracked lips.

Luoyao closed her eyes, smiling faintly, content. “Thanks. I feel… much better.”

“Yaoyao, maybe we should…”

“No.”

Luoyao cut Noah off. “I know what you’re going to say. We absolutely can’t give up now. Giving up means bowing to Yelan. I’d rather die than prove to that dictatorial old woman—

Loving someone isn’t wrong, and no punishment like this Well of Atonement can destroy that love.”

‘Who knew a frail human girl could be so stubborn?’

“Dictatorial old woman…”

Noah laughed through her tears. “If Mother heard you call her that, we’d be locked up for another week at least.”

“Yelan! Old hag!”

“Hey, save your strength, behave. One more kiss.”

Noah leaned in, kissing the corner of Luoyao’s lips.

Luoyao squinted, smiling, nudging Noah’s nose with her own.

With her hands braced against the wall and knees on the ground, her head was the only part free for affectionate gestures.

To Luoyao, being trapped in this Well of Atonement wasn’t the worst punishment.

The true despair would be never seeing Noah again.

Watching Noah die.

Hating herself for being unable to help.

Physical torment paled compared to mental anguish.

Even if their struggle was futile, even if they couldn’t survive these three days, dying with Noah…

Luoyao wouldn’t regret it.

Humans live mere decades.

Study hard, strive earnestly, live each day fully.

No need for riches or glory—just walking through an ordinary life with the one you love.

That’s enough.

Against Yelan’s tyranny, against unfair rules, Luoyao couldn’t change the system.

But she’d pour every ounce of herself into loving Noah.

Smooth-sailing love is touching.

But love that fights against the current becomes eternal.

Hours later, at midnight, when the last trace of sunlight vanished from the well’s bottom, Luoyao’s frail body collapsed into Noah’s arms.

Her shoulders trembled uncontrollably, burns stark on her neck and back.

Even her breaths seemed to carry the sun’s heat.

“You worked hard, Yaoyao.”

“Mm… hungry…”

Noah chuckled helplessly, patting her little fool’s head. “I’m hungry too, but this damn well only has my predecessors’ bones. Shall we… try making some vampire bone broth?”

“Ew, sounds disgusting!” Luoyao rolled over, sitting beside Noah.

She leaned her head gently on Noah’s shoulder. “Aren’t you hungry? Want to… drink from me?”

“I’m afraid I’d lose control and drain you dry.”

“Tch, stinky vampire. If I’m gone someday, what’ll you do?”

“Pfft, don’t jinx it. You’re not going anywhere. You’re staying with me forever.”

Luoyao smirked, feigning arrogance. “Hmph, not so sure about that. What if I fall for another vampire and move on?”

“You dare?”

Luoyao giggled, hugging Noah’s arm, nuzzling it. “Wouldn’t dare. You’re the best. No other vampire compares.”

“Then tell me what’s so great about me.”

“You…”

“Your appetite’s small!” Noah laughed. “Why’d you flick my forehead?”

“Small appetite because I spoil you, got it, little fool?”

Luoyao rubbed her forehead, huffing, “Got it, got it.”

Noah blinked, then asked, “But why do you seem so… optimistic? I mean, we need some optimism in this mess, but, babe, aren’t you a bit too optimistic?”

So optimistic Noah suspected her human girl had a “secret weapon” up her sleeve.

Luoyao sat up straight, feigning heartbreak. “I hid it so well, and you still figured it out.”

Noah raised a brow, skeptical. “You… actually have something hidden?”

“Oh, I do. What time is it?”

Noah glanced up at the moon through the well’s mouth.

As a vampire over three hundred years old, she could tell time by the moon’s shape and position.

“About eight-something at night. Why?”

“It’s almost here.”

Noah grew more confused. “What’s almost here? Not your period, is it…”

“Pfft, no way. That’s far off.”

“Then—”

“Ssshh—Senior Noah, Little Luoyao, can you hear me?”

A voice suddenly called from the well’s mouth.

Noah looked up, startled. “Anna? You… why are you here?”

“Little Luoyao told me to come at night to bring you food.”

“Aren’t you afraid Mother will catch you?” Noah asked.

“Nope. Senior Huangwei got Mother three mature blood slaves. She’s too busy to catch me.”

Noah facepalmed, muttering, “What kind of modern-day playboy is this…”

Anna peered around the well’s edge, ensuring no one was near.

She tied an iron box to a hemp rope, lowering it slowly.

At the well’s bottom, Luoyao untied the rope and opened the box.

Inside were three tubes of blood and three tubes of light brown liquid, chilled.

Labels on the tubes read “Luoyao.”

Noah blinked. “When did you store blood?”

“A few days ago. The nutrients might’ve faded a bit,” Luoyao said, taking a tube of blood and one of the brown liquid.

Noah pointed at the other tube. “What’s this?”

“It’s a stamina supplement Senior Huangwei made for Little Luoyao,” Anna explained from above. “We thought about compressed biscuits, but that’s too much hassle, so we made drinkable potions instead.”

Noah swallowed hard. “Got any more rebellious tricks up your sleeves?”

“Nope, that’s it,” Luoyao said. “Too much, and Yelan would notice.”

“You’re something else, little fool.”

Luoyao lifted her chin proudly. “Hmph, I’m not foolish. You always call me that, but I’m not. Most of the time, I’m—”

In unison: “Sharp as hell.”

Though the blood and potions wouldn’t fully see them through, they’d ease the immediate crisis.

Without Luoyao’s foresight, they truly wouldn’t survive these three days.

“I’m off then. Senior Noah, Little Luoyao, you have to make it to the end!”

“We will. We definitely will.”

“Mm-hmm!”

Anna waved and left the Well of Atonement.

At the well’s bottom, the two sat facing each other.

The earlier despair was dispelled by this moment’s joy.

They uncorked the tubes, raising them forward.

A crisp clink of glass as the tubes touched.

The girls gazed into each other’s eyes, whispering,

“To my clever little fool.”

“To my best vampire.”