Upon Her Lips - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Daolei handed a handkerchief to the girl, signaling her to wipe her face clean.

Once she had meticulously scrubbed away the grime, Daolei felt much more at ease looking at her delicate, youthful face. However, seeing her dressed in such thin fabric in this freezing weather—her exposed skin turned a bruised purple—he couldn’t help but feel a flicker of humanitarian pity for such a weak creature.

“Master,” he called out through the car window to Mu Fei, who was resting with her eyes closed.

Mu Fei opened her beautiful golden-brown eyes and rolled down the window. She gazed down at the frail human girl with a condescending air; the child stole a timid glance at her before hurriedly bowing her head again.

“Do you truly think she is fit to sit in my car?” Mu Fei asked back, her voice devoid of warmth. She then closed the window, signaling the driver to move.

Daolei nodded and instructed his subordinates to arrange a separate vehicle to transport the girl to the manor.

Soon, another car dispatched from the hotel pulled up to the curb, and the girl was ushered inside.

“Daolei, tuck away that ridiculous sympathy of yours,” Mu Fei said, arching an eyebrow. She didn’t care how much the girl suffered in the cold; she had only taken her in for future use—whether as a necessary pawn or a post-dinner dessert. She certainly hadn’t made the decision out of a shred of mercy.

The man remained non-committal. He could never fully penetrate his Master’s thoughts, but as he watched the girl’s figure grow smaller in the rearview mirror, he sighed inwardly, wondering what fate awaited her.

The cars traveled along the snowy road, leaving deep treads behind. Thanks to anti-skid devices, they didn’t slide, though they moved relatively slowly. It was nearly noon by the time they reached the manor.

As the car pulled up to the entrance, two servants in black were already waiting. One opened the car door while the other held a black umbrella, bowing slightly to shield the mistress from the wind and snow. Daolei stepped out first, took the umbrella from the servant, and supported Mu Fei’s hand as she entered the house.

Mu Fei looked at the estate, which hadn’t changed in centuries, and suddenly felt a lack of novelty. She decided that the next time she had to fill out a death certificate for her current persona, she would move to a new residence.

She removed her coat and hat, handing them to a servant.

“Would you like to bathe, Madam?”

The question came from Auntie Dai, who had served the household for many years. She had been brought in by Daolei and was rumored to have long harbored feelings for him, though the stiff, honest man had never reciprocated.

“Auntie Dai, do you know? You look exceptionally lovely today,” Mu Fei complimented with a shallow smile, glancing at Daolei behind her. The man, predictably, showed no reaction.

Auntie Dai was over four hundred years old, but her appearance remained fixed in the charming, sophisticated grace of a woman in her thirties. She modestly covered her smile. “I heard you brought back a girl.”

“You certainly are well-informed,” Mu Fei remarked, knowing full well it was Daolei who had sent word ahead.

Auntie Dai smiled and brought out fresh fruit. Mu Fei’s favorite fruit was cherries—theoretically, she liked them because they tasted like blood. Mu Fei bit into a cherry but did not respond further. Instead, she ordered the servants to brew her a cup of black tea to soothe her throat.

Just then, the honk of a car horn echoed from outside. The vehicle carrying the girl had arrived.

Daolei stepped out and watched as his subordinates carried the girl from the car. They unceremoniously pulled off the hood they had placed over her head. A bunch of crude fellows indeed, he thought. The girl’s face was flushed from the stuffy hood, and she gasped for air.

She widened her eyes to take in her surroundings. A massive house loomed before her, surrounded by trees shrouded in white snow. This wasn’t the city; it felt like the outskirts, perhaps even deep within a mountain forest.

“This will be your home from now on.”

Daolei stood at the door and extended his hand with extreme gallantry, gesturing for the girl to enter this manor—whether it led to an abyss or a paradise remained to be seen. Personally, he hoped for the latter, even if the word “paradise” didn’t hold much beauty for the vampire race.

The girl timidly reached out her small hand, hesitating in mid-air before finally gripping Daolei’s cold hand as if making a monumental resolution. The man’s lips curled slightly as he led the poor little thing into the grand hall.

The moment they passed through the intricately carved iron gates, almost everyone in the room was drawn to the girl’s unusual fragrance. Some of the younger servants’ pupils began to shift, driven by the instinctive urge to feed.

“Molly, are you hungry?”

Mu Fei traced the rim of her teacup with her finger, turning her head with a chilling smile to address the servant behind her.

The young maid, Molly, instantly fell to her knees in panic, her pupils snapping back to a normal color. “Please forgive me, Master! I apologize for my behavior just now!”

“You disappoint me,” Mu Fei rose and paced toward the kneeling servant, her long shadow swallowing the girl in darkness. She leaned down slightly, gripping Molly’s chin with one hand. “It’s been over a century, and you still haven’t learned.”

Molly’s trembling shoulders betrayed her absolute terror. She lowered her head and submissively kissed the tip of Mu Fei’s shoe.

“Auntie Dai,” Mu Fei said emotionlessly, signaling with her eyes.

Auntie Dai immediately ordered men to drag Molly away. For a vampire who prized honor, her fate was the most shameful: exile from the territory, with no other reputable family ever taking her in.

“Master, the little one has arrived,” Daolei’s timely voice cut through the icy atmosphere.

Mu Fei patted her stiff cheeks and turned to look at the girl held by Daolei. The girl’s hair was a mess from the hood, and her face was obscured by hanging locks. Only her pure, wet eyes were visible.

Mu Fei frowned as she looked the girl up and down. “Why is she still so unsightly?” she asked with displeasure.

“They didn’t have time to bathe her after bringing her here,” Daolei explained.

Mu Fei didn’t want to look a second longer. She waved her hand dismissively. “Take her to be washed. I will have nothing filthy in my house.”

“Yes.” Daolei handed the girl over to Auntie Dai.

The girl kept her head low. When she heard the beautiful, fairy-tale-like woman call her dirty, she instinctively tried to hide the mud on her sleeves out of shame. She was then led away by the woman who looked about her mother’s age. The beautiful woman drinking tea never looked at her again.

She thinks I’m dirty.

“I can’t believe the Master actually brought a human child back. I don’t know what she’s thinking, bringing prey into a predator’s nest,” Auntie Dai muttered as she pulled the girl toward the bathroom.

Inside, the clean, spacious shower room made the girl’s eyes widen in shock. Her only memory of washing was being thrown into a foul-smelling place by her mother and rinsed with cold water from a broken basin, regardless of the season. She was terrified of baths.

“Can you wash yourself?” Auntie Dai pulled the child close and tucked her hair behind her ears, finally seeing her face clearly.

The girl was naturally fair-skinned, but she clearly hadn’t been washed in a long time. Her face was covered in grime and red chilblains; her fingers were swollen like carrots.

“Truly a poor little thing,” Auntie Dai said with a hint of pity. She gently removed the girl’s thin clothing. The girl’s body recoiled instantly; she was in a state of sheer terror.

Confused, Auntie Dai stopped. “Are you afraid of the bath?”

The girl looked at her in panic, torn between her fear and the memory of the “Master” calling her dirty. Ultimately, she shook her head firmly.

Auntie Dai was taken aback but proceeded to remove the rest of the dirty clothes. She gasped as she saw the girl’s body—faint whip marks crisscrossed her chest, back, and legs. Realizing the woman was looking at her, the girl timidly tried to cover the scars, shivering.

Auntie Dai said nothing. She adjusted the water to a comfortable temperature for a human and led the child under the showerhead.

As the water turned on, a gentle stream of warmth cascaded down. The girl, who had been bracing for the sting of ice, looked up in confusion at this tool she had never seen before. It wasn’t freezing water.

“Tilt your head back, and remember to close your eyes,” Auntie Dai reminded her.

Of course, water got into the girl’s eyes immediately, making them sting. Auntie Dai thought she was about to cry, but the girl just rubbed her eyes and stood quietly under the stream, carefully rinsing her body. She was silent and obedient.

A massive amount of grey water washed away. The girl looked down, her face flushing with shame at the mess she was causing.

“This is soap. Squeeze it onto the sponge and rub your body gently, like this,” Auntie Dai said. Instead of mocking her, she took a new sponge, applied the soap, demonstrated on the girl’s arm, and then handed it over.

The girl stared in wonder at the white, thick bubbles appearing on her skin. She loved the scent—she had never smelled anything like it. She happily began to mimic Auntie Dai, even rubbing the bubbles onto her face. Auntie Dai almost stopped her but decided to let her be.

Auntie Dai helped wash her hair. As she did, she noticed several red scars on the back of the girl’s head—burns from cigarette butts. If the girl had washed her hair herself, she surely would have scratched them and caused an infection. This little one has suffered a great deal, she realized.

The bath took nearly an hour. Though Auntie Dai had initially been unhappy about a human being in the manor, seeing how well-behaved the girl was softened her heart. She wrapped her in a large towel and dried her thoroughly.

Standing before a full-length mirror, the girl had her hair blown dry by Auntie Dai. She kept her head down because that’s what the “Auntie” had told her to do; she assumed that if she disobeyed, she would be beaten just like before.

“You can look at yourself now.”

Auntie Dai’s voice was gentle. The girl slowly lifted her head. Auntie Dai was surprised—the girl was actually quite beautiful, especially those large, dewy eyes. Since no children lived in the manor, there were no fitting clothes; Auntie Dai had to find some smaller adult garments and pin them to fit. The girl looked at her new clothes with joy. She opened her mouth to speak, but only a single, guttural sound came out. She couldn’t say a word.

Realizing the situation, Auntie Dai immediately led the girl back to the living room. Mu Fei was sitting on the sofa, watching news of a conflict between human guards and slum residents.

Daolei saw them and signaled the other servants to leave before allowing Auntie Dai to approach. The girl was brought before Mu Fei, but even then, Mu Fei did not look her way.

“Master, she has been cleaned. However—” Auntie Dai paused, glancing at Daolei before continuing, “this child appears to be unable to speak.”