"Am I being abandoned?"

Hearing Little Vlad ask this question, Pei Yan felt a bit surprised but quickly relieved, hesitated for a moment and then nodded, replying, "Sort of, after your teacher punished me in the arena, they chose to hand you over to us. This is the result of a compromise between several realms."

"Hehehe." Little Vlad's face was full of helplessness and despondence. He gave a bitter smile and didn't say much, then looked up at Pei Yan and requested, "Can you give me something to eat? Although we cultivators can rely on source energy to go without food for a long time, but..." As he spoke, he gestured to the iron chain in his hand, helplessly, "But before my source energy was locked, my soul was imprisoned by you for several days. Aren't you the one who prides yourself on humanity? Even if you want to kill me, at least let me eat something before I die."

Pei Yan did not refuse this request and gave Jiang Feiyang a look, who understood immediately, and then glared at Little Vlad impatiently, saying, "You're quite the hassle, wait while I get it for you!"

Not long after, Jiang Feiyang walked out from the underground room with a tray of food, which was simple and included bread that could be bought at any supermarket, an opened can of luncheon meat, and even a bottle of juice on the tray. These were foods brought by people in the hall from their hometown, and Little Vlad, who had once visited the cornerstone realm, was familiar with them. He grabbed the bread and devoured it, then used his hand to dig out the can of luncheon meat. Watching him lick his fingers to eat the crumbs of luncheon meat, Pei Yan on the chair teased, "You don't have the grace of a lady, nor the demeanor of a noble. Is this really okay?" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"Didn't you say that? I'm your captive now! Isn't this how captives should eat?" Little Vlad answered and then twisted open the juice bottle cap, gulping it down and burped contentedly, leisurely leaning against the corner wall, compromisingly looking at Pei Yan saying, "Ask what you want."

"Then let's start from the beginning, answer my previous question."

"Your earlier question?" Little Vlad asked back, and upon seeing Pei Yan's raised eyebrows showing signs of eruption, he immediately came to his senses and said, "I remember! Back then, no one forced me to seize that girl's body; I voluntarily asked for it because I had just escaped and was extremely weak, needing someone to possess. Actually, when returning to the Magic Realm, I could've chosen anyone to do this, but I took a fancy to that girl's ability, and my father once told me about the God Desire experiment ongoing, so I wanted to take this opportunity to try to boost my own power."

Little Vlad played with the cap he had just twisted off the juice and continued, "You asked whether I have a contempt for this body. Pei Yan, though you see me as a villain, in my heart, I'm still a normal man without those twisted cravings. I chose this little girl simply for her ability, as for the body issue, in our Blood Race it's not a problem, we have many ways to convert. That's why you didn't notice in time how the girl turned into the current appearance."

Upon saying this, Little Vlad suddenly asked, "You didn't realize who I was initially, right? Was it the Demon Race who leaked my identity?"

"That's not your question to ask, continue." Pei Yan didn't answer but reprimanded him.

"Originally, I was prepared to modify this body once I returned to the Magic Realm, restoring to my previous appearance, but my father stopped me. You've seen the reason, my teacher, he contacted them, and they reached an agreement where I was a condition of that deal. I took on Moira's identity, becoming a witch disciple recruited by the teacher, entering a relationship with Flamel. The teacher valued me, even passed on the method of using the power of destiny to me, while Flamel didn't receive such treatment."

Little Vlad seemed to recall certain scenes, his expression twisted as he spoke with disdainful tone, "But this didn't eliminate my contempt for this body, I was once the eldest son of the Vlad Clan, destined to inherit this great family's Clan Leader position! Yet, for the family's interest, I had to become a woman, and every day I have to cater to that arrogant, self-righteous Flamel to satisfy his twisted self-esteem. This life truly makes me nauseous."

"Oh, I love stories like this, can you share more details on how you satisfied his twisted self-esteem?" Jiang Feiyang jested with interest.

What answered him was Little Vlad's fierce glare, along with the tray thrown by him, Jiang Feiyang warded off the tray and made a move to strike but was stopped by Pei Yan, who laughed, "Don't take it personally, being like this is the greatest punishment for him."

"That's of his own doing. The Lei family is thriving; because of him, Wb Egg, it was torn apart, yet he has the nerve to mourn here." Jiang Feiyang kicked the tray off the ground fiercely and spat scornfully at Little Vlad.

"You didn't want to, but you did it anyway. Since you made the choice, don't regret it, so what benefits did your family gain from your teacher in exchange for you being a condition? Pei Yan leaned forward slightly, hands clasped on both knees as he questioned Little Vlad.

"I don't know."

Little Vlad responded straightforwardly, infuriating Zheng Jia Ru beside them, who raised him and cursed, "We feed you, we give you drink, and this is how you repay us!"

"I really don't know." Remaining unfazed, Little Vlad said as usual.

"You are the eldest son of the Vlad family, such a big matter, do you think father would not even leak a bit of information to you before sending you? You really have no idea? Are you insulting my intelligence?" Pei Yan scratched his head, clapping his mouth in anger but smiling.

"You know I'm the eldest son of the Vlad family, would I betray my family on such matters?" Facing imminent beating, Little Vlad wore an expression like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water. He knew what to say and what couldn't be said, having the awareness of once being a strong heir from a prominent clan.

Pei Yan waved his hand to stop Zheng Jia Ru, who was about to continue punishing, and smiled, "Don't hit him anymore, even if you beat him, he won't confess easily. If physical torture could make him submit, I wouldn't have had to put so much effort in the arena back then, to deal with him, we need professional personnel."

After speaking, Pei Yan clapped his hands and shouted, "Come in, your old friend should meet you."