Chapter 2：It Seems There Was a Misunderstanding

What's going on?

Li Xie felt that he had encountered quite a few strange things in recent days!

Vampires, time travel, elephant-sized rats, but none of that compares to the current situation!

Look at these foreigners, why are they making him sit on a grand chair? And why are they all crowding around, there must be hundreds of people around!

Seeing their curious yet friendly smiles, the admiration and respect in their eyes, is this like watching the evolution of apes, paying homage to ancestors?

And what's with the flower crown on Li Xie's head and neck? Is he getting married? And what about the fruits and grilled meat in front of him? Is it some kind of offering?

Most bewildering of all is the old man crawling at Li Xie's feet!

Looking at him, Li Xie feels a bit dizzy!

This old man is really too old! His face full of wrinkles looks like a Shar-Pei dog. Looking at his crawling posture, Li Xie suddenly has an idea, could this guy be an orc? A Shar-Pei orc!

What Li Xie can't stand the most is when this old guy takes a glance at him and then excitedly kisses his foot!

Adorable old man, those are the feet Li Xie hasn't washed in over ten days! If you get a stomachache later, don't blame me for attempted murder!

The old man kisses Li Xie's foot once, then looks up at him and chatters away, then goes back to kissing it again!

Old man, believe it or not, I'll sue you for forcefully kissing my foot!

Li Xie felt a bit depressed, but he had just woken up and his mind was still in a mess, so he couldn't quite understand what the old man was saying.

Watching the old man finish kissing his foot and then looking at him with earnestness and affection, Li Xie's mouth twitched: "Old man, I'm not your long-lost son!"

The wrinkles on the old man's face unfolded, looking pleasantly surprised, he quickly said, "By the gods, Your Highness is truly kind-hearted. But how could this old man dare to claim kinship with Your Highness? This old man doesn't have such good fortune!"

Although he said he didn't have good fortune, the look in the old man's eyes became even more earnest, clearly harboring some delusional thoughts!

"Your Highness?"

Li Xie, who was well-versed in various novels, raised an eyebrow!

"Your Highness" seemed to be slightly lower in status than "Your Majesty" and appeared to be quite influential!

Could it be that he looked like a certain "Your Highness"? Did these people mistake him for someone else?

Heh heh! That must be it! Otherwise, how to explain their enthusiasm towards him? They even offered flowers and food! What a great bunch of people!

Let's just pretend to be "Your Highness" for now!

"Um, as Your Highness embarks on this incognito inspection tour, the purpose is to observe the local customs and experience the culture... Oh, come on! You're still kissing!" Seeing the old man trying to kiss his foot again, Li Xie couldn't help but finally pull his foot away. If the old man didn't find it disgusting, Li Xie felt like he was being sexually harassed!

However, Li Xie's action seemed to deeply hurt the old man's fragile heart. His sallow complexion turned deathly pale, his eyes filled with despair, and his dry eye sockets were suddenly brimming with tears, looking pitifully distressed!

"Sigh..." Li Xie sighed. He was inherently kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see others in such distress. It was as if someone had lost their parents. He extended his foot again, saying, "Alright, alright, go ahead and kiss. Hey, don't just kiss the right foot, give the left foot a kiss too. You can't treat one better than the other!"

Perhaps it was their custom, but seeing the old man getting so enthusiastic about kissing his foot, Li Xie could only think that way.

"Goo goo goo..."

Li Xie hadn't eaten anything for several days, and his stomach was empty, rumbling loudly. This rumbling was particularly loud, causing the surrounding foreigners to burst into laughter.

They weren't laughing at Li Xie, but rather they found the "legendary summoner" in front of them to be unpretentious, giving them a sense of familiarity, so everyone became less reserved.

"Hehe, can I eat these things?" Li Xie smiled awkwardly.

The old man hurriedly responded, "May the god of the earth bless us. I hope Your Highness won't disdain the food from our humble village."

"Disdain? How could I disdain? I'm not picky." Li Xie grabbed something that looked like a pork trotter and started gnawing on it. It was crispy on the outside and fragrant, giving a special sensation. He couldn't help but devour it eagerly. However, as he ate, he started feeling dizzy and weak all over.

Why? Because Li Xie was a vampire!

While vampires could eat like normal people to replenish their energy, blood was still the primary source of sustenance for them. Not feeding for ten days was equivalent to a human starving for three!

But more importantly, it was because of the nosebleed just now! Vampires hardly ever bled; even if they cut their hand or foot, there would be no bleeding!

Blood was the most vital and energetic substance for a vampire's body, so how could it flow so easily? Why did Li Xie have a nosebleed?

"I say, old man, it's a bit awkward with you all watching me eat like this. Come on, let's eat together. Surviving in this desert wilderness, food shouldn't be so easy to come by. Let's share. Also, I lost a lot of blood earlier, so I need to replenish. Could you get me some blood?"

Blood?

The villagers looked at each other in confusion. They had never heard of using blood to replenish blood loss before! Was this some special blood replenishment method of the legendary summoner?

The old man, who regarded Li Xie as a legend, took his words very seriously and immediately stood up, shouting, "His Highness needs blood! Kid, go slaughter your pig and get some blood out."

"Alright!" The pig was one of Kid's family's precious possessions, but the blond giant readily agreed without hesitation.

"No, no, I don't want pig's blood," Li Xie quickly interjected.

The old man looked embarrassed. "Respected Your Highness, our village is just a small settlement, and our pig is already the highest-ranked magical pet in our village. Although it's only a third-tier magical pet, it's our village's treasure. We hope Your Highness won't disdain it."

Magical pet? Third-tier? Could this be a fantasy world?

Li Xie waved his hand. "This humble prince treats his people like his children, how could I disdain anything? It's just that I lost too much blood, and now I need human blood!"

"Human blood?"

The villagers looked at Li Xie with strange expressions. Could this young man in his twenties be a legendary summoner? Would a legendary summoner drink human blood? Could he be a dark summoner? Considering the terrifying aura from earlier, it was quite possible! After all, only dark summoners would experiment on people or even drink blood!

On the other hand, the old man continued to shout persistently, "What are you all staring at? He's the great hero of our village, the legendary summoner who helped us drive away the rat tide and rescued us from danger! The great legendary summoner of the continent of the gods! Now he has lost too much blood for the survival of our village. Shouldn't we contribute some blood? Alverson, fetch a bucket. Each of us will donate some blood! What are you waiting for? Hurry up!"

"Yes, yes!" Alverson quickly responded and pushed through the crowd to get a bucket.

Actually, this old man isn't single-minded. On the contrary, he is one of the most respected and wise elders in the village on the edge of this desert. Initially, he thought Li Xie was the legendary summoner, and his respect for Li Xie came from the most sincere part of his heart. However, at this moment, he shares the same doubts and concerns as the other villagers: could the young man before them be a Dark Summoner?

This person is just too young, barely in his twenties. While legendary summoners are rumored to have ways to maintain their youth, they certainly don't have the habit of drinking human blood! If this person happens to be a Dark Summoner, then it's even more crucial to show him respect and fulfill his requests!

You see, offending a legendary summoner might not be too serious, but if it's a Dark Summoner, this village could face untold devastation!

Therefore, the old man continues to show Li Xie the same level of respect as before.

But Li Xie gleaned something from the old man's words!

So, I'm not some "highness" but a "legendary summoner"! Did I really scare off a rat tide? When did that happen? Well, never mind, if they love the misunderstanding, I'll just keep pretending! Hehe!

Soon, hundreds of villagers gathered a wooden barrel of fresh blood, amounting to about ten liters in total, but each person only contributed a small amount.

While the scent of blood might be offensive to others, to Li Xie, it smelled like sweet nectar!

"Gulp."

There seemed to be a tempting allure that left Li Xie parched. He immediately snatched the wooden barrel and began gulping down the blood in large mouthfuls.

As the blood entered his body, it felt like cool spring water washing away the heat, like the satisfaction of finally having a bowl of porridge after days of hunger. Li Xie couldn't help but burp in contentment. It was his first time drinking blood, and he didn't feel the usual nausea. Instead, it was like sipping on fine wine, leaving him refreshed!

Unfortunately, his body wasn't in the right condition. Otherwise, with this much blood, he might have been able to advance a bit! As the lowest-tier Black-Eyed Vampire, Li Xie only needed a hundred liters of blood from regular humans to become a second-tier Yellow-Eyed Vampire! And the stronger the person, the more energy their blood contained. These people were definitely stronger than me, so their twenty liters of blood likely contained the energy equivalent to a hundred liters from Earth's regular humans! What a pity!

After finishing the blood, Li Xie sighed repeatedly in his heart.

In the "Vampire Handbook," it's explained that vampires are divided into nine tiers based on the color of their eyes. The lowest tier is Black-Eyed, which is just slightly stronger than regular humans and a bit harder to kill. Above that are Yellow, Orange, Cyan, Green, Blue, Gold, Red, and Purple. With each tier, vampires gain access to one or more special abilities, and their bodies become stronger!

Of course, as you ascend to higher tiers, the amount of blood needed also increases. To be precise, it's the energy contained within the blood that matters. For example, advancing from Black-Eyed to Yellow-Eyed requires the energy from a hundred liters of human blood. Advancing from Yellow-Eyed to Orange-Eyed doubles that requirement, and so on. By the time you reach Gold-Eyed, absorbing blood alone can no longer aid in advancement. You need to practice vampire techniques outlined in the handbook to progress further. Fortunately, these techniques are included in the manual.

Additionally, to advance, the body must be in normal condition. It can't be injured or losing blood because any blood absorbed will be used to repair injuries, making it difficult to gather energy for advancement.

This is why Li Xie sighed.

As Li Xie looked at the adorable villagers, he contemplated whether to trick them into bringing another bucket of blood. After all, advancing to Yellow-Eyed Vampire and gaining some special abilities might be worthwhile.

Just as Li Xie was about to proceed with his plan, the sound of hooves pounding on the ground caught the attention of the villagers and Li Xie.