Chapter 19: Sudden Turmoil

Qian Ye walked through the dump, finding that the Scorpion Stinger had turned into a pile of parts, completely destroyed. He separated these parts and carefully buried them in various corners of the garbage field.

The Scorpion Stinger was the standard weapon of the Red Scorpions, unique to them, so even a single part couldn’t be casually exposed. Otherwise, it would bring endless trouble.

Next, he dealt with the corpses of the werewolves, especially those with human bite marks.

However, Qian Ye found it strange. Werewolves were a race that highly valued their community. They would not easily allow their clansmen’s bodies to be left out in the wild. The fact that so many werewolves had died here without any others coming to clean up suggested that something significant must have happened to the entire tribe.

In the end, Qian Ye found two serrated spikes that Ye Tong had used and cleaned a dagger from a vampire warrior. These were his only defensive weapons. As for the miscellaneous items he had brought, including the Red Scorpion knife, he had no idea where they had fallen.

The night was far from over, and the wind on the wasteland was still icy. Whether or not the sword hanging over his head would finally disappear, Qian Ye looked up at the blood moon that occupied half the sky, feeling no bloodlust or agitation. Even the crimson color seemed a bit faded. Perhaps in a couple of days, the Scarlet Night would pass.

Dawn would eventually come.

Although the threat of the Dark Blood was temporarily lifted, Qian Ye still needed to be cautious and avoid the imperial military and the noble families. They were filled with powerful figures, and who knew if someone would discover the half of Dark Blood flowing through him.

First, Qian Ye needed to return to Beacon Town. It had been five days since he last appeared, but in the chaotic world of the Evernight Continent, the disappearance of one person would not cause much commotion.

After several hours of running, Beacon Town came into view. The town seemed unchanged, but Qian Ye felt an eerie quietness. The sky was beginning to lighten near the horizon, but it was still dark above. At this time, at least the scavengers should be up and preparing for their outings.

Qian Ye did not approach the unguarded main gate but instead circled around to the side, slowly approaching the city wall.

From his position, Qian Ye saw the bald sheriff sitting on the city tower, his hat over his face, apparently dozing off. Clearly, the sheriff had to stand guard until the gate was repaired. Although the sheriff always looked drowsy, Qian Ye knew it was just a facade. His stealth abilities would alert the sheriff even at night.

Qian Ye chose a spot slightly away from the sheriff, leaped silently onto the wall. With this jump, he felt a significant increase in his jumping ability, nearly clearing the five-meter wall. Just as he was about to enter the town, he noticed that the sheriff’s sleeping posture seemed unnatural. That position should be very uncomfortable if maintained for a long time.

Lowering his body, almost touching the wall, Qian Ye approached the city tower. From a distance, he smelled a strong scent of blood. His night vision clearly showed a bloodstain on the sheriff’s chest, the blood already dried and blackened, blending with his uniform.

The sheriff was dead, his body slumped on the city tower.

Qian Ye’s heart sank, and he crouched lower, hiding in the shadows.

Although the sheriff was a minor official, he represented the empire’s order. With him, the land remained under imperial control. Even if an outsider was stronger, they wouldn’t dare kill him. Killing the sheriff was a challenge to the empire’s dignity, and the imperial expeditionary force wasn’t far from here.

Qian Ye looked into the town, taking a deep breath, realizing that his sensitivity to the smell of fresh blood had increased. The good news was that the smell of flesh no longer triggered any hunger.

But before he could feel relieved, he noticed that the blood aura in the town had significantly decreased!

Qian Ye jumped down from the wall, circling a few familiar houses to confirm the residents were still there. Then he moved silently towards his Moshujia Bar not far away.

The bar was in shambles, the newly installed door skewed to one side, and all the windows were broken. Inside, all the furniture was reduced to fragments, and there were several startling bloodstains.

However, from the bedroom direction, loud snoring echoed through the hall.

Instead of going directly, Qian Ye entered through the back door, moving silently into the living area. The rooms on either side were silent, and the sound came from his own bedroom.

A young man, holding a hunting rifle, was sleeping soundly on the sofa. This guy was clearly assigned to stay and wait for Qian Ye.

But after several days without Qian Ye’s return, the guard had grown lax and lazy. This kind of ruffian couldn’t be expected to be more reliable.

Qian Ye tapped the young man’s face with a dagger.

The young man woke up immediately, clearly annoyed by being rudely pulled from sleep. Before he could see who it was, he spewed a string of curses.

Qian Ye punched him in the stomach, causing him to curl up like a shrimp. The rest of his curses were choked back in his throat. Qian Ye pressed his face into the sofa and delivered several knee strikes to his ribs until he heard the cracking of bones.

As soon as Qian Ye let go, the young man tried to scream, but the cold edge of the dagger against his throat made him swallow his screams.

“What happened here? Who sent you? If your answer doesn’t satisfy me, I will cut off your fingers one by one,” Qian Ye said coldly.

Recognizing Qian Ye, the young man immediately cowered and hurriedly said, “I’m with Yan Laohu. Two days ago, the expeditionary force sent two companies to Beacon Town to hunt for blood slaves. We came along…”

“Continue,” Qian Ye pressed the dagger, cutting a line of blood on his neck.

The young man, sensing the underlying killing intent in Qian Ye’s eyes, shivered and quickly continued, “Young Master Qi from Black Flow City is very dissatisfied with you and Zhao Young Master. He lost a large sum of money and a high-grade origin gun because of you. So he got the expeditionary force to send two companies, ostensibly to hunt blood slaves, but actually to kill you and Zhao Young Master.”

Qian Ye’s heart tightened, well aware of what the hunt for blood slaves meant for the people of Beacon Town.

“What about the missing people?”

“Most were killed on the spot, and some were taken by the expeditionary force.”

“Where is Yan Laohu?” Qian Ye asked.

The young man, trembling, replied, “He’s with Zhao Young Master.”

Qian Ye nodded, slowly retracting the dagger, and said, “Since you’ve been honest, I’ll give you a chance to live. Leave now, and go as far as you can!”

“Yes, yes! Thank you!” The young man’s head bobbed like a chicken pecking rice.

Qian Ye turned to leave, but just as he stepped out, he threw a serrated spike. The spike flew like lightning, piercing the thug’s throat instantly!

The young thug stared at Qian Ye in shock. He had aimed his hunting rifle at Qian Ye’s back, but he no longer had the strength to pull the trigger.

Qian Ye returned, picked up the hunting rifle, and examined it. It was a flintlock rifle, capable of using homemade buckshot. Due to its crude craftsmanship, it was ineffective beyond ten meters, but it was still a decent killing tool at close range, better than a dagger. Qian Ye found ten rounds of buckshot on the thug, then threw the body aside, taking one last look at his bar.

The bar was in ruins, even the stone floor tiles were pried open, and anything valuable was looted. The Manjushaka that had accompanied him through the darkest times of his life was gone.

Leaving the bar, Qian Ye felt no anger, but rather an unusual calm and a hint of excitement.

This was the best state for battle, as per Red Scorpion training.

Qian Ye headed straight for Zhao Young Master’s abandoned factory base, where Yan Laohu had been staying since taking over Beacon Town.

The light still hadn’t reached the horizon, and the towering factory silhouettes looked ominous, like beasts ready to devour. Only one factory had been converted by Zhao Young Master to be livable; the rest were ruins.

There were clear signs of a fight outside the factory, with bullet casings scattered everywhere.

Picking up a casing, Qian Ye’s heart sank slightly.

This was a bullet from the imperial expeditionary force’s standard assault rifle. Though the gun was an outdated relic, it was still far more powerful than homemade weapons.

If the enemy had access to military-grade weapons, Zhao Young Master was likely in grave danger.

The factory’s main door was open, but Qian Ye didn’t enter directly. Instead, he took a running start, leaped onto the outer wall, and climbed to the top.

Yan Laohu had not set up any guards, allowing Qian Ye to enter through the roof.

Inside, the factory had three levels built against the walls, with the main hall containing a massive power generator, now a pile of scrap metal.

Qian Ye remembered that the top level was Zhao Young Master’s residence, the middle level housed the guards and gang elders, and the bottom level was for general members.

Coming down from the top, Qian Ye naturally reached the third floor first. Approaching Zhao Young Master’s room, he smelled a strong, stale stench of blood.

Pausing for a moment, he gently pushed the door open.

Zhao Young Master lay on the ground, covered in wounds, a part of his leg missing. His final action was to crawl towards a cabinet, leaving a trail of blood. A bullet hole marked his forehead, but a satisfied smile graced his face.

Without emotion, Qian Ye entered the room and squatted beside Zhao Young Master.