Chapter 30: The Dark Blood Stirs

A maid, in her thirties, still retained a certain charm, with a full and voluptuous figure.

Upon hearing Qianye’s straightforwardness, she immediately put on what she considered her most alluring smile, swaying her body as she squeezed through the door. Her ample bosom nearly brushed against Qianye’s arm as she cooed, “Handsome, just for you, it’s half price, only fifty copper coins!”

Qianye was taken aback and quickly stopped the maid, whose girth was no less than his own. “No, I meant get me some food. Enough for three people! I haven’t eaten all day!”

After saying that, Qianye handed over a silver coin. “The extra is for you.”

The maid’s smile froze. She looked at the silver coin, then back at Qianye, her expression turning sultry and resentful. “I’ll get your food right away, but what about after? This silver coin is enough for anything!”

“No, just the food, please!” In the face of the sturdy maid’s alluring yet melancholic demeanor, Qianye felt quite overwhelmed.

The maid grabbed Qianye’s hand, tucking the silver coin and his hand into her cleavage, then sashayed out of the room.

Moments later, she returned with a tray full of food, trying to squeeze back into the room. Qianye managed to stop her, closing the door on her forlorn gaze.

The dinner at this inn was quite delicious. After finishing the meal, Qianye began his cultivation of the Bingfa Jue. With his bloodline providing a strong foundation, the bottleneck of the Bingfa Jue, where excessive original force tidal waves could damage the practitioner’s body, had disappeared. Qianye even wondered what it would be like to break through to the ninth level solely by the Bingfa Jue.

As he practiced the Bingfa Jue, the original force began to surge from three nodes, gradually forming tidal waves within his body. Before the third node was fully nourished, the original force tides continuously filled this new node.

Through inner vision, he could see that the newly formed original force node was very dim, just beginning to take shape. The nodes in his chest and abdomen, however, were bright and radiant, especially the one in his chest, which glowed like a tiny sun, constantly spewing threads of original force in its light and dark cycles.

However, Qianye suddenly noticed that the impact of the original force tidal wave was much weaker than usual, with the original nine叠加浪的强度减少了约三分之一。

这个问题出在修炼功法上吗？

他聚精会神地逐一检查整个原力潮汐生成、涌动、奔腾的全过程，终于发现，当新生的潮汐从三个节点中涌出时，并没能完全融入体内的原力大潮。有一部分被看似静止在体内的那道三色交织的血气缠绕住，然后慢慢融为一体。

这个发现让千夜愕然。难道黑血会吞噬原力？

体内的黑血已经很久没有给他带来麻烦了，即使在荒原极限奔跑三天三夜后突然进入充满血气的大城市，也不曾再复发嗜血饥渴，这让千夜越来越安心。但这又是怎么回事？

千夜沉默了一会儿，还是决定把今天的功课做完。

二十轮原力潮汐过去了，千夜站起来活动了一会儿身体，然后原地练了一个小时的军中格斗术。几个基本动作可以有效锻炼力量、平衡感和柔韧性，练完格斗术后，才算一次完整修炼过程的结束。如果是在红蝎军团的基地里，后续还要去肌体修复液里泡一泡，或者到医生那里做个观察型检测，以免修炼过度留下隐患。

千夜尽量让思绪发散，直到修炼结束，才收束心神，思索发现的问题。

黑血仍然静静流淌在血脉中，表面波澜不兴，但是每一次原力潮汐奔腾而过，都会有一丝原力被吸入，这个过程丝毫不受千夜控制。被截留掉这些原力后，千夜一次原力潮汐的冲击力大幅降低，已经降到比普通修炼者强不了多少的地步。

而之前一轮潮汐的时候还不明显，等到二十轮潮汐完毕，千夜发现血气变得壮大了一些。目前可见的影响是修炼速度变慢，还没有其他异常，然而千夜却有隐约的忧虑，随着黑血逐渐增强，自己会不会真变成血族。

一直到天色发白，千夜也没有得到结论。

这个令人不快的插曲并没有对千夜的新生活造成太大影响。他秉承一贯的务实作风，既然修炼速度慢了，那就加大强度。

接下来的数日中，千夜一直埋头苦修，足不出户，一日三餐全部叫侍女送到房间。这也是到了一个新地方后，摆脱可能会有的追踪者最简单有效的办法。

七天转眼过去，期间千夜的收获是，终于掌握了在灌注原力弹时控制血气注入的技巧。“阿一枪械”那个老头赠送的三枚空白原力弹倒是真货，但封装盒十分符合老头的风格，要拿在手里才会发现重量不对，还是个假货。

千夜拿出一枚空的原力弹，开始慢慢灌注原力。十几分钟后，这颗原力弹的弹头内布满了如氤氲雾气般的原力，里面同样可以看到一缕血气正在缓缓游动。现在他已经能够很熟练地在灌注时加入或者是不加入血气了。

千夜打开盒子把原力弹放进去，不过没有封闭效果，这颗原力弹会在三天后失去大部分效果。他突然想起那个名叫王伯的老人留下的水晶盒，好像也在“曼殊沙华”被破坏后一起不见了。这个思绪只在千夜脑海中停顿了一刹那，就连同许多记忆一起沉淀下去。

收拾完所有的东西，千夜终于准备出去走走，打听一下周边情况。他既然打算在这个城市长期居住下来，就需要想办法赚些钱。暗血城的物价不要说小镇，和黑流城比起来都像是两个国度。如果说黑流城的计量单位是铜币的话，暗血城的计量单位就是银币。

出门之前，千夜照例把自己的面容改了改，经过多次令人恼火的失败后，他终于摸索到一点诀窍，那就是把肤色弄得尽量黯淡黑黄。这样不会有太明显的易容感觉，但又能让容貌看上去不同。

千夜倒是不知道，他躲在旅馆里专心修炼的这几天，余仁彦曾经有两次在他所住的旅馆门口路过。七天过去了，余仁彦已经按自己的计划把整个暗血城都梳理了一遍，但是丝毫没有找到对方踪迹。

这让余仁彦回到自己的住处，闭门思索。

片刻后他叫来一名暗刃部下，让他快速给武正南送去了一封信。信中余仁彦说已经找到凶手的一些线索，但是对方非常狡猾，他需要更多时间。

至于需要多少时间，余仁彦用一个词来概括：不定。在信的最后，余仁彦则询问这个任务是否还要继续。

一天后，武正南的回复到了，上面只有很简单的一句话：“继续，直到完成。”

余仁彦立刻明白了武正南的决心。不过他有自己的办事风格和方式，悠然出去转了一圈，弄了一大堆东西回来。

一个小时后，余仁彦就把自己变成了一个高瘦的金发男人，眼睛也变了颜色。这位暗刃的大首领又给自己在城里买下了一座带有独立院落的小房子，然后到佣兵公会用假名注册了一个自由佣兵，然后再去猎人之家注册了一个猎人资格，居然就这样出城打猎去了。

这次任务，显然被余仁彦当成了一次顺路的假期。

余仁彦离开暗血城的时候，千夜刚好从旅馆里出来。

他先是随便找了家防具店，买了一身猎装皮甲。这种皮甲非常适合野外猎杀，轻便灵活，还有说得过去的防御力。当千夜换上这身皮甲后，终于显得稍微具有野性和属于男人的强悍了。

中午时分，千夜随便进了一家饭店，上到二楼，找了个临窗的位置坐下。

他利用难得的短暂白昼，一边吃东西，一边观察着来来往往的路人，以熟悉这座城市居民的一些生活习惯。等饭菜吃完，千夜拿出几页宣传材料，翻看起来。

这些是佣兵公会，冒险者联盟，猎人之家等的宣传册。最终，千夜的目光停留在猎人之家上。

以黑暗种族为猎物的猎人才是适合他的职业。至于有雇佣兵性质的佣兵公会和冒险者联盟都被千夜放弃了。

前者是因为千夜不想再去做哪个权贵的打手，有了太过清晰的立场就意味着接踵而来的麻烦。后者是因为当冒险者往往需要某些专业技能，比如机械维修等等。千夜的机械课成绩一向挺好，不过他可没兴趣天天站在工作台前打磨零件。这种细腻的活让别人去干吧，千夜对直接轰爆黑暗种族的脑袋更感兴趣。

千夜离开饭店后，按图索骥，七转八绕，最终走进了一个黑沉沉的小巷，站到了一座三层小楼前。

一块横匾上书“猎人之家”，千夜反复看了几遍，才确定这是自己要找的地方。

这座小楼实在太破旧了，都有些要倒塌的意思。似乎管理者也没有心情修缮，前墙上赫然一条大大的裂纹，还露出了一眼看去材质就不怎么纯的金属支架。

大门是开着的，千夜犹豫了一下，还是走了进去。上次在“阿一枪械”的经历实在给他留下了一点心理阴影。猎人之家应该是分支遍布永夜大陆的著名猎杀组织，但是眼前这座，看上去好像又是谁家借了个名字。

进门后是一间不大的厅，里面放着两张桌子和几把椅子，三个大汉正懒洋洋地围坐在一起，中间桌上放着几大杯啤酒。

大厅尽头是个柜台，一个干瘦老头戴着一副老花镜，正坐在后面专心看着什么。他半秃的头在汽灯的光芒下显得格外闪亮。

千夜一看到这个秃头，顿时心里一跳。用不着太好的记忆力，这个形状，这个光泽，如此特色鲜明，没错，这就是“阿一枪械”里那个老头的秃顶！ waves of original force. This discovery left Qianye stunned. Could the black blood be consuming the original force?

The black blood in his body had not caused him any trouble for a long time. Even after three days and nights of extreme running in the wilderness and suddenly entering a bustling city full of blood energy, the thirst for blood had not reappeared. This made Qianye feel increasingly at ease. But what was happening now?

Qianye fell silent for a moment, but decided to complete his daily practice.

Twenty rounds of the original force tide passed, and Qianye stood up to stretch. He then practiced combat techniques for an hour. A few basic movements effectively trained his strength, balance, and flexibility. Only after completing the combat training did he consider his cultivation session complete. If he were at the Red Scorpion base, he would also soak in a restorative solution or have a medical check-up to avoid overexertion injuries.

Qianye let his thoughts wander until the end of his cultivation, then gathered his focus to ponder the discovered issue.

The black blood still flowed quietly in his veins, appearing calm on the surface. However, every time the original force tide surged, a trace of it was absorbed, a process completely beyond Qianye’s control. With these portions of the original force being intercepted, the power of Qianye’s original force tide was significantly reduced, dropping to a level barely stronger than that of ordinary practitioners.

During the initial tide, it was not noticeable, but after twenty tides, Qianye observed that the blood energy had grown somewhat. The immediate effect was a slowdown in his cultivation speed, with no other abnormalities. Yet, Qianye had a vague unease that, as the black blood grew stronger, he might truly become a blood race.

As dawn broke, Qianye still had no answers.

This unpleasant incident did not significantly affect Qianye’s new life. Adhering to his pragmatic approach, since his cultivation speed had slowed, he decided to increase the intensity.

Over the next few days, Qianye devoted himself to intense cultivation, staying indoors, with all meals delivered by the maids. This was also the simplest and most effective way to avoid potential trackers when arriving in a new place.

Seven days passed, during which Qianye achieved the technique of controlling the infusion of blood energy into the blank original force bullets gifted by the old man from Ai Yi Firearms. The blank bullets were genuine, but the packaging, true to the old man’s style, was a fake, detectable only by its weight.

Qianye took out a blank original force bullet and began slowly infusing it with original force. After about ten minutes, the bullet was filled with a misty aura of original force, within which a thread of blood energy slowly moved. He could now skillfully add or omit blood energy during the infusion.

Qianye placed the bullet in a box, but without proper sealing, it would lose most of its effectiveness in three days. He suddenly remembered the crystal box left by the old man named Wang Bo, which had also disappeared after the destruction of Mañjuśrī Flower. This thought lingered in Qianye’s mind for a moment before settling with many other memories.

Having finished organizing everything, Qianye finally prepared to go out and gather information about the surroundings. Since he planned to settle in this city for the long term, he needed to find a way to earn money. The cost of living in Dark Blood City was not just higher than a small town; it was as if it belonged to a different realm compared to Black Flow City. While Black Flow City used copper coins as its unit of measurement, Dark Blood City used silver coins.

Before leaving, Qianye altered his appearance as usual. After many frustrating failures, he had learned a trick: to make his skin as dull and yellowish as possible. This way, the disguise would not be too obvious, yet his appearance would still be different.

Unbeknownst to Qianye, while he was concentrating on his cultivation in the inn, Yu Renyan had passed by his lodging twice. Seven days had passed, and Yu Renyan, following his plan, had combed through the entire Dark Blood City, but found no trace of the target.

This led Yu Renyan to return to his residence and contemplate.

Shortly after, he called a subordinate from the Dark Blade and instructed him to deliver a letter to Wu Zhengnan. In the letter, Yu Renyan mentioned that he had found some clues about the killer, but the person was very cunning, and he needed more time.

As for how much time, Yu Renyan summed it up with one word: indefinite. At the end of the letter, he asked if the mission should continue.

A day later, Wu Zhengnan’s reply arrived, with a simple sentence: “Continue, until completion.”

Yu Renyan immediately understood Wu Zhengnan’s determination. However, he had his own style and methods. He went out leisurely, gathering a lot of items.

An hour later, Yu Renyan transformed himself into a tall, slender, blond man with changed eye color. The leader of the Dark Blade bought a small house with an independent courtyard in the city, registered as a free mercenary under a false name at the Mercenary Guild, and registered as a hunter at the Hunter’s Home. He then went out of the city to hunt.

Clearly, Yu Renyan treated this mission as a vacation.

When Yu Renyan left Dark Blood City, Qianye happened to step out of the inn.

He first went to a random armor shop and bought a set of hunting leather armor. This armor was perfect for hunting in the wild—light, flexible, and with decent defense. When Qianye donned the armor, he finally looked a bit more rugged and masculine.

At noon, Qianye entered a nearby restaurant, climbed to the second floor, and sat by a window.

Using the brief daylight, he observed the passing pedestrians to familiarize himself with the city’s residents’ habits. After finishing his meal, Qianye took out some promotional materials and flipped through them.

These included brochures from the Mercenary Guild, Adventurer’s League, and Hunter’s Home. Finally, Qianye’s eyes settled on the Hunter’s Home.

Hunting the dark races was the profession that suited him. As for the mercenary-like Mercenary Guild and Adventurer’s League, Qianye dismissed them.

He did not want to become a thug for the nobles, as having a clear stance meant inevitable trouble. Furthermore, being an adventurer often required specialized skills, such as mechanical repair. Qianye excelled in mechanics, but he had no interest in spending hours polishing parts. Let others do the fine work; Qianye was more interested in blasting the heads of dark races.

After leaving the restaurant, Qianye followed the map, winding through the streets, and finally entered a dark alley, standing before a three-story building.

A sign above the door read “Hunter’s Home.” Qianye checked it several times to confirm it was the right place.

The building was so dilapidated it seemed ready to collapse. The manager apparently had no intention of repairing it, and a large crack ran across the front wall, exposing a metal frame of questionable quality.

The door was open, and Qianye hesitated before stepping inside. His experience at Ai Yi Firearms had left a lingering unease. The Hunter’s Home was a well-known hunting organization with branches across the Evernight Continent, but this particular branch seemed to have borrowed the name.

Inside was a small hall with two tables and a few chairs. Three burly men sat lazily around the table, with large mugs of beer in the middle.

At the end of the hall was a counter, behind which sat a thin old man wearing glasses, engrossed in something. His bald head shone brightly under the gas lamp.

At the sight of that bald head, Qianye’s heart skipped a beat. No need for a good memory; the shape, the shine, the distinctive features—it was unmistakably the same bald head from the old man at Ai Yi Firearms!