Chapter 63: No Longer Alone (Part I)

Qian Ye let out a muffled groan, blood trickling from the corner of his lips. He accelerated the activation of Bing Fa Jue once more, completely disregarding the minor internal injuries that began to appear. The violent tides of power surged in relentless waves, surging past the thirty-round mark in an instant!

Ye Mulan’s level six origin force, along with her ability to pierce her opponent’s bloodline, “Deep Frost,” was firmly suppressed. Now, under Qian Ye’s fierce impact of origin force, she was on the brink of collapse.

Qian Ye’s left hand continued to exert force, only one step away from victory.

At this moment, a figure flashed out from the forest and slammed into Qian Ye from the side, sending both of them flying.

It was a Song Clan guard. Hearing the gunshots, he finally arrived in time at the critical moment, saving Ye Mulan’s life. However, while he could save Ye Mulan, he couldn’t save himself.

Qian Ye suddenly grabbed the hand holding the gun, using both hands to slowly twist the origin force pistol, aiming it at the guard’s forehead.

The level seven guard could hardly believe his eyes! Although Qian Ye was only at level five, the incoming surge of origin force was like a raging tidal wave, unimaginably powerful, smashing his origin force barrier to the point of collapse. In a burst, Qian Ye’s origin force flooded into the guard’s body, wreaking havoc and causing severe injuries in an instant.

The guard, shocked and terrified, shouted, “War King! No, not just…”

His scream abruptly halted. Without the support of origin force, Qian Ye’s strength overwhelmingly overpowered him. The pistol was finally twisted 180 degrees. Then, Qian Ye pressed the guard’s finger, pulling the trigger!

At such close range, the explosion of origin force sent both of them flying. The guard’s neck was nearly severed from his body, leaving no chance of survival.

Qian Ye struggled to stand, seeing Ye Mulan already a hundred meters away, disappearing into the forest. The guard had saved her, but she neither joined him in attacking nor even stayed to assess the situation; instead, she turned and ran. Even letting such an opportunity slip showed that she was thoroughly frightened.

Qian Ye shook his head, feeling a slight regret. Picking up Shuang Sheng Hua and Ying Ji, he staggered into the dense forest. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two more Song Clan guards arrive, but they kept their distance, one of them subtly shifting position, creating a clear path.

However, Qian Ye had no energy to think. In a very short time, he had pushed Bing Fa Jue past thirty rounds multiple times, causing fine wounds to appear in his internal organs. For the next hour, he was barely aware of how he spent it.

Qian Ye’s consciousness was hazy, only remembering fighting, fleeing, fighting again, and fleeing again. This cycle seemed endless.

He did not remember how many had fallen by his hand, including clan warriors and family guards. The only thing he regretted was that the leaders of the various families seemed absent, and Song Zining had not appeared at all.

Qian Ye threw himself under a tree, breathing heavily, each breath like a fire rolling up and down his throat. His entire body felt as if it were immersed in molten lava, every part burning in pain.

He no longer paid attention to his wounds; his healing ability was still active, preventing significant blood loss. However, his Dawn origin force was completely depleted, and his bloodline could no longer suppress the surging blood qi. But it continued to function in another way: the blood flowing from his wounds evaporated before it hit the ground.

Qian Ye gave a bitter smile. What was the point? The latent ability of golden blood qi was indeed incredibly powerful, but now that it had come to this, why bother to maintain half a secret of the bloodline?

As if sensing Qian Ye’s thoughts, the golden blood qi suddenly calmed, followed by the quieting of all other blood qi, including the purple, as if it were the most ordinary blood flowing through his veins.

Without the support of the boiling blood force, Qian Ye felt as if all his strength had been drained, his body limp and exhausted, wanting nothing more than to fall into a deep sleep.

“Zining? Why hasn’t he appeared yet? Isn’t this the best opportunity to kill me? True, he doesn’t need to do anything; I… am about to die.” Qian Ye’s consciousness was fading, flashes of white light passing before his eyes.

In this final moment, he felt an indescribable loneliness. Throughout his life, he had always been alone. Even when a few figures had approached, they had quickly left.

From the shadow in the garbage dump who shielded him from the rain as a child, who never returned after leaving, to Lin Shuai, who held his hand and gave him a name, to the Red Scorpion officers, the Zhao Gongzi in the Wasteland, Yu Renyan… each was a faint light in the darkness, not particularly brilliant, but illuminating a world without a future.

Now, it was all coming to an end.

“If there is a next life after returning to the Styx, I hope not to be so alone…”

In a daze, something approached, and a sharp pain pierced his thigh, followed by a tearing sensation.

Qian Ye rolled over and fought the thing, his mind still foggy, acting purely on instinct. He retaliated with nails, teeth, and any part of his body he could use.

After an unknown amount of time, Qian Ye suddenly tasted fresh, sweet blood in his mouth. It was blood! He drank deeply, his thirst as if he had just emerged from a desert.

The hot blood filled his belly, and Qian Ye’s spirit revived. His consciousness gradually returned, and his vision cleared. He found himself crouched over an adult horned wolf, biting its throat, sucking the blood, though the wound beneath his teeth had dried, the blood fully drained.

Looking at the level six horned wolf, Qian Ye could hardly believe he had just battled such a beast. Glancing down at his body, covered in the scars from the wolf’s claws and teeth, he confirmed that he had indeed killed the beast through instinct.

But where were the pursuers, the family guards? They should have caught up by now.

Footsteps echoed through the forest, and a man dressed as a family guard stepped out.

Seeing this man, Qian Ye’s pupils contracted. Though he wore the attire of a family guard, his face was unadorned, with a pale complexion, blue eyeshadow, and blood-red pupils, clearly indicating his vampire identity. Moreover, the man made no effort to conceal his aura, and Qian Ye sensed a highly potent and pure blood force!

Such pure blood force belonged only to high-ranking vampires with noble titles.

Qian Ye looked at him and said, “Why would a noble appear during the Spring Hunt?”

The man was surprised by Qian Ye’s first words but shrugged nonchalantly, saying, “Unexpected things happen, don’t they? If it weren’t for that unexpected event a thousand years ago, there wouldn’t be the Great Qin Empire today.”

As he spoke, he approached Qian Ye, dragging two corpses, which, by their attire, appeared to be Kong Family guards.

The blood noble threw the two bodies at Qian Ye’s feet, saying, “These are the ones you were waiting for, I presume. A pity, they’re dead now.”

Qian Ye, too weak to stand, glanced at the bodies and asked, “Surely, there were more than just these few chasing me, right?”

The noble laughed, “Of course, there were more. But for some reason, they started fighting among themselves.”

“Fighting?” This surprised Qian Ye. But listening carefully, he could hear distant gunfire. The intensity of the gunfire was unlike hunting; it suggested a small battle had erupted.

But Qian Ye, preoccupied with his own situation, didn’t care about the distant events. Looking at the vampire, he asked, “You didn’t come here to save me, did you?”

The vampire smiled sincerely, bowing slightly, “My name is Danny Harton. Call me Danny. Originally, I was hired for a well-paid task to assassinate a woman named Yin Qiqi during the Spring Hunt. But now, guess what I found? Shuang Sheng Hua!”

He raised his arms, speaking in a melodious, exaggerated tone, “Those are the Shuang Sheng Hua, the legendary weapons of the esteemed Marquis Rosse, a holy relic passed down through generations! For them to be in your hands, it’s not hard to deduce that you are the human targeted by Marquis Rosse, am I right?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“Exactly. For someone who can bring me the noble bloodline of Marquis Rosse, I will always show respect.”

Qian Ye, curious, asked, “You are already a pure-blooded vampire. Can you be embraced again?”

Danny wagged his finger, “No, of course not an embrace! You seem to not understand the nobles of Evernight very well. While Marquis Rosse cannot embrace me, he can still bestow his holy blood upon me. The marquis’s bloodline is extremely powerful. If I can endure the short adaptation period, his bloodline will suppress my original one, and I will become a half-descendant of the marquis. Do you understand now?”

Qian Ye nodded, “Thank you for the explanation. So, are you going to make your move now?”

“Make my move? Of course not!” Danny raised his eyebrows, shaking his finger again, “You alive are far more useful than a corpse. My other task has a reward almost as valuable as Marquis Rosse’s bloodline. I cannot give that up. As long as you live, I can lure Yin Qiqi out.”

Qian Ye pondered, “Who wants to kill Qiqi?”

Danny sighed dramatically, “Who else? Only her own siblings could hate her so much. In this regard, the nobles of Evernight and the empire’s families are quite similar. Perhaps, that is the nature of civilization and progress?”

Qian Ye’s hand behind him slowly carved a few symbols on the tree trunk. These were the private code of the Yin Family; if Yin Qiqi or Ji Yuanjia saw these symbols, they would know what Danny Harton had said.

Danny finally approached Qian Ye, picked up his Ying Ji, examined it, then tossed it to the ground. Bending down, he pulled Qian Ye to his feet and walked towards a nearby mountain. He dragged Qian Ye without concealing his tracks. Any experienced hunter could easily follow the trail he left.