Chapter 38: The Reflection in the Mirror

“Almu? This… is a pity.”

Almu was one of the elite sent by the Munro clan to assist Ai Deng. Though he was only a second-tier viscount, his swordsmanship was formidable, making him quite suitable for action in an environment suppressed by the will of the Behemoth.

However, when entering this world from the Stone Forest Canyon of “The Slumbering Behemoth,” the members of the team got separated. Only Ai Deng and Night Pupil were close, and they met up the next day. The reason they didn’t rush to the Behemoth’s bones but wandered around was to gather the strong companions first. Only after their combat strength reached a certain level would they have the right to compete for the ancient essence fragments.

Ai Deng didn’t expect Almu to be killed here, with no remains left. He immediately became alert, scanning the surroundings. The enemy who could eliminate Almu without leaving much of a struggle must be powerful, perhaps one of the Imperial Twin Stars. Before seeing the ancient essence fragments, Ai Deng was unwilling to clash prematurely with the Twin Stars.

Night Pupil silently collected Almu’s belongings and continued forward.

Qian Ye was also hunting. As more and more dark races fell to his hands, he gradually approached the Behemoth’s bones. The closer he got to the inner circle, the greater the danger, and the higher the chance of encountering a strong opponent.

Until now, Qian Ye had not seen Zhao Jundu, though he had encountered a few other strong warriors from different families. But Qian Ye preferred to act alone, so he only briefly exchanged information with them before parting ways.

At that moment, Qian Ye’s ears twitched, and he quickly leaped onto a nearby tree, standing on its top and gazing into the distance. From that direction, a long howl resounded, sharp enough to pierce through metal and stone!

The howl came from at least a kilometer away. In the outside world, this wouldn’t be unusual; even ordinary land beasts could roar for several kilometers. However, in this world protected by the will of the Behemoth, it was extraordinary. To penetrate the suppression of the Behemoth’s will and transmit the howl a kilometer away, the combat power must be exceptionally formidable.

Qian Ye’s expression changed; the voice was strangely familiar. Was it, William?

William was clearly engaged in a fierce battle not far away, roaring with the full force of his fighting spirit.

After a moment’s hesitation, Qian Ye still decided to sneak towards the source of the sound. However, he remained in a state of latent bloodline, not intending to let either side of the battlefield notice him.

Qian Ye was always puzzled by William’s attitude. Ever since sharing food in an unnamed cave in the wilderness, William had acted more like a friend than an enemy. No matter what William’s intentions were, he had genuinely helped Qian Ye several times. Even with Qian Ye’s natural wariness of the dark races, it was hard to ignore such kindness.

But William was, after all, a werewolf, belonging to the Eternal Night. In this environment, their positions were naturally opposed.

A kilometer wasn’t far, but under the restriction of perception to a few hundred meters, it felt distant. When Qian Ye arrived at the edge of the battlefield, he saw a patch of earth almost completely overturned, with several toppled trees.

The battle had already ended, and William was nowhere to be found. To Qian Ye’s surprise, William’s enemies were not Imperial soldiers or vampires, but some strange, child-sized beings. They had large eyes, small limbs, and wielded makeshift spears made of wood. Their skin was deep gray and wrinkled.

Dozens of these strange little bodies lay scattered, most of them bearing marks of fangs and claws.

Seeing this, Qian Ye’s eyes narrowed. Was William using his werewolf form to fight? Up until now, Qian Ye had never seen William’s true combat form. The one time in the Western Continent, William had transformed into a giant wolf, and his aura had instantly doubled. It was easy to imagine the power of his combat form. These odd little beings must not be as simple as they appeared.

Qian Ye drew out his sword, Dongyue, and poked one of the corpses. The tip of the blade felt slightly stuck, then pierced through after a moment. Qian Ye was truly shocked. After being reforged by the Zhao family, Dongyue had become even sharper. A casual stab should have easily penetrated, yet it almost failed. The natural defense of these little creatures’ gray skin was astounding.

He picked up a short spear, examining it closely. A bitter, almond-like smell wafted into his nostrils. As he smelled it, he felt a pricking sensation on his skin, and his hand holding the spear started to numb.

Clearly, it was poison, a lethal one.

With Qian Ye’s Burning Gold Blood, he was mostly immune to most toxins, including those specifically designed to harm vampires. But here, these seemingly insignificant spears had such a terrifying toxicity.

No wonder William used his combat form, using his enhanced speed and strength to instantly kill these little beings to avoid being hit by the poisoned spears. This also indicated that even with William’s defensive capabilities as a Dark Earl, he couldn’t be entirely sure of defending against these little beings’ attacks.

After further investigation, Qian Ye couldn’t discern anything more. He wasn’t an expert in biology and could only judge the strength and fighting style of these little beings based on his combat experience, which was limited.

Qian Ye picked up a few short spears, wrapped them in beast hide, and stored them in Andua’s mysterious space, planning to study them later.

The corpses of these little beings would soon be decomposed and absorbed by the matrix, disappearing. The forest looked unchanged, but their appearance indicated that this world was more dangerous than previously thought. And where did they come from?

Qian Ye suddenly remembered seeing something like a hive on the top of a tree with an oval crown. It seemed to be nurturing something. But along the way, the trees had been calm, with no signs of disturbance.

With this question, Qian Ye continued his search, frequently activating his true vision, remaining vigilant. From the battlefield, it was clear that William had been ambushed and attacked from all sides by these little beings.

After a while, Qian Ye noticed an abnormal bulge in the matrix. He quickly went over and sliced it open with Dongyue.

This time, Qian Ye added blood qi to Dongyue’s blade. After slicing, the matrix didn’t self-repair but was rapidly corroded by the blood qi, revealing two partially devoured corpses. The weapons and accessories on the corpses were barely corroded, allowing identification. These were two strong warriors, one from the Kong family and another from a mid-tier family.

Their chest flesh was nearly corroded. Qian Ye flicked a chi bullet, piercing the broken chest bone, revealing the crushed internal organs.

Qian Ye’s eyes hardened, knowing he was close to that mysterious opponent again. Judging by the state of the corpses, the person had left less than two hours ago. Two hours was a long time, but it was possible to catch up.

Qian Ye checked the backpacks of the corpses, took the remaining two boxes of anti-magic bullets, and sped off.

About an hour later, Qian Ye slowly peeked from behind a tree, looking at the crown of a distant tree. At the edge of his vision, he noticed something unusual.

Qian Ye retracted behind the tree, climbing the tree crown under its cover, then reaching the top of the spherical crown, slowly exposing his eyes. He moved carefully, not causing any movement in the crown.

The abilities of that opponent were too bizarre; Qian Ye didn’t want to give them the advantage. The best way to deal with such an opponent was to ambush and snipe, not giving them a chance to use their powers.

Sure enough, there was something amiss on the opposite tree crown. Though Qian Ye couldn’t see anything, in his true vision, the flow of origin power outlined a vague figure. Someone was indeed hiding there.

A long sniper rifle extended inch by inch beneath Qian Ye, covered in a layer of purple matrix for camouflage. Placing the rifle in position took several minutes.

Qian Ye was patient, a lesson learned from countless battles. Now, the distance between them was at the limit of his vision. Although he hadn’t encountered anyone with a greater vision range, he remained cautious. When the rifle was in place, Qian Ye attached the scope.

If the target was a strong dark race, the silver sun bullet in the chamber would be worth it, dealing a fatal or severe injury.

Qian Ye slowly adjusted the scope, and finally, the image of the opposite tree crown appeared.

In the crosshairs, there was a deep, aiming scope lens!

It was a luxurious vampire-style scope, aimed directly at Qian Ye. Without needing to check, Qian Ye knew the crosshairs in the opponent’s scope were aimed at his own scope.

Qian Ye held his breath!

He didn’t know if the opponent had discovered him or just happened to aim in that direction. If the opponent had a normal vision range, the lens would show a dense white fog.

But Qian Ye knew she had an extraordinary vision. Even before seeing her face, the ponytail and raven-black hair, the blurry silhouette, Qian Ye knew it was Night Pupil, the person with the deepest entanglement in his life.

But could she see him as well?

Qian Ye remained still, his gaze through the crosshairs seeming to penetrate the opposite scope, meeting Night Pupil’s.

But it was just an illusion; he couldn’t see Night Pupil’s eyes, just as she couldn’t see his. The scope was the bridge between them, yet it was also the last wall blocking their true contact.

Recognizing Night Pupil, Qian Ye knew she was the mysterious opponent he had been tracking. Only her pupil technique had such powerful penetration, almost able to penetrate the origin protection of an ordinary warrior unscathed.

Suddenly, a soft cracking sound broke the silence of the forest. Qian Ye’s hand had unknowingly exerted too much force, breaking the hard surface of the tree crown. Fortunately, at this distance, no one would notice such a sound.

But the scenery around Night Pupil slightly distorted, and Qian Ye immediately knew there was someone else with her.