Chapter 48: The Distinction

In a cave, Qian Ye was walking at a leisure pace, with the Eastern Peak dragging behind him, the tip of the sword carving a deep groove on the ground. In front of him, a demonspawn stumbled in his escape. Qian Ye didn’t walk fast, but he closely followed the demonspawn, never allowing him to get away.

Suddenly, the demonspawn tripped and tumbled several times before struggling to his feet, only to find Qian Ye right in front of him.

The demonspawn looked at Qian Ye, fear palpable in his eyes. The third eye on his forehead was tightly closed, blood constantly flowing down from it, clearly indicating that it had been blinded.

“I, I am of noble lineage. If you dare kill me, my family will never forgive you, noble…!”

The demonspawn didn’t even have time to finish uttering his family name before the blood-drinking blade in Qian Ye’s hand pierced his chest. The demonspawn opened his mouth wide, his hands trembling as he grabbed the hilt, trying to stop the blade from going deeper.

However, Qian Ye’s hand was as steady as a mountain, immovable. In the end, the demonspawn died in extreme fear and agony.

Qian Ye waited for a while before slowly pulling out the blood-drinking blade and said to an adjacent cave, “Come out.”

The cave obviously had only one entrance and exit, and the person inside, knowing they couldn’t hide, came out. It was a young vampire girl with short hair, clutching a longsword, her eyes fixed on Qian Ye, desperately trying to remain calm, but her uncontrollable trembling gave her away.

Qian Ye glanced at her and sneered, “A baroness daring to come here and join the fray?”

“I, I may be low-ranking, but I…”

Before she could finish, Qian Ye interrupted her, “Wait.”

Startled, she saw Qian Ye slowly approach her, reach into her neckline, and pluck something out. “Now, continue,” he said.

“I, I…” The girl stammered, completely at a loss for words. Just now, Qian Ye could easily take something from her neckline, which meant he could just as easily slit her throat.

Throughout the whole process, she was filled with an inexplicable fear, her body stiff as a rock, unable to even lift her hand, watching helplessly as Qian Ye took the family emblem from her collar.

Qian Ye suddenly sniffed the air and asked, “Do you have a cigarette?”

“…Yes.” Instead of a cigarette, she produced a top-grade cigar. It was hard to imagine she had such a habit.

Qian Ye took one, clipped off the end with his fingers, sniffed it, and nodded, “Truly top-grade. Do you have a lighter?”

Trembling, the vampire girl handed over a specialized lighter. Qian Ye took it, lit the cigar, and took a deep drag, savoring it for a moment before exhaling a cloud of smoke. “I stand corrected; this is supreme grade.”

The girl managed a forced smile, “It should be.”

Qian Ye nodded, “I’m in a good mood now. You can go, leave this place. This isn’t where you should be.”

“Then… I’ll go.” The girl glanced at Qian Ye, afraid he might change his mind, and darted off.

“Hey! The exit is that way!” Qian Ye’s voice startled her, causing her to trip over a stalagmite. She turned and ran in the direction he pointed, vanishing into the labyrinthine passages.

Qian Ye took another drag of the cigar and slowly opened his left hand. In his palm lay a copper mandala flower. He clenched his fist, and when he opened it again, only a scrap of copper remained.

He slowly turned his left hand, letting the copper fragments fall to the ground, and continued deeper into the cave.

The passage in front of him was exceptionally dark, pitch black at the end, with no light, seemingly no path. Yet Qian Ye’s steps were resolute, blending into the darkness.

The vampire girl ran through one cave after another, too panicked to even stop and observe her surroundings. She kept encountering forks in the path, each looking the same, sometimes going up, sometimes down, until she couldn’t tell which direction led out.

What terrified her most was the feeling that something was always following her in the darkness. She felt cold air constantly blowing on the back of her neck, as if the thing was breathing on her.

She ran faster, suddenly stopped, and turned around. Sure enough, there was someone behind her!

It was a human man, not too old, with a handsome face, but a perpetual gloom in his eyes. He looked at the vampire girl, his eyes narrowing.

Her heart raced, feeling like a venomous snake had its sights on her. Gathering her courage, she tightened her grip on the longsword, pointing the quivering tip at the man. Her swordsmanship was highly skilled, almost flawless, causing the man’s pupils to constrict.

The man didn’t approach further, but instead, like a cat observing a mouse, he said, “You’re not afraid of me?”

Taking a deep breath, the girl found renewed courage, “No, I’m not!”

Surprised, the man pondered for a moment and asked, “Then why were you so afraid of the one who just took your cigar?”

“He’s different from you,” the girl answered honestly.

In the presence of Qian Ye, she felt like she was facing a natural enemy, cold and stiff, not daring to move a muscle. But in front of this young man, though he gave her an unbearable sense of pressure, she still felt she could fight back, at least die like a true warrior.

That was the difference.

The young man seemed infuriated by her answer, giving a cold laugh as he slowly drew a short knife, “The biggest difference between us is that he let you go, but I will make you a corpse. Remember my name, Xu Lang, and take this memory to hell with you!”

Xu Lang moved like lightning, slashing at the vampire girl. Though he held only a half-meter-long standard military knife, he wielded it with the power of a great axe.

In the nick of time, the girl swung her sword upward, the violent tremors of the blade dispersing much of Xu Lang’s origin power, barely parrying the blow. Her reaction and swordsmanship were both at an extremely high level, lacking only in rank and experience. Given time, and if she survived, she would surely become a formidable figure.

Blocked, Xu Lang was slightly surprised. He couldn’t remember the last time a ninth-level fighter had withstood his attack. After advancing to warlord, few ninth-level fighters could withstand him. And he was always improving, now close to thirteenth level.

But the second strike was too much for the vampire girl. Her origin power defense shattered under the overwhelming force. Xu Lang’s short knife twisted, sending her longsword flying, and then the blade was at her neck.

But he wasn’t happy, his face growing more somber, staring at the girl, his eyes filling with blood. “If I had money, I wouldn’t have had to regret advancing to warlord, and I wouldn’t fail to kill even a mere baroness! If I could use the Marrow Purifying Pool, what would Zhao Jundu be!?”

Xu Lang’s voice was wild, his hand and the blade trembling, cutting the girl’s skin, blood flowing down her pale flesh. Seeing the blood, his face flushed red, both excited and enraged, his voice becoming hysterical.

Perhaps in this deserted place, about to kill another young genius, he abandoned his pretense, letting out his pent-up darkness. What did it matter to speak freely to a dead person?

“The Zhao clan… I begged to use the Marrow Purifying Pool, offering any exchange! They didn’t even bother with an excuse, flatly refusing. Those arrogant bastards will pay the price when I, Xu Lang, become the supreme martial artist! The Zhao clan will be erased from the Empire!”

The vampire girl, no longer afraid, looked at Xu Lang with scorn and pity, “You’re just a coward.”

“What did you say!?” Xu Lang’s eyes almost burst into flames.

“I said you’re a coward, thinking you can compare to the man before?”

Xu Lang laughed, his smile twisted, “Good, you’ll soon see how this coward deals with you.”

Xu Lang leaned close to the girl’s ear, lowering his voice, “I’ll peel your skin off, then gouge out your blood core, pierce it with dozens of holes, but not take it from you. I’ll put it back. Do you understand?”

The girl began to tremble. For a vampire, this was the ultimate torture. A repeatedly pierced blood core could never heal, even the Blood Pool powerless. If it was put back, it would connect with the body, sustaining life, letting the tortured vampire endure the pain of flaying, unable to even commit suicide.

All torture for vampires exploited their strong regenerative abilities for prolonged torment.

Despite her fear, the girl refused to beg, only saying, “Monroe won’t let you go.”

“Is that so?” Xu Lang smiled. He regained his genteel appearance, at least on the surface.

He dragged the girl, preparing to find a secluded cave. The final battle was still far off, and he didn’t want to clash with the powerful figures too early. Hiding and striking at the crucial moment was Xu Lang’s style.

But just as they passed a fork, Xu Lang sensed something amiss. A faint blue light illuminated him, dispelling his stealth. Horrified, he realized his protective origin power was weakening, and he quickly dodged behind the girl, using her to block the light.

Aiden emerged from the shadows, his vertical eye glowing faintly, and coldly said, “Release her, and get lost!”

“Seems this little one is important to you.” Xu Lang gripped her tighter.

Aiden sneered, “Just a vampire, not even a viscount. What’s she to me? Killing you is inevitable, so I don’t mind letting you live a bit longer.”

Xu Lang’s voice grew colder, “Is that so? Try killing me then.” He suddenly noticed a woman with black hair and eyes standing behind Aiden, realizing her presence only now.

Seeing her face and the pale gold mandala emblem on her collar, Xu Lang’s expression changed, “The princess of Monroe!”

If it were only Aiden, Xu Lang would have fought, used to overclass challenges. But adding Nighteye, it was suicide.

Xu Lang stared at Aiden and made a swift decision, “Fine, she’s yours.” He pushed the girl forward, re-entering stealth, making some confusing moves, and dashed into a passageway.

But at the end of the passage, a chill rolled in, the walls instantly covered in light blue frost.