Chapter 101: The Hunt

The young vampire saw Qian Ye and, after a moment of shock, his eyes lit up as he shouted, “Human!”

He swiftly drew a pistol and aimed at Qian Ye. The youth’s movements were not slow, but the image of Qian Ye in his sights was distorted and blurry, his face shifting constantly. He had never encountered such a phenomenon before, and in that moment of surprise, an origin bullet pierced his forehead.

Qian Ye lowered the Illusory Manjushaka and walked towards the corpse of the young vampire. As Qian Ye’s own strength grew, the Illusory Manjushaka gradually began to reveal its power. Although its attack power was not as strong as the other Blood Mandala, it occasionally distorted Qian Ye’s image during shooting, causing enemies to misjudge and miss their aim.

The young vampire’s face still wore an expression of astonishment and shock, his lifeless eyes staring blankly at the sky. He was very young, around fifteen or sixteen human years old, yet already possessed the strength of a noble, suggesting a very impressive bloodline.

Qian Ye carefully searched the youth, finding several blood crystals, close-combat weapons, and a meticulously wrapped small book. The cover of the book depicted a bloody dagger, and inside, it was filled with dense writing, with several places highlighted in red.

Qian Ye skimmed through the records, which were all about various military achievements and rewards. The parts highlighted included both equipment, bloodline, and titles, all of which the young man seemed to desire. However, when Qian Ye mentally calculated the required military achievements, it seemed that killing five or six warriors of Zhaoyuying’s level would roughly suffice.

“Truly mad,” Qian Ye couldn’t help but sigh at the youth’s lofty ambitions. It seemed that under the Iron Curtain, it wasn’t just the beasts that were going crazy, but the people of both factions were even more so.

However, Qian Ye thought, wasn’t he the same? He stowed the spoils into Anduia’s mysterious space and plucked out the young vampire’s fangs as proof, continuing on his journey.

From then on, Qian Ye encountered several dark race combat squads. These squads varied in size and strength, but their direction suggested they were all rushing to the human territory, clearly aiming to hunt human warriors and gain rewards.

Under the vast Iron Curtain, the land was slowly turning into a battlefield.

Qian Ye wasn’t interested in eliminating squads below the noble level. He avoided them as much as possible and continued deep into the Dark Nest.

True to its name, the Dark Nest was a black mountain-like lair. Though smaller than Count Stuka’s castle, it had many more passageways, indicating that the lair’s owner was far more aggressive.

At this moment, the Dark Nest was bustling with activity, with various dark race beings entering and exiting. It had clearly become a staging ground for the Evernight faction.

Seeing this, Qian Ye dared not act rashly. He found a hiding spot nearby and patiently waited for an opportunity.

The dark races clearly hadn’t expected human infiltrators, and most were in a state of excitement and agitation before the coming battle, with lax security. Their logic was simple yet effective: with so many warriors gathered here, it was the best defense.

For several days, Qian Ye patiently lay in wait. In war, bravery was important, but so was patience.

A few days later, human warriors appeared around the Dark Nest. It was a group of about a dozen adventurers led by a Warlord. They must have come from another direction, and their coordination and strength were formidable, explaining how they managed to reach this place.

However, these adventurers were unlucky. They didn’t expect a viscount’s castle to have become a transit point for dark warriors. The alarm soon sounded, and hundreds of various dark warriors swarmed out, like a net, into the wilderness.

On the peak of a solitary mountain, Qian Ye camouflaged himself as a stone, suppressing all his aura. From here, he had a clear view of the surroundings. Before him, a fierce pursuit was underway.

The human adventurers had been fighting and fleeing for an entire day. Their numbers had dwindled from a dozen to five, while over fifty dark warriors had fallen, testifying to the strength of the adventurer group.

Qian Ye was considering whether to intervene and save the adventurers when he heard a rustling sound. A vampire warrior, clutching a large sniper rifle, ascended to the peak. He circled, chose a spot, set up the rifle, and sat down, aiming at the fleeing human adventurers, waiting patiently.

Qian Ye was speechless; the vampire snipers were only ten meters away, too focused to notice him.

Seeing the elaborate and luxurious sniper rifle in the vampire’s hands, Qian Ye’s eyes lit up. The rifle was ornately decorated, with intricate patterns that made it hard to distinguish between decorations and origin arrays. The barrel retained its original material color, deep black with golden speckles, neither entirely metal nor non-metal.

Ten meters was just a sprint’s distance. Qian Ye fully activated his bloodline and waited silently for the right moment.

The vampire sniper began to adjust the rifle, clearly locking onto his target. He was completely engrossed in the scope, oblivious to his surroundings. His fingers tightened on the trigger, ready to fire.

Without hesitation, Qian Ye leaped up, and his Crimson Fang stabbed into the vampire’s back, hilt-deep!

The vampire’s body stiffened, and he turned, his face filled with shock. But before he could see Qian Ye, weakness spread throughout his body.

Qian Ye supported the limp body, gently laying it on the ground, and then pulled out the Crimson Fang.

This was a baron, just one step away from becoming a viscount. After the last drop of refined blood entered Qian Ye, he picked up the sniper rifle.

The sniper rifle, with its extravagant appearance, matched its power. It was a special design, crafted by a master artisan. Though it was still a fifth-level weapon, with numerous precision and long-range origin arrays, and special bullets, its firing power was almost on par with a sixth-level weapon.

Qian Ye searched the baron and found two boxes containing ten titanium-core sniper rounds. While not as powerful as pure black-titanium annihilation rounds, these bullets were still quite expensive. Two boxes of titanium-core rounds could be traded for two annihilation rounds anywhere.

Sure enough, someone who could afford such a sniper rifle couldn’t be poor. The baron had plenty of other items, including over thirty high-quality solid rounds, though most were specifically effective against humans.

It was understandable; the dark races came to hunt humans, naturally bringing specialized equipment. Just as Qian Ye had purchased silver-imbued bullets before leaving.

Given the unique situation of this blood war and potential internal conflicts among humans, Qian Ye found himself looking forward to an “accidental” encounter with the Nan Gong clan.

After quickly disposing of the baron’s body, Qian Ye left the mountain. Moments later, the surviving human adventurers ran past the base, unaware of the danger they had escaped.

The few blood knights who had been blocking the path finally noticed something amiss and rushed to the peak. All they found were the baron’s body and some camouflage traces left by Qian Ye.

Another night passed, and the five human adventurers were now three. They ran desperately, unaware that their pursuers were thinning out. Like a ghost, Qian Ye followed the hunting party, striking down one or more enemies whenever the opportunity arose and then vanishing again.

Qian Ye had discovered that only the local beasts could sense his presence, and they could also detect the dark race warriors. The dark race’s perception was no different, perhaps even slightly diminished due to the Iron Curtain, which put Qian Ye at ease.

The remaining three adventurers ran without rest, eating while running, barely staying ahead of their pursuers. When they finally broke through the forest, they found themselves at the end of a valley, surrounded by sheer cliffs, with no way out.

“How could this happen? Weren’t you able to navigate in any situation?” The Warlord’s face was grim as he turned to the tall, thin companion.

The thin man’s face was pale. “The Iron Curtain severely suppressed my ability, and I veered off course.”

The Warlord glared at him, grunting heavily, “Prepare to fight to the death. Climbing the cliffs now is just asking to be a sitting duck.”

Several dark warriors emerged from the dense forest, slowly approaching the trio. The only woman among them, her face pale, held her blade with trembling hands.

The Warlord said sternly, “Xiao Qing, stay calm. At worst, we die.”

“I… maybe we don’t have to die…” the woman muttered, her voice so low she could barely hear herself.

But the Warlord’s hearing was sharp. His face turned cold, and he said, “Falling into their hands only prolongs the inevitable. We’ll end up as food.”

The woman’s face turned even paler, but her grip on the blade steadied, no longer shaking.

Suddenly, the three noticed the dark warriors’ strange behavior. Their movements were slow, their gazes dull, and their numbers far fewer than expected. As they approached, they began to fall, blood seeping from wounds in their backs.

Qian Ye emerged from the woods and looked at the three adventurers. “You’re safe, for now.”

The sudden change filled the three with relief and joy. The woman groaned and collapsed, nearly fainting from the brush with death. The others were in similar condition, covered in wounds, nearly spent.

Qian Ye said calmly, “If you don’t want to die, retreat from the battlefield and regroup. Head southwest, follow the river downstream, and you’ll reach human territory soon.”

After saying this, Qian Ye bent down to search the dark warriors, collecting items that could serve as proof of military achievement.

The Warlord said, “Thank you so much! So, please, die now!”