Chapter 49: The Mysterious Enchantment

The spider demon seemed to have a deep fear of the elderly werewolf, no longer pressing forward. He nodded and said, “Very well. Remember, a ban is a ban! No matter who it is, even a child, if they violate the ban, they must die! Do you understand?”

“I understand,” the elderly werewolf replied.

“Then I hope the chieftain will properly discipline the tribe. The Count has been in a terrible mood lately. If any news reaches his ears, what will happen, I think you are very clear.”

The spider demon put away his origin rifle and commanded the four servant spiders to return to their original positions.

The aged chieftain walked to the bodies of the mother and the boy, bent down, and picked up the boy. Several other werewolves lifted the bodies of the mother and the young werewolf, heading towards a nearby canyon. Moments later, the bodies were thrown into the bottomless ravine. The werewolves of the Sharp Fang Tribe stood at the cliff’s edge, singing an ancient ballad in unison.

Qian Ye could not understand the lyrics but could feel the profound sorrow and a hint of ancient weariness in the song.

The werewolf funeral was brief and solemn. After a while, the tribe, led by the aged chieftain, walked towards their settlement. Hundreds of werewolves formed a long line, walking through the mountains, just as they had done in ancient and medieval times, and every era, in their great migrations for survival.

Qian Ye turned and quietly left.

Perhaps in any country, fairness and justice were only relative. Qian Ye had always known that the dark races were rife with internal conflicts, but this was the first time he had seen the plight of their common people.

In the dark kingdom, the rule of power was more thoroughly enforced. The upper echelons often used iron fists to maintain their rule, and small tribes were frequently annihilated. Qian Ye recalled several missions he had carried out for the Red Scorpion related to the rebels, witnessing the cruelty within the Empire. The two major factions actually had many similarities, and neither was better than the other.

However, after seeing today’s events and with the token given by Xirui, Qian Ye felt there might be a chance to talk with the Sharp Fang Tribe. He didn’t need them to fight on his side; in fact, Qian Ye was never quite comfortable with that idea. What he needed was some intelligence in the upcoming war and for the Sharp Fangs not to participate.

The werewolves returned to their homes, and the valley fell silent again.

Qian Ye avoided the guard range of the servant spiders and circled to the other side of the mountain, where the steepest part lay. He began climbing towards the peak. If he was lucky, those mysterious bloodline beings would still be there.

Qian Ye moved cautiously. Although his bloodline could conceal his presence, it wasn’t true invisibility. It could deceive senses but not eyes.

It took over an hour for Qian Ye to reach the summit. The top of the green peak was littered with bizarre rocks. From the highest point, he could see a natural stone platform extending a hundred meters below, with an altar and dozens of totem poles built upon it. This should be the ancestral holy land of the Sharp Fang Tribe.

At the altar, originally used for ceremonies, many peculiar instruments were now set up, forming a large circular origin array with a diameter of more than ten meters. In the center stood a metal pillar, with a spherical metal ball hovering at the top. The entire metal ball was engraved with origin arrays, flickering and emitting strange fluctuations.

Next to the circular array stood three bloodkin, a baron and two knights. The baron stood at the edge of the platform, gazing at the distant mountains, and suddenly said, “Why hasn’t Lord Durus returned yet?”

“Perhaps something delayed him on the way. That little pup may not be strong, but he’s cunning and can run fast,” one knight said.

The baron frowned. “Even so, Lord Durus should be back by now. He took all our best men.”

Though anxious, they could only continue to wait. The baron ordered the two knights to guard the array and then went into a cave to rest.

The two blood knights, each guarding one side, boredly scanned the unchanged mountains, unaware of the danger looming overhead.

Qian Ye observed the array for a while but gained nothing. His knowledge of origin arrays was rudimentary, mostly in firearms and mechanical power. To figure out what the bloodkin were doing in the werewolves’ sacred land, he had to act on the remaining bloodkin.

After observing the two blood knights for a while, Qian Ye began to slide down the mountain wall, leaping off when he was a few dozen meters from the platform, flying towards the knight on the left.

The blood knight reacted quickly, drawing his sword and thrusting it at Qian Ye, shouting a warning. But before the sword could reach its target, Qian Ye’s Deep Red Fang slashed it in half, leaving a bloodline on the knight’s forehead.

With a full two levels of difference and a full-power strike, Qian Ye’s Deep Red Fang cut through the blood knight’s sword like a hot knife through butter, leaving a bloody line on his forehead.

As Qian Ye landed, the entire altar platform shook, and the metal ball in the center of the array began to sway, its light fluctuating wildly.

“Protect the array!” A cry of alarm echoed from the cave, and the baron rushed out. Meanwhile, the blood knight on the other side of the altar had just drawn his sword and started running over.

Qian Ye charged towards the baron without pause, drawing the Illusory Manjushaka, and fired a shot towards the cave.

The lit origin array projected several illusory flowers around the elegant pistol, a beautiful sight masking the grim fangs of death. The baron, unable to dodge, trembled and fell stiff as stone, crashing to the ground.

In addition to the heavy bullet, the Manjushaka added a powerful shock and paralyzing effect. The baron’s blood defense melted like thin ice under the sun.

The remaining blood knight ran to the metal ball and took up a defensive stance, shocked to see Qian Ye had felled the baron with one shot. As Qian Ye entered the cave, the blood knight hesitated, unsure whether to follow and attack the intruder or stay and protect the array.

Before the blood knight could decide, an origin grenade flew out of the cave, heading straight for the array.

Terrified, the blood knight knew that if the grenade exploded within the array, it would be destroyed. Without hesitation, he leaped, gently catching and redirecting the grenade, sending it dozens of meters away from the platform, where it exploded in mid-air.

The force of the explosion still disrupted the array, causing the metal ball to wobble, but it soon stabilized. Just as the blood knight breathed a sigh of relief, he saw the intruder emerge from the cave, and his heart sank.

There were still a knight and several high-ranking warriors resting in the cave, but no sound came out. Could they have all been killed in a moment? The baron lay motionless a dozen steps from the cave entrance, with black blood pooling beneath him.

Qian Ye approached calmly and said, “Surrender.”

“Never!” The blood knight gritted his teeth, his sword bursting with fierce light, and lunged forward.

But in that instant, a layer of purple energy flashed across Qian Ye’s body, engulfing the blood knight in an indescribable fear, freezing him in place.

“Holy Blood… Elder…” The blood knight’s crimson eyes showed extreme panic, a deep-seated fear of superior strength. Mid-sentence, he stopped, slowly lowering his head to see a beautiful dagger in his chest, his blood gushing out.

Qian Ye had released his blood aura without reservation, the terrifying pressure and shock from a superior bloodline overwhelming the blood knight. In the split second of distraction, life and death were decided.

The blood knight, in his last moments, realized why the intruder had slaughtered the warriors in the cave so quickly, but why was a superior bloodline here? He would never know the answer.

Qian Ye walked to the edge of the platform and took out the Level 5 bloodline sniper rifle from Wei Bonian, aiming at the path leading up the mountain. The earlier explosion would surely attract any nearby enemies.

Sure enough, a figure of a spider demon appeared in Qian Ye’s sight. Calmly, he pulled the trigger. The spider demon roared, its massive body flipping backward, rolling off the cliff.

After waiting a while with no further movement, Qian Ye put away the rifle and picked up the unconscious baron, gently pricking his chest with the Deep Red Fang.

The pain of the blood loss woke the baron, who groaned and slowly opened his eyes.

Qian Ye pulled out the Deep Red Fang, a drop of blood falling from the blade tip. The baron’s face paled, his eyes filled with fear, recognizing the weapon as a Level 5 blood-absorbing weapon.

Qian Ye pointed to the circular array and asked, “Tell me what this is for.” He kept the Deep Red Fang pressed against the baron’s chest.

Weakened by the loss of blood, the baron trembled involuntarily under Qian Ye’s aura.

This was the suppression of bloodlines, transcending ranks. He had felt a similar aura from another, a faint, destructive brutality that inspired instinctive fear—Countess Nana of the Mamon clan.

“Are you from the noble Mamon clan?” the baron asked respectfully.

Qian Ye replied coldly, “Now, it’s your turn to answer my question.”

Under the threat of the Deep Red Fang and the live extraction of blood, the baron finally submitted. “Our task is to set up these arrays at specific locations. They are said to have detection and suppression functions, sensing specific auras. When the array shows abnormal fluctuations, we must report immediately.”

“Specific auras?”

The baron laughed bitterly. “We don’t know what those specific auras are either.”

Qian Ye nodded, understanding that they were merely responsible for setting up the array and did not know its purpose. He decided to stop the array’s operation, then began dismantling the peculiar instruments, storing them in Andua’s mysterious space.