Chapter 47: Farewell, Novice

Qian Ye emerged from the cave, his backpack now laden with an additional several dozen kilograms. It included a second-tier origin force gun, five solid origin bullets, a dozen gold coins, and some equipment and food for survival in the wild.

When Qian Ye had been gone for about a day, Fei Niao and his subordinates appeared outside the cave. By then, Fei Niao looked rather disheveled, his clothes dirty and tattered in several places.

The Tian She gang members were also exhausted, only six still able to follow Fei Niao, the rest having fallen behind. The arrogance they had displayed when leaving the city was long gone.

Upon seeing Li Renzhe’s corpse inside the cave, Fei Niao’s face darkened. Though he was arrogant, he was no fool. He knew well the strength of this so-called strongest young hunter. In the wild, a hunter’s abilities could be fully unleashed, and even Fei Niao dared not claim he could defeat Li Renzhe one-on-one.

Yet now, Li Renzhe was dead, and his death had been extremely painful.

Fei Niao squatted down, disregarding his cleanliness, and stripped off Li Renzhe’s clothes, carefully examining each wound. The more he looked, the paler his face became. This was the work of a highly professional and meticulous torture expert! Seeing such methods, Fei Niao knew if it were him, he would not have lasted even a minute. The more sadistic and murderous one was, the more fragile their mind became.

If captured by Qian Ye, the best option would be immediate suicide.

Fei Niao’s mind flashed to Hei Lang’s corpse. He slowly stood up and said, “Regroup! We’re heading back to the city!”

All the Tian She gang members sighed in relief and quickly followed Fei Niao. The more they tracked, the more fearful they became. Chasing an enemy they could never catch, and seeing the horrific corpses of their companions, made these once-untouchable Tian She gang members truly afraid.

Was Qian Ye really only a level three? This question floated in everyone’s mind.

At that moment, Qian Ye stood on a peak tens of kilometers away, surveying his surroundings. He looked in the direction of the cave where he had hidden, “Fei Niao should be on his way back, unless he’s utterly foolish or insane.”

Qian Ye opened his map, already marked with several locations. These were ambush points, forming layers of defenses along Fei Niao’s route back to Dark Blood City.

Fei Niao’s spirit was broken, and he had been chasing for days and nights across the wasteland. He was capable, finding the cave an hour earlier than Qian Ye had expected, but that meant he was severely depleted. This time, Qian Ye did not intend to let him return.

With Hei Lang and Fei Niao eliminated, two of the Tian She’s so-called four great masters were lost, a heavy blow to the Tian She.

As Qian Ye chose his ambush point, he suddenly sensed something and looked towards the distant sky.

On the Eternal Night Continent, the dark season was also known as the faraway sun. The night sky was pitch black and empty, the stars at the pinnacle of the world exceptionally distant. In the desolate sky, a star suddenly began to flash vigorously.

The star grew brighter with each flash, expanding in size. In Qian Ye’s dark vision, the star moved rapidly towards him. Moments later, a small bat-winged airship appeared in his sight, flames burning on its hull.

The airship swayed, its altitude dropping, and it finally crashed into the earth, landing on the other side of the mountain. Shortly after, smoke rose from the crash site.

Qian Ye was startled. The airship’s distinctive shape was unforgettable; it was a rescue ship used exclusively by the Red Scorpion Legion. He had once escaped a dire situation using this very type of rescue ship.

He never expected to see it here again. Qian Ye noticed that the fire on the airship was not due to mechanical failure but clearly from an external attack. If even a rescue ship was attacked, the situation at the main battlefield of the Red Scorpions’ operation must be dire. But with the Red Scorpions’ strength, they should be invincible in the entire Rugged Stone Territory, let alone Dark Blood City.

A chill ran through Qian Ye as he thought of the mysterious black-robed figure and William from the Summit of Peaks. If they faced those two, even with a Red Scorpion-level captain, there would be no chance of resistance. Only if the Red Scorpion Legion sent at least a vice-commander, might they stand a chance.

Hesitating briefly, Qian Ye gritted his teeth and headed towards the crash site. Even if it meant facing someone as formidable as William, Qian Ye decided to take the risk. Though his time with the Red Scorpions was short, the legion had given him much, including something called comrades!

As for Fei Niao, Qian Ye no longer cared about such a minor figure.

Qian Ye carefully navigated, crouching low and using the terrain for cover as he approached the crash site. He soon climbed to the top of the opposite peak and cautiously peered out.

The rescue ship had crashed halfway up the mountain, engulfed in roaring flames. A dozen vampire warriors formed a perimeter, advancing on the wreck.

Suddenly, a red beam shot from the rubble beside the rescue ship, instantly blasting a vampire warrior away. The remaining vampires accelerated, crossing a hundred meters in seconds, and charged into the rubble, engaging a tall Red Scorpion warrior.

The Red Scorpion warrior was already battered, surrounded by seven or eight vampire warriors, like a wounded lion encircled by a wolf pack.

As Qian Ye watched the battle, the Red Scorpion warrior’s movements slowed. The surrounding vampires pounced, elated!

But Qian Ye screamed inwardly!

As a former Red Scorpion, he knew what the warrior intended to do, but it was too late to stop him.

A blinding silver light appeared in the center of the fight. All the vampire warriors screamed, covering their faces and stumbling back. Then, a ring of flames exploded outward from the Red Scorpion warrior, sending the vampires flying. The flames clung to the vampires, persisting and causing them to howl in agony before falling silent.

The flames tinged with silver were laced with dawn origin force, deadly to dark races. Such powerful origin grenades were expensive, usually only issued to squad leaders.

In the explosion’s epicenter, the Red Scorpion warrior had completely vanished. He had detonated four origin grenades, vaporizing himself.

Five vampire warriors remained, having been at the outermost edge and thus escaping the blast. They were clearly terrified, not daring to approach the center of the explosion, despite the Red Scorpion warrior’s disappearance.

Just then, a loud boom echoed nearby, and an origin bullet whizzed through the air, blasting a vampire warrior away.

The remaining vampires scattered, then reformed into a staggered attack formation, charging towards the sound. It came from a cluster of low bushes.

The origin gun roared again, but the shot was off, the bullet grazing a vampire. The creature screamed, staggered, and seemed to be hit by the residual force, but it was only a glancing blow, insignificant to a physically resilient vampire.

The vampire continued the assault with his companions, while the other two took out their origin guns and aimed at the bushes. Amidst the explosions, a small figure leapt from the bushes, dodging the vampires’ fire clumsily with a few bounding jumps.

Qian Ye silently cursed; the figure in the bushes was clearly a novice, missing from a hundred meters, likely due to nervousness. Vampires were incredibly fast, and one generally only got two shots from a distance against even lower-level vampire warriors.

However, since this was a novice, Qian Ye felt it was his duty to protect her. Even though he was no longer a Red Scorpion.

Qian Ye fired steadily, moving the barrel after each shot, not concerned with the outcome.

A vampire warrior preparing to shoot was hit in the back and blasted away! The unexpected high ground attack caused the vampires to panic. As they searched for the enemy, Qian Ye’s second shot found another vampire with an origin gun.

The last two vampires abandoned the novice, rushing at Qian Ye, recognizing him as the more formidable threat.

Qian Ye rose from his position, drawing a short knife and axe, charging head-on! Against two level three vampires, Qian Ye had no trouble, dispatching them with a few swift strikes.

Not far away, the novice reacted quickly, rushing up the hill, aiming her origin gun, but she didn’t have time to charge it, as all the enemies were already down.

She was a newly adult girl, her body not fully developed, her pretty face still childlike, her big eyes full of fear.

Qian Ye looked around, seeing no other vampires, then gestured to the novice, “Come with me. We need to leave now!”

“But I need to collect Captain Xia’s remains…” the novice sobbed, her voice soft and trembling.

“We don’t have time! Move!” Qian Ye grabbed her by the collar and dragged her away.

The novice glanced back, tears streaming down her face, as she stumbled along.

“Stop crying, rookie! Run at maximum speed for two hours! Keep up with me!” Qian Ye barked.

The novice, startled, vaguely heard the command as if from a superior officer. She instinctively slung her origin gun over her shoulder, adjusted her stance, and hurried to follow Qian Ye. After running a distance, she wondered, why does this sudden young man speak and act so much like the Red Scorpions?

But she never found the chance to ask. Qian Ye led her through a complex terrain, climbing and descending, exhausting even with the maximum pace. The novice’s face turned pale, her breath coming in white puffs, and she could barely speak. Eventually, her eyes glazed over, following Qian Ye purely on trained instinct.

Unknown to her, shortly after they left, a large group of vampire warriors appeared near the crash site. A team of higher-ranking warriors had followed them, tracking Qian Ye’s route through the mountains and valleys for an hour, eventually losing them after two shallow streams.

Qian Ye ran for two hours, then stopped, “Rest, rookie. You have thirty minutes.”

The novice collapsed, managing to pull out a water flask and taking a few sips, then recapping it with great effort.

“You can use a stimulant. We need to keep moving, for another hour,” Qian Ye said.

The novice’s face fell at his words.