Chapter 10: Unwelcome Visitors

Although they were dozens of kilometers apart, the flicker of the light also reflected in Ye Tong’s eyes. She hesitated for a moment before turning and sprinting towards the direction of the light.

A dozen or so minutes later, Ye Tong appeared outside Beacon Town.

The town’s main gate had yet to be repaired; even if it had, the mere five-meter-high wall would have been no barrier to her. With a light leap, she silently landed on the ten-meter-high parapet.

A bald-headed sheriff was dozing a few meters away, cradling his liquor flask and shotgun. The alcohol fumes were overwhelming, clearly indicating that he had drunk quite a bit, and he remained oblivious to Ye Tong. Even if he were completely sober and on high alert, he would never have sensed her presence.

Ye Tong scanned the town, her eyes glowing. In her vision, the vitality of every person in the town was laid bare. Their blood was all nourishment to her, capable of accelerating her recovery from injuries. However, there was nothing of high quality among them, leaving her feeling rather disappointed.

But Ye Tong quickly relaxed her furrowed brows. High-quality blood signified powerful adversaries, and she wasn’t strong enough to take on such true powerhouses yet.

Suddenly, Ye Tong spotted Qian Ye’s bar. The sign still had only one character, Sha, faintly glowing. It was even dimmer than before, but darkness posed no obstacle to her.

“Manjushaka? In such a desolate area, someone actually knows about Manjushaka?” Ye Tong was somewhat surprised.

She leaped into the air, gliding gracefully over several dozen meters before beginning her descent. After another bound, she stood at the entrance of the bar.

The door was slightly ajar. When Qian Ye returned, the Dark Blood was just about to surge, and in his haste to find medicine, he had forgotten to lock it.

Ye Tong was equally curious about this bar. She gently pushed open the door, entered the hall, and scanned her surroundings. Nothing was hidden from her deep, bottomless pupils. She even saw a square hollow beneath the central floor tiles, concealing a long suitcase.

She had little interest in the contents of the case; in this forsaken place, there could hardly be any rare treasures. Instead, she was intrigued by the bar’s owner. Not everyone knew about Manjushaka, or its special meaning. It would be too difficult to guess these four characters correctly without making any mistakes in the strokes.

Ye Tong moved towards the rear of the bar. But after taking just a few steps, she suddenly felt a blackness before her eyes, and an irresistible dizziness overwhelmed her!

“What a powerful Blood Lock! Damn…” Before Ye Tong could react, she wobbled and fell to the ground, losing consciousness.

At that moment, Qian Ye was meditating in his bedroom. He had once again withstood the test of twenty primordial force tides and was contemplating whether to attempt a twenty-first when he suddenly heard a thud from the hall, as if something heavy had fallen.

“A thief?” Qian Ye wondered.

The local thieves were all under Young Master Zhao’s command, and none of them would dare to steal from him. It was even more unlikely for an outsider, who would only target residential areas, not special places like bars and inns. In the Eternal Night Continent, special places meant dangerous ones.

Qian Ye rose quietly, drew a military knife, and slowly made his way out. His movements were gentle but steady, silent, with his breathing and heartbeat slowed to minimize the chance of being detected.

Entering the hall, he noticed that the recently repaired door was slightly ajar, and besides that, everything seemed normal. But there was a woman on the floor.

Qian Ye did not rush to approach her. Instead, he circled the room, ensuring no one was hiding outside. Then, like a ghost, he slipped through the gap in the door. Without closing it, he attached a thin wire between two protruding rivets and hung a small grenade.

If anyone tried to enter, the wire would break, and they would be met with a burst of tiny steel pellets.

After setting up the security, Qian Ye circled the woman again, approaching her feet and gently touching her calf.

There was no reaction.

Qian Ye then lightly stabbed her calf. Her body instinctively twitched, letting out a low moan, and then no more. He was somewhat relieved; her reaction was normal, indicating genuine unconsciousness, not feigned death.

Of course, it was possible she was a seasoned expert, capable of deceiving even an experienced hunter like Qian Ye. However, he had seen many dark races pretending to be dead, and their intelligence generally matched their strength. Anyone with such acting skills wouldn’t need to trick Qian Ye; they’d simply pounce and strangle him.

The Red Scorpion was indeed one of the Empire’s elite units, but not omnipotent. Most dark race individuals were stronger than Black Scorpion-level warriors, let alone a novice like Qian Ye. In a one-on-one confrontation, humans, inherently weaker in physical strength, would suffer greatly.

Having tested her, Qian Ye began to carefully examine the woman.

She had short, black hair, and even curled up, it was clear she was tall, with long, well-proportioned, and muscular legs.

Her physique, while not overly robust, suggested a terrifying explosive power, combined with flexibility, coordination, and speed, making her one of the hardest-to-deal-with fighters on the battlefield. The commanders of the Red Scorpion were all built similarly, and Qian Ye himself tended toward this build.

She was clad in a deep black combat uniform, typical of the Empire’s regular field army, with knee-high boots. She carried few visible weapons, no firearms, just a short blade at her waist and a leather pouch.

Qian Ye carefully pulled out the short blade and quickly retreated a few meters, seeing no reaction. Then he began to examine it.

It was an ordinary multi-purpose short blade, with a serrated back, but made of a unique material, possibly bone, with no metal used. The blade was extremely heavy, weighing about ten kilograms, comparable to a small battle-axe.

Qian Ye tested its edge, finding it extremely sharp, not inferior to the Red Scorpion’s standard blade. Being a bone weapon, it could evade many security systems. Its weight, though, would affect its flexibility, but in close combat, it might mislead opponents, which was a small advantage.

He placed the blade on the floor, and a faint red glow flashed, and it instantly sank hilt-deep!

Startled, Qian Ye realized the floor was solid bluestone, not hollow, and yet the blade had sunk in without much force. Could this be a primordial force weapon?

But no matter how he tried to channel primordial force, the blade showed no response.

Qian Ye then took the leather pouch and opened it. Inside, seven sharp spines were neatly arranged, clearly throwing weapons. They too were made of unknown bone, with three protruding blades slightly twisted. If thrown at high speed, they would rotate, increasing accuracy.

A faint, bitter almond scent wafted from the spines, making Qian Ye cautious. This scent likely indicated a potent poison, and even a small cut could be fatal. *Bing Fa Jue* offered no resistance to poisons or healing.

Inside the pouch was another compartment, containing neatly cut blood-red crystals, with what looked like flowing blood inside, exuding a faint, bloody odor.

Qian Ye took out one crystal and examined it, but couldn’t identify what it was. The fresh red flow within made his Dark Blood stir.

Slightly startled, he quickly returned the crystal and closed the pouch. The material of the pouch now seemed unusual, as it sealed off the bloody smell entirely.

Qian Ye crouched beside her, gently running his fingers over her body to confirm there were no hidden weapons. Relieved, he turned her over.

When he saw her face, Qian Ye’s heart skipped a beat.

This was a face of unparalleled perfection, where any praise seemed superfluous. It dominated his entire field of vision and thought, as if the world held only this indescribable beauty.

The dark races were not lacking in beauty, especially the mysterious and powerful demonic lineage. Among the known strong, both men and women, a high percentage possessed breathtaking looks.

Some human scholars attempted to explain this phenomenon, suggesting that in the same world, the aesthetic preferences of powerful intelligent races tended to converge, rooted in the essence of primordial force.

Regardless of the validity of such theories, the fact was that both humans and dark races often captured each other as slaves. Especially those who were both beautiful and powerful, they could fetch astronomical prices, satisfying the conqueror’s desires.

Trying to remain calm, Qian Ye looked at her again, and his mind trembled. Her eyes were closed, but Qian Ye felt as if he had seen her deep, endless pupils, and his very soul seemed to be sucked into their darkness, forever falling into abyss.

Startled, he instinctively stepped back, hitting the wall hard, and gasped for breath, breaking out in a cold sweat.

He almost couldn’t tell if it was real or an illusion.

While she was unconscious, she could already lure his mind, nearly making him believe the illusion. What would happen when she woke up?

Forcing himself to stay calm, Qian Ye recalled his sensations, realizing there was also an instinctive attraction. Her beauty was beyond his dreams, and thus, it hit him so hard. But what was beauty that exceeded his dreams? Did such a thing exist?

Mental Seduction! Qian Ye considered another possibility.