Chapter 71:  Conflict

“Of course, there are very few things in this city that I do not know, especially when they’re related to us hunters.”

While playing with the scope, Old 2 continued, “The value of these things far exceed their actual function. It is a waste to use them for modding, so how about this. You can use them to exchange for some equipment in the Hunter Association’s warehouse. Mm, I can offer you an assault rifle tactical accessory. What do you think?”

Naturally, Qianye agreed. Artistic value was completely useless to him, he only needed a killing weapon.

Old 2 put the accessory away and led Qianye to the warehouse. He took down a suitcase from a rack and passed it to Qianye.

When Qianye opened the suitcase for a look, he was very satisfied with the outcome. It was an assault rifle tactical accessory, specifically designed for the Empire’s main corps. Although it was only a grade two arms configuration, its overall design and function was no weaker than a random set of rank three accessories. Qianye loved this uniform style of tactical accessory the most. He could skip the familiarizing process entirely, and directly use it.

Old 2 then passed over a bullet box containing ten blank origin bullets and said, “The thing inside this suitcase is still not worth the accessories you gave me, so I’m gifting you something extra.”

This was exactly what Qianye needed urgently. He had used up all of his stock during the werewolf mission.

Old 2 suddenly asked, “How do you plan to deal with Sky Snake?”

Qianye’s expression darkened a little immediately, but he quickly recovered and said in an indifferent tone, “Nothing for now. We will see when I ascend once more.”

Old 2 heard the trace of killing intent from Qianye’s calm tone and tapped the rack once, saying, “Sky Snake is not a normal rank five Fighter. He is not an easy foe to beat. As the representative of Home of Hunters in Darkblood City, I cannot interfere directly with the conflict between a hunter and the Sky Snake Gang.”

Qianye was currently assembling a few tactical accessories into a small folding grip with great skill. He said without raising his head, “I know that.”

“If you have any other needs in the future, you can come and see me as well. For example, I can borrow you some money or equipment. Of course, this will be done in my name and within a reasonable margin, unless you can prove yourself worthy of an investment. As you know, I do not control the entire Home of Hunters.”

Qianye’s hands paused in midair for a moment before abruptly disassembling the small folding grip into its original parts once more with lightning speed. Only then did he lift his head to look at Old 2 and said, “I heard that you would not normally interfere with such things.”

No emotion could be seen on Old 2’s weathered face. He said, “The Sky Snake Gang has gone too far this time. If Yingnan truly had gone to the death arena, then our Home of Hunters would have lost all our face.”

“But she still owes Sky Snake a huge sum of money. This will not end here.” Qianye frowned.

Old 2 shook his head and said, “This, I cannot help her. She is too headstrong, and she cannot stand bowing her head to anyone. She is a good hunter, but she is not a good leader. You should know this very well, since you’ve gone on a mission with her. If I help her any more, I will only be pushing her further and further down the wrong path.

Qianye simply nodded and did not make any additional comments.

Although their mission had been completed successfully, it was built of many irreplicable factors. Qianye had already noticed that Yu Yingnan’s tactical preparation and information gathering skills were lacking prior to the operation. If she hadn’t recruited Qianye at the last minute, it was predictable that this operation would’ve ended in terrible defeat.

Even now, Yu Yingnan probably still hadn’t realized that Qianye was far more familiar with werewolves than that so-called werewolf expert Yang Tian, and that his strength far exceeded a common one star hunter. In fact, he was stronger than anyone within the squad, including Yu Yingnan herself. Had it been anyone else who entered the wolf den, there was no way they could have severely injured four werewolf elders, and even obtain the totem in the end.

In reality, Yu Yingnan was just not suitable for this kind of large scale missions that required the cooperation of many people. She was more suitable to become an independent hunter.

While Qianye safely put away all of the equipment, Old 2 spoke again, “You must be careful. Sky Snake may very well come back to you for more trouble. He dislikes the prosperity of anyone who can threaten him.”

“I will be careful. Although, I think he is the one who should take greater care.” Qianye revealed an icy cold smile.

Old 2 did not say anything. After exiting the warehouse, he returned behind the counter and continued to pay full attention to his book.

Qianye left Home of Hunters and found a shop selling all kinds of drug ingredients. With his few remaining gold coins, he purchased a couple of drug ingredients and a set of purifying tools. These drug ingredients would be used to mix a special medicine that would be a fragrant synthetic perfume when diluted, but was a poor man’s version of military use strengthening stimulant when concentrated.

While carrying his items, Qianye exited the drug store and turned around a corner of the street. Then, a group of noisy youths came from the front and immediately jammed the already narrow street.

At the center of the group was a young man in high spirits, talking nonstop about his experience of killing an official vampire warrior. The people around him met his expectations and praised him, causing him to laugh even more jubilantly than before.

These people had snakes tattooed onto their exposed skin, so Qianye immediately knew that they were Sky Snake Gang’s people. He frowned once, turned aside, and gave way.

While the crowd passed by Qianye, the young man at the center subconsciously glanced at Qianye once. Then, his eyes lit up, “Wait a second, I know you. You’re that little hunter who took the Flowing Gold Rose that day! You may look a little different now, but there’s no way you can fool me with such petty tricks!”

Qianye’s gaze fell on the young man’s waist. There was a holster of exquisite workmanship there, and judging from its shape and the exposed gun handle, the holstered gun should be that Flowing Gold Rose.

It would seem the young man was of unusual status. Not just anyone could equip themselves with a Flowing Gold Rose. Even on the middle and upper continents, possessing this gun would not be a disgrace, even to a small aristocratic family.

The young man pushed the crowd aside and walked in front of Qianye. He stretched his hand out and said, “Give it to me!”

Qianye frowned and asked, “Give what?”

The young man laughed coldly and said, “Do you seriously think this stupid act will work! Alright, I’ll treat you like a real idiot then! Give me the Flowing Gold Rose’s accessories! This gun must have come together with a full specialized set of tactical accessories, now don’t you tell me you don’t have them!”

Qianye frowned even harder and asked, “Who are you?”

The young man lifted his head and laughed in an exaggerated fashion. He turned around and spoke to the Sky Snake Gang group behind him, “Me? Hey guys, he’s asking who I am! Haha!” This immediately drew a cheer from his men.

After a moment of wild laughter, he approached Qianye and harshly poked him at the chest, forcing his words through the gaps of his teeth, “I’ll tell you who I am! Sky Snake is my father! Do you know who I am now?!”

“Got it. However, I do not have the Flowing Gold Rose’s accessories.” Qianye said calmly.

“You don’t?” The young man looked startled for a moment before his expression changed into one of slight fluster and exasperation, “You don’t have it?! Do you think I’m stupid? Flowing Gold Roses have always been released as a set. When have you ever seen a Flowing Gold Rose without accessories! I’m telling you, pass me the accessories like a good boy or I’ll have no choice but to break your goddamn knees today! If you refuse to give them up...”

His expression chilled as he said, “I see that you’re a handsome-looking fellow, and I just happen to have some brothers who enjoy men. I’ll have them f*ck your asshole right here before feeding you to the dogs!”

When he heard this threat, Qianye suddenly smiled like the coming spring. His already handsome and delicate features appeared even younger as his obsidian-like eyes curved into crescents that even looked a little innocent. When he had first arrived at Lighthouse Town and had been harassed by some hoodlums, Qianye had worn the exact same smile.

It was at this moment that a dry and skinny-looking fellow closed in on the young man and whispered something beside his ears. The young man’s eyes immediately lit up as he examined Qianye from head to toe, saying, “I hear you’ve just finished a very high-ranking mission and got quite a lot gold coins! If you don’t have the accessories, then I’ll give you face and let you treat me to some food!”

The young man’s exaggerated, wild laughter turned obscene, and he raised a hand to lift Qianye’s chin. This time, however, he did not get what he wished for. His hand had only stretched halfway across the air before it was caught by Qianye, unable to move even an inch further!

The young man struggled hard a couple of times, but to his dismay, he discovered that his hand couldn’t move an inch at all! The smile that hadn’t yet faded became completely frozen on his face as he roared at Qianye, “What are you doing? Let go of me!”

He glanced meaningfully at both corners of his eyes before yelling suddenly, “Cripple him!” Two Sky Snake hoodlums then approached Qianye from the left and right side before stabbing two knives at Qianye’s ribs!

Qianye’s expression chilled as he abruptly exerted force into his left hand, causing the young man’s wrist to let out a resounding crack! Only then did Qianye release the young man as he backed away a step, just avoiding the two knives that stabbed in his direction.

Qianye suddenly stretched out both arms at once and grabbed the two wrists accurately. With a twist and a push, the two knives then immediately changed directions and stabbed into the attackers’ stomachs, all the way to the hilt!

The young man froze and actually forgot about the intense pain on his wrist as he exclaimed uncontrollably, “You dare kill someone from our Sky Snake Gang?!”

He abruptly fell back and yelled simultaneously toward his left and right side, “Get him together! Slice this brat to bits!”

A few Sky Snake Gang hoodlums pulled out their knives and daggers, while another few took out their guns and aimed at Qianye from the periphery. The moment they found an opportunity, they would immediately shoot him!

Meanwhile, Qianye was standing steadily on his feet. While pulling out his own gun, he took some very small footsteps to dodge all of the bullets and blades striking toward him.

Qianye’s gun then roared, and in an instant, the eight bullets inside the magazine were discharged consecutively. After these eight successive bangs, eight Sky Snake Gang hoodlums fell down in order, either taking a shot in their heads or through their hearts. Everyone who was shot was killed instantly.

All that happened while Qianye was using a Kohler no less. Although this traditional handgun was just a firearm, its close range power was considerable. It was just perfect for these people who weren’t even rank one Fighters.

When the young man saw that more than half of his underlings had been killed, he immediately drew a cold breath! Before he could react, Qianye stretched his legs and flicked a handgun dropped by the Sky Snake hoodlums into his hand. Another series of gunshots then followed, and now, no one beside the young man was still standing.

Qianye walked towards the young man and waved the gun once, saying indifferently, “There’s one more bullet left.”

“If you kill me, my father will never forgive you! We can still talk this out-” The young man appeared to be in panic as he stepped backwards again and again.

Suddenly, he let out an odd cry and swung a leg right at Qianye’s crotch!

This kick was actually crackling with a soft popping sound of origin power. Its power was obvious!

Chapter 72: Do Battle

Qianye did not attempt to avoid the blow. He took a step forward with his left leg and lifted his right knee, slamming it directly into the young man’s sweeping foot! There was a crack and a bloodcurdling scream. The young man’s leg was bent at an unnatural angle, his ankle obviously broken.

The young man could no longer stand on his feet as he crashed on his back. He glared at Qianye. It was only now that he felt true fear!

Qianye’s expression didn’t change too much. In the end, even his spring-like smile wasn’t completely withdrawn yet. It was as if taking a dozen lives was nothing to him at all.

The young man finally understood that in the eyes of this man who was so beautiful that he even appeared a little fragile, his strength as a rank two Fighter meant that he was an ant that could be crushed at any moment. Qianye’s true strength was definitely not as it seemed to the surface!

“Don’t kill me, don’t kill me! My father is Sky Snake!” At this time, sobs could be heard behind the young man’s words. He shifted his body backward repeatedly, trying to stay away from this devil of a man.

“I know that your father is Sky Snake.” Qianye said indifferently.

Calmly, he pushed the final bullet into the chamber and aimed it at the young man’s other, unhurt foot. He then said, “I won’t kill you. Go back and tell Sky Snake that I will play with him until the end if he dares to provoke me again! As for you, if you show up in front of me again, you will not be as lucky you are today. Let this shot will be a lesson for you and Sky Snake today.”

While speaking, Qianye pulled the trigger. The bullet flew out of the chamber with a bang and slammed into the young man’s knee. Although Sky Snake’s son was a rank two Fighter, the heavy duty bullet still came very close to shattering his knee.

Qianye threw the emptied gun down onto the young man’s face before unholstering the Flowing Gold Rose from his waist. He said, “You are not worthy of this gun, and neither is Sky Snake!”

Qianye turned around and left.

It was only a long time after his figure had disappeared that the young man dared to let out a bloodcurdling scream, “Someone! Someone save me!”

Moments later, at the Sky Snake Gang’s headquarters, Sky Snake slammed the wooden tea table with his palm, and instantly broke it into several pieces! His face was so dark and heavy that one could almost wringe water from it. His face twitched non-stop as he stared at the dozen or so corpses laid in a row on the hall floor.

Right now, Sky Snake’s precious and only son was receiving treatment from a doctor at the back of the room. He had one arm and one leg crushed by Qianye, and he nearly completely lost a knee as well. However, these were still not the worst of his injuries. His son had suffered such a terrible shock that he had gone a little insane at the end of everything. At times, he would suddenly let out shocked screams as if Qianye were standing right in front of him.

Even if he could fully treat his external injuries, his son could never reach Sky Snake’s current level any longer. Originally, Sky Snake had been hoping that he could inherit the Sky Snake Gang.

While brimming with murderous intent, Sky Snake slowly stood up and yelled, “Summon the men! We shall go to Home of Hunters!”

An hour later, several hundreds of leather-adorned men gathered at Home of Hunter’s doorsteps, and filled the entire street. Every man’s elbows were tattooed with all kinds of snakes.

Sky Snake led several dozen of his trusted subordinates and strode into Home of Hunters.

A few hunters had initially been seated in the hall. Right now, they had all stood up in doubt and surprise as they watched Sky Snake aggressively step into the hall.

“This is none of your business! Sit down now, or I’ll assume that you’re trying to provoke me.” Sky Snake said coldly.

These hunters were all Fighters of rank two or so. Their faces paled instantly, and they sat back down on their seats. Sky Snake was a rank five Fighter, and the difference between their strength could not be more obvious. He wasn’t someone they could resist at all.

Old 2 was the only one still seated primly behind the counter. He had only raised his head for a glance when Sky Snake led his men into the hall. He had then turned his gaze back to his book.

BANG! Sky Snake’s palm slammed down heavily on the counter.

However, this slap did not shatter the entire counter as he had expected it to. There were only a few cracks spreading out where he had struck.

When Sky Snake struck downwards, Old 2 had put his hand on the counter as well, and protected it with an immense amount of origin power. His origin power had clashed fiercely against Sky Snake’s.

Still, a few cracks had appeared on the counter, so it was obvious that Sky Snake’s origin power was slightly greater than Old 2’s.

Sky Snake’s face was incredibly ugly as he said in a cold tone, “Old 2, are you going to start a full scale war against my Sky Snake Gang for that one star hunter?”

Old 2 lifted his presbyopic glasses and said seriously, looking through the lenses that were slightly worn out, “Are you talking about Qianye? The grudge between you two has nothing to do with me or Home of Hunters. However, if you try to break the counter I make a living with, and the table that I eat my food on at the very second you come in, what else do you think I should do? When that happens, I have to fight even if I don’t want to, don’t I?”

Sky Snake said in a chilly voice, “This counter isn’t broken yet, but my son already is! If Home of Hunters plans to defend that little brat, then yes, this war must start! On top of that, let’s not forget that my Sky Snake Gang lost a dozen or so lives as well!”

Old 2’s eyebrows wrinkled as he said slowly, “Sky Snake, do not forget that Home of Hunters exists not only in Darkblood City, but also the on upper continents of the Empire as well. Try not to do something stupid, even if you think I am not worth giving face to.”

Sky Snake laughed coldly and said, “Of course, the Sky Snake Gang cannot be compared to the entire Home of Hunters. However, I’ve never heard that Home of Hunters would break their own rules and interfere with matters they shouldn’t either.”

“There are exception to rules, especially when our counter were to be smashed by someone.”

However, Sky Snake did not even frown at his veiled threat and said, “So we’re doing this the hard way, then?”

Before Old 2 could answer, Qianye’s voice rang from the side, “So what if we do this the hard way?”

Sky Snake abruptly turned around and stared at Qianye like a hawk. He laughed coldly and said, “Good! Very good! I have never seen someone who dares provoke our Sky Snake Gang in the face! Do you think I’m easy to pick on?”

Qianye’s laugh was equally cold, “If someone tries to kill me but is so weak that they got killed by me instead, what else is there to be discussed about? Or do you think that I should just sit on my ass and die? Sky Snake, do you think I’m easy to pick on?”

Sky Snake’s eyes narrowed slightly as he uttered coldly, “You are merely a rank three small fry. So what if I pick on you? When I saw you last time, you did seem to have some talent in you, but if I kill you now, then no matter how good your talents are, it will be worth nothing at all!”

Qianye laughed disdainfully, “You want to kill me?”

Sky Snake’s pupils shrank, and he suddenly smiled, saying, “Do you want to give it a try right now then?”

Old 2 stood up at this point and said solemnly, “Sky Snake, must you take a life at my place?”

“What are you going to do now, Old 2? Even if you’re willing to make sacrifices, do not forget that he is not the only hunter in Home of Hunters.” Sky Snake’s face was unpleasant, and his tone was already veiled with a threat.

Old 2 was unmoved by his words as he said indifferently, “You’ve already crossed the line when you brought so many men into my place. Therefore, no one is allowed to fight here today, or they will have me as an enemy. After tonight, no matter what happens between you and Qianye, it will no longer be my business.”

Sky Snake raised his eyebrows and was about to say something. But in the end, he held himself back, nodded powerfully, and answered coldly, “Alright! I will give you face today, but this will be the last time! From tomorrow morning onwards, I will come and settle my business with this kid. However, I will remind you, Old 2, you have a lot of hunters, and not all of them are strong. You better wish that they will have a safe journey when they go on their missions from now on. If I run into any hunters in or outside the city, maybe I’ll share my kindness and ‘help’ them along the way!”

Sky Snake glanced at the hunters inside the hall once before beckoning at his men. They then left Home of Hunters swaggeringly.

The rank two hunters all wore ugly expressions on their faces. If they ran into Sky Snake or his elite subordinates when they were out on a mission, they might not even have the chance to escape. Being a hunter was an extremely dangerous occupation in the first place, and now that the Sky Snake Gang had appeared out of nowhere and became their enemy, it meant that their death ratio would become a lot higher than it had been before. Therefore, there were a lot of Hunters who were staring at Qianye with extremely unfriendly eyes.

“He’s just a freshman. He has no idea of the the immensity of heaven and earth! If he wants to fight the Sky Snake Gang to the death that’s his own business! Don’t drag us into his mess!”

“That’s right!”

“A person like this better watch his back when he goes on a mission in the future. A man that’s too arrogant can only die faster!”

The hunters began conversing with one another as their grudge grew bigger and their words turned uglier.

Qianye did not say anything. He simply swept a glance at them once.

Those hunters suddenly choked on their words. Their numbers were greater, and Qianye was only one level higher than they were. Supposedly, they had nothing to be afraid of against Qianye. However, when Qianye had glanced at them, they all shivered at once and were unable to continue talking any longer. They looked into each other’s eyes and saw the shock and fear inside them. Because of this, they didn’t dare to stay behind any longer, and left Home of Hunters while muttering beneath their breaths.

Qianye arrived in front of the counter and said to Old 2, “Do you have any alcohol? I would like to drink a bit.”

Old 2 took out a cup and fished out a palm-sized purple sand wine jar. He then filled a small half of the cup and pushed it to Qianye.

Qianye grabbed the cup and drank it in one gulp. After holding his breath for a moment, he finally said, “Great wine! It’s still a little weaker than the one I make myself though.”

“Are you talking about military use stimulants?” Old 2 obviously knew a lot more than he seemed to.

“That stuff is a little harmful to the body though. It must be taken sparingly.”

Old 2 poured Qianye yet another cup of alcohol, saying, “Looks like you got quite the trouble with Sky Snake.”

“That is true! His son just tried to rob me.”

“It is very much like that young man’s style to do so. He does have some smarts, though. He knows what kind of person he can afford to provoke.”

Qianye let out a mouthful of wine vapor and smiled, “Unfortunately for him, his luck wasn’t good enough. That’s why he found me. I am exactly the kind of person he should not have provoked.”

Old 2 looked at Qianye deeply and said, “You have great confidence in yourself.”

Qianye said calmly, “I simply believe that I cannot let them act however they like.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“You’ve already done enough for me.”

“You may need more weaponry.”

“It’s fine. I’ll get them from Sky Snake.”

Qianye set down the empty cup on the counter and headed outside just like that.

At the entrance to the hall, there was a big guy leaning against the door. It was one of the three people Qianye had run into when he first visited Home of Hunters.

When he saw Qianye, he suddenly spat on the ground and said, “I hate the smell of dogs with the Empire’s stench on them. However, those trash from the Sky Snake Gang disgust me even more! The entire street outside is filled with their eyes right now. If you aren’t careful enough, I may have to take care of your corpse tomorrow morning.”

Qianye paused his footsteps and said, “If you enjoy carrying corpses on your back, then congratulations, there will be plenty of Sky Snake Gang henchmen who’ll be your customers by the morrow. I may not like you, but thank you regardless.”

The big guy nodded and opened the way. He walked toward the counter and said to Old 2, “Old 2, I’m here to submit a mission!”

It was only when Qianye had exited the front door that the big guy said, “That little guy might actually be able to do a little something. Maybe he’s worth raising.”

Old 2 simply shrugged and said nothing.

When Qianye left Home of Hunters, he unhurriedly entered a dark alley by his side.

The vagrants roaming around Home of Hunters immediately followed him from a suitable distance. The second Qianye entered the alleyway, he instantly sped up and charged to the end of the alley like a typhoon. He then turned to the left with a quick dash and step.

The people following him couldn’t be bothered to conceal themselves any longer and charged madly towards the street where Qianye disappeared. However, when they reached the crossroad, Qianye was long gone.

A moment later, Qianye suddenly appeared at Yu Yingnan’s doorsteps. However, before he could lift a hand and knock on the door, it suddenly opened to reveal a fully-armed Yu Yingnan walking out full of killing intent, carrying an extremely powerful, double barrel shotgun in one hand.

Qianye suddenly leaped forward and pushed Yu Yingnan into the room. Then, he kicked the door shut.

Chapter 73: Kill Order

“It’s you!” When Yu Yingnan saw Qianye, she was immediately overcome with joy and surprise.

“What are you doing?” Qianye looked at her attire and asked.

Yu Yingnan gritted her teeth and said, “I’m going to fight those Sky Snake Gang bastards!”

Qianye smiled helplessly and said, “You will only be throwing your life away.”

“I’m not afraid of death.” Yu Yingnan said coldly.

“But we all wish that you’ll live nicely.”

When she heard this, Yu Yingnan suddenly felt an indescribable sense of nervousness. She actually couldn’t look straight at Qianye and averted her gaze to the side.

Qianye grabbed over the shotgun in her hands and gave it a look. He then said, “This shotgun looks pretty powerful. It’s great. If you don’t mind it, please lend it to me for a few days.”

“What are you planning to do?”

Yu Yingnan only just finished half her sentence when Qianye sealed her mouth with a finger.

“This is my war, and I can I do anything I want because I have no bonds to tie me down, but you’re different! Your companions and family are still waiting for you to protect and care for them. If you die, what would happen to your companions? Your younger brother?” When he was done, Qianye forcefully took off the bag holding the shotgun bullets and tossed it over his own shoulder. He then turned around and headed outside.

“Wait!” Yu Yingnan stopped Qianye and took out a bullet box, pushing it into his hands, “There are three origin bullets here. This is all I have, but I will find someone to provide you support immediately.”

“I prefer to act alone. Plus, it’s actually better for me if you don’t do anything. Thank you for this!” Qianye waved the origin bullet box and stepped into the night.

While staring at Qianye’s back, Yu Yingnan felt lost for the first time in her life.

She didn’t know if she should charge out and help him, or listen to his words and do nothing. She herself knew that Sky Snake had definitely sent out a great number of men to monitor her movements. Perhaps this was what Qianye had meant earlier.

Qianye began to run slowly under the night sky. He ran through the streets, the alleys, and even the low shacks. Finally, he suddenly changed his directions and sped up, leaving behind Sky Snake Gang’s eyes once more as he returned to his own house. He then had a good night’s sleep.

Perhaps the Sky Snake Gang’s people did not consider at all that Qianye would actually dare to return home, but they did not even send a single person to check out his own house, allowing Qianye to sleep through the whole night.

When the alarm clock’s hand pointed towards six, a noisy ringing sound woke Qianye from his sleep. Qianye looked at the time and was greatly surprised that he had actually been able to get a good night’s sleep, without any disturbance at all. Right now, he was like a lone wolf that was completely rested and was capable of hunting several days and nights in a row.

He briefly tidied up his room and even had the leisure to put a mustache on his face before he slipped through the window, leading to a narrow passage between the kitchen and the walls.

Right when Qianye exited the window, the front door got kicked in by someone. A person said in a shrill voice, “Check inside! Do not let that little bastard leave!”

Qianye shook his head at the cry that came too late and leaped over the walls, vanishing into Darkblood City’s lightless morning.

Darkblood City was a giant place with streets circulating around the four Perpetual Dynamo Towers. Its skies were covered in messy pipes and wires, and its streets were as complicated as a maze. In the west and north areas were the residences of the expeditionary forces and nobles, so they could still be considered clean and tidy. On the other hand, the east and south areas, with a slum in their midst, were filled with gangs and all kinds of people.

Even if the Sky Snake Gang had over ten thousand of members and controlled one third of the south area’s streets, they would still not be able to act however they wished in such an environment. After they’d retreated from Home of Hunters last night, they had spread out and stationed their spies on all city gates and major streets. Sky Snake paid no heed to Qianye’s resistance at all. However, hunters were good at hiding their tracks, and if their carelessness led to Qianye sneaking out of city without them noticing, they would have to spend several times the effort to find him again.

A moment later, at a dark and decrepit bar, Qianye sat at a corner, with his face completely hidden in the shadows.

Bottom-level inhabitants loved these kinds of small bars the most. It might be small, but it had everything it should have, such as booze and women. More importantly, the price was low.

By spending only several dozens of copper coins, they could get a large cup of home brew rice wine and sit for an entire day. The jobless men who were idle during the day loved to gather at this place and boast to other people to pass time. They would also check around to see if they could get a job the next day in passing. Therefore, this was also the gathering spot of many news and rumors. Most news was spread swiftly through places like these.

The air was filled with the smell of cheap cigarettes, perfumes, freshly cooked food and all sorts of other weird scents. It was also clamorous. Qianye shut his eyes and slowly channeled the Combatant Formula in patience.

When dusk arrived once more, Qianye’s ears caught the news he needed.

“Hey! Did you guys know that something huge is going on! The Sky Snake Gang has issued a kill order on a one star hunter named Qianye! If anyone can get his head, they’ll be rewarded one hundred gold coins! If anyone can provide accurate information about his tracks, they could get ten gold coins as well!”

“Oh my god, one hundred gold coins!”

This number caused the entire bar to boil up. It was a sum that exceeded the limit of most of the people’s imaginations here. Almost no one here knew how they would spend such a huge sum of money if they did acquire it, so someone at the side of the bar began to scheme and plot on another’s behalf. However, the guy who suggested the ideas did not actually know how to spend such a huge sum of money either, so the conversation quickly turned into an argument between both sides. For a sack of gold coins that they’d never gotten, the duo began to fight it out in the bar.

Amidst the chaos, Qianye quietly squeezed his way out of the bar. He raised his head and looked at the moonless, starry night sky. A hint of a smile seemed to appear on his lips.

Kill order? Qianye was waiting exactly for this.

It was obvious that the Sky Snake Gang had become a little anxious after losing his trail for an entire day. However, they were also very sure that Qianye had not exited the city, so the reason they gave out such a high bounty was to stop him from staying idle inside the city.

However, this kill order brought an entirely different kind of meaning for Qianye. It meant that he now had a strong reason to lose himself in battle.

On its own, the Sky Snake Gang was not worth the caution he was displaying. There was no way Sky Snake could’ve made his gang the third biggest organization in all of Darkblood City, so that meant that there must be someone who was supporting him from the shadows. Old 2 might be able to force Sky Snake out of Home of Hunters, but he might not be able to stop the important people behind him.

However, the war was now limited to only Qianye and the Sky Snake Gang.

Qianye began to walk aimlessly inside the maze-like alleys.

When he passed through a small street, a group of Sky Snake Gang henchmen just happened to come through from the side lane. Qianye immediately halted his footsteps and waited patiently. Those people immediately froze on the spot, and when they saw Qianye’s face clearly, they almost couldn’t believe their eyes!

“Is that him?” A person asked tentatively.

The guy who looked like the group’s leader yelled loudly, “Of course it’s him! What are you guys waiting for, go as one and cut him to death!”

A few people pulled out their knives and daggers and rushed towards Qianye while roaring!

There were two loud bangs, and two henchmen fell backwards while looking badly mutilated. At close range, a shotgun’s terrifying power was almost unstoppable.

Qianye’s figure flashed once, and he avoided the incoming slashes while dropping the two shotgun shells into his palm. He then calmly refilled the shotgun chamber as agilely as a little bird. The second he finished reloading, the barrel spat out two long flame tongues that blasted yet another two people into fiery deaths.

Qianye calmly opened the gun bolt, ejected the shells, reloaded the bullets and resumed his stance once more. He then aimed at the last two Sky Snake Gang members.

Under the threat of the gun barrel, the two Sky Snake Gang members shook all over like leaves in the wind. Suddenly, they fell on their knees in front of Qianye and cried for mercy.

Qianye said indifferently, “It’s not so easy to earn the gold coins, now is it?”

The Sky Snake gang members stared at each other, unsure how to answer his question. They did have some smarts in their brain, and they knew that a wrong answer on this kind of question might result in immediate death.

Qianye slowly holstered his shotgun and said, “Take a message back to your gang. From this day onwards, i will kill any Sky Snake Gang member who dares to patrol the streets! Now get out!”

The two Sky Snake Gang members immediately ran off like chickens.

Darkblood City was bustling with activity even at night. Some businesses that couldn’t see daylight would only have life in them during this time. There was always a way to find a channel of income in this city that never sleeps.

Later on, Qianye continued to stroll about, and encountered several more Sky Snake Gang groups. His mustache disguise didn’t actually change his appearance by much at all, so he was recognized almost every time.

The next night, Sky Snake Gang’s members showed Qianye how crazily far they were willing to go for the bounty of a hundred gold coins. Qianye also let them know just how much a different a Red Scorpion soldier was from a normal human being.

Gunshots occasionally resounded in the dark streets. The messy and disorderly shots belonged to the Sky Snake Gang, whereas the steady and low rumbles belonged to Qianye. The shotgun had a unique timbre that sounded like a heavy drum beat, beating again and again at the gang members’ hearts. Every time it beat, it would take away a life.

Before he knew it, Qianye had arrived at Black Copper Street once again.

Not far away, the luminous powder on the shop sign of A1 Firearms was glowing dark green.

Qianye pushed the door and entered. The old man, A1, continued to wipe his gun parts behind the counter, without even bothering to lift his head.

Qianye leaned against the counter and lit up a cigarette. He said, “I’m back.”

When the old man lifted his head and saw Qianye, his expression immediately changed, instantly destroying his usual image of a mysterious elite.

“I’m telling you now, but I absolutely do not accept return goods after they are sold!” the old man said fiercely.

Qianye passed over a cigarette and said, “I should be calling you Old 1?”

Old 1 sniffed the fumes breathed out by Qianye and looked slightly surprised, saying, “This is mixed with military use stimulant? Let me see. Oh my god, these are the goods of an elite corps! I can’t believe you actually acquired something like this!”

Old 1 immediately lit up the cigarette and breathed in deeply. He held his breath, and a long while later, a flush appeared on his face before he sighed, “What a good taste! I haven’t had something like this for a long time.”

Qianye did not say anything. He simply pushed the whole pack of cigarettes in front of Old 1.

Old 1 hesitated for a moment before keeping the cigarette pack in the end, saying, “I’m not accepting return goods after I sold them no matter what!”

“I’m having a good time using this Ambusher. I have no plans of returning it.”

Chapter 74: Exiting the City

It was only then that Old 1 let out a sigh of relief, “I heard that Old 2 recently recruited a little guy who had great potential, but was also very prone to getting into trouble. Not too long ago, the Sky Snake Gang even issued a kill order on said little guy. That’s you, isn’t it?”

Qianye smiled and said, “Trouble? I simply felt that there was no need to hold back. Not to an unworthy Sky Snake Gang at least!”

Old 1 looked Qianye up and down once before saying, “You talk big, but your strength is lacking, so what’s the use? You can’t beat Sky Snake, and there are at least a few rank four elites within Sky Snake Gang.

“Should I not fight, then? Just because I’m not strong enough?” Qianye countered.

Old 1 sighed, “When I was younger, my thoughts were the same as yours. But it is only now that I understand that not fighting is the smartest measure when you’re weak.”

Qianye smiled and said, “Then I’d rather not be smart.”

Old 1 shook his head, “Tell me what you want.”

“There’s something I would like to sell you.”

Qianye took out the Flowing Gold Rose, put it on the counter, and pushed it to Old 1.

Old 1 immediately stood up and cried out involuntarily, “A Flowing Gold Rose!”

He took out a magnifying glass and examined every detail of the Flowing Gold Rose bit by bit. It was only until a long time later that he said, “There is no mistake! This is a Flowing Gold Rose handmade by the Niederhill Family themselves. This Flowing Gold Rose is the premium of the premium of its series.”

Old 1 raised his head and looked at Qianye, saying, “I heard that the Sky Snake Gang has lost a Flowing Gold Rose. Therefore, this is not the best time to sell it.”

Behind the smoke, there was a faint smile on Qianye’s slightly blurry face, “Ever since met Old 2, I knew that you must have a channel to sell this off, Old 1.”

Old 1 nodded and said, “You aren’t wrong there, but it’s just a little troublesome. Still, the Flowing Gold Rose is worth this bit of trouble. However, you understand that it cannot possibly sell for too much due to the current circumstances, don’t you? What do you want?”

Qianye pondered for a moment and said, “I need a grade three handgun or shotgun, a powerful one. The shooting speed and range can be ignored. Also, I’d like some origin bullets. Both blanks and filled are fine.”

In reality, this deal was practically exchanging the Flowing Gold Rose for a standard origin gun of the same rank. On the upper continents, the Flowing Gold Rose could easily be traded for three premium, rank three origin guns.

Old 1 put away the Flowing Gold Rose and went to the back room. A moment later, he walked out and put a handgun holster and a bullet box in front of Qianye.

“This is Butcher 3. It’s been revamped once, but it has an accessory attached to its origin array, so its killing power has increased slightly. This is a box of blank origin bullets. There are ten bullets inside.”

Qianye raised the Butcher handgun and gave it a rough inspection. This was a revolver-type handgun, but its cylinder could only fit four origin bullets. Its caliber was unusually big, and the entire gun was forty centimeters long. The barrel was so huge it could literally fit a young kid’s fist. It looked to wield immeasurable killing power, so it was no wonder that it was named Butcher.

The Butcher series were a rather famous handgun-type origin gun series. This was a handgun that was built purely for power, and the energy level a grade three Butcher could unleash was as high as that of a large caliber firearm cannon. Wielding this was literally like wielding a small, steel cannon. A single shot could easily pierce through an armored vehicle’s defenses.

The gun was about seventy percent new, and judging from the polishing marks inside the gun, the one who had modified it was an expert. The modification caused the gun’s power to be enhanced by ten percent.

Qianye was very satisfied with this Butcher. He immediately put it back into its dedicated holster and hung it at his waist.

“You had better leave Darkblood City immediately.” Old 1 said.

“I’m leaving right now.” Qianye said, “Although it doesn’t make a difference to me to be inside or outside the city.”

Qianye hadn’t left A1 Firearms too long before he saw a few Sky Snake Gang henchmen walking his way from the opposite side of the street. These people no longer appeared to be leisurely strolling around the place. They were holding their guns in their hands, and had their fingers placed on the trigger, looking like they were facing a terrible enemy. At the same time, Qianye could feel a few people swiftly approaching from behind him, seemingly planning to surround him from both sides.

Qianye hadn’t hidden his tracks, so the Sky Snake Gang’s men had immediately discovered him.

“It’s that bastard!”

“Don’t let him get away!”

The Sky Snake gang henchmen successively raised their guns and pulled out their knives before charging toward Qianye from the opposite side of the street, screaming at the top of their lungs. From behind him, there were also the sounds of sharp weapons cutting through the air.

Robbery was not allowed on Black Copper Street. This was an unwritten rule that everyone obeyed, lest they should be viewed as enemies by every shop owner on the street. Those who had dared to break this rule in the past all turned to corpses and were dumped in the drains, to be discovered by other people.

Although the shops at Black Copper Street were all small businesses, they were stores that sold arms.

Qianye knew this rule very well, which was exactly why he stood in place without moving and simply grabbed his small axe with his right hand.

The two groups of people charged forward madly, and they looked like they were about to catch Qianye between them. It would only take another two or three steps before the person charging at the front could pierce his back with the tip of his knife.

It was at this moment that Qianye moved and fiercely rammed into the crowd in front of him, sending two men flying backward to where they came from. Then, a cold gleam flashed as his axe slashed in a flat arc and swept through three people’s waists!

In that instant, Qianye had already charged ten meters away. He then paused his footsteps before slowly turning around.

There were two thumps, and the two henchmen knocked away by Qianye crashed onto the ground. They twitched and struggled, but could never climb to their feet again. Meanwhile, the other three people clasped their waists and slowly fell to the ground as well. Blood swiftly spread out all over the floor.

The three henchmen charging towards Qianye from behind stopped in their tracks. They stared in shock at Qianye and found that they were unable to take a step further. If Qianye could take out the five people at the front in an instant, then wouldn’t the three of them just be throwing away their lives too if they charged at him? Suddenly, the group let out screams, turned around, and ran away!

Qianye picked up a machete at random and threw it out forcefully! The blade let out a whistle and flew like lightning before instantly sinking into the back of a henchman’s heart!

The other two henchmen ran even faster and disappeared to the end of Black Copper Street in the blink of an eye. If Qianye had really wanted to kill them, these two fellows could not have escaped. However, Qianye could not be bothered to chase after them. With swift steps, he left Black Copper Street and headed toward at a dense group of buildings before climbing up the web-like pipes covering the sky.

During the latter half of the night, Qianye appeared at the city gate without any warning, and flashed past a Sky Snake Gang sentry post. He then strutted across the magnificent building and left.

There were plenty of Sky Snake Gang members who did not sleep well that night. They kept feeling ill at ease and would wake up from time to time.

After sleeping through more than half the night, not only did Sky Snake not feel recovered, he felt even more tired than before. Naturally, Sky Snake was in an extremely bad mood at this time. His precious son was still lying on the bed, and there was no telling if he could be healed entirely.

Qianye had acted ruthlessly. His shot had nearly completely shattered the young man’s knee.

It was very difficult to heal such an injury, and the metallic shards trapped inside his bones had to be operated on several times before they could be cleaned out entirely. This was not something the doctors of this city could do well. On top of that, if he did not want any sequelae, his son could only be sent to the expeditionary army’s headquarters or even the upper continent for treatment.

The moment he thought of the huge fee he might have to pay to treat his son, Sky Snake felt both irritated and uneasy.

If his son hadn’t been somewhat talented and if he had not reached the rank three threshold at a young age, if his son hadn’t had the potential to ascend to rank five, then Sky Snake had planned to give up on him entirely and raise a few more sons. However, a rank five son wasn’t something that one could get just because they wanted to. Sky Snake had been planning to have his rank five son inherit his position in the future, which was why he absolutely loathed Qianye right now.

In Sky Snake’s eyes, not only did this clueless brat not feel grateful for having allowed him to leave the Sky Snake Gang alive back then, he even hurt his son with such a vile method, and publically went up against him at the Home of Hunters. Qianye was someone that he had to kill no matter what!

Under the torture of his anger and his worries, Sky Snake had almost slipped to the edge of insomnia. Every time he felt a little sober, he would hear faint footsteps constantly running around, as well as the occasional clamor of people outside his room.

“This bunch of rubbish! They can’t do anything right!” Sky Snake yelled inside his heart.

However, not only did the noise outside not quiet down as he expected it to, it even grew louder and more disorderly.

Sky Snake was finally unable to sleep any longer. He abruptly sat up and let out an explosive yell fueled by origin power, “What the f*ck are you guys talking about so noisily?!”

The noise outside vanished instantly.

With a dark face, Sky Snake put on his clothes and exited the room. His eyes swept across the guards outside like lightning, causing them to shiver and turn pale immediately as they straightened their posture.

Sky Snake walked to the circular stairs and looked down at the hall beneath him. It was the place where the Sky Snake Gang’s higher-ups gathered and talked about business.

Right now, the hall was filled with people, and even the people who weren’t on duty today had appeared. They looked sleepy, and they were obviously just called up from their beds.

From the top, Sky Snake swept a cold, electric glance across the crowd before yelling angrily, “What happened?”

Everyone subconsciously shivered at Sky Snake’s anger. When Sky Snake was angry, there was no one who would not fear him.

Finally, someone stood out and said, “Chief, we have a lot of casualties tonight.”

“How many is a lot?” Sky Snake was almost roaring at the top of his lungs at this point.

“A-a hundred and thirty people.” the person finally reported the number under pressure.

Sky Snake was just as surprised as his people when he heard this sudden number. He immediately calmed down and asked, “Who did this?”

“It’s that kid, Qianye.”

Bang! Sky Snake crushed the stair’s handrail in one punch. He then directly jumped down from the second floor, causing the entire hall to shudder once.

Sky Snake swept a glance across some of his competent subordinates and asked in a low tone, “Since we lost so many people, where is that Qianye’s corpse?”

No one answered him. Sky Snake’s face darkened even further.

The heavy number made everyone realize that Sky Snake Gang had absolutely provoked a dangerous opponent with true mettle in him. Qianye’s rank might not be high, but the fact that he could kill so many Sky Snake Gang members in a single night meant that he was absolutely not an ordinary person. Even Sky Snake had to admit that he had not been able to kill so many people this quickly and efficiently when he was at rank three.

There was absolutely no way he could leave this brat alive!

Sky Snake calmed down and asked, “Where is he now?”

“Someone saw him going outside the city.”

“Saw him?” A murderous look flashed across Sky Snake’s eyes.

The answerer immediately thought ‘shit’ in his head before remedying his words, “Someone outside the gang saw him.”

Sky Snake had issued a kill order on Qianye, so if his men saw Qianye, the only course of action they should take was to kill him. If they saw him, but did not act, then they were disobeying his orders. Of course, the reason the normal gang members did not act must have been because they were afraid of Qianye, but their fear was meaningless in front of the gang’s orders.

Seeing that the man had remedied his mistake quickly, Sky Snake did not pursue the matter. He turned back and walked to the sofa at the center of the room. He sat down and began to ponder.

A moment later, Sky Snake said slowly, “Black Wolf, Flying Bird, the two of you will lead the law enforcement hall’s kill squad to go out of the city and capture that kid.”

A dark-skinned man took a step forwards after his name was called. He only nodded and said nothing in reply.

Flying Bird was a bright and clean young man who had all this time been playing with a flying knife that was as thin as a cicada's’ wing. When he heard Sky Snake’s order, he frowned and said, “That bastard is just a rank three small fry. Do I really need to act together with Black Wolf?”

“That kid is very cunning, and his methods are not normal. Do not be careless, Flying Bird!”

Hearing Sky Snake’s words, Flying Bird shrugged and said nothing.

“Is there anything at Yu Yingnan’s side?” Sky Snake asked.

Chapter 75: Passerby

“She went to a few weapon shops and bought quite a lot of ammo. It sums up to about all of her dividend from her last mission, but that’s about it. There haven’t been any unusual movements otherwise.”

Sky Snake pondered for a moment before saying, “Dispatch some more men and watch her closely! You go too, Luo Xiong. If she shows any signs of interfering, you must delay her and keep her inside the city!”

Sky Snake was profoundly wary of this female hunter as well. He had even sent one of his four elite subordinates, Luo Xiong to handle her.

A heated gleam flashed across Flying Bird’s eyes as he suddenly said, “Why don’t you let me watch her! I like this job!”

Sky Snake’s face darkened, and he yelled, “No! We cannot touch her yet, or that Old 2 will fight us as if his life depends on it!”

Flying Bird licked his lips and let out a cruel smile, saying, “That old fool is only rank five. I seriously do not understand what you’re so wary about! He has destroyed so many of our good deals already. In my opinion, we should’ve killed him a long time ago!”

Sky Snake’s face was dark as he said slowly, “Eventually we will do just that, but it doesn’t have to be now. Old Liao, how did the communication with the hunters go?”

Old Liao was a lean, old man, whose thin and long eyes always reminded people of a poisonous snake. He said unhurriedly, “It went very well! I found a person whom you most definitely will be interested in.”

Old Liao called someone from outside the hall, and a man covered in a mantle from head to toe entered the hall and stood in front of Sky Snake. He unveiled his hood to reveal a young and handsome face.

Even in front of Sky Snake, the man did not appear to be flustered or cowered in the slightest. He said calmly, “I am Li Lunzhe. A rank three hunter with rank four origin power.”

Sky Snake’s eyes lit up, and he stood up on the spot and said, “I’ve heard of you! You are one of the strongest hunters of the younger generation! Tell me, what do you want?”

Li Lunzhe forced out a few words through the gaps of his teeth, “I can help you hunt down Qianye. The condition is that you will pass Yu Yingnan to me after the deed is done!”

Flying Bird immediately let out a heavy snort at the side.

While staring at Li Lunzhe, Sky Snake suddenly smiled and said, “I cannot promise you this.”

Li Lunzhe’s expression immediately changed.

After staring at him for a moment, Sky Snake finally said, “However, I can promise you that after that brat is dead and I capture Yu Yingnan, I’ll let you enjoy her for three days.”

Li Lunzhe clenched his teeth and said, “Alright, it’s a deal then!’

“Old Liao, give him a few men as well.”

“No need. I work alone.” Li Lunzhe said coldly.

“Good! This isn’t bad!” Sky Snake smiled. In the wilderness, the optimal candidate to hunt down a hunter is, of course, still a hunter.

Moments later, Black Wolf, Flying Bird and Li Lunzhe departed one after another. Right now, It was still earlier than the average get up time, so it was naturally even further away from daybreak.

Sky Snake paced back and forth inside the hall. Despite carefully thinking all of his arrangements through from beginning to the end, he could not find any omissions to remedy or any errors to correct. However, for some reason, there was an uneasiness inside his heart that just wouldn’t go away.

Old Liao had been observing Sky Snake’s body language for a long time, and it was at this moment he said, “Chief, one might say that we’re using a sledgehammer on a nut, striking down on that little brat like a thunderbolt.”

Sky Snake’s expression loosened a little as he nodded in agreement. Qianye was incredibly young, and he was only a rank three Fighter. In order to deal with a little brat, he had sent out three rank four experts in a row, two of which were not your average rank four Fighters, and members of his four elite subordinates no less. No matter how powerful that brat was, there was no way he could be more experienced than the veterans who had fought a hundred battles in their lives.

As Old Liao said this was most definitely a thunderous strike. One might even say that the measures taken were overblown.

Sky Snake returned to his bedroom upstairs to sleep just a while longer. This night’s sleep was even more tiring than not sleeping at all, and his headache was pounding like a hammer. After he lied down on the bed, Sky Snake quickly became very drowsy, but because he was plagued by thousands of thoughts that came in succession, he just wasn’t able to fall into a deep slumber.

Right now, outside Darkblood City, Qianye had already found a mountain cave that was leeward of the wind, and had built a bonfire for himself. He sat in front of the bonfire, and the hind legs of a wild boar were just about to be fully roasted. Flame tongues licked at the grease and caused soft hissing sounds. Thin smoke rose in spirals and assailed the nostrils with an exotic aroma.

Suddenly, footsteps rang from outside the cave, and a tall, young man crawled into the cave just like that.

“Smells good!” he said the second he came in.

Qianye continued to turn the roasting boar leg and glanced at the newcomer without batting an eyelid. Naturally, the fact that he dared to light a bonfire at this place meant that he wasn’t utterly defenseless. He could guarantee that no one could see any light or smell any odor from outside the cave.

However, he had heard the young man’s footsteps only after he had walked all the way to the cave entrance. This meant that none of the traps or mechanisms he had set up nearby had worked, and that even his footsteps were likely revealed intentionally by the young man after he had gotten close to Qianye.

The young man took two steps and reached the bonfire, sitting down at the location opposite of Qianye. He appeared to be very graceful and content while he stretched his two long legs.

“I’m William, Von William.” He introduced himself without the slightest shyness.

The young man had a narrow forehead, high cheekbones, and golden hair. It was a face in the style of a classic viking. His facial features were incredibly handsome, and his gray-blue eyes gave off a very focused and sincere feeling when he was looking someone in the eye. The smile on his face never seemed to wear off, and his short mustache added a mature charm to his young looks.

Qianye lowered his gaze and painted the roasting boar leg with condiments one last time while saying, “You can call me Qianye. Your name is a little strange. You are not from the Empire, are you?”

William smiled and said, “I come from a very small country to the west of the Empire, and I have settled and studied at the Empire since a young age. My foster father at the Empire is named Von, so my surname took after his.”

A gleam flashed across Qianye’s eyes, and he said, “You are from the upper continent?”

William raised his eyebrows with slight astonishment, “You are very perceptive, my friend. That is right, I did come from the upper continent.”

Qianye no longer said anything and took the fully-roasted wild boar leg down from the bonfire. He cut the leg in half and passed half of it to William. William was overjoyed by the gift, and without bothering with pleasantries he immediately accepted it and chowed down.

While watching him eat, Qianye’s fingers trembled indiscernibly for just an instant. William’s ears moved slightly, but he continued to eat happily without raising his head.

Qianye no longer looked at him. He put another boar leg onto the fire and sprinkled condiments and alcohol on it. He began roasting again.

Both men had quite the appetite, and like a tornado, they quickly gobbled down the two wild boar legs that added up to a fifty whole kilograms.

William patted his belly with a fulfilled look on his face, smiling, “I haven’t eaten myself this full for several months!”

“It isn’t easy to find food in the wasteland.” Qianye expressed his agreement.

“Oh no, food comes by easy, but tasty food isn’t easy to find. You don’t mind if I rest here for a night, do you?” William asked while smiling.

Qianye opened his arms and said, “Of course not. Please help yourself. I am about to sleep myself.”

William put his backpack down on the floor to use it as a pillow, placing it at the side of the bonfire that was near the cave entrance. He then lied down on the floor and instantly fell into a deep slumber.

Qianye stared at the leaping flames and zoned out for a bit. He then shifted backward and leaned half his body on the cave wall. He closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, slowly revolved a mind incantation, and entered a state of hypnagogia.

This was a state between wakefulness and deep slumber. It was a sleeping art used specifically by the special forces of the army. It was suited for resting at the battlefield or in a dangerous environment, enabling the user to regain wakefulness at a moment’s notice.

The night was very quiet. There were only the occasional crackling sounds of the bonfire.

The silence was unnatural. During the night, the wasteland belonged to nocturnal beasts and low-ranking dark races. Travellers who dared to pass the night here would have to be prepared to face at least one or two surprise attacks. However, it had been unusually peaceful this night, and even the usual howls and roars almost never sounded.

At five am sharp, William suddenly opened his eyes and let out a yawn, saying, “What a good night’s sleep!”

The second William moved, Qianye immediately opened his eyes.

William stood up, stretched his limbs and moved his body for a bit. He then let out a brilliant, sunlit smile and said, “Thank you for the reception!”

“I did nothing.” Qianye shrugged and said.

William crouched closer and patted Qianye’s shoulder, saying, “Alright, I should be leaving. Should the occasion arise, we shall meet each other again in the future! Speaking of which, I saw a few people along the road who seemed to be coming after you. Be careful!”

“I will!” Qianye’s cloak-wrapped body continued to lean against the cave wall. He merely lifted his head slightly in response.

William’s eyes glanced once at Qianye, while his mouth formed a deep, meaningful smile. He then raised his backpack and waved his hands, walking out of the mountain cave and never turning back.

Qianye did not move from his spot until he could no longer hear William’s footsteps. It was only then he let out a soft sigh and suddenly felt cold sweat pouring all over his body!

Qianye touched the spot on his shoulder where William had patted him, and put his hand in front of his nose, inhaling deeply. He immediately smelled an indiscernible, hot aura that could not be anything but Darkness origin power. Judging from its attribute, it probably came from a werewolf’s territory.

The young man who called himself William had immeasurable power. Qianye knew that William was suspicious from the second he stepped into the mountain cave, but he hadn’t been able to discern anything until the very last moment when he intentionally left behind that strand of aura. This meant that William was so much more powerful than him that they were not at the same level at all.

Aside from that, Qianye had also noticed a corner of a tattoo etched on William’s neck while he was eating the wild boar leg.

It was a majestic and precipitous mountain peak. Both the shape and angles perfectly matched with that one image etched deeply inside Qianye’s memory. The tattoo wasn’t just any normal tattoo, but rather a totem that represented both faith and power.

The Summit of Peaks was an incredibly powerful and mysterious werewolf tribe in the upper continent. It was said that every one of their members was a terrifying existences who sat at the top of the food chain.

Why would a member of the Summit of Peaks suddenly appear near Darkblood City? When he related this appearance with that of the mysterious, black-robed person who had appeared suddenly that day, Qianye had a vague feeling that a gigantic storm was forming on this boulder-filled land, and that if he was careless and became sucked into it, he would most definitely die a horrible death.

It was only when William had truly left that Qianye finally became assured that he had escaped a disaster. If this William held any ill intentions toward him at all, he could easily tear Qianye to shreds with a single blow. No tricks or techniques were of any use before absolute power.

Before he left, William had said that some people were following Qianye. These were probably the men Sky Snake had sent over, so Sky Snake’s reactions were within his predictions at least.

Qianye extinguished the flames and made some small arrangements inside the cave. He then withdrew a part of the traps outside the cave before leaving the place.

Half a day later, a group of men dressed as adventurers appeared in front of the cave entrance. The leader of the group was none other than Black Wolf. He was a tracking expert of the wasteland, and he had actually managed to trace Qianye all the way to this cave.

Chapter 77: The Hunt

A girl suddenly burrowed out from a shrub. Her features were ordinary, but her figure was slim and graceful, and she had two twisted braids draped over her chest. The moment she lifted her head, she saw Qianye and was momentarily startled into jumping. However, after she saw Qianye clearly, color returned to her face, and she called out, “Qianye!”

“Mimi!” The name instantly sprung from Qianye’s heart.

At this point, Qianye was holding a simple and crude dagger that had an incredibly sharp edge. The grooves of the blade were decorated, but it was the only usable weapon he had. He was a youth, in the midst of a life-and-death examination. The rules were simple but cruel, one had to kill one of the other examinees to pass the test.

Mimi hesitated, and then walked towards Qianye. There was fog all around them, coming from an unknown place. As Mimi’s footsteps headed toward him under the cool light of the moon, they created ripples in the fog as if it were water.

She spoke softly, “I’m very scared! Will you kill me?”

“Never!” Qianye was resolute.

After hearing Qianye’s reply, Mimi let go of a breath, and quickly walked over to Qianye and spoke quietly, “Let’s deal with the others together, then our chances of passing will be greater.”

Qianye was still hesitating, when he suddenly felt a flash of coldness at his hip! Many years of brutal combat training caused him to immediately fall forward, and roll away a few times, creating distance from the secret assailant. Qianye turned around to look, but only saw that the girl’s hand and dagger were stained with fresh blood!

Qianye was angry and confused, and as he grasped at the wound by his waist, he called out to her, “Why!?”

The girl’s face was expressionless, and her voice mechanical. “Because I want to pass the exam, because I want to get rewarded!”

Facing the girl who was pursuing him closely, Qianye could only rapidly retreat. Blood rapidly hemorrhaged from between his fingers as he was unable to keep it down with pressure.

Mimi viciously pounced at him, mercilessly stabbing away with her dagger, going so fast that her strikes left afterimages. Every single slash aimed at his vitals. Qianye’s heart cooled and he grasped his dagger tightly. He suddenly ignored all of the knife thrusts aimed at him, and wholly focused on stabbing Mimi’s heart!

This one stab struck air, and then all the fog was suddenly violently blown away. Qianye found himself on top of a lonely cliff that stretched all the way up into the sky. A few thousand fathoms below him, he could see little black lines snaking along in a large valley. From those lines that looked like little rows of ants, he could clearly make out instructors Long Hai, Zhang Jing, Yin Yin, Shen Tu and the others.

There was another man on top of the high cliff. He was dressed in scholar’s clothing with broad sleeves, the traditional dress code of the upper echelon aristocrats of the Empire. He stood one step away from the very edge of the cliff, his clothes flapping in a breeze as if he was about to ride the winds.

Song Zining turned around, and his smile was still warm like jade. “Qianye, you see, that is my great way.”

At this time, all of the images suddenly twisted, and the entire world followed suit, cracking, and shattering into infinite pieces. Qianye was jolted away, but the image of the dream was still deeply imprinted on his mind. It was incomprehensible.

From outside the cave came the extremely faint sounds of movement, almost indiscernible against the howling of the night winds of the wasteland. It was this that had woken Qianye. The resonator underneath him, which had been covered with a cloth, had vibrated with the passing of some living thing. However, the sound was a little distant, and there was still some distance to go before they arrived.

Qianye quietly walked out of the cave, and climbed up the slope, heading toward the skeletal remains of the top of a crashed airship, carefully peering into the distance. Nights in the wasteland were both quiet and disquiet. A small blip in the corner of his sight aroused his attention. It was a slow-moving body that looked like some sort of strange, little creature as it relentlessly made use of the topography to close in.

Qianye immediately recognized it as a hunter, and on top of that, a hunter whose skills in camouflage were remarkable. He had practically melded into the environment surrounding him. If there was one thing could be considered a failings, it was that this particular hunter was still a little anxious. Because it was now in the deepest of night, just before dawn, most of the wildlife would be incredibly exhausted. In contrary, he was moving a little fast. Hence, with Qianye’s night vision, it was as if he were advancing very obviously.

In the wasteland, meeting a stranger was always fraught with danger. Even the hunters themselves were divided over whether they should be cautious of the legitimacy of another hunter’s identity. The vast majority of hunters liked to move independently. Not only for the sake of personal freedom, but also because they were all afraid of being stabbed in the back. Even if there was a mission that necessitated a large group, there would be very few hunters who would let a complete stranger join in. A captain like Yu Yingnan was considered a rare find.

This was why Qianye was actually on high alert after determining that this was a hunter. Looking at the other party’s trail as they headed forward, killing intent emerged on Qianye’s face.

The movements of that hunter followed an incomparably familiar route. In fact, it was the exact route where Qianye had left markings the night before. Originally, it was supposed to be for Fei Niao. But as it seemed now, this solo hunter was clearly also pursuing Qianye.

Qianye quietly climbed up the skeleton of the airship, and snuck toward the appointed position.

A while later, that single hunter had already found to the cave where Qianye had previously sheltered himself. It would seem that his tracking skills were incredibly good. The hunter’s movements became even more careful as he quietly moved into the cave, not making a single sound.

At this instant, a rock that lay by the hunter’s leg suddenly let out a crisp “pa” noise. He immediately stopped.

This was a little trap meant for early warning, and with Qianye’s expert camouflaging skills, he had even managed to fool this experienced hunter. However, he hadn’t exactly lost out, either. If he could see through all of the setups, he would have discovered that a semi-circular web of information protected the center of the cave, and that there was only a three or four meter distance between each trap.

From the cave came Qianye’s voice, “Who goes there?”

The hunter’s body trembled once, and he then made a snap decision to stand up, speaking out with a very normal voice, “It’s me, Li Lunzhe. We once went on a mission together. Is that you, Qianye?”

The voice of Qianye inside of the cave relaxed a little. “Oh, it’s you. What brings you here?”

“I was out on a mission, and just happened to come by. I spotted some of the markings you left behind, so I came to take a look. Right, Qianye, I could use your help on this mission, and we could discuss how to split the reward…” As Li Lunzhe spoke, he put down the barrel of the origin gun that he was holding, and walked lightly into the cave.

At this instant, Li Lunzhe waved his left hand that had been hanging by his waist, and three grenades flew into the cave!

The cave lit up with a sudden flash of light. The light even spread several metres out of the cave, and after an ear-shattering boom, the ground shook, and a thick cloud of smoke slowly spilled out.

A flash grenade, a stun grenade, and a tear-gas grenade. Under the attack of all three combined, it didn’t matter how many people were waiting in ambush inside the cave, they would temporarily be disarmed.

Li Lunzhe pounced like a leopard, his origin gun’s channels lighting up fully, completely charged. He didn’t even look, and instantly shot towards the cave! Another three grenades then appeared in his hands!

This one shot wasn’t meant to hit something, it was merely a form of suppressive fire. If Qianye had really managed to bear through the initial assault, and wanted to retaliate, then he would crash into this one shot. Li Lunzhe’s assault was a perfect cycle, extremely vicious and unforgiving, and designed to smash an opponent in a single stroke. It already had a little bit of the style of Yellow Springs Training Camp.

Three more grenades were tossed into the cave, but it was as if Li Lunzhe had suddenly been struck by a heavy hammer, involuntarily blown away. He could only watch as his right shoulder departed his body, flying into the air.

What happened? Li Lunzhe was both shocked and angry, and then everything went black.

Qianye stood up from outside of the cave, and after putting down the Butcher which barrel was still warm, he dragged the unconscious Li Lunzhe into the cave. As a grade three firearm, Butcher’s power was four times that of an ordinary grade one firearm, and with the Heavy Caliber modifications made to it on top of having fired from such a short distance, one shot had heavily injured the rank four Fighter Li Lunzhe.

A while later, Qianye finished cleaning up the remaining signs of battle outside, and returned to the cave. He took out the little copper wine flask and drank a sip. He then spit it all out and sprayed it all over Li Lunzhe’s amputated arm, making him howl in pain as he instantly came to.

Li Lunzhe struggled, and howled again. His ankles and wrists had all been punctured and nailed to the wall of the cave. With every bit of movement, he was immediately wracked with wave after wave of heart-rending pain.

“It looks like the mission you took was related to me.” Qianye spoke carefreely.

“You... how did you…” Li Lunzhe hadn’t even finished his sentence before he saw Qianye pointing his thumbs towards the left side of the cave. Unexpectedly, there was a copper pipe, and its opening had clearly been modified. It was split into seven or eight little gaps that opened outwards, and the other end of the pipe was deeply embedded into the wall, going somewhere.

Li Lunzhe was hit by a sudden revelation: Qianye had used this copper pipe to carry his voice, letting him think that he was still in the cave.

Li Lunzhe’s face sank. “I’ve lost an arm, and even if I get it back, my combat ability will suffer greatly. On top of that, I can’t even afford the fee to get it done. I doubt you will let me off, but don’t expect to get anything out of my mouth. Just kill me quickly!”

“Indeed, I don’t intend to let you off, but I’m in no rush to kill you either. I think you’ll be spilling the beans very, very soon.”

Right in front of Li Lunzhe, Qianye took out a small leather pouch from his bag and opened it, revealing a full row of precision tools. Among them were various curved needles, hooks, as well as other strangely-shaped little scalpels and the like. The pouch with tools included various metals, so these were clearly not some industrial products, but rather things that were hand-made.

Li Lunzhe’s face became deathly pale as he instantly recognized what they were.

Those were torture tools! A complete set of torture tools!

These types of torture tools were intricate and complex, and the more of them there were, the more effective they were. The number of tools that Qianye had taken out was well into the tens, and from the looks of it, they were all self-made. This clearly indicated that he was definitely an expert in torture and interrogation!

Qianye looked at Li Lunzhe with a little bit of regret. “I was preparing to use these on the Sky Snake Gang, but unexpectedly, I’ll have to use it on you first.

In the blink of an eye, Li Lunzhe’s pitiful howling echoed throughout the cave.

Li Lunzhe had still underestimated Qianye. Qianye’s level of attainment in torture and interrogation had already broken past the level of a mere expert, heading straight into the level of a master!

The Yellow Springs Training Camp had a specialized course in interrogation. One half of it was dedicated to improving the students’ ability to resist torture and interrogation, while the other half taught them specialized skills and various techniques for interrogating and torturing others. Actually, for the better part of this course, the instructors were performing the different forms of cruel torture on the students. As a result, he himself had repeatedly experienced it, so he knew each and every technique’s varying strengths and weaknesses. Of course, this training would also let them improve their willpower and ability to resist pain.

When this particular course had first started, the class had been a horrific mess. Many students fainted on the spot, were forcefully woken, and were then tortured to the point of fainting again. A year later, in contrary, the class was completely silent, and with the exception of the occasional person softly groaning, there wasn’t a single person who fainted. There were even others who would gaily hold light conversations while suffering the cruel torture. Hence, every single graduate of the Yellow Springs Training Camp was an expert in torture and interrogation.

After entering the Red Scorpions, Qianye had come into contact with the elite corp’s interrogation techniques, and his ability had improved yet again.

Li Lunzhe lasted a mere three minutes, and then he spilled it all.

Qianye constantly changed his angle of interrogation, repeatedly questioning him until he was sure that was he had gotten was the truth. In the end, he sighed. “Sister Nan is actually pretty nice to you, but you don’t suit her.”

“If it weren’t for you, she would have been mine! If I can’t have her, nobody can!” Li Lunzhe suddenly had an outbreak of hysteria, and kept calling him names as if his life depended on it.

Qianye shook his head, squarely aiming the Butcher at Li Lunzhe’s forehead. “Seeing that as you’re a fellow Fighter, I will let you die from an origin gun.”

A boom echoed out from the cave.

Chapter 78: Goodbye, Rookie

Qianye walked out of the mountain cave, his bags saddled with several dozens of kilograms more weight than before. This included a grade two origin gun, five physical origin bullets, several dozens of gold coins, as well as some survival gear and food for the wilderness.

About a day after Qianye had left the cave, Flying Bird and his subordinates arrived. At this point, Flying Bird had already been run rather ragged, his clothes grimy and torn in a few places.

The Sky Snake Gang henchmen were all equally winded and exhausted, and those that could still keep up with Flying Bird numbered only six, everyone else had been left behind. At this point, these Sky Snake Gang henchmen had long since lost that same swaggering arrogance they had when they had just left the city.

When Flying Bird saw Li Lunzhe’s corpse in the cave, his face turned incredibly ugly. Although he was incredibly arrogant and stubborn, he was no fool. He knew very well that this person was one of the strongest of the young generation from Home of Hunters. Furthermore, it was in a wilderness like this that a hunter could unleash his greatest ability. Out here, even Flying Bird couldn’t guarantee that he would be able to kill Li Lunzhe in a one on one.

But now, Li Lunzhe was dead, and had died in such a terrible manner.

Flying Bird crouched, and ignoring his own mysophobia, he personally stripped all of Li Lunzhe’s clothes, and carefully inspected every single wound. The more he looked, the paler Flying Bird’s face got. This was an abnormally professional and incredibly exquisite torture technique! Looking at the result, Flying Bird knew that if it had been him there and then, he might not have even lasted one minute. In fact, the more twisted and perverse the killer, the more fragile their mental states were.

If he landed in Qianye’s hands, the best solution would be to kill himself.

The image of Black Wolf’s corpse flitted across Flying Bird’s mind, and he slowly stood up. “Withdraw! We’re returning to the city!”

All of the Sky Snake Gang henchmen let loose a collective breath, and immediately followed Flying Bird, leaving in a hurry. Seeing that this was an enemy that they could only keep pursuing, and yet never actually catch, as well as the terrifying manner by which so many of their fellows on the road had died, these Sky Snake Gang henchmen, who would act brazenly without a care in Darkblood City, had already gotten a taste of true fear.

Was Qianye really only rank three? That was the question floating at the top of everyone’s minds.

At this point, Qianye was standing at the peak of a mountain several dozens of kilometers away, observing his surroundings. He peered from his hiding hole. “That Flying Bird should have commenced the return trip by now, shouldn’t he? As long as he isn’t completely stupid or insane.”

Qianye unfurled his map, whereupon several locations were already marked down. These were all prime locations for an ambush, forming a thick defensive line between Flying Bird and the road back to Dark Blood City.

By now, Flying Bird had lost the wind in his sails. He had found Qianye’s hiding spot an hour ahead of his predictions, so he was still pretty capable, however, since he had pursued Qianye across the wasteland for several days and nights without rest, Flying Bird had expended a lot of his energy. Hence Qianye’s intent of killing him on the way back.

Killing off Black Wolf and Flying Bird would make the Sky Snake Gang lose two of its four so-called experts, an immensely heavy blow for Sky Snake.

However, as Qianye was choosing his ambush spots, he suddenly had a kind of feeling and looked toward the far horizon.

The dark season of the Evernight Continent was also termed the horizon days. The night skies would be dark and empty, and the star clouds surrounding the world were especially far away. In this especially placid and desolate sky, a star suddenly flared with brightness.

Even as the starlight grew brighter, transforming the faint glow into complete illumination, each twinkle seemed to make it grow another ring. With Qianye’s night vision, that starlight looked as if it were rapidly moving, and even approaching him. An instant later, a small, bat-winged airship came into his sight. The airship was on fire.

It swayed from side to side unsteadily as its altitude constantly decreased. Finally diving toward the ground, it crashed on the other side of the mountain, immediately burst into a haze of fire.

Qianye was momentarily shocked. This airship’s design was so unique, he definitely couldn’t ever forget it! It was a lifeboat used only by the Red Scorpion Corps! Long ago, he too had flown one of these to escape certain death.

He didn’t expect that he would see it here once again. Qianye had already noticed that the airship being on fire was not due to mechanical malfunction. It had evidently come under external assault, and if even the lifeboats had been attacked, the state of the Red Scorpions’ mission could be easily imagined. However, given the strength of the Red Scorpions, it wasn’t even possible for the entirety of the Boulderstone Region to oppose them, much less Darkblood City.

Qianye’s heart chilled, remembering that mysterious black-robed man, and William from the Summit of Peaks. If they had run into either of those two, they would have been powerless to resist, even if there was a Red Scorpion captain commanding the troops. Unless the Red Scorpion Corps dispatched an expert on the level of a vice corp commander or higher, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

Qianye hesitated a moment, and then grit his teeth, continuing to rush toward the crash site of the lifeboat. Even though he feared that he might directly face a monstrously strong existence like William, Qianye still decided to take the risk. Although he had not spent very long time as a Red Scorpion, the Red Scorpion Corps had given Qianye many things. One one of them was something called comrades-in-arms!

As for Flying Bird, Qianye could no longer be bothered with such small fry.

Qianye carefully hurried forward as he kept his body extremely low, making use of the surroundings to constantly mask his approach on the crash site. He rapidly scaled the opposing peak, and then carefully peered out, looking ahead.

The lifeboat had crashed in the middle of the mountain, and was completely swallowed by the raging flames. In addition, there were ten-odd teams of vampire warriors forming an encirclement, currently besieging the lifeboat.

Suddenly, a beam of red light came from the rubble beside the lifeboat, instantly blowing away a vampire warrior. At this, the rest of the vampires began to speed up, traversing over a hundred meters in the blink of an eye as they rushed into the rubble, tussling with a tall, broad-shouldered Red Scorpion soldier.

That Red Scorpion soldier had long since been heavily injured, and seven-or-eight vampire warriors had him surrounded, enclosing him like a pack of wolves around a majestic lion.

As Qianye watched the battle, the Red Scorpion soldier’s movements suddenly slowed, and the surrounding vampire warriors were all greatly delighted, immediately pouncing at him!

In his heart, Qianye was howling!

He too had come from the Red Scorpion Corps, so he naturally knew what that soldier was up to. However, it was already too late to stop him at this point.

As a beam of piercing, silver light emerged from that pile of combatants, all of the vampire warriors pitifully clasped at their faces, staggering backwards. Following that, a ring of flame expanded rapidly with that Red Scorpion soldier as its epicenter, and the blast wave sent all the vampire warriors flying. However, the flames adhered to them, burning endlessly. Those vampire warriors were screaming from the burning pain, but even after continuously rolling over, they couldn’t extinguish the flames.

The blazing flames were suffused with little threads of silver. On top of that, these were flames that had been infused with Daybreak origin power, which was of great lethality to the dark races. This type of origin power grenade had immense power, but was equally expensive, usually only issued to captain-level soldiers.

In the center of that blast, that Red Scorpion soldier was thoroughly evaporated. He had burned through four of the origin power grenades in one go, and left nothing of himself behind.

That only left five vampire warriors. They had been the furthest away at that time, and hadn’t had time to pounce on him. However, even though they had, with great luck, scraped out of it alive, they had been scared stiff, and didn’t dare to approach the epicenter of the explosions, even though that Red Scorpion soldier had been vaporized by the blast.

Just at this moment, a loud roar suddenly sounded from not too far away, and a shining origin bullet tore through the sky, blasting away one vampire warrior.

The remaining vampire warriors immediately split up and pulled out of their displaced assault formation, charging toward the origin of the gunshots,  a low shrubbery.

The origin gun boomed again, but this time round, the aim was just slightly off, and the origin bullet brushed past the body of a vampire warrior. That fellow squealed out, and in that instant of delay, was almost swept away by the remnants of the origin power wave. However, it was only a case of being bowled over, and given that vampire warriors had strong bodies, these kinds of injuries were completely ineffective at affecting their combat prowess.

Indeed, that vampire warrior followed his companions in continuing their attack, while another two vampires drew origin guns of their own, aiming squarely at those bushes and began to shoot. As the explosions rang out, a tiny, lithe figure leapt out of the shrubs, and then continued to frog-leap, dodging the vampires’ marksmanship somewhat wretchedly.

Qianye cried out in pity in his heart. That person in the shrubs was evidently some rookie, and to miss at a hundred meter’s distance could only be called being too nervous. Because of the extraordinary speed of vampires, much less low-grade vampire warriors, one would only have enough distance to shoot twice.

Despite not being a Red Scorpion anymore, Qianye felt that it would be an act of  compassion to protect this obvious greenhorn.

Qianye’s finger depressed the trigger smoothly. The moment the origin bullet left the barrel, he would immediately shift the muzzle, completely ignoring the results of his initial shot.

One vampire warrior that had been lining up his shot was suddenly struck in the lower back, and was sent flying! This sudden, pinpointed attack left the vampire warriors’ formation to be thrown into disarray, and even as they were searching for their enemy, Qianye’s second shot had left the barrel, striking the other vampire warrior holding an origin gun.

The last two vampire warriors gave up chasing the rookie, and both came pouncing at Qianye. They had already detected that this assailant was deadlier by far.

Qianye stood up from where he had been sitting, and pulled out his hand-axe, welcoming the opponents’ charge! Going up against two rank three vampire warriors, Qianye was completely unperturbed, and with a few sharp cleaves, he laid them out in pieces on the floor.

Not far away, the little rookie’s reactions were still considered fast. She had scrambled up the slope, levelling an origin gun, but before she could finish charging it, all of the opponents had been laid flat.

It was a young girl that had just reached maturity. Her body hadn’t even finished growing, and her pretty little face still filled with a childish air, her large eyes drowning with panic.

Qianye looked around, and seeing that there weren’t any other vampires, gestured toward that little rookie. “Come with me, we’ve got to leave immediately!”

“But I’ve still got to collect Captain Xia’s remains…” cried the little rookie in a soft and weak voice.

“We’re out of time! Leave, now!” Qianye didn’t speak any further, and stepping forward in two strides, gripped the rookie’s collar, forcibly dragging her away.

The little rookie turned to look back, her tears flowing uncontrollably as she was dragged along by Qianye on that hectic escape.

Qianye roared at her, “No crying, rookie! Start route running, two hours straight! Follow me!”

The little rookie jumped in shock. For a moment, she felt like she heard a Red Scorpion commander give her an order. She instinctively slung her origin gun behind her, adjusted herself, and hurriedly followed Qianye. Only after running for some distance did she start to have a few murky thoughts. Why did this young man that suddenly appeared talk and act so much like a Red Scorpion?

However, she never managed to find a chance to voice her heart’s concerns. Qianye brought her along on a meandering route, ducking through the complex mountain passes, and constantly scaling mountains. Although the route run wasn’t especially fast like during an exercise, these hilly conditions made for an increased energy expenditure.

The little rookie ran until she saw white from exhaustion, huffing and puffing. How could she have the energy to speak? As it went on, even her eyes glazed over, and she barely managed to hold on and keep up with Qianye, even with the strength she had gained by the Red Scorpion training regime.

What the little rookie didn’t know was that a short time after they had left, another large group of vampire warriors had shown up near the lifeboat crash site. As that team of high-ranked warriors chased them, they were taken for a trip up and down the mountains and valleys by Qianye. After having given chase for a good hour and having crossed two rivers back-to-back, the group was finally shaken off.

Qianye ran for two entire hours before finally stopping. “You may rest now, rookie! You have thirty minutes.”

The rookie immediately collapsed onto the ground, barely managing to grab her water bottle. She drank two large gulps and then managed to recap the bottle with extreme effort.

“You may use stimulants, we still need to continue on, this time for an hour.”

Hearing Qianye’s words, the little rookie’s face almost collapsed.

Chapter 79: Intercepting Murder  

Qianye, on the other hand, was merely a little out of breath. He didn’t drink any water, nor did he use any stimulants. He only needed a few minutes of rest in order to recover to his previous state. The rookie’s eyes narrowed to slits watching him.

If she wasn’t mistaken, Qianye had only ignited three origin nodes That was to say, he had rank three origin power just like her. However, the physicality that Qianye exhibited was just too terrifying, capable of matching that of a Red Scorpion captain. Furthermore, the cleaving strikes he had made while facing the vampire warriors were so ferocious that they far exceeded those of many Black Scorpion veterans.

Qianye sat quietly, waiting for the half hour to pass. He actually did have more questions, but in the end, he found that he couldn’t bring himself to say a word.

At this time, he took a serious look at this little rookie.

She was a sweet young thing. Her small, heart-shaped face held two round eyes that glistened like gems and had a faint air of innocence.

This young girl actually had rank three origin power just like Qianye. It seemed like her talent for cultivation was uncommon, and she was probably one of those who had skipped past the evaluations and  directly enlisted into the Red Scorpions. The technique that she had used to charge the origin gun was clearly not the military standard. Although it lost out on speed, the strength displayed by those two shots was clearly more than sufficient, which most likely meant that it was some family’s high level secret technique.

She was not weak, but she lacked combat experience. That Red Scorpion captain had clearly sacrificed himself to suppress the vampires and give her a chance to escape, but this rookie had not been able to control herself and, evidently  went back to exact her vengeance. However, after taking down only one vampire warrior, the vampires reacted and counterattacked. She then lost her cool and missed her second shot.

If Qianye hadn’t been there, she would long have since become a prisoner of the vampires. Even committing suicide would have been a pipe dream.

Qianye watched this little rookie, and sighed from the bottom of his heart. It wasn’t too long ago that he, too, was just a rookie, itching to shake off his probationary period and formally become one of the Red Scorpions. The future had been so beautiful, but that one fateful battle had forever changed the course of his destiny, and those of many others with it.

After the thirty minutes passed, Qianye stood up and expressionlessly called out, “One hour ultra running, keep up!”

Qianye dashed out ahead, and then the rookie immediately jumped up, running after Qianye into the distance.

This time around, Qianye ran in a ruler-straight line, without any intent whatsoever of covering his tracks. Just like that, one ex-rookie of the Red Scorpions and one current rookie ran off toward the horizon, right through the broad wasteland.

As they ran, Qianye suddenly said, “Turn around and look!”

As the rookie turned her head at those words, her gaze swept the horizon, and she suddenly saw the silhouettes of several vampire warriors appear at the mountaintop where they had been resting before. She immediately got scared, her legs suddenly moving a lot faster.

Qianye, on the other hand, didn’t accelerate at all, only continuing on with that unhurried, constant pace as he ran, not even bothering to turn around to look.

“What if… they… make it to us?” said the rookie breathlessly.

“They will never make it to us, they’ve already been exhausted,” replied Qianye flatly.

The little rookie was still a little doubtful, especially since the opponents were only a few kilometers away. After running a while, she couldn’t help but look back once more, and yet, those vampire warriors were still standing on top of the mountain, not pursuing them. The little rookie’s heart relaxed a bit, and the figure of Qianye’s back grew larger in her heart.

On the mountaintop behind them, a vampire elder watched with a face like steel as Qianye and the rookie escaped through the wasteland, nary a hint of blood on his lips. The bloodsuckers next to him all had their cloaks wrapped tightly around them as they silently watched the two humans daringly crossing the wasteland.

Several vampires had given up the chase, especially since they had already exhausted all of their physical strength by giving pursuit all the way from the battlefield.

“Lord, shall we pursue?” suggested a rather young vampire. His voice was severely lacking in self-confidence.

The vampire elder shook his head. “By the time we catch up to them, we’ll already be well into the traditionally human-held lands. The human expeditionary army is still rather troublesome.”

The vampire warriors watched as Qianye went on his way, turning around one by one before disappearing behind the lee of the mountain.

The hour passed, and when the rookie turned around, the vampires’ silhouettes were already gone, and only then did she let out a breath.

Qianye stopped, pointing toward the front. “If you continue on this way, Darkblood City is a mere hundred kilometres away. In the city, there’s a garrison of the imperial expeditionary army, and once you flash your identity, they should be able to give you the necessary help to return.”

The little rookie nodded, and thinking about how she was able to return to the Red Scorpions safely after that gruelling escape from danger, her face immediately regained a little of its color. However, when she thought of the Red Scorpion captain that had died in battle, her little mouth drooped, and she started to look as if she was about to cry.

Qianye’s face sank a little. “Suck up those tears, rookie! Any true self-respecting Red Scorpion is forged in the fires of a hundred near-death experiences, and you may be weak the first time you take to the field, but if you continue being weak from the second time on, then that is completely unforgivable! So, get your ass to Darkblood City this instant and find the expeditionary army! Then report back to the Red Scorpions! You have four hours, rookie!”

The little rookie instinctively puffed up her chest, and shouted, “Yes, sir!”

Qianye nodded, and then pointed forward. The rookie immediately began to run. Running a hundred kilometers in only four hours, she would still need to maintain the same pace as she had during the ultra running. However, after running a few steps, she turned back and watched as Qianye still stood there on the plains, getting further and further away.

Was he not going to go back with her?

Qianye waved to her, and then turned, walking the way that they’d come.

The rookie suddenly had a thought.

—He was going to find trouble with those vampires and avenge the Red Scorpion captain!

But this young man had nothing to do with the Red Scorpions, so why would he do that? She couldn’t understand no matter how she looked at it, but her feet were still instinctively running, and her pace was completely unaffected.

Before long, she would be able to return to the Red Scorpions. This time around, she was determined to properly train herself, to temper herself in combat. Once she completed her probationary period, she would return to find him.

Suddenly, a serious problem popped into the rookie’s muddled little head.

She had no idea what his name was!

The rookie stopped in shock, and when she turned back to look, Qianye had long since disappeared from the horizon.

She stood there blankly, at a loss.

Qianye was currently advancing, and the wasteland’s ravines seemed to have no effect whatsoever on his traversal. He was even picking up his pace as he went. Without the rookie as a burden, Qianye’s excellent physique and combat capabilities were finally able to show themselves.

One hour later, Qianye was climbing the summit of a small mountain, coldly looking at the vampire elder and his subordinate warriors still halfway down the mountain. From his high vantage point, he didn’t bother at all to hide his tracks, shoving two silver-infused origin bullets into the barrel of the origin gun. He then lifted the barrel.

The vampire elder sucked in a breath of cold air. He was a rank five vampire warrior and all those under him were rank three warriors. This particular force should logically be able to completely smash Qianye, but for some reason or another, when Qianye pointed his origin gun toward him, that elder felt a wave of uncontrollable terror!

This particular elder had come from a rather famous vampire clan known for having an extremely strong instinct for danger. Although he was not in his best condition right now, his rank five power should’ve kept him from recoiling so badly at the sight of two mithril bullets. As long as they didn’t hit him anywhere vital, he was completely confident in being able to recover from wounds caused by these bullets.

The elder didn’t move, so his subordinates were even more afraid to move; the mithril bullets were completely lethal to them. Although they could tear him to shreds the moment he fired, the unlucky soul that got hit first would definitely die.

Qianye calmly took aim, and then actually chose to walk toward the crowd of vampire warriors one step at a time!

A ludicrous thought sprang up in the vampire elder’s heart.

This human intended to fight them head-on?

Out of all the battles that he’d fought, large or small, a good thirty percent had been against humans, and even then, he’d never seen something so ridiculous. This was practically suicide!

The vampire elder already had no time to think any further. With a cry, he braced himself and charged at Qianye. As the vampire with the highest rank, he was the leader. He had no reason and no way to avoid confronting Qianye, a mere rank three soldier.

However, when Qianye pointed the gun at him, the vampire elder suddenly felt immense danger screaming at him. He saw Qianye’s mouth suddenly curl into a small smile, the smile of a hunter watching his prey walk into a trap!

With a boom, Qianye’s gun spit out a beam of origin power, and a physical bullet came whistling out! The vampire elder howled, blocking with his arms crossed in front of him, his blood energy roiling as it formed a dark-red blood shield in front of him!

After smashing through the blood shield, the origin bullet’s power weakened by half, but it still bore deep into the elder’s arm and created a gaping wound in which bone could be seen. The mithril immediately charred the wound black.

The elder immediately determined that these injuries were well within acceptable parameters. He pointed at Qianye and yelled, “Kill him!”

The vampire warriors immediately surrounded Qianye, but he suddenly pulled out the Butcher and fired it twice in a row, blowing two of them away. The Butcher’s power was extremely effective at close range and lived up to its tyrannical name. Those two vampire warriors struck the ground hard and remained there, motionless.

When they tumbled through the air, a bloody mist spread from them. The smell of fresh, slightly cold blood mixed with that of burning gunpowder to create a distinct aroma of life, like that of grass after rainfall. Qianye pulled out his hand-axe, and as he stared straight at the vampire warriors encircling him, his heart suddenly leaped with great excitement, making him feel as if he were trembling!

Qianye was bursting with a thirst for battle, the most intense battle!

All of the vampire warriors pulled out their swords in perfect synchronization, a layer of thin bloody light covering every blade. They clearly weren’t some ragtag warriors from some small family, but the militarized guards of a large clan. To take the greatest advantage of their superior speed, power, and other natural talents unique to their kind, these warriors preferred traditional dark race weapons over origin guns.

In an instant, Qianye had been completely surrounded, but he didn’t have even an iota of fear. He violently stomped at the ground, sending a shockwave spreading out in front of him. Borrowing its momentum, he shot forward like a cannonball and collided with one of the vampire warriors!

Chapter 80: Small Victory    

The clash between Qianye and the vampire warrior was extremely fierce. It was as if the two of them had been glued together!

Qianye’s left bracer had clamped down onto the vampire warrior’s longsword, already dented and deformed by the impact. The edge of the sword had instead cut into the vampire. Qianye roared again, using his whole body to shove that vampire warrior, sending him staggering backward!

This severely shocked all of the vampire warriors, and their combined-assault strategy, which had originally been tightly-knit, collapsed.

They found it utterly inconceivable for a vampire to take on a human of the same rank in a straightforward clash and lose!

Qianye had been waiting for the exact moment their formation fell apart like it did just now. He immediately struck the vampire warrior in front of him, sending him flying for several dozen paces. At the same time, his hand-axe struck out like lightning. Failing to defend himself with his sword in time, the vampire warrior was cleaved through with a single stroke from his shoulder through his chest.

Without pausing, Qianye stretched out his left foot in another direction and whirled about, throwing the vampire warrior that had been charging at him from behind into the air. That vampire smashed directly into another vampire that had been rushing at Qianye from the side, and the dull thud of flesh striking flesh resounding through the air.

By the time the two of them separated from each other, Qianye jumped into the air, firmly landing while the vampire warriors all collapsed where they stood, one after another.

The vampire elder’s eyebrows furrowed tighter and tighter as he watched Qianye. This human was thin, but the tremendous power that he exerted far exceeded even elite vampire warriors! Additionally, he was incredibly vicious and merciless to enemies, often reaping a life with a single stroke.

The vampire elder didn’t want to lose any more of his subordinates. He pulled out his own sword and activated his blood energy. The blade of his sword slowly became translucent and began releasing a roiling red glow­ as it began to quietly shriek.

He gestured for his subordinates to shift into a defensive formation and then began to walk toward Qianye. However, the moment he took a step, he suddenly felt waves of weakness wash over him. As if his body had suddenly been pierced full of holes, his pulsating blood energy instantly drained away. His hands became weak to the point that he couldn’t even wield his sword, and it fell to the ground with a bang!

The vampire elder was in for a huge surprise. When he looked down, his face went extremely pale in silent shock!

With the strong constitution of a vampire, the wound on his arm should have clotted long ago. Not only had it not yet clotted, it was bleeding even more profusely than before. The wound throbbed, constantly leaking bloody dark purple pus. The muscles surrounding it were visibly rotting and falling away!

A vampire’s blood was normally bright red and filled with an potent life force, but the bloody dark purple liquid that flowed from the wound was filled with the stench of death and decay.

As soon as he smelled it, the elder fell into a daze. He instantly understood what was going on and weakly cried, “Poison! Deadly poison!”

The vampire elder shook uncontrollably and then fell over head-first, unable to stand any longer.

Disbelief filled the vampire warriors encircling Qianye. Some of them wanted to leave the formation to go over check on the elder, while the rest of them shifted into defensive positions, panicking over whether or not they should attack him.

In the middle of their confusion, Qianye pushed forward and seized every opening, exploding with all his strength and killing two in a flash.

The battle was over in the blink of an eye. Qianye had completely butchered through the entire team of vampire warriors. Since they were putting their lives on the line, these vampire warriors were also quite difficult to deal with.

Wounds covered Qianye’s body, constantly seeping with blood and steam. The flesh and blood around them were charred black.

The longswords of this group of vampires were engraved with origin power arrays. Darkness origin power could be channeled into their blades and used to harm their enemies. Qianye’s injuries were a direct result of this Darkness origin power. Qianye knew from experience that these injuries were the most troublesome kind. If he didn’t clear himself of Darkness origin power, then the wounds would never heal. Furthermore, the longer that Darkness origin power remained in his body, the worse his injuries would get.

The wounds hurt like mad, but this kind of pain stimulated Qianye’s nerves instead, making him more and more excited. Qianye just felt like all of the blood in his body was about to boil over. Excitement and an intense thirst blended together, giving him a feeling of insanity.

The corpses of the vampire warriors were strewn across the ground, blood still flowing from them. Thick blood energy rose into the air, shrouding Qianye’s nose. Qianye subconsciously took a deep breath of it and instantly knew that things had gone wrong!

The smell of the fresh blood agitated his consciousness, and all of the blood energy in his body began to boil!

The intense thirst instantly overwhelmed all of Qianye’s senses, and when he could no longer hold his breath, he took in another breath of the blood-tinged air. It was as if he were a man dying of thirst that had just drunk a mouthful of sweet, sweet water or a man who had never touched a woman and was now embracing the love of his life. That instant of satisfaction and euphoria made Qianye release a soft moan.

Qianye pounced onto the corpse of a vampire warrior and opened his mouth wide, prepared to bite down on its neck!

All of a sudden, deep within Qianye’s consciousness, a voice began to continuously cry out in an attempt to stop him. This voice was very weak, but abnormally stubborn, and neither the hunger nor the euphoria were able to completely drown it out.

At this precise moment, the scent of corrosion wafted into Qianye’s nose, immediately ruining his appetite. Qianye raised his head to see that the vampire elder had stood up at some point. He brandished his sword in both hands, about to chop downward at Qianye!

Qianye sprang up without a word and slammed directly into the vampire elder, grabbing him by the neck and lifting him high into the air!

Blood energy, both purple and gold, boiled up inside of Qianye. Like a fish leaping out of water, blood rushed to his head, increasing his physical strength by yet another level.

In the world where only one thin layer of Daybreak origin power was left untouched, the silhouette of a black sun faintly appeared from the void. It looked like it would break through the screen of Daybreak at any moment. Yet the two origin powers continued to resonate, engulfing every corner with bloody chill and tyranny.

He exerted his left hand without hesitation, crushing the spine of the vampire elder to pieces! He slowly released his grip and watched the vampire elder’s corpse fall to the ground The feelings that had been roiling inside of him were finally released, and he gradually calmed down.

This vampire’s body gave off an increasingly rotten smell. Qianye knelt to the ground and flipped the body over, examining the injuries on the arm. At this point the wound had already decayed thoroughly, revealing the white bone underneath it. The elder’s skin had taken on an abnormal purple-green pallor, and black blood constantly leaked from his mouth.

The vampire elder had been too careless in relying on his body’s own resilience to endure against Qianye’s origin bullets. However, there was a thread of blood energy, each one of the origin bullets that Qianye manufactured, which was highly effective against dark races. This was especially the case for vampires since they had turned their blood into a form of cultivation. The effects were even more pronounced.

Qianye suppressed his thirst for blood and began to inspect the battlefield. The thick blood energy still gave off an intense aroma, and for Qianye, it was just like being in front of a feast but being unable to eat. After that werewolf totem mission, Qianye had already realized that his own vampire nature allowed him to suck blood to recover. In spite of this, he still refrained from sucking blood regardless of its source.

All of the longswords that the vampire warriors had used were high quality products. The blades had been carved with origin power arrays that were specifically designed for the use of Darkness origin power. If Daybreak origin power were channeled into one of the swords, it would experience a loss in power, but if put up for sale on the black market, it would still sell for a lot more than a normal weapon.

These longswords would at least fetch ten gold pieces each, but in the heat of battle, more than half of them had been damaged by the tremendous force of each clash. Only two remained intact.

As for the longsword that the elder used, it was ornate and even more finely-crafted than the others, the absolute best of the best. Qianye tested the sword, and when he channeled origin power mixed with blood energy into it, the blade’s edge flashed with a thick bloody aura! This sword was surprisingly even stronger in his hands than the elder’s.

Yet when Qianye weighed the blade in his hand, he felt that the sword was simply too light and immediately disliked it. He returned it to its sheath, and continued to search the elder’s body, finding a grade two origin power handgun and a fine leather pouch containing several crystal coins. The elder’s body even had a leather breastplate, another masterwork with an origin power array carved into it.

Qianye naturally wasn’t above taking these sorts of spoils, and he rapidly stripped them from the elder. As for the vampire warriors whose armor didn’t have origin power arrays, Qianye wasn’t as keen.

Overall, Qianye ended up plundering six origin guns. The elder’s was grade two and the rest were grade one. Aside from that, he also got around fifty crystal coins, the elder’s set of armor, and three origin power longsword. Upon stripping the vampires of their fangs, he finished cleaning out the battlefield.

Qianye looked at his backpack, which was fit to burst. This was his first time experiencing the pleasures of just how much loot that killing others and taking their property yielded. When he was still with the Red Scorpions, spoils of war would be processed by headquarters, and soldiers would be given points according to how well they did in battle. Back then, various types of training and cultivation materials require vast amounts of points, so Qianye was almost always poor. Most of the points he earned went to the improvement of his strength.

Now Qianye could exchange all of this loot for resources, specifically precious medicines that could increase the speed of his origin power cultivation. Although his cultivation of the Combatant Formula was already rather fast and had reached the Fighter King rank, he also needed to cultivate origin power for more than just one reason. He cultivated to gather Daybreak origin power, but he also cultivated origin power to serve as food for his blood energy.

Blood energy had caused earth-shattering changes within Qianye. A vampire’s night vision and physique all extremely useful, and a stronger body also helped Qianye cultivate the Combatant Formula even faster.

Since blood energy had already become a part of his body, Qianye could only acknowledge it.

After quickly cleaning up the battlefield, Qianye looked at the crash site of the Red Scorpion airship, suppressing his surging feelings. The little rookie was the sole survivor, lucky to escape from the squad that the vampire elder had brought along. There were definitely more powerful members of the dark races active nearby.

Qianye originally wanted to take revenge against this small vampire squad on behalf of the Red Scorpion soldier, and with a little luck, he had managed to eliminate all of his enemies in spite of the serious injuries he sustained. This allowed him to cool his head a little. After all, missions the Red Scorpions undertook never had easy opponents, and this was all he could do with his current strength.

Qianye scanned the battlefield one last time. Then he turned to leave, running into the wasteland.

Not long after he left, around ten vampire warriors began appearing atop the cliff.