Chapter 518: Difference
[V6C48 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]
Qianye walked slowly through a certain part of the cavern, dragging East Peak along behind him and carving a deep mark on the ground. He wasn’t going very fast, but the demonkin in front simply couldn’t shake off his close pursuit.
The demonkin suddenly tripped and rolled over several times. He clambered up as quickly as he could, but Qianye was already standing before him at that time.
The man’s gaze was full of dread and fear. The third eye on his forehead was tightly shut with blood flowing out continuously—he had most likely been blinded.
“I-I’m a descendant of a famed clan. My family won’t let you off if you dare kill me. The noble…”
This demonkin didn’t manage to utter his clan name before Qianye’s vampiric blade pierced into his chest. His mouth opened wide and his trembling hands grabbed onto the dagger hilt, hoping to prevent it from pushing deeper in.
However, Qianye’s hand was as steady as a mountain and completely immovable. The victim finally passed away amidst extreme pain and terror.
Qianye waited a while before pulling out the vampiric blade. He then turned toward a cave on the side and said, “Come out.”
There was only one exit to that cave. The person inside came out knowing that it was no longer possible to hide. It was a young vampire girl with short hair. The girl did her utmost to stare fixedly at Qianye, but the trembling hands on her sword betrayed her emotions.
Qianye shot her a glance. “A baron actually dares to come here to join the liveliness?”
“M-My level may be low, but I’m…”
The vampire girl had just finished speaking when Qianye cut her short, “Wait a minute.”
The girl watched in astonishment as Qianye walked over to her and removed something from her collar. “Okay, you can continue.”
“I-I…” The girl stammered, not knowing what to say. Since Qianye could so easily remove an object from her collar, it meant that he could just as easily slit her throat.
But she was filled completely with an unknown sense of dread during this process. Her entire body was as stiff as a rock, and she couldn’t even lift her hands. All she could do was watch as Qianye removed her family insignia.
Qianye sniffed lightly and asked, “You have a cigarette?”
“Yes, I do.” What she brought out weren’t just cigarettes but cigars of the highest quality. From her appearance, it was truly difficult to tell that she actually liked such things.
Qianye fished one out, pinched off the end, and gave it a sniff. He then said with an approving nod, “Truly a high-quality item. You have a light?”
The vampire girl trembled as she brought out a dedicated lighter and passed it to Qianye. The latter lit up the cigar and inhaled deeply, only breathing it out after a while. “I was wrong, this is premium quality.”
The girl forced out a smile and said, “It should be.”
Qianye nodded. “I’m in a good mood, you may leave now. This is not a place for you.”
“Then I’ll be going now.” The girl glanced at Qianye once before rushing away, afraid that he would change his mind.
“Hey! The exit is that way!” Qianye’s voice spooked the girl so badly that she almost tripped over a stalactite. She quickly turned toward the direction Qianye was pointing to and soon vanished into the maze-like passages.
Qianye inhaled once more as he opened his left hand, in which sat a bronze-cast datura flower. However, only a mass of copper waste remained when he clenched his hand and opened it once again.
Qianye dropped the bronze ball with a flip of his hand and continued his journey into the depths of the cavern.
The passage before him was exceptionally deep, and the far end was covered in complete darkness. There was no light, and it also seemed like there was no road. Qianye’s steps were firm as he moved on and gradually merged into the darkness.
The vampire girl kept on running, passing one cave after the other. She was too flustered to stop and observe her surroundings. Forks appeared repeatedly in the road ahead, and all of them looked exactly the same. The geography seemed to be leading up at one point then down at another. After a while, she no longer had any idea which one would lead to the exterior.
Moreover, what made her even more terrified was the feeling that something in the darkness had been following her all along. She even felt a chilly wind on the back of her neck as though something was blowing on it.
She ran faster and faster before suddenly turning around. As expected, there was someone behind her!
It was a human male. He didn’t look too old at a glance and possessed a handsome but gloomy countenance. His eyes gradually narrowed as he gazed at the girl.
The young girl’s heart beat faster and faster. It felt as though a venomous snake were breathing down her neck. She collected her thoughts and gripped her sword tightly. The fine sword, now pointed at the man, trembled constantly and emitted a buzzing sound. This was a brilliant sword technique with almost no openings. The man’s pupils constricted ever so slightly as he watched on.
That person didn’t approach further. He watched the girl like a cat watching a mouse and said, “Aren’t you afraid of me?”
The young girl regained her courage after a deep breath. “I’m not!”
The man found her reaction surprising. He pondered for a while and asked, “Then why were you so afraid of that person who took your cigar?”
“He’s different,” the girl replied honestly.
Facing Qianye felt as though she had met a natural predator. Her entire body was frozen stiff, and she didn’t even dare move a single finger. Although she also felt an unbearable pressure from this young man before her, she could still go all-out against him and at least die a true warrior’s death.
That was the difference.
This reply seemed to have infuriated the young man. He drew his dagger with a cold smile and said, “The biggest difference between me and him is that he let you go and I will turn you into a corpse. Remember my name, Xu Lang, as you go to hell!”
Xu Lang attacked as quick as lightning and hacked down at the vampire girl’s head. The army dagger in his hand, barely half a meter long, descended with the weight of a giant hammer.
The vampire girl swung her blade up to block at the critical moment. The trembling blade tip dispersed some of Xu Lang’s origin power and actually managed to parry his slash. Both her sword technique and her reaction time had reached a high standard, and the only thing lacking was her combat experience. She would surely become an expert in time as long as she remained alive.
The parry surprised Xu Lang quite a bit. He could no longer remember when it was that a rank-nine soldier had last blocked his strike. Since becoming a champion, there had been very few rank-nine warriors capable of fending off a single blow from him. Presently, he had already ascended again and was very close to reaching rank-thirteen.
However, the girl failed to block a second blow, and her origin defenses were shattered by the enormous power. Xu Lang sent her sword flying with a flick of his dagger and pressed the edge against her neck.
But he wasn’t the least happy, and the darkness on his countenance grew even heavier as he stared at the girl. His eyes were filled with scarlet threads as he reached a near-berserk state.
“I wouldn’t have left any regrets during my champion advancement if it weren’t for my poverty. Nor would I have failed to kill a mere baron in one blow! I would’ve left Zhao Jundu in the dust if only I could’ve used the Marrow Cleansing Pond!”
Xu Lang’s deranged voice reverberated through the tunnels. His trembling blade scraped the girl’s skin, causing fresh blood to flow down her white neck. Xu Lang’s face flushed red after seeing the blood. He was both angry and excited, and his voice also turned hysterical.
Perhaps the joy of being able to throttle yet another young genius to death in this uninhabited place caused him to let go of all pretenses. He poured out all the things he had kept in his mind for so long. It was fine to chat with a dead person anyway.
“When I visited the Zhao clan to borrow their Marrow Cleansing Pond back then, I was prepared to accept any and all conditions! But they refused me without even bothering to find an excuse. Those old fellows will pay for their arrogance sooner or later! The day I, Xu Lang, become a supreme character of the martial dao, is the day the Zhao clan disappears from the empire!”
The vampire girl was no longer afraid at this point as she glanced at Xu Lang with an expression of pity and mockery. “It turns out that you’re just a coward.”
“What did you say?!” Xu Lang’s eyes almost spat out flames.
“I said you’re a coward, and you’re still dreaming about competing with that person from just now?”
Xu Lang suddenly broke into a twisted laugh. “Fine, I’ll let you understand how this coward will treat you.”
Xu Lang whispered into the girl’s ear, “I’ll flay your skin, punch a dozen holes in your blood core, and then put it back in place. Do you understand?”
The young girl couldn’t help but shudder because that was extreme torture for a vampire. A repeatedly punctured blood core would no longer heal—not even the blood pond could help. Moreover, putting the core back into place would allow it to reconnect and maintain vitality, extending the vampire’s suffering from the flayed skin. She wouldn’t even be able to commit suicide.
Torture methods targeted at vampires mostly made use of their powerful regenerative abilities to extend the period of agony.
The vampire girl didn’t beg for mercy despite her fear. She only said one word, “The Monroe won’t let you go.”
“Is that so?” Xu Lang laughed once again. He had recovered his refined demeanor at this moment, at least on the surface.
He dragged the young girl away to find an isolated cave for the torture. There was still time before the final battle, and he had no intention of crossing swords with all the experts in advance. Hiding in the shadows to deliver a decisive blow—that was Xu Lang’s style.
He had just passed by a fork in the road when Xu Lang felt a peculiarity in the environment. A wisp of black light shone onto his body, destroying his state of concealment and weakening his protective origin power. Greatly shocked, he flashed behind the vampire girl and used her to block the sable beam.
Eden walked out from a dark corner, his vertical eye flashing with dark light. “Leave her and scram!”
“It seems this fellow is important to you.” Xu Lang’s grip turned even tighter.
Eden sneered. “She’s just a vampire and not even a viscount. What importance can she have? It’s just that killing you is a matter of time, so I don’t mind letting you live a while longer.”
Xu Lang replied coldly, “Is that so? Kill me? I’d love to see you try.” His gaze fell behind Eden, wherein stood a lady with jet black hair and eyes. Xu Lang had only then discovered her presence.
His expression turned to one of shock after seeing her appearance and the golden datura insignia on her collar. “Monroe Princess!”
Xu Lang had planned to fight it out if it were Eden alone since cross-level battles were second nature to him. However, it would be suicide with Nighteye added to the equation.
The man glared at Eden for a while and shouted, “Very well, she’s yours.” He pushed the vampire girl over, performed some distractive movements, and flashed into one of the tunnels behind him in a state of concealment.
But a surging chill emerged at the end of that tunnel, and the walls became filled with blue frost.