Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
While Ye Ming was looking around the cemetery with his hopes up, Marquis Andrew’s castle was in disarray. The Blood Coffin store owner felt like he was still entitled to his 100 gold coins, so he ran back to Marquis Andrew’s Castle. When he told the butler the entire story, the butler panicked. The people he sent could already be considered the most elite Vampires under him. He never expected them to get killed by a lowly servant in Count Osrhein’s castle.
Feeling that he could not handle this matter carelessly, he reported it in full to Marquis Andrew. The Marquis was understandably furious. He berated the butler for his incompetence while mobilizing another force to go after Ye Ming – two Viscounts and three Barons.
These five were not the strongest in the castle, but their strength level could already be considered above average. At the very least, they were Vampires with peerage. In terms of combat power, they were much stronger than those sent by the butler.
The five of them went to the Count’s castle to investigate the situation. The traces of the previous fight were still there, and the four dry corpses remained in the same state as when they had died earlier.
“I think he must have run away. There’s no way he’d keep staying here,” analyzed one of the Vampires who had a lanky frame. He was a good deal taller than the other four and looked like a pole.
“Run, huh? And where could he run to? The only possible place is to the northwest where the Malkavian clan is. That’s the only place around here that’s not under the Brujah clan’s control,” said a female Vampire with her fangs bared.
“We’ll be counting on your tracking technique, Baron Lucien. We must kill him before he enters the city of Hardy, or we won’t be able to explain ourselves to Marquis Andrew.”
Baron Lucien flashed an arrogant, sinister smile. “Do not worry. No prey has ever escaped from my clutches. Never been one, and never will be.”
Following his words, he took off into the air and flew in the northwest direction. The rest followed after him by their own means.
Ye Ming was still exploring the cemetery. He had been doing so for quite some time now, but could find no sign of another treasure chest. His previously confident mood had now been dampened.
‘I’ll try a bit longer. If I still can’t find any, I’ll have to give up. I’m not out of Marquis Andrew’s sphere of influence yet, so I’m still in danger. The Blood Coffin store owner might have gone back to the Marquis to report on the situation after he ran away. If he did that, there’s no guarantee that Marquis Andrew won’t send more people after me. God knows if there are any Vampires among them who are good at tracking. I can’t throw away my life for a few treasure chests,’ thought Ye Ming as he searched.
After a while, he still couldn’t find any chests. He felt that it was a hopeless endeavour and turned around to leave. Right at that moment, a shadow flew over Ye Ming’s head. He ducked instinctively and looked up. It turned out to be a person — a Vampire that also had the flight ability.
Ye Ming instantly knew he was in trouble. The person perched on the tree in front of Ye Ming, blocking his way. He stared at Ye Ming like he was staring at a dead corpse.
Without any hesitation, Ye Ming immediately activated his flight ability and flew straight at that person.
The corner of Baron Lucien’s mouth curled up in ridicule. Based on years of experience that he had, he could tell that Ye Ming was not actually flying yet. It could only be considered gliding, which meant that the target’s strength was inferior to his own.
“You’re getting ahead of yourself,” said Baron Lucien. Instead of waiting for the others behind him to arrive, he brandished his sharp claws and flew towards Ye Ming.
Seeing that, a smirk appeared on Ye Ming’s face. “Prepare to die.”
He once again unleashed the {Embrace of Pain}. An intense pain suddenly assaulted Baron Lucien’s head, rendering him unable to control his body that was in mid-flight. When the two were approaching each other, Ye Ming slightly rotated his body sideways. They quickly passed each other by, during which the Vampiric Dagger pierced into Baron Lucien’s ribs. With a little force, Ye Ming cut Baron Lucien’s abdomen open. Baron Lucien’s innards gushed out as he fell to the ground.
The four people behind him saw everything clearly. It took but one exchange for Baron Lucien to die. It left them astonished.
“We’ll attack him together. We must not let him escape,” said the female Vampire.
Her power was in no way inferior to Baron Lucien’s, and at her call, the four remaining Vampires quickly rushed towards Ye Ming.
Ye Ming realized that he could no longer escape, so he steeled himself for the fight. He turned around and used {Eyes of Terror} on the female Vampire who was leading the way. Caught by surprise, the female Vampire could not avoid the attack. She stopped in her track and started babbling.
Ye Ming wished to finish her, but the lanky Vampire quickly stepped in front of her from behind to shield her from Ye Ming and swung his arm in attack. The Vampire had really long limbs, and his claws were sharp. When the claws collided with the dagger, it resulted in a crisp clang, shocking Ye Ming. The lanky Vampire was clearly not a weakling.
At that moment, another Vampire launched a sneak attack on Ye Ming from behind. Ye Ming heard the wind coming from his back and knew he was in trouble, so the moment he turned around, he instantly activated the {Embrace of Pain}. The assailant fell on his knees and grabbed his head screaming in agony. Ye Ming immediately pierced his head with the dagger.
Without even having the time to think, he turned to the last Vampire – the short one – and launched a mental attack on him too. The Vampire immediately let out a miserable howl. But when Ye Ming tried to take his life, the lanky Vampire once again stepped forward to obstruct his way.
“Go to hell.” Ye Ming’s hawk-like eyes turned to the lanky Vampire.
{Embrace of Pain}!
The lanky Vampire stumbled a little but did not fall down. He resisted Ye Ming’s skill with his formidable strength. However, Ye Ming still managed to take advantage of the moment he stumbled to stab the Vampiric Dagger into his thigh.
The lanky Vampire felt the blood in him flowing downward as his body began to dry up, but the sensation did not last long. The female Vampire had finally recovered from the mental attack and had attacked Ye Ming.
Ye Ming retracted his dagger. The lanky Vampire managed to hold on to his life but he had lost combat ability for now, so with unsteady steps, he retreated back.
Ye Ming did not miss the opportunity. He launched another mental attack on the female Vampire, sending her once again into pain. Right as Ye Ming’s dagger was about to pierce her chest, the short Vampire from before stepped in and blocked him off. The dagger stabbed into his chest instead. He locked his grip firmly on the dagger, stopping Ye Ming from pulling it out. At the same time, he yelled, “Run!”
The female Vampire forced herself to endure the mental pain and turned to fly away.
The Vampiric Dagger proceeded to suck the short Vampire’s blood dry. Ye Ming noticed that the lanky Vampire had not gone far; he could not move very fast due to having lost too much blood.
Ye Ming took flight and pounced on him. The lanky Vampire looked at Ye Ming in horror as the dagger stabbed him in the abdomen.
Ye Ming kicked the dried up corpse away. Looking at the fleeing figure of the female Vampire in the distance, Ye Ming did not give chase.
He eyed the lanky Vampire’s sharp claws and fangs. These were all gold coins. Ye Ming did not hesitate to use his dagger to cut them off. He defeated a total of four people: two Barons and two Viscounts. The battle had yielded a rather bountiful harvest. In addition, the Vampiric Dagger had absorbed the Vitae of four more victims, contributing further nutrients to Ye Ming’s growth.
Ye Ming quickly refined the newly absorbed Vitae and continued on towards the city of Hardy.