Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Ever since he finished cultivating the Marquis Blood Essence, Ye Ming’s time in Marquis Harland’s castle could be described as boring to the extreme. Every day, his routine consisted of patrolling, sleeping, and studying the {Blood Demon Body Technique}. He found less and less treasure chests. He had explored basically every inch of the outer castle. As for the inner castle, Ye Ming did wonder if Marquis Harland would have a secret dungeon or vault there like Count Osrhein, but thinking about it was all he could do. After the incident with the assassin, he had had no further opportunity to enter the inner castle, so there was no way to verify his suspicion.
Nearly half a month had passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, Ye Ming was performing his patrol duty as usual, still walking at the end of the formation. He overheard Rafi and Gasso chatting in front, “Have you heard? Three dry corpses were found in the church outside the city. The way they died was similar to Marquis Andrew Brujah’s men.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard about it. But that’s not all I heard. I also heard that one of the victims is somehow related to Lord Harland, and his family is seeking Lord Harland’s help to catch the murderer.”
Gasso’s words made Ye Ming’s heart sank. He did not expect one of the people he killed to be a relative of a big shot. The situation was getting tricky. If Marquis Harland really were to take this matter seriously and order a proper investigation, Ye Ming might very well be exposed. No wall was truly impenetrable; this fact Ye Ming understood.
If that were to happen, not only would he be hunted down by Marquis Andrew, he would be hunted down by Marquis Harland at the same time. Considering that, he probably could not stay in this place for much longer. He actually wanted to find an opportunity to sneak into the inner castle again to look for a secret basement or something, but that seemed impossible now.
Just to be safe, Ye Ming decided to find a chance to leave Marquis Harland’s castle in the next few days. After making the decision, Ye Ming secretly started to pack up and prepare.
One day, Ye Ming asked squad leader Rafi’s permission to leave the castle to buy some fresh blood. Although Harland Castle did provide blood for the guards, some guards had a large appetite. Moreover, the blood that was provided had usually been stored for several days, so it was not fresh at all. That was why the guards would often take time off to go out to the bazaar to buy some fresh blood to improve their diet.
Hence, squad leader Rafi did not suspect anything foul at play. After all, it was something that everyone there would often do, including himself. He readily agreed to the request.
The next day, Ye Ming packed up all his possession and brazenly left Harland Castle. Without wasting any time, the first thing he did was go to the bazaar to trade all the materials he found in Harland Castle for gold coins. Then, he bought a few bags of fresh blood.
Seeing a familiar customer, the boss gave Ye Ming a discount. Ye Ming pretended to be grateful. With the blood bags in hand, he quietly left the city of Hardy from the north gate.
The reason Ye Ming left from the north gate was because he intended to continue heading north. Only by heading north could he escape the spheres of influence of both Marquis Andrew and Marquis Harland.
Ye Ming did not forget to pay close attention to the surroundings while he traveled. He thought he could maybe pick up some treasure chests along the way.
While Ye Ming was looking around, he suddenly heard the sound of a fierce wind coming from his back. Ye Ming instinctively dodged to the side. The silhoutte of a person passed through the spot where he was standing earlier.
Ye Ming was startled. He thought he was being targetted by a robber again like in the previous encounter.
“Let’s just talk it out, my friend. There’s no need for that kind of dirty tricks,” Ye Ming stood still and said. He did not want to get caught up because his main priority was to leave as quickly as possible. He still remembered that he was out on leave. When his leave ended and he was still not back yet, it would surely attract Rafi’s attention. And when Rafi reported the situation to Ali, Ali might lead some people to look for Ye Ming all over the city. Wouldn’t that alert them that there was a problem with him?
“Friend? Ha-ha, I’m afraid I’m no friend of yours. I’m here specifically to take your life. Don’t you know that your head is worth 100 gold coins?” the other guy said with a sinister laugh.
“Marquis Andrew sent you?” Ye Ming had no choice but to take the opponent seriously now.
“Naturally. I’ve been looking for you in Hardy for nearly a whole month. Who would have thought that I’ll meet you outside the city instead? You sure know how to hide. Now, die for me!”
As soon as he said that, he lunged at Ye Ming with unimaginable speed while brandishing his sharp fangs and claws.
Ye Ming instantly dodged to the side. His movements were no slower than his opponent.
The opponent frowned. “You’re fast.”
“You’re not bad yourself,” Ye Ming said as he took out the Vampiric Dagger. Today, he would test out how far he had come with his {Blood Demon Body Technique} training.
The opponent wasted no more time with words. He pounced on Ye Ming’s chest with his claws out like a hungry tiger. If he could land this blow, he may very well rip Ye Ming’s heart out!
Ye Ming struck his dagger out at the incoming enemy’s extremely agile body. A loud, crisp clang was heard, the result of the forceful collision between the Vampiric Dagger and the enemy’s sharp claws.
‘He’s strong,’ thought Ye Ming. Based on his estimation, the opponent was at least a Viscount rank in strength. Focusing his mind back on the fight, the figure of Ye Ming flickered; this time, it was his turn to attack. Concentrating force on his toes, his body glided quickly across the ground. The tip of his dagger rushed in, aiming for the opponent’s throat.
The opponent would not let Ye Ming have his way. While rotating his body to the side, his feet pushed the ground hard, propelling him back and helping him dodge Ye Ming’s strike. The moment he steadied himself, the dagger in Ye Ming’s hand already drew a circle and was now cutting towards the outside. Ye Ming would not give the enemy a single moment to catch his breath. He would launch attack after attack, not stopping for a single instant.
The opponent clasped his hands together, clamping Ye Ming’s dagger in between his palms.
“So fast,” Ye Ming could not help blurting out. Ye Ming yanked hard to draw the dagger back. The enemy did not get into a contest of strength with Ye Ming; his objective was only to defuse this round of attack.
After retrieving his dagger, Ye Ming wished to strike again, but his opponent already made a move before he could. He launched another claw attack at Ye Ming. Ye Ming bent his waist to dodge, and at the same time, slashed his dagger across the enemy’s abdomen. It cut the enemy’s shirt open, leaving behind a trail of blood.
The opponent quickly stepped back. He wiped the blood from his abdomen with his hand and licked it. “Not bad. You’re the first person who could injure me.”
But Ye Ming roasted the opponent in his mind instead, ‘You got lucky. If I had stabbed instead of slashed just now, you’re already a dry corpse now.’
Ye Ming insisted on not using any mental power. After these few exchanges, he already had a rough grasp of his opponent — Viscount-level strength, fast movement, but lacking a little in experience.
Ye Ming did not waste any more time. He suddenly took off and flew into the sky. The opponent thought Ye Ming was running away out of fear. He naturally would not allow that, and immediately gave chase.
Ye Ming turned his head slightly to look back with the corner of his eye to make sure that the enemy was indeed catching up to him. He then suddenly turned around and used another move of the {Blood Demon Body Technique}. Ye Ming’s body twisted in an unimaginable way as his dagger stabbed towards the enemy.
The enemy was shocked. He had never seen a Vampire’s body twist to such an extent before. While he was momentarily stunned, Ye Ming suddenly threw the dagger in his hand. The flying dagger pierced into the right side of the enemy’s ribs from a very tricky angle.
The opponent let out a miserable cry and fell to the ground from the air.