Ye Ming fled from the ancient castle with all his might.
Marquis Ollier’s butler ran out of the castle and shouted, “Assassin! Catch the assassin!”
The castle instantly erupted in an uproar. The guards responsible for the defense of the inner castle rushed to the scene at once, some of them running into Ye Ming along the way. A fierce fight immediately broke out between both sides. Ye Ming instantly used his killer move – his mental attack. The handful of guards in front of him fell to the ground wailing and covering their head.
Ye Ming then used the {Blood Demon Body Technique} to sidestep them. He did not dare to stay for even a moment longer because there were still a lot of other guards rushing over from behind, including some who were particularly strong.
Ye Ming used his flight skill to fly out of the ancient castle. Seeing that the guards were still chasing after him, he tried his best to hasten his pace.
A few of the chasing Vampires were obviously experts in pursuing. They were extremely fast, and in the span of but a few breaths, they had already closed the distance to Ye Ming considerably. Ye Ming knew he had to do something. He must make use of the complex terrain that was the streets of Benguela to lose them.
Therefore, Ye Ming instantly landed on the ground. He started playing hide-and-seek with the pursuers in the streets and alleys of Benguela, waiting for an opportunity to activate {Stealth} again. Sure enough, the move was effective; the pursuers were once again shaken off by Ye Ming. Ye Ming did not dare waste any time. He instantly ran to the northern city district.
He must get out of the city as quickly as possible. When the city gates closed, he would be trapped inside with no chance of escape, like a turtle in an urn.
When he finally reached the northern gate, he found to his relief that it was not closed yet. He immediately barged out.
However, right after he stepped out of the city, he heard a strong rush of wind behind him — a few throwing knives were heading straight for his heart. Ye Ming rolled forward without losing momentum, barely dodging the throwing knives that grazed his scalp as they whirred past him.
The aged voice of Marquis Ollier came from somewhere behind him. “He’s right ahead. I’ve forced him out of stealth.”
‘Screw you, old man. You’re like a ghost who can’t let go. It’s not like I actually stole anything from your castle. I just took some things that are of no use to you,’ Ye Ming condemned the old Vampire in his mind while putting more power into his legs.
More than twenty Vampires had dashed out of the northern gate in pursuit. From time to time, Ye Ming would be assaulted by a throwing knife from behind, preventing him from entering {Stealth}.
‘This won’t do! I must think of something, fast!’ Ye Ming forced his brain into overdrive. He suddenly recalled a place called the Dark Mountains northwest of Benguela, where the Werewolves reside. Vampires and Werewolves were mortal enemies; maybe he could make use of the Werewolves to get rid of the pursuing Vampires. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that it was a good idea. The problem was, Werewolves had a strong territorial awareness, so trespassers would usually meet a grim fate. Unfortunately, Ye Ming had no other choice. Right now, the Vampires were his biggest threat. If he had to pick his poison, he would pick the Werewolves without question.
Having made up his mind, he changed direction and headed northwest where the Dark Mountains were.
An alarmed shout came from behind. “Stop him! Don’t let him run to the Dark Mountains!”
Of course, that was none of Ye Ming’s concern. His only concern was to run as hard as he could.
After climbing up a small hill, a seemingly endless mountain range came into view not far away. The mountain range looked like a coiled-up sleeping dragon lying eeriely silent on the land.
Ye Ming looked back. His pursuers were now less than 50 meters away from him. Steeling himself, he headed straight for the Dark Mountains.
The pursuer in the lead came to a halt on the hill not long after. Any further and he would be entering the Werewolves’ territory. He did not dare set his foot there lightly.
Marquis Ollier came up from behind in his usual elegant manner. No matter what the occasion was, he would always maintain his gentlemanly demeanor.
“What do we do, my lord?” one of the Vampires lowered his head and asked.
Marquis Ollier gazed ahead and instructed, “Have some people wait here. If the Werewolves force that guy out, capture him.” He left them with those words and headed back.
“Yes, my lord.” The leader of the pursuers, the guard captain, quickly passed down the order. He picked out the men he thought were the best and had them stay. He emphasized once again that their goal was to catch the infiltrator and warned them not to clash with the Werewolves.
His men nodded in affirmation.
The guard captain then led the rest of the Vampires back along with the Marquis.
Meanwhile, Ye Ming had entered the Dark Mountains and had been running for some time. He turned back to look. Only after he confirmed that there were no longer any Vampires chasing after him did he finally stop to rest.
He sat down on a boulder to catch his breath, surveying his surroundings from time to time. His attention was suddenly attracted by a certain plant under the boulder. He picked it up and inspected it.
“Underworld Herb?” He was very familiar with this herb thanks to his time working in the trading house. It was a kind of herb the Vampires needed, and was especially important for the Tremere clan who were proficient in alchemy and magic.
(TL: The Tremere clan: https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Tremere_(VTM) )
The surprise did not end there. When Ye Ming looked around more carefully, he found many other valuable herbs there.
Although Ye Ming himself had no knowledge of alchemy, it would not stop him from selling them for a good price.
If he were to take these back to the trading house to sell, he would become rich enough to call himself a wealthy man. He would even be able to afford the Count Blood Essences he needed to break through to the next rank.
And so, Ye Ming started joyfully picking herbs like he was gathering treasures. From Ye Ming’s perspective, it was not herbs that grew from the ground around here, but gold coins! The ground was littered with gold coins!
But while Ye Ming was immersed in the joy of gathering herbs, he suddenly sensed a burst of energy fluctuation in the distance.
“What a powerful aura!” Ye Ming could not help but be shocked. He realised that the place where the fluctuation was occurring was not too far from where he was.
He then heard the yell of a woman coming from that place. That made Ye Ming even more curious. He put away the herbs he had gathered in his bag, activated {Stealth}, and quietly sneaked in the direction where the energy fluctuation was coming from.
After going around a small mound, Ye Ming could finally see what the commotion was. A woman was engaged in a fierce battle with a black wolf the size of an ox in the hollow ahead. Their battle would crash one of the surrounding trees to the ground from time to time, sending the wild creatures fleeing in panic.
Ye Ming could tell with a single glance that the woman was a Vampire. ‘Wow, she even knows magic!’
The woman ran as she fought, and she happened to be moving in Ye Ming’s direction. Every now and then, she would turn around to unleash a fireball at the black wolf. That the woman was using was obviously Vampire magic.
Eventually, the woman started running out of stamina and her actions turned sluggish. The black wolf pressed forward threateningly while hurling its claws that were as big as a bear’s claws one after another at the woman. By now, the woman no longer had the energy to fight back; all she could do was defend herself.
But it was obvious that her fighting techniques were better than the Werewolf’s as she managed to safely resolve every fatal attack. Her only weakness was perhaps her physical stamina.
When Ye Ming saw that the woman was moving in his direction, a troublesome question rose in his mind: to save or not to save? If he saved the woman, he would definitely offend the Werewolves, but he could not bear leaving a damsel in distress alone. While he was still hesitating, the woman suddenly took a claw to the chest that sent her flying to the bottom of the mound near Ye Ming.
She coughed up a mouthful of dark blood and collapsed to the ground. When the Werewolf saw that he had gravely injured the woman, his face displayed a look of triumph.