Ye Ming was overjoyed when he found out about the effect of the potion. He had actually inadvertently discovered a recipe for a potion that improved strength. It was an achievement large enough to brag about in front of Alice. It could not help him break through to a higher rank at once, but if taken for a long period of time, it would certainly help him on his road to becoming stronger.
Ye Ming quickly wrote down the recipe and went out again to gather more of the flowers. For the next few days, he studied the recipe day and night. He experimented by increasing and decreasing the doses of different ingredients to try out various possibilities. Finally, after repeated improvements, he finalized the recipe.
Thanks to the effect of the final recipe, in addition to using himself as a lab rat for the past few days, Ye Ming’s physical strength and reaction speed had greatly improved.
Today, Ye Ming went to the spring to gather the bright-colored plants as usual.
But when he excitedly placed the gathered plant in his basket and was getting ready to go back, he suddenly heard the long, frightening howl of a wolf. Several gigantic wolves leapt out from the trees. They stood upright on two legs, hunched over. Their horrifying eyes emitted luminous green light like light bulbs.
“How dare you intrude upon our territory, Vampire,” a Werewolf broke the silence.
“Let’s eat him for dinner,” said another Werewolf.
“I get to eat his heart. Don’t anyone else dare take it,” a female Werewolf declared eerily. As soon as the words left her mouth, she instantly lunged at Ye Ming.
Ye Ming hastily dodged, so the female Werewolf pounced on nothing but empty air. She licked her lip with her tongue and said, “Pretty agile. What are you guys waiting for?!”
Once she shouted that, the three remaining Werewolves also lunged at Ye Ming.
Ye Ming had an ominous feeling. He quickly dodged to the side and stole a glance at the sky. A bright moon hung there like a silver plate. If he was here with Alice, he would appreciate the beautiful view, but Ye Ming understood very clearly that, at this moment, the full moon was more like a deadly curse to him. The power of Werewolves greatly increased under a full moon, and he was facing not one Werewolf, but four.
One could imagine the difficulty of fighting four Werewolves at the same time on a night of full moon. He would consider himself lucky if he could retreat in one piece.
Ye Ming unleashed the {Embrace of Pain} on the female Werewolf, but just as he expected, the effect of this mental attack on the Werewolf was almost negligible under the full moon.
The female Werewolf charged at Ye Ming with a sinister smirk. She did not seem to take Ye Ming seriously at all. Ye Ming drew his Vampiric Dagger and stabbed at her, but the female Werewolf simply swung her sharp claws to swipe the dagger away. Ye Ming dodged to the side to avoid the female Werewolf’s subsequent attack.
At the same time, a male Werewolf tried to launch a sneak attack on Ye Ming. A huge paw slapped down from above with great force, trying to smash Ye Ming’s head in.
Ye Ming swung his fist and met the giant paw in a contest of strength. Both of them ended up taking a few steps backward. Ye Ming was a bit surprised. It was a result he did not even dare to imagine in the past. Even when he fought only against a single Werewolf not that long ago, he did not dare to meet the opponent’s strike head on.
But his physical strength now was actually at the same level as a Werewolf in peak condition. The credit for this must definitely go to the potions he took in the last few days.
Although Ye Ming had gained more confidence, he had not forgotten that he was up against four Werewolves, so it would be foolish of him to take the situation lightly.
Another Werewolf attacked Ye Ming from behind.
Sensing the air pressure that bore ill-intent behind him, Ye Ming ducked instinctively. The Werewolf’s sharp claws skimmed over his head with a whir. Ye Ming’s back kick landed on the Werewolf abdomen, making him stagger back by three steps.
Ye Ming had just resolved the trouble on one side when the female Werewolf from before was pouncing on him again, not giving him any chance to catch his breath. Ye Ming could only turn around to deal with her again. The four Werewolves attacked Ye Ming from all sides one after another, forcing Ye Ming to use everything at his disposal to fend them off. He swung the Vampiric Dagger furiously so that its trajectory formed a web around him that prevented the Werewolves from getting close.
But by doing that, he could not injure the opponents either, so the Vampiric Dagger was unable to use its power to absorb the enemy’s Vitae to replenish Ye Ming’s energy. Ye Ming was beginning to tire.
The opponents started taking turns to fight Ye Ming. Their plan was obviously to tire Ye Ming out. Ye Ming wished to run away, but the opponents firmly stuck to him like glue. Moreover, it was not like the Werewolves were slower than him. Running was futile.
Ye Ming was visibly having a difficult time. His stance became more and more defensive, and his movements were also getting duller. The female Werewolf caught an opening and managed to punch him in the chest. Fortunately, she had used her fist rather than her sharp claws, or they would definitely have pierced into Ye Ming’s chest.
A trail of blood seeped out of the corner of Ye Ming’s mouth. He gritted his teeth and continued to fight the Werewolves with his tired body. Just when he thought this might be the end of him, about six or seven figures suddenly leaped out of the dense forest.
They quickly joined the battle. Ye Ming focused his eyes and found that they were all Vampires. He was shocked. Wasn’t this place the Dark Mountains? How could there be Vampires in a land controlled by the Werewolves? And there were so many of them!
They were definitely not here to sightsee. Most probably, there’s a gathering place of some sort nearby.
Upon reaching that conclusion, Ye Ming shifted his attention back to the battlefield. There were a total of seven Vampires, more than enough to take on a Werewolf each. The newcomers seemed to be in good physical condition, so they appeared even more energetic than the four Werewolves.
The four Werewolves had expended some energy dealing with Ye Ming, and they now had a numerical disadvantage too. The Vampires thus gradually gained the upper hand.
When the female Werewolf saw that the situation was taking a turn for the worse, she howled resoundingly, then turned around and fled into the dense forest. The rest of the Werewolves quickly routed as well. The seven Vampires did not choose to pursue them. After all, the Werewolves’ ability to summon companions was stronger than theirs.
One of the Vampires who seemed to be their leader turned to Ye Ming and asked, “Which clan are you from, my friend? Why have you come to the Dark Mountains alone?”
“I’m from the Tremere clan. I came here to gather herbs,” Ye Ming lied smoothly. He decided to use Alice’s clan as cover.
“Oh? The Tremere clan? Do you know alchemy or magic?”
Ye Ming smirked. “I do. Thank you for your help, everyone. Can you tell me what you guys are doing here?”
The leader said, “I’m Puyol of the Gangrel clan. We’ve been living in the wilderness for generations. This is also our home.”
Ye Ming had heard of the Gangrel clan. They advocated freedom. They liked to live free and unrestrained.
One of them said, “Since you know alchemy, why not pay our tribe a visit?”
Ye Ming readily agreed without needing much persuasion. After all, he had been alone in the cave for too long and craved some company to talk to. “Sure! I’ll be honored to visit your tribe.”
Ye Ming thus followed the Vampires of the Gangrel clan back to their tribe.