Volume 3 – The Place Where My Heart Feels At Peace, Chapter 107: Visitor (Part 1)
Qi Sicheng made a throat-slitting gesture and whispered, “I’ve cleaned up most of the matters here. Those who know too much are now eternally silent. Given enough time, I’m even quite confident in shutting up General Ji’s group regarding that big matter.
Wu Zhengnan asked without commenting, “So?”
“So, you can go to the Department of Military Affairs at ease and wrangle with them until everything’s been made clear. Things have been cleaned up quite well on our side so when the time comes, there’ll be no valid testimonies. This will also make it easier for the expeditionary army bigshots to help you. You’ll definitely be able to walk out of the headquarters safe and sound. It’s obvious from this matter that the imperial army has no intentions to make things difficult for the expeditionary army.”
Wu Zhengnan laughed, “Yes, indeed. The expeditionary army is, after all, the empire’s barrier in the Evernight Continent. Furthermore, I heard the recent situation isn’t so peaceful.”
“Not being peaceful is a good thing! Those lords will only remember about our benefits when there’s no peace.”
Wu Zhengnan waved his hand. “That’s enough Old Qi, no need to speak further. I know what to do. You should continue to tie up the necessary loose ends. If those lords come down again, don’t let them see anything they shouldn’t. From now on, you may mobilize all of the 7th division’s personnel and resources at your discretion.”
“Rest assured, I’ll arrange everything well.”
Qi Sicheng was about to leave after seeing Wu Zhengnan nod, however, the latter suddenly asked, “What’s the situation over at the old street?”
Qi Sicheng’s steps halted as he thought for a moment. “No activity.”
The old street was where most of Blackflow City’s crooks gathered. Wu Zhengnan possessed a long-standing personal channel there. Even Qi Sicheng wasn't privy to the details of the operation as he only managed the transfer of certain things between the two parties. He had absolutely no idea where the channel was connected to. However, the old street has been rather silent as of late which, in and of itself, could be considered good news during this period of unrest.
Wu Zhengnan nodded once again and didn’t speak any further. Hence, Qi Sicheng left at that point.
Qi Sicheng’s steps halted as he reached the end of the hallway. He shot a backward glance as a vague strand of malice appeared within the depths of his eyes. “I’ll definitely let those lords see the things they ‘should’ see.”
Back in the office, Wu Zhengnan was still gazing at the city. No activity—was that man planning to save his own skin? Everything will become clear on the morrow. He only had to wait one more day.
He suddenly laughed. Although the sound was very soft, it contained a tinge of madness. “Will I really be safe even if I’m able to walk out of the Department of Military Affairs? At that time, there’s no telling into whose hands the 7th division will fall. It won’t be me in any case. What an ending… heh, heh, heh, heh.”
In Blackflow City, the Wei clan and Broken Winged Angels had rented out half a block. Qianye found an independent room nearby because he didn’t want to come into frequent contact with the Broken Winged Angels. Additionally, the evolution of the blood energy in his body was becoming increasingly odd. Although he didn’t need to avoid Wei Potian himself, there were Wei clan champions around him. Therefore, it was more convenient for him to live alone. He even returned the attendants Wei Potian had sent to him.
A Wei clan guard came to deliver a certain list that evening. It was news from the village—written upon it was the recent developments regarding the numerous seedlings and the loot they had obtained from the battle.
These young men possessed good constitution. With the Wei clan’s medicine and emergency treatment, most of them were able to make a complete recovery. After calculations, the true death toll of this battle was less than 200. Additionally, the 100-odd underage boys and girls were completely unharmed. This number was much better than Qianye’s expectations.
After cleaning up the battlefield, the weapons and equipment they had obtained from the expeditionary army could outfit at least half a regiment. The 15th division also reacted quite swiftly and had already proposed a compensation. They planned to hand over a small town with a population of thousands in addition to a black stone mine and a smaller iron mine which produced a small amount of red crystal iron. Additionally, they promised to assist with security for one year. This also meant that as long as the 15th division existed, the small town would be extremely safe for the following year.
These were rather generous and sincere conditions. Obviously, the 15th division had already sensed something out of the ordinary. The compensation was initially offered to the Wei clan but Wei Potian heroically waved his hand and transferred it to Qianye.
Additionally, the guard also brought another piece of news—the 15th division had handed over Wei Cheng and his family. As for the latter’s fate, the guard didn’t elaborate in detail. However, the aristocratic families had always punished traitorous family members with the utmost severity and cruelty. Not only was Wei Cheng likely to be executed, his family might not escape death either. It would depend on the results of Wei clan’s investigations whether or not his friends and relatives would become involved.
The seedlings were still living in the Far East Heavy Industries mines for now. As Qianye still had no idea how to make arrangements for them at the moment, he decided to wait until Wu Zhengnan’s business had been concluded before making further plans. Without cleaning up this matter first, those young people would likely be in danger the moment they left the Wei clan’s area of influence. It wasn’t just for silencing them—the dark races would similarly show great interest in them. The allure of a dozen bloodline seedlings was difficult for even a dark race count to refuse.
Qianye immediately entered a quiet room to cultivate after the Wei clan guard took his leave.
Although he hadn’t directly ingested blood in this battle, the purple gold blood energy had automatically passed outward to absorb the blood power staining his body. This kind of absorption was quite slow compared to direct extraction, but it could, over time, accumulate a fairly impressive amount. Qianye could only utilize the powerful origin power surge of combatant formula while urging the blood energy to protect his innards in order to consume the vast amounts of blood energy within his body.
Half the night quickly passed by the moment he started cultivating. Now that he had sufficient blood energy defenses, Qianye’s Combatant Formula was able to successfully circulate to the 35th cycle without much damage to his body. At this rate, he would be able to attack the sixth origin power node in under two months.
It was already past midnight by the time his cultivation ended. Qianye stood up to stretch his body and found that it still felt rather bloated. It was as if he was swelling with origin power but he knew it was but a misperception—this actually indicated that there was too much blood power in his body.
However, the dark red ordinary blood energy was already satiated and was no longer absorbing blood power. All of them had retreated into his heart to hibernate. Qianye felt an inexplicable premonition that a second advanced blood energy would come into being within a few days.
Qianye was gradually becoming quite accustomed to the coexistence of these blood energies. From time to time, he was able to control them, but at other times, they would act on their own. The only thing worth rejoicing so far was that the blood energies weren’t able to control him at all. This was the present situation regardless of Qianye’s willingness.
The deep night was very tranquil. Blackflow City, with its usually abundant nighttime activity, was exceptionally quiet for some reason. Perhaps the citizens had sensed the abnormality and instinctively reduced their outdoor activities.
Qianye walked toward the window and gazed at the sky. The starry sky was blocked by large patches of darkness. In truth, they weren’t formed from the darkness of the night but from the shadows cast down by the upper continents. One would only be able to notice the difference after witnessing the sky of the upper continents.
This was Qianye’s favorite night time activity during the spring hunt—to sit down and gaze at the starry sky in a relatively deserted location. In this world, being able to see a sky full of stars was also an indication of one’s status. Even after returning to Evernight, Qianye would still habitually look up at the night sky, and whenever he did, he would be reminded of the brilliant river of stars in the upper continent.
The night was still young. Qianye didn’t feel any sleepiness perhaps because of the overly abundant blood energy. He simply spread out his tools on the long table and began to maintain his weapons—first the Eagleshot, then the Twin Flowers.
However, Qianye sensed something odd while wiping the pair of famous pistols that had brought him a fair amount of trouble. The pistols possessed powerful firepower but, as his blood energy advanced, he began to feel more and more that something wasn’t quite right when he used them. It was a kind of obscure sluggishness as if he was using it the wrong way.
Theoretically, there shouldn’t be any essential difference between human and vampire firearms. The method of activation for both involved the injection of origin power—one would be able to fire the gun as long as he could activate the origin array.
But Qianye somehow felt he hadn’t been using the correct activation method or otherwise it might be a defect in the two pistols themselves. He studied them repeatedly and tried using different blood energies on their own for activation. The more progress he made, the more he realized that something was possibly missing in the Twin Flowers—it was perhaps a certain special part, a certain type of special darkness origin power, or maybe it required a vampire bloodline as medium.
Qianye shook his head as he put down the Twin Flowers and picked up the Radiant Edge. When the blood power was at its thickest on the battlefield, he had occasionally been able to rapidly extend the blade to one meter in length. As it turned out, this was the true might of a champion level weapon. The extended blade tip was similar to a materialization of external origin power and possessed similar destructive powers, a weapon highly effective for group fights.
He wiped the Radiant Edge—the veined patterns on the weapon were exquisite, smooth and even finer than hair. One could almost feel the origin power splitting into tens of thousands of strands as it flowed gently within. It was truly difficult to imagine how the vampire craftsmen were able to produce such fine patterns.
The following two days were quite peaceful. Nobody disturbed Qianye’s little house apart from the Wei clan guards who had come over to deliver some supplies. Qianye continued to cultivate the Combatant Formula and had finally used up the blood power in this body.
It was already midnight by the time he emerged from the quiet room once again.
Qianye was somewhat startled after suddenly hearing a soft yet sharp whistle—this was the alarm he had deployed in the yard. It would produce a soft yet penetrative sound after sensing an intruder.
The whistle resounded repeatedly and regularly. By the sound of it, it seemed as if many people were rushing into the courtyard. The regular activation interval indicated that it was a well-disciplined military squad, however, Qianye frowned because he couldn’t sense their aura. With his current ability, only those at the rank of champion or higher would be able to completely avoid detection.
Grabbing the nearby Radiant Edge, Qianye stepped out calmly and opened the door. There was indeed someone in the courtyard—it was, to be precise, a very familiar person.