Volume 5 – A Distance Within Reach, Chapter 61: Signs of Danger
Twilight pensively extended a finger and pointed to her own lips. “I’m just curious. Let me guess, the reason you’re being attracted to Evernight Continent is perhaps related to Great Monarch Andruil? The Black Winged Monarch’s greatest masterpiece is the Wings of Inception, a weapon with sentience. It is truly unimaginable!”
“Were you being so long-winded just to say this?”
“Perhaps. You know I’m too bored and there’s rarely anyone to talk to. There are only groups of useless people outside, and I couldn’t be bothered to spare them a glance. Let’s continue—the Wings of Inception flew away right in front of our eyes. It is truly inconceivable that there’s actually someone with a bloodline closer to the Black-Winged Monarch than a primo.”
Twilight shot a glance at Nighteye. “But in any case, we weren’t able to find the whereabouts of the Wings of Inception even with the Grand Prince’s secret art. Finding it again after such a long time is an impossible mission. It’s unlikely you’re here for the Wings of Inception or the Great Monarch’s other hidden treasure. Then, maybe you’re here for…”
“Enough!” Nighteye was finally showing faint traces of anger.
Twilight laughed in a muffled tone. Her trailing voice rose swiftly with an explicable allure. She moved closer to Nighteye and said softly, “You’re here for a certain person, someone who may or may not be related to the Black-Winged Monarch. Did I guess right?”
Nighteye suddenly calmed down and replied indifferently, “You’re very much correct.”
Twilight laughed lightly. “No matter what you say, the answer is already in my heart. Well then, I won’t disturb you anymore. Enjoy your last period of freedom, my most beloved sister.”
Twilight walked toward the exit but came to a sudden pause just as she was passing by the desk. She brushed away the scattered books on the table and revealed a paper pressed down at the very bottom. Upon that paper was a half-portrait of a certain person, drawn vividly with concise lines.
That was a human youth whose civilian identity was made evident by the style and texture of his clothes. He appeared fairly young and was looking straight forward with a clear and tranquil expression.
That was actually Qianye’s image from his days in Lighthouse Town.
Nighteye turned around like a tempest and shouted furiously, “What are you doing?!”
Twilight didn’t give Nighteye any opportunity. She grabbed the paper rapidly and scanned it a couple of times before raising her head. There was an inexplicable cruelty within her bewitching smile. “This is the reason you came to Evernight Continent?”
Nighteye began to feel a chill on her body. Her eyes gradually turned abstruse as she said slowly, “Twilight, you’re courting death.”
“Can you kill me?” Blood energy also began to surge on Twilight’s body, and it was much more powerful than Nighteye’s.
Nighteye’s eyes were now completely suffused with fresh blood, and Twilight’s figure suddenly appeared within it. However, blood energy churned madly and gushed out of the latter’s body, covering her in layers of scarlet mist. The almost-formed image in Nighteye’s sanguineous eyes became distorted and was even about to disappear.
The two stood opposite one another, but the battlefield immediately shifted into Nighteye’s eyes. There, Twilight’s figure was struggling, at times clear and at times blurry. It was as though they were in a stalemate—Twilight’s figure was unable to disappear, but Nighteye wasn’t able to completely seize her and force her to materialize.
This was a battle free of smoke, but it was even more vicious than real guns and blades.
Twilight suddenly raised the paper in her hands and Nighteye’s gaze turned cold upon seeing this.
“There’ll be no conclusion if we keep on going like this. You can’t kill me, at least not now. And I, have similarly important reasons not to kill you. So, why don’t we talk?”
Nighteye slowly nodded and Twilight’s figure finally faded from within her eyes. She said in a low voice, “Put down that paper.”
Twilight’s lips curved up in an enigmatic smile. “Is this person so important to you?”
Nighteye replied indifferently, “That’s not something you should be paying attention to.”
“Perhaps I should go and take a look at him.” The moment she spoke such words, Twilight felt an even sharper killing intent press down upon her. She broke out in a laughter. “See? Aren’t you so anxious right now?”
Nighteye’s gaze was incomparably serene, but her killing intent grew progressively denser.
Twilight finally withdrew her insincere smile and said seriously, “Relax, I only want to go and take a look. I won’t do anything. Why should I do anything to a human ant? Let’s make a deal. It’s not convenient for you to go out recently, but I have no such limitations. I’ll go check up on him and see how he’s doing. If he’s in trouble and I’m in a good mood, I might even help him out a little bit. What say you?”
“Nothing.”
“Such a clear-cut refusal?”
Nighteye sneered. “You can’t find him.”
“That’s not a certainty.”
Nighteye turned silent for a moment and said, “What exactly do you want?”
Twilight’s expression finally turned fervent and uttered word-by-word, “The Black-Winged Monarch’s essence blood!”
“That’s impossible because I’ve already used it,” Nightly replied calmly.
“Is that so? Then that’s quite regretful.” Twilight said nothing more. She glanced at the drawing in her hand and let out a whistle. She then placed it back on the table as though she were truly regretful and then left the room.
Nighteye stood in place for a good while before walking toward the table. She picked up the portrait and gazed silently at the youth who still bore a wisp of naivety. This was Qianye’s appearance when she had first met him, and he had already changed a lot since then. At the thought of this, Nighteye sighed softly and her tightened back relaxed somewhat.
Twilight left the castle when night fell. She turned into a black figure which vanished into the distance in the blink of an eye. She arrived at the base of a lonely and desolate mountain deep in the night. Hidden behind a certain thicket therein was an entirely dark and inexplicably eerie wooden house.
Twilight arrived before this house and entered.
The furnishings within were extremely simple with only some beast skins and hay on the floor. There was a cold fireplace at one corner, the walls of which had been blackened with soot but there wasn’t so much as an ember within. So much that the roasting rack leaning against it even had rusted stains upon it.
At a glance, this seemed like a small hut for hunters to rest in the wilderness. However, it seemed a long time had passed since anyone had come.
Twilight didn't find a place to sit down. She stood upright in the middle of the house and rested with her eyes closed.
Before long, the similarly rusted door hinge leat out a creak and in walked a stooped elderly man.
He let out a low, hoarse laugh and said, “How rare to see a major character here. Pray tell, how can I be of service?”
Twilight tossed a folded piece of paper and said, “Help me find this person. This is his portrait, but his appearance now should be completely different.”
The old man opened the paper carefully and brought it to the window to examine under the moonlight. Shockingly, it was Qianye’s portrait, and it was exactly the same as the one on Nighteye’s desk—Twilight could reproduce an exact copy of whatever she had seen before.
The old man peered carefully at the portrait and said, “A change in appearance isn’t important. There are always traces in one’s facial features and framework that I can use to search. I’ve already memorized this pair of eyes. But, can you give me a starting range? It’s beyond my ability if you want me to search the entire Evernight Continent.”
“He should’ve appeared in Trinity River County within human territory about two years ago. Is this enough?”
“Oh, there’s a small possibility now, but this human civilian might’ve died long ago. You know that this is Evernight Continent. Those weak bugs, there are simply too many things that can take away their petty lives.”
Twilight said without the slightest hesitation, “He won’t die even if you die a hundred times! This I am certain! Stop rambling incoherently and go find me this person!”
The elderly man was shocked out of his wits by Twilight’s voice. He took a step to the side, slammed heavily into the wooden wall, and wheezed several times before saying, “I’ll try my best, but it’ll be expensive.”
“How much do you want. Name the price.” Twilight's voice was frosty.
“You should know that crystal coins can’t buy everything.” The old man stole a glance at her most curvaceous area with a flash of avarice in his eyes.
Unexpectedly, Twilight had captured all of his small movements. She immediately snorted, raised a finger, and shot out a thin beam of blood energy which shot through the old man’s thigh like a bolt of lightning. The impact sent his clumsy body skidding across the floor.
The old man immediately began squealing miserably like a pig at the slaughterhouse. His hands clawed at the air with streams of dark mist rising from his fingers, but for some reason, he couldn’t touch the blood at all. He continued to wail for a full three minutes before Twilight withdrew her blood energy.
The elder’s injured leg smashed onto the floor with a painful thud. He covered the mangled wound with his hands, trembling all over. He was in so much pain that he couldn’t even cry out.
Twilight tossed a couple of crystal coins on him and sneered. “This is your down payment. Isn’t it said that your Grey Nightwalkers have infiltrated all of Evernight’s shadow? Don’t think that Twilight Continent can only rely on you and, from now on, stop being deluded about things you’re not worthy of obtaining. I’ll immediately dig out your eyes if you dare shoot indiscriminate glances again. What use do you think a black-robed elder is before a pureblood of the Monroe clan?”
The old man couldn’t help but shiver after hearing the name Monroe. He immediately grabbed the crystal coins and said repeatedly, “Rest assured, please rest assured! I’ll have results in half a month. I definitely will!”
“You know what will happen if you fail to get results after taking my money.”
The old man nodded with all his might and came pretty close to performing a blood oath.
“Bandage your leg. Don’t die from blood loss before you finish my job.” Twilight left the wooden house after saying this.
When Twilight arrived at the edge of the thicket, a tall man wearing a black trenchcoat quietly appeared from within the shadows of a large tree and stood behind her. He was exceptionally handsome and his fingers were particularly long and slender.
“Ge Mu, come back here after half a month and bring back the information in my stead.”
The young vampire named Ge Mu asked, “Then?”
Twilight replied coldly, “Then dig out his eyes and cut off his left hand and leg.”
“Just that? Don’t you want him to die slower?”
“No, leave his life. The Monroes won’t kill those who work for us.”
Ge Mu shrugged and said, “Truly an old and almost rotten principle.”
Twilight turned back and stared fixedly at Ge Mu. “You mustn’t say such words before you have the power to challenge those old fellows. It’s meaningless, understand?!”
Ge Mu laughed carelessly and said, “We’ll be able to challenge them sooner or later, won’t we?”
“We’ll see when the day comes!” Twilight left these words as her figure flickered repeatedly and appeared hundreds of meters away.
Ge Mu started to run after her and shouted, “Hey, wait for me! Listen to me! Many strange people have appeared in the vicinity recently.”
Night had once again enveloped Evernight Continent. It felt as though night had never left in the first place, and the couple of hours of sunlight during the short daytime was only a fleeting illusion.
At this moment, Qianye had already crawled back into his tent and was preparing to cultivate. But for some reason, he was suddenly overcome by an irresistible exhaustion. He controlled his body with great difficulty, found a fairly suitable posture, and fell into deep sleep.
Qianye had an odd dream that night. He was in a black forest filled with dark colored ancient trees. They were entirely devoid of leaves, and all the naked branches were twisted and warped out of shape. There wasn’t a single straight line as far as the eye could see. It almost seemed as though the chaos in his vision was being impacted by the silent and exceptionally painful cries of those ancient trees.
There was an exceptionally dazzling white figure at the center of this forest. It was a young lady walking alone.