Chapter 395: Black Nest [V5C102 - A Distance Within Reach]
Volume 5 – A Distance Within Reach, Chapter 102: Black Nest
Qianye suddenly looked up to find that a handgun had appeared in the champion’s hand, and its black muzzle was aimed at him. It charged up in a flash before letting out a rumble. Qianye felt as though a big hammer had rammed into his chest as he flew backward and fell to the ground.
The other two were fairly surprised. They hadn’t expected the champion to have conserved his power and even managed to fire a shot at full force.
“Why?” the lanky man couldn’t help but ask.
The champion snorted as he holstered the handgun and said, “That brat should’ve killed many dark race members. There should be a lot of good stuff on his body. Killing him will make this trip worth it.”
The lanky man and the woman immediately understood. What concept was the empire’s reward? Were it not for the promise of enormous rewards, how could this group come together to risk their lives in this accursed place?
The woman immediately leapt up and said, “I’ll go search his body!”
The champion said with a frown, “Remember to add a couple of stabs. He might not be completely dead yet.”
The woman waved the blade in her hand and said, “No problem.” She approached Qianye with brisk steps, the blade in her hand gleaming coldly as she stabbed at Qianye’s throat with great viciousness.
However, Qianye’s body suddenly slid several meters away. The incoming blade struck empty air and pierced into the ground.
Qianye’s back straightened as he shot up from the ground. Following which, East Peak appeared within his hand, and a Nirvanic Rend soon shot forth.
The woman hadn’t even realized what had happened and only felt a chill at her waist. Meanwhile, an ear-splitting shout came through from behind—the champion’s voice was filled with shock and anger in equal measures.
The woman suddenly glanced back to find the champion’s protective barrier fluctuating violently on the verge of collapse. Meanwhile, a large cut had appeared on her abdomen amidst a continuous gush of fresh blood.
Qianye flitted past the woman like a gale and charged at the champion. At this moment, he had swapped out his weapon—the Blood Datura fired off one round with every step he took.
The gunshots rumbled like thunder. The champion’s protective energy was shattered in just two shots, and after which, sanguineous flowers bloomed continuously on his face and chest. By the time Qianye stood before the champion, his upper body had already become a mess of blood and gore.
The staggering champion raised his arm; it was unknown whether he was trying to defend or attack. Qianye grabbed the man’s fist and violently shattered his resistance amidst the sounds of cracking bones. Qianye then pushed the scalding muzzle into his mouth and pulled the trigger!
With a loud boom, a rain of blood shot out from the back of the champion’s head before he finally collapsed on his back. Qianye drew out the Bloody Datura and shifted his cold gaze toward the lanky man.
The woman was still staring blankly from her original position. The development was so sudden that she hadn’t even managed to react when the continuous gunshots faded away completely. Only then did she realize that she was positioned behind Qianye, and the other party had his back to her, completely unguarded. This was him showing disdain toward her, but this was perhaps an opportunity.
She subconsciously gripped the blade tightly as the thought occurred to her. If she could only launch an attack, they might yet escape this peril still. The notion was very attractive.
However, she discovered that something wasn’t quite right as she tried to exert power. She looked down to find a bloody line running through her body from which her body separated into two halves. At this moment, she finally understood that Qianye’s slash had cut through her before landing on the champion’s body.
The lanky man’s face was pale as his gaze landed on Qianye’s chest. The area was charred black, and his warrior’s apparel was already in tatters, revealing the chestguard within. There was a radial indentation on the front of the armor, a clear indication of the might of that champion’s full-force attack. That armor, however, merely became distorted without showing the slightest sign of rupture—apparently, it was no ordinary item.
The lanky man’s lips twitched slightly. Finally, he lowered his hand and said with a rueful smile, “You saved us, but we repaid you with enmity. It’s only right that we die in your hands. Do it!”
Qianye shot the man a glance and said indifferently, “You have never touched your weapon since the very beginning. So, I’ll let you go. Put down all your belongings and leave.”
The lanky man was startled for a moment. Afterward, he threw down his backpack and removed everything else he had on his body before running in the direction Qianye had pointed out.
“Hold it,” Qianye called him back.
The lanky man turned back in shock, thinking that Qianye had changed his mind. Unexpectedly, he saw Qianye toss him an origin gun and a combat knife, which he caught subconsciously.
“Take these for self-defense. You won’t be able to reach the empire otherwise,” said Qianye.
The lanky man was greatly astonished at this. He gazed deeply at Qianye and said, “I’m called Gao Congyuan. I hope we meet again one day!” With that, he turned around and disappeared into the forest.
Qianye didn’t put this matter to heart. He inspected the spoils of war and found, to his surprise, a viscount-grade vampiric fang, and a viscount grade werewolf heart. There were also dozens of other items grade-five and above usable as proof of contribution.
It turned out that these adventurers had already killed two viscounts along the way, and judging from the number of their spoils, they had likely knocked out a viscount’s territory already. No wonder they were full of confidence and rushed toward Black Nest without even bothering to scout it out. It was just that they hadn’t expected the stronghold to have already become a dark race transit base. In the end, they had bumped into a hornet’s nest.
It seemed the adventurer group’s spoils were all held for safekeeping by the champion. Now, all of it had easily fallen into Qianye’s hands.
After putting away the spoils, Qianye carefully wiped away his traces and entered the forest once more. The woods and mountains were the home-ground of the dark races, but it was also his own home-ground.
…
The surging origin power tides were slowly receding within the Zhao clan’s “Ketu Violet Courtyard”.
Zhao Jundu extended his hand and allowed the plumes of falling violet flames to enter his palm. He then asked without turning back, “Second brother, were you looking for me?”
Zhao Junhong had been standing for some time at the entrance of the training grounds. He took the silver tray from his follower’s hand and gestured for him to leave. He himself walked toward Zhao Jundu and passed him the wet towel. “When do you plan to go and find him?”
The last Zhao clan unit participating in this bloody battle had left at noon today. The destination of Zhao Jundu’s personal vehicle, however, wasn’t the empire’s Evernight command center, but the remote Trinity River County.
Zhao Junhong watched Zhao Jundu wipe his sweat and change his external robe. His movements were relaxed and elegant, no different from his usual demeanor. But Zhao Junhong knew that the flames of anger in his fourth brother’s heart, ignited by the news Zhao Yuying had brought back upon her return, had never quieted down.
“I’ll go and bring him out. The Zhao clan hasn’t fallen to a state where we need him to risk life and limb for military contributions.” Zhao Jundu glanced back and lapsed into a moment of silence after seeing Zhao Junhong’s expression. Finally, he said, “He took Yuying’s token. Those with intentions will find out his whereabouts as soon as he goes to exchange military contributions.”
The Zhao clan had always drawn people’s attention, and there were too many people with malicious intentions. It might be the Nangong family, another aristocratic family, or even someone from the Zhao clan. Even identities like Zhao Jundu and Zhao Yuying’s couldn’t guarantee absolute safety on the big battlefield, to speak nothing of of Qianye. So much so that he wouldn’t even “die in battle”—it was more likely that he would be found “missing”.
“Fourth Brother, you know this bloody battle is not the same as before.”
There was no expression on Zhao Jundu’s face. “Is Second Brother advising me to think of the big picture?”
“No.” Zhao Junhong sighed. “Fourth Brother, have you thought about how much more attention you will draw after entering Evernight Continent.”
Zhao Jundu was somewhat startled at this. Zhao Junhong continued, “It might not be good for Qianye if you’re over attentive of him at this point. In fact, it will only add to his danger. At that time, Qianye will be surrounded not only by his own enemies but yours as well.”
Zhao Jundu’s participation in the Iron Curtain would definitely draw special attention from the aristocracy. Meanwhile, the enemies who wanted to hunt Zhao Jundu were much more powerful than those who wanted to kill Qianye. Just like Nangong Xiaofeng, he was simply too lazy to touch Qianye at first and went directly for Zhao Yuying.
There was another thing Zhao Junhong didn’t say. He had heard from Zhao Yuying that Qianye didn’t want to meet Zhao Jundu. He was almost certain that the stubborn youth who had left a deep impression on him back at the Profound Heaven Spring Hunt wouldn’t follow arrangements obediently.
Zhao Jundu remained silent for a good while. “I know. I only…” He paused for a moment and continued after taking a deep breath, “What right does a bastard like Zhao Fenglei have to humiliate Qianye?”
Zhao Fenglei and Zhao Yuying arrived back at the clan at almost the same time. There weren’t any major chaos, but minor conflicts were unavoidable. Zhao Fenglei’s words were naturally unpleasant to hear. He didn’t dare address Zhao Jundu directly but put all the blame on Qianye, fueled by the previous resentment about Zhao Jundu’s attempt to bring someone into his residence.
“When a formerly overlooked character rises to power, he will definitely experience a lot of setbacks and suppression. That’s because people truly feel threatened. But everyone will choose to bow their heads when he soars into the sky with nothing to hold him back.” Zhao Junhong watched his Fourth Brother in silence before saying, “This is the path of the strong. No one can do it for him.”
The Iron Curtain over Evernight had gone beyond a night-like darkness. Qianye would occasionally scan his surroundings with True Sight as he ran swiftly through the forest. This revealed all sources of origin power within two kilometers and allowed him to avoid being ambushed by experts.
Suddenly, Qianye discovered a strand of extremely intense darkness origin power. His heart was shaken because he knew that the big fish he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
He inspected the equipment within Andruil’s Mysterious Realm, brought out the great master’s “bullet”, and placed it in his pocket. His mind was on a different matter. With Blackflow City’s resources and future prospects, he could already establish his own weapons factory. He decided that he would visit the small town on the Western Continent once this bloody battle was over and invite that great master to Blackflow City at all costs.
There would never be enough killer weapons like the “bullet” in a war against the dark races.
Qianye retracted his aura and slowly approached the source of that origin power. As expected, the forest had already become a battlefield, and the wild beasts here had been killed off completely. This removed any worry of his whereabouts being located.
In the end, Qianye selected a high vantage point and, after disguising himself, began to investigate the battlefield below. He saw a large unit of dark race warriors passing by atop a nearby grassy knoll, surging with killing intent. Among them, some were werewolves, but most were arachne. The land trembled slightly as the ten-odd massive, sinister-looking arachne passed by.
The arachne at the center of the unit was exceptionally eye-catching. His arachnid body was black with strands of silver patterns upon it. In terms of physique, he was even larger than the count’s primal form.
Apparently, this arachne was different from Stuka who fought mainly with poison and different abilities. He was likely closer to Brahms who favored engaging in close-quarter melee.