Chapter 106

Chapter 106

“Qin, where did you go?”

Wagner called.

“They’re waiting for you to come organize the activities.”

“I’m truly sorry.” Qin Weizhi’s voice carried an apology, though his face showed not the slightest expression. “Something came up at the last minute. I won’t be able to accompany our honored guests for their entertainment.”

There was no sound from Wagner’s end. Just as Qin Weizhi was about to hang up, Wagner’s voice rang out again. This time, the background noise had faded; he had clearly moved somewhere else.

“You won’t let me see you off?” Wagner said with deep feeling. “I believe we certainly won’t make this sort of mistake again next time.”

Qin Weizhi thought for a moment, then gave him an address.

An hour later, they arrived at a helipad on the outskirts of Sujing.

The helicopter was already standing by. From the look of it, Qin Weizhi had long since prepared to leave Sujing. He had only been waiting until the final moment, once the outcome was confirmed, before making his escape.

Wagner Jones had actually arrived ahead of them. It seemed Qin Weizhi had kept the car circling around the whole time, choosing a more hidden route.

In the night, Wagner’s white hair was especially striking. Paired with that sculpted, wrinkleless face of his, he never looked flustered no matter the situation, giving him the deeply uncomfortable feeling of a mask.

Ning Qiuyan was looking around, his mind racing.

This place was remote, and Vampires were everywhere. It seemed there was no possibility of escape. But Qin Weizhi appeared to have other plans for him, so his life probably wasn’t in danger for the time being. If he made one desperate attempt…

“I told you that you guessed wrong.” As they approached, Wagner stated his position. “You simply wouldn’t listen.”

Everything Wagner had was in Sujing, so of course he couldn’t possibly leave.

But that didn’t stop him from speaking to Qin Weizhi in the tone of someone with experience.

Whether they were friends or not, Wagner and Qin Weizhi shared the same goal.

Wagner was an entirely emotional creature. He firmly believed that a Blood Contract Partner held the supreme position, and that Ning Qiuyan should have been chosen from the start rather than Lu Qianque. Qin Weizhi, however, was different. As he had said to Ning Qiuyan, humans might pose a temporary threat, but only the undead had long-term value to exploit. He preferred to strike steadily, ruthlessly, and precisely, landing the blow in one hit.

By now, Qin Weizhi’s view had been utterly defeated.

Qin Weizhi replied, “Next time, I will give Mr. Jones’s opinion careful consideration.”

Then he asked, “What benefits did they get?”

His tone was sinister.

Wagner waved a hand and said helplessly, “You and I are grasshoppers tied to the same rope. They hid it from me too, so I don’t know much. I only know that it seems Guan Heng agreed to permanently give up his status as a founder of the Blood Supervision Council, and permanently give up his voting rights.”

Ning Qiuyan could not believe what he had just heard. He turned his head sharply.

Qin Weizhi sneered. “Just for one human? I don’t believe he would make such a great sacrifice.”

Wagner glanced at Ning Qiuyan and sighed. “Isn’t it only normal?”

Qin Weizhi said, “What part of that is normal?”

“With Lu Qianque alone, Guan Heng could have taken his time playing chess with us. But a human life lasts only a few short decades. Time is very precious. Since this has already severely affected his life with this young friend of his, he can only withdraw early,” Wagner said. “If it were me, I would do the same.”

Ning Qiuyan was stunned.

Wagner and Qin Weizhi seemed to be speaking in riddles, yet he felt as though he understood a little of what they meant.

But the current situation left him no room to think carefully.

Wagner remained perfectly composed and asked Qin Weizhi, “So what now? If you take him away, are you planning to wait for Guan Heng to rightfully request a Wanted Order from the Blood Supervision Council and hunt you across the entire world?”

Qin Weizhi had backed the wrong horse from the very beginning, yet even at this point he did not seem particularly upset. His answer was unreadable. “Let him deal with his own troubles first.”

Wagner smiled elegantly and said calmly, “Actually, you might as well leave him with me first. We can discuss the matter at length.”

There was a deeper meaning in those words.

In that instant, Ning Qiuyan’s nerves felt as if they had been plucked by an extremely fine thread.

He had already picked out an escape route and intended to stake everything on one attempt, but now, in utter disbelief, he was rooted to the spot.

Qin Weizhi also tasted something in those words, though it was completely different from what Ning Qiuyan had sensed.

He rejected the offer coldly. “There’s no need for you to worry about that. It is better to keep a bargaining chip in one’s own hands.”

Wagner sighed. “All right, then.”

As if giving up that little scheme of his, he asked Qin Weizhi, “What do you plan to do next? Will you be turning him?”

The question was directed at Qin Weizhi, but Wagner’s eyes once again fell on Ning Qiuyan. There was no emotion whatsoever in those silver eyes.

“Perhaps.”
Qin Weizhi answered.

The instant he finished speaking, Ning Qiuyan felt someone yank him hard. Immediately after, Wagner’s voice rose sharply. “Qin Weizhi-”

Agony tore through his neck as a pair of fangs sank viciously into him from behind.

A different toxin entered his veins. His entire body rejected it violently.

Pain and numbness like nothing he had ever felt spread through every limb and bone. In the blink of an eye, he could no longer move. His senses did not vanish at once, but the sounds reaching his ears were blurred and indistinct.

He wanted to scream, but blood gushed from his mouth in great mouthfuls.

In his agitation, Wagner seemed to have switched to his mother tongue.

Qin Weizhi’s voice sounded as if it were separated from him by a layer of water. “But Guan Heng seems very unwilling to let him become one of my kind.”

His body suddenly grew light. Ning Qiuyan felt himself leave the ground, convulsing as he was lifted into someone’s arms.

The sound of helicopter rotors rose, and a violent wind whipped up around them. Wagner said something else, while Qin Weizhi’s words, so close at hand, grew even more muffled. “…Since we’re keeping him human, we might as well let him try being one of the blood slaves first. At least then he’ll be of some use, won’t he?”

His eyelids would not open.

Ning Qiuyan used every last bit of strength he had before he finally managed to crack them open a sliver.

In the darkness, overlapping shadows doubled and blurred. Everything around him seemed to bare its teeth and claws. Dizziness surged into his skull, and nausea overwhelmed him.

They seemed to be entering the cabin.

In his daze, Wagner’s face suddenly appeared behind Qin Weizhi.

Then he heard Wagner say in Chinese, his tone tinged with regret, “I didn’t want to make a move, but if you keep this up, I won’t be able to answer for it.”

…

The image lurched. His field of vision dropped rapidly.

Ning Qiuyan fell limply to the ground like a rag.

Cold liquid thick with the smell of blood splashed all over his face.

Qin Weizhi’s eyes flew wide open. He abruptly dropped to his knees, his long hair whipping wildly in the wind, a huge hole torn through his chest.

Something rolled across the ground with a dull, wet sound.

It was his bright red heart.
—
The unfamiliar toxin coursed domineeringly through his body. It felt as if a knife had been driven into Ning Qiuyan’s brain and stirred around, splitting his head open with pain and making him want to retch.

What came into view was a pitch-black car roof.

Ning Qiuyan lay in the back seat. He could see Wagner’s white hair, as well as the pale back of his hand as he wiped away blood with a handkerchief.

“I only left for a little while. How did you disappear on me?” Wagner said. “I told you I had good news to tell you later.”

…

The scene was strange, the sounds muffled.

Wagner bit open his own finger, then reached over with the blood-dripping fingertip.

Ning Qiuyan’s consciousness kept sinking.

He did not actually know what Wagner had fed him, but some will had come from nowhere. Even though his pupils had already dilated, he somehow kept forcing himself to preserve the last faint thread of clarity. He breathed in short, rasping gasps and never truly slipped into unconsciousness.

It was noisy all around him.

He did not know whether there were many people nearby, or whether it was only the static inside his brain.

Figures crossed and overlapped. There were a few cries of pain.

Wagner wiped his hand clean. His silver eyes shifted toward the human whose head was resting on his lap, and then he sighed. “You’re hurt rather badly…”

That hand reached over. His vision went dark, and Ning Qiuyan was forced to close his eyes.

The noise swelled. It was not only his consciousness-his entire body seemed to grow heavy and sink downward with it.

…

The car door opened.

Cold wind poured into the vehicle. Vague conversation drifted into his ears, both unfamiliar and familiar.

Ning Qiuyan was drenched. The cold sweat produced by his body’s rejection of the toxin and the intake of foreign blood made him look as if he had just been pulled from water.

He suspected he was suffering from severe hallucinations, because Lu Qianque’s face had actually appeared near the car window, smiling as he reached a hand toward him.

“Time to go home,” he said, his voice hazy. “Little Puppy.”

The scene was recreated with startling accuracy.

It was as if Ning Qiuyan were still soaking in that icy pond, while Chi Yang darted into the woods like a flash of lightning.

And Lu Qianque, dressed in a black suit, crouched on the bank and reached out to him, saying, “Why haven’t you grabbed on to me yet?”

Time had flowed backward.

The difference was that the Lu Qianque before him now looked terrible. His outstretched right hand was wrapped in layer upon layer of gauze, and his skin was a deathly gray.

Not a trace of white could be seen on the bandages. They were soaked with blood, vivid as drops of red rain.

That was what made Ning Qiuyan certain this was not a dream.

“Don’t worry. It’s not my blood.”

Lu Qianque’s voice began to grow clear, and so did his features.

“The wound can only heal if it’s soaked in blood. Otherwise, this hand won’t reattach.”

It really was not a dream.

Ning Qiuyan’s eyes reddened rapidly, and fat tears rolled down his cheeks. Lu Qianque’s expression tightened, and even his eyes turned red.

When Ning Qiuyan weakly reached out, Lu Qianque took his hand and helped him sit all the way up.
There was plenty of blood on Ning Qiuyan’s collar as well. The bite Qin Weizhi had left was on the side of his neck, the wound brutal and in no way pretty.

“I wish you could tell me this blood isn’t yours, either,” Lu Qianque said.

Seeing Ning Qiuyan about to collapse, Lu Qianque immediately hoisted him onto his back.

They passed the cars. Through Ning Qiuyan’s blurred vision, he saw Wagner standing at the other end of a vehicle, nodding politely to Lu Qianque.

Lu Qianque did not seem to acknowledge him.

Ning Qiuyan had a hundred questions he wanted to ask, but he still felt dizzy and had no strength to speak.

They were no longer near the apron.

Ning Qiuyan had no idea how Lu Qianque had gotten here. They did not get into another car, either; they simply kept walking forward.

Ning Qiuyan lay against Lu Qianque’s back. For Lu Qianque, carrying him was effortless.

They walked for a long time in the night wind.

On that long, dark road, it seemed as if only the two of them were left.

It made Ning Qiuyan feel as though this was a dark and endless dream, but one whose outcome was, all things considered, acceptable.

“…What about sir?” Ning Qiuyan had recovered a little and was starting to burn with fever, but he still remembered to ask about Guan Heng.

Lu Qianque seemed to stop. After a pause, he started walking again.

He asked Ning Qiuyan, “Was it fun?”

He was talking about what Ning Qiuyan had done this time.

Ning Qiuyan was utterly weak. He could not make a sound every time he tried.

“An insignificant ant can’t jump around under our noses for more than a couple of days. Was that really worth risking your life for?” Lu Qianque criticized him in that familiar tone. “I can’t understand how sir agreed to let you run wild.”

Ning Qiuyan: “…”

“Although I’m very touched that you were willing to risk your life to save me, promise me you won’t do that again, all right?” Lu Qianque said. “It’s not like I’ll die anyway. At worst, I’ll be locked up for a few more decades. But if something happens to you, I won’t be able to find a second Ning Qiuyan to compensate sir with.”

“Mm.” Ning Qiuyan’s voice was dry. “…It wasn’t… it wasn’t entirely to save you.”

He hadn’t even managed to save him.

Ning Qiuyan did not believe someone had suddenly grown a conscience and released Lu Qianque.

Lu Qianque asked, “It was for Gu Yu too, right?”

Ning Qiuyan: “…”

Vampires could afford to wait. Humans could not.

Ning Qiuyan knew all too well what it felt like to lose one’s closest family.

Maybe by the time Lu Qianque got out, Gu Yu would already have turned into a pile of white bones.

“…Mm.”

He admitted it.

“And for something else.”

This time, Lu Qianque did not answer right away.

He had heard about what had happened between Ning Qiuyan and Guan Heng.

In a rare moment of seriousness, he lectured Ning Qiuyan in the tone of an elder. “Ning Qiuyan, sir has his reasons for every decision he makes. You can’t change his mind just by proving how capable you are-”

At that point, Lu Qianque suddenly stopped.

He walked for a while longer before speaking again. “Have you ever thought about what you would do if Qin Weizhi really subjected you to the turning?”

He heard no answer from Ning Qiuyan.

Lu Qianque knew he was awake.

Lu Qianque was frighteningly perceptive. Very soon, he asked coldly, “Or did you simply stop caring about anything at all? As long as you could undergo the turning, it didn’t matter who that person was?”

Those words fell like a heavy hammer. Ning Qiuyan’s heart shuddered, and he could not answer a single word.

They both knew the answer perfectly well.

If Lu Qianque could see it, then Guan Heng naturally could too.

This time, Ning Qiuyan truly had gone in with the mindset that he was not afraid to die-if he could not help, then he might as well smash the jar and give up entirely.

“You’ve got some nerve. No wonder you’re one of ours.”

Lu Qianque did not sound like he was praising him at all. His words were full of bitter, disappointed sarcasm.

“Let me ask you this. If the person responsible for your turning isn’t sir, would you really be satisfied? Without sir’s permission, unable to stand happily at his side-even if you underwent the turning, after a thousand years, when you wake from dreams at midnight, do you think you won’t regret it?”

Ning Qiuyan’s throat tightened, and he found it even harder to speak.

Of course he would not be satisfied. Of course he would regret it.

Lu Qianque saw that clearly.

“Little Puppy, I only knew you weren’t mature enough.”

“But I had no idea you were this crazy.”

Ning Qiuyan remained silent the entire time.

Lu Qianque did not speak to him again. He only continued walking forward.

Lights flashed from passing cars, stinging Ning Qiuyan’s eyes until he closed them against Lu Qianque’s back.

He did not know how Lu Qianque had appeared, why Wagner had suddenly stepped in to help, where they were going now, whether he had helped at all, or whether Guan Heng would agree to his request.

But right now, he did not have the strength to care about any of that.

Because Lu Qianque’s appearance meant that everything was already over.