Chapter 107

Chapter 107

The sky was still dark. The discomfort of having his body under the control of an unfamiliar toxin was growing stronger, and the healing wound on his neck hurt terribly. Ning Qiuyan was jolted awake by the pain. Forcing himself to stay conscious, he asked Lu Qianque to put him down, only to discover they were in the mountains on the outskirts of Sujing.

This was a scenic area, similar to Wencui Park where they had gone last time, but even more untouched. Because it was so far from the city, almost no one came here on weekdays outside of weekends, and at this hour, it was even less likely they would run into anyone.

With Lu Qianque supporting him, Ning Qiuyan stumbled along for another ten minutes or so, one step sinking deep and the next shallow, before finally seeing two small houses and several cars beside a stream deep in the woods.

The night was dim, shrouding several Vampires.

They stood there silently, nearly blending into the darkness, making the place unnervingly quiet.

Deshan and Joshua were there as well.

At the faint sound of a footstep snapping a dead branch, Deshan was the first to turn her head. She was not surprised to see Lu Qianque. Instead, her gaze fell on Ning Qiuyan. The towering Joshua noticed them too. He reached out and drew Deshan into his arms, lowering his head to kiss the top of her hair as if in comfort.

“You’re late,” Deshan said to Lu Qianque in Chinese. “We were this close to going to Wagner to demand him back.”

Lu Qianque said with a trace of apology, “For safety’s sake, I had no choice but to abandon the car. I was afraid of losing too much time, so I already took the shortest route.”

Vampires moved extremely fast. Crossing a mountain forest on foot was nothing to them.

But Lu Qianque had an injured Ning Qiuyan with him. He could not let him get cold, nor could he jostle him too much.

The human youth was covered in large patches of blood, the wound on his neck clearly visible. Right now he was running a fever, standing there with a flushed face. He looked unbearably fragile, yet in truth, he was stronger than most of the humans they knew.

Seeing his injury, Deshan immediately asked Lu Qianque, “Who did it?”

“Qin Weizhi,” Lu Qianque said. “Ning Qiuyan has already been given Wagner’s blood. We’ll settle the score with Qin later.”

Deshan nodded gravely.

Lu Qianque told Ning Qiuyan to get in the car first. Someone would take him safely back to Black House. Lu Qianque could not leave yet, because they still had some things to handle.

Ning Qiuyan was truly too weak. It was already a miracle that he had lasted this long, and whether he wanted to or not, Lu Qianque helped him into the car. The moment he lay down, he impatiently lowered the window and asked, “Where is Sir?”

Lu Qianque’s heart softened then. He only said gently, “Sir will see you at home.”

With that, he patted the car door, and the driver understood, starting the vehicle.

The mountain air was damp. Before the window could close, as the car drove away, a faint scent of blood drifted in on the air.

Ning Qiuyan looked back. The two small houses with pointed roofs looked like beasts hidden in the mountain forest, and beneath their shadows were three other pitch-black cars.

Deshan, Joshua, and Lu Qianque all stood where they were. Together with the Vampires behind them, they looked as if they were standing by for orders, their faces gradually blurring in the night.

Ning Qiuyan withdrew his gaze. The sense of déjà vu was so overwhelming that he sat in silence for a few seconds, then suddenly lifted his head and shouted, “Stop the car!”

The driver stopped.

Ning Qiuyan opened the door. Because he could not stand steady, he fell to his knees with a thud. Then, as if he could not feel the pain, he staggered back in the direction they had come from.

“Ning Qiuyan-”

Lu Qianque was calling his name.

Every car had a glossy finish, their doors shut tight.

Dragging his body along, Ning Qiuyan tried to open the doors one by one. But they were all locked fast, giving only useless clicks as he yanked at them with all his strength.
The car window reflected his disheveled hair and his red, wretched-looking eyes, but no matter which window he looked through, he couldn’t make out what was happening inside the car.

His heart was pounding violently, thudding against his eardrums.

His breathing quickened too.

He could barely hear what the Vampires behind him were shouting.

Was Guan Heng leaving?

Hallucination and reality overlapped. Ning Qiuyan was terrified to the extreme; in truth, he could no longer tell whether anything he was feeling was real.

Not until Lu Qianque came over and gripped his hand tightly. “Ning Qiuyan.”

He looked at Lu Qianque. “He’s leaving, isn’t he…” His eyes were full of pleading. “Don’t go. Don’t go.”

“Sir isn’t leaving. But it’s not very convenient for him to see you right now.” At last, Lu Qianque said, “Stop looking.”

It took Ning Qiuyan a long while to react. “Why won’t he see me?”

Lu Qianque looked at him, then suddenly gave a faint smile. “You can’t even stand not seeing him for this little while? Then why did you dare run into a den of thieves all by yourself?”

That smile was different from before. It did not reach his eyes.

“Let’s go back first,” Lu Qianque said. “Be good.”

Ning Qiuyan did not move. Lu Qianque’s smile gradually faded.

It was as if he had made some major decision.

Lu Qianque sighed and said helplessly, “All right. I hope this doesn’t scare you.”

Supported by Lu Qianque, Ning Qiuyan walked toward the steps of the small house. There was blood on the doorknob. Lu Qianque did not explain anything; he only pushed the door open gently.

The interior was dim, lit only by a tiny wall lamp. A heavy stench of blood rushed toward them, overwhelming and all-encompassing.

They took two steps inside.

As Ning Qiuyan’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw severed arms and mutilated limbs strewn across the floor. Blood had pooled over the ground, almost forming shallow puddles.

In the corner, a dark shadow shifted slightly.

Ning Qiuyan failed to recognize at first that it was Guan Heng.

His cheeks were so gaunt they had sunken in, the skin stretched as thin as a sheet of paper, outlining the shape of his skull. His wet long hair dripped with blood. His neck and arms were covered in blood as well, and it was possible to see, dotting his skin, one after another of those upturned, hideous little bloody holes.

Only those half-lidded, heroic brows and eyes remained as cold as yesterday.

He did not look the least bit wretched.

Ning Qiuyan broke free of Lu Qianque’s support and dropped to his knees on the floor with a thud, not even daring to make a sound.

He saw that between those fingertips, still stained with blood yet beautiful and slender, Guan Heng was pinching a Ruby Earring.

Vampires revered strength. It was fear, and it was also covetous desire.

Because the blood of the strong could change their own kind, granting them even more formidable power. Once a powerful one fell, they would pounce like starving beasts and tear him apart to devour him.

Guan Heng had found the locating Ruby Earring, and his true weakness had been seized by someone else. Before he was certain of Ning Qiuyan’s whereabouts, he could only passively wait for the result.

Fortunately, the result was good.

Dealing with those overconfident pieces of trash was effortless for Guan Heng.

Because he was tired, and because he had lost too much blood, he had habitually bent one leg, his hand braced on his knee. It was a relaxed posture.

Ning Qiuyan did not know how he managed to make a sound. He only felt his vision blur, and then he saw Guan Heng open his eyes.

Neither of them spoke.

Guan Heng looked at the side of his neck, then suddenly raised his hand and touched the vicious wound Qin Weizhi had left behind.

Then he leaned in, his large hand closing around the back of Ning Qiuyan’s neck.

The ancient Vampire’s two pairs of fangs appeared at the same time, piercing into the already torn blood vessels and brutally covering the bite mark that did not belong to him.