Chapter 85: The Heart Demon of the Blood Clan
On Sunday, the autumn rain fell upon C City once again, as the last warmth of the earth faded under the drizzling rain, leaving a chilling autumn cold completely covering the world. The damp and cool climate meant that there were very few guests at the Golden River Club today, and the few who came left early. By just before 10 PM, the first-floor hall was empty, with only a few club employees lazily sitting in corners, reading magazines and listening to music.
“Hi, Jiang Yan, Jiang Yao, I’m here!”
As the door swung open, a girl in a youthful, Lolita-style dress walked in, her eyes squinted with laughter.
“Miss Su?”
Jiang Yan, who was cleaning the drink shelves behind the bar, quickly set down her work and greeted her with a smile.
She realized that the girl who came in was Su Xiaomeng, whom they had only met a few days ago, and Jiang Yao was also taken aback.
“Look, I just got this yesterday! Isn’t it pretty?”
Su Xiaomeng cheerfully waved her hand in greeting, spinning around proudly to show off her lovely outfit.
“Such a big bust, is this the legendary D cup?”
Jiang Yan was perplexed, while Jiang Yao observed with a different focus.
Before Su Xiaomeng’s arrival, Jiang Yao considered herself the best among the Hyacinths, basking in her own superiority when it came to her figure. But now, without a doubt, Su Xiaomeng was in a league of her own.
A few days ago, in a private hospital’s underground morgue, Su Xiaomeng had worn a professional white coat, her bust sizable but not to an eye-catching degree. This outfit, however, completely transformed Jiang Yao’s perception.
Looking down at her own dress, Jiang Yao suddenly thought that Su Xiaomeng must have noticed something that day, prompting her to come today dressed to flaunt.
“Are you a pervert? Why are you talking so loudly?”
Jiang Yan covered half her face and took a few steps away.
Even though Jiang Yan’s bust, paired with her elegant black lace dress, was not among the worst in the current group of girls, once the topic was broached, all she felt was embarrassment.
“Hehe, Xiao Yao looks great too!”
Oblivious to Jiang Yan’s awkwardness, Su Xiaomeng went straight to Jiang Yao, wrapping her arms around her, and playfully bumping against her, causing both of them to sway.
“Ahem… You’re here to see Sister Wan, right? She and Brother Zhao are having a meeting in a private room on the second floor.”
Jiang Yan cleared her throat twice towards Su Xiaomeng, her expression returning to normal.
“Hehe, let’s chat later!”
Su Xiaomeng waved her hand and rushed up the spiral staircase, lifting her skirt.
“What are you looking at? Do you like that kind of dress? There are so many outfits here, enough for you to wear a new one every day without repeating.”
Jiang Yan pulled Jiang Yao, who was still in a daze, with little patience, shoving a cleaning cloth into her hands to clean up the sink in the fruit area.
Not to mention… I mean, doesn’t her bust get heavy after a while?
Jiang Yao was still a bit lost in the earlier encounter, her face slightly flushed, and her eyes stared blankly at her own figure, “I feel uncomfortable sometimes with how big they are…”
“Hey!”
Jiang Yao touched her head and turned to look at Jiang Yan, who had her fist raised and a serious expression, “Sister, why are you hitting me?”
“You’re getting more and more… You didn’t sneak a peek at anything, did you? What do you think about all day long?”
Jiang Yan, holding back her temper, felt utterly helpless about Jiang Yao’s tendency to drift off into space, “Can’t you at least act a bit more reserved? You just can’t learn to live like a proper girl, can you?”
“It’s as if you’re an expert on girl life… Have you seen how few people in the club want to talk to you?” Jiang Yao retorted, pulling the cloth irritably as she walked away, muttering in revenge.
“I… If I don’t hit you today, are you uncomfortable?”
“Well, just hit me hard so I can rest for a week!”
“You…”
In a corner, the two sisters whispered things only each other could hear, playfully pushing each other, under the amused eyes of other Hyacinth girls in the hall.
An hour later, Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao were summoned to a private room on the second floor.
As they pushed the door open, a faint secondhand smoke odor still lingered. Wan Yue was lazily reclining on the sofa, doing her nails, while Zhao Peng stood beside her looking serious, and Su Xiaomeng was propped up on her thigh, blankly resting her chin on her hands.
Noticing the strange atmosphere, Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao stayed at the door without daring to say hello.
Wan Yue glanced at Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao at the door, smiled, and made a gesture for them to come in and sit, also nodding at Zhao Peng nearby, “Zhao Peng, it’s already late; you should drive Xiao Meng home.”
“No need, I drove here myself. By the way, can I come to work part-time at Golden River Club in the future? Hehe, the clothes here are so many and so beautiful!”
Su Xiaomeng quickly stood up, waving her hands and ran to Jiang Yao, wrapping her arms around her, inevitably causing another collision.
Jiang Yao’s face turned red, too embarrassed to move a muscle, still not understanding why Su Xiaomeng suddenly showed up at Golden River Club.
“Alright, as long as your lecherous grandfather doesn’t mind, you can come whenever you want. Sigh, women get older and can’t stay up late; Zhao Peng, get a cup of coffee from downstairs…”
Wan Yue yawned, appearing very sleepy.
Su Xiaomeng, being a smart girl, immediately understood the implication of her words and quickly bowed in farewell.
After Su Xiaomeng left, a few minutes later, new coffee was delivered to the private room. Only then did Wan Yue’s expression change, stroking her chin as she slowly walked around the room.
“You didn’t say much to her the other day, did you?”
With a turn, Wan Yue fixed her gaze on Jiang Yao. However, seeing Jiang Yan’s composure, she smiled and shook her head, “Right, Jiang Yan was there at the time, so it should be fine. Maybe I’m overthinking.”
“Sister Wan, why did the Wang family suddenly become so close with us?”
Seeing Wan Yue’s expression, Jiang Yan seemed to connect something, reflecting thoughtfully, “In our small group, we shouldn’t have caught the Wang family’s attention, right?”
“Don’t overestimate but don’t underestimate our importance either… In fact, Su Xiaomeng came today primarily to bring a bad piece of news. The Earl family in the south, the Liang family, had internal turmoil last week, with a seasoned Iberian bloodline viscount defecting alongside some core family members to the Black Blood Clan, and the news reached the Wang family.”
Wan Yue’s brow furrowed as she sat back on the sofa, Zhao Peng slightly nodding beside her.
Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao were stunned, their expressions shocked.
“Damn… a viscount defecting to the Black Blood Clan? You’ve got to be kidding…”
In the silence, Jiang Yao couldn’t help but mutter a comment but was quickly squeezed by Jiang Yan’s arm, blushing as she covered her mouth.
“Our strength is already close to some small orthodox families, and we are getting closer to the Wang family. With such a catastrophic event occurring at home, the Wang family will certainly be involved; perhaps we even need to lend a hand.”
Wan Yue rubbed her brow and spoke with some fatigue, “The Hyacinth is what I nurtured, but no one can guarantee that every person’s nature is just like Zhao Peng’s. The Hyacinth was established too recently, and the greatest test may yet to come.”
“Are you referring to…?”
Jiang Yan was initially taken aback but then seemed to have thought of something, her expression growing serious, “About the issue of breaking through ranks?”
“Yes, you grasp certain things quickly… Regardless of the reasons that led everyone to become a bloodline, once they adapt to the life of a bloodline and get on the right path, some core issues are laid bare. The vast majority of bloodlines remain stuck at the knight or even attendant level, even families like the Wang, with abundant resources, are no exception.”
“Every year, incidents of knights or attendants defecting to become Black Bloods happen in families all over the world, and even some veteran barons are no exception. Now, a viscount from the Liang family has defected. Sigh, this is the root that the Black Blood Clan will never clean up.”
Wan Yue sighed, standing and walking to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out at the city’s night scene with a resigned expression.
“Why? Wouldn’t it be good to live a stable life? Why defect to become a Black Blood? Just to continue upgrading and become more powerful?” Jiang Yao asked, puzzled.
“Because of lifespan,” Jiang Yan said casually, “If they cannot continue to grow and advance, they cannot reach the theoretical lifespan limits.”
“Jiang Yan is right; while blood thralls can live to seventy or eighty, that is for upper-level blood thralls. If they cannot grow, lower-level blood thralls only reach four or five decades, worse than ordinary people. New blood thralls must also survive the immune response, the older they are, the more likely they are to die.”
“When I traveled in Europe, I encountered a wealthy old man in his sixties or seventies who, I don’t know where he got a bottle of blood from a bloodline, injected it to live longer, and as a result… Haha, he died on the spot from blood invasion!” Wan Yue told a bloody cold joke, but Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao dared not laugh.
“The higher you go in rank, the more resources and time are needed, and the older you get, the slower you grow. Don’t think that upper knights can live up to two hundred years, but the window to promote to baron is only before one hundred, beyond that, you can forget it.”
“So, some knights in their eighties or nineties, feeling stuck, can’t help but turn to treacherous paths… As for knights over a hundred, they’re more likely to give up entirely and gamble on the last slim hope.”
“This is anxiety and restlessness at the genetic level, becoming more pronounced with age. Bloodlines unable to overcome this heart demon will very likely turn to the Black Blood Clan, initially just drinking from their own kind and considered madmen at most.”
“Later, I don’t know how it happened, but around the eleventh century, they began to form their own ideas, breaking through hurdles by devouring their kind through blood consumption. So, the Black Blood Clan’s pursuit of a divine bloodline is just a group of beasts controlled by heart demons.” Saying this, Wan Yue looked back at Zhao Peng and sighed deeply.
Zhao Peng had been Wan Yue’s confidant for thirty years, one of the few who left the Hermit’s Alliance with her, and was now nearing seventy, stagnating at the pinnacle of upper knights without being able to advance further.
That last elusive barrier stood before Zhao Peng like an insurmountable chasm, whether it would become Zhao Peng’s heart demon in the future was uncertain, yet it was a deep regret and worry for Wan Yue.
Sensing Wan Yue’s expression, Zhao Peng smiled bitterly and shook his head, his gaze resolute.
Gazing at the bustling city in the dark, Wan Yue’s voice grew quiet, “Zhao Peng, if there were options other than the Black Blood Clan to continue growing, would you be willing to try?”
Zhao Peng was taken aback, thinking for a few seconds, and resolutely nodded.
“See, that’s an obsession, and it may well become your heart demon.” Wan Yue shook her head with a wry smile, “Bloodlines like the old man in the Hermit’s Alliance who have completely let go are, after all, in the minority.”
“Sister Wan… I…” Zhao Peng’s face turned red, but after a few seconds, he inclined his head in a dejected manner and, after a while, answered in a deep voice, “I will never betray Sister Wan and the Hyacinth!”
“Haha, you have twenty years left; who says you have no hope? Silly… You’ve stalled until now, maybe it’s not that you’re not talented, but you’ve taken on too many responsibilities, dividing your focus. Now that Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao have come to action, you have more time to refine yourself.”
Wan Yue walked up to Zhao Peng, gently pressing down on his shoulder in comfort.
“Currently, the members at the attendant level in the Hyacinth are mostly under fifty years old, with a theoretical lifespan limit of one hundred and fifty years, but there are only twenty years left in the final growth time window. Time always passes quickly; in another ten years, who knows if they will feel anxious…”
“However, although the world of bloodlines is extremely unfriendly towards women, bloodline females have a much lower probability of becoming Black Bloods because we have another path to choose, that is to marry and have children.”
“Pregnancy greatly disrupts the foundation of growth; not only is there a regression in power, but there’s also the risk of death. But female bloodlines who have had children seem to shed a certain burden on a genetic level, rarely becoming Black Bloods. This is why the majority of the Hyacinth’s members are female; I don’t want to one day personally execute those defector children.”
As Wan Yue said this, her gaze inadvertently began to examine Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao, a teasing smile tugging at her lips.
“Uh… I feel like I’m growing quite quickly; I don’t… I don’t have any heart demons.”
Jiang Yao swallowed hard, her face reddening as she waved her hands repeatedly.
“Sister Wan, did Brother Jin send Su Xiaomeng to Golden River Club solely to inform us of bad news?”
Jiang Yan was not as flustered as Jiang Yao, instead growing even more puzzled, “Could it be that Xiao Yao and I have been exposed? Do they have plans?”
“I don’t know, everything is still vague; certainly, you’re both exceptional, but the truth behind that exceptionalism might involve the biggest interests.”
Wan Yue’s expression grew a bit unnatural, but her tone remained calm, “Theoretically, hiding in the Wang family is the safest, but now, I don’t trust anyone. Of course, I also have my own motives; I hope you stay in the Hyacinth.”
“Hehe, I have a good personal relationship with Old Jin, and through him, I can be said to have latched onto the Wang family’s thigh and received many benefits. However, his identity in the Wang family can only be considered a very peripheral relative, managing all the affairs of the Wang family in C City.”
“This time, Old Jin’s granddaughter is coming to form a connection with us, essentially wanting to leverage this relationship so the Hyacinth can do some solid work for the Wang family in the future… Such a thigh is not given freely; there’s no such thing as sitting comfortably under a big tree without offering a bit of tea money.”
Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, facing the bright city lights, Wan Yue slowly stretched her arms, unfolding her graceful and sexy body, as if trying to squeeze out all her psychological burdens and release them into the outside world.
