Chapter 203: A Desperate Move (Part One)
Following Xiao Quan, both Xiao Miao and Xiao Xi gradually woke up, marking the birth of three new knights. The atmosphere within both the Golden River Club and Hyacinth Villa reached a peak.
As for Zhou Ping’s downfall, it was no longer a topic of deliberate mention among people. Most were not too saddened by the departure of a mid-level attendant, especially when compared to the emotional stress inflicted during Zheng Shaolin’s serious injury.
The status hierarchy based on one’s realm remained an unspoken measure within the Hyacinth community, and even a seemingly harmonious and equal surface could not hide the unavoidable essence of issues in the vampire world.
Wan Yue and Zhao Peng arrived at Hyacinth Villa one after the other. On one hand, they planned to take Xiao Miao and Xiao Xi back to the Golden River Club; on the other hand, they intended to have a crucial, face-to-face conversation with Jiang Yao.
In the gym of the villa, Jiang Yao was the only one present, but there was no familiar breath of boiling energy.
Jiang Yao was lost in thought, or rather, she wasn’t engaging in any boiling exercise; she simply sat on her yoga mat in a daze.
This morning, it wasn’t Zhong Yao who came to pick her up, but the recently elusive Zhao Peng. On the way back to Hyacinth Villa, Jiang Yao didn’t speak, and Zhao Peng, recognizing her mood, also kept silent.
Not knowing how long she had been sitting, feeling her legs starting to numb, Jiang Yao finally shifted awkwardly, stood up from the yoga mat, and planned to go out and look for food.
“Uh… Wan Jie, Zhao Peng Ge?”
Jiang Yao’s gaze turned towards the gym door, only to find Wan Yue sitting on a piece of gym equipment just two or three meters away, looking at her with a strangely amused smile.
Zhao Peng, as ever, stood at the entrance of the gym like a sentinel.
“It’s rare to see you so focused that you didn’t even notice our arrival. If you could put in this much effort when exercising, that would be great.”
Wan Yue pulled out a cigarette, and the ever-diligent Zhao Peng seamlessly moved to one side, opening all the windows and ventilation systems.
“I just have something on my mind…”
Jiang Yao forced a smile and sat back down, wrapping her arms around her knees, staring vacantly.
“What are you doing having so much on your mind at your age, putting on such a show for whom? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were heartbroken.”
Wan Yue rolled her eyes and waved her hand towards Jiang Yao: “Come over and sit beside me; I have something to tell you.”
Jiang Yao was in a bad mood but didn’t dare vent her frustrations in front of Wan Yue. Instead, she slowly dragged a yoga ball over, taking her time to sit beside Wan Yue, using the ball as a seat.
Zhao Peng left, specifically closing the gym’s sliding door, an action that made Jiang Yao’s heart skip a beat.
“Don’t be nervous; it’s not about Jiang Yan.”
Wan Yue noticed the change in Jiang Yao’s expression, reached out to touch her hair, and displayed a gentle expression.
“You should know about the peculiarity of your body… Originally, I planned to wait until after your second check-up with Jiang Yan to tell you, but it seems there’s no need now.”
Wan Yue sighed lightly, slowly standing up, one hand resting on Jiang Yao’s shoulder: “Your grandmother has changed the fate of you and Jiang Yan. Honestly, no one has the right to comfort you, but we have to face the consequences of your becoming vampires.”
“Are, are you going to kill me?”
Jiang Yao looked up, blankly gazing at Wan Yue, fear flickering in her eyes.
“In your eyes, am I such a ruthless murderer? If I thought that way, I would have acted when I first met you and Jiang Yan.”
Wan Yue flicked Jiang Yao’s forehead playfully.
“How would I know what everyone thinks? Here, people see me as a monster…”
Jiang Yao covered her forehead, looking aggrieved.
“Jiang Yan once asked me how to prevent you from being dragged completely into the abyss by the bloodline. I offered her an idea, also the only method available at the moment.”
As she said that, Wan Yue squatted down and lightly tapped Jiang Yao on the waist, her expression half-smiling: “Get pregnant, have a baby. The bloodline derived from the queen’s reproductive system will transfer to the fetus.”
Jiang Yao slid off the yoga ball and onto the floor, trembling in shock.
Wan Yue pulled Jiang Yao back up, her expression slightly awkward: “Regardless of which bloodline is real for you and Jiang Yan, this is at least a permanent solution for you.”
“And then… kill the fetus?”
Jiang Yao stared blankly, looking down at her body, her mind racing chaotically.
“You have quite the imagination… Shouldn’t you be contemplating whether you should accept this method?”
Wan Yue rolled her eyes again, pointing at Jiang Yao’s body: “Your period is about to come; your cycle is out of whack… For the next month, avoid internal hormone training, take good care of your body, and focus on uterine therapy.”
“Take care? With… with whom am I having a baby…”
Jiang Yao blinked a few times, seemingly recalling something, her face turning crimson.
Wan Yue burst into laughter, nearly dropping the cigarette she was holding.
“Who are you interested in? Tell me and I’ll arrange it?”
Wan Yue’s laughter turned into a flurry of excitement, nearly crying from amusement. Jiang Yao fell silent, her head lowering awkwardly.
A minute later, Wan Yue’s laughter subsided, and her expression became serious in an instant: “I’m not joking anymore… There’s also the option of artificial insemination; think about it for a month, at most. No one knows how long you will take to fully develop the bloodline and lose control.”
“Or, just wait and see, and let us all take a gamble, hoping you will be different from the previous queen.”
After saying that, Wan Yue walked to the window, turned her back to Jiang Yao, and quietly smoked without saying another word.
Ten seconds… thirty seconds…
A minute…
Jiang Yao’s body trembled, her complexion gradually paling, her fists clenched tight.
“I’m not an animal!”
Minutes later, when Wan Yue lit up a second cigarette, Jiang Yao gritted her teeth and muttered, turning on her heel to run out of the gym.
“Wan Jie…”
Zhao Peng approached Wan Yue with a hint of concern.
“Hmm, we are not animals… but sometimes the cost of being human can be enormous, perhaps even cruel…”
Wan Yue smirked bitterly, slightly turning to the side, her expression showing bitterness: “Zhao Peng, we all need to be psychologically prepared.”
Zhao Peng glanced back at the corridor outside the gym and nodded slightly.
…
With the situation in Northern Myanmar stabilizing, the Qing Shui River port at the China-Myanmar border, closest to the old street, reopened.
Over the past month, Chinese trucks stranded in Myanmar due to the turmoil lined up for miles, mostly empty vehicles, all eager to return home.
A double-row heavy truck was parked near the checkpoint, waiting for clearance. The unfamiliar knight at the driver’s seat had Meng Huai leaning back, holding Jiang Yan in the rear seat.
“Dude, impressive! You really chased away the Navana gang. I heard some dark arrows even got involved and took out a lot of black bloods near the old street.”
The knight from the Luo family was young and quite talkative, continuously inquiring about the bloody battles that occurred in the old street days ago.
Meng Huai turned his head, slightly impatient, and coldly said, “If the Luo family hadn’t retreated, there wouldn’t have been so much trouble, and you wouldn’t have lost so many people. Now you can pass through with peace of mind…”
The face of the Luo family knight flushed red, quickly turning away, seemingly aware that their family had been somewhat unscrupulous in their dealings.
“Um, dude, I heard that two of Navana’s barons were taken out by one of your people. Who was so fierce? It’s said that it was a woman, one of your alliance’s Elder Deng?”
The Luo family knight hurriedly shifted the topic: “Elder Deng? He’s our clan’s treasure; how could he die at the hands of a woman?”
“Then… what woman is it?”
“That woman is called Jiang Yan; she’s our alliance’s prodigy. It’s said she is proficient in various combat techniques and incredibly strong. This time, the two barons under Navana were eliminated by her alone.”
“Jiang Yan?”
“Yeah, Jiang Yan. She is our alliance’s prodigy; it’s said she is proficient in various combat techniques and incredibly strong. This time, the two barons under Navana were eliminated by her alone.”
“Jiang Yan?”
“Yeah, that’s Jiang Yan. She’s our alliance’s prodigy, reportedly skilled in various combat techniques, and has immense fighting power. This time, it was her who took out both of Navana’s barons.”
“Jiang Yan?”
“Yeah, Jiang Yan. She is our alliance’s prodigy; it’s said she’s highly skilled in combat techniques and possesses strong fighting ability. The two barons under Navana? She took them out by herself.”
“Jiang Yan?”
“Yep, that’s right, Jiang Yan. She’s our alliance’s prodigy, known for her proficiency in various combat techniques and formidable fighting strength. The two barons of Navana were vanquished by her alone.”
The topic kept spiraling, the tone filled with teasing. In the eyes of orthodox vampire families, rogue vampires are considered beneath contempt, not much better than the black bloods in terms of slyness and trickery.
However, the reputation of the Hermit Alliance was somewhat different. These people were the border smugglers among the vampire clans in China—dangerous, ruthless, and willing to go all out.
Especially Xiang Zuxing, who was notorious in both the black and white worlds, naturally earned the Luo family’s respect; otherwise, they would not have sought cooperation with him initially.
“It was the dark arrows… Isn’t your Luo family a viscount family? You shouldn’t be putting everything on the heir alone, right?”
Meng Huai adjusted Jiang Yan, who was still dozing off, and smiled: “Such an important stake in Northern Myanmar, and you don’t send a viscount over?”
“Hmm, don’t mention it. Last year, we followed the Wang family to the West G Province to eliminate the Liang family’s traitor, but it ended badly. Don’t look at my second uncle; he’s also a lower-level viscount; he almost lost his life. He’s still lying around waiting for the Wang family’s medicine. In our family, it’s just the master and my second uncle…”
Feeling he had been led into a trap, the Luo family knight quickly fell silent, and then shot Meng Huai a glare.
A lower-level viscount almost lost his life, what kind of massive trouble was Liang family in the south? Meng Huai didn’t care about the other’s emotions; he just silently pondered.
Apart from stopping to grab a bite, Meng Huai and the others stayed in the vehicle until close to midnight when their truck finally reached the inspection checkpoint.
One must say that China’s border management is indeed very humane. To cope with the reopening and the influx of returning goods, the Qing Shui River port temporarily implemented a 24-hour customs clearance.
The truck drivers who had been stranded in Northern Myanmar had certainly suffered enough; the customs checks were quick, allowing for passage in under twenty minutes. The military police at customs even kindly handed Jiang Yan, who was feeling unwell in the back, a bottle of herbal medicine.
Perhaps due to frequently passing through, the Luo family knight appeared relaxed, while Meng Huai seemed more on edge.
As a mixed-blood from the Altai-Pyrenees lineage, Meng Huai was naturally more sensitive to energies than ordinary knights. At this moment, he felt someone was watching him.
Staring into the dark forests beyond the lights, a bad feeling slowly took root in Meng Huai’s heart.
Can we take another road?
Just as the Luo family knight planned to start the truck, Meng Huai suddenly pressed down on the other’s arm.
“It’s past midnight; are you not taking the national road, but rather the back roads? This is a heavy truck, man!”
The Luo family knight looked puzzled, feeling that the hermit knight’s behavior before and after crossing was somewhat odd.
“There’s someone tracking us… I can’t tell who they are.”
Meng Huai looked around outside the vehicle, his expression turning increasingly serious, convinced that his senses were surely accurate.
“Impossible?”
The Luo family knight was stunned, got out of the vehicle, and after looking around for a few minutes, jumped back into the driver’s seat, evidently displeased: “Stop scaring yourself; there’s no black bloods’ aura. I’m still a lower-ranking knight.”
“This is domestic, plus there are many dark-watchers monitoring the area. Don’t worry; this is all considered our Luo family’s territory. If there’s any movement, someone will inform me.”
Meng Huai fell silent, tightening his lips.
He sensed that Jiang Yan’s condition had deteriorated again today; she spent most of her time in a stupor, her energy weak and chaotic. Even after being injected with various hormone-covering agents, she appeared to be leaking energy from all over.
The heavy truck merged onto the national road, gradually accelerating. Yet, in Meng Huai’s perception, a deeply hidden aura silently followed along.
Minutes later, by the side of the national road, in a fish pond in the fields, two figures with part of their bodies submerged in water slowly stood up.
Meng Huai embraced Jiang Yan, wiping the water off her cheeks and neck, his face as cold as ice.
In the heavy truck, the Luo family knight glanced at the rearview mirror, a look of disdain on his face: “Why are you being so cowardly? Just because you brought a sick person along doesn’t mean you can walk on the back roads to Mengding Town… that’s pathetic; don’t come crying to the Luo family for help!”
While smoking, gripping the steering wheel, the Luo family knight chose to ignore the “hitchhiker” who had already left on his own.
Soon, another heavy truck approached from the left rear, signaling to overtake.
Seconds later, the two vehicles ran parallel.
“Just overtake already!” The Luo family knight frowned, glancing to the left, only to reveal a look of terror a moment later. A sniper rifle was raised from the opposite driver’s seat, aimed right at him; the driver was a young man dressed as a military police officer.
With a gunshot, the Luo family knight’s head exploded, his body slumping right, pulling the steering wheel along.
The heavy truck veered off the national road, rolling over, and the rear cargo box shattered, scattering a dozen Myanmar-imported logs everywhere.
The executioner stepped off the national road and approached the heavy truck’s driver’s seat, merely peering inside, before letting out a cold laugh.
Hmph, no wonder he is the captain of the Xuanjia Brigade. Becoming a blood clan member has made him more vigilant… he actually noticed I was tailing him.
Besides the dead Luo family knight, there was no one else inside.
“Wait, he’s just a lower-rank mixed blood knight. How could he sense Baron Pingning’s aura? Perhaps he isn’t even trying to hide from me…”
Looking back down the road they had come, the executioner suddenly paused, deep in thought.
…
After one o’clock in the morning, on the country road leading to Mengding Town, under the night sky, Meng Huai was running swiftly, carrying Jiang Yan on his back.
At that moment, Meng Huai had caught the scent of familiar blood, the enticing fragrance wafting delightfully through the night.
Undoubtedly, Jiang Yan, who was in her physiological period, had encountered complications, most likely suffering from heavy bleeding.
Meng Huai felt the scrutiny behind him becoming more pronounced, so he carried Jiang Yan into the woods beside the country road, drawing out his handgun while also dialing Zheng Shaolin’s number.
This scene felt hauntingly familiar; he remembered how desperately he had been chased by Pang Yun back then.
Meng Huai gritted his teeth and decided to activate his boiling blood, quickly amplifying his environmental perception by hundreds of times. At last, he caught several unfamiliar auras over two hundred meters behind him, among which was a trace of chaotic energy.
Crap, Li Huai, where are you and Xiao Yan?!
On the phone, Zheng Shaolin’s urgent voice came through.
Meng Huai’s blood-red pupils stared into the night, and he turned to look behind him, his expression gradually becoming ferocious: “Brother Zheng, I’m sending you my location! Jiang Yan and I are being targeted; there are at least five people, and one of them is a baron!”
Targeted by a baron? Activate boiling blood, keep running as fast as you can, and don’t go into the woods; it’s useless! Liang Tai and I are on the way, should be there in about twenty minutes!
The unfamiliar but clear auras were closing in; keeping up this pace was becoming meaningless. Meng Huai could only lower Jiang Yan’s body to the ground.
Meng Huai… what’s happening…
Perhaps because of the heightened energy of Meng Huai’s boiling blood, Jiang Yan slowly opened her eyes, gradually coming to her senses from her daze.
We are being followed; we haven’t shaken them off. I’m sorry.
Meng Huai kneeled beside Jiang Yan on one knee, fixated on the direction from which the aura was approaching, his previously calm voice tinged with anxiety.
My gun, my dagger…
Jiang Yan struggled to sit up, starting to feel around her surroundings.
Meng Huai paused, pulling out Jiang Yan’s weapons from his waist, and silently handed them to her.
I’ll distract them; you keep running east along the road; Zheng Shaolin and the others are coming.
Meng Huai racked the gun’s slide, taking a deep breath, ready to charge out.
Don’t… they’ve already found us. There are at least two barons…
Jiang Yan struggled to her feet, tore off her outer jacket, tossing it aside, looking at the direction of the approaching aura calmly.
Single ponytail, jeans, a printed black T-shirt, a dagger in her left hand and a gun in her right, her delicate frame swayed slightly in the night, as though she could barely stand.
Meng Huai quickly supported Jiang Yan, wrapping her body in his arms.
Eight figures gradually approached, ultimately stopping at the country road about fifty meters away, watching the embracing couple with keen interest.
Navana, a mid-level viscount; Deng Baoyi, a high-ranking baron from Siberia; along with three knights and three attendants, all survivors of a valley bombing.
Guo Hao had lost his nerve and even called back Luo family’s people, yet you can’t escape now… Who are you, and why are you helping Guo Hao?
Poor Mandarin spilled from the mouth of the burly middle-aged man among the eight, laced with an icy tone.
“Tsk tsk, at this hour, still being all lovey-dovey… Where did this little harlot and pretty boy come from? Not that you aren’t handsome, but as a lower-level knight, what charm could you possess to stick to a half-step baron?”
“Oh, little harlot, let me see how arrogant you can be right now. If there’s any medicine, take it quickly; it’s not too late, ha ha!”
A sharp female voice echoed in the night—it was Deng Baoyi.
She had already sensed Jiang Yan’s current physical condition; let alone half-step barons, even for her, encountering such a scenario would be a dead end.
Three knights and three attendants approached from different directions, surrounding Meng Huai and Jiang Yan, each carrying a mocking grin, the closest one being under thirty meters away.
A lower-ranking knight and a half-step baron suffering from menstruation, even without the two high-ranking blood clans on their backs, they had no way out, no possibility of counterattacking.
“Meng Huai, if I die, take good care of Xiao Yao for me…”
Jiang Yan retracted her gaze from Deng Baoyi and Navana in the distance, hugging Meng Huai’s waist, looking up with a faint smile.
“What do you want to do…”
Seconds later, Meng Huai spoke up, his voice hoarse. He sensed the signs of boiling blood emerging from the girl in his arms.
She was on her period, and it was the worst kind. Not long ago, she had also faced the exhaustion of boiling blood…
Meng Huai dared not speak; his hands began to tremble—an uncontrollable shiver, despair and pain like never before filled his chest.
Jiang Yan had already crossed the terrifying taboo of blood clan women during their physiological periods—this was a desperate last stand.
“Promise me quickly!”
The boiling blood energy around Jiang Yan was weak yet rugged, steadily rising, her gradually reddening eyes anxiously staring at the young man’s face, yearning for a promise.
“…”
Meng Huai didn’t respond, averting his gaze from Jiang Yan, directly pushing his boiling blood past the threshold, leveling his gun at the nearest black blood clan knight.
Half of his face, as well as his left forearm, began to distort, making his image even more terrifying.
Not receiving the answer she hoped for, Jiang Yan lowered her head, letting out a small chuckle.
One second later, an overwhelming, terrifying aura surged forth, filled with pure and untainted killing intent, spreading like an invisible shockwave.
Lower-rank baron… mid-level baron… high-ranking baron… lower-level viscount… mid-level viscount…
In the swirling storm of heightened pheromones, the three black blood clan attendants who had encircled them were the first to react.
Two collapsed onto the ground, foaming at the mouth and twitching, while the other knelt, clutching their head tightly, blood oozing from their orifices, rolling their eyes back.
As for the other three knights, they all instinctively took several steps back, bending over and trembling, gasping for breath, as if failing to do so would result in choking to death the next moment.
Meng Huai was no exception; as soon as Jiang Yan’s aura intensity broke through to that of a high-ranking baron, he collapsed to the ground, blood spewing from his mouth, clutching his chest painfully, struggling to gaze at Jiang Yan, who stood gracefully against the backdrop of the night.
“Don’t…”
Meng Huai’s trembling hand tried to grasp Jiang Yan’s ankle, but no matter how hard he tried, his limbs seemed severed from his brain, unresponsive.
