[V6C172 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]
“Let’s go check!” Qianye rushed toward the fallen airship immediately.
That airship was swaying about unsteadily while spouting dense smoke and flames. Qianye arrived first on a hill and saw another airship rush out of the clouds with the autocannons on either side of its hull roaring constantly. Countless shells formed two flaming whips which lashed at the Zhao clan airship repeatedly.
A figure jumped out of the latter vessel when it was several dozen meters from the ground. Upon landing, this person rolled sideways to reduce the impact and stopped in a half-kneeling position. There was a shockingly large origin cannon under her arm, the muzzle of which was aimed at the airship in pursuit.
“Boom!” A mysterious blue light flew out from the cannon and struck the airship almost immediately. The firepower of this blast was astonishing—it actually penetrated the airship and sent blue flames spewing out of the other end of the vessel.
The Evernight airship began spinning about as though it were drunk. Soon, dense smoke began gushing out of the vessel, followed by several flaming dark race warriors jumping out from within. However, the ship was still several hundred meters from the ground. They fell straight down like stones in water, bounced a couple of times, then stopped moving.
At this moment, the cabin doors were kicked open as a tall man flew out from within. His entire body was on fire but the surging origin power around his body soon extinguished the blaze. The blood energy around him leapt up like flames as he looked down at the people on the ground!
“Sh*t!” Qianye cried out in secret. He had immediately figured out that the man in the air was a second-rank count, a formidable opponent through and through.
The one on the ground was a lady, her ponytail dancing in the air as the shockwaves from the ship’s explosion rushed at her. Strands of hair brushed past her face, but she didn’t blink at all—she quickly locked onto the opponent and fired yet another round!
That vampire count was like a demon as his figure flickered through the air, duly evading the incoming shell.
Qianye had already taken out the Thunderbolt, but he put it back down after considering the circumstances. Chances of the shot being dodged were quite high as the distance was already close to the maximum range of the sniper rifle.
As someone who had killed no small number of Evernight experts, Qianye quickly formed a strategy. He approached the battlefield rapidly in a bid to outflank the count before he became more vigilant.
However, Wei Potian let out a frantic roar and rushed out before Qianye could put his plans into action. “Yuying!” Song Zining also cried out in alarm as he rushed out, spear in hand.
Their charge caused the vampire count to turn back immediately, alerting him of the group’s presence.
Qianye could only give up on his plans for an ambush and rush into a head-on fight. He had long since noticed that the woman who had escaped from the airship was Zhao Yuying. She could easily hold out for a length of time even against a second-rank count, but that Wei Potian just had to rush out like an angry bull. Even the normally calm Song Zining was following suit—this truly puzzled Qianye.
There were battles taking place everywhere in this area, and the entire scene was as chaotic as it could be. Seeing Wei Potian charge forward with Song Zining on his tail, Qianye intentionally lagged behind to guard their backs. One had to know that Qianye couldn’t be the only sniper in such a place—the vampires and demonkin both possessed talents in this field.
Zhao Yuying wasn’t distracted at all. She kept her focus on the count in the sky in a bid to lock him down. Meanwhile, the count sped toward her in an erratic pattern.
Wei Potian screamed at the top of his lungs, “Hey, hairless old bat, come at Grandpa Wei if you dare! See how I’ll smash you into bat pie!”
That count shot Wei Potian a cold glance. However, he didn’t quite fall for his taunt and only kept on charging toward Zhao Yuying.
Wei Potian bellowed loudly. There was nothing he could do since speed wasn’t his forte. He wouldn’t be able to intercept the count on time, no matter how hard he tried. At this moment, Song Zining, despite starting off late, easily overtook Wei Potian and shot toward the vampire count. He was moving so fast that he looked almost like a beam of silvery light.
Wei Potian was greatly worried. “You’re courting death with that speed!”
Song Zining paid no attention and continued at his full speed, not even bothering to release his domain. If that count were to attack Zhao Yuying first, it was very likely that he would receive a heavy blow from behind.
An inexplicable sense of danger arose in Qianye’s heart. “Be careful!” he called out immediately after observing the surroundings. A silver shadow was charging over from a thousand meters away and making a straight line toward Song Zining!
The incoming assailant had hidden himself so well that even Qianye hadn’t discovered his traces. It was just that the former could no longer conceal his presence during the attack, allowing Qianye to sense him.
In the blink of an eye, Wei Potian changed directions and arrived between Song Zining and the silver light. Origin power surged around him, materializing into numerous mountain peaks and blocking the enemy.
The silver shadow crashed right into Wei Potian. The mountainous projections collapsed with a resounding thump and Wei Potian was sent flying dozens of meters away. However, the latter managed to clamber up immediately after landing. Origin power gushed out once more, and the many mountain peaks were soon reformed. He stared at the opponent with all due seriousness because he knew he had met a powerful enemy.
A tall, soldierly man appeared as the dust and origin radiance settled on the battlefield. “William!” Qianye called out in astonishment.
The silvery shadow that had just arrived was William. No wonder it was so powerful and nearly broke apart Wei Potian’s Thousand Mountains. Seeing who it was, Qianye slowly drew East Peak and walked toward the enemy.
Although he had worked together with this werewolf count before, that was a personal, under-the-table deal. Moreover, they were now on the floating continent where the two factions were in an all-out war. He had no choice but to set aside their past relationship.
William seemed somewhat helpless after seeing Qianye. He arched his body slightly and removed a silver shield from his back with one hand while a heavy battle-axe appeared in the other.
Werewolves were most proficient in melee combat. Although Qianye’s combat arts had improved significantly in recent days, he didn’t dare underestimate William. At the very least, Qianye still had no grasp on how powerful William’s actual combat strength was. Hence, he didn’t attack and simply held the sword across his chest in a defensive posture. He knew that the key to this battle lay in him keeping William occupied, while Zhao Yuying, Song Zining, and Wei Potian worked together to kill that vampire count. Afterward, they could come back and help him drive William away.
The latter didn’t attack, either, and only stared on like a tiger watching his prey. No one knew what he was thinking or waiting for.
The battle on the other side raged on while the two of them were in a deadlock. The vampire count charging at Zhao Yuying didn’t quite expect that the latter would throw herself at him instead of evading. She used that heavy handheld cannon like an iron rod and smashed it toward his head!
This attack looked nothing more than a move from a local thug, but it came completely unexpected to the count. Seeing Zhao Yuying’s aggressive attack, he flashed sideways out of reflex. Who would’ve thought Zhao Yuying would refuse to let go? The hand-cannon spun sideways and swung once more at his waist. She proceeded to launch a flurry of violent attacks both physically and verbally. “Chasing after this mommy, eh? Break my airship, will you?! Old bat, this mommy isn’t surnamed Zhao if I don’t beat you to a pulp!”
The vampire count was both furious and shocked. He had never expected this beautiful lady to attack like a hoodlum and was thus momentarily disadvantaged. Song Zining and Wei Potian arrived at this point, and under the trio’s combined attacks, the count could find no more chance to retaliate.
The vampire count would soon be defeated just as Qianye had anticipated. However, the latter didn’t dare to be careless because William was mysterious, powerful, and possessed the ability to turn the tables on his own.
Qianye couldn’t see a shred of worry or anxiety in the werewolf’s eyes, and on the contrary, it seemed like he had everything under control. Qianye suddenly thought of a possibility—did he have other reinforcements or a hidden ace?
It was at this time that Qianye felt the origin power to his right side fluctuate slightly. He immediately jumped backward as a sniper round whistled right past him.
After missing the first shot, another bullet flew out from the distance and made straight for the airborne Qianye—the timing of this shot was extremely clever. Unable to dodge, Qianye raised East Peak horizontally and deflected the incoming sniper round. The relentless assassin fired several more shots, each and every one of them aimed at his vitals.
However, Qianye had already landed and gained much more space to maneuver. His body swayed ever so slightly, suddenly stepping forward and backward as he narrowly evaded the origin bullets.
“How is this possible?!” The assailant’s figure appeared in the distance as she cried out in disbelief.
Her shots were indeed at a master’s level, but Qianye was already guarded against her. Moreover, he could see and deduce the bullet trajectories with his Eye of Truth. It was only natural that he would evade them easily.
Realizing that she was helpless against Qianye, the assassin rushed over and shouted in a stern voice, “William! Why are you not attacking? Are you trying to defect?”
William shrugged helplessly. “Hey, this isn’t a simple opponent. How can I attack carelessly?”
“William! If you don’t attack right now, I’ll report this matter to the duke when we return. Even if the Summit of Peaks can protect you, those two tribes will definitely die!”
William’s expression changed slightly as he walked over with a sigh.
Qianye had already recognized the distant sniper as Twilight. In his memories, however, the vampire lady’s strength was far inferior to William’s. How come her position at the moment seemed to be higher? Qianye thought of something at this point. “That’s Twilight, isn’t it? I remember her strength is nothing to write home about. How come she’s riding on your head now?”
William seemed to have lost all enthusiasm. He waved his large hand and said, “Let’s not talk about those annoying things. Come, Qianye, it’s been a while. Let’s fight! Let me see how strong you’ve become.”
William was just about to attack when the scenery in front of him transformed—there was suddenly a lush, giant tree blocking his path to Qianye. How could there be a tree in this accursed place? During that moment of surprise, William suddenly lost track of Qianye.
Meanwhile, Qianye saw several large trees and shrubs appear around him and immediately realized that it was Song Zining’s domain. At this time, he heard the latter’s voice echo beside his ears, “Let’s go!”
Soon, Qianye felt an invisible power leading him to a certain direction. Qianye followed this guiding force, knowing full well that it was the power of Song Zining’s domain.
The invisible energy shifted repeatedly and along with it, Qianye’s direction of movement. The cooperation between the two gradually came close to perfection.
Qianye ran several hundred meters in the blink of an eye and soon the scene in front of him transformed back to a desolate landscape. Song Zining appeared from behind a giant rock, with Zhao Yuying and Wei Potian in tow. With everyone accounted for, Song Zining said, “Follow me, quick!”
He actually started running toward the Zhang clan army. Zhao Yuying and Wei Potian also followed closely. Qianye looked back and saw a verdant forest sticking out from the surroundings like a sore thumb—with the vampire count and William still trapped inside.
