[V6C188 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]
The airship sped away, leaving the fortress drenched in raging flames. Within the cabin, Qianye put Song Zining down without a word. The latter seemed to be in great spirits after his brush with death. He said with a laugh, “It would seem this young master is quite lucky. I receive help from distinguished people wherever I go.”
But Qianye didn’t respond to his corny joke and, instead, slumped gradually to the floor.
Song Zining didn’t seem to mind, however. “Have you collapsed from exhaustion?” But he pounced over anxiously after seeing Qianye unresponsive. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
Zhao Yuying appeared behind Song Zining and grabbed his shoulders. “He’ll really die if you keep shaking him.”
Song Zining forced himself to calm down and let go of Qianye. Watching Zhao Yuying lift Qianye up, he asked, “What’s wrong with him?”
Zhao Yuying’s expression was solemn and evidently distressed. She reached out several times to touch Qianye’s back but pulled back midway. She struggled a couple of times but seemed unable to muster the courage. She finally exhaled deeply and said to Song Zining, “Qianye… took that shot for you. Come here and check his back!”
Song Zining’s vision darkened.
He had just realized that he had forgotten where that lethal shot had actually gone. That bullet carried might akin to the oceans and was no weaker than an attack from a marquis. How could an expert capable of firing such a shot ever miss?
Song Zining was much more decisive than Zhao Yuying in such situations. He clenched his teeth, slowly flipped Qianye over, and exposed his back.
There was a bowl-sized injury on Qianye’s back. It didn’t look that big at a glance, but it was so deep that even his spine was visible. Moreover, half of his backbone had been eroded!
Normally, such an injury wasn’t hopeless for a true expert. However, the flesh and blood around Qianye’s wound were showing no signs of regeneration. This made Song Zining feel as though his heart had fallen into an icy cavern.
He was very clear just how powerful Qianye’s vampiric constitution and regenerative abilities were. These wounds should be growing back at a visible rate under normal circumstances, and yet they were completely motionless at the moment. To Song Zining, this was even more terrifying than a normal human’s gory wound being eroded by blood energy. This meant that Qianye’s body was currently losing vitality.
As expected, clear fluid began seeping out from the wound, and the naked flesh gradually turned an eerie pale color. This, as far as Song Zining could remember, was the sign of a superior vampire nearing his death.
How could it be so easy to take an all-out attack from a powerful vampire count?
At this point, Song Zining suddenly calmed down. He glanced meaningfully at Zhao Yuying before carrying Qianye into one of the rooms.
She followed him in, puzzled as to what Song Zining wanted to do. She had sensed something dangerous in the latter’s eyes just now.
After putting Qianye down, Song Zining walked out of the room and closed the door behind him, effectively blocking Zhao Yuying’s line of vision. Then, he scanned the wide cabin of the airship. There were Zhao clan soldiers wherever his eyes landed. Most of them were soldiers who had defended the second-line fortress with him, and some were warriors from the first who had retreated to the second.
Most of them were injured. Some were lying down and others were sitting, but all of them were silent—even the injured ones held back their groans.
After glancing around at the blood-soaked soldiers who had fought alongside him, Song Zining let out a sudden sigh; he still couldn’t bear to do it. As such, he turned back into the room and closed the door.
Song Zining pulled back his left sleeve under Zhao Yuying’s bewildered gaze. The two fingers on his right hand streaked over his left wrist, immediately producing a deep wound and a gush of blood!
Zhao Yuying was shocked out of her wits and came fairly close to crying out. She stared at Song Zining with wide eyes, unable to understand his self-harming action. Song Zining also looked up at her with a complicated expression.
Zhao Yuying suddenly felt a chill in her heart. She actually felt a sense of extreme danger from Song Zining, and the feeling was almost lethal!
Song Zining wasn’t in good condition at the moment. He had been completely drained in the two consecutive defense battles, and his entire body was riddled with wounds. Normally speaking, Zhao Yuying could knock him out with a single finger at the moment. Even at his peak, Song Zining wasn’t really her match. But now, Zhao Yuying could actually feel an illusion of mortal peril.
Song Zining only shot her a single glance before looking back down. He placed his wrist over Qianye’s wound, letting the blood gush down into it. His blood was a deep scarlet—there was a faint mist rising around it and was accompanied by a relaxing fragrance.
Zhao Yuying was astonished to find that Song Zining had instilled his blood with origin power! His current state was extremely weak. Instilling origin power like this was clearly overdrafting his vitality.
The hot blood filled with origin power immediately formed a small pool over Qianye’s wound. The pale flesh around it soon gained some color after being soaked in the sanguineous liquid.
Song Zining’s left hand remained fixed in the air. Fresh blood gushed out from his wrist like spring water and poured onto Qianye’s body. The flow was so fast that, in the blink of an eye, Song Zining’s face became pale and his lips began to lose color.
In no time, a small basin’s worth of blood had been cast into Qianye’s wound. The pale flesh became flushed with color, but the pond of blood didn’t expand. All of the new blood had actually been absorbed.
Qianye moved ever so slightly; that lifeless body had finally gained a wisp of vitality.
As a knowledgeable person, Zhao Yuying understood everything at a glance. She gasped. “Qianye, he… he…”
Song Zining looked up at her and said indifferently, “Everything that has happened to him, he never had a choice in anything. In my eyes, Qianye will always be a human. He will always be Song Zining’s good brother.”
The shock was so great that Zhao Yuying was dazed for a moment. She had finally realized the reason for Song Zining’s strange killing intent. Humans and dark races were ultimately irreconcilable. The first reaction of an imperial soldier upon seeing a tainted human would be to kill him.
If Zhao Yuying were to show any abnormal movements, Song Zining would’ve fought her with everything he had.
Zhao Yuying was exceptionally intelligent. How could someone capable of reaching such a position at her age be dumb? She had guessed the cause and effect in the blink of an eye.
She suddenly reached out to grab Song Zining’s wrist and sealed the wound on it. This movement was as quick as lightning. The raging origin power quickly overpowered Song Zining’s body and immobilized him.
The latter, despite being prepared, couldn’t evade the move and was quickly apprehended. All that he had planned was instantly destroyed.
Zhao Yuying dragged Song Zining away and stretched out her own hand. With a slight shake, she tore open her own wrist, sending an arrow of blood into Qianye’s wound.
Her blood was different from Song Zining’s. Mist rose straight up from the fluid and shot toward the ceiling like a cloud. The origin power within it was far superior to a top-grade origin distillate, not something Song Zining’s could compare to.
Zhao Yuying’s origin power cultivation was above Song Zining’s to begin with. Moreover, she had conserved her strength and was at her peak state. As such, the origin power in her blood was several times richer. Qianye’s entire body jolted when her blood entered the wound. The necrotic flesh quickly sloughed off, and new tissue pushed out from underneath, almost as though they were hungry for more of her blood.
Song Zining was struggling with all his might, but he quickly calmed down after seeing this.
Zhao Yuying’s blood poured out like a pillar. She turned back to Song Zining in dissatisfaction and said, “In my heart, Qianye will always be the Lil’ Five I held in my arms back then. And you! You want to fight me with your meager strength? This won’t end here, see how I’ll deal with you afterward!”
Song Zining quickly switched to a resplendent smile and began fawning on her. “Sister Yuying is so valiant and powerful, how can I ever compare?”
Zhao Yuying suppressed the boot-licking with a snort and looked back at Qianye.
At this moment, Qianye’s entire body was trembling fiercely, and the flesh around his wound was already growing back. It was at this time that loud thumps, akin to the beating of a drum, echoed throughout the airship cabin—Qianye’s blood core was beating once again.
With his blood core revived, Qianye soon regained his vitality, and the large transfusion he had received from Song Zining and Zhao Yuying sent him into a state of blood-boil. The flesh around his wounds grew back at a stunning rate; even the damaged bones were being repaired.
Qianye let out a groan as he slowly regained his consciousness.
“It’s enough.” Song Zining signaled Zhao Yuying to close the wound on her wrist. Zhao Yuying had lost over half her total blood in a short period. If this went on, even someone of her strength would be in mortal danger.
Qianye opened his eyes. After regaining consciousness, he was surprised to find himself in a state of intense blood-boil. He remembered being gravely wounded before losing consciousness, and even his blood core had lost its vitality. What was going on?
Qianye saw Song Zining and Zhao Yuying as he struggled to stand up. He understood what had happened after noticing the wounds on their wrists and just how pale their faces were.
Qianye suddenly felt something rolling about in his throat. He wanted to say something, but no words escaped his lips.
Zhao Yuying’s expression stiffened. “This mommy doesn’t know anything, and I don’t want to listen to boring things, either. Look for someone else if you want to discuss anything. See you!”
Qianye looked at Song Zining in surprise. The seventh young master said elegantly, “This young master is badly injured and exhausted in both mind and body. It’s just the right time to find a couple of beauties and discuss the principles of life and the profundities of the great dao. Don’t come and disturb me if you have nothing important.”
With that, the two left without giving Qianye any opportunity to speak.
“You two…” Gazing at their receding backs, Qianye didn’t quite know what to say.
