Monarch of Evernight (Web Novel)
chapter-56

[Volume 2 - Bloom of the Other Shore Flower]

Qi Yue hadn’t completely lost consciousness yet, and he painstakingly opened his swollen eyes, speaking blurrily after a while, “It's you!”

“It's me, Qianye. You must have a deep impression of me, or else you wouldn't have created such a commotion, utilizing the expeditionary army to attempt to kill me at Lighthouse Town.”

A venomous expression appeared in his face as he spoke viciously, “I should've just killed you at the underground arena!”

Qianye laughed, “It is indeed a pity, but you don't have a chance anymore now.”

Only now did Qi Yue seem more clear headed. He stared at Qianye and suddenly revealed an extremely terrified expression as he stuttered, “You…you’re actually a rank three Fighter!”

“You have good eyes, but it's too late now.”

Qi Yue's expression was extremely complicated with hate, regret, and envy.

Qianye reached rank three at a very young age, making him a rare talent even in the expeditionary army. Qi Yue was twenty three himself, but he would need another year of cultivation and large amounts of medicinal items to reach rank three.

“I should've guessed that you were not rank one when you used combat skills from the army.” Qi Yue sighed deeply.

A person such as Qianye would be extremely useful as an underling. If Qianye would replace the troops of Sir Zhao, he wouldn't reject money and better conditions.

Qi Yue's status was ten times better than Sir Zhao’s, and he could offer much better conditions. With only some patience and skill, how could Qianye reject him?

In the Evernight Continent, strength was everything.

However, was not too late yet.

Qi Yue fought to sit up and asked, “Are you here because of Sir Zhao?”

“And Min'er.”

“Min’er… that prostitute?” mentioning Min’er, Qi Yue couldn't help but grit his teeth.

“Yes.”

“Have you forgotten that she was willing to sleep with Tiger Yan for a bit of money and almost made you lose your fight!”

Qianye spoke calmly, “I haven't, but that is a thing of the past, and now, like Sir Zhao, she is also my friend.”

“Friend? Haha!” Qi Yue laughed loudly, causing blood to flow out of his mouth which made him look exceptionally terrifying. He ridiculed, “I didn't expect to hear such an ancient word! In this era, in this place, is there really such a thing as a friend?”

Qianye thought of another group of people, Colonel Wei Lishi, the leader of the Red Scorpions, and those Black Scorpion veterans. In that bloody night, the leader of the Red Scorpions pushed the entire dark wave back in exchange for Qianye's chance to escape.

That was a miracle with the price of a life.

Qianye sighed softly. “There isn't such a word in your dictionary, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. At least I have friends, and Sir Zhao and Min’er are like that.”

Qi Yue stopped laughing madly and spoke in a serious tone, “Alright, I respect your decision. If possible, I hope that you can think of me as a friend in the future. Follow me, how about that? I have another identity, and its incomparable to the current Qi family. I am very certain of your ability, so as long as you follow me, you will be able to get anything you want! The way I, Qi Yue, treat my underlings, is known in Blackflow City, you can ask around.”

Qianye stared at Qi Yue's face and suddenly laughed. “Tempting indeed, if it was someone else, they would have most likely been swayed. However, I wasn’t intending on finding a backer when I was talking to you.”

Qi Yue suddenly shuddered.

This was his first time closely inspecting Qianye's face. The crude camouflage was still present, but his exquisite features were still visible. This smile had the familiarity of a neighborhood boy, yet Qi Yue’s instincts could sense danger.

He suddenly felt as though he couldn't see through Qianye. Qianye was incredibly young, yet his fighting ability and decision-making were contradictory to that. He was trained and vicious, killing with one blow, and he gave himself and his opponent no chance of any hesitation. Not knowing why, Qi Yue suddenly remembered the common, yet extremely fatal red scorpion.

Qianye pointed toward the briefcase brought by the vampires and spoke, “Open it, and I will give you a pleasant death. If not, I'll send you back alive. I have some great things on hand, and I have a bit to spare.”

“Go back…alive?” This seemed to be the better choice, yet Qi Yue's body started trembling uncontrollably. Sure enough, he heard the answer he expected right from Qianye's mouth.

“Of course, you'll still die, roughly in about seven days. In these seven days, you will experience all kinds of suffering, your perception of pain will become exceptionally sensitive, so that even taking off a shirt will give you intense agony. However, the wounds on your body can be treated.”

The last sentence was the most hurtful part.

Qi Yue knew what method Qianye was talking about.

It was a poison extracted from the body of a vampire, said to be only in the hands of the mysterious officers of the Empire’s elite army. It destroyed the brain and the nerves, causing damage that could last forever, yet wasn't irreversible. To recover, one needed large amounts of precious medicinal items and a high ranking Champion to unblock the meridians of the entire body to exert the medicinal effects.

This kind of expenditure was a burden even to the prestigious families of the upper continent, and with the strength and relations of Blackflow City’s Qi Family, it would be impossible even if they went bankrupt.

Qianye stared at Qi Yue's expression and spoke indifferently, “It seems that I won't have to explain.”

Sending Qi Yue back would give him both hope and immense pain, as he could only await his death. This was the true torture. The Empire regularly used such methods against military betrayals, and the higher ups of rebel organizations.

Qi Yue trembled as he pointed at Qianye. “You! You came from that kind of place!?”

Qianye smiled. “You finally guessed it, very smart. A pity that it's too late.”

Only now did Qi Yue truly feel regret. Those from the elite armies were all monsters in the shape of men; they could not be measured with the ranking system and were nightmares to irk.

“Y-you cannot kill me! My real father is Sir Wu Zhengnan, he is an active duty senior of the Empire's expeditionary army! If you kill me, he will definitely avenge me!”

Qianye continued smiling. “I’ve heard this sentence countless times, can't you say something different?”

“I can give you money! I can give you women! Provided that I have it, I can give you anything as long as you let me go! How about that? Don't kill me…” Qi Yue became more and more incoherent. In the face of death, he collapsed mentally and started bawling.

He suddenly crawled to the briefcase and quickly unlocked it, and with a ‘kacha’ sound, it snapped open.

“Look, I opened it! Don't kill me, I beg…”

Qi Yue suddenly stopped speaking, and his vision became blurry as he stared at Qianye, the life force in his body sapping away. The spike bayonet in Qianye's hands had pierced through his throat, and the remaining poison on the blade numbed Qi Yue's nerves, forcing him immobile as he felt the blood drain out of him.

“Very well. I said already that as long as you open the briefcase, I'll let you die pleasantly.”

However, Qianye suddenly gathered his strength and viciously smashed his fist against Qi Yue's face, instantly smashing his face inwards.

Qi Yue fell to the ground facing the sky as his limbs jerked in the face of death.

“Sorry, I broke part of my promise.” Qianye spoke slightly apologetic towards Qi Yue's body.

Taking out a ring and a brooch from his pocket, Qianye placed it on Sir Qi’s chest. These were the belongings of both Min’er and Sir Zhao, a small ritual.

Qianye hoped that they would be able to see this on the other end of the nether river, to see the true killer’s end.

As for the soldiers present that day, they were simply following orders, a tool of murder for the higher-ups. Qianye did not plan on taking care of them.

Qianye opened the briefcase, and his pupils immediately dilated!

Inside was a black gun with an additional auxiliary barrel at the side at half a meter long. It was similar to the Light of Daybreak in appearance, but the method of creation was different like night and day. This gun was luxurious and smooth, and it even had a golden rose designed on the body.

This was the type of origin gun typically used by the vampires!

After the method of creation for origin guns was leaked to the dark race, the intelligent ones amongst them soon created versions which harnessed dark origin power.

However, the origin guns had gray areas, just like Evernight and Daybreak did. The dark races' origin guns were not completely unusable for humans, but it was just that their strength was reduced, and special abilities would be locked.

It was strange. Despite the bad blood between the vampires and the humans, the vampires’ origin guns were the most compatible with humans amongst the many creations of the various dark races, and with just a few adjustments, the loss of efficiency could be reduced. Furthermore, with their lavish workmanship, these guns were popular amongst the upper society of the Empire.

Many wealthy people used products of vampires, forcing even the creations of the human race to fall behind. On top of that, in this briefcase was a rare, high-quality origin gun. Simply the dazzling tactical accessory made it apparent.

Qianye picked up this gun and gently inserted a bit of origin power, and as a result, the origin force speedily gathered together within the gun, creating an origin bullet in a blink of an eye!

Qianye was pleasantly surprised. This was a rapid fire gun, which style was originally not suited for Qianye who pursued pure strength. However, triggering the origin power within the gun was unexpectedly easy, without any of the rough sensations he had when he used Evernight origin guns.

Qianye immediately thought that his three-colored blood energy could be the reason for this.

After testing for a bit, Qianye obtained the statistics of this gun. Its darkness origin power conversion rate was forty percent. With Qianye's rank three origin power and blood energy, he could fire five shots, with each shot containing a force four times stronger than a shot from the Light of Daybreak.

If this gun were to be in another person’s hand, the threat would be two ranks lower than normal. However, Qianye had the power of the blood of darkness and could bring out its true potential, although it was not to the extent that it would overpower the Scorpion Needle Custom.

On the gun was engraved: Flowing Gold Rose. This was probably the name of the gun. Not only was the writing flowery, there was also golden powder decorating it. This was indeed the style of the vampires.

The value of the intricate origin guns of vampires did not lay only in their strength. If he were to fight with weapons, Qianye would rather use the Scorpion Needle Custom, even though it couldn’t use blood energy. Still, this origin gun was two times stronger than the standard. No member of the upper class would attend an evening party with a rifle at their back and vampire origin guns were a nice decoration to their status.