Monarch of Evernight (Web Novel)
chapter-72

[Volume 2 - Bloom of the Other Shore Flower]

Qianye did not attempt to avoid the blow. He took a step forward with his left leg and lifted his right knee, slamming it directly into the young man’s sweeping foot! There was a crack and a bloodcurdling scream. The young man’s leg was bent at an unnatural angle, his ankle obviously broken.

The young man could no longer stand on his feet as he crashed on his back. He glared at Qianye. It was only now that he felt true fear!

Qianye’s expression didn’t change too much. In the end, even his spring-like smile wasn’t completely withdrawn yet. It was as if taking a dozen lives was nothing to him at all.

The young man finally understood that in the eyes of this man who was so beautiful that he even appeared a little fragile, his strength as a rank two Fighter meant that he was an ant that could be crushed at any moment. Qianye’s true strength was definitely not as it seemed to the surface!

“Don’t kill me, don’t kill me! My father is Sky Snake!” At this time, sobs could be heard behind the young man’s words. He shifted his body backward repeatedly, trying to stay away from this devil of a man.

“I know that your father is Sky Snake.” Qianye said indifferently.

Calmly, he pushed the final bullet into the chamber and aimed it at the young man’s other, unhurt foot. He then said, “I won’t kill you. Go back and tell Sky Snake that I will play with him until the end if he dares to provoke me again! As for you, if you show up in front of me again, you will not be as lucky you are today. Let this shot will be a lesson for you and Sky Snake today.”

While speaking, Qianye pulled the trigger. The bullet flew out of the chamber with a bang and slammed into the young man’s knee. Although Sky Snake’s son was a rank two Fighter, the heavy duty bullet still came very close to shattering his knee.

Qianye threw the emptied gun down onto the young man’s face before unholstering the Flowing Gold Rose from his waist. He said, “You are not worthy of this gun, and neither is Sky Snake!”

Qianye turned around and left.

It was only a long time after his figure had disappeared that the young man dared to let out a bloodcurdling scream, “Someone! Someone save me!”

Moments later, at the Sky Snake Gang’s headquarters, Sky Snake slammed the wooden tea table with his palm, and instantly broke it into several pieces! His face was so dark and heavy that one could almost wringe water from it. His face twitched non-stop as he stared at the dozen or so corpses laid in a row on the hall floor.

Right now, Sky Snake’s precious and only son was receiving treatment from a doctor at the back of the room. He had one arm and one leg crushed by Qianye, and he nearly completely lost a knee as well. However, these were still not the worst of his injuries. His son had suffered such a terrible shock that he had gone a little insane at the end of everything. At times, he would suddenly let out shocked screams as if Qianye were standing right in front of him.

Even if he could fully treat his external injuries, his son could never reach Sky Snake’s current level any longer. Originally, Sky Snake had been hoping that he could inherit the Sky Snake Gang.

While brimming with murderous intent, Sky Snake slowly stood up and yelled, “Summon the men! We shall go to Home of Hunters!”

An hour later, several hundreds of leather-adorned men gathered at Home of Hunter’s doorsteps, and filled the entire street. Every man’s elbows were tattooed with all kinds of snakes.

Sky Snake led several dozen of his trusted subordinates and strode into Home of Hunters.

A few hunters had initially been seated in the hall. Right now, they had all stood up in doubt and surprise as they watched Sky Snake aggressively step into the hall.

“This is none of your business! Sit down now, or I’ll assume that you’re trying to provoke me.” Sky Snake said coldly.

These hunters were all Fighters of rank two or so. Their faces paled instantly, and they sat back down on their seats. Sky Snake was a rank five Fighter, and the difference between their strength could not be more obvious. He wasn’t someone they could resist at all.

Old 2 was the only one still seated primly behind the counter. He had only raised his head for a glance when Sky Snake led his men into the hall. He had then turned his gaze back to his book.

BANG! Sky Snake’s palm slammed down heavily on the counter.

However, this slap did not shatter the entire counter as he had expected it to. There were only a few cracks spreading out where he had struck.

When Sky Snake struck downwards, Old 2 had put his hand on the counter as well, and protected it with an immense amount of origin power. His origin power had clashed fiercely against Sky Snake’s.

Still, a few cracks had appeared on the counter, so it was obvious that Sky Snake’s origin power was slightly greater than Old 2’s.

Sky Snake’s face was incredibly ugly as he said in a cold tone, “Old 2, are you going to start a full scale war against my Sky Snake Gang for that one star hunter?”

Old 2 lifted his presbyopic glasses and said seriously, looking through the lenses that were slightly worn out, “Are you talking about Qianye? The grudge between you two has nothing to do with me or Home of Hunters. However, if you try to break the counter I make a living with, and the table that I eat my food on at the very second you come in, what else do you think I should do? When that happens, I have to fight even if I don’t want to, don’t I?”

Sky Snake said in a chilly voice, “This counter isn’t broken yet, but my son already is! If Home of Hunters plans to defend that little brat, then yes, this war must start! On top of that, let’s not forget that my Sky Snake Gang lost a dozen or so lives as well!”

Old 2’s eyebrows wrinkled as he said slowly, “Sky Snake, do not forget that Home of Hunters exists not only in Darkblood City, but also the on upper continents of the Empire as well. Try not to do something stupid, even if you think I am not worth giving face to.”

Sky Snake laughed coldly and said, “Of course, the Sky Snake Gang cannot be compared to the entire Home of Hunters. However, I’ve never heard that Home of Hunters would break their own rules and interfere with matters they shouldn’t either.”

“There are exception to rules, especially when our counter were to be smashed by someone.”

However, Sky Snake did not even frown at his veiled threat and said, “So we’re doing this the hard way, then?”

Before Old 2 could answer, Qianye’s voice rang from the side, “So what if we do this the hard way?”

Sky Snake abruptly turned around and stared at Qianye like a hawk. He laughed coldly and said, “Good! Very good! I have never seen someone who dares provoke our Sky Snake Gang in the face! Do you think I’m easy to pick on?”

Qianye’s laugh was equally cold, “If someone tries to kill me but is so weak that they got killed by me instead, what else is there to be discussed about? Or do you think that I should just sit on my ass and die? Sky Snake, do you think I’m easy to pick on?”

Sky Snake’s eyes narrowed slightly as he uttered coldly, “You are merely a rank three small fry. So what if I pick on you? When I saw you last time, you did seem to have some talent in you, but if I kill you now, then no matter how good your talents are, it will be worth nothing at all!”

Qianye laughed disdainfully, “You want to kill me?”

Sky Snake’s pupils shrank, and he suddenly smiled, saying, “Do you want to give it a try right now then?”

Old 2 stood up at this point and said solemnly, “Sky Snake, must you take a life at my place?”

“What are you going to do now, Old 2? Even if you’re willing to make sacrifices, do not forget that he is not the only hunter in Home of Hunters.” Sky Snake’s face was unpleasant, and his tone was already veiled with a threat.

Old 2 was unmoved by his words as he said indifferently, “You’ve already crossed the line when you brought so many men into my place. Therefore, no one is allowed to fight here today, or they will have me as an enemy. After tonight, no matter what happens between you and Qianye, it will no longer be my business.”

Sky Snake raised his eyebrows and was about to say something. But in the end, he held himself back, nodded powerfully, and answered coldly, “Alright! I will give you face today, but this will be the last time! From tomorrow morning onwards, I will come and settle my business with this kid. However, I will remind you, Old 2, you have a lot of hunters, and not all of them are strong. You better wish that they will have a safe journey when they go on their missions from now on. If I run into any hunters in or outside the city, maybe I’ll share my kindness and ‘help’ them along the way!”

Sky Snake glanced at the hunters inside the hall once before beckoning at his men. They then left Home of Hunters swaggeringly.

The rank two hunters all wore ugly expressions on their faces. If they ran into Sky Snake or his elite subordinates when they were out on a mission, they might not even have the chance to escape. Being a hunter was an extremely dangerous occupation in the first place, and now that the Sky Snake Gang had appeared out of nowhere and became their enemy, it meant that their death ratio would become a lot higher than it had been before. Therefore, there were a lot of Hunters who were staring at Qianye with extremely unfriendly eyes.

“He’s just a freshman. He has no idea of the the immensity of heaven and earth! If he wants to fight the Sky Snake Gang to the death that’s his own business! Don’t drag us into his mess!”

“That’s right!”

“A person like this better watch his back when he goes on a mission in the future. A man that’s too arrogant can only die faster!”

The hunters began conversing with one another as their grudge grew bigger and their words turned uglier.

Qianye did not say anything. He simply swept a glance at them once.

Those hunters suddenly choked on their words. Their numbers were greater, and Qianye was only one level higher than they were. Supposedly, they had nothing to be afraid of against Qianye. However, when Qianye had glanced at them, they all shivered at once and were unable to continue talking any longer. They looked into each other’s eyes and saw the shock and fear inside them. Because of this, they didn’t dare to stay behind any longer, and left Home of Hunters while muttering beneath their breaths.

Qianye arrived in front of the counter and said to Old 2, “Do you have any alcohol? I would like to drink a bit.”

Old 2 took out a cup and fished out a palm-sized purple sand wine jar. He then filled a small half of the cup and pushed it to Qianye.

Qianye grabbed the cup and drank it in one gulp. After holding his breath for a moment, he finally said, “Great wine! It’s still a little weaker than the one I make myself though.”

“Are you talking about military use stimulants?” Old 2 obviously knew a lot more than he seemed to.

“That stuff is a little harmful to the body though. It must be taken sparingly.”

Old 2 poured Qianye yet another cup of alcohol, saying, “Looks like you got quite the trouble with Sky Snake.”

“That is true! His son just tried to rob me.”

“It is very much like that young man’s style to do so. He does have some smarts, though. He knows what kind of person he can afford to provoke.”

Qianye let out a mouthful of wine vapor and smiled, “Unfortunately for him, his luck wasn’t good enough. That’s why he found me. I am exactly the kind of person he should not have provoked.”

Old 2 looked at Qianye deeply and said, “You have great confidence in yourself.”

Qianye said calmly, “I simply believe that I cannot let them act however they like.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“You’ve already done enough for me.”

“You may need more weaponry.”

“It’s fine. I’ll get them from Sky Snake.”

Qianye set down the empty cup on the counter and headed outside just like that.

At the entrance to the hall, there was a big guy leaning against the door. It was one of the three people Qianye had run into when he first visited Home of Hunters.

When he saw Qianye, he suddenly spat on the ground and said, “I hate the smell of dogs with the Empire’s stench on them. However, those trash from the Sky Snake Gang disgust me even more! The entire street outside is filled with their eyes right now. If you aren’t careful enough, I may have to take care of your corpse tomorrow morning.”

Qianye paused his footsteps and said, “If you enjoy carrying corpses on your back, then congratulations, there will be plenty of Sky Snake Gang henchmen who’ll be your customers by the morrow. I may not like you, but thank you regardless.”

The big guy nodded and opened the way. He walked toward the counter and said to Old 2, “Old 2, I’m here to submit a mission!”

It was only when Qianye had exited the front door that the big guy said, “That little guy might actually be able to do a little something. Maybe he’s worth raising.”

Old 2 simply shrugged and said nothing.

When Qianye left Home of Hunters, he unhurriedly entered a dark alley by his side.

The vagrants roaming around Home of Hunters immediately followed him from a suitable distance. The second Qianye entered the alleyway, he instantly sped up and charged to the end of the alley like a typhoon. He then turned to the left with a quick dash and step.

The people following him couldn’t be bothered to conceal themselves any longer and charged madly towards the street where Qianye disappeared. However, when they reached the crossroad, Qianye was long gone.

A moment later, Qianye suddenly appeared at Yu Yingnan’s doorsteps. However, before he could lift a hand and knock on the door, it suddenly opened to reveal a fully-armed Yu Yingnan walking out full of killing intent, carrying an extremely powerful, double barrel shotgun in one hand.

Qianye suddenly leaped forward and pushed Yu Yingnan into the room. Then, he kicked the door shut.