Volume 3 – The Place Where My Heart Feels At Peace, Chapter 4: The Beginning of Trouble

The mercenaries didn’t actually perceive any signs of death. Qianye’s hand, which held the gun, shook slightly. In the eyes of the mercenaries, this was an indication of fear. Many of them began to pull out knives, and others took out their origin guns.

The surrounding mercenaries slowly closed in on Qianye like a herd of sheep trying to kill a lion.

Qianye suddenly raised his hands and pointed the Butcher at the strongest mercenary! In the next moment, the Butcher roared and the mercenary’s head immediately became a bloody mist. His headless body hadn’t even moved its arms up to its chest yet, and the origin power that had just been gathered immediately dispersed.

A few drops of blood splattered on Qianye’s face, and a drop actually flew into his mouth. After having held back for so long, that sweet flavor nearly caused Qianye to moan.

The Butcher’s power did not scare these mercenaries. Instead, they thought they saw an opportunity! They howled like wild beasts and rushed Qianye, three or four knives stabbing at Qianye at the same time!

Qianye turned his body slightly to dodge strikes to his vitals. Only one of the knives slid across his back. The mercenary that struck with that knife felt as if he had scratched a thick piece of animal hide. He couldn’t even cut past the surface. The knife slid to the side, leaving a shallow wound.

Qianye’s own knife moved rhythmically, neither fast nor slow. With three swooping sounds, he struck three mercenaries.

Qianye was already attacking based on instinct. All three strikes hit vital areas, so all three mercenaries couldn’t get back up.

Qianye continued to attack instead of retreat, charging into the crowd of mercenaries. He stuck close to a mercenary, then instantly separated from them, repeatedly stabbing with his knife. Each stab made a mercenary collapse.

Most of nearly twenty mercenaries collapsed in a few brief moments. The remaining mercenaries were barely able to react before screaming and running away.

Qianye didn’t chase after them, and through great force of will, turned to leave without looking at the flesh in front of him.

He quietly returned to the hotel he was staying in and walked to his room. Qianye’s steps were now quite shaky, and he ran into a number of people on his way. These people smelled the thick smell of blood on Qianye and became too afraid to say anything. They quickly let him pass by them.

A short, crude door finally appeared in front of him. Qianye almost took the entire thing down before walking inside. When he stepped inside, he slammed the door and immediately dove into the bag that Yu Yingnan had given him.

Qianye opened cans one after another. He fervently dumped the contents inside his mouth. It didn’t matter if they were actual meals or not. By the time he emptied all of the cans, Qianye could barely suppress his intense hunger. He stumbled and fell onto his bed. He felt extremely tired and immediately fell into a deep sleep.

……

When Qianye fell asleep, Yu Yingnan was sitting in her room, rigid and stiff. She had barely eaten the entire day. She wasn’t hungry and didn’t seem to be thirsty. Her thoughts were sluggish, and she had no idea what she was thinking.

At this time, Yu Yingnan suddenly heard movement outside her house and instantly jumped off of her sofa.

“Did Qianye come back?” she thought unconsciously.

However, Yu Yingnan’s thoughts stopped short. She didn’t understand why she thought Qianye would come back.

The door opened, but the person who entered wasn’t Qianye.

It was Sky Snake.

Yu Yingnan immediately woke from her delusions and reached for her gun at her waist. However, her hand stopped mid-movement. Sky Snake was already pointing his gun at her forehead.

“I really didn’t want to meet in this way, Miss Yingnan. However, there doesn’t seem to be a better way.”

Sky Snake approached Yu Yingnan step by step. Since she had a gun to her head, she was forced to move backward. She continued to retreat until her back hit a wall. Only then did she finally stop.

The pistol slowly moved down from Yu Yingnan’s head, over her cheek, and eventually stopped below her chin. An enormous force forced her to lift her head.

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

“What do you intend to do?” Yu Yingnan asked coldly, without much fear.

Sky Snake lowered his head to look at her, then reached out and softly caressed her face. Then he suddenly pinched her breast and said, “I wanted to see how big your charms were!”

Yu Yingnan showed no sign of embarrassment and continued to speak coldly. “Using this method?”

Sky Snake forcefully yanked his hand downward. He tore off her corset and tossed it aside, immediately exposing her firm, plump breasts.

All of a sudden, Yu Yingnan lifted her leg, viciously striking at Sky Snake’s crotch with her knee. However, Sky Snake seemed to have predicted this. He pushed his legs together, holding her thigh firmly between them. At the same time, he struck Yu Yingnan in her abdomen.

At that moment, all of her organs shifted, and the last of her origin power was crushed. She couldn’t even breath.

Sky Snake grabbed Yu Yingnan by her hair and lifted her up, saying, “Miss Yingnan, your best option is to cooperate. You will suffer less that way. I am somewhat interested in you, but now isn’t the time for that. I might think of you when I destroy that little bastard Qianye! You better not force me to hurt you right now.”

Yu Yingnan immediately understood Sky Snake’s intent. “You want to kill Qianye?”

“Kill? Of course not! Killing would be mercy. I want to play around with him for a while. Maybe I’ll think about killing him after that.”

Sky Snake swung his hand, forcefully striking the back of Yu Yingnan’s neck and knocking her out. He then wrapped her in a cloak and put her over his shoulder. Upon leaving, Sky Snake threw an insignia of the Sky Snake Gang onto the torn corset on the floor.

……

The injuries that Yu Renyan gave Qianye weren’t particularly serious, but there were a lot of them, so it was difficult for him to recover. Qianye rested for an entire day and night to restore a little bit of his strength. When he woke up, he changed his appearance like he always did and left the hotel to look for a bar to sit in and find information.

Qianye immediately discovered a piece of brand new information. Sky Snake was spreading the fact that the Sky Snake Gang was looking for him. According to the information, Sky Snake also had an important person.

Qianye left the bar and immediately ran to Yu Yingnan’s house. In all of Darkblood City, only this female hunter had a close relationship with Qianye. He didn’t think that Sky Snake had the ability to capture Old 1 or Old 2.

Yu Yingnan’s place was never locked. When Qianye opened the door and entered, he unexpectedly found someone sitting in the living room. It was Old 2.

“Sky Snake currently has Yingnan,” Second Elder said, pointing at the table.

A torn corset and an insignia of the Sky Snake Gang lay atop it. Qianye recognized the corset as the one that Yu Yingnan often wore, but he still picked it up and smelled it. The clothing indeed carried Yu Yingnan’s scent, and not much time had passed.

Sky Snake had left both the corset and the insignia for Qianye.

Qianye put the corset down, his face covered with a layer of frost. He looked at Old 2 and asked, “Didn’t you say that Sky Snake wanted to make peace with me?”

Old 2 wore a sour expression. “Looks like that was never his intention.”

Qianye calmed down and asked, “What do you suggest?”

Second Elder coughed deeply before saying, “This kind of thing… maybe you’re the expert on it.”

Qianye coldly said, “I do have my way of resolving this, but I don’t know if it’s the correct way.”

“Considering Yingnan’s temper, it doesn’t matter what you do. She’ll be happy if you just kill Sky Snake.”

Qianye nodded and said, “I know. However… I need a few things.”

“As long as the storehouse has it, you can take it.”

Qianye left the Home of Hunters a moment later, heading through the backdoor and disappearing into the night of Darkblood City. Old 2 left as well and went to a hotel near the expeditionary army’s camp.

A man with a formidable beard sat at the bar by himself, quietly drinking alcohol. He seemed frustrated.

Old 2 sat beside him.

“It’s rare to see you here, Old 2.”

Old 2 ordered some alcohol. When it arrived, he slowly sipped it as he said, “Even you, Chu Xiong, can come here. Why can’t I?”

Chu Xiong laughed in self-deprecation and said, “What’s wrong with me coming here? When that important character arrives, I’ll still be afraid of showing my face and end up hiding in the camp! Sometimes I just really want vent my frustration!”

“Even if you did come, you would just die!”

Chu Xiong chugged his entire cup of liquor and said, “That would still be better than not fighting at all!”

“I heard that the higher-ups sent someone who could send that important character back?”

Chu Xiong shook his head and said, “I’m don’t know much about that. I only know that the Broken Winged Angels sent a major general. He wasn’t some below-average personnel from the expeditionary army. However, that major general definitely can’t handle that person.”

Old 2 sighed again and spoke in an ancient manner unique to the elderly. “Ah, looks like the peace that was put in the place will leave soon.”

“Why? Didn’t that guy leave?” The moment he said this, however, Chu Xiong immediately understood. Even though the important character from the Evernight Council left, Darkblood City would become the center of the conflict. People would come constantly flock here in the future and try to find the secret that important character came for.

For a time, the two drank alcohol in frustration. Chu Xiong then said, “You suddenly came here to drink. Something must have happened. Tell me what you want me to do.”

“For the next two days, the city won’t be very calm. I hope you can turn a blind eye to some things. It would be even better if you could cover them up.” Old 2 calmly revealed his intentions.

Chu Xiong slightly furrowed his brow. “What things?”

“Things related to the Sky Snake Gang.”

Chu Xiong’s brow tightened further. “That could be a bit of a problem. Although not everyone is willing to speak for him, Sky Snake has more than one connection in the expeditionary army. Even if I’m not staying here for very long, I still don’t want to offend a bunch of scoundrels.”

“You would be able to consider the favor from last time as repaid.”

Chu Xiong seemed a bit surprised. “You’re using it on this? Great! Since you say so, I understand. In Darkblood City, there shouldn’t be anyone who really wants to confront me, but I won’t know what they do in the dark.”

“It’ll be enough as long as the expeditionary army doesn’t take action.”

“I know I shouldn’t ask, but who is it that you’re willing to pay such a huge price for? Could it be that new rising Hunter? Are you planning on raising him to be your successor?”

Old 2 took another sip of alcohol and leisurely said, “Of course not! It’s for Yingnan. You’ve seen her before. I’ve always treated her like a daughter, and this time Sky Snake has overstepped his boundaries.”

Chu Xiong ordered another cup of liquor and drained all of it. Then he stood up and said, “I still owe you a favor. I’ll just put in a little extra effort and clean up future trouble that the Sky Snake Gang could cause. If Sky Snake doesn’t die tonight, I’ll kill him myself. However, Qiqi’s mission… you need to help me soon. I can’t keep this up much longer. No matter who it is, just find someone who’s pretty good and send him over. Okay? Then it’s decided. Also, the alcohol is on you this time.”

After saying that, this man who seemed a bit under the weather walked out of the broken down bar with large strides. The bartender behind the bar, who also looked like the years were taking a toll on him, gave Old 2 a sympathetic look and shrugged. It wasn’t just this time. As long as Old 2 was present, Chu Xiong never paid the bill. He truly did not have much money. His pockets were devoid of even a single silver coin.

It was already deep into the night when the faint sound of gunfire seemed to ring out in the distance. This sound seemed a bit strange, quite deep, but also crisp. It sounded like the thump of a bass drum striking people in directly in their hearts.