A Desperate Strike

The thudding footsteps stopped before Yin Xuege's cell door. More than a dozen guards over two meters tall, clad in full-coverage fortress-style heavy armor, escorted Leitning to Yin Xuege's cell. A scrawny, shriveled jailer with a lewd and sinister face carried a long string of flame-glowing keys and cautiously approached the door, chuckling at Yin Xuege behind the vent.

"You soft-skinned little brat, step back!" The jailer waved at Yin Xuege. "I won't underestimate you little whelps just because you look tender and delicate! You're all beasts that eat people without even spitting out the bones—I know that!"

Leitning shot the jailer an annoyed glare, then cast Yin Xuege behind the vent a sidelong look before barking impatiently, "Don't waste time! He's just a vampire child. How much strength could he possibly have? Don't keep the lords waiting. Open the cell door!"

The urged jailer helplessly pulled a face. Lowering his head, he picked through the large ring of keys, selected one, and inserted it into the cell door's keyhole. Then, muttering under his breath, he traced a long string of strange characters across the door with his finger.

Dazzling light spilled from the cell door, and Yin Xuege warily retreated two steps. Thousands of fist-sized golden characters surged from the door. They seemed cast from golden glass, shimmering with flowing radiance. Every character carried suffocating pressure and brimmed with an immensely sacred aura.

That sacred aura made Yin Xuege uneasy. The Blood Demon Essence Blood within his heart spun rapidly, driving his heart into violent pounding. Wave after wave of blood rushed into his limbs, and his vision repeatedly reddened. The aura seemed to be the natural nemesis of Blood Demons, stirring in Yin Xuege an overwhelming urge to destroy every one of those golden characters.

A wheel-shaped magic array bearing twelve stars emerged upon the cell door. The oncoming sacred aura struck like a heavy hammer, blasting Yin Xuege backward and sending him flying. The heavy cell door slowly opened, and the jailer hastily scuttled back like a startled rat. Leitning, however, nonchalantly led four guards into the cell.

"Little brat, this is your honor! The supreme Grand Arbiters of the Great Berlin City-State wish to see you in person!" Malice filled Leitning's smile. Looking down at Yin Xuege, who had been blasted to the ground by that aura, he arrogantly raised his head. "You must understand that the lords are beings of incomparable nobility. Being granted an audience with them is the honor of your lifetime!"

Lying prone on the ground, Yin Xuege raised his head and looked at the swaggering, utterly overbearing Leitning.

"I don't think this is any honor. Your name is Leitning? Why did you hurt me with lightning just now?"

"Huh?" Leitning and the guards beside him plainly froze. After a moment, Leitning and all those he had brought burst out laughing. Leitning laughed so hard that he doubled over and squatted down, forcefully patting Yin Xuege's lean, slender body, which did not appear dangerous in the slightest.

"Little brat, do I need a reason to punish you with lightning? Of course, this was Wumu's doing, but I simply don't like the sight of you! You're a lowly vampire, so I punished you in passing. Do I need a reason for that?"

Yin Xuege gathered strength in both hands. He stared coldly at Leitning and snorted through gritted teeth. "You hurt me with lightning, and you don't need a reason?"

Leitning reached out and viciously twisted Yin Xuege's ear! Just as Bright had done to Yin Xuege at Captain Jack's Tavern, he grabbed Yin Xuege by the ear and slammed his head brutally into the ground.

"Of course I don't need a reason! Lowly creature! For filthy, cheap trash like you, the fact that Young Master Leitning wastes his own power on you is already an immense blessing! You should be grateful, damn it! You should kneel before me and lick the soles of my boots, because I didn't kill you. That is your good fortune. That is my mercy!"

Yin Xuege's forehead slammed into the ground again and again. His head swam with dizziness, and only one lesson, repeated countless times by the many stewards of the Yin Clan's Children's Hall, remained in his mind—an eye for an eye, blood for blood!

A drop of azure essence blood within his heart suddenly dimmed. Inch-long blades of sharp bloodlight sprayed from Yin Xuege's ten fingertips. Ignoring the fact that Leitning still had his ear firmly in his grip, Yin Xuege twisted like a great python turning over, seized Leitning's head with both hands, and drove his fingers deep into Leitning's neck.

The Blood Dripping Claw could easily tear through even a bronze paperweight. What was Leitning's flesh and blood in comparison?

Leitning controlled the vast power of thunder, yet his physical body was even somewhat frailer than that of an ordinary person. He should never have come so close to Yin Xuege—especially not after exhausting all his lightning power and still daring to approach him!

Just moments ago, in order to punish Wumu, Leitning had squeezed out the last trace of thunder power within his body. Now, Yin Xuege had lunged up and seized his head, his ten fingers sinking into Leitning's neck. Leitning felt his heart clench as boundless terror descended upon him. He opened his mouth wide and let out a miserable howl unlike any human cry.

Bloodlight splashed everywhere. Yin Xuege's ten fingers tore open Leitning's neck, then ripped fiercely downward, tearing open his entire chest. The innate talent of the Blood Demon Clan activated. Yin Xuege opened his mouth near Leitning's heart and drew in a deep breath. A stream of dark-red essence blood shot from Leitning's heart and entirely entered Yin Xuege's mouth.

When Yin Xuege had abruptly twisted around earlier, Leitning had torn a huge gash in his ear. But after Yin Xuege swallowed Leitning's heart essence blood in one gulp, a wave of heat immediately rolled through his entire body. The inch-long tear in his ear healed completely in the blink of an eye.

The heavy-armored guards who had escorted Leitning into the cell shouted furiously. Reaching behind themselves, they gripped the hilts of the six-foot-long heavy Two-handed Horse-slaying Swords on their backs. But the cell was only three meters high, while these guards stood over two meters tall. When they tried to draw their swords, their fists struck the ceiling, and the blades could not be pulled free at all!

Outside the cell, the scrawny jailer shrieked hysterically, "You idiots! You brainless idiots with well-developed limbs! Get out of the cell! Don't fight that brat in there! Your equipment is meant to suppress these damned prisoners outside their cells, not for you to risk your lives against them inside these cramped cells!"

The jailer had also been frightened out of his wits. Leitning lay on the ground, blood spraying from all over his body. His head had been twisted one hundred and eighty degrees by Yin Xuege, and his two ghastly pale eyes stared fixedly at the jailer.

Thus, he staggered backward again and again, completely forgetting that another cell door stood ten meters behind him. Behind that door, a green eyeball the size of an infant's fist spun rapidly, glaring viciously at his shriveled, scrawny body.

The jailer kept retreating, retreating without stop, until his back struck Wumu's cell door.

"Shriveled rat from the gutter, I've waited for this day for many years!" Wumu gave a cruel laugh. A thick arm somehow squeezed out from the tiny vent, utterly against all reason, and snatched the jailer up with lightning speed.

The pitiful jailer only managed one sharp scream before Wumu dragged him into the vent. The vent was so narrow that, as the jailer's body was forcibly pulled through it, every bone in his body exploded in a frantic series of crackles like firecrackers. Amid his shrill screams, muffled sounds of ravenous gulping came from Wumu's cell.

The heavy-armored guards, thrown into disorder by Yin Xuege's sudden attack, all turned back at once. They were stunned by Wumu's ambush. Though that jailer was shriveled and short, he was still such a large chunk of a man. How had Wumu dragged him through a vent barely half a foot square?

In that instant when the guards were distracted, Yin Xuege's figure suddenly blurred. The three drops of azure essence blood in his heart dimmed simultaneously. His body transformed into a faint blood shadow and lunged forward, instantly vanishing without a trace. The next moment, he appeared among the guards outside the cell door. Bloodlight flashed around his hands as the Blood Dripping Claw swept out arcs of crimson radiance, crashing down upon the guards like a canopy covering heaven and earth.

These guards were burly, and their fortress-style heavy armor made them appear clumsy and unwieldy. Yet every one of them possessed astonishing strength, their reactions swift to the extreme. The instant Yin Xuege's Blood Dripping Claw descended, the guards scattered like exploding fireworks. Only the guard directly before Yin Xuege pulled a heavy shield from his back and curled into himself as he slammed forward.

The Blood Dripping Claw struck the metal heavy shield, half a foot thick and covered in the scales of some unknown Demonic Beast. Amid a piercing screech of friction, Yin Xuege's ten fingers sank deeply into the shield's surface. Ten points of bloodlight pierced the heavy shield and emerged from its other side.

But Yin Xuege's fingers were also clamped fast by the shield. Without a word, the guard holding it twisted the shield with the motion. Yin Xuege could not pull his fingers free for the moment, and his strength was inferior to the guard's. He only felt a tremendous force wrenching his arm, forcing his body to twist along with the shield.

The guards who had just withdrawn charged Yin Xuege at the same time. They simultaneously drew the heavy shields from their backs and rammed into him from three directions like metal walls. Before Yin Xuege could break free from the shield's restraint, the three heavy shields smashed into his body together. The immense force made the bones throughout his body crack with strange sounds; at least half of them had been fractured.

Amid ringing clashes, several guards withdrew from the cell. The tunnel ceiling was much higher than the cell's, allowing them to smoothly draw their Two-handed Horse-slaying Swords and rest the blades against Yin Xuege's neck.

******

An announcement regarding Blood Red's fan groups:

Only general group:

Blood Red Official Fan Group: 5572775

PS: The general groups have been consolidated and upgraded to a 2,000-member group. Previously announced general groups are no longer valid, so please do not join them. The group name may change in the future, but the group number will not.

Anyone who likes Pighead's books may join. There are no requirements. You can join the group and get acquainted with Pighead. Pighead believes that even if everyone cannot support Pighead through official subscriptions now, you certainly will be able to in the future. Let us get to know one another first!

Only official subscription group:

Blood Red Official Subscription Group: 6767886

PS: All currently updating works must be fully subscribed to. Since Blood Song of the Three Realms has not yet been released, fans with 500 fan points may join. Pighead also often appears there. The group name may change, but the group number will not! Those who have joined the subscription group need not join the general group as well; leave some space for others.

Also, I hope those who are able will support the official releases more. Although Blood Song of the Three Realms has not yet been released. (To be continued)