Chapter 340: Tradition and Perseverance (1/2)

[Volume 5 – A Distance Within Reach]

A wisp of hatred flashed across Schiller’s face. “A group of vampires arrived at Count Stuka’s castle not long ago, and later on, a number of them occupied Green Peak Mountain for some reason. Since four hundred years ago, Green Peak Mountain has always been our Sharp Fang tribe’s sacred place wherein rests the ancestors of every generation! But a single order from Count Stuka made it so that our Sharp Fang tribe members couldn’t enter our own sacred place!”

Schiller calmed down his emotions with some effort and continued, “I felt indignant after my return and thus sneaked onto Green Peak Mountain to see what those vampires were doing at our ancestral cemetery. I’m quite good at stealth and thus successfully arrived at the summit where I discovered a group of vampires holding a secret meeting. They probably hadn’t expected anyone to approach, and thus I was able to eavesdrop on many topics of their discussion. However, I was accidentally discovered upon my departure and chased all the way here.”

At this point, Schiller began gasping for breath. His wounds had been invaded by blood energy and could no longer heal on their own—they were worsening with each passing moment.

Qianye checked the werewolf’s injuries and asked, “Do you want me to help you treat the wounds?”

Schiller edged back instinctively and shook his head. “I need food.”

Qianye nodded and brought out a large piece of dried meat ration and tossed it to him. After some thought, he also tossed out a piece of blood crystal.

Schiller literally wolfed down the food and finished it in just a couple of mouthfuls. He held the blood crystal and hesitated for a moment before swallowing it whole. Moments later, a visible strand of darkness origin power washed over the big wound on his back, after which, the curled up flesh and skin slowly began to close.

The effect of blood crystals on darkness life forms was similar to that of black crystals on humans. It was just that the effects were remarkably better on vampires. But this werewolf’s powerful restorative abilities made Qianye somewhat envious. The dark races were indeed the favorites of this world—they possessed powerful talent and abilities from birth, while the humans had to cultivate with great difficulty. To close the gap, humans even had to borrow the help of special effects from various arts.

“What secrets did you hear that they have to chase you all the way here?” asked Qianye.

Schiller looked at Qianye cautiously. Then, he said slowly and firmly, “I can’t tell you, and I won’t ever tell anyone outside of the Summit of Peaks!”

Qianye laughed and said, “If not for me, you would already have died and won’t be able to inform the Summit of Peaks. Additionally, it seems their holy child is taking action from what I heard from that vampire viscount. Are you sure you don’t want to tell me? This might delay important things.”

Schiller shook his head. “No! I can only tell this secret to the Summit of Peaks!”

Qianye frowned—he tried persuading him once more, but no matter what Qianye said, Schiller only replied that he could only reveal this to the Summit of Peaks.

Most werewolves were like Schiller. They were extremely stubborn and inflexible, sometimes to the point of being stupid. That was precisely why they made poor military commanders despite being the best warriors on the battlefield and also why they weren’t suited to become lords of a region.

Those like William were an oddity in the werewolf community.

It seemed that he wouldn’t be able to get that secret out of this young werewolf even if he killed the latter. But Qianye didn’t really mind that so-called secret. Among the dark races, the vampires and demonkin had always enjoyed engaging in conspiracies, scheming and deceiving each other. This was especially true in such an obviously secretive situation—the details overheard by the werewolf youth probably seemed like a big issue to him, but it might not actually be that significant to Qianye.

Qianye didn’t plan to pressure Schiller and only said, “It’s fine if you’re not willing to divulge the information. I can only help you this much.”

Schiller’s eyes flickered. He glanced at Qianye and suddenly said, “I can give you information on Count Suka.”

Qianye was startled. “What makes you think I’m interested in this count?”

“I’m quite sure a powerful person like you must be a major character on the human side and not just a mere hunter or adventurer. Since someone like you came to this area on your own, who else but Count Stuka is worth your attention within a hundred kilometers? You might not care about the other viscounts.”

Qianye smiled—this werewolf was unexpectedly clever. Although he also had a good deal of stubbornness, Qianye couldn’t help but form a favorable impression of him.

Two bottles of strong wine appeared in Qianye’s hand, one of which he tossed over and said, “Then let’s hear it.”

The dark race members loved alcohol and Schiller wasn’t an exception. But he glanced at the vampire corpses strewn across the ground and asked with some hesitation, “Here? What if more of them catch up?”

Qianye replied casually, “It’s fine as long as His Excellency the Count doesn’t arrive himself. It’ll save me some trouble if they find their way here.” He still had two of the great master’s bullets and three of the Song clan’s Refined Silver Bullets of Extreme Yang. Add to that his own blood energy suppression, the Twin Flowers, and the powerup from his Wings of Inception, he really didn’t care about one or two low-rank viscounts.

Schiller’s young blood was stirred after hearing Qianye’s calm words. He immediately sat down on a big rock and began to recount all of the secret information he had obtained.

Count Stuka was the arachne count who ruled this area. He was the lowest-ranked among counts and, according to arachne standards, was near the end of his life. The arachne, as a race, would not grow stronger during the last phase of their lifespan. In fact, they might even deteriorate somewhat. Normally, Stuka should have already chosen a successor to inherit his title and lands.

The dark races enjoyed long lives and also placed the pursuit of strength above all else. As such, upon reaching an advanced age, they would choose to hand all of their authority and resources to the most outstanding descendant. Afterward, they themselves would either wait peacefully for the end of their lives or enter a long hibernation to delay their gradual death.