Chapter 356: Pressure (2/2)
There wasn’t a single hair out of place on this old man—even the jeweled ring on his finger was angled perfectly—his style was completely that of an ancient noble. He glanced at Fira and said slowly, “Your Excellency Fira, your actions at the moment are rather… inappropriate.”
“Inappropriate?” Fira sneered and moved the hand on Nighteye’s neck slightly. With an ear-piercing tear, her first button was torn away along with her collar.
The old man coughed once again. Fira’s movements froze as a bright red dot appeared on the side of his neck from which a drop of blood slowly trickled down.
“Are you determined to stop me?” Fira shouted in a sharp voice.
“If you’re referring to the present, then I am.”
Fira’s eyes almost seemed to be spouting flames. He snorted deeply and pushed Nighteye away.
Nighteye flew backward and crashed heavily into the wall, immediately coughing up a mouthful of fresh blood. The contest of domains had exhausted her blood energy completely, and now, she wasn’t much stronger than a newborn vampire.
The old man raised the corners of his brows but neither took action nor said anything. He watched Fira quietly without taking his eyes off him for even a moment.
Fira became violent and paced about in the room with large strides. He waved his arms with great force and spoke continuously, “Very good, Your Excellency Count Klaus, I shall remember your words today. I heard you have a fair number of descendants but all of them are trash. They should be careful hereafter—it would probably be best for them to not leave the castle or their coffins. Evernight had always been unsafe, and it will become even more dangerous from now on.”
The old man’s expression changed and then recovered immediately afterward.
Fira walked over to the old man, jabbed at his chest with a finger, and said word by word, “Listen, old thing, even if you can stop me today, you won’t be able to stop me tomorrow! She’s destined to be my woman, and it’s only a matter of time. But because of your actions today, I’ve decided to toy with her in front of all your descendants until she’s half-dead! And this is all because you’re too meddlesome, hear me? You old thing!”
This time, the old man retained his normal expression as though a breeze had just blown past his ears and said indifferently, “It’s getting late. You should go and rest.”
Fira’s chest rose and fell rapidly, and he only calmed down slightly with great effort. “Fine! I’m leaving! But I want to see how the current Monroes can reject me! I shall go back and tell Carl that the original conditions have been canceled. Negotiations will start anew!!!”
After roaring thus, Firas left in large strides and slammed the door with a loud bang.
The old man arrived before Nighteye, supported her up, and then passed her a piece of blood crystal. Color returned to Nighteyes countenance only after draining the blood crystal clean.
The old man watched Nighteye with eyes full of love and pity. “Although you’ve awoken the primogenitor’s bloodline, I still consider you my child.”
The iciness in Nighteye’s expression melted as she whispered, “You’ve always been my father. This has never changed.”
The creases on the old count’s face appeared even deeper as he sighed deeply. “Fira is unexpectedly so brazen. It seems they’re fiercely determined.”
An indiscernible flash of determination appeared in her eyes. “There’s nothing in this world that one can obtain for certain.”
The old count laughed wryly. “I’m a little bit worried that the people up there won’t be able to take the pressure.”
Nighteye lowered her gaze without replying.
The old count turned silent for a while and said, “You should go. Leave this place.”
Nighteye was startled and then shook her head. “But what about you? They’ll definitely take it out on you if I leave.”
“I’m already old, so old that the time for eternal sleep is nigh. So what if they take it out on me?”
Nighteye gently held the old count’s hands.
That was a definitely the hand of an old man—his skin had lost its elasticity, and it had become fairly thin, almost translucent, due to the erosion of time, revealing the craggy bones and tendons underneath.
She slowly pressed her face in his hands just like she had done many years before when she was but a child.
...
During these days, Dark Flame’s elites were stationed atop Black Ridge with the Wei clan champion overseeing them and taking full charge of logistics and the transport of the spoils of war. Qianye himself led the elites on a series of raids and struck two more mines. He seized everything that could be moved away and then burned the mines to ruins.
There was still no movement in the depths of the arachne count’s territory, but Qianye wasn’t worried whether or not there was any scheme behind the count’s passivity. The longer things dragged on, the more established the defensive construction on Black Ridge would become—given enough time, the place would become a fort. Qianye even transferred an airship over.
It wasn’t a bad thing even if the arachne count really had no intention to mobilize his forces. They could cut off the eastern region’s communication with the count completely so long as they maintained a firm grasp on Black Ridge. Then, he would mop up the viscounts in the eastern region one by one and accomplish his western expedition plans.
Zhao Yuying disappeared during this period, leaving a message saying she was going to survey the geography and that she would probably be back when there were actual battles to fight. With Zhao Yuying’s ability, no existence in the count’s territory could pose a threat to her as long as she acted with some care. Thus, Qianye just let her go since there wasn’t an urgent need for her anyway.
The guardians of the two other mines were only barons. Qianye was able to obtain victory without much effort, and there was even the added benefit of replenishing his essence blood.
After pulling back to Black Ridge, Qianye wanted to start cultivating immediately and convert the essence blood as quickly as possible. Unexpectedly, he was suddenly overcome by exhaustion—it was, once again, that familiar and irresistible sensation.Previous ChapterNext Chapte