"Hahaha, hahahaha!!"
Under the dim, swirling blizzard, Count Gregory was like a wild beast trapped in hunting chains. His chest heaved wildly; each inhalation was like a roar of fury, and each exhalation a mocking rasp.
He had ceased his struggling.
Because no matter what, these two lunatic fools would not remain rampant for long—they would soon face the boundless, towering wrath of a Blood Clan count.
Any living creature daring to treat the Blood Clan in such a manner would suffer endless retribution from the entire clan.
Wager the finite against the infinite, and one was merely a moth dashing into a flame.
The endless lifespans of the Blood Clan were a power no mortal being could ever withstand.
"Xigelei, according to my research, after prolonged exposure to sunlight, the magical activity of a vampire's blood weakens as well. When that happens, extracting their blood won't meet with much resistance. As long as it is sealed properly, mixed with a little table salt and a splash of water, and then heated until thoroughly cooked, they won't be able to recall the blood in their weakened state."
Lanqi earnestly instructed Xigelei. He assumed adult wolves would typically teach wolf cubs how to hunt the Blood Clan, but since Xigelei had lost her parents at an early age, he could only offer his own humble advice on how to handle them.
"Okay."
After hearing Lanqi's explanation, Xigelei didn't doubt his guidance in the slightest as she accepted the Blood Pressure Resuscitator.
Though she had never studied medicine, she somehow felt that she would be able to handle this medical device with complete ease.
"Remember, Xigelei: the pinnacle of medicine is cooking. Precision is the only difference between butchery and surgery,"
Lanqi emphasized.
"Meow-meow?"
Boss Cat poked its head out of the shadow.
It knew that after the Banquet of Sanctuary Villains in the Shadow World last time, there had been many scenes left unbroadcast.
Only Lanqi and the other parties involved knew what had actually transpired.
Although it was a chef, it would never agree that chefs and doctors were in the same line of work.
If those two professions were mixed together, the whole nature of the craft would be completely corrupted!
Upon this pure, spotless snowfield, Lanqi stared at the pocket watch in his hand. Everything was kept under strict control, timed down to the second.
White glare illuminated the snow, and the cold, rigid chrome-steel medical implement in Xigelei's hands reflected a dazzling light.
Count Gregory had regained a semblance of calm for the moment. His face was contorted by pain and mental strain, and the blood coursing through his veins felt as though it were burning.
Even without glancing at the numbers on the blood pressure monitor, Lanqi could diagnose his ailment—hypertension.
The pillar of light stood like a towering white monolith.
Tension solidified in the air, leaving only ragged breathing and the heavy, muffled thudding of hearts.
In the center of the illumination, following Lanqi's instructions, Xigelei quickly located the largest vessel in Count Gregory's cubital fossa—the brachial artery.
"That's it. Pierce the artery, not the vein,"
Lanqi encouraged.
Her eyes were fixed intently on the bulging bluish vessel, preparing to draw off the excess blood.
Listening to this, the corners of Boss Cat's eyes twitched wildly.
*You're teaching a kid medicine completely wrong! What kind of novice starts an IV by jabbing an artery?!*
The light descending from the heavens beat down on Count Gregory's face. After sensing no movement for a long while and hearing only incomprehensible chatter between the two, he finally assumed they had given up on attacking him further.
"So you finally know fear? Think carefully about the consequences once your mana runs dry..."
A bizarre smile gradually crept onto the count's face, followed by an outright sneer of interrogation.
"Artery, artery..."
Holding the syringe, Xigelei silently recited Lanqi's guidance.
She crouched down and drove the needle of the syringe into Count Gregory's brachial artery.
Xigelei took a deep breath, her slender arms tensing as she began to draw back the plunger.
"..."
The instant the tip of the needle pierced his skin, Count Gregory felt only a light itch. Compared to the agony from earlier, it was almost imperceptible.
Then, an icy sensation began to spread along his body.
Count Gregory's body shuddered violently, but Xigelei pinned him down firmly with her foot.
Xigelei began to slowly draw out the blood. Every tug on the syringe's plunger felt as if it were stripping away Count Gregory's magic.
"Good, very good."
Lanqi watched the blood rise within the transparent cylinder. The crimson fluid looked heavy and murky, as if countless merits were contained within it.
According to what Lanqi knew of this era, the Blood Clan of the Horning Empire had long treated humans as livestock for sustenance and playthings for amusement. The stronger the vampire, the more immeasurable the slaughter and sin clinging to them.
The count before him had even participated in the destruction of Xigelei's hometown, and had admitted with his own mouth that he had slaughtered many werewolves.
Subduing him was an act of boundless merit.
Seeing that the blood had been successfully drawn and the count weakened, Lanqi felt safe enough to dismiss Radiant Virtue, whose illuminating effect was already waning considerably on the snowfield.
Now, they merely needed to seal the blood using some mysterious Eastern wisdom.
For a long time, Lanqi hadn't quite understood why Westerners never made blood curd.
Back at the castle sanctuary, upon Lanqi's recommendation and following a trial by the Holy Trio, the count blood curd had demonstrated tremendous health benefits. After eating it, all their bodies had received a modest enhancement.
Turning the blood into blood curd and eating it rendered even a vampire's instinct to recall their blood for a rapid recovery completely useless.
Unfortunately, during the Banquet of Sanctuary Villains, they hadn't had a proper chef to whip up a good spicy beef-tallow hotpot. Aside from the Holy Trio, no one else had been able to stomach blood curd; Hyperion had even fled the kitchen in disgust.
But this time was different.
Lanqi had brought a master chef with him.
Lanqi could partner with Boss Cat to open an authentic Sichuan hotpot restaurant in the Demon King's Castle, using the opportunity to test the demons' receptiveness to count blood curd.
"!!"
The world plunged into darkness once more.
It was just as Count Gregory perceived through his tightly closed eyes.
Having originally prepared to mock the pair for reaching the end of their rope, Count Gregory suddenly felt a wave of disbelief. His mind worked at lightning speed, gradually piecing together what they were doing.
"What are you doing?! Are you mad?!"
Count Gregory screamed in horror, like a wild beast being flayed alive. In all his centuries of existence, he had never encountered humans like this! His body twisted frantically in an attempt to break free!
These two lunatics actually intended to drain his blood while he was weak!
"Do you not fear the Blood Clan's endless vengeance?!"
He struggled with all his might.
Gradually, Count Gregory felt bouts of dizziness. His consciousness began to blur, and his body felt lighter and lighter.
Every pull of the Blood Pressure Resuscitator felt as though it were draining his life away drop by drop. He wanted to fight back, but his body felt pinned beneath a mountain, utterly immovable.
"There, there, it doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt at all,"
Lanqi's gentle voice drifted beside Count Gregory's ear, as if he were soothing an infant to sleep.
"Stop it—!!"
Count Gregory's voice trembled violently. He had finally realized what a deranged monster this seemingly refined imperial craftsman truly was.
As his noble blood was drawn out, Count Gregory could clearly feel his proud magical power draining away. Sensation slowly faded from his hands and feet, and the blood that had left his body felt as if it had congealed, severing all connection with him.
Xigelei exerted all her strength throughout, pulling the plunger back hard again and again like someone rowing a boat, vigorously siphoning off Count Gregory's blood.
"You..."
The surrounding air seemed to freeze, with only Count Gregory's faint, ragged breathing stirring the silence.
"Do you know where you are?!"
Count Gregory roared with the last of his strength.
Even though genuine panic had seized him,
he knew full well
that he still had one final safeguard.
To guard against any unforeseen mishap, he had deliberately waited until the two were far beyond any city protected by an orc grand lord before showing himself to seize them.
And after the violent commotion of their earlier battle in this territory, the Demon Realm's border army was bound to have noticed!
Sure enough, not long after his words fell, several magical signatures appeared far in the distance.
A sinister sneer touched the face of Count Gregory, who had just been subdued by Xigelei and Lanqi.
Before long, a fierce rush of air tore through the distance, slicing through the stillness of the snowfield.
From the edge of the vast snowy expanse, an elite demon patrol squad clad in black armor emerged, riding skeletal wyverns of the Demon Realm.
Their armor gleamed with a cold sheen under the moonlight, and every demon exuded an imposing aura that could not be overlooked.
The entire force swept across the snowfield in a disciplined, forceful rhythm, encircling the clearing where Lanqi, Xigelei, and Gregory stood. They maintained high alert as they touched down, brandishing weapons in full battle readiness.
At the head of the unit, a grim-faced demon border officer stepped forward slowly.
"I am Luka, commander of the Skeletal Cavalry Special Forces, Border Task Division of the Demon Realm's Second Army Group."
The demon's face was partially shadowed by a black military cap, revealing only a sharply chiseled jaw and cold, severe lips.
Lanqi signaled for Xigelei to halt her work. He looked toward the Demon Realm military force that had descended upon this Land of Evernight; every single member seemed to be at Tier 4 or 5, all highly trained special forces elites.
Judging by the ribbons and insignia on the leading demon's uniform, he was a lieutenant colonel in the demon army, and as the commander, he was very likely Tier 6—and an exceptionally powerful Tier 6 at that.
With the officer's arrival, Xigelei clenched her fists, preparing to fight. The officer's formidable martial aura exerted a suffocating pressure over her.
Yet the demons' posture suggested that so long as they did not make a move first, the unit would not attack rashly either.
"..."
The demon officer looked toward the vampire on the ground, falling into brief contemplation.
He seemed to still be assessing the situation.
"Demon, I am a trusted confidant of the Fourth Progenitor Eduardo's lineage! You are obligated to protect me! Drive off these humans who threaten my safety!"
Before the demon officer could even speak, Count Gregory, lying on the ground, screamed furiously at him.
Under the terms of the North-South Treaty, demons along the border of the Demon Realm could not proactively attack vampires, nor could they assist humans in threatening them.
In half a month, the Demon Realm and the Blood Clan were set to hold their first peace talks since the great demon Caliera of the Fall took power. The Fourth Progenitor and the Tenth Progenitor would also be making an official visit to the Demon Realm shortly thereafter. At a critical juncture like this, the border army ought to know just how vital it was to guarantee the safety of a Blood Clan count!
Finally,
"I require you to step away from him,"
Lieutenant Colonel Luka of the demon army sighed, speaking in a low, resonant voice.
His finger gestured lightly toward Count Gregory on the ground in the distance, his tone brooking no argument.
At the same time, his hand came to rest upon the longsword at his waist, which glowed with a dark red light and was shrouded in an eerie black mist.
Clearly, he had made his judgment.
If these two humans resisted, he would have no choice but to strike and eliminate them.
"..."
Xigelei stared fixedly at the officer while keeping a wary eye on the surrounding demon soldiers, attempting to anticipate their movements.
In truth, she was already thoroughly exhausted. And she knew that even at peak condition, this demon officer was not an enemy she could face head-on—much less an entire squad.
Upon receiving the order, the demon special forces soldiers displayed a cold, detached readiness for battle.
A perilous aura hung heavy in the air, poised to ignite at any second.
Chapter 559