Chapter 67: Searching for Ye Tang

With a resounding crash, the rock could no longer withstand the force and shattered, flying apart as a single punch cratered half the venue. Protected by her holy light aura, Le'er was tossed into the air by the blast. She knew that if this continued, her aura would soon be exhausted. Gathering her energy, she unleashed a laser beam, a massive ray striking Ye Tang and blasting her out of the arena.

For Le'er, the outside was her domain; as long as there was sunlight, she could absorb limitless energy. Ye Lan was frantically searching for a way to temporarily seal her power, knowing that the sealing ritual required the clan leader and elders to cast it together.

Ye Tang punched the beam skyward, her wings beating as she searched in the air. Le'er burst from the venue, her body glowing under the sunlight, floating freely with the protection of her holy light aura.

Above her, energy began to gather, growing ever larger until it formed a sphere over twenty meters across. Sensing danger behind her, Ye Tang turned with a low growl.

Sweat poured down Le'er's cheeks; the side effects of unleashing such immense power in an instant were beginning to ache. She endured it, and with a cold shout, the giant sphere fired ten beams downward at angles exceeding fifty degrees, piercing toward the earth’s core like compass points. Five beams each swept out circles clockwise and counterclockwise, slicing through anything they touched.

With each rotation, the beams tilted higher, forming a parallel line. Ye Tang dodged the ten laser beams, and just as they converged at the center, Le'er made a slashing gesture, sending the massive beam down like a sword.

Ye Tang easily evaded it, but the impact sent her even farther away; the forest struck by the beams was split in two, seawater flooding in.

Le'er struggled against the negative energy, ready to strike again, but Ye Tang had already vanished, seemingly leaving Nansha Island.

Le'er landed painfully, clutching her head as the negative energy eroded her mind. Aunt Lan could only sigh at her suffering; if not for these life-shortening side effects, the power of light would surpass any of the five elemental forces.

Had the battle taken place outdoors, Ye Tang would have had no chance of victory; Le'er's current mental strength was ten times what it had been.

Three days later, Du Bin shouted Ye Tang’s name as he awoke from a nightmare, still shaken. Looking around, he found himself lying in a hospital bed.

He rushed out of the ward, and just as he reached the exit, a figure appeared. Unable to stop in time, they collided and fell to the ground. Du Bin then realized it was Li Ning.

“Why are you here?” Du Bin asked in surprise.

“It’s Hu Guozheng. He said he’s taking his girlfriend to the karaoke to calm down, so he called me to look after you.” Li Ning’s cheeks reddened at their awkward position, but she didn’t get angry.

Du Bin, realizing the embarrassment, quickly got up and helped her to her feet. “That damned fatso knocked me out and brought me back here—so infuriating.”

“You two disappeared for a whole year. What happened?” Li Ning asked, puzzled.

Remembering the urgent matters he still had to deal with, Du Bin hurried out of the hospital, disregarding his reopened wounds. He hailed a taxi back to his rented apartment, got in his battered van, and sped onto the highway, with a confused Li Ning following close behind in her own car.

Du Bin knew well: the hunting clan’s primary mission was to hunt vampires, and now that Ye Tang had become a ruthless vampire, the clan would stop at nothing to kill her. To find her, he’d have to start here.

What he didn’t expect was that the atmosphere at the hunting clan had changed entirely. The once harmonious community was now filled with anxiety. As he approached the village, the guards stopped him outside.

“It’s me, Brother Ming. Don’t you remember?” Du Bin and Hu Guozheng had spent days building relationships with these people, but now, Brother Ming’s serious expression was strange.

“You still dare to come? Leave now! This place is no longer safe for you.”

“Why? I need to speak with the clan leader about something important,” Du Bin insisted.

Brother Ming glanced around, then whispered, “The entire hunting clan is now controlled by the new leader. Yesterday, a kill order was issued for Ye Tang. They’re recruiting elite abilities users from around the world. You shouldn’t stay here.”

Du Bin wisely withdrew, approaching the ruined mountain cave, anxious and uneasy. The kill order—just as Aunt Lan had predicted. What was Wu Qiwei planning? From General’s Mountain, it had all been a trap. He’d gone to great lengths to destroy the necklace and break the curse, restoring Ye Tang’s vampire identity, and then allowed her, lost to madness, to wreak havoc and kill. Now he’d let his apprentice YOYO head the hunting clan and issue a global kill order against the vampire Ye Tang. Everything revolved around her. Du Bin couldn’t fathom what this genius was scheming. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t become clever enough. He hated his own impotence. He vowed to save her—he had to. He roared, electric currents swirling around him.

He slammed his fists into a tree, letting blood pour freely, using all his strength to fell a tree nearly a meter thick.

Behind him, Li Ning watched his anguish and felt her own sorrow. She knew he was suffering for another woman. After steadying her emotions, she stepped forward and said, “You don’t need to do this to yourself. Don’t forget, I’m a member of the Special Investigations Unit. We can help you find her.”

“The Special Investigations Unit—of course, how could I forget?”

She crouched to bandage his wounds. Du Bin looked at her, at a loss for words. The two sat in silence.

Within the forbidden grounds of the hunting clan, Wu Qiwei and YOYO stood before the altar, ancestral tablets arrayed before them. Wu Qiwei laughed quietly.

“From today, you are the hunting clan’s successor. In about a week, masters from all over the world will gather here. The command to hunt vampires is yours.”

“But Master, aren’t you going to lead the operation?” YOYO was surprised.

“I have other matters to attend to. The responsibility is yours,” Wu Qiwei said, glancing at the ancestral tablets with disdain.

“Yes, Master.”

“The moon is sure to be beautiful tonight. Don’t you agree, old friend?” He looked up at the clouded sky, gray and dim, blocking the sun’s rays.