CH 14

As soon as Huo Wuling finished speaking, the writhing and twisting black shadow rose from the ground and howled, the thrashing dark wall rushing towards Ji Ning and Herinos.

Swoosh. 

Herinos’ body disintegrated into hundreds of tiny vampire bats, protecting Ji Ning inside a cocoon of furry bodies.

The ghost shadow slammed against the blood bats with a dull thud, as if it had hit a wall rather than many tiny mammals. Some shadows hit the bat wall so hard they were bounced off into the walls, creating cracks in their surface.

Everything happened too fast. Currently, Ji Ning was just a powerless, ordinary human. Before he had time to react, he was covered in shadows and bats. The next second he felt himself move through the air, carried by Herinos who had become human again, before landing lightly on the ground.

The rampant destruction triggered the villa’s automatic alarm. This was an extremely wealthy housing area with top notch security. Any violence or illegal activity would be managed by a team of high combat ability security robots, who would arrive to arrest the perpetrator. 

Alerted by the chaos, a group of guard bots entered the doorway of the villa and automatically locked onto Huo Wuling, who wasn’t registered as having permission to enter the building. They aimed stun guns at Huo Wuling one after another, and fired several shots.

Simultaneously, Herinos released another river of blood, sending the overwhelming torrent toward Huo Wuling.

“Why are all of you trying to stop me taking Ningning?”

Huo Wuling sighed softly, tilted his head and said, “I’m going to get annoyed.”

He jumped up from the coffee table with unnatural height, his body turning in mid-air to deliver a harsh kick to one of the guard bots. It let out a dull metallic thud as the reinforced alloy plates of the robot’s neck snapped and its head flew off, body crumpling to the floor.

Although Ji Ning knew the robots were never Huo Wuling’s opponents, the brutal efficiency with which he fought them still stunned him. In just a few seconds he had dismantled every single one, stepping on their metallic shells to avoid dirtying his feet in the river of blood that ran beneath him.

The metal that came into contact with the blood let out a hissing noise as the liquid dissolved it. Herinos waved his hand and the cascading blood began to congeal in his hands, forming a dangerous looking spear.

Ji Ning knew Herinos was trying to protect him even as he fought Huo Wuling, but Huo Wuling had no such worries. He only wanted Ji Ning’s soul, as for what happened to his body, that was beyond his concern. 

Ji Ning knew the best thing to do would be to run away, as staying here would only hinder Herinos, but he was unable to. If he moved carelessly, Huo Wuling would kill him immediately.

When disposing of the robots, Huo Wuling had inevitably been splashed by the corrosive river of blood and several gaping holes had opened in his skin, spilling their own blood and threatening to widen.

But he didn’t seem to care, instead he raised his lips into a thoughtful smile, “If it’s a vampire…”

A book appeared in his hand and when he opened it, his original gloomy aura changed to exude a divine scent. 

A bright light shone from the book and several white feathers fell from its pages, disappearing into the blood river. As they touched the liquid’s surface, the bubbling scarlet fluid purified into fresh water.

More feathers scattered as two angels materialised, each with six wings, one male, one female. The male angel had a soft face and carried a cross, while the female angel wore detailed armour and carried a sword and shield.

“Kill the bloodsucker.”

Huo Wuling spoke in a low voice to the angels. The female angel stepped forward and stabbed her sword towards Herinos. The male angel raised his cross and began to sing a hypnotic melody. The bright holy light inside the villa brightened and became dazzling. 

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Ah…the blood pact…

Ji Ning’s face was ashen, cold sweat rolling down his forehead. He opened his mouth and tried to inhale some air into his lungs but it was so painful he realised even breathing was too difficult a task for him. 

He had made a blood pact with Herinos. Although his body was human, his soul had been claimed by the blood clan. Therefore the damage caused by the angel’s holy light and hymns still affected him, catalysing the blood pact to accelerate, burning rapidly through his soul.

“Ji Ning!”

Herinos was frantic. He ignored the female angel rushing towards him and threw his spear mercilessly into the male angel’s chest.

The male angel screamed, the cross fell to the ground and shattered as both the holy light and singing stopped. His wings stained with blood turned filthy and depraved as he became a blood angel and pounced towards the female angel, inadvertently blocking the spear headed toward Herinos with his body. 

Huo Wuling watched the changes occur in Ji Ning, as his originally pure aura was dyed in the scent of blood and ice. His eyes turned black and his voice was glacial as he spoke.

“Vampire, what did you do to Ningning? Why did he react to the holy light?”

Herinos ignored him, slashing at his wrist to feed blood into Ji Ning’s mouth. But the damage Ji Ning had suffered could not immediately be relieved.

Lying in Herinos’ arms, Ji Ning felt like even his soul was burning up. He could barely retain his consciousness and found himself drifting, vision blurring until finally he fell into darkness. 

“Why is this little guy still sleeping?”

“How can you fall asleep like this? Quickly, wake up!”

Ji Ning opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was a pretty girl’s face.

…He was inside Ying Qianqiu’s world again? 

Every time he crossed worlds, his thoughts felt a little slow. He was confused by the world transfer for a little while, only to realise that it was probably due to the instability of his soul that he had travelled to the Xuanhuan world again.

His soul had to have been transferred to another world in order to ease the pain of the blood pact. Over here, there was only a slight numbness left in his body, but Ji Ning was unable to feel relieved as he worried that his body in the other world had been destroyed by Huo Wuling.

【Don’t worry.】

The voice of Future echoed in his consciousness. 

【Your body has not suffered any further damage.】

After hearing reassurance from Future, Ji Ning allowed himself to relax and silently thanked Herinos in his heart. If his body was fine, that must mean Herinos had protected him from Huo Wuling.

「How do I return back to the other world this time?」asked Ji Ning.

【Your soul has to be repaired and recover from the damage it’s taken before you can return to the world of ‘Rebirth of the Interstellar Actor’】said Future,【It won’t take long.】 

While Ji Ning communicated silently with Future, it appeared to Yun Dao that the little snow beast cub was still confused from waking up.

Seeing this, the girl raised her eyebrow, twisted the tip of the cub’s nose angrily and said, “So now you’re willing to wake up, if you don’t wake up again, I’ll seriously throw you out of here.”

She lifted the cub up to the window so he could look outside with his own eyes.

Seeing this, Ji Ning was alert in an instant, realising they were in a speeding carriage that flew over a thousand metres in the air. There was nothing but jagged mountain ranges below, if he fell he’d be splattered across the rocks in a thousand pieces! 

The cub’s fluffy fur was buffered by the wind, its small body shivering as it hugged its tail tightly.

After amusing herself by teasing the cub, the girl smiled and moved him back into her arms, tugging on his furry ears, “Stay still and don’t move, I’ll take you with me to see Qianqiu.”

As she walked out of the carriage with the cub in her arms, two maids kneeling inside the carriage doors softly greeted her, “Holy maiden.” They opened the gauze curtains for her, exposing them to the cold air.

Yun Dao stepped out of the carriage but did not fall, floating in the air as naturally as if she was out on an evening walk. 

Cuddled in her arms, Ji Ning was shocked to see numerous extravagant carriages around them, each the size of a palace, pulled by huge monsters with hideous faces, enough to blanket the sky.

The carriage Yun Dao had come from was in the centre of the group. Guards in black armour that patrolled the area on top of large, flying monsters, respectfully called her ‘Saintess’ when they passed.

The charming girl passed them with a smile and walked towards the largest carriage. Standing outside of the gauze curtain she said, “Qianqiu, I’m out here. Let me in.”

A corner of the gauze curtain lifted and Yun Dao and Ji Ning entered. 

Inside, the carriage was beautifully decorated. Ying Qianqiu wore a long white robe, his silver hair hanging loose. He sat in front of a table with several volumes of books spread out in front of him, his slender hands caressing their pages.

When Yun Dao entered, he raised his head and glanced towards her. Then his eyes returned to the page as he asked in a stiff voice, “What’s the matter?”

“Can’t I come and see you if I have nothing to do?” The girl sat beside him with a smile, placed the cub on the table where he lay down obediently and asked, “What are you looking at?”

Ying Qianqiu didn’t answer. The girl pouted and simply leaned over to look at it but retched at the sight of the title, “Disgusting, you’re looking at those messy account books again. Just leave it for others, why do you have to do it yourself?” 

Ying Qianqiu seemed to have predicted her reaction and said indifferently, “This battle is imminent. The stakes are high so I must plan everything out myself.”

“Of course.”

The girl tilted her head and made a face, “The last three of the twelve aristocratic families have gathered together in order to plan an attack against us. They can plan but…”

The pupils in her eyes expanded, exuding a strange light, 

“They’re already in our hands.”

“If those three families are sacrificed, Ji Ning will definitely come back to us…”

Ji Ning felt uneasy hearing those words. Although Ying Qianqius’s slaughter of the twelve aristocratic families had still occurred in the original novel, the reason for his revenge was different. In the original book, it was because Ying Qianqius’s clan had been murdered.

The twelve aristocratic families had participated in numerous evils, which would have caused them to be wiped out sooner or later. Even if Ying Qianqiu hadn’t become a demon, other monsters would have been born. Furthermore, Ji Ning could still remember the feeling of being crushed to ashes and couldn’t bring himself to feel sympathy for those families who were rotten to their roots. 

Of course, this did not mean the ending of the Ji clan in the original novel was any better. They were also destroyed by the twelve clans, but in the original story they had long broken off the marriage and Ying Qianqiu had been repeatedly humiliated by his fiance, so he had no desire to take revenge after her death.

Ji Ning sighed, wondering why the original owner’s nickname was ‘Xiaoxiao’ when she had the status of a betrothed wife. Although the youngest daughter of the original novel had become a young master, the name had not changed, it was somewhat distressing.

He recalled the past in a daze and inadvertently followed the instincts of a snow beast cub, moving onto his back, belly up. His four paws played with his fluffy tail that twitched with flickering motions.

Seeing the cub’s sweet appearance, Yun Dao couldn’t help but laugh, poking at his tail in delight. She had a sudden thought, “Ah, I haven’t given this little thing a name yet.” 

Her twisted eyes landed on Ji Ning, who shuddered, feeling a bad premonition. Before she could make a move he shot up and scuttled to the other side of the table, watching her vigilantly.

“Come back! Let your sister see if you’re a boy or girl so she can name you!”

She reached to grab him but unexpectedly, her hands closed around air. The little cub had run away again, staring at her with wide eyes as his tail puffed up.

“You want to play with me? I’ll play.” The girl’s stunning face revealed a sinister smile, “Sister has to shave your fur to see if you’re male or female!” 

Little girl, you dare to rebel? I am your father!!

Ji Ning was terrified, his whole body puffing up. His dignity as a man would never allow his fur to be shaved for such an indecent purpose!

The cub ran up and down the carriage but Yun Dao was like lightning. As a beast, she had a lot of natural power, but the little cub had the advantage of size. If she didn’t exert her profound qi she would be unable to catch him.

At first, Yun Dao insisted on acting her age and refused to use her qi to chase after the cub, but after being evaded several times she lost patience and poured qi into her feet, almost immediately catching him by the tail. 

Ji Ning flinched violently and fled even more desperately. In a panic he leapt onto the table, slamming into an accidental embrace.

Glimpsing silver hair he froze. Slowly, he raised his head, until his line of sight met a pair of soft, dark eyes.

My favourite comment:

Ji Ning: I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to faint for a while.