Chapter 195: Parasite

"A silver crossbow bolt?

"You're wasting money that badly?"

A'Ming asked.

Silver was too soft.

It was not suitable material for an arrowhead.

"Only something truly fucking useless can be called art."

Xue San rubbed the silver arrowhead between his fingers.

Then continued, "Besides—who knows whether a few native vampires might turn up in this world someday?

"This is called preparing for the unexpected.

"If I hadn't seen garlic inside the blood pudding you eat before—and learned that garlic doesn't work on vampires—

"I genuinely would've wanted to smear some garlic juice on this thing too."

"What are you two doing?"

Siniang's voice came from outside.

"Mm?"

A'Ming looked at Siniang in some confusion.

He had personally watched her accompany Master back to his room earlier.

That fast?

"Something happened.

"Come take a look," Siniang said.

Something genuinely had happened.

The corpse of a barbarian soldier had been discovered and carried back.

By the time A'Ming and Xue San arrived—

Zheng Fan, the Blind Man, and the others were already gathered around the open yard.

A fox-fur cloak hung over Zheng Fan's shoulders.

He stood there frowning at the corpse before him.

The dead barbarian soldier had been one of Green Willow Fortress's outward scout riders.

So long as the imperial decree had not officially arrived—

Zheng Fan remained Garrison Commander of Green Willow Fortress.

And although the great war had ended no peace treaty had been signed with Qian.

Necessary vigilance could not be relaxed.

If Qian suddenly went insane again and someone like that Zhong Tianlang from last time slipped north and raided their rear while everyone was unprepared there would truly be nowhere to cry afterward.

The barbarian soldier had died miserably.

Terror remained frozen across his face.

Most importantly his entire body looked shriveled and dehydrated.

A'Ming's eyes narrowed slightly.

His blood had been drained!

Liang Cheng stood nearby as well.

He seemed to be thinking.

A'Ming walked in front of Zheng Fan.

"Master.

"I didn't do it."

Inside Green Willow Fortress if one asked who enjoyed drinking human blood—

A'Ming counted as one.

Liang Cheng was different.

A'Ming treated fresh blood as food.

Liang Cheng merely smoked one occasionally when bored.

The Blind Man spoke.

"Relax.

"We know it wasn't you."

Zheng Fan nodded as well.

"If you'd done it—you would've cleaned up afterward."

"............" A'Ming.

Xue San looked puzzled.

"So another vampire has appeared near us?"

The silver arrowhead he had just used to tease A'Ming was it actually about to become useful?

Xue San suddenly began wondering whether his mouth had been blessed.

A feeling rose inside him as though he were the adorable little princess at center stage, specially favored by the spotlight.

A'Ming shook his head.

"Not necessarily a vampire.

"Some people in this world practice cultivation methods that require them to absorb another person's blood and qi to replenish themselves.

"That is entirely possible.

"And from my own experience—the better a person's martial cultivation and the stronger their body—the sweeter their blood tastes."

That might explain why the attacker had chosen a barbarian soldier.

"Whatever the reason—if it dared touch one of our people, we can't let it go."

Zheng Fan set the tone immediately.

Then he turned toward the Blind Man.

"Send someone to Nanwang City and report this to Xu Wenzu.

"Have him investigate whether any other soldiers or civilians have gone missing recently.

"Also—send most of the fortress cavalry out.

"Search.

"Whatever did this cannot be far from here!"

When men died during war, that was one thing.

Zheng Fan felt pain over the losses.

But at least he could force himself to understand them.

The war had ended now.

And soldiers were still dying?

Garrison Commander Zheng genuinely could not tolerate it.

These were the troops he intended to take with him into Jin for his new posting.

Fatty Xu had already refused to replenish his losses with new recruits.

That meant Zheng Fan had no choice but to rely on this existing force to rebuild his foundation in Jin.

"This subordinate obeys!"

"This subordinate obeys!"

Green Willow Fortress's cavalry spread outward and began searching.

Several neighboring fortified camps noticed the movement of friendly troops.

After sending people to ask what had happened they also dispatched forces to help with the search.

These movements were reported back by the remaining Silver-Armored Guard agents inside Yinlang Commandery.

The Three Frontiers of Qian immediately grew tense believing the Yan might be preparing some new major operation.

Of course, that came later.

The search produced results quickly.

By nightfall a Green Willow Fortress cavalry patrol discovered that something had happened in a nearby village.

Zheng Fan immediately led the Blind Man, A'Ming, and Siniang over.

The other Demon Kings were each leading searches in different directions and could not arrive in time.

The village had no name.

Its inhabitants were Qian civilians who had migrated over during autumn and gathered here.

Yan had always maintained a welcoming attitude toward migrants from Qian.

After all regardless of the age population was an extraordinarily valuable resource.

However, first came the Yan Emperor's campaign trampling the great clans.

Then the great war erupted.

So matters like registering households and formally granting status had been delayed and never properly implemented.

Because of that on the side of Yinlang Commandery nearest Qian there were indeed quite a few small villages of Qian migrants like this one.

Under normal circumstances the village should have contained several dozen people.

They had migrated together as an entire Qian clan.

But now, the village was eerily quiet.

Rows of corpses had already been gathered and arranged in the open ground by the Green Willow Fortress riders who arrived first.

Men.

Women.

Old people.

Children.

All were there.

A'Ming examined the bodies.

Then he rolled one male corpse over.

He pointed toward a hole in the back of the man's neck.

"Master.

"That thing may not be human."

The Blind Man walked over.

He closed his eyes and began using mental power to probe the wound.

Then he crouched.

Using a branch, he drew a long tentacle shape in the dirt.

"Judging by the wound and the traces of damage inside—whatever pierced the body was probably some long, narrow appendage resembling an octopus tentacle."

Then, the Blind Man turned toward A'Ming.

"Cut the wound open."

A'Ming took a saber from one of the nearby armored soldiers.

He began cutting downward from the wound at the rear of the corpse's neck.

Every movement was practiced.

Smooth.

Like an old butcher who had spent decades at the block.

After the layer of skin was cut away a distinct ring of fibrous matter appeared around the injury.

"Master.

"This should be some kind of secretion left by the blood-draining creature's tentacle."

Ignoring the disgust—

Zheng Fan crouched beside them and examined it closely.

After a moment he slowly said, "But that barbarian soldier from our fortress had no obvious external wound."

As he spoke—

Zheng Fan gestured for his soldiers to turn several other corpses over as well.

Every corpse possessed the same sort of opening at the rear of the neck.

"No.

"The holes are different sizes," Zheng Fan said.

"Yes, Master.

"The wounds used to pierce the bodies and drain their blood are different in size.

"But if we arrange them by size..."

The Blind Man ordered the armored soldiers beside him, "Arrange the bodies according to the size of the wounds.

"Largest to smallest."

The soldiers immediately obeyed.

All of them had killed people on battlefields before.

They did not fear corpses.

Even though these bodies resembled dried mummies their appearance was horrifying the soldiers still worked calmly.

Once the corpses were arranged properly, the Blind Man turned toward A'Ming.

"A'Ming.

"Estimate their times of death."

"This job should really belong to Liang Cheng."

A'Ming complained while beginning his examination.

Even though most of the blood had already been drained from these corpses it was impossible for absolutely nothing to remain.

A'Ming possessed extraordinarily refined perception and appreciation where blood was concerned.

Like a true wine taster one sip was often enough for him to roughly judge the vintage and storage conditions.

After a while A'Ming dusted off his hands.

"The most recent death was this woman.

"She died around two days ago.

"The earliest was that man.

"He died roughly eight days ago.

"And—the more recent the death—the smaller the wound at the back of the neck."

Zheng Fan thought for a moment.

Then said, "So that thing... is evolving?"

"Master is wise."

"Master is wise."

"Handle the matter first.

"Save the flattery until we get home," Zheng Fan reminded them.

"Then it may be a demon beast," A'Ming guessed.

"I've heard demon beasts have always been active around Jin's Heavenbreak Mountain Range."

"A demon beast with aggression this strong—and one that can evolve too?"

Zheng Fan sounded somewhat puzzled.

"That really is interesting."

The Blind Man reminded him, "Master.

"Strictly speaking—the Pixiu ridden by the Marquis of Zhenbei and Marquis of Jingnan are also demon beasts.

"If either one were released into the wild and went berserk—the destruction and casualties it caused would only exceed this."

"That thing stayed inside this village for several days?"

Zheng Fan frowned.

"But these people show no signs of ever being tied up.

"Right.

"Before you arrived—were they found dead one by one inside their own homes?"

"Reporting to the Garrison Commander—yes."

Zuo Jiqian answered from the side.

These people had been "eaten" in batches.

"Exactly.

"Normally, even if ordinary people were no match for a demon beast—they wouldn't all simply stay here and wait to be eaten.

"And there are no tracks nearby suggesting a whole pack of demon beasts."

Most likely there was only one demon beast.

But that single demon beast possessed some method of making every person in this village remain obediently in place waiting for it to eat them.

A'Ming suddenly laughed.

He turned toward the Blind Man.

"Well.

"At first I thought it might be one of my relatives.

"Turns out it could be yours instead."

The next sentence the Blind Man spoke only through their private mental channel.

Other armored soldiers were present.

And one of their comrades had been found dead earlier that day.

Saying it aloud would have been inappropriate.

"Master.

"If this is a demon beast possessing some ability related to confusion, charm, or mental influence—its value would usually be extremely high."

A demon beast that breathed fire or spat water well, that was merely so-so.

But a demon beast possessing "mental-type" control abilities that truly was different.

Back in Tuman City the Blind Man had encountered that husky beside the Western merchant named Winter.

That husky also possessed some talent related to mental abilities.

Its talent was not especially strong.

But even so a demon beast of that type could play an enormous role at critical moments.

It was just like Western magicians.

Mental-type and spatial-type magicians were the most precious among them.

Zheng Fan understood the Blind Man's meaning.

If they could capture it alive and bring it under their control that would naturally be best.

But Zheng Fan still shook his head.

"Don't think that far yet.

"Find the damned thing first.

"Don't let it keep killing people tomorrow right beneath our noses."

They had only just finished a great war.

He had been hoping to give himself a short holiday rest while waiting for his new imperial appointment.

Zheng Fan truly did not want some new mess erupting now.

At that moment, Zheng Fan suddenly felt the Demon Child against his chest begin trembling.

"What's wrong, son?"

Zheng Fan covered his chest with one hand.

A'Ming looked curious.

"Could the Demon Child sense that thing's existence?

"Master—when you originally drew the Demon Child, did you add a watchdog function too?"

The Blind Man abruptly spoke.

"No.

"That's not right.

"The Demon Child is a spirit body.

"If the Demon Child can sense that thing's existence—does that mean the thing itself... also has no physical body?"

"If it has no physical body, then what about those tentacles?" A'Ming asked.

Zheng Fan's expression turned thoughtful.

Then he slowly said, "Parasite?"

(End of Chapter)