Chapter 541: A Dire Escape
by xennovel“Boss, aren’t we stopping them!?”
I have a terrible feeling about this…
Outside the sprawling hundred-acre Manor, a guard unit composed entirely of Third-Stage Mid-level Awakened personnel stared in disbelief at Yenir and his crew barging in.
Arrogant and brazen, the intruders hurled a Token the moment they were ordered to halt, commanding the guards to tighten security.
It was as if this group represented Yinglong.
“Stop who, exactly!?”
“Didn’t you notice? That’s Yinglong’s order!”
“Who in the Far Frontier would dare forge something like this? And I’ve seen it before—it’s the order Yinglong uses to command the elite guard.”
A sneer followed.
Crouched on the ground, the Squad Captain carefully retrieved the bloodstained metal plate that had been smashed into the earth and then tucked it away with great care.
Though he couldn’t quite understand why they’d casually toss such an important item in front of them—as if they didn’t care—he assumed they must have urgent business.
A command capable of mobilizing an entire legion was no trifle; Master Yinglong always kept such orders on his person and would never hand them out lightly.
But…
Glancing blankly at Yenir and his crew’s retreating figures, the soldiers grew uneasy.
Master Yinglong had clearly forbidden anyone from entering, and he hadn’t sent any messages so far… Moreover, the leader—a youth clad in a white robe—exuded a faint scent of blood.
Yinglong’s command hasn’t come through… According to protocol, shouldn’t both the verbal and written orders be confirmed for it to count?
“Captain, aren’t we supposed to…”
Their words sounded rather stiff.
Before the soldier could finish, the Squad Captain suddenly stood up. Prompted by a thought, he instinctively checked Yinglong’s private messages.
In the next moment, he was shocked to see Yinglong’s name shown in gray, rendering him unreachable.
“What the…!?”
He was utterly startled.
The soldier’s words were right; ordinarily, both verbal and written orders must be confirmed. Yet, the intruders exuded such authority that after displaying their order, he didn’t dare to intervene.
Unreachable!? Gray-colored?
His heart skipped a beat. After a brief stun, hesitation set in.
Usually, being unreachable implies one of two things: either the person is dead or they are inside a dungeon or special area.
However, given Commander Yinglong’s fearsome reputation, the Squad Captain instinctively assumed that he had entered a dungeon.
After all, disaster on his part was absolutely unthinkable.
In their eyes, Yinglong was invincible! Nothing could ever go awry.
“That’s enough chatter! I reckon the Commander has urgent business. Send these people back to work for him!”
“What? Do you really think Master would ever get into trouble!?”
The Squad Captain raised an eyebrow and chuckled lightly, dismissing the others with a sweeping motion that made them wave their hands in agreement.
“What a joke—those words are not to be thrown around carelessly.”
Besides…
For some reason, at the very back of the line, a Third-Stage Awakened individual with an old-soul look flashed a hint of worry and fear in his eyes.
He had served in the Bloodshadow Legion longer than anyone, unlike the younger, more casual Squad Captain.
He was confident that Yinglong’s style was the epitome of caution; he would never flout his own stringent rules.
He also caught a faint whiff of blood.
Yet, although he should’ve spoken up to warn everyone, he strangely chose to remain silent.
Maybe I’m just overthinking… but life comes first.
……………….
A sequence of footsteps sounded, eventually stopping not far off.
Pressing her ear to the heavy alloy door, Blood Nightingale strained to catch the sounds outside, her small face turning remarkably pale.
A group of them… no combat… it didn’t sound like a major military deployment.
At this hour…
Damn! It’s almost certainly not that bastard!
In her mind, if Yenir were to come to her rescue, he’d arrive with a battalion of Military Third-Stage Awakeners and that enigmatic powerhouse!
Battles among Peak Third-Stage fighters were terrifying enough to imagine.
When she heard footsteps abruptly come to a stop and then approach solely her door, her heart pounded wildly with extreme anxiety.
Under such suppression, she couldn’t even muster an outward display of her spiritual energy.
The unknown is always the scariest.
In less than half a minute, she had already imagined too many tragic outcomes.
Staring at the dozens of unreplied messages she’d sent, Blood Nightingale was overcome with despair.
“When is that bastard ever going to show up?!”
She was terrified, fearing that Yinglong and the rest would lose patience!
With a bitter laugh as the door creaked open, Blood Nightingale felt as if she had already glimpsed her grim future.
Is it already too late?
Before she could compose herself, as if awaiting judgment, she looked up towards the door.
In a flash, the heavy alloy door was violently pushed open.
There, silhouetted against the sunlight, stood a calm-faced Yenir.
“Bang!”
He casually flung a menacing, blood-red helmet to her feet.
“What’s the rush?”
“Can’t wait?”
With a flippant tone, Yenir’s voice revealed he was clearly in high spirits.
But to Blood Nightingale, it hit like a bolt from the blue. She stared in shock at the helmet lying at her feet.
Yinglong is dead.
Though Yenir said nothing more, her reaction left no doubt about the implication.
“Swish!”
For some reason, tears that had been pent-up for years suddenly welled up, streaming down her face.
She had waited and yearned for this day far too long.
…………………….
“Alright, how do we break this curse? Fix this thing?”
Inside the re-secured alloy cell, Yenir looked on helplessly as Blood Nightingale clung to him, weeping like a child.
Anyone who saw the scene might have wondered what he was really up to…
He understood that Blood Nightingale likely had many stories behind her, perhaps of deep-seated hatred and sorrow, seeking revenge. For her, crying was more than warranted.
But for Yenir, whose only focus was on power, all he cared about now was fixing the Blood Shadow device.
He raised his head, his eyes brimming with tears.
With eyes reddened like a startled rabbit, Blood Nightingale gazed at him blankly. After several seconds, she finally spoke earnestly:
“Thank you…”
Her tone was sincere, straight from the heart.
Everything had occurred far too suddenly.
Sixteen years ago, Yinglong was nothing more than a subordinate to her father—a mere Third-Stage Beginner Awakened.
And as the true ruler of the Bloodshadow Legion, the daughter of Blood Dragon was a prized treasure, cherished even amidst chaos.
Then came the monster uprising in the Taklamakan Desert—her father was gravely wounded and her mother fell in battle. After Yinglong, acting as her father’s guard, brought him back, he audaciously staged a mutiny.
Much of history had been rewritten. For Blood Nightingale, the most drastic change was her fall from grace—from heaven to hell overnight, bearing unimaginable sentencing.
She had seen with her own eyes the metal card her father had risked his life to obtain, which turned into a cursed object that devoured his life’s essence. Meanwhile, Yinglong rose to power by stealing his father’s strength.
Had someone not risked their life to help her escape the Far Frontier, she might have become a lost soul within the Blood Shadow.
For the first time, Blood Nightingale expressed genuine thanks, without anything else in mind.
Yenir was briefly taken aback; in an instant, the girl before him seemed transformed—the captivating, almost seductive charm that once filled her features had completely vanished, leaving behind the genuine look of a young maiden.
That’s right; Blood Nightingale was barely a few years his senior.
By all rights, he should have offered a few comforting words to soothe her.
But for Yenir…
“If you’re thanking me, then help me repair this thing.”
“I’m in a rush.”
Just as seriously.
After hastily wiping away the tears from Blood Nightingale’s face, Yenir, ignoring her stunned look, gave the Blood Shadow device he had retrieved from Yinglong a firm smack into her hand.
With that, Yenir casually collapsed onto the bed, sprawling out completely.
“Yinglong had you arrested, and you claim only you can crack this thing?”
“Is it like in those melodramatic novels, needing virgin’s blood or some breeding ritual? Like to ease your father’s grudge?”
“Come on, get on with it, and let me know when you’re finished.”
Blood Nightingale: ……
Damn!!!
What kind of unromantic, twisted bastard exists in this world!