Blood Queen

# Chapter 72: Blood Food Hell

Racing through the passage, suddenly two cross-shaped flames flashed from the dark room ahead. Jiang Yao was startled and instantly leaned back, lowering her body, sliding forward in an almost legs-first, head-back position.

The deafening sound of bullets tearing through air expanded in the basement. Countless bullet trails passed over the girl's body, several strands of severed pale golden hair quietly flew up, burning in the pitch-black passage.

At the same time, Jiang Yao also repeatedly pulled the trigger, and a muffled grunt came from the darkness ahead.

The click-clack sound of empty chamber locks rang out simultaneously. Both sides had run out of bullets.

A piercing bright light spread out as both the passage and the room at the end lit up simultaneously.

Dense footsteps came from behind. Jiang Yao knew Zhou Ping and the others had caught up. Although they hadn't seen the other Knight yet, these Black Blood Clan were obviously trapped in the basement with nowhere to escape.

A gloomy laugh came from ahead. Jiang Yao threw down her pistol and slowly stood up. Gripping her dagger tightly, she slowly moved forward step by step into the room at the end of the passage.

The room was large with even more luxurious decoration. It should be where the highest-ranking person of this Overlord Association lived.

Turning her head, Jiang Yao saw the previously injured Black Blood Clan Knight looking at her with vicious eyes. Behind him stood a short youth who looked as young as a middle school student, though his expression was particularly cold.

"Doesn't Hyacinth have anything better to do? Actually coming to J City to show off..." The source of thɪs content is novel_fіre.net

The short Black Blood Clan Knight sneered coldly. His entire body made the disturbing sounds of muscles and bones compressing as his limbs began stretching.

With his total body mass unchanged, he mutated into a gaunt, long-limbed, larger hunched figure, like a hideous ghoul.

Jiang Yao had seen this appearance before. It was just like the blood-thirst-crazed Black Blood Clan Knight they encountered that night when she and Jiang Yan first went to trade blood with Wan Yue. Just as disgusting, and it even brought back scenes of the blood battle in that underground factory in D City.

So this was Caucasus Blood Clan? The talent to mutate all bones throughout the body? A series of information suddenly flashed through Jiang Yao's mind.

Her gaze shifted again, inadvertently looking behind the mutated Caucasus Blood Clan Knight. In just one second, Jiang Yao's pupils suddenly contracted and her whole body involuntarily shivered.

In the corner, hanging from a person-high iron rack, was a bloody female corpse.

The body had almost no intact areas anywhere, covered in bloody tears and gashes, with half the chest cavity exposing a blood-stained rib cage.

Zhou Ping and the others poured in, dozens of weapons all aimed at the two Black Blood Clan Knights. But like Jiang Yao, almost everyone's face turned grim, and several people's hands holding weapons were trembling.

"Haha, I won't keep you company!"

The Black Blood Clan leader slightly turned his head to look behind him, a trace of cunning flashing across his twisted, gaunt face. With a stomp of his foot, the ceiling above exploded in a collapse-like blast. Countless brick and stone debris and white lime poured down from the roof, blocking everyone's vision.

"Boss!"

He had thought that with their two Knights working together, they could completely turn the tables. But who knew his boss would run away without a word. By the time he turned around, it was too late.

The injured Black Blood Clan Knight was grabbed by the neck by his own boss and thrown like an eagle catching a chick. His whole body flew through the air toward Zhou Ping and Jiang Yao.

Immediately after, the Caucasus Black Blood Clan Knight compressed and sprang with both legs, shooting out through the escape hole in the ceiling above. Using hands and feet to grip the walls, he continuously ascended the pitch-black vertical passage in an exaggerated, twisted posture.

"Open fire!"

More than a dozen VSSM silenced rifles in continuous fire mode almost simultaneously shot bullets, turning the naked Black Blood Clan Knight flying through the air into a tattered sack burning with black smoke all over.

"As expected of Black Blood Clan, sacrificing their own people without any psychological burden. Unfortunately, we didn't complete Sister Wan and Brother Zheng's instructions to catch them all... Xiao Yao, this isn't your fault. No one expected to encounter this kind of situation."

Zhou Ping regretfully lowered her gun barrel and turned to touch Jiang Yao's arm.

Actually, from the moment the Caucasus Blood Clan Knight escaped, Jiang Yao was no longer in combat mode. The girl's gaze remained fixed on that female corpse that had been dead for who knows how long, clear tears already blurring her blood-red eyes from blood-boiling.

"Xiao Yao... don't be like this... Black Blood Clan are all bloodthirsty lunatics."

Seeing some young companions around also hanging their heads in dejection, Zhou Ping sighed and deeply embraced Jiang Yao's body, gently patting her back.

"Sister Xiao Yao, Sister Xiao Ping, Brother Zheng has discovered the room where they kept the captive Blood Servants..."

Little Mei, who had carried Jiang Yao's travel bag yesterday at noon, walked over and reported quietly with her head down. She was part of the support group today and hadn't participated in the earlier fighting. Little Mei's face was pale now, her expression no better than the completely unprepared Jiang Yao's.

"How many are left?" Zhou Ping turned her head.

"Twelve people remain, five of them women... Brother Zheng is selecting..."

Little Mei's voice grew quieter and quieter, even crying audibly by the end.

In the tiny basement like a pigsty, there was only one dim little lamp.

All the Blood Servants kept as blood food by the Black Blood Clan were naked, either expressionless and numb or curled up in corners with empty, vacant eyes. The floor was covered with dried bloodstains mixed with various excrement, food scraps, and hard chunks.

The stench of feces, urine, blood, and even the thick putrid smell of rotting flesh and blood filled this blood food breeding ground that was like hell itself.

As the tactical flashlight swept across, Zhou Ping, who had followed Hyacinth in combat for many years, couldn't help but close her eyes and reach out to cover Jiang Yao's eyes beside her.

"I'm fine..."

Jiang Yao brushed away Zhou Ping's hand and slowly walked over, crouching in front of a girl whose legs were missing, gently covering her with clothes Little Mei handed over.

Not far from the girl, a Blood Servant youth missing both arms and one leg was still giggling foolishly. His immune system was probably near collapse, with the wounds on his severed limbs already rotting and giving off waves of nauseating stench.

"Sister, I want to go home..."

The legless Blood Servant girl's empty eyes finally lit up with a spark of life as she weakly reached out and grabbed Jiang Yao's arm.

"Yes, okay, I'll take you home..."

Jiang Yao slowly embraced the broken-bodied Blood Servant girl, tears streaming down her face.

"Black Blood Clan are just a bunch of animals, the scum of humanity..."

Zhou Ping covered her face and turned around, her shoulders constantly shaking. Her emotional change caused the surrounding young Hyacinth members to start crying too.

At the scene, except for Zheng Shaolin, there probably wasn't a single Hyacinth member with normal emotions.

"Brother Zheng... let's take them all..."

Jiang Yao stood up and walked in front of Zheng Shaolin, her face pleading.

The burly, sturdy man in front of her just shook his head slightly. With a wave of his hand, several people behind him stepped forward and wrapped up four captive Blood Servants with intact bodies–two women and two men–and carried them out of the room.

The eight who remained were basically those whose bodies were so mutilated they could never live normal lives again.

"Mission complete. Zhou Ping, organize everyone to clean up the scene. Remember to bring all the Black Blood Clan corpses..."

Zheng Shaolin waved his hand with his back to everyone, then drew his pistol from his thigh and slowly walked toward those broken people.

Gunshots rang out from the dim basement behind them. Each shot reflected a burst of light in the passage and shook loose a tear from Jiang Yao.

Flames rose piece by piece, gradually covering the dilapidated village like a huge open-air crematorium rising in the moonless dark wilderness, liberating all souls both hopeful and hopeless.

In the world of Longquan Mountain, the changing of seasons seemed more real. Forest winds roared, once again blowing down the mountain's red leaves. The green thinned out, and another fresh autumn day arrived.

As if never tiring, at only seven in the morning, Zheng Shaolin was already vigorously busy in the kitchen, making steamed buns, dumplings, sweet rice balls, and soy milk.

Less than four hours had passed since Zheng Shaolin returned to the Hyacinth villa, and the Hyacinth members who had participated in an overwhelming offensive victory were still fast asleep in their rooms.

Very few people could eat breakfast, including Wan Yue and Zhong Jing. The former methodically tore apart a steamed bun while the latter seemed somewhat distracted.

"What's wrong, missing Jiang Yao? You look terrible."

Wan Yue peeled a boiled egg and said blandly, "She was busy all night yesterday and frightened all night. It's still early for her to get up..."

"No... I have some diarrhea."

Zhong Jing awkwardly picked up a cup of soy milk and drank with great difficulty. "After you left yesterday, I also had diarrhea for half the night... Sigh, maybe the ingredients here are more natural and the environment more natural, making my city-conditioned stomach unable to adapt?"

"I'm very curious, how do you pick up women with your inconsistent chatter? Just with money?"

Wan Yue rolled her eyes. A few seconds later, she turned back to stare at Zhong Jing carefully for a while. "With diarrhea that severe, you probably didn't sleep well either. No wonder you look off. Go find Zheng Shaolin later and get some medicine from the infirmary."

"Uh... the medicine doesn't have any special ingredients, does it?"

Zhong Jing first nodded, then seemed to remember something and quickly lowered his voice. "Master, for treating diarrhea, there shouldn't be any special medicines made from Blood Clan, right?"

Wan Yue sighed and directly ruffled Zhong Jing's handsome hair, with a trace of disdain at the corner of her mouth. "Just get lost. Take the medicine and rest some more. You still have to play here for two more days."

The few Hyacinth newcomers who hadn't participated in last night's operation gradually left the dining room and began their respective activities. The main focus was still practicing various internal and external hormone self-control techniques. These were gradual skills that accompanied Blood Clan throughout their lives.

Zheng Shaolin carried out a large basin of dumplings from the back kitchen and sat in front of Wan Yue.

"Let one escape?" Wan Yue lit a cigarette with a calm expression. "Did Jiang Yao make a mistake?"

"Yes, that Overlord Association leader had arranged his escape route well. Plus there was an accident at the beginning, so it's not really Xiao Yao performing abnormally."

Zheng Shaolin stuffed dumplings into his mouth one by one, answering just as calmly. "Except for the heads, most of the spoils are in good condition, and we had no casualties.

"Also, except for letting that Caucasus Blood Clan Knight escape due to emotional fluctuations at the end, Jiang Yao performed well in all aspects. After just over four months of Sister Wan's training, she can carry major responsibilities in the future!"

Zheng Shaolin gave brief evaluations and summaries of all Hyacinth combat members from yesterday, obviously quite satisfied with Jiang Yao.

"Her? She was at this level without needing training. What's surprising about that? You were the same way back then."

Wan Yue smiled and put down her chopsticks, her eyes flashing with mysterious color. "Didn't you notice her tactical movements and habits?"

Hearing Wan Yue say this, Zheng Shaolin almost stood up. After looking around, he lowered his voice with an excited expression. "She's also from the Shadow Arrow Force? Which squad? No wonder I felt some things didn't seem like a newcomer who changed paths halfway. She should be someone who received complete three-phase training. What about her sister?"

"Same... I'm keeping other things secret for now. I'm also verifying some matters."

Wan Yue blinked her beautiful eyes, stopping Zheng Shaolin's speculation. "Also, keep those four we rescued here. You observe them for a while, then I'll see them."

Zheng Shaolin nodded and was about to get up when he saw a flash of black from the corner of his eye outside the dining room. He looked up and waved with a smile.

Jiang Yao, who had slept only a short three hours, was now wearing a gray-black elastic-waist short-sleeve denim dress with her pale golden hair tied in a ponytail, staring blankly at the floor as she slowly walked into the dining room.

"Sister Wan, Brother Zheng."

Jiang Yao forced a slight smile and sat on a long bench not far from Wan Yue's side. Looking at the abundant breakfast in front of her, she had no intention of eating.

"This isn't your first time fighting Black Blood Clan. Is there something you can't get past in your heart?"

Wan Yue smoked her cigarette, her shallow smile carrying several traces of helplessness. "If it were Jiang Yan, she probably would have finished two plates by now."

"She's a veteran who's been crawling around for years, of course she's used to it. I'm a newcomer..."

Jiang Yao muttered without good humor and finally grabbed a steamed bun. But before the bun reached her mouth, she realized she seemed to have said something wrong, and her small face immediately turned red and white.

That was close, I almost spoke carelessly again! Jiang Yao couldn't help but reach out and knock herself on the head.

Wan Yue smiled and exchanged a glance with Zheng Shaolin before getting up and leaving the dining room.

For the next two days, the Hyacinth villa returned to its usual leisurely pace. The battle that had depressed everyone seemed far away. Compared to usual, there were quite a few more Hyacinth members gathered here for this holiday, plus with a modest victory, the overall atmosphere was lively and cheerful.

Early in the morning, Jiang Yao sat alone by the pond below the rocky waterfall, boredly throwing small stones at the little fish inside, still in low spirits. Except for Wan Yue, the aloof Hyacinth leader, as the only other Knight in the villa, people who weren't familiar with her didn't dare get close, especially given her current mood.

"Apricots picked from the mountains, wild ones! Try them, very sweet!"

A hand reached into her field of vision from the side. The palm opened to reveal two walnut-sized yellow apricots swaying slightly. Jiang Yao turned her head and saw Zhong Jing's face with a gentle smile.

"I hurt your dignity the day before yesterday. Shouldn't you continue throwing your young master tantrum?"

Jiang Yao rolled her eyes and directly grabbed both apricots, stuffing them front and back into her mouth. Puffing out her cheeks, she slowly mumbled, "Whatever. I'm not good at comforting people anyway."

"Sister Xiao Ping just told me about what happened that night... I really envy your heroic, justice-fighting lifestyle."

Zhong Jing chose a comfortable position on the big rock and lay back, his eyes gazing at the distant autumn forest of red, green, and yellow, a faint smile at the corner of his mouth. "I wanted to be a superhero when I was little, fighting bad guys. Now I've just become a sidekick following a group of superheroes."

"Me too, but I didn't want to fight bad guys. I wanted to fight those who bullied me..."

Jiang Yao glanced at the young man's sleeping posture and reached into the pond to grab another stone, playing with it in her hand. "My sister and I used to do some tests. How should I put it... I have poor emotional control and insufficient determination. Basically, I'm pretty useless, better than nothing but not by much."

"Your sister, Jiang Yan? I actually think she's more peculiar, too mature, rigid, no feminine charm. Hehe, speaking of which, she's more like my big brother...

"I think you're quite good. For girls, being pretty, having a little temper, no determination, a little fierce, and careless are all normal."

Speaking of this, Zhong Jing wanted to laugh a little, seeming to remember various details of how Meng Huai and Jiang Yan interacted in the hospital room and at the dining table.

"Wait... are you praising me? Or criticizing me? You mean I have feminine charm?"

Hearing Zhong Jing's series of evaluations about Jiang Yan, Jiang Yao couldn't agree more and nodded repeatedly. But when it came to herself, it sounded somehow awkward.

"Mm? Girls who are a little fierce do have appeal, but who would want to be with a real tomboy? Not just men, even women might not. Maybe just my big brother...

"He and Jiang Yan both give me a feeling of fear, like they both crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood..."

Zhong Jing spoke slowly, his expression gradually becoming serious as details of his years with Meng Huai appeared in his mind. "I feel your sister is someone who can listen to my big brother's boring, extremely cold talk. It's quite amazing."

Looking quietly at the lazy young man lying flat on the big rock, Jiang Yao looked down at herself, her cheeks reddening unnaturally.

"Move over some... Hey, didn't you hear? Move over some!"

Jiang Yao patted the young man's leg. Seeing he didn't understand, she directly used force and single-handedly pulled Zhong Jing's body to the edge of the big rock, scaring him into thinking the girl planned to throw him into the waterfall pond.

Regardless of the young man's expression, Jiang Yao leaned back and rested her head on his thigh, then groped and extended a hand to play with the pond water beside her.

"Yesterday made me cry... Zhong Jing, why are there always so many inhumane things happening in this world? I originally thought only ordinary people feared the Blood Clan... I saw something I fear, very unexpectedly."

Jiang Yao suddenly had tears in the corners of her eyes again. She quickly covered her face with her hand from the pond. The cold water diluted her tears and cooled her down while disguising some emotions.

Sigh... this Xiao Yao is indeed too innocent. She doesn't realize that the cruelty of the Blood Clan world is no less than the normal human world. Life's suffering and the fragility of existence don't change based on the day of blood infection.

Thinking of what Wan Yue had mentioned, Zhong Jing suddenly realized that in this world, people who covet Blood Clan probably far outnumber those who fear them. The secret war of over two thousand years may have changed nature long ago.

Discovering Jiang Yao had fallen into her emotions again, Zhong Jing slowly sat up and gazed at her wet face–whether from crying or playing with water–and slowly reached out to fiddle with her pale golden ponytail.

"Is playing with hair fun?" Jiang Yao suddenly muttered.

"Ah, it's, it's okay..." Zhong Jing awkwardly nodded and withdrew his hand.

"Then keep playing. I want to sleep..."

After saying this, Jiang Yao rolled over, pillowing on Zhong Jing's thigh, and made soft breathing sounds, as if her post-battle body and mind were finally truly relaxing at this moment.

Before, whenever she was sad, Xia Yan would accompany her like this. Pillowing on Xia Yan's thigh and having Xia Yan stroke her head allowed her to fall asleep peacefully.

Zhong Jing lit a cigarette and gently rested his other hand on the girl's long hair, blowing smoke rings while gazing at the distant mountain forest autumn colors, his expression gradually becoming calm and cold.

In the distance, Wan Yue slowly approached and finally stopped beside Zhong Jing and the sleeping Jiang Yao.

"With Jiang Yan not here, she can't find someone to rely on. That doesn't mean you're truly someone she can depend on, understand?"

Wan Yue glanced at the sleeping girl and sighed softly.

"I know. She needs a companion toy more than romance."

Zhong Jing smiled, indifferent.