Chapter Eighty-Five: White Night's Ambition

Bai Ye’s eyes gleamed with a cold light as he looked at the Vampire King.

“Bai Ye, what do you think you are doing?” The Vampire King barked when he saw the sinister look in Bai Ye’s eyes.

“My king, what do you think? Anyone could easily kill you in your present state. Since such a splendid opportunity has fallen into my hands, why should I not cherish it?” Bai Ye smiled with his customary courtesy.

“Have you forgotten your clan’s plan? Repent now, and I shall let bygones be bygones,” the Vampire King said furiously. To be threatened by a mere human filled him with rage. Silently, he vowed that once his strength returned, he would tear this detestable human who dared threaten him to pieces.

“I am overwhelmed with fear, truly. Must I also thank Your Majesty for your magnanimity?” Bai Ye said mockingly. “Even now, at this point, you still stand so high above others, my king.”

“What do you want? If you kill me, my subordinates will never spare your Bai clan. Your entire clan will be utterly destroyed!” the Vampire King threatened. “If you do not harm my life now, I guarantee I will not touch a hair on your head, and my agreement with your Bai clan will remain in force. Whether your clan is ruined or prosperous lies entirely in your hands.” Faced with danger, the Vampire King had no choice but to lower himself.

“The Bai clan?” Bai Ye murmured, seeming somewhat hesitant.

“That is right. So long as you spare my life, I will keep my promise and help your Bai clan become the new blood clan. Is that not the very ambition your clan has always pursued?” Seeing Bai Ye’s hesitation, the Vampire King continued to tempt him.

“Yes, becoming a blood clan, making the Bai clan the most powerful clan in this world, has indeed always been our clan’s wish,” Bai Ye said softly. “But how could becoming a family controlled by others compare to holding one’s own fate in one’s own hands?” In Bai Ye’s eyes flashed a light called ambition.

“No, you cannot kill me. If you do, you will drag your Bai clan into destruction. You cannot do this!” The Vampire King cried out in terror as Bai Ye drew near.

This was the first time the Vampire King had ever felt such fear. Even when facing the legendary Witch of the Night, he had known only utter despair, not terror. But now, before this pitiful human he had always despised, he was truly panicking.

“Hahaha, so what if the entire Bai clan is destroyed?” Bai Ye laughed madly. “So long as I remain, so long as I become the king of this world, I can have as many Bai clans as I wish. Did I not say so already? For the long-cherished wish of the Bai clan, any sacrifice is worthwhile. Those who die for that wish will thank me as well, will they not?”

“No, you cannot do this. You are no match for the Witch of the Night. Facing her, there is only death. The only one you can rely on is me!” The Vampire King still clung to the hope of persuading Bai Ye.

“Hmph. Rely on you? Rely on a man who was beaten by Liliana and now lies on the ground like a dead dog, barely hanging on?” Bai Ye laughed uproariously. “Do not worry. I will avenge you. After all, I still have an ace up my sleeve.” Bai Ye glanced at the underground chamber buried beneath the ruins, where someone lay imprisoned whom Liliana could not possibly ignore: Xingyu. “Even if she has truly lost her memory, there are some things that cannot be so easily escaped,” Bai Ye said with confidence.

“No, spare me. I am willing to sign a contract with you, even a master-servant contract, so long as you let me live!” The Vampire King had completely lost his former arrogance and was now begging Bai Ye for mercy.

“There is no need. I still prefer to keep power in my own hands.” With a devilish smile, Bai Ye leaned close to the Vampire King’s ear and said evenly, “Your power, I shall take.”

“You!” The Vampire King stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the silver dagger plunged into his heart. The proud Vampire King, one of the supreme beings of the world, had never imagined that one day he would die at the hands of a tiny human, a human with almost no power at all.

Bai Ye did not care in the least for the Vampire King’s final thoughts. Excitement flared in his eyes. He slit his own wrist, and blood gushed forth in a torrent. Yet Bai Ye seemed not to notice; instead, he let out a fevered roar, clamped his mouth down on the Vampire King’s neck, severed his carotid artery, and greedily devoured the Vampire King’s blood.

At last, the final trace of life faded from the Vampire King’s eyes. A peerless powerhouse of an age had actually met such an unwilling end. It was, without question, a tragic thing.

As he lost a great volume of blood, Bai Ye could feel the Vampire King’s blood he had swallowed slowly flowing into his body, replacing his own. Suddenly, unbearable pain erupted throughout him, as though every drop of blood in his veins had begun to burn. Bai Ye cried out in agony.

He pounded madly at the ground, and the hard concrete surface was struck into spiderweb cracks beneath his fists. “I will become the King of the Blood Clan! I will have you, Liliana!” Bai Ye, nearly swallowed whole by the Vampire King’s power, shouted toward the sky in torment.

At last, after breaking through countless vampire blockades, Xuelan and the others arrived at the Bai estate, only to be completely stunned by what lay before them.

The Bai clan, which had still stood dense with buildings not long ago, had now become a field of ruins, with the drifting ash of dead vampires scattered everywhere.

“Did Sister Lilith do this?” Liler swallowed hard at the sight. “Where is Sister Lilith?” Looking around and not seeing Lilith anywhere, she asked anxiously.

“I do not know. I can no longer sense Lady Liliana’s presence,” Xuelan said in alarm. “Duke Feng, what about you? You should be better than I am at sensing auras.”

At Xuelan’s words, Duke Feng could only shake his head helplessly. “I can no longer sense Lady Liliana’s presence either. It is as though she has vanished from the world.”

“No, impossible. Sister Lilith is fine,” Liler said, her already pale face draining of all color.

“Rest assured, Lady Liliana is absolutely unharmed. If she had died, her aura would not simply vanish. Most likely, Lady Liliana has evaded our perception,” Duke Feng explained to Liler. “However, I do sense another aura of death. It may be that of the Vampire King. What a powerful presence—perhaps not even belonging to the First Judgment, no, perhaps even stronger than the First Judgment’s power. To think that such a formidable existence was also slain by Lady Liliana. Lady Liliana’s strength now is truly terrifying.”

“So long as Sister Lilith is all right, that is enough,” Liler said, breathing a sigh of relief at Duke Feng’s words. “But what should we do now? Without Sister Lilith’s aura, we cannot continue following behind her to help.” Her face was filled with worry.

“I am afraid our strength can no longer aid Lady Liliana,” Xuelan said in a subdued voice. “Every time, it is Lady Liliana who faces danger alone, and we are powerless to do anything.”

“Enough. Pull yourselves together. For now, we can only wait for Lord Ang to return from the blood clan castle. Let us hope that this time, Lord Ang can report Lady Liliana’s situation to His Highness the Prince Consort,” Duke Feng said, looking at Xuelan’s downcast expression with resignation. “For now, we should find somewhere to stay.”

The group stood in silence for a long while before the wreckage before them. In the end, they could only depart with helpless hearts.