Volume 2 – Bloom of the Other Shore Flower, Chapter 4: Other Shore Flower

“The expeditionary forces, huh… it’s okay. I’m just going in to take a look.” A clean and clear voice followed right after. It was incredibly soft and melodious, much like the sound of a crystalline wind chime after being shaken by a soft breeze during a summer afternoon.

“If you insist, then give this old servant some time to clean out all the expeditionary forces and blood thralls inside this place before you come in.”

“No! I’m just taking a look, there’s no need to kill so many people!”

“…Alright.”

The bar’s door disintegrated soundlessly, and the temperature inside the room dropped by dozens of degrees. Everyone, including the soldiers of the expeditionary forces, now found themselves losing the ability to move. Their eyes were the only thing that could move about.

A girl walked into the bar.

Her figure was slightly thin and petite, and her slim, black cloak accentuated her small face and stunning looks to appear as if there were a soft glow around it. Her skin was like porcelain of the highest quality. She had big round eyes that were both elegant and pure. It was a pair of eyes that did not seem to belong in this chaotic, bloody, and filthy world at all.

When she walked into the bar, it was as if all of Red Spider Lily had suddenly turned into a human paradise that was no longer cold nor filthy. All of the changes were brought forth by the mysterious young girl as she seemed to have the incredible power to cleanse one’s soul.

She appeared immeasurably powerful, yet she also seemed to be incomparably feeble. It was as if a breeze on the wasteland were enough to topple her over, shattering her to pieces. The instant they saw her, the crowd actually felt an indescribable sense of heartache. It was as if this pure and delicate girl could perish at any moment.

Her gaze slowly swept across every person and every corner of the bar, not leaving out even the slightest detail. When she gazed upon Qianye, her eyes brightened slightly and exuded a hint of pleasant surprise. However, it quickly faded in the next moment, after which she let out a soft sigh.

She said softly, “I thought that a place called Red Spider Lily would be more or less different from others… Sigh! Maybe I thought too much. Let us leave, Uncle Wang.”

Heeding the young girl’s call, an old man with silvery white hair quietly appeared beside her. In truth, he had been standing beside the young girl all this time. It was just that everyone had subconsciously overlooked his existence.

The old man glanced at Qianye and said to the girl, “This is but a normal bar, it shelters evil and hides filth just like every other. He may have stumbled upon this term by coincidence, but knew nothing at all about its true meaning.”

The young girl pulled at her cloak and sighed softly. “Perhaps! Still, it is a small, pleasant surprise to see such a term in this abandoned land.”

Uncle Wang let out a smile. “It is rare of you to show joy, my young miss. Why don’t we share with him a bit of your joy then. A lucky boy he is, hoho.”

“Indeed, he is a lucky fellow!” the young girl said softly.

The young girl left the bar, whereas the old man took out a small, black velvet sack and put it down on the bar. He said Qianye with a meaningful tone, “Since you have made the young miss happy, you deserve a reward no matter what you shoulder. This is yours.”

It was only after the old man had left that the people inside the bar regained their ability to do anything. However, they continued to stay still, even forgetting to move or speak. Their experience of immobility and muteness earlier was like a nightmare, and that young girl was the only brightness within it.

Qianye’s face was pale as his hand pressed onto the black velvet sack the old man had left behind. After a very long time, he finally opened it and took a glance.

It was an entire sack of imperial gold coins!

These dozens of imperial gold coins signified such tremendous wealth that it would drive anyone in the wasteland insane.

In this lawless land, three silver coins were enough to buy a person’s life, and five silver coins could make nearly any woman lift their skirts willingly. But an imperial gold coin… that could be exchanged for a total sum of one hundred silver coins. The imperial gold coin itself could not be spent, because there was nothing in this land that was worth even a single such coin.

The gold coin did not dazzle Qianye, however. Instead, his gaze was tightly locked onto the crystalline box, half buried within the sack of gold coins. The crystalline box was only three fingers wide, and its surface was etched with a rose-like flower of exquisite craftsmanship. Through the cover of the box, he could see that there were three silver bullets inside of it.

The heads of these three bullets were all made of transparent crystal. Silvery white liquid flowed inside it, and the same rose-like flower as before was etched on the silvery casting of the shell.

These non-standard silver bullets were obviously origin bullets privately created by one of the great imperial families. Their damaging effects on the dark races were extraordinary, and they were especially lethal against vampires.

But Qianye’s expression had turned as pale as paper when he saw the three bullets. Cold sweat abruptly poured out of his pores and drenched his entire clothing.

Many people inside the bar were curious about the contents of the black velvet sack, poking their heads out to get a good look. Looks of avarice appeared on many people’s faces, but none of them actually dared to get their heads any closer to get a good look. Curiosity and greed might make a lot of people fearless and mad, but in the face of absolute strength, humans would properly hide these emotions behind their masks.

Meanwhile, the imperial soldiers put down the food that they’d only eaten half of and quietly fell into formation, escorting the blood thralls away from the bar.

An imperial soldier walked in along the bar and said coldly, “Boy, your luck is great, but what did that old…”

He was about to say “What did that old man give you just now, show it to us?”, but he was only halfway through before Liu Jiang interrupted him.

The lieutenant colonel had actually laid an imperial gold coin on the bar!

He said solemnly, “This is for the meal. Your luck truly is pretty impressive to be able to win a personage’s favor. But if you change your mind, you can always come to the expeditionary army’s fortress. Remember my name, I am Liu Jiang. You can seek out either Chu Xiong or me.”

Deep in thought, Qianye slowly answered, “Thank you. I will… consider it.”

Liu Jiang nodded and gave him an “I’m leaving!” greeting before escorting the expeditionary forces away from the bar.

At the town gate, the bald sheriff had already crawled out of the ruins. His entire face was smeared in blood, but he did not wipe it away. Instead, he simply sat on top of a huge rock and gazed at the sky, murmuring to himself, “I knew that it wasn’t peaceful as of late, I knew it…”

By then, It was already night, and the huge, round moon hanging in the sky was as red as blood!

Qianye closed the bar early and exempted everyone from their tabs of that night. The people were frightened, and they also wished to return to their homes sooner than they did normally to rest and get over their shock.

Among the people, the central topic of discussion was still the amount of money inside the small sack. Moreover, many people were also discussing what exactly “Red Spider Lily” truly meant. However, not many people in this town were even literate, so no matter how vivid their imaginations were, it was a fruitless effort.

Within the bar, Qianye looked at the flower inside the crystalline bullet box and did not move for a very long time. The flower wasn’t actually a rose, but rather a legendary flower called the Red Spider Lily.

In legends, it was said that the Red Spider Lily, also known as the Other Shore Flower, only grew in the depths of Nether River, guiding souls to the other side of the shore.

Night gradually deepened, and the town slowly quieted down as the people began to enter their dreamlands one after another. The bald sheriff himself had also returned to his home and drank himself silly with half a catty of lousy strong spirits. Then he fell asleep, snoring loudly.

The town’s huge gate was still in shambles. It would take more than a few days to repair it. In fact, the only thing the town walls could defend against now were normal beasts and blood thralls.

But they would not have to worry about this tonight. The expeditionary forces had obviously made a massive sweep around the area, and hopefully, things would be peaceful for at least half a month or so.

In the eyes of the more powerful scavengers, pioneers, and adventurers, an intact Lighthouse Town was no different from a Lighthouse Town without any defenses at all, not to mention that the expeditionary forces and the regular soldiers could easily eradicate this place from the face of the continent. However, those were not things the bald sheriff needed to think about. The sheriff could always look at the bright side when it came to things that exceeded his capabilities. Even if he couldn’t do so, he still didn’t have the ability to change it.

Qianye had also fallen asleep. Through the haze of dreams, he suddenly found himself located at a quiet and dead neighborhood.

There were no lights and no people. His lonely footsteps were the only thing that resonated across the empty streets. There was a huge blood moon in the sky that had taken up a small portion of the night sky.

He instinctively felt that a huge crisis was approaching him, but he could not find any weapon on his body nor in his surroundings. In his haste, he rushed to the roadside and attempted to pull an iron pipe stuck in the ground, but just as he gripped the pipe, countless blood thralls suddenly leaped out of the surrounding darkness and pounced toward him while howling!

Qianye felt that his body was all of sudden impossibly heavy, and every movement he made was several times slower than normal. He was not in time to defend himself at all before a blood thrall pushed him to the ground and bit his neck. Its sharp teeth sank deep into his aorta!

Qianye abruptly sat up from the ground!

He panted for a long time before finally recognizing that he was inside his own room. What happened just now was but a nightmare.

But the nightmare was too realistic and clear. The feeling of the bloodsucking fangs sinking into his neck felt just like the real thing. It was realistic to the point that even though Qianye knew that it was just a dream, he could not hold himself back from touching his neck.

The skin in that area was smooth. Only by pressing one’s finger onto it would one realize that there were two faint bumps in the area. It was the wound left behind by the vampire.

Qianye’s chest heaved rapidly, and sweat covered his entire body.

He did not lay on a bed, and instead had himself wrapped up in a blanket and curled up in a corner. This was a habit he had developed on the Evernight Continent to avoid being ambushed by enemies while he was asleep. Moreover, he could even surprise his ambushers from this position and kill them before they could react.

Qianye stood up and felt a wave of weakness and dizziness, nearly stumbling back onto the ground. He pulled himself together and arrived at the cabinet beside the wall. He then picked up the black velvet sack again and took the crystalline bullet box from inside it. After a moment of hesitation, he finally opened the box.

Under the weak light, the bulletheads of all three silver bullets emanated an extremely beautiful, faint glow. The moment the crystalline box was open, a rich wave of origin power immediately rushed to his face.

Qianye whispered quietly to himself, “As expected, they are… all origin bullets.”

He reached out to touch the silver origin bullets. His fingertip had only just touched one of the bullets before a small part of his finger immediately burned off, letting out a soft sizzling sound. Inside the bullethead, the origin power that was condensed into a liquid also began vibrating intensely as if it could explode at any moment.

Qianye immediately withdrew his hand, and the silver origin bullet’s reaction slowly receded since he no longer touched it. He knew that these three bullets were no ordinary silver origin bullets. They were Mithril Bullets of Exorcism, tailor-made against vampires, and judging from the resonation and intensity of the origin power, the creator of these three bullets was definitely no ordinary elite.

As Qianye looked at his hands, his left hand glowed with faint divine light, whereas his right was entangled with thick blood energy.

The girl’s eyes had the terrifying power of seeing through all falsehoods, and the Uncle Wang beside her was an even more terrifying elite. The origin power he held was well controlled, and he was one of the most powerful experts Qianye had ever seen.

The fact that the man left the box of specially crafted Mithril Bullets of Exorcism within the sack of imperial gold coins obviously meant that he had already seen through Qianye’s secret. It was just that he did not expose him for what he was because his bar was called Red Spider Lily.

However, just what else could be so special about the Red Spider Lily other than the fact that it was the most famous gun in the empire? What other secrets did it hold that the old man who had planned to cleanse everyone in the bar earlier would let go of Qianye, a person who was potentially tainted by the black blood just like that?