Chapter 9: The Noble Vampire

"Great skills! And a sharp mind too!"

In the dim light, Ye Qi finally saw clearly the person speaking—a man in a tailcoat with a blood-red handkerchief peeking out from his left chest, short golden hair, and emerald eyes, dressed in a typical noble style. However, there was a bloody smell about him that only demon hunters could discern. Of course, these were not what caught Ye Qi's attention the most; the pair of bat wings on the man's back were the key.

"A noble vampire!"

Ye Qi's eyes instantly widened. This was the second time in four years he had seen the bat wings that symbolized status and power within the vampire clan. The terrifying stories John had told him about noble vampires immediately flooded his mind. Instinctively, Ye Qi's free hand quickly reached for the vial of holy water.

The demon-hunting blade was held in front of him, and the holy water was splashed out. But the vampire in front of him instantly disappeared, and the golden holy water all fell to the ground.

"Quick reflexes!"

The voice suddenly came from behind, and it was very close, as if it were right in his ear!

Ye Qi quickly took two steps forward and turned to slash with his blade. But before Ye Qi could bring the blade down, his wrist was grabbed by a cold hand, like an iron clamp. The pain in his wrist immediately made Ye Qi loosen his grip on the blade—dropping the demon-hunting blade to the ground.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Enduring the intense pain in his right hand, Ye Qi pulled out the M500 and fired at the vampire, who was just a few steps away. He fired five shots, emptying the M500. The M500's immense power, combined with the demon-repelling bullets Ye Qi had specially loaded, gave him a high confidence in killing the dark creature in front of him, even if it was a noble vampire.

However, to Ye Qi's surprise, the vampire in front of him simply waved his hand, and the five demon-repelling bullets were caught in his hand. Although the positive energy magic runes carved on the surface of the bullets collided intensely with the negative energy in the vampire's hand, causing white smoke to rise, the superficial damage was negligible for a creature with such strong regenerative abilities.

Ye Qi, of course, understood this and decisively threw the M500 at the vampire's face, then quickly reached for the vial of holy water on his belt. However, the vampire's speed was even faster.

"Crack!"

"Tsk, tsk, to be honest, you disappoint me!"

Before Ye Qi's left hand could touch the vial, his entire arm was broken by the vampire, forming an exaggerated angle. Ye Qi immediately let out a painful howl as his arm was broken.

"Ha ha ha, very good! Very good! Scream! Scream! Blood mixed with cries of pain is... Ah! Damn worm! How dare you hurt me!"

The vampire, hearing Ye Qi's painful cries, was extremely pleased and let out a deranged laugh. But what the vampire did not expect was that Ye Qi, while still screaming, suddenly lowered his head and bit into the vampire's neck. The delighted laugh immediately turned into a scream. The vampire immediately grabbed Ye Qi, who was biting him, and let out another scream as Ye Qi tore a piece of flesh from him.

This injury was nothing to the vampire, but seeing Ye Qi chew and swallow his flesh made the vampire's anger boil over. He instantly tightened his grip on Ye Qi's other hand, and Ye Qi's shoulder was crushed.

Amid Ye Qi's screams, the vampire grabbed his neck and slowly lifted him up.

"Rest assured, I won't let you die so easily! I will make you suffer, and then I will skin you alive..." The vampire stared at Ye Qi, whose face was turning red, with a seemingly gentle but actually fierce gaze.

However, Ye Qi, whose mind was already muddled, could no longer hear what the vampire was saying. Because another voice was ringing in his head.

"Human, do you want to live?"

This voice was deep and powerful, completely different from the vampire's sinister tone. But for Ye Qi, who was already losing consciousness, any voice was irrelevant—his oxygen-deprived brain had already made it impossible for him to think.

"It seems we need to change our method of communication!"

The deep, powerful voice sounded again, and Ye Qi, who was struggling, suddenly felt his neck loosen. Then his vision brightened, and he found himself in a hall with towering pillars of fire.

The sudden change in the scene made Ye Qi immediately and cautiously examine his surroundings.

The walls and floor of the hall were made of large greenish-brown square stones, each side over ten meters long. The hall had no ceiling, only a black mist covering the top. The most striking feature was the massive pillars of fire, each with a diameter of a hundred meters. Standing where he was, Ye Qi could see nine such massive pillars stretching from the stone floor into the mist above, as if connecting heaven and earth.

"Human, do you want to live?"

This time, the deep, powerful voice clearly reached Ye Qi's ears. He immediately looked around, trying to find the source of the voice, but there was no one except the fire pillars and the black mist. Although he had been in a daze, Ye Qi still remembered being held in the air by the middle-aged vampire, about to suffocate. The sudden change in the scene made Ye Qi subconsciously think it was the vampire's doing.

"Magic illusion? Wraith?"

Two words flashed through his mind. Instinctively, Ye Qi reached for the spirit powder on his belt, but his hand found nothing. Not only was the spirit powder missing, but the vial of holy water and the EMS detector were also gone. Moreover, Ye Qi noticed that he was in a semi-transparent state, like the wraiths he had previously eliminated. This realization immediately made Ye Qi's heart race: "Am I dead? Or am I under an illusion spell? Damn it!"

"Human, you are not dead yet! But if you delay any longer, you will be!"

As the deep, powerful voice spoke, the black mist above his head suddenly swirled, gradually forming an image—a middle-aged vampire with bat wings holding a young man in the air, the man's face dark red and tinged with purple, clearly about to suffocate.

And that young man about to suffocate was Ye Qi himself.

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