On the night of the fifteenth, as Ziqing and the others set out, the whole journey passed in silence. Jun Yaotiao had been left in Baili Weisheng’s care, while the couple walked on either side of Jun Buli. Ziqing was the most anxious, constantly glancing at his expression, while Jun Beiyue, by contrast, seemed considerably more relaxed.
Tonight was the appointed hour with Li Qinqin.
Tonight, everything would come to an end!
As they approached the vampire clan’s tomb gate, they split into two groups. Baili Weisheng, Baili Xiaosheng, Jun Yaotiao, Meng Duo’er, the tall one, and the short one formed one group, concealed by a barrier, tasked with a single objective: stealing Li Qinqin’s coffin.
Jun Beiyue, Ziqing, Jun Buli, Guxi, Situ Haonan, and Situ Jing’er formed the other group, going to meet Li Qinqin. The two groups actually walked together, though only Ziqing’s group could be seen.
On the fifteenth, under the full moon’s bright light, the moonbeams fell clean and bright across the desert. Tonight, there wasn’t even a breath of wind.
When Ziqing’s group reached the tomb gate, everything around was silent, with no sign of Li Qinqin.
They weren’t in a hurry, so they waited.
But as time passed, Li Qinqin still failed to appear.
“She’s waiting too—waiting for me to trigger,” Jun Buli said quietly. Having spent so long with her, he knew exactly how cunning she was.
Indeed, Jun Buli had guessed correctly.
At that very moment, Li Qinqin was inside the tomb, calculating the timing carefully. She knew exactly when Jun Buli’s affliction would trigger on every full moon night.
She needed to time it perfectly—the walk from the tomb gate to the main coffin, so that the moment Jun Buli reached the main coffin and opened it, his affliction would strike.
Without the undying blood, the Left Envoy couldn’t wake early, and if the Left Envoy never woke, no matter how much Jun Buli bit him, there’d be no blood at all—even if he chewed the Left Envoy to pieces, not a drop would flow.
His Sky Wolf fang addiction would never be cured.
Li Qinqin hadn’t given any thought to what would happen afterward—she only knew that once the Left Envoy was bitten to death, the vampire clan would be leaderless, thrown into chaos, and with the four Great Guardians fighting over the succession, who would even bother with her then?
Breaking clan law, letting two vampires escape—no one would care about that either.
As for Jun Buli—well, once he’d bitten the Left Envoy to death, the four Great Guardians would surely seek revenge. Whoever killed Jun Buli would become the new generation’s Blood Master.
By then, Jun Buli would struggle just to protect himself, with no time to spare for her at all.
Li Qinqin’s calculations were extremely well thought out.
Outside the tomb, everyone watched Jun Buli, unable to come up with a solution.
“Let’s just go in now and drag that woman out directly!” Situ Jing’er said furiously.
But her father immediately objected. “No good. We need to guard against Li Qinqin alerting the entire vampire clan.”
If Li Qinqin lost the upper hand and got subdued by them, and then used her spiritual senses to notify the four Great Guardians, that would spell serious trouble.
At this point, the tall one and short one couldn’t quite understand something.
Why not just team up with the Elder Guardian? They could notify him right now through their spiritual senses.
The tall one whispered, “Hey, should we notify the Elder Guardian? They brought the undying blood, after all.”
The short one thought about it. “But didn’t we just promise Master the other day not to tell the Elder Guardian?”
Over the past few days, the two of them had been clinging to Baili Weisheng, calling him “Master” this and “Master” that for ages now.
“But… why did we agree to that in the first place?” the tall one asked, thoroughly puzzled.
Smack! The short one seized the opportunity to slap his forehead. “Idiot, if we hadn’t agreed, how could we call him Master?”
The tall one clutched his head, nodding repeatedly, and with that, the two eccentric brothers fell silent.
“Wait!”
Suddenly, Jun Buli, silent the whole way, finally spoke.
Ziqing looked at her son, brow furrowed, about to try to persuade him otherwise, but Jun Buli looked at everyone and, using ventriloquism, said to the group, “I promise all of you—no matter when we go in, before the Left Envoy is awakened, I can control myself!” At this, the tall one and short one grew confused again—he seemed to be speaking, but why couldn’t they hear anything?
Jun Beiyue finally smiled, patting his son’s shoulder. “I’ve been waiting a long time to hear you say that.”
Jun Beiyue’s smile put everyone else at ease as well.
“Brother! I believe in you! Absolutely!” Yaotiao said earnestly.
Ziqing wrapped her arms around Jun Buli. “Son, Mother believes in you too!”
One by one, they all gave Jun Buli the same three words: “We believe in you!”
A flash of determination crossed Jun Beiyue’s eyes. He refused to believe he couldn’t hold out this time—he was staking everything on it, and even if he couldn’t hold out, he’d hold out anyway.
He wanted to show Li Qinqin that he, Jun Buli, didn’t need her, and could never need only her!
Time passed, and finally, as the full moon reached its peak overhead, the tomb gate slowly opened. Li Qinqin stood within, smiling as she looked out at everyone, her face stunning enough to topple kingdoms.
Too bad everyone knew that was nothing but a mask!
A flash of bloodlust crossed Ziqing’s eyes—she hadn’t felt this fired up in a very long time. Tonight, she was determined to tear that woman’s face right off.
“Where’s Yaotiao!” Jun Buli demanded coldly—even though Yaotiao was right beside him, hidden within the barrier.
Li Qinqin put on an act, her voice soft and delicate. “Oh my, so many of you, ganging up on one poor girl like me—I’m scared.”
“Son, did you bring rations?” Ziqing suddenly asked urgently.
Jun Buli froze, baffled by the sudden question. Everyone around them looked puzzled too, and even Li Qinqin was confused—she’d expected Ziqing to be angry; that was exactly what she wanted to see.
“What do you need rations for?” Jun Buli asked quietly.
“I feel so nauseated I could throw up, and I’m worried I’ll run out of stuff to vomit later on and have nothing left. If I have rations, I can eat a bit as backup,” Ziqing said with utmost seriousness.
The moment she finished speaking, Situ Jing’er beside her suddenly went “Blegh…” and started retching.
“Auntie Qing, I feel like throwing up even more than you—it’s so disgusting, just looking at it makes me sick. Ugh, how are we even supposed to hang out together after this?” Though they didn’t name any names for who was making them sick, Li Qinqin’s face turned distinctly green.
Jun Buli felt secretly delighted, looking coldly at Li Qinqin. “Enough chatter. If they all end up vomiting, it’ll be quite a mess soiling your clan’s front gate.”
“You—!” Li Qinqin choked with fury.
“Where’s Yaotiao!” Jun Buli demanded coldly.
Li Qinqin glanced at the sky, suppressing her anger. “Inside. If you’ve got the nerve, follow me!” With that, she turned and walked off.
Jun Buli followed, of course, and everyone filed in after him. Those hidden in the barrier with Yaotiao slipped in smoothly as well.
Bang—Li Qinqin personally shut the tomb gate behind them!
Jun Yaotiao’s eyes suddenly lit up, bright as searchlights. Even Baili Weisheng couldn’t wait any longer. Baili Xiaosheng, thoroughly excited, grabbed Meng Duo’er, who was still watching Li Qinqin, and whispered, “What are you staring at? Go find her coffin! Didn’t you already scout it out with Auntie Qing before?”
Meng Duo’er turned back with a smile, and seeing the three of them so excited, couldn’t help laughing. “We need to go in together with them—it’s in a small chamber just outside the hall of the Four Great Guardians. We have to wait for them to pass through first!”
At this, the three of them—Yaotiao included—finally calmed down, continuing to follow behind Ziqing’s group.
“Being a thief… feels amazing!” Yaotiao couldn’t help but sigh with satisfaction, drawing muffled snickers from the others.