Blood Queen

"What?! Meng Huai is sick and you're staying at the hospital with him?! Cough cough!"

Late at night, in the employee rest room of Golden River Club, Jiang Yao, who was eating heartily, almost jumped off the bed. She choked on the food broth from speaking too urgently, coughing until her face turned red.

Jiang Yao had now stepped into the growth ceiling of most Blood Clan, becoming a genuine Knight, and moreover reaching Mid-tier Knight realm immediately upon awakening from dormancy.

The thick aura naturally emanating from Jiang Yao's body made everyone present, including Jiang Yan, feel unsettled for quite a while.

However, Jiang Yao's current state was still somewhat unstable, causing her internal and external hormone secretion to be rather chaotic. Her bodily perception control skills were far from keeping up, and theoretically she still needed several more days of rest and recuperation.

"Shh... don't be so loud, making such a fuss."

Jiang Yan quickly stepped forward to pat Jiang Yao's back, wearing a bitter smile and helpless expression.

"Cough cough... You're not joking, right? If Meng Huai is hospitalized, all the Shadow Arrow leaders and colleagues will definitely come visit him. What are you doing staying in his hospital room?

"Sister, are you out of your mind? Get a grip. You were just one of his subordinate soldiers before. How much do you really have in common!

"Danger aside, others will think you're Meng Huai's girlfriend. No way, I object!"

Jiang Yao puffed out her cheeks and rattled off a whole string of complaints, clearly displeased.

This Xiao Yao still doesn't understand the situation... Jiang Yan sat on the bed edge, gently pressing down Jiang Yao's body with a serious expression: "What nonsense are you talking! Commander Meng's body is already at stage three. He'll likely retire soon. He doesn't have many friends or family, so just these few days, consider it settling a relationship. At least we won't become enemies in the future."

"Stage three? Uh... will he die?"

Jiang Yao was also stunned, touching her head as if recalling some knowledge she had encountered before.

"I don't know. He might become disabled... You know, in the Xuan Jia Squad, probably only I truly understand his temperament."

Jiang Yan felt another wave of discomfort in her heart but forced herself to maintain calm on the surface.

"If it wasn't for seeing the Xuan Jia Squad's army-wide commendation notice at the training center back then, I wouldn't have known you were also in Shadow Arrow... Brother, oh no, sister, is our becoming like this considered good luck?"

Xiao Yao probably doesn't know about the children's welfare institute and what happened last week yet... Hearing Jiang Yao suddenly reach such a strange conclusion, Jiang Yan was also slightly stunned and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"Sister Xiao Yao, do you need more dishes?"

Xiao Ling walked in. As a Lower-tier Knight, her form of address for Jiang Yao had also changed, following the Blood Clan world's convention of respecting strength above all. At least for now, the Jiang sisters hadn't become close enough with most veteran Hyacinth members to ignore such conventions.

"Uh, don't call me sister, it sounds weird... just call me Xiao Yao. I heard that Sister Xiao Ling and Sister Xiao Ai took care of me all those days. Thank you!"

Jiang Yao blushed and quickly waved her hands repeatedly, not knowing if she was refusing more food or the change in address.

"Hehe, I think so too! Now we have seven Knights in Hyacinth. If Xiao Yan also advances, we'll be comparable to some small Baron families!"

Xiao Ling's personality was much more lively than Xiao Ai's. Although she'd been stuck at Lower-tier Knight for a long time, both her mentality and apparent age were similar to Zhou Ping's.

"Hey, my sister will advance soon for sure!"

Jiang Yao nodded proudly, then seemed to remember something and turned to look at the tightly closed door. "Why haven't I seen Brother Zhao Peng? When I was half-conscious these past few days, I could always sense Brother Zhao Peng nearby."

Jiang Yan was stunned, her expression slowly darkening. She glanced at Xiao Ling beside her, and after a long while forced out a faint smile: "Brother Zhao Peng was injured. Sister Wan is treating him separately. He probably needs several more days to recover."

"Brother Zhao Peng has one foot in the Baron threshold already. Who could injure him?" Jiang Yao was also surprised.

"Xiao Yao, some things happened while you were dormant..."

Seeing Jiang Yan fall silent, Xiao Ling took a deep breath and briefly recounted everything that had happened during her dormancy period.

By the end, even Jiang Yao's mood had become noticeably low.

"So many people died... Sister, let's not disturb Grandma Jiang anymore, and let's not trouble Sister Wan either. Let's just let the past be the past..."

Jiang Yao hung her head low, whether feeling sad for Zhao Peng or grieving for those Embroidered Uniform Squad soldiers she'd never met who had sacrificed their lives.

Seeing Jiang Yao's stance, Jiang Yan could only nod.

"Xiao Yan, Xiao Yao, come with me to Sister Wan's place!"

The door opened again as Zhou Ping walked in with a mysterious smile, shaking car keys in her hand.

"Ah? It's almost 10 PM!"

The women in the room looked at each other in confusion.

…

…

Following C City's main avenue eastward for less than an hour's drive, they reached Longquan Mountain, famous as C City's fruit and flower region.

Against mountains and beside water, the beautiful foothills had been developed by a central enterprise developer into a luxurious leisure villa area. Each household was extremely far apart, hidden among green shade, red flowers, and fruit fragrance in a tranquil environment.

This was Wan Yue's private residence in S Province, or rather, one of them.

Under the full moon, the car drove into the villa courtyard. Beside classical lamp posts, Zhao Peng in a suit stood smiling in welcome, showing no trace of his severely wounded state from charging through gunfire at the military hospital a week ago.

Wan Yue emerged in home clothes, first exchanging glances with Zhao Peng and Zhou Ping, then gesturing for Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao to follow.

On Mid-Autumn night, the full moon hung high, silver light spreading across the foothills, penetrating the dark green mountain forest and creating patches of faint silver spots.

After more than ten minutes, they reached an open forest clearing where Wan Yue finally stopped.

"To avoid bringing trouble to others, you must first make enemies fear you. Otherwise, if today you're just a spectator to tragedy, tomorrow you might become the target of a massacre."

Wan Yue looked at Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao, who had awakened only hours ago, nodding slowly with a smile and trace of surprise.

"Sister Wan, I couldn't sense those two people at all. It felt very chaotic, couldn't even tell their depth." Jiang Yan suddenly said.

"Good use of the word 'chaotic.' As long as they control their own pheromones, not just you—even I can't investigate their realm beyond a certain point.

"In many situations, when Barons and above become hostile to each other, they're all extremely cautious. Before actual combat, they won't easily expose their true capabilities. This chaotic feeling is the hallmark of high-level Blood Clan above Baron rank. It's the greatest deterrent in itself."

Unlike Jiang Yan's helpless recognition of reality after personal experience, Jiang Yao seemed eager to try.

Wan Yue knew who Jiang Yan was referring to but seemed unconcerned.

"Sister Wan, are you planning to give us special training? How to fight Barons?"

"You're overthinking it... I'm just letting you know what kinds of Blood Clan you can fight or should avoid fighting." Wan Yue glanced at Jiang Yan with a smile. "Jiang Yan, that night, were you afraid of everything you saw?"

Jiang Yan nodded lightly. Those brief two minutes of frenzied slaughter had left too shocking an impression, keeping her from emerging from that desperate shadow for several days, especially with that strong sense of identification as a former Shadow Arrow squadron leader.

"That's because you unconsciously stood from Shadow Arrow's or ordinary people's perspective, imagining those two Rhine Blood Clan Barons as your enemies. But for us Siberian Blood Clan, Rhine Blood Clan's little tricks can only bully unprepared ordinary people!"

Wan Yue laughed disdainfully, gesturing vaguely at the surrounding area: "When Rhine Blood Clan reach Baron rank, they can use their signature ability—Blood Domain. That is, setting up an environment filled with blood-water, then using their own blood and hormones as guidance to create varied blood water attack forms, called Blood Transformation.

"Theoretically, a pool only needs a few thousand milliliters of incompletely dissolved blood mixed in to let them perform Blood Transformation. However, the higher the blood content in the blood-water, the greater the attack damage of Blood Transformation.

"But have you considered whether being hit by these blood-water attack forms is more threatening than being hit by a 9mm silver pistol bullet?"

Jiang Yan was stunned, slowly showing a thoughtful expression.

Right, blood spikes looked terrifying, but as long as they didn't hit vital areas like brain or heart, with Blood Clan physical qualities, such piercing wounds were nothing. Being hit by silver bullets would be much more painful.

Even in blood-boiling state, blood spikes formed from blood water's special coagulated state would likely dissolve immediately upon contact with blood and flesh in one's body, drastically reducing lethality!

Seeing Jiang Yan begin to understand, Wan Yue smiled and nodded: "Rhine Blood Clan's Blood Transformation looks scary, but ultimately must rely on pre-established or temporarily created large-scale Blood Domains to achieve results, otherwise it's meaningless.

"So most of the time, Rhine Blood Clan Barons can only act through ambush warfare. If the opponent is another Blood Clan Baron, Blood Transformation becomes merely a means of interference and restraint, hardly a trump card.

"Plus there are limits to manipulation range and simultaneous Blood Transformation numbers. Before advancing to Earl and mastering 'Blood Blade' abilities, Rhine Blood Clan Barons are easily countered by other Blood Clan Barons with high mobility and flexible assault tactics.

"The conclusion is, they can only bully unprepared ordinary people or novices below Knight rank. Of course, heaven seems to feel sorry for them, so Rhine Blood Clan's growth and advancement difficulty is somewhat lower, and the number who can break through to Baron is also more than other Blood Clan.

"The Shadow Arrow assault forces in the building at that time probably didn't carry high-temperature thermite incendiary bombs due to closed space safety considerations—this was their commander's biggest mistake. Otherwise, they only needed to create large-scale high-temperature environments to effectively destroy Blood Domains, and wouldn't have died so miserably."

After finishing, Wan Yue lit a cigarette, sat directly on the ground, and even pulled out a beer can from her pocket.

This explanation gave Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao completely new understanding of Rhine Blood Clan characteristics.

If switching back to their former Shadow Arrow identities, even battle-hardened Meng Huai, trapped in opponents' carefully laid ambush circle, could probably only respond with bone-deep hatred and helplessness.

"We're all Siberian Blood Clan. Once we advance to Baron and master Blood Explosion ability, as long as we don't encounter Earl-level opponents, we're the nemesis of most Blood Clan. 'Invincible below Baron, trade one-for-one above Baron'—that's no joke."

Wan Yue played with the beer can in her hands. Under moonlight her cheeks were slightly flushed, and with that smile at the corner of her mouth, an intense aura of pride quietly spread through the moonlit night.

"Invincible below Baron, trade one-for-one above Baron! So cool!"

Jiang Yao's eyes lit up, fists clenched, already deeply infected by Wan Yue's momentum, as if she had already become a member of Blood Clan Barons.

"Alright, that was mainly to enlighten Jiang Yan, so you wouldn't keep thinking as ordinary people despite being Blood Clan."

After speaking, Wan Yue turned her gaze to the eager Jiang Yao: "Now for you. You probably know you're special. When fully erupting blood-boiling, you can achieve power states exceeding your current realm. Last time when four Black Blood Clan ambushed you at night, your opponents fell to this aspect.

"But your internal and external hormone self-control ability is absolute garbage. Not only are you more likely to expose yourself, you also can't efficiently utilize the higher-quality blood energy protein in your body compared to others. So you're more suited to be an ordinary person than Jiang Yan."

Jiang Yao was like a little hen grabbed by the neck, immediately speechless.

"As long as you haven't advanced to Baron, no matter how much you erupt now, you're just a deeply enhanced version of a Knight, or half-step Baron, unless there's some more ridiculous accident."

Wan Yue stood up, walked to Jiang Yao's side, and pointed at her throat: "But Knights are truly the first threshold to high-level Blood Clan. Otherwise most Blood Clan worldwide wouldn't be pitiful Blood Servants or Attendants. You now possess Blood Clan's first trump card: high-energy infrasound."

"Mm, Sister Wan, I felt something weird in my throat when I woke up. I thought I'd gotten laryngitis from too much secondhand smoke."

Jiang Yao quickly nodded while touching her neck with an uncomfortable expression.

"Are you mocking me? That's a manifestation of your poor self-control, you little piece of trash."

Wan Yue rolled her eyes directly and dropped the can in her hand. "Later, I'll teach you how to perceive and control microscopic deformation techniques of vocal organs during blood-boiling state. But remember, high-energy infrasound causes massive damage to ordinary people but is mediocre against Blood Clan, unless there's a large realm difference. You both should understand this principle clearly, right?"

Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao looked at each other with somewhat awkward expressions.

Actually Sister Wan doesn't need our acknowledgment—our former Shadow Arrow member identities are iron-clad facts for her. Thinking this, Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao could only nod lightly without making excessive statements.

"Jiang Yan can listen too, because I sense you're not far from advancement either."

After speaking, Wan Yue clapped her hands. Under moonlight, Zhao Peng and Zhou Ping carried a cage into the forest clearing, which contained a restless pig!

It seemed Wan Yue planned to use this unfortunate pig to let Jiang Yao master this high-energy infrasound attack method that was almost impossible for ordinary people to counter.

Even well-equipped Shadow Arrow forces could only use special sound-absorbing bulletproof vests to partially offset the almost unstoppable penetration and lethality of high-energy infrasound.

If Blood Clan's high-energy infrasound wasn't mostly released in extremely narrow beams, the disaster scene in densely populated urban areas would probably far exceed the massacre in the military hospital a week ago.

Suddenly, Jiang Yan grabbed Jiang Yao, who had returned to an eager state, showing a dejected expression.

Jiang Yao seemed to understand this expression. The excitement on her face quickly dissipated as she lowered her head slightly: "Sister... Sister Wan, can I not learn this?"

Wan Yue turned around, quietly watching the two girls standing hand in hand under moonlight, showing a mocking smile: "Zhao Peng, take out the gun and load it!"

Not far away, Zhao Peng guarding the cage was slightly stunned, but after only a second's hesitation, he pulled out his pistol and worked the action. The crisp sound of chambering a bullet was clearly audible in the forest clearing.

"Would you pull the trigger on unarmed ordinary people?" Wan Yue asked softly.

"No! I don't want to become a monster!" Jiang Yan shook her head resolutely.

"Then what if... it's Xuan Jia Squad aiming semi-automatic shotguns at you?"

Wan Yue stared directly into Jiang Yan's eyes, asking word by word.

Jiang Yan's whole body trembled, remaining motionless for a long while.

"I'm very pleased that you're unwilling to treat ordinary people as opponents and won't harm innocents. This is also Hyacinth's iron law. But from another perspective, I find it foolish.

"Having a gun is one thing; using it is another. Moreover, mastering this technique is also the foundation for you to master Siberian Blood Clan Baron's 'Blood Explosion' and Earl's 'Blood Ember' abilities in the future, and perhaps other abilities..."

Wan Yue took a deep breath, somewhat worried and hesitant to speak.

Jiang Yan looked thoughtful while slowly releasing Jiang Yao's hand, her emotions settling down again.