Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

All of Pearl Institute was in an uproar.

The news about the match that took place in the morning was spread in different versions around the school. Mo Fan, who was already a famous figure in the school, suddenly became a legendary figure.

Many people were looking forward to seeing the outcome of the nomination preliminaries.

However, those who were close with Mo Fan, including Mo Fan's teammates, knew that he would not show up in any of the upcoming matches, as he would soon be leaving Magic City for the scary Ancient Capital.

Many people had moved away from the Ancient Capital, as countless lives had been lost to the Undead due to the recent chaos. Some had described it as the worst calamity in a thousand years, while some assumed that people were just being exaggerating...

However, even the talented Hunters who had returned from their investigations were not willing to mention anything. Even the proposer of the Threat-Elimination Strategy, Zhu Meng, had come to take command of the situation, a clear indication that the invasion of the Undead was not just mere rumors.

No one could actually explain what was happening at the Ancient Capital.

Mo Fan was not going there to solve the scary mystery, but to look for a person...the friend that he grew up with, the buddy that came all the way to Dongting Lake just to look for him when he had turned into a demon.

The two Soul Essences which the guy had bought after spending all his savings... Mo Fan still had them with him.

It was true that the message on his phone was a notice of death.

Yet, when his friend was involved, Mo Fan's principle was: He would not give up until he saw his friend in person, whether he was alive or dead!

The sentence alone was not enough to declare his closest friend dead, nor was it enough to imply that his friend had disappeared forever from this world. They were both survivors of Bo City's calamity, hence they knew how precious lives were after the blood that was shed and the sacrifices that were made.

Even if his friend was dead, even if his body no longer existed, he had to confirm the truth himself!

If he was still alive in some unknown corner of the world, even if he was in the middle of the ocean of undead, he would clear the path and bring him back alive! It was a promise between them, and Zhang Xiaohou had already fulfilled it once!

It was his turn now...

---

The fog of darkness was looming over the modern city. Mo Fan suddenly recalled Ai Jiangtu's words as he was walking down the street.

Battlemages always had their lives at risk when they fought against demon beasts. Zhang Xiaohou also shared the same risk, yet Mo Fan had never thought about it.

He tried to convince Zhang Xiaohou to leave ever since the guy had decided to join the army, yet when he recalled the sight of Zhang Xiaohou bursting into tears with He Yu in his arms… as his elder brother, he knew that he would never be able to change Zhang Xiaohou's mind.

Zhang Xiaohou had grown a lot over the past few years. He was calm at handling matters and able to stay collected when fighting against demon beasts. He was a brilliant Battlemage, but he would always retain his kid-like behavior when Mo Fan was around, wanting to show off his achievements and completely obeying Mo Fan's words.

As a matter of fact, Mo Fan knew that the guy only wanted to be acknowledged by him.

The streetlight shone down upon Mo Fan, dragging his shadow across the ground...

It was late at night, and only a few lights were on. The streets were quiet enough to hear the footsteps of the pedestrians walking by.

The yellow streetlight was shining down upon quite a few things; the cars that were parked illegally on the streets, the clean roads, the lonely figures on the streets… and in the darkness where the light could not reach, a glamorous woman with a slender figure was standing on top of the streetlight. She was staring at the lonely man walking under the lights.

Suddenly, the lonely figure stopped in his tracks. He slowly turned around and glanced at the darkness above the streetlight.

"Don't forget, I too have the Shadow Element," Mo Fan called out to the strange woman with a smile.

The woman began to panic, quickly turning around to flee into the dark.

"Don't go," Mo Fan stopped her.

The woman standing on the pole shuddered, yet she did not show herself. She was simply staring at Mo Fan with her glistening eyes.

"I need your help," said Mo Fan.

"Me?" answered a cautious, crisp voice.

Mo Fan nodded.

The woman in the dark seemed almost overjoyed, almost falling from the pole.

"What do you need my help for?" Her voice was fairly clear in the silent night.

"I'm going to the Ancient Capital. It's the territory of the Undead, from what I know..." Mo Fan did not continue his sentence.

"Vampires are considered a type of Undead," finished the woman.

"Mm, so I hope you'll come with me," said Mo Fan sternly.

"You're my senior, you can just ask me to do anything," the woman seemed to be very happy. Her eyes were already glittering in excitement.

"Al...alright," Mo Fan felt strange when she called him a senior.

Liu Ru slowly floated down to the ground. She was already a beauty before turning into a vampire. It was likely that the boys living on the same street had a crush on her. However, after turning into a vampire, her temperament underwent an obvious change. Her physique was no longer as skinny as before. She was currently in between the stages of youth and maturity, innocent, yet seductive.

Her pleasant scent would simply hook a man's soul away without noticing, wisping up from her youthful skin.

The expected lifelessness of a vampire was missing. Instead, it added a hint of nobility to Liu Ru, who had once been an ordinary girl.

She was charming; Mo Fan had to admit that she was a lot more attractive than before.

When the thought of the woman occasionally sneaking into his room, lying beside him and pressing her red lips to his neck, crossed his mind, he could sense his blood vessels pulsing.

"What's happened to you?" Liu Ru asked softly as she stepped closer.

"Ah, nothing... by the way, are there any vampires bullying you around here? If so, just let me know," Mo Fan quickly switched the topic to hide his embarrassment.

"There used to be some, but they do not dare to come into this area lately."

"Why is that? Is a strong vampire controlling this area?" asked Mo Fan, his eyebrows raised.

Liu Ru glanced at Mo Fan and blinked innocently.

"Uh… it's you?" asked Mo Fan in astonishment, as he collected his thoughts.

Liu Ru let out an embarrassed grin.

Normally, rookie vampires would be bullied by their seniors, especially someone like Liu Ru, who looked like the kind girl next door.

Liu Ru did get harassed quite often at the start, and the gentle girl had tried her best to forbear; yet she realized that it just spurred them on to do more.

Left with no choice, she was forced to use violence.

Since then, she had discovered that her strength was fairly remarkable among the vampires!