The Orthodox Blood Clan is the organization with the longest history and largest scale.
Unlike the Black Blood Clan, which has fallen into fundamentalism pursuing so-called primordial faith, the Orthodox Blood Clan has always maintained synchronized development with normal human society while adhering to their so-called noble identity culture.
Blood smuggling has become a massive underground black industry that has never been publicly acknowledged globally. The logistics efficiency of modern society allows blood from chaotic regions like Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East to appear on a Blood Clan member's dining table within twenty-four hours. However, personally selecting sheep and feeding in a non-blood-infected state at least once per year remains one of the identity rituals the Orthodox Blood Clan values most.
In the eyes of the Orthodox Blood Clan, feeding on ordinary human blood is a divine privilege and a lifestyle that must be maintained. Ordinary people are their sheep, and they guard their own lands and populations like feudal lords, passing them down through generations.
They established the mainstream order of the vast underground Blood Clan world early on. Even though regimes have changed, the ecology of this underground world has never altered.
They form their own system while being highly integrated with and penetrating the civilizational development of normal human society, creating a pattern of mutual interest binding.
After the Second Industrial Revolution, although normal human society gradually gained the upper hand, it became increasingly constrained in the secret war against the Blood Clan.
On the Orthodox Blood Clan's world map, the color and line divisions present a completely different scene. They rule separate territories, consider themselves upper-class nobility, take pride in family bloodlines, and practice hereditary succession. Families intermarry with each other, even form alliances, conduct expeditions and expansions, absorb vassals, and establish feudal territories.
They have long disdained expanding their population through blood infection of ordinary people, at most secretly developing high-value ordinary human volunteers and cultivating new vassal generations through first embrace ceremonies. Most family core ruling layers use internal marriage to reproduce offspring and maintain bloodline purity.
They despise the Black Blood Clan, viewing their savagery of hunting their own kind in pursuit of so-called bloodline atavism as heretical; they also look down on wandering Blood Clan as rats in sewers that eat anything, treating them like ants.
...
...
June 10th, Monday.
Trading with only one person per week and changing the trading location once per month—these were the rules Wan Yue, this underground merchant, set for her "customers."
June's transaction took place in a parking lot within a large logistics and warehousing industrial area on the city outskirts, almost spanning the entire C City from Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao's residence. For this, Jiang Yan paid for a painfully expensive taxi fare of over a hundred yuan.
At exactly midnight, two SUVs appeared punctually at the predetermined location.
Today's Wan Yue had transformed from her previous avant-garde woman image into an elegant noble lady.
Dressed in a black evening gown with exquisite long earrings nearly reaching her shoulders, deep red lips, rich perfume—she looked like a noble lady who had hurriedly left a ball midway through.
Following behind Wan Yue was a young man in a black suit, whose cautious yet curious gaze constantly moved back and forth between Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao.
"Today I'm letting you get acquainted. This is Xiao Zhao, Zhao Peng. You can call him Brother Zhao. From now on, he'll supply you. You don't need to wait for fixed times—just call him when you need something."
Wan Yue held a cigarette while an exquisite lighter deferentially produced a flame, making its humble contribution to the noble lady's entrance.
The young man in the black suit stepped forward half a pace, nodded slightly, then retreated behind Wan Yue.
This VIP customer treatment left Jiang Yan somewhat unprepared.
Zhong Jing's serious yet ambiguously flippant performance appeared in her mind again, and Jiang Yan's forced calm expression inevitably showed traces of embarrassment from being toyed with.
"What? Feeling flattered?"
Wan Yue's temperament today had several touches of gentleness. Though her expression remained proudly sharp, her tone was much more peaceful: "Don't overestimate yourself. It's just that in a certain free game over a month ago, a certain girl quite seriously paid nine hundred thousand yuan in wasted money. Zhong Jing gave me the money, consider it your prepayment. Whatever goods you want in the future, deduct from that."
This hint was very obvious, directly confusing Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao, who looked at each other.
The scene fell into strange silence.
Jiang Yan had long suspected that the Huang Gu they encountered initially was definitely not as simple as an ordinary wandering Blood Clan member—there must be a force of considerable influence supporting him from behind.
Rather than calling it coincidence that she and Jiang Yao received help from Huang Gu and Zhong Jing, it was more like there was a standard of judging the dish before serving it behind the scenes.
Recalling how Wan Yue had saved her and Jiang Yao after their deadly fight with the mutated Black Blood Clan knight last time, Jiang Yan felt there were interests and stakes here that she couldn't understand.
"Why was getting new identities free?" After over ten seconds, Jiang Yao couldn't help asking.
"Do you think just anyone can contact Zhong Jing and me through Huang Gu's connections? Alright, talk to Xiao Zhao about whatever you need!"
Wan Yue dropped her finished cigarette, her sexy body curves swaying as she returned to the driver's seat. After a roar, she drove away.
"Miss Jiang, shall we begin?"
Seeing Jiang Yan still in a daze, Zhao Peng smiled slightly and opened the SUV's trunk.
Only then did Jiang Yan come back to her senses, quickly nodding and walking to the back of the car with Jiang Yao.
"Brother Zhao, you're not Orthodox Blood Clan, are you?"
While loading blood bags, Jiang Yan finally voiced the question that had weighed on her heart for nearly a month.
"Orthodox Blood Clan? Hehe, you mean those old turtles? We mind our own business and they mind theirs. We live our way. But sometimes, contact is still necessary, like with these things..."
Zhao Peng's attitude was very easygoing. He didn't seem to consider this question a problem at all, just gently patted the blood bags in the cooler with a slightly mysterious smile: "The demand for blood is huge. Sometimes, Sister Wan also moves some goods from them. Especially Blood Clan medicines like internal and external hormone suppressants and warming medicine—they currently monopolize those."
"What about their feudal knights..."
Jiang Yan thought for a moment and told him about their encounter with Sister Tan a few days ago.
"Orthodox family feudal knights are just a bunch of workers loyal to their families but whose abilities aren't sufficient to enter the core. While enjoying benefits, they manage local family industries for the big families, provide various tributes including money, and must listen to family war conscription when necessary. Actually, their peaceful days often require risking their lives too."
Zhao Peng was much more easygoing than Sister Wan and more forthright, answering Jiang Yan's questions in detail.
"Generally speaking, these Orthodox Blood Clan grassroots managers must have knight-level strength and realm. However, I heard that in Europe, because territories are small and population is low with fierce competition, some family feudal knights must even be barons to qualify for the position."
"As for attitudes toward wandering Blood Clan, it varies by person. These feudal knights are local emperors who might kill, drive away, or even recruit wandering Blood Clan as their vassals."
After finishing, Zhao Peng thoughtfully put a pack of ice bags into Jiang Yan's bag.
Jiang Yan nodded slightly, finally having a more complete understanding of Sister Tan's situation.
Sister Tan probably belonged to that type of typical old turtle who kept to her corner, just pursuing a quiet life—non-expansive and at the very bottom of the Shadow Arrow Force's target list.
But if any Orthodox Blood Clan family wanted to hold first embrace ceremonies to develop new members or frequently blood-infect ordinary people within a certain range and time, once their identity was exposed, they would definitely be a key target for the Shadow Arrow Force.
"Alright, next time you need something, just call me or leave a message. I'll deliver to where you live."
Zhao Peng closed the trunk and pulled out a small box from the passenger seat, tossing it to the idle Jiang Yao: "This is a gift from Sister Wan for Miss Jiang Yao. She said you could use it. External hormone suppressants—they've been hard to get recently."
Looking at the small box in her hands, Jiang Yao suddenly felt awkward. She looked up at Zhao Peng with a strange expression, wriggling her lips: "Giving this to me... does that mean... I'm... weak?"
Zhao Peng smiled without speaking, politely nodded to Jiang Yan, and got in the car to leave.
The scene returned to quiet, with Jiang Yao still standing in place, her mind wandering.
"Alright, stop daydreaming. Let's go back."
Taking a few steps forward and patting the light golden-haired girl's shoulder, Jiang Yan suppressed her laughter.
"No, this needs to be clarified! Bro, do they look down on me?"
Jiang Yao seemed unable to let this go today, actually turning to look at Jiang Yan with an adorably serious expression.
"Don't overestimate yourself. Below baron, all are ants. Would others bother using something worth tens of thousands per dose that you might not even be able to buy just to look down on you?"
Jiang Yan irritably shouldered her travel bag and turned to walk toward the parking lot exit.
"That's not necessarily true... Oh right, sis, that big meat mass—I mean, are we very special? Otherwise, why would Huang Gu and that old witch, plus that Zhong Jing, care so much about us?"
"They all seem very powerful. They gave us new identities for free and are giving free external hormone suppressants. Should we ask if we can follow them?"
Jiang Yao hurried to catch up, finally voicing her thoughts after her mind had wandered.
The black-haired girl's steps stopped. After a long while, she turned around with a bitter expression: "Free things are often the most expensive... Xiao Yao, remember, the more special we are, the easier it becomes for us to be used as tools by others."
...
...
Two hours later, beside a highway service road on the outskirts of C City, an SUV was parked roadside.
Wan Yue leaned against the car, the cigarette in her mouth flickering bright and dim in the dark night with each draw.
A small truck came from a side road and finally stopped in front of the SUV.
Huang Gu, dressed as a courier, appeared before Wan Yue, carrying a large canvas bag in his hands.
"Got the investigation results?"
Wan Yue looked at her trusted subordinate, dropped her cigarette butt, and showed a slight smile.
"Sister Wan, the Shadow Arrow Force has begun a comprehensive purge of the Tang Family in D City. The Tang family patriarch who escaped from the underground factory died in N City, most likely ambushed by the Black Blood Clan's Black Dragon Society.
"The Shadow Arrow Force is still blockading the underground factory. Neither drones nor people can get in, so what the Tang Family actually did remains unclear. I could only take some photos from a distance."
As he spoke, Huang Gu pulled out a small digital camera from his pocket.
"Tang Zhaowen was an upper-class baron of the Altai Blood Clan. The difficulty of surrounding and killing him wouldn't be small. When did those Black Dragon Society scum gain such clean and efficient capabilities?"
Wan Yue's brow slowly furrowed, seemingly doubting this news. However, after over ten seconds, she returned to normal expression: "Alright, anything else?"
"This—I got it for you to see while I was at it."
Huang Gu chuckled, crouched down, opened his bag, and pulled out two sets of torn and dirty Shadow Arrow Force combat uniforms: "These are what Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao secretly buried back in D City. The arm patches are from the Xuan Jia Squad—they should be Shadow Arrow Force members who assaulted the underground factory at that time."
Seeing those familiar black combat uniforms, Wan Yue's smile grew brighter: "Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao should be their false names, but that doesn't matter anymore... These two little girls are quite extraordinary and incomprehensible... Perhaps they can bring some truth. Huang Gu, you really are a person with good luck."
"Hehe, the two are quite well-behaved. They've opened a small shop in the territory of Wang Family feudal knight Tan Ling and are living nicely. I'll invite them to join in a few days."
Huang Gu picked up the bag from the ground and patted his chest with a smile.
Wan Yue smiled without speaking and got back in the car.