August 3rd, Saturday.
Several days ago, Jiang Yao had actually been able to get out of bed, and her arm fractures had basically healed.
For a normal person, this degree of injury would probably take two to three months to recover from, but under Jiang Yan's insistence, Jiang Yao could only continue resting in bed. After all, the organ damage from blood-boiling loss of control during menstruation far exceeded flesh wounds.
Sensing the subtle changes within her body, Jiang Yao was somewhat secretly surprised.
After this serious injury and recovery, her strength had not decreased but increased, directly stepping into the upper-tier Attendant realm. The so-called menstrual blood-boiling taboo that would cause permanent damage to the body's foundation seemed somewhat untenable.
In Jiang Yao's perception, Jiang Yan was the same. When they were close together now, she vaguely felt that the other's strength had also advanced by leaps and bounds compared to a month ago, reaching mid-tier Attendant level.
Regarding Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao's peculiar growth rate, Zhao Peng had gradually become numb and had issued strict gag orders to those in the know.
During Jiang Yao's recovery these days, Zhou Ping had been extremely dedicated, also teaching Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao many insights about blood-boiling and pheromone control, benefiting them greatly.
"...Actually, if the little golden pills weren't so expensive, if we ate them regularly, we could grow even faster. I really didn't expect Sister Wan to directly give you a whole bottle. She dotes on you two so much!
Zhou Ping returned the black plastic bottle in her hand to Jiang Yao, deliberately showing a trace of unwillingness on her face, making a good-natured joke.
"Little golden pills? Such a rustic name. Shouldn't they only be eaten at that time? Can they be eaten regularly?"
Jiang Yao touched the medicine bottle, somewhat confused: "But I also felt very comfortable after eating this a few days ago, as if I had consumed blood."
"These are originally made with some blood components added. The effect is somewhat better than fresh blood, and currently only the Wang Family has them in stock. But Sister Wan discovered a new use—they can control blood thirst disorders during that time of the month... Hehe, since a few years ago, Sister Wan has been giving little golden pills as extra benefits for us sisters. It makes those men so envious!"
Speaking of this, Zhou Ping seemed to remember something, and her expression became much more dejected: "Unless one can be accepted by those orthodox Blood Clan families from the beginning, the first few years after blood infection are very difficult for female Blood Clan like us to survive."
"For various reasons, female Blood Clan are easily hunted by Black Blood Clan, and their numbers have always been small. I heard the earliest sisters all left..."
Jiang Yan, who was peeling apples on the side, also nodded slightly.
In her impression, the proportion of Knight-level female Blood Clan she could encounter was usually only one-fifth to one-tenth that of male Blood Clan. As for what caused this, it wasn't until Sister Tan's demise that she gradually recognized the cruelty contained within.
Except for those who sought refuge with orthodox Blood Clan families, most wandering female Blood Clan attempting to live in seclusion probably perished before becoming Knights or even Attendants. After all, not everyone had abundant financial resources to cope with the massive blood expenditure and deadly menstrual cycle taboos.
They either died from blood thirst disorders during menstruation or were hunted by Black Blood Clan after being exposed during their periods, always being the most vulnerable group.
"Ding dong!"
A series of ding-dong sounds came from all three women's phones simultaneously, as if someone had sent information to all three at the same time.
"Wow! Last month's performance bonus has arrived!"
Zhou Ping looked through her mobile banking information, saying sweetly: "On the night Xiao Yao was attacked, I fired three shots. I don't know if I hit anything, but I got ten thousand yuan. Hehe! Bonuses are still the best!" (TN: $1393 @ 06/25)
Sister Wan encourages everyone to fight Black Blood Clan, and there are such benefits? Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao were stunned again and quickly opened their own mobile banking.
"Fifty thousand? Why do I have it too?" (TN: $6094)
Jiang Yan almost thought she had seen wrong. No matter how she thought about it, the total time she had actually worked at the Golden River Club was at most one week, and during this period she hadn't had any contact with Black Blood Clan. Where did this bonus come from?
Oh, right, the first night she and Xiao Yao met Sister Wan, they were attacked by a Black Blood Clan member... It really is true that murder and arson yield golden rewards. These Black Blood Clan are walking RMB! Jiang Yan suddenly understood. (TN: Another name for Chinese Yuan.)
"Xiao Yao, how much do you have?"
Jiang Yan thought for a moment, then quickly nudged the golden-haired girl beside her who was staring in shock and had fallen into a daze.
"Ah... I... three... three hundred and fifty thousand..." (TN: $48742)
Jiang Yao was stunned for a long while before coming back to her senses. She held up her phone screen to Jiang Yan, showing the bank transfer information she had received: "Sis, this isn't Japanese yen, is it?" (TN: $2416)
"Cough cough!"
Jiang Yan almost slid off her stool and coughed violently.
"Xiao Yao single-handedly killed a lower-tier Knight and an upper-tier Attendant that day. If calculated as full credit, three or four hundred thousand isn't that surprising."
Zhou Ping's face alternated between envy and confusion, but thinking that the other was personally brought into the club by Sister Wan, perhaps there were other unknown experiences, she felt relieved.
"Hehe, Xiao Yao, your recovery is going well. Oh, everyone's performance bonuses have arrived? Are you satisfied?"
While the three women were in various states of envy, jealousy, and showing off, Zhao Peng walked into the room and saw the three huddled together over their phones.
"Brother Zhao Peng, can I participate in combat? As long as it's against Black Blood Clan."
Jiang Yan stood up, her expression seemingly calm but with a trace of killing intent in her eyes.
"Wait for Sister Wan's arrangements. No rush."
Zhao Peng thought for a moment and didn't directly refuse, but changed the subject by pulling out another small black plastic bottle from his pocket: "Xiao Yao, Sister Wan knows about your situation. She asked me to give you another bottle to consolidate your body and prevent any lingering problems."
"Oh..."
Seeing Zhou Ping's envious expression, Jiang Yao embarrassedly lowered her head.
"Brother Zhao Peng, there's something I don't know how to handle." Jiang Yan thought of something and quickly reopened her phone: "I want to anonymously send money to an elder I used to know. How should I operate this?"
Zhao Peng was stunned, then laughed: "For this kind of thing, go find Zhong Jing!"
Him? Oh right, I almost forgot...
The face of a certain young man and the interior scenery of a certain shell company appeared in her mind, and Jiang Yan felt much more confident.
...
...
As night fell, Zhao Peng accompanied Wan Yue, who hadn't appeared for many days, into a large private hospital called "Sacred Charity Hospital" in W District, then took a hidden elevator directly down several floors underground.
Hidden beneath the high-rise buildings and bustling traffic of the prosperous city was a secret underground room resembling a morgue.
On the metal walls on both sides were dense rows of compartments extending as far as the eye could see, and in the center of the room were seven or eight metal platforms arranged in rows.
Ventilation fans hummed while Wan Yue smoked as if no one else was around. Beside her stood Zhao Peng, and on the other side was a middle-aged man with glasses dressed like a doctor in a white coat.
On the metal platform in front of the three, five corpses still emitting cold air were laid out in a row. Several of them had obvious defects in appearance, especially the leftmost one, which was completely a twisted, one-armed monster that had undergone severe aberration.
"Wow, quite a haul. Three Knights... Those little kids of yours are getting bolder and bolder, very much in the style of the Hermit Alliance."
The white coat adjusted his glasses, slowly examining the Black Blood Clan corpses before him, his eyes gleaming. What he said to Wan Yue clearly carried some teasing: "Yue Yue, this doesn't look like your handiwork at all."
"Hehe, shut up and go die."
Wan Yue smiled without warmth, showing no interest in developing the topic in response to this so-called professional's attempt at familiarity.
"This one 's completely aberrant—most of its internal organs and even bone marrow are necrotic, so it has no value. The heart, brain, and eyeballs are still decent. I can only give you three hundred thousand for it."
The white coat put on gloves and carefully turned over the aberrant Black Blood Clan Knight's corpse with a scalpel, observing certain details with a slightly furrowed brow: "Wan Yue, this blood-thirst aberrant lower-tier Knight, if I'm not mistaken, should have died from the 'blood poison' ability of Iberian Blood Clan. The few Iberian Blood Clan Barons in the country are all on the coast. Where did you pick up this corpse?"
Wan Yue remained noncommittal, just blowing smoke rings and quietly looking at the withered aberrant Black Blood Clan Knight corpse before her. But behind her, Zhao Peng, who had been standing silently, experienced violent pupil contraction.
Blood poison—the signature ability of Iberian Blood Clan. Their ancestral lineage originated from the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe and later spread widely to North Africa, West Africa, India, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Like other ancestral lineages, the blood poison ability could only be awakened and used after advancing to Baron level.
The aberrant Black Blood Clan lower-tier Knight before them had probably been killed by the Jiang sisters on some night about two months ago, when they should have been at most upper-tier Blood Servants... No wonder Sister Wan had always expressed doubt about the ancestral lineage test results of the Jiang sisters.
Zhao Peng felt his mind going numb, and his back broke out in a cold sweat.
"The remaining four are all quite fresh. Except for this upper-tier Attendant that was damaged in some organs by bullets, the others are basically intact. That upper-tier peak Knight is more valuable, so I'll give you five million total."
The white coat continued to examine the remaining four Black Blood Clan corpses and showed a satisfied smile.
"Eh? Wait! Let me look again..."
The touch from his hands felt somewhat wrong. The white coat's gaze began re-examining another lower-tier Knight's blackened corpse, and he raised his scalpel again.
The corpse's subcutaneous muscle tissue was cut open, followed by several major arteries and veins. Everywhere he looked, all the blood vessels contained charcoal-like powdery substances with no blood clots, and most of the body's muscles and organs showed the effects of internal high-temperature roasting, but there were no traces of being hit by silver weapons inside the body.
"Hiss! This one... this one died from the 'blood ember' ability! Wan Yue, did you break through to Earl? Did you do this?"
The white coat turned and stared intently at Wan Yue's beautiful, captivating face, gasping in shock and disbelief. Beside him, Wan Yue emanated the typical chaotic aura of Blood Clan above Baron level, making it completely impossible to discern her true depth.
"Would you dare say you believe it if I dared to say I did it?"
Wan Yue exhaled a beautiful smoke ring with a mocking expression.
"Hmm, I wouldn't believe it. It's somewhat fantastical... But I haven't heard of any Siberian Blood Clan Earls from any family in China coming out to play recently... Where did you pick up this corpse?"
The white coat became increasingly confused, suddenly feeling that the goods Wan Yue provided this time were somewhat strange, and even his tone of voice became awkward: "The one killed by blood ember—all its organs are ruined. What a waste. I'll have to deduct one million."
"So much nonsense. I don't want cash this time. Exchange two million for big golden pills and little golden pills, one million for ordinary blood, and the rest all for internal and external hormone suppressants. If you have blood-boiling drugs, even better. Don't tell me the Wang Family is out of stock again this time. Xiao Zhao, you settle the accounts with Old Gold. I'm leaving first."
Wan Yue dropped her cigarette butt and walked toward the elevator in the depths without looking back.
"Master Gold, Sister Wan has to take care of a big family. Please understand."
Zhao Peng was not unfamiliar with the senior Wang Family Baron he had dealt with many times. Although the other's seniority and realm far exceeded his own, he still maintained a dignified attitude that was neither servile nor overbearing: "Sister Wan's meaning is that if such fresh goods still can't be exchanged for what we need, we'll consider finding another family to do business with in the future."
"Learning to bargain now? Young Zhao, honestly tell me, where did these goods come from?"
The white coat resumed his composed demeanor and showed a serious expression to Zhao Peng: "Several of these were killed with single strikes. You haven't reached Baron level yet, so you shouldn't be able to do these things. Knights aren't something you find everywhere."
"Sorry, Master Gold, Sister Wan has issued a gag order. Right now, we and the Wang Family only have an ordinary business relationship. If we're talking about friendship, actually Sister Wan could sell directly to the Hermit Alliance and probably get even higher prices."
Zhao Peng smiled, neither servile nor overbearing. As Wan Yue's first confidant, his lips were naturally sealed tight.
"You all... Wan Yue led you away from the Hermit Alliance, and it's been twenty years since you left. Can't she let go of the hatred in her heart? Hehe, why don't you just join the Wang Family...
"Let's leave it at that for today. The things you want will be delivered here in three days. Remember to come pick them up."
The white coat removed his glasses, his mood somewhat poor, as if remembering some past events.
"Master Gold, for such major matters, a small fry like me can't make decisions. Thank you for personally making this trip, Master Gold. Zhao Peng takes his leave."
After speaking, Zhao Peng bowed slightly and also strode away.