Chapter 155: It's You Again!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lily's bark was a loud one and it echoed clearly throughout the silent street. However, Hao Ren was not worried about being discovered. The husky's bark was so authentic that if you did not see her do it, you would have taken it for a normal dog's bark.
A black Tugou ran out from a corner not far from the street. Hao Ren assumed that it was the scout Lily placed. The mongrel was looking at Lily's general direction. Then, it started sniffing about to look for her. Vivian's Shadow Veil had disrupted the poor dog's senses. It did not even realize that its boss was just right in front.
Vivian noticed the dog's predicament and made a small tear in the veil, directly where the Chinese Field Dog was facing. The sudden change in perception startled the dog for a bit but, the moment it saw Lily it ran towards her, wagging its tail and nodding its head. Hao Ren noticed that the dog had a rather pronounced limp on it's hind leg and looked a wee bit unstable as it ran. He realized this was one of Lily's most trusted comrades: Green Bean. Of course, we should be calling it Sergeant Green Bean. The dog looked even dirtier than before. Its habit of playing on the coal pile was still going strong. The injury on its hind legs was caused by a fall from the same coal pile. Some things never change.
Lily squatted down to speak with Green Bean. After a while, she got up to relay what was told to her. "The demon hunter is still alone. He was circling the area. There are no signs of other hunters in the area. He should be at the alley in front of us any time soon. Let's get over there quietly."
As she spoke, she let Green Bean lead the way, all of them tried to stay as quiet possible as they headed towards a narrow alleyway.
Hao Ren was concerned if the amount of people present would blow their cover. It was not that Hao Ren doubted Vivian's spell but, his past encounters with the demon hunters suggested that they probably had more abilities that were still unknown. Heck, some of them even looked like they were hacking real life; weapons with unlimited ammunition, ninja-like moves, super strong physique and mortality resistance of a cockroach... they even had resistance towards spells and venoms used by vampires as well as werewolves. They were almost like otherworldly creatures draped in human skin. Vivian however, was unconcerned with them. Her vast experience with the demon hunters had accorded her knowledge on their strengths and weaknesses. Her Shadow Veil was designed to exploit said weaknesses. A demon hunter's senses were much weaker than that of a supernatural being, and that was pretty much the only 'human' part of them.
Being a nobility of the night, this was Vivian's stage. Under the cover of night she had every confidence that she could use her Shadow Spells to take down most demon hunters; as long as it was not the one who turned Fenrir into a pot of wolf stew.
The old street had many other small alleyways along it's stretch, but there were nary anyone living there any more. Green Bean led the group to one of the alley's entrance and it dug up a small pile of earth. Under the rock was a piece of runic card that was clearly buried on purpose.
Lily patted Green Bean's head in praise and signaled for it to leave the area. This was not the place to be for a stray dog right now.
Under the cover of the Shadow Veil, Hao Ren and Vivian led the group into the alley way. The rest followed from behind with utmost care. It did not take long for them to spot a silhouette, decked in a long, black coat not too far from them. The attire gave away the person's identity; the person was a demon hunter.
The demon hunter was digging holes with a small spade, his back facing the alleyway. He was so engrossed with what he was doing that Hao Ren was amused. Most demon hunters gave off a stylish aura from head to toe, even in combat. They could have been plastered on a movie poster and none would have been the wiser. This however was very unlike them. I guess you cannot expect anyone to uphold a smart look 24 hours a day.
Vivian slowly drew in the Shadow Veil's radius, both to increase the potency of the veil, and also to prevent the hunter from detecting any subtle changes in the atmosphere. Hao Ren looked for a weapon in his pocket, and only then did he realized that he forgot the MDT. He had left it at home to play nanny to the little mermaid!
Hao Ren aside, someone managed to find a weapon she was very comfortable with. As they went into the alleyway, Lily had grabbed half a piece of brick along the way. Her claws clutched the solid brick hard. As the demon hunter rose, his awareness at its lowest point, she flung the brick at an incredible speed towards his head.
Of course, she held back on her strength a little. Vivian had emphasized the need to capture the hunter alive and her throw was meant to incapacitate, not kill. Otherwise, at full strength, she would have probably torn the poor sod a new hole.
As the brick streaked towards the demon hunter's head, something unexpected happened—he sneezed, and the brick grazed his head as it smashed into the lamp post at the far end.
Startled, the demon hunter turned tail and ran. As she saw that the sneak attack failed, Vivian scattered her Shadow Veil and deployed her wings. With a massive flap, she took to the air and charged straight at the demon hunter. She screamed,"Take him alive!" as she went.
Lily grunted in ascent and charged forth as well, her claws shone for an instant as she summoned her Frostfire Claws. Her speed was almost blinding as she dashed ahead in a flash of white. Her momentum was much, much more ferocious compared to when she tossed the brick. Y'zaks simply took a step and appeared almost instantly at the other end of the alley, blocking the demon hunter's escape route. Hao Ren also leapt out with his shield, yelling, "Hold it, you conniving knave!"
Everything happened all too suddenly and the silence of the night was broken. Vivian, Lily, Y'zaks and Hao Ren, all took their positions to surround the demon hunter. They did not intend to let him escape. Hao Ren's sudden jeer took the demon hunter by surprise and in his sudden stupor, Lily leapt forward with a vicious swipe. As he felt a killing intent behind him, the demon hunter snapped out of it and rolled away just in time...into Vivian. The vampire was already in the middle of giving a kick when he rolled in front of her. The demon hunter was sent tumbling a couple of meters away, right into where Y'zaks was standing. The great demon just grabbed the hunter with his hands and held him against the floor, rendering him helpless.
The execution was almost flawless, and even Hao Ren was surprised by it. Hao Ren rued the fact that it took a bad guy for them to cooperate this well.
The demon hunter thrashed in pain as he was held in place by Y'zaks. "It hurtsss! Can you guys be a little gentle?!"
"Wait a minute... He sounds very familiar..." Vivian said as she descended.
Hao Ren was also stunned. As the demon hunter was taken down, he caught a glimpse of his face. It was a very familiar look. He quickened his step towards Y'zaks as the great demon lifted the demon hunter up. He yelled in surprise as he saw the hunter's face. "It's you?!"
As the demon hunter caught sight of the rest as well, his face had an incredulous look of surprise on it.
"It's you guys?!"
The person being held in the air by the collar was none other than the same demon hunter Hao Ren met in London. They even fought shoulder to shoulder before... That half-baked demon hunter, Nangong!
Vivian had wondered why this particular demon hunter was such an easy prey. He did not use the Swift-Step, which was well used by his kind. It was the half-baked one...
"Why are you here?!" Lily exclaimed as she saw Nangong. "So, the one messing around our turf for the past two days was you?!"
"Your turf?" Nangong blinked. "You guys live here?"
It looked like the demon hunter had no clue at all that Hao Ren's tenants were a bunch of supernaturals. His look of surprise was as genuine as one could get.
Once the demon hunter calmed down, he finally noticed the bat wings on Vivian's back, Lily's werewolf form, and the shimmering shield in Hao Ren's hand. A shocked expression appeared on his face again but, as he slowly understood the situation, he began to look resigned. "So, all of you are supernaturals... It seems like my skills are not up to par... Seeing that we were comrades before, can you make this quick?"
Vivian had a conflicted look on her face as she gazed at Hao Ren. She never thought of such a development of events. If it had been a normal demon hunter, she would have ripped his head off without a second thought... But, this Nangong, even the venerable vampire was conflicted on how to handle him.
However, as they were fretting on what to do with their captive, Wuyue's voice broke the silence. She headed towards them aggressively as she yelled, "Big brother, it's really you!"