Half an hour later, the Defenders arrived at the hospital room one after another.
Matt Murdock was injured worse than anyone except Lu Xiaofeng, his chest and arms wrapped in thick layers of bandages.
But he gave no thought to his pain, his voice low and urgent:
“Everyone, The Hand has stopped hunting vampires. That means the Blood Demon’s resurrection ritual has entered its final countdown. We have to stop them immediately.”
“I agree with Matt.”
Frank Castle looked grim as he nodded.
“I just got word that a large number of Kingpin’s men suddenly pulled out of their strongholds. They’ve gone completely dark. Given his long-standing collusion with The Hand, it’s very likely they’ve requisitioned his forces. Whatever they do next won’t be small.”
“That’s the hard part…”
Luke Cage creased his brow.
“We don’t even know where The Hand is hiding. The vampires teamed up with multiple factions for a grid search, and they didn’t find a single clue.”
“I heard about that too,” Jessica Jones added with a nod.
“The internet blew up over it. The vampires put out a one-billion-dollar bounty for leads. Mercenaries and assassins everywhere are going crazy, practically ready to pry up every brick in New York to find them.”
“So the most urgent task right now is locating The Hand’s lair.” Matt said resolutely, his gaze sweeping over everyone.
“Leave it to me. My hearing and smell far exceed normal humans. I’ll check out several suspicious locations tonight; I’m bound to catch their trail.”
“No need to go through all that trouble.”
From his hospital bed, Lu Xiaofeng waved a hand and jerked his chin toward Zhuge Qing.
“Old Qing, stop beating around the bush. Cast a divination.”
“I knew anything involving you would be a headache.” Zhuge Qing sighed, closing his eyes and standing silently.
“What is he doing?” Jessica couldn’t help asking.
The others turned to look as well.
A faint blue glow emanated around Zhuge Qing, his robes billowing silently as if stirred by a gentle breeze.
“Old Qing is a mystic,” Lu Xiaofeng explained.
“A mystic’s true skill isn’t fighting, but divining the secrets of heaven. You can think of it simply as seeing how things will unfold ahead of time.”
“Precognition?”
The Defenders exchanged glances, skepticism clear in their eyes.
It sounded way too surreal.
But no one said another word.
They held their breath, waiting quietly for the result.
Zhuge Qing’s “divination” ended quickly.
A mystic could indeed peer into heaven’s secrets, but every calculation drained their life force—commonly known as shaving off years of one’s life.
Naturally, he hadn’t actually divined anything; he was merely venting some qi to create an effect.
Opening his eyes, he felt a sudden sweetness in his throat and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Then he gave the address he already knew by heart: “Found it. An abandoned church in Queens.”
[Shock value from Daredevil Matt Murdock +800] [Shock value from Luke Cage +800] [Shock value from Jessica Jones +900] [Shock value from The Punisher Frank Castle +800]
Witnessing Zhuge Qing settle the matter in a single breath, everyone’s expression changed, unable to hide their shock.
Luke Cage slapped his forehead in realization.
“No wonder those hunters searched all of Hell’s Kitchen and came up empty. The Hand pulled out of this sector a long time ago.”
Jessica, however, stared at Zhuge Qing’s pale face and motionless sitting posture, frowning as she pressed, “What happened to him?”
“Divining heaven’s secrets costs your life,” Lu Xiaofeng gave a blunt answer with a shake of his head.
He had to lay out the side effects clearly first.
Otherwise, if something major came up later that required divination, Luke Lane might be totally clueless and accidentally make Zhuge Qing sacrifice his life span.
That would be a real disaster.
[Shock value from Daredevil Matt Murdock +1000] [Shock value from Luke Cage +1000] [Shock value from Jessica Jones +1200] [Shock value from The Punisher Frank Castle +1000]
Sure enough, hearing “costs your life,” the Defenders’ emotions instantly boiled over, sending shock values surging up significantly again.
Jessica shot Lu Xiaofeng a glaring look.
“You knew it would cut into his life, and you still forced him to cast a divination?”
“Lady, aren’t you switching sides a little too fast?” Lu Xiaofeng had a look of helplessness.
“We’ve bled together and faced blades together. It’s really not nice of you to look down on me like that.” Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
“Ahem!” Jessica cleared her throat in embarrassment and quickly shut her mouth.
Ten minutes later, having played the part enough, Zhuge Qing slowly stood up and waved his hand with a smile.
“Rest assured, everyone. I’m fine. I just need a short rest.”
“That’s good.” Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Frank Castle fell silent for a moment before speaking up.
“Since you’re recovered enough, let me make the call: we leave now. Lu Xiaofeng and Matt are still injured, so stay behind for this mission.”
“No need.” Lu Xiaofeng unhooked the old gourd from Zhuge Qing’s waist with a grin.
“This is a sacred healing relic. Take a sip, and you’ll be as lively as a tiger in no time.”
[Shock value from Daredevil Matt Murdock +1235] [Shock value from Luke Cage +1185] [Shock value from Jessica Jones +1255] [Shock value from The Punisher Frank Castle +1225]
…
In the hospital room, the Defenders were once again stunned by the methods of Mount Shu.
A plain, worn-looking gourd contained a miraculous medicine capable of completely rewriting modern medical science.
Lu Xiaofeng tilted his head back and swallowed a sip.
Instantly, the crisscrossing wounds over his body healed completely, his muscles and bones fully restored as though he had never engaged in a life-and-death struggle.
“And this sword. Before I left the Mountain and Sea Realm, Senior Wuming personally entrusted it to me, making sure I handed it to you.” Zhuge Qing unstrapped the ancient sword he had been carrying on his back for so long.
“The Hero Sword!!”
Lu Xiaofeng handed the gourd to Matt and took the longsword with both hands in solemn reverence.
After scrutinizing it for a moment, his voice trembled slightly: “Master still worries about his useless disciple after all… How heartwarming.”
“Once this matter is settled, I’ll definitely bring a few jars of fine aged wine back for him.”
“Uh… is this sword really that powerful?” Jessica scratched her head and asked honestly.
“Of course it’s powerful!” Zhuge Qing spoke up on Lu Xiaofeng’s behalf.
“This is the personal sword that Heavenly Sword Wuming never leaves behind. Its blade condenses the fierce sword aura honed over Senior Wuming’s entire life. With Lu Xiaofeng holding it, even I might not be able to guarantee a win.”
“Is it really that strong?”
“It really is that strong!” Lu Xiaofeng raised an eyebrow and smiled, gripping the Hero Sword tightly in his hand like a priceless treasure.
Spirited and radiant, he declared loudly, “Let’s go settle the score with Bai Yifei right now!”
…
*Dong!*
Inside the long-abandoned church in Queens, a deep bell chime echoed through the empty hall.
On the dust-covered wall clock, the hour hand slowly crept to eleven o’clock.
“We’re dead! We’re dead!”
In the center of the hall, seventy-two chill-emitting ice pillars rose from the ground in a circle, surrounding a central round altar.
Cold moonlight poured down through a hole in the ceiling, illuminating Chevalier’s panic-stricken face.
Bound firmly to the top of each ice pillar was a pureblood vampire—Chevalier being one of them.
He glanced around and recognized many familiar faces, several of whom were elders from his grand-uncles’ generation.
But this setup was hardly the time for catching up.
The elders were all pale as death, so Chevalier swallowed his greetings and slumped his face, starting to reckon his three hundred years of…
Uh, three hundred years old?
That didn’t actually seem too short.
But then he thought about how the clan was full of elders who had lived for over a thousand years, making him feel like a freshly weaned vampire fledgling at best.
Targeting even a fledgling—it was completely inhumane!
Chevalier shed tears in silence, not even daring to sob aloud.
The last time he hadn’t been able to hold back a couple of wails, a cold-faced man in blood-red robes with silver hair had beaten him savagely on the spot, striking so ruthlessly that his body was nearly broken into pieces.
If not for the vampires’ extraordinary self-healing ability, his soul would have passed on to the underworld long ago.
Though right now… he was almost broken apart anyway.
From piecing together snippets of conversation he’d overheard, Chevalier finally understood that he was about to be sacrificed—supposedly to awaken the vampire progenitor, the “Blood Demon.” This chapter was taken from NovelPing without permission.
To be honest, he had never even heard of this “Blood Demon.”
But vampires always loved grand titles: Blood God, Grand Duke of Night, Sovereign of Evernight…
Adding a “Blood Demon” to the mix wasn’t all that surprising.
He didn’t care about these empty titles; he only hated how heartless the Blood Demon was!
They came from the same origin—if you dug back a few generations, they might even be related!
Was it really necessary to wipe them out completely?!!
If he really wanted to drink blood, there were plenty of humans outside, and tons of ordinary vampires too.
Why cling to this group of pureblood descendants?
“Sigh!” Chevalier let out another long sigh, knowing in his heart that he probably wouldn’t escape this calamity.
Just as his thoughts spun out of control, the hall clock chimed once more.
*Dong!*
*Dong!*
*Dong!*
Three heavy chimes echoed as the hour hand settled firmly on twelve o’clock.
Chevalier looked up to see a bright moon hanging high in the sky, spilling a waterfall of silver brilliance—the midnight hour, the time vampires feared most, yet also the most suitable for secret rituals.
*Crack!*
He was right.
The Marquis of the Blood Wardrobe appeared right on schedule.
The heavy iron door was pushed open.
Expressionless, he ordered Madame Gao and the others to strictly guard the perimeter and permit no entry.
Then, his blood-red robe billowing and his hair silver as frost, Bai Yifei slowly walked toward the center of the altar.
With every step he took, the blood mist surrounding him grew denser.
By the time he stood before the altar, the blood mist had condensed into a ferocious demonic mask with exposed fangs.
[Shock value from Vampire Baron Chevalier +600] [Shock value from Vampire Marquis Bohlain +800] [Shock value from Vampire Earl Anhalt +500]
…
In an instant, the system notifications rang like dense raindrops, chiming seventy-two times in a row.
That single round netted nearly fifty thousand shock values.
The Marquis of the Blood Wardrobe’s frozen expression almost cracked on the spot.
“They’re all fat sheep!”
Forcing down the urge to smirk, he swept his eyes over the trembling vampires, feeling even more certain in his heart.
This was why he specifically targeted purebloods.
Each of them had lived for hundreds or thousands of years.
Though not main characters in Marvel, their weight of fate and providence were far above ordinary people, making them shockingly cost-effective.
“Since Zhuge Qing and the others haven’t arrived yet, scaring them a few more times is just making good use of trash.”
As the thought flashed past, his face grew even colder.
Staring at the blood mist demon mask, his voice turned frosty: “Blood Demon, you may begin. Remember your promise.”
“Rest assured, Bai Yifei. I have already sworn before the Heavenly Dao.”
The blood mist demon mask let out a harsh, eerie laugh.
The surrounding blood energy suddenly expanded, wrapping around the vampires on every ice pillar like living creatures.
“Though the bloodline of these little brats isn’t pure enough, it’s barely sufficient for me to reshape my physical body.”
“Once I am resurrected, I will first wash New York in blood, then reclaim my peak power. The immortality and authority you desire… shall be granted in full.”
“Hahaha!!”
[Shock value from Vampire Baron Chevalier +800] [Shock value from Vampire Marquis Bohlain +1000] [Shock value from Vampire Earl Anhalt +700]
…
Inside the abandoned church, the vampires bound to the ice pillars were terrified out of their wits, watching helplessly as the blood mist crawled up their bodies.