Chapter Seventy-Six: The Azure-Faced Ogre

"One minute. Get out of here."

Yang Jiekai opened the door and spoke with steady calm, as though he were stating something entirely ordinary.

Outside stood the Wang brothers, broad as bears through the waist and shoulders, with several dozen men behind them and an excavator parked nearby.

Wang Hu looked at the lean figure in the doorway with a sly grin. "Well, now—where the hell did you crawl out from? Did Old Lin hire you as backup?"

Yang Jiekai remained composed and repeated himself. "One minute. Leave."

Wang Bao had a hotter temper. "Brother, why waste words on him? If he still won't move, we'll flatten the house with him in it!"

With that, Wang Bao reached out to shove Yang Jiekai. "Get out of my way—ah!"

Before he could finish, he let out a piteous scream. Yang Jiekai had seized his wrist and twisted hard; with a sharp crack, the bone broke, and the agony instantly broke into Wang Bao's forehead in a sheen of cold sweat.

Bang!

In the next instant, Yang Jiekai grabbed Wang Bao by the broken arm and hurled him away like a torn sack.

Before anyone else could react, Yang Jiekai moved like lightning. He drove a vicious kick into Wang Hu's stomach and sent him flying, then followed with a sweeping kick in midair that toppled several men standing in front.

Only then did the others come to themselves, roaring as they rushed forward with steel pipes and other weapons in hand.

Yang Jiekai moved like a phantom, struck like a bolt of lightning, and every punch or kick dropped a man. With the crack of breaking bones echoing one after another, it was not long before bodies lay strewn across the ground.

He strode forward, dragged one of the drivers down from the excavator, then climbed aboard in a few steps and started the machine. With a thunderous roar, the massive arm slowly swung around and stopped just a few inches from Wang Hu's face.

Wang Hu was so frightened he wet himself on the spot. "I'm not tearing it down! I won't tear down the house! Don't kill me!"

Only then did Yang Jiekai stop. He jumped down from the excavator, crouched on the ground, and looked at Wang Hu coldly.

"I'm Lin Sha's boyfriend. From now on, if anyone dares touch this house again, I'll grind them into meat paste. Don't take my words as a joke. I never joke with people who aren't my friends."

That scene happened to be witnessed by Lin Sha, who had come out of the house because she was worried about Yang Jiekai.

She had never seen him like this before. Though his voice had been calm, the expression in his face and the look in his eyes made her involuntarily step back half a pace. She wanted to say something, but it felt as though something had lodged in her throat, leaving her unable to utter a single word.

If one word could describe the aura Yang Jiekai gave off, it would be just two syllables: killing intent.

After dealing with the Wang brothers, Lin Sha's parents practically put Yang Jiekai on a pedestal. They looked at their prospective son-in-law from every angle, and the more they looked, the more pleased they became.

"Uncle, Auntie, if they come looking for trouble again, just tell me."

Yang Jiekai said it politely. Lin Sha's parents had wanted to keep him for dinner, but he declined, saying he had matters to return to Anhai City for.

Seeing that the matter had been settled and that she still had work the next day, Lin Sha did not insist that he stay to eat. She went back to Anhai City with Yang Jiekai that very night.

Seated in the passenger seat, Lin Sha was still immersed in the shock of earlier events. She wanted to say something, but several times the words rose to her lips only to be swallowed back down.

After a while, she finally gathered her courage. "Jiekai, you were really frightening just now."

Yang Jiekai smiled. "When dealing with enemies, the more frightening, the better."

Then he turned to her and gave a bright smile. "But don't worry, I'll never treat my friends that way."

"Friends?" Lin Sha smiled. For some reason, hearing that word left a faint bitterness in her heart. She nodded. "All right. We are friends."

Yang Jiekai seemed to sense the awkwardness as well. In truth, he had been quiet because his mind was on tomorrow's matter.

Tomorrow was the first day of autumn. On the night of the seasonal transition, his body would undergo an unimaginable change, and without those pills to help him through it, he did not know whether he could survive the heavenly tribulation this time.

At that moment, his phone suddenly rang. The caller was Han Ning.

Why is she calling so late? Did something happen?

Yang Jiekai jolted and answered at once. "Did something happen?"

"Where are you?" Han Ning's voice on the other end sounded a little hurried.

That only made Yang Jiekai more uneasy. "I'm out handling something. What's wrong?"

There was a brief silence on the line before Han Ning said, "Nothing. I just wanted to ask why you hadn't come home so late. It's fine if nothing's wrong."

After hanging up, Yang Jiekai was completely stunned. Was his usually frosty wife actually worrying about him?

Then, suddenly, Yang Jiekai laughed.

From childhood until now, aside from his instructor, Han Ning was probably the first person who had asked him, with nothing having happened, why he still hadn't come home so late at night.

When he returned home, it was already past two in the morning, yet the lights were on and the television was still running. Han Ning was reclining on the sofa, already asleep, a stack of unfinished documents still in her hand.

Yang Jiekai smiled. Was she waiting for him to come home?

He tiptoed over, afraid of waking her, found a blanket, and gently laid it over Han Ning.

At that moment, Han Ning suddenly awoke. Seeing Yang Jiekai and the blanket over her, she seemed about to say something, but forced the words back down. She put on her usual cold expression and got up to head upstairs.

"Han Ning."

Yang Jiekai called out suddenly.

Han Ning froze. This was the first time he had ever called her by name. It sounded a little unnatural. In the past, this fellow had always used those disgusting nicknames to address her. Had he taken the wrong medicine today?

Thinking of that, Han Ning's pretty face suddenly flushed. What was she even thinking?

"What is it?" Though she tried to keep her tone icy, the faint blush on her face betrayed her.

Yang Jiekai smiled. "Don't work so hard from now on. Your health matters most. Go to bed early. Good night."

After saying that, he smiled and went into his room.

Han Ning stood there in a daze for a moment, then let out a soft sigh and slowly went upstairs.

That night, Han Ning could not sleep no matter how she tossed and turned; her mind was full of Yang Jiekai's shadow.

Why does this guy seem a little different these past two days?

The next day, Yang Jiekai rose early and once again cleaned the entire villa from top to bottom, inside and out. He also prepared breakfast for Han Ning and Aunt Wang before heading out.

At noon, he treated Qin Feng, Old Cudgel, and the others to a meal.

By dinnertime, Han Ning and Aunt Wang waited and waited, but there was still no sign of Yang Jiekai returning. They could not even get through on the phone.

At that moment, fierce winds rose outside, sending sand and stones skittering everywhere. Several thunderclaps ripped through the clouds, and the storm crashed down in sheets.

At this time, Yang Jiekai stood naked on the mountaintop behind the house, every vein on his body bulging like writhing earthworms, all of them crawling over his skin as he cried out in anguish alone.

The phone rang.

"Mr. Yang, are you sure you no longer need those pills?"

"Don't let me find out who you are!"

Yang Jiekai crushed the phone in his hand, and a bolt of purple lightning crackled down hard on his head.

Awooo—

Yang Jiekai suddenly let out a beastlike howl. Then every joint in his body began to snap and crack.

His body started to change in bizarre ways: his bones thickened, his muscles swelled, and his eyes turned so red they seemed ready to bleed.

Awooo—

He cried out again, and when he opened his mouth, two long, sharp fangs shot out in an instant.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

More purple thunderbolts struck him. His fingernails began to lengthen too, each one like a razor-edged dagger.

Yang Jiekai roared madly and ran wild, smashing through tree after tree as thick as a bowl with his own body.

At last, the dark clouds dispersed and the rain ceased.

Yang Jiekai lay on the ground, gasping desperately. His throat felt scorched, and an overwhelming urge to drink blood consumed him.

Nearby was a puddle left by the rain. He darted over, crouched down, and gulped water by the mouthful, but no matter how much he drank, it would not slake his thirst.

Then, by moonlight reflected on the surface, he suddenly saw himself.

A green-faced, fanged monster!

No—

Yang Jiekai let out a heart-rending roar. He had prepared himself for death, yet death had not come. Instead, he had become this thing.

Looking at the dagger-like nails on his hands, he made up his mind and thrust one hard toward his own heart.

Psst—

The sharp nail pierced his chest, but strangely, Yang Jiekai felt no pain at all. After pulling the nail out, he was astonished to find the wound had healed itself in an instant.

Unable to live, unable to die!

His throat was unbearably dry, and the fierce craving for blood swept through his entire body.

Just then, a wild rabbit suddenly burst from the grass. Acting almost on instinct, Yang Jiekai lunged, caught it, tore open its neck, and began drinking greedily.

Yet strangely, the bloodlust within him did not lessen at all; if anything, it grew even more ferocious.

"Heh heh, drinking its blood is useless. You have to drink human blood."

At that moment, a sharp voice suddenly rang out.

"Who is it!"

Yang Jiekai jerked his head up and saw a hulking giant at least two meters tall standing beside him at some point.

"After waiting so long, we've finally found a superb specimen."

The sharp voice came again, yet the big man's mouth had not moved. That voice was not his.

Then a dwarf, under a meter tall, suddenly sprang up onto the giant's shoulder and grinned at Yang Jiekai with that shrill, grating voice. "And it's one of the uncorrupted-bones, too. Looks like we've had a lucky break these past few days!"

Uncorrupted-bones?

Yang Jiekai froze, and in his mind there suddenly surfaced a description from the chapter on vampires in Ancient Strange Records: according to strength, vampires were divided into eight ranks—purple corpse, white corpse, green corpse, furred corpse, flying corpse, wandering corpse, bound corpse, and uncorrupted-bones...

Could it be that he had truly turned into a vampire?