Returning to the Mysterious Era

Chapter 278 - The Night of Harvest

At ten o'clock at night, there was a bright moon and a few stars in the clear sky. The gentle breeze made the night air crisp and refreshing. The streets were also noticeably less crowded. A black car slowly turned a corner, seemingly traveling south along the main road from the northern district.

The Roman Hotel was usually a high-end hotel with luxurious decor and top-notch service in a prime location of the city. A single night's stay would normally cost a significant amount of Hongli Federation dollars. However, for some unknown reason, the Roman Hotel had recently been offering heavy discounts, slashing prices by more than half. Its high-end prices had dropped to mid-tier levels, which was quite appealing to many.

After all, paying mid-tier prices for high-end services would make anyone feel like they were getting a great deal. As a result, the Roman Hotel had been fully booked for some time now. Strangely though, the hotel always seemed to have a few empty rooms available as it continued to accept new guests.

The Roman Hotel was located in the southern district, near the Turing Street intersection. Its tall rectangular building was conspicuous, with a large billboard on the side flashing soft blue neon lights. A black car slowly approached through the shadows.

Less than a hundred meters away, three men dressed as security guards were chatting in a shadowy corner near the hotel entrance. Judging by their lewd smiles, they were likely discussing something inappropriate. Since it was ten o'clock at night, there was no chance of any supervisors coming to check on them, so they slacked off without worry.

"When's our turn? I'm getting impatient..." A somewhat skinny young man, whose pale face was flushed with eagerness, spoke with barely concealed excitement.

"Yeah, they're all in there having fun, and we’re stuck in the security team? We've only managed to get one this whole week!" The middle-aged man with a rather unattractive face cursed under his breath as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it slowly under the night sky.

"Speaking of which, there have been quite a few disappearances in Kura City recently. The Federation Government and the Black Ops Agency must have noticed by now, right? Why haven't they taken action against us?" The last security guard bummed a cigarette from the middle-aged man. The end glowed brightly in the dark night as he lit it.

"No idea. My guess is that the situation in Kura City is too chaotic right now. I overheard that at least four or five different forces are involved. The Black Ops Agency doesn't have time to deal with us.”

"Those annoying hounds are the worst at handling the Blood Spirit Society. Even if they were given the order to kill, how many can they really take out?" The pale young man took a drag from his cigarette and pinched the glowing red tip between two fingers. Though he winced slightly at the heat, the burn marks on his fingertips quickly healed.

"Sigh, I heard something happened in East Sea City. A temporary Blood Nest over there was attacked by a mysterious force, and they suffered heavy losses..." The ugly middle-aged man suddenly lowered his voice as he spoke.

"Really?!"

"How do you know?"

The other two immediately leaned in, curious.

"I overheard some of the Undying-Rank chatting. Apparently, Vice President Dino may have fallen... Let me tell you..."

The three security guards smoked as they traded gossip and rumors they had picked up from who-knows-where. Many of the exaggerated stories left the listeners in shock, since they were all half-true and half-false, with reality and embellishment mixed together.

"Honestly, I think the whole thing about Vice President Dino falling is total nonsense. I wouldn't believe it for a second; it's completely absurd." The pale young man scoffed disdainfully as he blew out a puff of smoke. "We've seen the Blood Spirits' immortality up close. Even at Decay-Rank, they can casually regenerate limbs, and being reduced to a pile of meat doesn't faze them. They have only two weak spots. Undying-Rank is even more ridiculous, with only one weakness.

“Indestructible-Rank has no weaknesses at all. Blow off their head, destroy their heart—it doesn't matter. Their bodies can be crushed into pulp, and they'll return to normal within a few breaths. Can something like that really be killed?"

"If you said they were defeated, I'd believe you... but killed? Haha..."

The young man laughed derisively, shaking his head. Then, his head fell off, still frozen in a mocking smile.

"!!!"

The heads of the other two security guards snapped up, their faces filled with terror. A mysterious black figure had appeared at some point behind the pale young man. Two pale hands had reached out from the shadows and gently sliced through his neck.

The surreal, sudden, and effortless death was absurd in its quietness, filling the two remaining men with unimaginable fear. They were far more terrified than when they had faced Blood Spirits.

"Enem—"

The middle-aged man only got half a word out before feeling a sharp pain at the back of his neck. His vision went black.

Thud.

Almost simultaneously, the last security guard turned to run, but he only managed to take a single step before his body crumpled. A gaping hole in his chest oozed fresh blood.

Faint stars flickered in and out of the dark sky above the city, while the hanging moon bathed the scene in soft, pale light. Peaceful and cold rays of moonlight fell gently on the approaching figure.

Cassius flicked his hands, carelessly splattering dirty blood onto the ground. His hands quickly returned to their smooth, white jade colour. A few seconds later, he stepped over the bodies as he leisurely walked toward the hotel entrance. The fingers on his right hand gently rubbed together, scattering pale gray powder in the wind, like the ashes left behind from burning life.

Inside the Roman Hotel, two men dressed in black were on duty in the corridors. They turned instantly when they heard the door open, but it was already too late.

Thud!

Two fingers, as quick as lightning, jabbed into their temples before retreating as smoothly as they had come. The black-clad men swayed where they stood, their faces frozen in that moment. Warm red liquid slowly dripped from their temples, along with traces of white that stained their shoulders.

A pair of hands pressed against their faces, sending a terrifying vibration through both men. The energy cycled and accumulated between them in a disturbing way.

Tap, tap, tap, tap...

Even though the corridor was carpeted, there were still the faint sounds of footsteps as someone walked through. Such noises were even more pronounced in the quiet night.

In the lobby, a man and a woman on night duty behind the light blue oak reception desk looked down the corridor.

A slightly gaunt figure in a trench coat stepped into view.

"Ah, sir, you..."

The young man was about to speak when his vision was filled with a terrifying hallucination. It felt as if he were engulfed in a thick, scarlet fog. A monstrous bird's claw reached out from within the vortex, pressing down on him like a mountain.

Screech!

The young man snapped back to reality as he paled. His coworker, the woman standing beside him, was missing her head, as if the monstrous claw had taken it away.

When he saw the bloody stump of her neck out of the corner of his eye, the young man was about to scream, but a sharp pain in his neck caused him to lose consciousness instead.

Cassius quietly absorbed life energy, glancing at the clueless young man before shaking his head. This kid probably had no idea he was working in a den of monsters...

To dark creatures, humans were nothing more than fragrant, walking pastries. The fact that he had survived this long was sheer luck. But encountering Cassius, who had come to deal with the Blood Spirit Society, was even luckier.

"This outpost should have at least some Undying-Rank members. I hope this trip won’t be a waste," Cassius murmured to himself as he continued walking.

Qi from his body continuously radiated outward, as his sharp senses acted like a radar that detected the presence of every Blood Spirit Society member's aura. As long as they were within the Roman Hotel, there was no escaping.

The air currents twisted and swirled within several meters around Cassius, forming a deep red, moving sphere.

He moved forward, walking up the stairs to the second floor.

Knock, knock, knock...

Someone knocked on the first room on the second floor. Inside, two young men, their faces covered in blood, were feasting in a dark, bloody corner of the room. The severely mutilated corpse of a girl lay on the bed.

"You go open the door. It's probably something important."

Three seconds later, one of the young men opened the door. He was greeted by a twisted humanoid figure, enveloped in a hazy red mist, that only had a pair of crimson, burning eyes floating in mid-air.

"So, you guys are having a meal, huh? Coincidentally, I'm here to dine too..."

The door slammed shut, and the only sounds that could be heard from inside were that of slicing flesh and a sickening, sticky noise of liquid mixing.

Click!

The last door quietly opened on the second floor. Cassius stepped out, his gaze sweeping down the hallway. Every door had been flung open, and blood was freely dripping from the metal handles. The air was so thick with the stench of blood that it made one want to gag.

His expression didn’t change as he walked toward the exit. Halfway there, he casually kicked aside a head that had fallen to the floor.

A few minutes later, on the fourth floor near the stairwell.

Five to six Blood Spirit Society members stood on high alert on the fourth floor, their faces twisted with madness. They clutched black submachine guns, their nerves stretched to the breaking point. They were breathing so hard that it was like a bull was panting.

All the members of the Blood Spirit Society on the first through third floors had been completely slaughtered. If it hadn't been for someone accidentally stumbling upon the corpses, they wouldn't have even known an enemy had attacked. The thought that one person had silently wiped out almost the entire Roman Hotel outpost sent shivers down the spine of every gunman present.

"Why hasn't he come yet? At this rate, the brothers on the third floor should already be dead," one gunman whispered.

"Are there any other routes?" someone asked.

"No, just two."

"There are five to six brothers guarding the other staircase too."

"Then..." The gunman was about to speak.

Suddenly, gunfire and the sound of a violent crash erupted from the other end of the hallway. But a moment later, they could only hear piercing screams, the kind that seemed to reach into one's very soul. They were screams of agony that could tear your heart apart.

"Ugh! Ahhhhhh..."

"Not good! The attack is happening on the other side!" The gunmen shouted as they started to rush over. But a moment later, their vision blurred, and the air was filled with a thick red mist.

Thud.

A body with a gaping hole in its chest fell to the ground, a death rattle escaping its throat. Blood flowed from the wound, quickly soaking the carpet, and trickled down the stairs until it pooled in a corner of the lobby below.

Cassius cracked his neck and stepped up to the fifth floor.

***

"Die!"

A blood-red battle axe grew out of the black-robed man's arm stump, its sharp edge radiating a wild arc. To his left, another black-robed man let out a furious roar. Both of his arms had already transformed into terrifying and savage spears.

In the blink of an eye, both men attacked at the same time. They flanked the figure from either side as they moved like lightning.

Swish!

A red light could be seen flashing for an instant through the windows of the seventh floor of the Roman Hotel. It was so quick it felt like an illusion.

"Not bad, two more Undying-Rank members. Better than I expected..." Cassius licked his lips and released his grip.

The black-robed man, now nothing more than a skeleton thanks to Death's Fang, collapsed to the ground. Black threads of blood clung to the dull gray bone, along with some hardened pieces of flesh, making it all the more disturbing under the moonlight.

Cassius opened a window and threw out the skeleton in his left hand as well.

Then, he leaped directly from the seventh floor. His black coat flapped wildly in the wind, resembling floating dark clouds. Cassius landed smoothly on the ground, breaking his fall with a roll.

Next to him, a car was parked in the shadows. After straightening his clothes, Cassius opened the door and sat inside.

"It's 10:15. You took ten minutes," Saint Feinan, sitting in the passenger seat, glanced at his pocket watch.

In the driver's seat, Feng Liusi was reading a detective novel.

"Got it," Cassius acknowledged, checking his energy levels. "There were quite a few Blood Spirit Society members in that outpost. Thirty-one Decay-Rank, and three Undying-Rank. Not bad. What's next?"

"Next is Benteng Manor. It’s close to the Roman Hotel. It's also in the suburbs, so it won't attract much attention. How about the three of us attack together? We can be quicker that way," Feng Liusi raised a piece of paper that he was using as a bookmark, indicating the target location written on it.

There were five locations in total, spread across the western and southern parts of the city. At least half of the Blood Spirit Society's mid-to-low-ranking members were stationed at these five spots. The location of the higher-ups was a little uncertain. They were elusive, since they were sometimes gathered together and sometimes scattered across different places.

This time, they'd see if they could get lucky and catch one or two. If they managed to snare a fat target, it would be a huge win.

If Feng Liusi, Cassius, and Saint Feinan teamed up, even the president of the Blood Spirit Society would have to run for his life. Even then, there were even odds on whether he would get away.

Tonight was destined to be a night of hunting and harvesting. Whether Cassius could break through to the rank of a veteran combat artist before the chaos arrived, or whether Feng Liusi could reach the fifth stage, depended on how bountiful their harvest would be tonight...

"Drive, and make it fast. Don't give the Blood Spirit Society any time to react. I don't want a single sitting duck to escape," Cassius said, watching the number in the upper right corner of his vision. It had started at seventy five.

Now, it was forty-five.