Chapter 11: The City of Hardy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It was dawn when Ye Ming finally reached the city of Hardy. He first found himself an inn, and after paying a few gold coins, he was provided with his own Blood Coffin. He opened the coffin and lay down in it.

Ye Ming took out the Count Blood Essence he obtained from the cemetery and activated the {Ancient Blood Refining Technique}. The vigorous power of the Blood Essence poured into Ye Ming, and just like before, his body gradually heated up. Ye Ming had long grown accustomed to such a sensation. Adjusting his breathing slowly, he entered a state of emptiness. After promoting to a Viscount, he realised that he was now able to control the flow of blood in his body better. By controlling his blood to repeatedly cleanse every part of his body, he was able to condense and refine the blood, making his blood purer.

Three nights later, Ye Ming’s Blood Coffin opened up. His fangs were now more exposed, and his claws were harder than ever before.

“Do you know where can I find the Hardy City black market?” Ye Ming asked the inn owner. That was his first order of business; he would sell all the fangs and claws he obtained to get some gold coins.

“Black market? We don’t have a black market here, but we do have a bazaar. Why don’t you go and take a look?”

‘I guess the Malkavian and the Brujah have different names for their trading places. It’s probably just due to having different habits,’ thought Ye Ming. He did not particularly care. “Sure. Please tell me where to find it.”

“Go east from here and you’ll surely see it. But let me remind you, keep a close eye on your money.” As the owner said that, he flashed a knowing smile.

Ye Ming frowned slightly. He was not sure what the owner meant by that. ‘Maybe he’s trying to warn me that there are a lot of pickpockets there.”

Ye Ming returned a smile to the owner. “Thanks for the reminder. I’ll be careful.” He turned around and left the inn.

Ye Ming surveyed the surroundings as he walked down the street. Hardy was a little bigger in size than Lahmia, and it was definitely more prosperous too.

“But I did hear that the Malkavians are very dangerous. They’re often dominated by sudden desires and random hallucinations, so they’re very unpredictable. One second they could be chatting pleasantly with you, and the next they might lift their knife at you. I can’t let my guard down.”

Still lost in his thoughts, Ye Ming had reached the bazaar without realizing it. It was crowded with Vampires. Unlike the chaotic black market of Lahmia, the bazaar was much more orderly. Ye Ming did not see a single transaction performed under the table here. That was to say, unauthorized transactions were not allowed in Hardy.

Ye Ming strolled around the bazaar and soon found a material trading house. He thought he would try his luck, so he went in.

“Hello, esteemed customer. What kind of materials are you looking for? We have everything here!” A young Vampire greeted him and inquired enthusiastically.

“I’m looking to sell some materials. I’m just not sure if you buy them here.”

“Of course we do. Like it’s written outside, we’re a material trading house, so we’ll buy anything as long as the quality is to our satisfaction.”

Ye Ming secretly scoffed. ‘All merchants are the same. They all like to talk big. They’ll buy anything? Even things that’ll bring them trouble?”

Ye Ming took out the fangs and claws he had acquired and handed them to the young Vampire.

The young Vampire inspected the fangs and claws carefully, then asked with a surprised look on his face, “These…belong to a Baron? Did you kill a Baron?”

Of course Ye Ming could not admit that he killed a vampire. He waved his hand dismissively and said, “Of course not. If I have that kind of ability, I wouldn’t be this broke, would I? I’ll just break into a Baron’s residence and steal from him. I actually found these in a deserted cemetery in the wilderness. So, will you buy them?”

Ye Ming’s explanation dispelled the doubts that the young Vampire had. He said, “Yes, of course we will. I can give you 50 gold coins for these items. What do you think?”

“Okay, it’s a deal,” Ye Ming did not hesitate. All he wanted to do was to get rid of these things as quickly as possible. He felt uncomfortable looking at these remnants of the dead.

“Great! Wait here for a moment. I’ll go get you the money.”

“Hold on.” Ye Ming stopped the Vampire who had turned around and was about to retreat to the back, “Do you have any fresh blood here?”

The young Vampire turned back around, “Why, of course we do. Like I said, we have everything here. Do you want to buy some?”

“What’s the price?”

“Three bags for a gold coin.”

“OK. I’ll buy three gold coins’ worth of blood.”

“Great. I’ll return with 47 gold coins and 9 bags of blood. Wait here.”

The young Vampire went into the back. Not long after, he back came out with the promised gold coins and blood. “Here you go.”

Ye Ming counted the coins. After verifying that the amount was correct, he stuffed them into his shirt.

He then picked up the blood bags and left the trading house, but a few steps later, he seemed to have recalled something. He turned around and walked back into the trading house again. Seeing him return, the young Vampire thought something had gone wrong with the merchandise. “Is there a problem, sir?” he asked.

“I forgot something. Do you have Blood Essence for sale here?”

“Of course. We have Viscount’s, Count’s, Marquis’, and Duke’s.”

“What’s the price?”

“Um… The Viscount Blood Essence is ten gold coins per drop, the Count Blood Essence is a hundred gold coins per drop, the Marquis Blood Essence is a thousand gold coins per drop, and the Duke Blood Essence is ten thousand gold coins per drop. However, the last two are very rare, especially the Duke Blood Essence, so you’ll have to order them in advance if you wish to purchase any.”

‘Tsk. In other words, you don’t have them. What a load of pointless words,’ Ye Ming grumbled in his mind. He pondered for a while and said, “I’d like three drops of Viscount Blood Essence, please.” As he said that, he took out 30 gold coins from his pouch and handed them to the young Vampire.

The young Vampire once again asked him to wait for a moment and retreated to the back. He soon reappeared with three vials of Viscount Blood Essence in hand.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

Ye Ming took the three vials and left the place once more.

On the street outside, Ye Ming weighed the three vials of Viscount Blood Essence in his hand, then kept them in his pocket.

Little did Ye Ming expect that this unintentional action of his would catch the attention of a greedy pair of eyes in the corner.

Pavard Malkavian gave his companions a wink. The three of them trailed after Ye Ming.

Ye Ming continued to wander around the Hardy City bazaar. One could find Gnomes tmeant for entertainment, slaves and women here. Ye Ming’s steps stopped in front of a stall selling Gnomes. He watched as a Vampire whipped several Gnomes with a lash to make them perform harder.

Ye Ming did not watch for long. He still had the conscience of a human from his previous life, and this kind of thing he found truly savage. But the moment he turned around, he saw a few people who were watching him. When they saw that Ye Ming was also looking at them, they got flustered and instantly averted their gazes.

This immediately put Ye Ming on high alert. He began to pay close attention to these people. From time to time, he would stop and pretend to pick something up from a stall while spying at them from the corner of his eye.

After determining that these people were indeed following him, a sinister smile appeared on his face. He walked out of the city with large strides.