Monarch of the Dark Nights Chapter 54

Fourth chapter of the week (July 22)

If the Reading List on NU reaches 1000, there will be a bonus chapter! Currently: 970/1000.

Chapter 54: Team Divided into Two Groups (Part 2)

“Gui Jiaosan, don't blame me! Gimme two large Blood Crystals in exchange for your son's life. I, Yang Fengbo, have prepared to make any sacrifices today. If you kill me or you don't give me the Blood Crystals, you'll never see your son again!"

Their relationship in ordinary days was fairly decent. So Gui Jiaosan had never thought that when he came back, the situation changed and Yang Fengbo's mind had gone astray.

"You dare?! If you really have the guts, why the h.e.l.l are you not extorting those Duans from the Jiangnan Family? They should have a lot of Blood Crystals for you. We've been neighbors for such a long time and yet you are so f.u.c.king ruthless enough to scheme on us? You even didn't admit that you've caused my wife and Liu Zhong to die! And now you b.a.s.t.a.r.d dare to kidnap my son?!"

Gui Jiaosan charged and overran Yang Fengbo, savagely beating him with his fists.

But Yang Fengbo apparently had steeled his heart this time. He's only an ordinary person and fighting back was useless, so he let Gui Jiaosan beat him crazily until his face was covered with blood. But still, he only clenched his teeth and refused to say where he hid Dingding.

The ruckus in the room quickly attracted the other neighbors as they stood and watched the scene. They were quite disgusted with what Yang Fengbo had done. But they were in the Apocalypse now. If there was any means to acquire Blood Crystals, whatever the mean was, everything could be justified. So all of them didn't overly blame him.

"I also have a wife and son. If we can't become Awakened, sooner or later my family will die. Don't blame me. I don't have any b.a.l.l.s to extort the Duans from the Jiangnan Family, I don't care if it's shameless and I'm fine with extorting you. As long as you help me this time, I'll return ten times the amount of Blood Crystals to you!" Yang Fengbo chose to act like this only because he wanted to get the Blood Crystals in order to become an Awakened. He crawled up from the floor, wiping the blood on his face and grinning toward Gui Jiaosan.

It was really such an unexpected farce. Yun Tu was only silently stood at the side, seeing such a drama. Until Gui Jiaosan then looked at him.

"It's your problem, handle it carefully!" Yun Tu directly threw two large Blood Crystals to him.

As for Yun Tu, two Blood Crystals for him were nothing. He just wanted to see how would Gui Jiaosan deal with this problem. He didn't care about the Blood Crystals, but in his mind, the wicked must never be tolerated.

Everyone's eyes opened wide and lit up upon seeing Yun Tu suddenly throwing two large Blood Crystals.

"I'll give you one Blood Crystal first. Now tell me, where is Dingding?! Otherwise, I'll cut off your f.u.c.king head and d.i.c.k!" Gui Jiaosan put the axe and chopped the table as his murderous intent could be felt by Yang Fengbo.

"Fine, gimme that one!"

He grabbed the Blood Crystal and immediately swallowed it. After which, he told his wife to lead Gui Jiaosan to the place where he hid Dingding.

As usual, ordinary people's schemes had never been complex, since Gui Jiaosan also knew the place Yang Fengbo told him.

“Boss, help me keep a watch on him. I'll come back quickly!"

Gui Jiaosan immediately turned around. Half an hour later, he returned back along with his son Dingding and Yang Fengbo's wife.

After he successfully became an Awakened, Yang Fengbo stood as all the pain in his body had also gone.

Even though her neck was grabbed by Gui Jiaosan, a look of joy surfaced on Yang Fengbo's wife upon seeing that her husband had succeeded.

"Thank you, Brother Gui Jiaosan. Now, put down my wife first and gimme the other Blood Crystal, so my wife can become an Awakened. Then we will be going out to kill some zombies and pay double your Blood Crystals!"

Yang Fengbo let out a disgusting smile just like a despicable wicked villain after he successfully became an Awakened, .

"Are you f.u.c.king dumb? You still wanna have another Blood Crystal? When has this Gui Jiaosan become an idiot?"

His son had been saved. Gui Jiaosan released and pushed Yang Fengbo's wife as a ruthless glint flashed from his eyes when he took out his axe and jumped to cut Yang Fengbo's neck.

He did say that he would cut his neck! And he did it now without even the slightest hesitation!

Since Gui Jiaosan launched such a sudden strike, Yang Fengbo, who had yet to adapt to his physical changes, could only dodge it to the side, but he was directly caught up in the move and instantly stumbled within his own pool of blood.

All the neighbors from upstairs and downstairs who watched the scene were instantly dumbfounded and frightened!

Yang Fengbo had died. But Gui Jiaosan didn't kill his wife. Everyone had seen how women would end up in the Apocalypse. But for now, it was not within Yun Tu's concern. He didn't care about it nor did he intervene in the whole process of the incident. But Gui Jiaosan's conducts did make him quite satisfied.

After seeing blood, the neighbors in the surroundings quickly dispersed. n.o.body dared to come to ask Blood Crystals from Gui Jiaosan again. After all, everything had turned chaotic.

"I just wasted one Blood Crystal of yours today, Boss. It's quite a pity, but I'll pay it double with my efforts!" Gui Jiaosan wasn't even startled after he murdered someone, and turned around to speak with Yun Tu with a smile.

It was only a farce in the field, but ended up with tragedy!

…

Before dawn, a small tide of zombies created a stir and a tumultuous situation, but a team of Awakened in black suits swept them away quickly.

Jiangnan Family had recruited more than 300 Awakened, with 20 of them also having Main Jobs. Previously, Yun Tu had caused the guild heavy losses in the Eastern District. After Duan Hongshan had come back, the two brothers still carried on their scheme as their hatred toward Yun Tu also gone deeper a level. They decided to reward anyone who could provide them any news about him, announcing that whoever could provide the news about his whereabouts, they would be rewarded with a large-sized Blood Crystal.

However, apart from brewing a scheme to find Yun Tu and have their revenge, there was also a few important contents that were related with how to develop their guild further.

The Jiangnan Family Guild was not a good force that the common people could trust, and they could be said that they really stopped at nothing in collecting food and resources to develop their force and influence. A lot of ruthless and cruel things had they done to achieve their goals.. But due to that, the Jiangnan Family Guild was able to move a step ahead compared to the other guilds. They created a lot of innovations in managing their system and even could be said that they had quite a lot of contributions in dealing with the Apocalypse.

Firstly, they restructured their organization structure, dividing their members into core, formal and external personnel. Their methods later on was imitated and followed by the vast majority of guilds and forces.

Since food and water were very scarce in the Apocalypse, only the core and formal members could eat fully. As for the external personnel, they only had half of their ration. They also decided to apply the discretion in food distribution according to each mission, which in itself, was a very scientific management system. Of course, this set of system management had yet to be applied for now.

After having killed Duan Minghui, Yun Tu didn't quite pay attention to the hatred the Jiangnan Family had toward him, since a lot of foul feeling he had had already been vented since Duan Minghui had died. But he realized that the Duan Family's hatred toward him hd reached its zenith.

If he didn't meet with Gui Jiaosan, Yun Tu might have chosen to avoid the Duan for a time and then play with them in another time, with his visit to the Southern District now. But since at present the enemy's men appeared before his eyes , it would be quite unethical if he didn't bite the meat that had been delivered to his door. So, making them feel comfortable was not the plan he had in mind.

However, he knew that for now, it was not convenient for him to anxiously entered the stage make a show. The Southern District literally was their general headquarter and they could call hundreds of people within minutes. For now, to not act and hold a stage with them was a necessary move.

“Boss, you seem to be very interested in these people!”

Gui Jiaosan was pretty much excellent in some aspect as he could realize the situation and mood only by standing next to Yun Tu.

Yun Tu turned his head and asked, "Do you know these men in black suits?"

"Those are Jiangnan Family's dogs. They were originally also the animals of the streets and I also usually mixed with them. They even don't hesitate to loot people's houses for food!"

Yun Tu knew that Gui Jiaosan had a little bit of blowing off character. Looking at that appearance, the other party and him, clearly knew each other well, and yet, he didn't expose it. He only reminded him, "Do bear in mind that you've decided to follow me. These people are my personal enemy!"

"'Okay, Boss's enemies are my enemies. Anyway, how about I lure him now?"

He had yet to have any chances to show his performance. And since the Boss's personal enemies were there right now, he naturally wanted to display his uses.

"No you won't! Stealing from people is not the same with stealing rice from chickens!" Yun Tu spoke his worries.

"I'll show you a good play Boss!" Gui Jiaosan turned downstairs whilst saying that.

After having killed seven or eight zombies and also collected the small and large Blood Crystals, Niu Xiong led his brothers to clean up the scene.

At this time, Gui Jiaosan came out of the corridor mouth and sneakily walked and whispered, "Big Brother Niu, I have a Boss who wanna have some business with you!"

"Huh? What kind of business could it be in such a time like this?"

Niu Xiong also had heard that Gui Jiaosan had become an Awakened, but he was quite skeptical and suspected him.

"You said right Big Brother Niu, what age we're in right now? Except for Blood Crystals and food, what else can we call as business?"

Gui Jiaosan spoke to him and blinked his wide eyes. It was quite clear that he intentionally wanted to hang the man's appet.i.te.

"Brothers, you go back first and gimme all Blood Crystals! I got things to take care of now!"

a.s.suming that Gui Jiaosan could give him a chance to do some business that could earn him some , Niu Xiong thought for a moment before he sent away the other men.

Yun Tu naturally could clearly hear their dialogue with hearing ability from the balcony on the third floor, and Gui Jiaosan's performance really made him satisfied.

He knew that it would be inevitable to compete for resources with the Jiangnan Family in the future; and knowing the oneself and the enemies would provide a lot of advantages to make the undefeatable in battle. Since now Gui Jiaosan had attracted a small leader from Jiangnan Family Guild, perhaps, he could find out more about their situation even though the man was only a small leader.

Niu Xiong had entered Yun Tu's domain now and it was impossible for him to even have the chance to run. Although he had never seen Yun Tu, but since the Jiangnan Family had given Yun Tu's picture to all of their members, he instantly knew that he had just boarded the enemy's boat.

He quickly drew his sword and tried to revolt and fight. But Yun Tu had quickly grabbed and pulled his shoulder powerfully, and hitting his chest and abdomen with his knee.

And from the sounds, several of his ribs had broken.

From behind, Gui Jiaosan also slammed his legs fiercely twice, as the 1,80m height Niu Xiong finally fell down.

"The Guild does hate you greatly, but this Niu Xiong has never met you Boss! Today I've been schemed by an old friend, and I give you my word that as long as you let me go, I'll tell and give everything you want!"

Life and death had always been a big matter, and Niu Xiong was not a man who was full of heroic spirit, nor did he plan to become one. He quickly kowtowed and unceasingly admitted his mistakes.

Since the man feared death, then things would be much easier!

After he had been tied up, even though without any torture he answered all Yun Tu's questions, about how many Awakened with Main Jobs the Jiangnan Family had and what kind of jobs. As long as he knew about it, he answered all of them honestly.

Yun Tu had already expected that the enemy had already had twenty Awakened with occupations. And when he got the information that Duan Hongyu himself had successfully reached the Second Level, Yun Tu felt that the pressure on him was as big as a mountain!

Although Niu Xiong really gave his cooperation, but since they had become enemies, it was naturally impossible for them to let him go. After having discarded him in a relatively gentle way, after 8AM, Yun Tu took Gui Jiaosan and left the residential building with his son, Dingding.

But when they were in a hurry in leaving the place, they encountered his old friend, w.a.n.g Yang, who was leading a few of his brothers to hunt and kill zombies.

“Old friend, you're really busy!"

"Huh? It's you! I heard that Jiangnan Family's men are looking for you everywhere. I never thought that I'd b.u.mp into you in the Southern District!"

w.a.n.g Yang was truly ecstatic in seeing Yun Tu. The w.a.n.g Brothers had established the Dragon Slayers Guild in the Southern District, which now was the second largest Guild beside the Jiangnan Family Guild. There were fifty-six Awakened in their group, and they also had five Awakened with occupations. But since they were police colleagues, the team was very united.

Yun Tu also felt happy for them upon hearing their Guild developed well. He knew that w.a.n.g Yang's talent was on par with his brother, but his thoughts were much too pure and simple. So it could be estimated that the Guild's final says should be decided by w.a.n.g Peng. Although w.a.n.g Yang invited him to join even willing to give him the Vice-Master position, but Yun Tu politely refused it.

And as he recalled again, Yun Tu knew that one week from now, some people would also create small guilds. The emergence of small guilds would be just like the growth of mushroom, quickly growing and quickly withering. Due to the zombie tides and the compet.i.tion between the Guilds, they continued to die or being annexed. And for w.a.n.g Peng, who could reach level 9 Awakened in his past incarnation, he surely was not someone that could be easily pulled by him. So for now, he could only maintain a friendly relationship.

The second day in the third week of the apocalypse was an important time point, since the whole city would find out that the four light pillars that could not be triggered before would be opened.

Those were the Secret Areas that were able to be entered repeatedly. Which meant that those were the more important strategic resources. Before the emergence of these repeatedly used Secret Areas, humanity had been pressed and overwhelmed by the zombies. But when the Secret Areas that that could be accessed repeatedly emerged, humanity had steady supplies of occupational scrolls along with weapons produced from Secret Areas. Any sides who occupied these renewable Secret Areas would have steady development and finally would be the leader for humanity and gained a firm foothold in this difficult Apocalypse.

On the other hand, the Dragon Slayers Guild established itself in the Southern District while there was also the other giant—the Jiangnan Family Guild in the same area. Although the two guilds now lived in peace, but since there would only be one renewable Secret Area in the Southern District, at that time, the battle between both was inevitable.

However, since w.a.n.g Peng could become a Level 9 Awakened in his previous incarnation, Yun Tu believed that even if he had to face the Jiangnan Family, he would not be so easily eliminated or annexed.

Upon seeing that w.a.n.g Yang was wearing a leather armor, Yun Tu asked, "Your Guild has an Armor Crafter?"

"Eldest Brother is really amazing, you even recognized this. Since you're an Alchemist Refiner and we have an Armor Crafter, we can cooperate with each other. Come with us to our headquarter and help tempering some weapons, I'll send you some sets of armors as exchange!"

The soft sword in his hand was upgraded by Yun Tu, so he certainly knew what kind of role an Alchemist Refiner was able to provide to a team!

Yun Tu had no reason to refuse the offer since the exchange was beneficial to both sides. Therefore, he and Gui Jiaosan went to the Dragon Slayer Guild's Headquarter.

At present, the Dragon Slayer Guild only had a small number of members, but on later development after w.a.n.g Peng had gotten food from more than a dozen of abandoned residential buildings, he made a conspicuous announcement to recruit those Awakened who were not affiliated and had yet to join the Jiangnan Family Guild.

As an old friend, w.a.n.g Peng was also very enthusiastic by Yun Tu's visit. But he knew that Yun Tu came from a very big force, and unlike w.a.n.g Yang who repeatedly invited him to join, w.a.n.g Peng only asked him to a breakfast and entertained him well.

After having a breakfast, Yun Tu spent two hours for them to strengthen a dozens of their weapons in exchange for several sets of shin guards and two pairs of long combat boots.

Since he was quite worried about Qing Yi and Feng Ling's safety, he no dallied as he went out from the Dragon Slayer Guild and directly headed straight toward the Northern District.

The Northern District was the smallest area in Jiangnan City, but now it was the most populated one because the entire Eastern District and more than half of the Western District inhabitants were flocking to this district. After the advent of the Apocalypse, the foods were increasingly scarcer, and although there was a government army garrison being stationed here, however, the social law and order had turned chaotic as they were unable to maintain it. Along down the way toward the Northern District, they only encountered zombies a few times, and encountered and killed more than a dozen of people who chased and wanted to rob them.

If there was no error in his calculations, Qing Yi and Feng Ling should have arrived earlier. But after Yun Tu and Gui Jiaosan had arrived at the agreed meeting place, they did not even see their shadows…

Notes:

      d.a.m.n… the chap is so d.a.m.n long. But from chapter 50+ onward, the author's writing style is getting better. And I think I can understand it since this story is his very first story, even though it's quite short compared to other CN webnovel. There are some questionable plots and such shortcomings in the novel. But as always, there's nothing perfect in this world, no matter how good a writer was, his/her work can never satisfy everyone…    MOTDN regular chapters will be reduced to 3 chaps/week starting from next week, since I will concentrate on Great Dao Commander and other novel. Not to mention that Great Dao Commander is quite hard to translate.