Striking a Deal

Having found a new potion recipe, Ye Ming was ecstatic. He instructed the Vampire to bring all the potions produced from this particular pot to his tent. The Vampire was confused, but he still did as he was told because Puyol had asked them to follow Ye Ming's instructions. He later carried all the potions that contained Blood Essence to Ye Ming's tent.

Ye Ming diluted these potions before he distributed them. He did not want the Gangrel Vampires to discover that these potions were different from the others. It would be his own little secret.

The potion-brewing lasted for a whole week. Puyol had just returned from the outside with a handful of Gangrel tribesmates. Ye Ming had used up almost all the ingredients the Gangrel tribe had accumulated over the years.

Today, Puyol had gathered up all the tribesmates who had drunk the potion to undergo a test of strength. They would be fighting against those who had not taken the potion. The results were conclusive. The strength and speed of those that had consumed the potion were, without exception, far superior to those that had not.

Puyol was elated. He knew now that this path would be the future direction of the Gangrel tribe's development. He could not wait to ask Ye Ming to help them brew more.

"Why don't you just stay here and help us make potions, Yelina?" Puyol sincerely extended his invitation.

"I can't do that. I have to go back to the cave." Ye Ming actually planned to go back to concoct the potion that contained Blood Essence. It was much more potent than the ordinary version, so much so that Ye Ming had already lost interest in the ordinary strength potion. He wanted to become even stronger.

"But why?" asked Puyol curiously. From what he could tell, the food and accomodation here were definitely much better than back in Ye Ming's cave. They even had a steady supply of fresh blood here. And as long as Ye Ming was willing, he would have no lack of female companionship in the tribe. The terms were simply too good. Ye Ming should have no reason to refuse.

"Most of you have already become stronger, and there are still some matters I have to take care of, so I have to go back," replied Ye Ming.

"What do you have to do back there?" Puyol did not want to give up so easily.

"Gather herbs and continue to study alchemy."

"Is that so?" Puyol fell into deep thought as he pondered how he could convince Ye Ming to stay. After thinking for a moment, he said, "How about this. In order to show my appreciation for your contribution in strengthening our tribe, let me teach you some methods to avoid Werewolves. The reason the Werewolves found you the last time is because you lack this kind of knowledge."

"Really? If you can do that, that'd be great!" Ye Ming was delighted. If he had these wilderness survival skills before, he wouldn't have been surrounded by four Werewolves.

"Of course. Come, follow me," said Puyol. He led Ye Ming out of the canyon.

Along the way, Puyol explained to Ye Ming some characteristics of the Werewolves, as well as things like where they liked to hang out and how Vampires could avoid their pursuit. Ye Ming carefully committed them to memory.

In the end, the two of them were not discovered even when they sneaked underground right beneath a Werewolf tribe. After observing for a while, they quietly retreated.

The field training of the next few days greatly improved Ye Ming's survival skills in the wild. Today, when they got back to the Gangrel tribe, Puyol handed a piece of parchment to Ye Ming.

"As a token of our gratitude, we've decided to give you a map of the Dark Mountains. Although it only shows a small part of the Dark Mountains, I believe it should be good enough for your use."

Ye Ming took the map and inspected it with glee. All the mountains, rivers, canyons and other major terrains around the area were drawn in great detail. It even marked out a few Werewolf dens.

"I can't thank you enough for this," Ye Ming said gratefully.

"Not bad, right? Why don't you stay here? How about it?"

Ye Ming was still hesitant.

Noticing Ye Ming's hesitation, Puyol added, "You're just going to study alchemy back at the cave, aren't you? You can do your research here as well. We can provide you with everything you want here. Why do you have to go back to that cave?"

"Some of the alchemical knowledge I have are not meant for the eyes of others. You understand this, don't you?"

Puyol finally understood why Ye Ming was so adamant on leaving. He said, "Of course. Every clan has their own secrets; our Gangrel clan is no exception. If that's what you're worried about, you can rest easy. I can build a separate residence for you in a spot away from the tribe. No one will disturb you normally. You can leave the matter of gathering ingredients to us. Whatever you need, just say it. The only thing we ask of you is to help us make the potion that increases our strength. What do you think?"

"Okay. I accept. But I only need 30% of the ingredients you gather because I just need them for research, so I don't really use much. Also, I will help raise the strength of your entire tribe as quickly as possible, but I still have to leave sometime in the future. After all, I can't stay here forever. But in the meantime, I'll try to make as many strength potion for you as possible. How about it?"

"It's a deal. I won't restrict your freedom. You can leave whenever you want."

The two shook hands to seal their agreement.

In the following days, Ye Ming stayed in a tent while his residence was being built. It did not take long for Puyol to build a wooden cabin less than a mile away from the tribe for Ye Ming.

When Ye Ming moved in, he saw that there was already a large pot for brewing potions inside. All the other things he needed were also there.

"These are all that I can think of. If there's anything else you need, just ask," said Puyol.

"This is more than enough. Thank you so much."

"You should give me a list of all the ingredients you need. I'll ask the tribe to gather them for you and send it here."

"Okay, I'll give you the list right now." Ye Ming wrote down the names of the ingredients one by one and handed the list to Puyol.

Puyol left with the ingredient list. Three days later, a group of Gangrel tribesmen came to the wooden cabin with various bags of different sizes and handed the ingredients to Ye Ming.

Ye Ming's daily routine now consisted of going to the Gangrel tribe in the day to instruct them in the brewing of strength potion, and returning to his cabin at night to develop his own potion.

Time flew by and in the blink of an eye, three weeks had already passed. After drinking all the enhanced strength potions he concocted himself, Ye Ming's strength had improved even further.

At the same time, he had also helped everyone in Puyol's tribe to raise their strength. Also, thanks to his help, the lives of the humans who were once kept in captivity in the tribe had greatly improved. They were no longer reared like animals. Instead, they could now farm and work, so their life had gotten much better. But they still had to offer up a certain amount of their blood every month as tribute.

This was an iron law that could not be changed. There was nothing Ye Ming could do about it. However, their situation was already much improved from before.

With all his tasks done, Ye Ming was planning to leave. After all, he could not stay in a single place for too long. He still had to look for more treasure chests to make himself stronger.