Blood red

The carriage travelled into the night after leaving the city.

It continued until it reached a lone and secluded place away from the city, it finally stopped upon seemingly reaching the agreed location.

Several people who were wearing dark red cloaks and masks hiding their appearance walked out.

Each of them was equally dangerous looking as the other and carried themselves with a certain special aura that was full of vitality unlike that of a normal person or martial artist the man had seen before.

However the man was too ignorant of such worldly affairs to know who they were or their affiliation, all he could sense was that they were very intimidating and should not be denied of what they had asked for.

He immediately bowed to the person who seemed to be the leader among them. "I have done as you have instructed and it is a success. He is inside the carriage and what you gave me worked so there should be no problems."

The person in the front of the dark red robed people looked at him and then spoke coldly. "Show me."

He still remained cautious towards this man and readied himself in case of betrayal, if any strange movements followed then he would draw his sword right away.

However as the carriage door was opened, the sight of the sleeping guard captain appeared within their eyes.

The man smiled upon seeing them all settle down. "I fulfilled my end of the deal so I hope that he will not appear again. Can you promise me?"

Although he put his faith in these people to do as they said, he still feared them finding out his old friends worth and sparing his life.

He did not know their true goal for setting up this plot against his old friend but he couldn't help but worry that they may not fulfil their part of the deal.

He had put himself at risk and if his old friend lives and returns then he was destined to suffer after his old friends learn the truth of what he did and why he did so.

While he was worried, the leading cloaked man stepped forward and placed his hand on his shoulder to reassure him. "Do not worry, he will not survive thanks to your efforts."

The mans eyes lit up after hearing the person opposite him. "That is good. Very goo.."

A dagger pierced into his unguarded stomach suddenly, the person listed his mask and brought the dagger to his lips and began to lick it as he spoke while smiling cruelly. "And.. neither will you."

He turned to the other people in cloaks and ordered. "It seems the mission was a success, bind them both and make sure they make no further noise."

They immediately bound and gagged the man crying in pain and took away the sleeping guard captain before they had a chance to be discovered by anyone that may be passing by.

In their eyes, the loss of the mans blood as it escaped the wound on his stomach was something trivial and secondary but the guard captain was something of high value.

Upon reaching their destination, they arrived at a hidden underground passageway where they quickly opened up the entrance and lowered the bandaged and bound man along with the guard captain into slowly before closing it behind them.

Sometime later they bound the bodies up like animals to be slaughtered over a large elevated wooden container with a tap on the bottom of it.

The guard captain was hanging right above it as if as soon as he was harmed, his blood would fall below into the container.

The elite men and women of the Blood Sect were efficient with the way they drained their victims and handled the blood afterwards.

However there was always a hidden greed to gain more strength and the opportunity was in front of them but the fear of the sect leader finding out and draining the blood from their bodies was something that made them keep the idea to themselves.

The possibility of someone within the group telling the higher ups was always there so they could not act unless they were sure that they would go unnoticed.

Placing the other man above another container, they removed the bandages and began to cut into the wound on his body and left more cuts upon his body.

Since he was bound and gagged he could not retaliate or call for help but even if he did there would be nobody to save him.

As if savouring their success of their mission, the cloaked people all gathered around his body and removed their masks.

They were all frighteningly pale as if they were no longer to be considered as human or living, they had frighteningly blood red eyes that terrified the man as he was slowly being drained of his blood.

The leader turned the tap and put a glass under it to catch the blood that came from it and began to smell it while revealing a look of disapproval. "What a shame, among the people that we were assigned to fool.. why did it have to be a man approaching old age. A ladies virgin blood is so much sweeter of a prize than this… it is a shame that we all have to remain here and squeeze every last drop possible from him while he is alive otherwise I would have gladly approved of snatching up some people on the road."

To them all, various types of blood had a certain quality about them whether it be from a martial artist who's body had been enhanced by their qi method and training to young children or teenagers.

Some much preferred to drink the blood of virgins, others preferred young children, others middle aged men or women, even pregnant women or children but among them not many liked to drink from those who have grown past a certain age because most of the flavour and vitality is lacking.

However whether it was peak realm, transcendent or unrestrained blood, they were delicacies that were only rewarded upon having a high enough rank and contributions within the sect unless they managed to obtain a captive on their own during their time out of the sects headquarters without the supervision of others.

Their ghastly appearance showed that they were the core members or elders of the sect that practiced the true qi art of the sect but had taken the path of consuming blood for a very long time.

Those outside of the sect had been given a slightly downgraded martial arts manual based on their qi art but had been warned not to take the path of consuming blood because they would have a hard time maintaining their cover and will be quickly be discovered as they undergo that change.

Absorbing the vitality through the pours of the body while bathing in blood and using the blood suction palm art were always the main ways for those recruits to gain power but rather slowly compared to those within the sect.

The trap within the manual given out was that if blood was consumed, the change would take place to their body even quicker than those within the sect experience.

The true name of their core martial arts was the Blood Demon Art which primarily focussed on the consuming of blood instead of the other two techniques but still had them available to them.

As they consumed more and their power became closer to the peak realm, their skin would turn pale like a sick patient and their eyes would become more bloody.

The stronger people among the group were easily able to be identified because the red light in their eyes were a lot more noticeable as if it had become their natural eye colour and their skin was even more white and paler than the others.

Ki had never stepped onto this path or type of practice in her previous life because the act of drinking blood disgusted her.

Until the end, she still used the other two methods and avoided drinking blood with her fellow sect members so she was labelled as a strange person within the Blood Sect.

This also played a part in increasing the difficulty to earn the sect leaders trust back then but her constant good results and persistence won in the end and overcame that hurdle.

The leader began to enjoy the blood in his glass as if he was sipping a wine and tasting it but he also revealed a little bit of discontent. "After this mission is complete, how about we all go and get a couple of fresh ones?"

The others savoured their portion of the blood revealing a similar look. "Of course!"

This taste and amount of vitality did not satisfy them in the slightest…

What came with their qi arts and the way they have used it was an unconscious craving or thirst that continues to grow.

This was also another reason why there was rarely ever betrayal against the sect leader…

They were all safe within the sect and got to consume fresh or stored blood to train and satisfy their thirst but if they were on their own then they would be forced to commit the crimes alone and would eventually be hunted down.

Some would go crazy from the cravings after not consuming anything in a long time and attack others but before that their appearance would get them noticed and hunted down.

The blood sect was their permanent home that they could not leave after thing themselves to them but also the supplier of the thing they needed to stop them from going mad.

Some struggled to adjust at first to the lifestyle but before they knew it, they had already become an entity that could no longer be considered as human and was addicted to consuming blood no matter what their previous thoughts were in the beginning.

Like addicts chasing a high, they drank and drank every time they felt that thirst without being able to resist the urge any longer.