The Grand Feast

"The Feast Begins"

The moment Yi Bai awakened to the power of the vampire bloodline, he had anticipated this moment's arrival. What caught him off guard, however, was how quickly it came.

"It's a Chosen One! How could this be...?"

In an instant, Jiang Junhao's scalp tingled with fear, his hoarse voice trembling with disbelief.

There were many names for those who possessed the power of "ghosts and gods." They were known as the Chosen Ones, the Cursed Ones, or Half-Demons... Regardless of the name, one thing was undeniable: they wielded terrifying powers beyond the reach of ordinary humans.

"Run! Run for your life!"

"Get away! You'll die if you stay!"

"The Chosen can only be dealt with by another Chosen! Boss, it's all on you now!"

"Boss, kill him, take him down!"

Some fled in panic, while others, paralyzed by fear, put their hopes in Jiang Junhao, who was also known as a Chosen One.

Jiang Junhao's expression darkened, his body coiled like a spring, ready to unleash at any moment. His right arm began to shrink and wither, the black, sharp claws gleaming coldly. This was the Ghost Hand, his most trusted weapon. It was the result of surviving an experiment where he had fused with a demon's essence, the only one left alive out of many who had perished.

"Die!"

Jiang Junhao, understanding the principle of striking first, lunged toward Yi Bai, his body a blur as he closed the distance. Ten meters... eight meters... six meters!

Suddenly, with a grotesque smile, his right arm—transformed into a twisted black hand—detached from his body and flew toward Yi Bai, its claws sharp and poisonous.

The unexpected assault caught Yi Bai by surprise—but only for a moment.

"What is that?!"

Jiang Junhao's face twisted with astonishment as his pupils constricted to pinpricks. Before him, four blood-red arms materialized around Yi Bai, moving swiftly to intercept the Ghost Hand.

The Ghost Hand's sudden attack was effortlessly captured by the blood-soaked arms.

Then...

"Ahh!!"

"Kill me! Kill me!!"

"Please—end it!"

The Ghost Hand, now locked in the grip of Yi Bai's blood arms, writhed in agony, its owner suffering excruciating pain like nothing he had ever known. Within moments, Jiang Junhao's body collapsed, spasming violently as if being torn apart from the inside out. His mind, too, was drowned in unbearable torment, to the point where even begging for mercy became impossible—he could only hope for death.

The Ghost Hand, bound by the blood arms, began to dissolve into a pool of foul blood, disappearing into nothingness.

This all happened in the blink of an eye.

The fleeing members of Jiang Junhao's faction faltered in their steps. Too fast! It was all too fast!

They had not expected that, despite being a fellow Chosen One, their leader would be so easily crushed—like a helpless toy in Yi Bai's hands. The shrill screams of agony echoed in their ears, chilling them to the bone.

Their legs grew heavy as if filled with lead. How could they escape? In the presence of a monster who could kill a Chosen One with a mere flick of his hand, running was nothing more than a joke.

Step... step...

Yi Bai advanced calmly, his blood-red eyes flickering with cold, calculating malice. He grabbed Jiang Junhao's lifeless body and lifted him with ease. The killing intent in his gaze dissipated, replaced by an unmistakable hunger.

His elongated fangs began to extend.

The hunger gnawing at him had been building ever since his awakening—the result of the toll the parasitic puppet had taken on him, compounded by his deals with the Count of Roses and Jiang Ling. He had been starved for far too long.

If not for Yi Bai's formidable willpower, his first act upon returning to the mortal realm would have been a violent hunt.

With a sharp snick, his fangs pierced Jiang Junhao's artery. The warmth of blood filled Yi Bai's mouth, its intoxicating scent drawing a satisfied, eerie gleam to his eyes as he drank deeply.

The life force drained from Jiang Junhao's body quickly, and within moments, he was a withered husk, tossed aside as casually as discarded trash.

Yi Bai licked the blood from his lips and turned his gaze to the remaining figures—paralyzed by terror, their eyes wide with horror.

As the blood arms retracted, a sinister smile curled at the corner of Yi Bai's lips.

"Do you know... what color fear is?"

The silence in the lumberyard was suffocating. The terrified members of the organization dared not answer his question.

"To me, fear is black. It's like a bottomless abyss, pulling you deeper and deeper, suffocating you until you can't breathe or escape!"

Yi Bai savored the terror in their eyes, drinking it in like a fine wine. It was an instinct ingrained in him as a vampire, a stark difference from human nature. While he still thought of himself as human in some ways, he could no longer deny the truth—he was something else now.

Shh...

The blood roared inside his veins, fueling his body with unyielding power.

The feast... had begun.

Minutes later, Yi Bai stood amidst a pile of corpses, savoring the satisfaction that came from feeding.

Disgust? Fear? Such emotions were distant memories, long gone the moment he embraced his vampire nature.

"Though they were a pathetic group, their ability to gather my information must have meant Jiang Junhao was worth something—just not much." Yi Bai muttered, analyzing the situation.

His gaze drifted over the dried corpses littering the ground, and he quietly retrieved the parasitic puppet hidden beneath his clothes.

Activating the second stage of the puppet, the Parasitic Scarecrow leapt from the necklace, growing over two meters tall in an instant.

Swish! Swish!

The withered straw seemed alive, rapidly growing and curling around the bodies, crawling into their mouths and nostrils.

It wasn't long before the dead bodies began to rise, their stiff movements grotesque as they formed an eerie, protective circle around Yi Bai.

"Waste not, want not," Yi Bai thought coldly. "No need to control these useless puppets as important assets. I'll turn them into scarecrows, spreading surveillance around the lumberyard."

After sending the scarecrows off to patrol the area, Yi Bai walked into the heart of the lumberyard, the air thickening with dread.

The silhouettes of the dead, stiff and slow, now wandered across the desolate wilderness—an unnerving sight in the twilight.