CRIMSON NOCTURNE

CHAPTER 15: Crushing Defeat

To the onlookers, it seemed as though Yi Fei had vanished from one spot and reappeared where Lee Kexter stood, while the woman herself went flying backward. But from Lee Kexter's perspective, things looked very different. Their abilities were close enough in level that she could see every detail — the tremor of his fur, the flecks of saliva flying from his jaws at that superhuman speed. She blocked his devastating knee strike with her arms and used the force of the collision to launch herself away from the dangerous opponent.

"Heh~ Talk about finding something without even looking for it. So you're the N City werewolf old Larson has been hunting all this time. Capturing you on top of everything else would be quite the bonus." True, this wolf's strength was astonishing, but if this was all he had, Lee Kexter was confident she could handle him.

Yi Fei's mind was too consumed with hatred to care about anything else. His first knee strike had missed. He howled and lunged again. His attacks were wild, reckless, and completely predictable. Once the element of surprise was gone, none of them landed. Lee Kexter moved like she was taking a leisurely stroll, casually sidestepping every claw and kick. She even had the audacity to mock him. "Little one, do you really think this is enough to avenge your sweetheart?"

Frustration boiled over as attack after attack missed. Yi Fei's movements slowed noticeably. Lee Kexter seized the opportunity. She stepped forward half a pace and swung her bare, snow-white leg.

"Skirt Heaven!" she cried. Her blood-stained skirt flared upward, blocking Yi Fei's vision entirely. For a split second, he was distracted by the glimpse of white and black beneath the fabric. In that moment, Lee Kexter launched herself into the air and drove both flawless bare feet squarely into his chest. Yi Fei actually saw his own ribcage cave in from the impact. Before he hit the ground, he coughed a mouthful of blood across the front of her skirt.

He struggled to rise from the stage wreckage he had shattered on impact, but before he could even straighten up, the powerful female vampire was already on him. He couldn't even muster a thought of resistance. Lee Kexter's elegant kicks came like a storm, trapping him in a whirlwind of relentless strikes.

By the time Yi Fei's blood had nearly soaked her entire skirt crimson, she drove a final kick straight upward, sending him hurtling into the air. She watched the werewolf crash thunderously to the ground and slowly lowered her bare leg, letting the remnants of her enemy's blood trickle down her skin and onto the floor.

Yi Fei lay face-down in the crater his body had carved into the stage. Every bone in his body felt shattered. He didn't even have the strength to lift a hand. He forced his eyes open. Before him knelt Lee Kexter, smiling faintly, and not far away, Chen Jing, encased in thick ice. He had never felt so utterly powerless. Despair flooded his heart. And from his eyes, crimson tears began to flow.

"Aah! Blood tears?!?!" Lee Kexter recoiled as if she had seen something terrifying, pointing a trembling finger at the tears streaming down his face. "How do YOU have those accursed things too?!"

She leaped to her feet and stomped his head deeper into the floor. "No one else is allowed to shed such tears except him!" Something had snapped. She was almost hysterical. Then, just as suddenly, she stopped. She crouched beside him, buried her face in her hands, and wept.

Three hundred years ago, a smiling young man with tears in his eyes surfaced from the deepest recesses of her memory.

She cried until, like a startled bird, she suddenly sprang up. Lee Kexter grabbed the girl she had bitten earlier, Chen Jing's ice-encased body, and Cheng Yao — who had been hiding in the wings, watching everything — and fled. In a few nimble leaps, she vanished into the night sky with all three captives.

Yi Fei used every ounce of his remaining strength to pull his head out of the broken floorboards. He stared at the empty stage and closed his eyes in agony. "In the end... I couldn't even keep Chen Jing's body..."

The police sirens chose that exact moment to wail into the night. Officers swarmed through the school gates. Under their direction, the stunned crowd began to slowly evacuate. Minutes later, the only things left in the auditorium were a collapsed werewolf sprawled on the stage and mountains of rubble.

* * *

"What the hell — couldn't find him anywhere, and now here he is without trying at all." Chen Hua walked toward the motionless wolf. "But Bloody Mary really went all out tonight. There were thousands of witnesses. How the hell are we supposed to contain this?" He rubbed his temples as the headache began to pound.

"I can't let them catch me. If I end up as a specimen, who will avenge Chen Jing? Who will save Cheng Yao?" Yi Fei's thoughts raced. He tried to regain some control over his body. "Dad always said — as long as there's a shred of hope, don't give up!"

He watched the officers draw closer. Then he remembered what Van Helsing had told him: abilities aren't unleashed through force but through the mind. Maybe every bone in his body was broken, but thank God — his brain was still intact. He reached for that familiar sensation, the one he had felt on top of the park when he kicked Zhang into submission.

Every muscle. Every bone. He focused his will. The damaged parts began to respond, just barely. "First, I need to get out of here." He channeled all his remaining spiritual energy into his legs. After a few seconds, he knew his legs could carry him home — barely.

Actions spoke louder than words. The officers were almost upon him. As they crouched down to inspect the wolf, Yi Fei exploded upward from the crater and fled the scene at supersonic speed.

Chen Hua, the foremost officer, reacted instantly. His hand shot up the moment Yi Fei moved — but to avoid blowing his cover, he forced it back down just as fast. To anyone watching, his hand had merely twitched. Yi Fei, however, saw everything.

"Fast reflexes. You're not ordinary either... I'll come find you." Before escaping, Yi Fei memorized Chen Hua's face completely. Watching the wolf's departure, Chen Hua felt a cold sweat trickle down his spine. That look in the werewolf's eyes told him he had just inherited a massive problem.

* * *

"So late, and Yi Fei still isn't back. Don't tell me he's spending the whole night with his little girlfriend." Wu Lei and Zeng Dan were at home, grinding their teeth with impatience. Just as Zeng Dan was about to give up and go to bed, they heard a heavy *thump* from the balcony — something had slammed against the door.

The two women exchanged a look, grabbed the nearest weapons — two plates — and crept toward the balcony.

They stood by the door, taking deep breaths. Wu Lei yanked it open. Zeng Dan hurled a plate into the darkness outside. It hit nothing. But Wu Lei, with sharper eyes, spotted the furry mass lying on the ground.

"Yi Fei?" The silver-furred wolf before them was matted with blood, fur clumping in disgusting knots. He was completely unconscious.

The two women scrambled to drag the massive creature inside. Wu Lei's eyes filled with tears at the sight of Yi Fei's ruined body. Zeng Dan, though panicked, kept her head — first they needed to clean his wounds.

After wiping his entire body clean, the women made a startling discovery: despite his horrifying condition, there wasn't a single open wound on Yi Fei! But looking at his dying state... was it all internal injuries?

Neither Wu Lei nor Zeng Dan had medical training. They couldn't tell what was broken inside him. So they just sat by his side, hoping he would wake up soon.

They stayed awake all night. The next morning, Yi Fei was still unconscious, but Wu Lei noticed his breathing had become more steady. She shared the good news with Zeng Dan, who was equally relieved. But Zeng Dan knew they couldn't just wait for him to wake up on his own. She decided to go out and see if a veterinarian might have some useful advice.

She told Wu Lei to watch over him carefully and call if anything happened, then left. Watch over him? What was there to watch? Wu Lei propped her chin on her hand and stared at the unconscious wolf.

She hadn't slept all night. After staring for a while, her eyelids grew heavy. She shook her head, fighting the drowsiness. She stared a little longer. Then the sandman won, and she slumped against the sofa, fast asleep.

* * *

Some unknown time later, Wu Lei was jolted awake by hot breath blasting against her face. Still groggy, she looked up — and instantly went wide awake, staring into a pair of blood-red eyes. The mouth before her was big enough to swallow her whole head.

"Hey, Yi Fei, you're awake... What are you doing?" She didn't dare move. She spoke timidly to the massive creature before her. But Yi Fei wasn't in his right mind. Ignoring her question, he simply stared at her skin, exposed above her nightgown, his gaze roving hungrily.

She sensed something was wrong. Her hand crept slowly toward the phone. Her fingers were nearly there when she froze.

Yi Fei was in heat? ...

[END OF CHAPTER 15]