Volume 4: Hidden Battles – Chapter 149: A Twisted Existence

Chu Tianyu struck Fernandie continuously without saying a word. His blows weren’t very forceful, but with each impact, flesh met flesh, producing a loud thud that brought agony to his heart…
Indeed, Fernandie was truly suffering mentally at this moment. The physical pain paled in comparison to the humiliation and frustration he felt—feelings of shame he had never experienced before!
Yet, under the opponent’s seemingly relentless, methodical, and rhythmic attacks, he had no chance to counter or catch his breath. Every time Chu Tianyu finished attacking, just a second before he could retaliate, another strike would arrive as if on schedule, crushing all his preparations and moves in the bud, leaving him even no chance to transform. After several such repetitions, who wouldn’t feel humiliated and frustrated? Especially Fernandie, the proud God of Vampires!
What was most critical was that Fernandie didn’t even have the chance to shout for a pause—the word “stop” got stuck in his throat; he simply couldn’t utter it! Meanwhile, that annoying and cunning Eastern boy seemed far from satisfied and showed no intention of stopping.
At this point, after living for so long, Fernandie finally felt an urge to commit suicide. His self-proclaimed noble lineage as part of the highest tier of the food chain made it unbearable for him to endure such humiliation and helplessness!
His tears had dried, his heart was broken. Just as Fernandie gave up all hope and could only endure Chu Tianyu’s blows expressionlessly, he suddenly noticed that Chu Tianyu had stopped. He had already retreated hundreds of meters, his back firmly pressed against a large tree. Otherwise, given his state of mind and the severe beating he had suffered, he would have collapsed long ago!
Fernandie stared blankly at Chu Tianyu, who had stopped and was standing not far away. Unable to help it, he said something that would make Chu Tianyu mock him for life: “Why… why did you stop?”
“I’m sorry, but by our Chinese custom, I should call you an elder! However, I know vampires possess many special abilities—transformation, time manipulation, domain distortion, and so on. So, as a junior, I took the liberty of acting directly according to your ways!” Chu Tianyu said with a carefree smile.
“Was that what I meant?” Fernandie thought to himself, feeling aggrieved.

But he said aloud, “No one can outsmart the Proud God Fernando. There’s only one exception—power. Absolute, formidable power. You and I both know that. Though your attacks haven’t caused me much damage, every strike is delivered with pinpoint accuracy and just the right force, not a hint off! Are you a Chinese zombie? Otherwise, given your age, an ordinary Chinese cultivator couldn’t reach such a level!”
“The Proud God?” Chu Tianyu didn’t answer but asked back.
When the word was mentioned—something that used to excite and fill Fernando with pride—Fernando thought of the recent defeat and lost all enthusiasm. He simply explained calmly, “It’s nothing. I’m just an outlier among the vampires. I’m used to being alone, with no family background. After fighting a few of those self-important lords and princes, they didn’t even know my name, nor did I have any clan emblem or mark, so they just gave me a random title…”
Fernando put it simply, but Chu Tianyu could sense the weight behind the term “Proud God” from his tone. So he didn’t ask further and replied to Fernando’s earlier question, “Heh, if I were a zombie, you, an elder, would have known as soon as you smelled me!”
“Then… aren’t you the reincarnation of something? I know China has some kind of ritual for the rebirth of Buddhas…” Clearly, Fernando’s grasp of Chinese meaning and his fluency in speaking were still far apart.
“I’m not some reincarnation. My real age is only nineteen! And I’ve truly lived through nineteen years!” Chu Tianyu said calmly.
Fernando gasped in shock. He stared at Chu Tianyu in disbelief, unable to speak for a long time!
“No, I have to try again…” Suddenly, with a voice full of reluctance, Fernando vanished in an instant. Distortions spread around Chu Tianyu, as if the entire space was warping. The grass beneath Chu Tianyu suddenly grew lush, only to wither and turn to dust in an instant, only to be replaced by new sprouts—marking another cycle of life…
Chu Tianyu seemed to be standing atop a vortex of the world. He had expected this outcome. That old bat would definitely not give up and try again, whether to save face or defend his dignity and honor. A full-scale attack against him was inevitable this time.

Chu Tianyu remained completely unfazed. His true energy vibrated, rapidly forming a layer around his body that blocked out all spatial and temporal fluctuations. He was extremely confident—no matter what secret technique or supernatural ability it was, it couldn’t escape basic energy control. Thus, as long as it involved energy, he had absolute trust in the Zi Xu True Energy within him.

In fact, besides having confidence in the Zi Xu True Energy, Chu Tianyu also overlooked the Mo Long Energy that was directly integrated with his physique. If he hadn’t released the Zi Xu True Energy, and if Fernand’s so-called energy-manipulation attacks had hit his body, the pure energy counterattack capability of the Mo Long Energy might have caused the Old Bat, who was in his transformed state, to die instantly from blood loss!

…

Twenty minutes later, Chu Tianyu returned to the castle alone, looking relaxed. Ouyang Zi Yi and Li Rou quickly surrounded him, looking at him with concern, waiting for him to explain.

“How did it go?” After everyone sat down, Ouyang Zi Yi was the first to ask impatiently.

“He’ll rest outside tonight and can’t act for now. Let’s discuss anything important tomorrow night!” Chu Tianyu suppressed a smile as he described Fernand’s exhausted and weakened appearance after using all his ultimate moves.

Seeing Chu Tianyu’s expression, Ouyang Zi Yi understood what he meant and laughed, “Heh, he seems so mighty, but it turns out he’s not that great after all!”

Chu Tianyu shook his head and said, “That’s not the case. His abilities are definitely not much weaker than those of some so-called Norse god. The reason I was able to counter him at every turn is because his main attack methods and weapons rely on his exceptional control over space, time, and energy. And the kind of energy he uses is what we in China collectively call ‘Heaven and Earth Energy’!”

With this explanation, Ouyang Zi Yi suddenly understood. No wonder—compared to anything else, it was easy to explain. But if it came to Heaven and Earth Energy, it was hard to believe there was anyone in the world who could rival Chu Tianyu’s two dragon energy veins, hidden and integrated within his internal energy and physique…

“Tianyu, how did you know from the start that he could help us? And how did you even figure out the reason behind Sister Xin and the others’ disappearance?” Li Rou asked, puzzled. This question had troubled her for a long time, as she had experienced everything from the appearance of that strange man to the current situation alongside Chu Tianyu.

“Hehe, when I knew he could fly back then, I thought of that possibility. I wasn’t sure about his intentions or whether they were related to Sister Xin and the others’ disappearance. But later, based on his behavior and my instincts, I figured he probably had no ill intentions—just a passerby or a solitary spy. Especially considering his actions and the fact that his power was naturally incompatible with this place’s sacred energy, I confirmed his unusual identity. Yet, even in such a dire situation, he remained calm, clearly unafraid of this place’s sacred energy—so he must be a rather special vampire. That’s why I tried to test him!” Chu Tianyu replied.

“You said he’s some kind of supreme being, and he didn’t deny it. But with such great strength, why can’t he resist this place’s sacred energy? Even his flying ability disappeared. But from the expression on his face after checking Sister Xin’s room, it seemed he wanted to say it was vampires who took her away, yet he couldn’t explain why those vampires weren’t affected by this place! Isn’t that contradictory?” Ouyang Ziyi analyzed.

“Hehe, truly a top student from Peking University Law School—your reasoning is flawless. Hehe, Ziyi is almost exactly right! Yes, after our sparring earlier, he told me that his puzzled expression stemmed from this. In his view, no vampire should be strong enough to abduct someone silently—it’s basically impossible!” Chu Tianyu said.

“Since they’re not on the same side, has he agreed to help?” Li Rou suddenly interjected.

“Hehe, even if I don’t ask him now, that old man’s curiosity has been piqued too—he’ll definitely go all out to investigate this!” Chu Tianyu replied with a smile.

“You even promised to give them monkey wine! By the way, Tianyu, what exactly is the effect of monkey wine on vampires? Just by mentioning it, you’ve already piqued their interest!” Ouyang Ziyi teased.

“To be honest, I don’t know what its effect is either!” Chu Tianyu admitted honestly.

“What?” Ouyang Ziyi and Li Rou exclaimed in unison.

“Actually, back then when I followed my second master to find the Monkey Wine, he did mention something about its effects. He said this Monkey Wine has an extremely strong effect—ordinary people who drink even a little will be drunk for three days and three nights. And when I drank it for the first time, despite using my skills to counteract it, I still felt my blood boiling. It was truly amazing! I remember my second master also mentioning that certain cold and evil entities, on specific dark nights, need the Monkey Wine to undergo some kind of transformation and evolution! But as for whether it has anything to do with zombies or even vampires, I have no idea! Hehe…” By the end, Chu Tianyu could hardly hold back his laughter.

“So, you’re just trying to deceive people?” Ouyang Ziyi asked, also smiling, with a deliberate tone.

“What deception? I only talked about the Monkey Wine. From start to finish, I never said what effects it could have. If you put it that way, I’m really being wronged!” Chu Tianyu said with a laugh, feeling no sense of injustice at all.

“Yes, you didn’t say it directly, but every word you said carried an inducement, making that poor old man daydream endlessly. This is even worse than telling him directly what the effects are—it makes him imagine more! You’re really bad…” Even Li Rou beside him couldn’t stand it and laughed as she exposed him.

“Hehe…” Chu Tianyu smiled, showing an expression as if he couldn’t control what others thought.

At that moment, Fernandi, who was hanging upside down from a tree looking extremely depressed, sneezed several times. He looked around at the pitch darkness, sensing no cold wind, then muttered a few words before falling back into self-pitying deep thoughts…

In the early morning, as dawn was just breaking, Chu Tianyu was awakened by a special sound discovered by Fernandi outside. It was a code they had agreed upon yesterday. Glancing at Ouyang Ziyi and Li Rou, who were still sleeping beside him, he got up and left the castle.

Through a ray of golden morning light, Chu Tianyu finally saw Fernandi, who was “shouting loudly”!

“Huh? Aren’t you afraid of the sunlight?” Chu Tianyu asked in surprise.

Fernandi curled his lips slightly and said disdainfully, “What’s so special about sunlight? Another meaning of ‘Proud God of Vampires’ is ‘proud above the God of the Day’!”

Although Chu Tianyu understood what he meant, he found his description strange—“proud above the God of the Day”? It sounded awkward no matter how you heard it. Maybe it would sound better in French? Chu Tianyu thought to himself as he tried to justify it.

However, Chu Tianyu was immediately startled by Fernando’s next words. He said excitedly, “Haha, I stayed up all night yesterday and finally figured out the crux of the problem. It’s already difficult for vampires of ordinary strength to approach this castle, and only those above the prince rank can barely get in. Once inside, they’re too weak to do anything, let alone capture anyone—staying there for too long could even cost them their lives!”
“So you mean vampires above the prince rank have such strength?” Chu Tianyu interjected.
Fernando shook his head. “It’s not that simple. Even lords or even super-lords can’t move freely in such a castle. Even when I transform into a bat, I end up falling. Hmph, let alone them!”
“Then how did our people disappear mysteriously? It seems to me you’re implying that vampires did come to the room…” Chu Tianyu asked doubtfully.
“That’s right, there are signs that vampires were here!” Fernando said firmly.
“Then…” Chu Tianyu was confused.
“The situation I just described has only one exception: the ‘Crown of Divine Punishment’!”
“The Crown of Divine Punishment?”
“That’s right. It’s an ancient vampire legend—a dark chain cursed and punished by the gods. Its dark power is strong enough to resist any level of holy power! If someone can wear this crown, even an ordinary prince-level vampire should be able to handle this task!” Fernando explained.
After hearing this, Chu Tianyu didn’t ask any more questions but fell into deep thought. After a long while, impatient Fernando finally interrupted, “Hey, hey, kid, what are you thinking about?”
“Nothing much. I’m just wondering that if this Crown of Divine Punishment really exists and can withstand the castle’s holy power, then why would it just kidnap people instead of… Hehe, elder, I guess you didn’t come here just to rest after flying for a while, right? I won’t beat around the bush—you must already know the secrets of this castle, right?” Chu Tianyu snapped out of his thoughts and asked implicitly with a smile.
Fernando smiled awkwardly and said sheepishly, “Hehe, I just heard some rumors recently, so I came to take a look. I didn’t expect such strong holy power to exist here. It seems the rumors about some sacred object or treasure being locked up here aren’t baseless after all!”

As he spoke, Fernandi suddenly changed the subject and said, “But don’t worry now. As long as you’re here in this castle, I definitely won’t have any such thoughts or intentions! Hehe, I really wonder what those who want to take control of this place will look like and what expressions they’ll have once they know about your existence as a pervert. Haha, I can’t wait to see the chaos!”
Chu Tianyu smiled and said, “You’re too modest, senior. I still need your help with something—could you try to track down that vampire? Although the situation is complicated right now, their motive must still be the things here. But what’s most important right now is the safety of our friends who have been taken captive! And it was a vampire who took them. If anything happens to them… well, their fate is truly unpredictable.”
By the end, Chu Tianyu also showed a hint of helplessness. Fernandi, without hesitation, stepped closer to him, patted his shoulder, and comforted him, “Don’t worry, young man. With your handsome big brother Fernandi here to help, I guarantee we’ll find that guy!”
“Really?” Chu Tianyu asked.
At that moment, Fernandi showed another look of rolling his eyes and looking around.
“No problem. I promise I won’t skimp on a single drop of that monkey wine for you!” Chu Tianyu said with a smile.
“Alright, deal. I trust you won’t trick your brother, haha. But let me make it clear upfront: I’m only responsible for helping you find that little bat. As for whether your friends are alive or dead, or where they’re hidden, that’s not my responsibility!”
Hearing this, Chu Tianyu’s expression turned serious. He gazed into the distance and said coldly, “If anything happens to them, those vampires here can prepare for extinction!”
Fernandi shuddered at hearing this. A sense of chill arose in his heart because he knew this man definitely had the power to say such things!