Chinese vampires were creatures of yin force - the cold, dark essence of death. They were naturally drawn to the yang force in human blood - the warm, vital energy of life. It was the most fundamental law of our world: yin seeks yang, death hungers for life.
Yet here was this golden horror, ignoring two bleeding Mourners to pursue me specifically. This wasn't just bending the rules - this was straight-up cheating!
I didn't have time to ponder the unfairness as the golden blur lunged for me. I rolled away desperately, but not quite fast enough - razor-sharp claws raked my leg, leaving deep gashes. The pain nearly made me scream.
"The white silk!" I shouted in desperation. "Use the white silk!"
The Yin Walkers responded instantly, their sacred sashes flying out to wrap around the corpse's waist. "Break its spine!" one roared.
The wounded Mourners threw themselves on top of her, trying to pin her down despite their injuries.
"Don't you know the Star-Kicking technique?" I yelled.
"If I knew that legendary move, would I be risking my life for this pittance?" one Mourner snarled back. "Stop yapping and get the binding rope!"
I cursed inwardly - what kind of Mount Wu Mourner didn't know their sect's signature technique? But there was no time for criticism. I scrambled toward the fallen Corpse Handler, untying the binding rope from his waist. In the dim emergency lighting, I saw the gaping hole in his neck, his clothes soaked crimson. I quickly tore off a strip of cloth to bind his wound, pressed his hand against it, then grabbed the rope and ran.
I'd barely taken two steps when a thunderous crash made me look up. The female corpse had thrown off both Mourners like rag dolls and snapped the Yin Walkers' silk sashes like thread.
Those glowing green eyes fixed on me with terrifying intensity.
Ice ran down my spine as understanding dawned. Grandfather had always said I was born bearing sins, marked by both the living and the dead. When I was an infant, a white-haired flying vampire had tried to drain my pure yang essence. Grandfather had protected me for eighteen years, never leaving my side.
Now, just two days away from home, and here I was - facing another creature of death that craved the powerful yang force flowing through my veins. That explained why she ignored fresh blood - why settle for ordinary life force when a feast of pure yang essence was before you?
One Corpse Handler lay critically wounded, the other had vanished. The Yin Walkers cowered in the shadows. The Mourners lay broken and bleeding.
I held the binding rope, but looking around, I knew no help was coming.
This was my first real confrontation with a Chinese vampire. Compared to this, Xiao Yan'er on her tree had been positively docile - at least she'd just hung there making scary faces.
Taking a deep breath, I shouted with far more bravado than I felt: "Come on then! You want my yang essence? I'll destroy you first!"
"Think you're so tough, Miss Golden Immortal? I'll seal your nine orifices with cinnabar! Cut off your death-force! Come at me!"
I was all bluster and wild gestures, but inside I was seething. Yes, the Golden Immortal Corpse was powerful, but its transformed skin meant it could only interact with the world through its nine bodily orifices. If we'd worked together, opened the coffin properly, we could have sealed those orifices with cinnabar, neutralizing its connection to the death force. It would have become just another museum piece.
Too late for that now. I knew the method, but what could one person do? All I could hope was that my false confidence might give her pause.
But she was too drawn to my pure yang essence to be fooled. As she rushed me again, I threw caution to the wind and charged to meet her with the binding rope.
I'd barely covered half the distance when a grunt caught my attention. A dark figure had appeared from nowhere, a red cord whipping out to loop around the vampire's neck.
The corpse went down, but her claws slashed at the newcomer. The figure moved with incredible speed, vaulting onto her shoulders and locking his legs around her neck. With one brutal twist - CRACK! - her head spun a full hundred and eighty degrees.
I gaped in amazement. How had he neutralized her so easily?
Against a normal Chinese vampire, a broken neck would have been the end. But the Golden Immortal's hardened flesh and muscles meant she could move without skeletal support.
Still, she clearly recognized she was outmatched. With an inhuman roar, she scrambled away on all fours, face still backward, and vanished up the stairs. Panicked screams echoed from above, then silence.
The Golden Immortal had fled.
As I processed this, the figure turned on me with a snarl: "You little bastard! Who told you to come here?"
My heart leaped - it was Third Uncle!
The lights flickered back on, revealing his thunderous expression as he surveyed the carnage. "BOSS TANG!" he roared.
Burly men rushed in with torches and gasoline cans. Behind them crept Tang, who blanched at the bloody scene and quickly ordered his men to call for medical help.
"Master He," Tang said, his tone suddenly obsequious, "that thing fled the villa."
"Anyone hurt outside?" Third Uncle asked, barely containing his rage.
Tang shook his head quickly. "No injuries. But in broad daylight - surely the sun will..."
"You fool!" Third Uncle cut him off. "This is a Golden Immortal! Her pores were sealed with gold powder in life. Only her nine orifices connect to the death realm - sunlight can't touch her!"
He checked the victims' wounds while continuing his tirade: "Useless, all of you! You call yourselves exorcists? You couldn't even recognize a human-skin coffin! If I had your lack of skill, I'd have killed myself out of shame long ago!"
The other practitioners hung their heads like scolded children. When someone saves your life, you can't really argue back.
Only Tang seemed unperturbed. "Come now, Master He. Everyone has their price. These men learned their arts to make a living - why else study such dangerous skills?"
He grinned. "Say... could you catch that thing for me? Three million yuan, flat rate!"