Chapter Fourteen: Gary. We Kill A Vampire By Breathing

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Here is Chapter Fourteen of Evils: The Other Four.

We All Kill A Vampire By Breathing
"The Jiang Shi is back," Sabina said.

"What's a Jiang Shi?" Hailley asked.

"A Chinese vampire," Sabina informed us. "An evil, heartless thing that deserves to die. It eats souls and can find you by the smell of your breath."

Shé hissed angrily, as though he sensed Sabina's pure hatred. After all, it wasn't exactly subtle.

Kyūri growled and jumped at the vampire, who easily dodged and slammed the little kappa into the ground.

"Kyūri!" I cried, running up to him.

"The Jiang Shi is even stronger than before," Sabina noted. "It's like joining the Ouroboros makes monsters stronger."

"Perhaps it would have been a good idea to get ourselves armed before we started the quest," Hana pointed out.

"Some of us came armed," Hailley said. She banged her staff on the ground, releasing a stream of bright green sparks that strangled the Jiang Shi. The vampire struggled emotionlessly for a few seconds before ripping them off. It sniffed the air and started moving straight toward Taylor.

Taylor struck with the thin blade of his Nordic Nerf sword. Gunner slammed the Jiang Shi with his wristbands, which apparently packed more damage than they looked. The Jiang Shi clearly felt the strike but stayed focused on Taylor.

"He's after us," I realized. "The Ouroboros wants New Level heroes."

Taylor's eyes widened, not in shock, but in calculation. The warrior of Tyr was making a battle strategy. "Breathe heavily, Hailley."

Hailley looked at him oddly but started gasping for breath. Just as Taylor held his own breath.

Of course. Sabina had said that the Jiang Shi finds us by the smell of our breath. And it was after the New Level heroes' breath, so having Hailley breathe heavily would lure the vampire to her.

The Jiang Shi was unfazed by the sudden disappearance of its prey. It probably sensed the New Level agricultural's breath since it started moving toward Hailley.

"Now hold your breath," I shouted before I started breathing heavily myself.

Sabina caught on as well. All four of us started panting and holding our breaths in turn, confusing the Jiang Shi. Taylor moved back a few feet. I figured he had another plan, so I followed suit. Hailley and Sabina moved with us as well, until the four of us were on opposite sides of Mount Penglai.

To get from one New Level hero to the next, the Jiang Shi had to break through the walls with a surprising amount of strength. Through one of the shattered walls, I saw Tia and Jun sneaking through the other side and meeting with Sabina and Taylor.

"Here, thought you might want these," Tia said, giving something to Sabina.

"Is that a pair of wings?" I asked.

"Yeah, try 'em on," Jun grinned.

Sabina attached the wings to her back and watched them unfurl and rush straight to the Jiang Shi. The wings sealed around the vampire, who struggled motionlessly for a few seconds.

I ran up to Sabina and looked at the wings that contained the Jiang Shi before I gave a last spiteful breath toward the vampire.