Chapter 1757
Chapter 1757
It wasn’t long before the trio arrived at the well.
Pointing at Fane’s corpse—that was now lying on the ground—Gerald then said, “Please have a look at
this corpse, Old Flint! Something attacked him yesterday before tossing him down the well!”
Upon seeing the corpse, the shocked Ray then shouted in disbelief, “…I-isn’t that Fane, Mr. Crawford?
We just met him yesterday! How could he die so abruptly?”
Not even bothering to answer Ray’s question, Gerald simply kept his gaze on Old Flint.
Old Flint himself simply stared at the corpse, clearly analyzing it. After a short period, he then said, “…
This is the work of feral vampires!”
“Feral vampires?” repeated Gerald, surprised by Old Flint’s answer.
“Indeed. Only their kind would have such sharp ws that could easily kill. What more, if you pay
closer attention, you’ll be able to see bite marks on his neck! It can only signify that his blood had been
sucked up!” exined Old Flint.
“So, what you’re saying is that there are feral vampires in the forests around us? Why weren’t we
attackedst night instead?” asked Gerald.
Seeing that Gerald was rather doubtful about his im, Old Flint then replied, “That’s because the feral
ones are afraid of fire. We had a bonfire burningst night, remember? That’s why the feral vampires
didn’t go after us. My guess is that this Fane person must have gone out in the middle of the night.
Seeing that they couldn’t target us, the feral vampires must have gone after him instead!”
Old Flint’s deduction made sense to Gerald, so he bought his words. To think that all this had been the
work of feral vampires!
Whatever the case was, Old Flint then added, “We mustn’t linger around for any longer. We have to set
off immediately!”
Watching as Old Flint then turned to leave, Gerald took one final nce at Fane’s corpse before
following Old Flint together with Ray.
Once they were back home, they quickly packed their stuff and silently left the vige. After all, if the
vigers knew that they were leaving under such short notice, they’d surely attempt to stop Gerald and
his party.
Regardless, after walking for a bit, they eventually managed to enter the old forest deep in the
mountain…
Now enshrouded by trees, the group remained vignt as they slowly proceeded.
While walking on, Ray couldn’t help but ask, “…What do feral vampires even look like, Mr. Crawford?”
Hearing that, Gerald wasn’t too sure how to reply. After all, he had never personally met a feral vampire
either. With that, he then turned to look at Old Flint before saying, “Not a clue. Do you know what they
look like, Old Flint?”
“Feral vampires have particrly sharp fingernails that can easily tear through human skin, not unlike a
predatory animal’s ws. They’re also reliant on and enjoy drinking blood, so much so that they have a
keen sense toward blood!” exined Old Flint.
Now understanding that they required blood to live, Ray then asked, “…If they’re as scary as you say,
then why are we even looking for them?”
Hearing that, neither Gerald nor Old Flint responded. Only Gerald and the old man were allowed to
know the reason for now, and until they arrived at the vampires’ territory, the remaining trio wasn’t
going to get a clear exnation about their mission from either of them.
Until then, the trio simply had to focus on helping Gerald and Old Flint remain vignt against surprise
feral vampire attacks.
Not long after, the group was able to hear rather loud rustling from within the trees. Stopping in their
tracks, Gerald and the others immediately heightened their vignce!
Secondster, a group of people—who were dressed in clothing that made them blend well with their
surroundings—rushed out from the trees before quickly surrounding Gerald’s party!
Chapter 1758
“…Who are these people, Mr. Crawford?” whispered Ray as Gerald shook his head, a deep frown on
his face. Quite frankly, he had no idea who they were either.
Following that, a man with a buzz cut stepped forward, staring at Gerald and his group before asking,
“Who are you people?”
“Kind sir, we’re merely merchants who are here to have some fun!” replied Gerald.
“…Merchants you say? Out here in the middle of nowhere? Who are you trying to fool?” retorted the
man as he red at Gerald.
Property of N?)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
“You’re free to choose not to believe us. Regardless, what are you and your men doing all the way out
here?” replied Gerald.
“We’re here to look for the vampires’ territory!” dered the man with the buzz cut, not seeing a reason
to lie.
“…Oh? You’re here to look for their territory as well?” replied Gerald in surprise. To think that these
men had the same goal as he had!
“Hmm? So, you’re saying we share a goal?” said the man as he signaled for the rest of his men to
lower their weapons.
“Well then, if that’s the case, allow me to introduce myself! I go by Lech Zak, and I’m the leader of my
team!” said Lech as he stretched his hand out.
Hearing that, Gerald then returned a firm handshake as he replied, “Gerald Crawford!”
Following that, Lech then said, “Didn’t expect to bump into other teams looking for the vampires’
territory as well!”
Nodding in agreement, Gerald then turned to look at Old Flint who had been standing behind him.
Seeing that the old man wasn’t showing any response, Gerald was instantly relieved. After all, this
meant that Old Flint didn’t have too much animosity toward Lech and his subordinates.
With that in mind, Gerald then turned to face Lech before asking, “Do you know where exactly the
vampires’ territory is located?”
Retrieving a map from his pocket, Lech then spread it out for Gerald to have a look.
“We’re currently here, you see, and the vampires’ territory is within this mountain. With that in mind,
we’ll need to dig our way into their territory!” exined Lech.
Hearing that, Gerald could instantly tell how well-prepared Lech and his subordinates were.
Regardless, since both parties were looking for the vampires’ territory anyway, they figured that they
may as well just work as a team.
With that, after a short rest, the two groups then resumed their journey.
Eventually, they finally arrived at the area where they had nned to start digging.
“This is it, Gerald!” eximed Lech as he waved his hand at his team members—who were following
behind—, indicating that they had arrived.
Chapter 1759 With that, Lech and his teammates retrieved their shovels—along with any relevant
equipment—before starting to dig the earth beneath them.
“You guys keep an eye on things while we dig! Let’s get our well-deserved rest once we make it to the
other side!” said Lech.
Knowing that it wasn’t easy to dig out a passageway and that it would be some time before Lech and
his men were done, Gerald naturally had no objections.
After nodding in agreement, he then returned to his own party to start keeping watch.
Seeing that Gerald had returned, Ray then asked in a slightly worried tone, “…Do you trust these
people, Mr. Crawford…?”
Understanding where Ray wasing from, Gerald then replied, “Don’t worry, I can sense that he’s a
righteous man!”
Upon hearing that, Ray’s worries quickly subsided. After all, he trusted Gerald’s judgment.
“What about you, Old Flint? What do you think about Lech and his men?” asked Gerald as he turned to
look at the old man who was sitting close to them. Throughout their journey, Old Flint had remained
strangely quiet…
Regardless, the old man simply replied, “We’ll have more help with an additional team. There’s safety
in numbers!”
Hearing that, Gerald then nodded in agreement…
After two hours, a loud sound could be hearding from where Lech and the others had been
digging. Guessing that Lech and his men had managed to dig out a passageway, Gerald and his party
quickly ran toward the sound.
As they had guessed, a giant passageway was now visible for all to see… With how dark it was inside,
it was pretty much impossible to tell what was down there…
Regardless, Gerald and his party were just in time to see Lech ordering his men, “You two! Get in there
and scout ahead! If you find that anything’s amiss, get out immediately!”
“Copy that!” replied the two men as they switched their shlights on and began walking into the newly
formed passageway…
Reappearing minutester, the two men then reported, “Everything’s normal inside! We can go
through!”
“Excellent! Still, please be careful, everyone! Don’t move around recklessly and always keep a lookout
for your team members!” dered Lech.
“Loud and clear!” yelled everyone in response.
“Come, Gerald! Let’s head in together!” said Lech as he looked at Gerald.
Hearing that, Gerald nodded slightly before entering the passageway by Lech’s side, the rest of
Gerald’s party following closely behind them.
Once inside, they soon saw all sorts of colorful paintings on either side of the stone walls. From how
primitive they looked, one could easily guess that these paintings had been here for ages…
“…Can you discern anything from these paintings, Old Flint?” asked Gerald as he curiously turned to
look at the old man.
After looking for a while, Old Flint then replied, “…The pictures describe the history of the vampires’
development in ancient times! It very clearly describes the start of their species up till their eventual
decline! With that in mind, I can safely say that we’ve made it into the vampires’ territory!”
Chapter 1760
Upon hearing that, Gerald and the others were pleasantly surprised. After going through so much
effort, they had finally managed to enter the vampires’ territory!
“…However, the fact that those corpses were found dead like that… It can only mean that some
vampires are still alive! They’re incredibly dangerous opponents, so please be careful, everyone!”
added Old Flint.
Vampires in general were an independent race that almost never had contact with people from the
outside world. It definitely exined why they resented those from the outside world so much. It was
also the reason why they usually attacked any non-vampires on sight.
It certainly didn’t help that vampires were naturally fast and could easily kill any number of people they
wanted.
“Not to worry, sir! All of us are experts at fighting, so we aren’t to be trifled with either! With that in mind,
I believe that the vampires won’t dare to act all unrestrained on us!” replied Lech in a confident tone.
Upon hearing that, Old Flint gave no reply…
Regardless, after about ten minutes of walking, everyone finally made it out of the passageway that
spanned at least a few hundred feet. Though they could’ve made it across much faster had they
wanted to, they had taken their time while walking across since all manner of sharp gravel were
scattered throughout the area. With that in mind, they were all honestly d that they had thick-soled
shoes on…
Either way, at the end of the passagewayy a gigantic hall… In the middle of the hall, was a wheel of
sorts that only served to add to the area’s strangeness and mysteriousness…
After looking around, the astonished Ray couldn’t help but say, “Color me surprised! To think that such
arge pce-like ce would exist up here in the mountains!”
True enough, this ce was muchrger than the tomb they had seen in Ghost Country. With that in
mind, it appeared that the vampires were extremely powerful…
Whatever the case was, the others then began curiously inspecting their surroundings… Gerald himself
—as well as a few others—immediately went for the wheel in the middle of the room…
Looking at the wheel, Ray then asked, “Any idea what this wheel symbolizes, Mr. Crawford?”
Before Gerald could even reply, Old Flint exined, “That’s the vampires’ Wheel of the Sun and Moon!
They use it to calcte time!”
“Calcte… time? Why would they require such a big wheel just to calcte time?” asked Ray.
“Oh, they didn’t use it to calcte regr time. Instead, the wheel calctes when they need to
replenish their blood!” replied Old Flint, instantly causing a chill to run down Ray’s spine.
As it turned out, the vampires used this wheel to calcte when exactly they needed to suck fresh
blood, and the thought of it alone was honestly spine tingling…
At that moment, one of Lech’s team members could be seen stretching out his hand to grab what
seemed to be a pearl—that was embedded on one of the stone walls—as he shouted, “Hey captain,
there’s a pearl here! I’m sure it’ll sell for a lot!”
Upon realizing what was happening, Gerald instantly yelled, “Don’t pluck it off the wall!”
Unfortunately, Gerald was toote.
The team member had already taken it off the wall, and he was now looking at Gerald in bewilderment,
wondering why he was getting so worked up about the pearl in his hand.
Before anyone could react any further, a thunderous sound could suddenly be heard!
Turning to face the source of the sound, everyone’s eyes widened in horror when they realized that a
massive stone had fallen andpletely blocked the pce’s entrance!
“Everyone, duck!” shouted Gerald as he instantly pushed Old Flint and the rest of his party members to
the ground.
The second his sentence ended, countless arrows began shooting out from the surrounding stone
walls!
Sadly, some of Lech’s team members weren’t quick enough to react, which led to them getting pierced
by volleys of arrows! Soon enough, those members flopped to the ground, dead and lying in their own
pools of blood…
For those who managed to duck in time, none of them dared to even raise their heads, afraid that
arrows would pierce right through their skulls…
Nobody could’ve anticipated there to be such a death machine in this ce…