Chapter 214: The Vampire Count (Part 6)

Chapter 214: The Vampire Count (Part 6)

Jie Fangcheng felt his advice was exceptionally kind and considerate. After all, the butler can't die—what would happen to meals and cleanliness then?

The Count?

The Count couldn't care less; he doesn't do housework.

The butler across from him opened his mouth but seemed highly skeptical of this assertion.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You'll die."

"? Who would dare to kill me?"

Jie Fangcheng pointed to himself, "Me."

The butler opened his mouth, feeling it was an utterly absurd claim.

Although he wasn't a high-ranking vampire like the Count, serving as the Count's butler made him a figure of some importance among vampires.

And the guest before him was merely a human, just a human. How could a human dare to threaten a vampire?

Jie Fangcheng was all too familiar with the expression on the butler's face. He had often seen players make the same face in the limitless game "Do Not Answer."

Without another word, Jie Fangcheng slammed the scepter in his hand against the wall with a "thud."

The thick castle walls were indented with a large hole.

One had to admit that the Count's collections were of exceptional quality. Despite the powerful blow, the scepter remained intact.

Jie Fangcheng's swing was decisive. After that, he turned to look at the butler, who by now was stunned.

"Are you leaving now?"

Was there really any need to ask?

The butler stared blankly at him, then at the jewel-encrusted scepter in his hand. Without another word, he turned and fled.

Quite sensible, actually.

Jie Fangcheng was very pleased.

Besides the human-skin mannequin, the Count's collection room had other items that looked rather sinister. When it came to such things, Jie Fangcheng didn't hesitate to destroy them. There wasn't anything he couldn't smash, after all.

There were also some simple treasures, like gems. Though Jie Fangcheng had no use for them, he thought Professor Zhang might need them, so he left them untouched.

There was no need to pack them up right now; they could stay where they were. Once the Count was dealt with upon his return, the castle could be renamed. Wherever he decided to place the gems would be his own business.

Once he exited the instance, he had no idea what state Professor Zhang would be in.

If the professor ended up stranded in this miniature world, then wouldn't the castle and these jewels have fulfilled their intended purpose?

At this moment, Jie Fangcheng found himself almost looking forward to the Count's return.

There were some books with exquisite covers in the treasure room. Jie Fangcheng casually flipped through a couple but lost interest and tossed them aside.

While Jie Fangcheng was conducting a thorough inventory in the treasure room, Liu He and his team made a new discovery in the garden.

"Underneath each rose bush lies a corpse."

A fairy named Donna, who naturally had an affinity for plants, approached the stunningly beautiful roses, greeted each one, and quickly uncovered their secret.

Hearing her words, everyone looked up.

The castle's garden was vast, and perhaps because of the Count's fondness for roses, it was filled exclusively with roses, an endless sea as far as the eye could see.

If indeed there was a body beneath each rose, this place could hardly be called a castle—it would be more akin to a mass burial ground.

And not only that...

"At the center of the garden, there are ten newly planted rose bushes," said Donna, her expression somewhat grim.

Ten rose bushes, eleven players—this seemed to suggest something ominous.

The players exchanged glances, each silently wondering: Was this instance actually a competitive one? Did these ten rose bushes imply that one player among them could be spared?

How could one secure this exemption from death?

Just then, Liu He sneered, "I never thought there'd be such altruistic players in the world, willing to openly share such crucial information."

Liu He's words were unpleasant, but judging by the expressions on the other players' faces, many seemed to agree with him.

Ten rose bushes, eleven players—the implication of a competitive instance was evident. Why would this fairy named Donna reveal such critical information?

Although it's well known that fairies are a peace-loving race, this was still an instance; collaboration among players did occur, but usually only when personal interests were safeguarded.

Fairies were merely more pacifistic compared to other players. Donna's excessively "peaceful" actions made the others begin to question her motives.

Faced with all these suspicious glances, Donna felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her.

This was her second instance.

Donna had grown up in a magical world, in an elfin forest where she had never ventured outside.

The lifespan of fairies is long; Donna had lived carefree in the forest for three hundred years.

Yet the day after her three-hundredth birthday, a dark swamp appeared deep within the forest.

Now Donna realized that it was a precursor to the collapse of her small world.

But the fairies were unaware; they attempted to fill in the dark swamp as if their lives depended on it.

Exhausted, Donna fell from a tree and into the swamp.

When she opened her eyes again, she had entered the game as a player.

This place was incomparably larger than the elfin forest she knew; what was a vast forest in Donna's eyes was merely a small human-habitable area in a certain region here.

This world contained countless things Donna had never seen before, not just a myriad of strange machines but also an array of previously unheard-of races.

Ah, yes—the players here don't like to use the term "race;" they prefer the word "bloodline."

The Elven bloodline is ranked as a "High Bloodline," the seventh on the list. All elves, whether they are natural, light, or fallen, belong to the same bloodline.

Donna didn't particularly like this.

The fallen elves are traitors to the Elven race, and Donna, being a natural elf, harbors animosity towards them.

However, there was one thing in the game that greatly intrigued Donna, the elf.

The Elf King.

This "Elf King" embodies all that elves aspire to: she is as natural as the wilderness itself, gentle, eternal, yet also just and stern.

She is like a verdant Tree of Life, sheltering every elf who worships her.

Donna obsessively searched for information about this King on forums. She heard that the Elf King hasn't appeared for a long time and didn't fare well in the last "competition."

The Elf King has lived for an extended period, serving as the ruler of Zone C since the game's inception.

Even given the long lifespan of elves, the Elf King is now exceedingly old.

Donna longs to enter Zone C1 and serve under the Elf King.

Thus, after clearing her first newbie instance, Donna swiftly embarked on her second instance journey.

She had undergone evaluations; according to her abilities, a level two instance would be suitable, while a level three would be pushing it.

Especially since she had only lived in an elfin forest and belongs to the natural subrace.

Natural elves are inherently attuned to nature; they dislike combat and meat-eating, preferring dew and fruits from the Tree of Life. As a result, their combat experience is limited.

Donna is a quintessential natural elf. She had read many guides on the forums, many of which warned new players not to trust others in instances, lest they get tricked and killed.

However, Donna's first-level instance went very smoothly, and she even added her teammates as friends afterward.

Therefore, in this new instance, Donna still applied her first-level instance experiences to interact with other players.

Even when dealing with Liu He—she knew of the long-standing tensions between Zones C and D.

But without personal experience, an elf who grew up in the elfin forest only had a theoretical understanding of such conflicts.

Moreover, Liu He was clearly a human, and a very young one at that.

As an elf who had lived for over three centuries, she considered such young whippersnappers nothing more than naive children.

Donna didn't like Zone C, nor did she care for Liu He, but her compassionate elven nature understood the dangers within the instance dungeon. Therefore, she had no desire to quarrel with him there.

To her surprise, instead of receiving positive feedback when she openly shared the clues she had found, she was met with eyes full of suspicion.

Holding her breath, Donna curtly said, "Believe it or not," and stormed off.

After she left, Liu He went over to where the ten rose bushes were planted and started counting the number of roses.

Sure enough, there were ten.

As for Donna's claim that a corpse was buried beneath each rose bush, Liu He believed it.

He had a skill that allowed him to detect the scent of corpses, so he could sense whether the bodies buried beneath the roses were skeletal remains or freshly deceased.

The sheer number of bodies in the garden was so overwhelming that it made his skin crawl.

"What an idiot this elf is," he thought, "publicly revealing such crucial information. Now that everyone knows this is a competitive instance dungeon, won't they sabotage each other?"

If Liu He had discovered the clue, he would've kept it under wraps while subtly eliminating other players one by one.

"Elves really aren't the sharpest tools in the shed," he mused.

As he was pondering this, he caught a glimpse of Donna pushing open the castle doors and walking in.

Seeing no other clues in the garden except for the roses, Liu He touched the system backpack icon on his wrist, his eyes flickering. He then activated his stealth skill and followed her inside.

Unaware that she was being tailed, Donna began to explore the castle.

The ground floor consisted of a spacious hall. Despite it being daytime, the lack of windows in the castle made it quite dim inside.

Finding no clues on the first floor, Donna headed upstairs.

The moment she stepped onto the second floor, she froze.

What on Earth had happened here?

The castle was newly built; it should've been clean and orderly. However, not far from the staircase, Donna noticed a hole in the wall.

Had someone been fighting here?

As this thought crossed her mind, she heard a thud from the direction of the hole, as if something had been dropped.

Then a figure emerged, carrying a stick—no, not just any stick. It was a beautifully crafted scepter, adorned with exquisite gemstones. Clearly a valuable artifact, yet it was slung over the person's shoulder like a mere piece of firewood.

The individual, who could break a dining table with a slap, sauntered out wielding the scepter nonchalantly.

Upon seeing Donna, the person courteously greeted her.

"Here for clues, are you?"

Xie Fangcheng had a favorable impression of the elf and naturally struck up a casual conversation with her.

Donna paused, hesitant, wondering if there was an ulterior meaning to his words, just as he pointed to the room behind him.

"This is the Count's treasure chamber; don't touch the jewels, okay?"

“……”

There was no need for Xie Fangcheng to stress that; in this mini-world, jewels were useless to players. Even if one could take them out of this world, no player would have an interest in something so impractical.

Why did he specifically warn her about the jewels? Did they have some special value? What if she rummaged through them and caused some issue—would he get angry?

Donna's mind started racing.

Just as she was grappling with her confusion, Xie Fangcheng's gaze shifted to a seemingly empty space in the air.

"Ah, are you also here for clues?"