Chapter 39: The Little Vampire in the Old Castle 12

The dining room fell into a delicate and indescribable silence. Only the slightly heavy breathing of the vampire butler and the werewolf could be heard, along with their accelerating heartbeats.

For once, they reached a consensus—how could someone like Yu Deng even exist? Just a single word or a movement was enough to stir all their emotions.

They had barely known each other for long, yet Yu Deng could easily ignite the desire deep within their hearts, stripping them of their usual calm and reason.

Every time they got close to Yu Deng, every cell in their bodies would shriek, desperate for closeness, possession, and to win the favor of the pretty little vampire.

“...”

Yu Deng waited for a while, but seeing that neither of these guys made a peep, he urged them, “What are you standing there frozen for?”

As he spoke, Yu Deng gave the butler’s hand another gentle shake. “Wen Luo?”

Wen Luo was still standing upright and straight, but a trace of pleased amusement bloomed in his eyes. He turned his hand over to enclose Yu Deng’s palm, giving it a very light squeeze.

“Very well.”

Wen Luo took a seat right beside Yu Deng.

Anders sat on the other side, watching eagerly as Yu Deng chatted with the butler, completely ignoring him.

Unwilling to be left out, Anders simply dragged his chair closer to the head of the table.

When he was less than thirty centimeters away from Yu Deng, Anders’s wolf tail crept toward Yu Deng, the soft fur brushing against Yu Deng’s calf a few times.

Yu Deng’s attention was instantly drawn to the ticklish sensation, and finally, doing just as the werewolf wished, he lifted his leg and kicked him lightly.

“D-don’t pull any sneaky tricks!”

Instead of stopping, the wolf tail wagged even more happily.

The werewolf’s gaze burned. “But my treasure started it first.”

Wen Luo’s movements paused slightly. He glanced at the werewolf and also moved imperceptibly closer to Yu Deng.

Thus, when Yu Deng swallowed a small piece of steak and looked back up, he found the two men pressed extremely close to him.

Yu Deng: “?” That definitely wasn't the distance between them just a moment ago!

Showing no trace of anything amiss on the surface, Wen Luo asked with concern, “Little Master, is tonight’s food not to your liking? You seem to not care for it much.”

“Oh, it’s not that, I just don’t have much of an appetite.” The plate in front of Yu Deng was still almost full.

Though he claimed his appetite was poor, Yu Deng’s energy seemed quite good, his lips rosy and bright.

Wen Luo fed Yu Deng a few sweet-and-sour pieces of fruit, coaxing him, “Then would you like to drink a little more of my blood?”

Before Yu Deng could hesitate, Anders jerked his head up, finally registering what the vampire butler meant.

The vampire young master actually bit directly to drink blood!

He vaguely remembered that vampires feeding on each other’s blood seemed to carry a special meaning?

Unable to sit still any longer, Anders immediately volunteered himself, “I can do it too!”

“I’m very healthy.” Anders’s sharp brows ticked upward, his tone laced with a hint of temptation. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

Wen Luo said coldly, “There is no need to trouble Your Excellency with such matters.”

Yu Deng tilted his head, his gaze wandering between the two men.

The little bat belonging exclusively to Yu Deng had been hanging upside down from the ceiling for ages. Finally unable to watch any longer, it flew down in a blaze of fury and planted itself right in front of Yu Deng.

The little bat glared angrily at the two bad men, then rubbed against Yu Deng in a gesture of utter exasperation.

How could the little vampire have zero vigilance?! These men were just itching to devour him whole!

Yu Deng blinked and rejected the blood-drinking proposals from both the butler and the werewolf. “Forget it, I don’t really feel hungry right now.”

The hunger Yu Deng spoke of naturally referred to his craving for blood, which hadn't reached the point of genuine starvation yet.

The two men, who had been actively promoting themselves just a moment before, stopped at once and began competing to feed fruit to the young master instead.

Half an hour later, Yu Deng finished dinner and stepped out of the small dining room.

The moment he reached the outer corridor, he saw Qin Jun standing not far away with his arms crossed, though it was unclear how long he had been there.

The werewolf wore a dark overcoat, the fabric on his shoulders embroidered with complex dark patterns. Upon seeing Yu Deng in shorts, the man froze for a few seconds just like the others.

...Dressing so scantily, and hanging out with those two men.

Qin Jun strode forward. The black-haired butler looked coldly at Qin Jun, standing guard right beside Yu Deng.

The tall man ignored everyone else. Standing before Yu Deng, his handsome, profound face bore no obvious expression, his dark eyes pitch-black and heavy with a powerful sense of oppression.

Yu Deng instinctively took a step back and glared up at him. “What are you doing?”

Surely this guy wasn't about to say something unpleasant again, was he?

However, Qin Jun did not do that. He quietly looked at Yu Deng for a few seconds. Just before the other two men could lose their temper and erupt, he raised his hand and pressed his thumb against Yu Deng’s cheek, wiping away a stray speck of jam he had accidentally gotten on himself.

“You missed a spot.”

Yu Deng was somewhat surprised. “...Thank you?”

The man silently nodded, his gaze lingering for a moment on the patch of fair skin exposed on Yu Deng, before offering a compliment: “You look very beauty.”

With that, Qin Jun actually refrained from any further overstepping actions.

Even though reason had already been eroded by jealousy and anger, threatening to transform him into another terrifying beast, he was still awkwardly and painstakingly trying to learn how to win Yu Deng’s favor.

Yu Deng was somewhat surprised by Qin Jun’s improved attitude. Still, he couldn’t deny that receiving a compliment made his mood a shade brighter.

...

The nighttime ball was not yet over, but Yu Deng had no desire to return to the banquet hall to mingle with those non-humans and players.

After finishing dinner and observing for a bit from a balcony with an excellent view—confirming that the situation in the banquet hall was entirely under control—he returned to his room and took a comfortable, warm bath.

Reluctantly, Yu Deng began to ponder the tasks of this instance.

He roughly understood the main quest: survive various dangerous games while keeping his disguise intact. But today he had triggered a side quest... something about the past of the ancient castle and its mysteries? So, precisely when in the past was this?

When Yu Deng first heard about vampires and an ancient castle, his initial reaction was that the instance was set in medieval Europe. But after living here for the past two days, he realized that wasn't the case.

The people and objects in the castle were far more advanced than those of the middle ages, yet they hadn't reached the level of modern technology either.

However, instances might not have any connection to the real world at all; they could exist on an entirely unfamiliar timeline. After all, since they had already entered an infinite flow world where everyone could use magic, what was impossible?

As for what actually happened... Yu Deng thought about what he had learned from the butler and the werewolf over the past two days. Did it have something to do with the Holy See?

With a blank expression in his eyes, Yu Deng wondered if he should try tomorrow to figure out who the players were, and then untangle the complicated relationships among the three groups: vampires, werewolves, and witches.

It was too much of a headache; he’d just arrange it like that for now. Thinking for today ended right here! Any more thinking and his brain would start growing!

Yu Deng let out a long sigh and flopped face-first onto the bed.

Oddly enough, despite going through that intense brainstorm, he didn't feel sleepy at all. Instead, he felt slightly... wired?

After tossing and turning in bed for over an hour without a hint of sleepiness, he suddenly sat bolt upright.

[Baby, why aren’t you sleeping so late? You’ve been rolling around in bed like a little inchworm.]

[Wait? Turn up the brightness, you guys! Baby’s face looks way redder than usual, and his eyes are super bright.]

[I have a bold guess!]

[Could it be that the vampires in this instance have some kind of special season...?!]

Puzzled, Yu Deng reflected on his sleep quality, only to be interrupted by the electronic chime of System 01.

[Host, your energy progress has reached fifty percent and is now available for use.]

“Oh? Doesn’t that mean I can go try doing a task?”

Under normal circumstances, Yu Deng certainly wouldn't have been this proactive, but right now he inexplicably wanted to see the others.

Especially those few men whose "flavor" he suspected would be quite pleasant.

[Of course you can, if you wish to try.] System 01’s electronic voice was as steady as ever. [I will accompany you.]

Yu Deng scrambled up in one smooth motion, opened his personal space inventory, and after rummaging through the items he had bought before entering the instance, selected a restraint-type tool.

He incidentally checked his active skills and discovered he could cast just the dark mist effect without triggering the full binding, which would cut the cooldown time in half.

The small wings on Yu Deng’s back unfurled and flapped rapidly, lifting him up and carrying him out of his room.

He was setting out to go find some delicious little desserts.

Yu Deng didn't even realize that his little fangs had slid out, his mindset edging dangerously close to that of a true vampire.

The little bat in the room widened its eyes in shock: “??” Wait, where was the young master going in the dead of night?!

...

The night was fading.

In a guest room on a certain floor of the main building, a man stood by the window with no trace of sleepiness, gazing at the blood moon outside.

Suddenly, the wooden door of the room clicked open.

Whoever had opened the door used some sort of method to temporarily pin him in place. At the same time, a pitch-black, suffocating dark fog enveloped him.

Bat wings fluttered, and that slender figure swiftly flew up behind the man.

It was none other than Yu Deng.

Recalling the intimidation tactics from the previous instance, Yu Deng wrapped his slightly chilly arms around the man’s waist and deliberately lowered his soft voice: “Hah, the time to taste the dessert has arrived.”

With such a cool and dazzling entrance, Qin Jun was bound to be terrified!

Yes, the target Yu Deng had chosen for his task was Qin Jun.

Because Anders looked entirely too formidable in a fight, Yu Deng worried that unexpected complications might arise and he wouldn't be able to beat him. As for the butler, Yu Deng still remembered the odd phenomenon of the butler agreeing to something yet failing to complete the task.

After much deliberation, Yu Deng picked Qin Jun. Of course, since Yu Deng didn't yet know whether Qin Jun was an NPC or a player, he used the dark mist to slightly conceal his appearance, just as he had done in the previous instance.

Unfortunately, Qin Jun had already identified who had arrived based on the rich, sweet fragrance stirred up by the air currents.

Why would the little vampire come looking for him?

Barely managing to check his defensive reflexes, Qin Jun pulled back his weapon. Yet his muscles remained tense—this was the first time the little vampire had voluntarily hugged him, and he hadn't even let go yet.

Even-tempered and rational as he always was, Qin Jun couldn't suppress a distinct surge of joy blooming in his heart.

Yu Deng had no idea his cover was already blown. Lowering his voice further, he laboriously reached out to tap the back of Qin Jun’s neck.

“Dessert, if you don’t want to lose your life, you’d better behave.” Yu Deng threatened menacingly, “You have to submit to me and sign a contract, understand?”

Qin Jun felt as though a basin of cold water had been dumped over him, instantly wiping away the joy that had just flared up.

If Yu Deng only wanted him to play along, didn't that mean the gentleness and closeness he had experienced were merely because he still had value?