Chapter 43: The Little Blood Clan in the Ancient Castle, Part 16

The entire banquet hall fell into a sudden, profound silence.

If the remarks from the vampire butler were a subtle expression of care and self-praise, then the werewolf leader’s words were a blatant attempt to belittle!

The three-headed dog stood dumbfounded. In its long canine life, it had never encountered such brazen provocation before! It was utterly humiliating!

All three massive heads barked furiously in unison, as if they wanted nothing more than to bite those men who dared compete for favor with it.

A chorus of barking suddenly rang in Yu Deng’s ears again, and a dull ache throbbed at his temples.

Wen Luo cast a sidelong glance at the foolish dog, coolly warning, “With all due respect, Cerberus, you’re disturbing the young master.”

Those words were a killer blow. The three-headed dog immediately hung its heads and fell silent, turning back to lick Yu Deng’s face in a show of subservience.

Yu Deng patted its head absentmindedly, glancing puzzledly between the men and the three-headed dog, wondering why there was so much resentment among them.

“All right, all right, enough noise,” Yu Deng said, sitting high atop the three-headed dog’s back. “I’m going down now.”

The dog whimpered reluctantly, unwilling to let the soft, fragrant little vampire leave.

But the men had been waiting for this moment. Anders, taking advantage of his height, reached out and lifted Yu Deng down gently, without requiring any effort from him.

After setting him down, Anders showed no mercy as he shooed the dog away. “Cerberus, the game is over. You can go home now.”

According to previous custom, after this dog had its fun here, it would return to hell contentedly, without lingering.

But this time, Cerberus refused to leave. It sat down obstinately, softly whining its desire to stay and continue playing with Yu Deng.

Yu Deng surprisingly understood its meaning. “Fine, but you have to behave.”

The dog nodded vigorously, wagging its tail happily.

Everyone else in the banquet hall stared in stunned silence.

They stared for several minutes, their shock turning into numb disbelief. Who had ever seen a three-headed dog act so utterly devoted?!

As for the other players, it was now absolutely clear that Yu Deng was not a player.

Seriously, what player could have such charm, surrounded by a pack of fierce NPCs acting like obedient dogs?

Meanwhile, Yu Deng was carried down, Wen Luo pushed aside the werewolf, and straightened Yu Deng’s collar.

The moment Yu Deng saw the butler, he remembered how he had been deceived and felt a bit wronged. “You said I could call you anytime if I ran into trouble, but you never came to help.”

Though the three-headed dog hadn’t harmed him in the end, he had been quite frightened at first.

“I’m sorry, that was my failure,” Wen Luo said softly, looking at the young master’s aggrieved face with tenderness. “After the game started, I wanted to come to you, but there was a barrier in this hall that prevented me from providing assistance immediately.”

Yu Deng was silent for a moment. “So there’s a barrier separating inside and outside?”

“Yes,” System 01 replied to his query. “Some tasks create a barrier upon activation to block interference, ensuring fairness.”

“Oh…” Yu Deng nodded in understanding.

The others in the banquet hall finally snapped out of their astonishment. Lady Claudia looked at Yu Deng and confirmed, “So the winner today is the young master?”

The witch nodded. “Yes.”

[Ding. Congratulations to player Yu Deng for completing the side quest: Cerberus’s Search Game. Points will be tallied at the end of the instance.]

[Congratulations to player Yu Deng for becoming the first-place winner of the game night and receiving the Hunter status.]

[Under the Hunter status, attack power and speed are greatly increased, effective immediately and lasting until dawn.]

Yu Deng blinked.

After the system’s announcement, his body suddenly felt much lighter, filled with a newfound strength.

He had entered the so-called Hunter state.

Apart from his rank changing, the other participants’ game results remained consistent with the order in which they were found.

The non-humans looked at the game rankings, then at the disheveled participants, and speculated anew. A werewolf shot a malicious glance at the player who had been masquerading as a duke.

“By the way, Your Grace, you were the third participant found and injured. Could it be that you’re a human in disguise?”

The duke covered his arm, where a chunk of flesh had been bitten off, his face dark. “Preposterous! I only said it looked frightening—who knew it would get angry?”

After that, he dragged another participant into the fray, and soon everyone exchanged barbed remarks back and forth.

Yu Deng listened to their veiled insults but couldn’t quite catch the subtlety, so he focused on pondering his Hunter status.

Should he choose a “prey”? If so, who?

Although the rules said the non-humans’ aggression would increase dramatically, Yu Deng felt he couldn’t bring himself to harm another player.

Besides, he couldn’t be absolutely sure who the players were.

“Young master, you seem troubled.”

Yu Deng looked up. “A little. I’m thinking about who I should hunt tonight.”

The players, recalling the last victim torn apart by the Hunter, suddenly fell silent and watched the victorious vampire young master tensely.

Unlike the players, Wen Luo stepped forward when he heard Yu Deng’s words. “If you don’t mind, I—”

Before the butler could finish, Anders interrupted, “I taste great. Hunt me!”

Qin Jun silently approached Yu Deng, gazing at him wordlessly.

The other players exchanged confused looks.

It was ridiculous, yet somehow perfectly reasonable.

They watched numbly as the terrifying survival game turned into a brutal competition, relieved that the vampire young master’s charm had drawn the NPCs’ attention.

The non-humans showed varying expressions. The last game night’s winning werewolf cast a jealous and greedy look, cryptically remarking, “A little master who’s never seen blood like you can’t fully utilize the Hunter role.”

Yu Deng glanced at the werewolf.

Before he could respond, Anders sneered coldly at the werewolf. “Only trash like you would pin your hopes on a sacrifice.”

Anders’ werewolf underlings eagerly supported his retort.

Really, this vampire young master was so stunning that it transcended racial grudges, even becoming the object of desire for their leader. The werewolf should stop dragging his underlings into his madness.

…

Yu Deng was surrounded and led away from the noisy banquet hall. Cerberus followed closely and squatted guard at the room’s door.

The little bats and crows looked at the huge dog. “...Hey, that’s our job!”

Cerberus grinned proudly, finally relieved after a night of pent-up frustration.

Yu Deng ignored the small animals and went straight to the bathroom. The butler had already prepared warm water for him. He stripped off his dusty clothes and sank comfortably into the bath.

“What should I do? I can’t bring myself to attack a player,” Yu Deng fretted.

[Follow your heart, host. The instance does not require the Hunter to kill anyone.]

Yu Deng immediately felt reassured. He ran through the candidates in his mind.

Basically, it was those three men—familiar to him and all special mission targets.

After much hesitation, Yu Deng finally chose Anders, who hadn’t yet completed his task.

Having made his choice, Yu Deng rose from the water and glanced at the mirror in the bathroom.

Though the instance had altered his appearance initially, he was still himself.

The only difference was the color of his eyes.

In this instance, his eyes were dark red, deepening in color when he used his power. Coupled with small fangs and wings, he looked more charmingly nonhuman.

All right, it was time to hunt.

Yu Deng’s small wings fluttered open, and with his speed boost, he flew out the window within seconds.

The small animals, still quarrelling in the shadows, blinked in confusion. “?? Where did the young master go?”

The young master had already arrived at Anders’ room.

The werewolf, apparently freshly washed, was shirtless with damp muscles glistening.

The werewolf leader looked at the suddenly appearing little vampire, his ears twitching as he smiled. “Good evening.”

Yu Deng tilted his head. “Good evening?”

Perhaps only Yu Deng, the Hunter, would receive such a warm welcome from his prey.

He slowly flew to Anders and stopped before him. “I’m going to hunt you, you know.”

Wait, if he wasn’t supposed to kill, what exactly was a Hunter supposed to do?

The inexperienced Hunter stared at the tall prey before him, lost in thought.

“It’s an honor,” Anders said, still holding a grudge over not feeding Yu Deng in the dining hall, and offered, “Hunter sir, would you like to try my blood?”

Yu Deng looked up.

“You’re sure to like it,” Anders coaxed the somewhat slow-witted little vampire.

“Although there’s some enmity between werewolves and vampires, the blood of a physically strong creature like a werewolf is very nourishing to vampires.”

Yu Deng recalled that.

“Ah, I’ve already tasted Qin Jun’s blood. It was quite good, but not exactly miraculous.”

Anders hadn’t bothered to learn the competitor’s name. He hesitated, then realized Qin Jun was the rival besides the butler.

“...” Anders ground his teeth in frustration.

Even that guy had used his blood to win favor with the little vampire. So, Yu Deng hadn’t bitten him yet?

“He’s not a top-tier werewolf bloodline,” Anders bitingly criticized his rival. “Only blood from someone like me, who can fully transform into their original form, is truly valuable.”

“Is that so…”

Yu Deng tilted his head back and nuzzled Anders’s neck, his nose twitching lightly.

The werewolf cooperated, lowering his head, muscles tensing, but ultimately unable to resist wrapping his arms around the beautiful Hunter.

Yu Deng’s fingertips pressed against the blood vessels beneath Anders’s neck through the skin.

It did seem delicious.

The werewolf’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he coaxed, “Try it. It tastes great.”

Yu Deng stared at him for a few seconds before opening his mouth and gently biting the skin on his neck.

Warm blood flowed out, not a drop wasted, all licked away by Yu Deng.

He didn’t consume blood roughly like other vampires. Instead, he sipped delicately, his fangs biting lightly.

Anders felt the subtle sting of the licking and gentle biting on his neck. His wolf tail rose high, trembling with excitement.