Chapter 55: The Little Vampire in the Ancient Castle 28

The Vampire Prince spoke with utmost seriousness, and Anders in his wolf pup form howled with equal solemnity.

Yet... harboring malicious intentions?

Yu Deng was thoroughly baffled. He looked up at Wen Luo, trying to find a different reaction from the butler.

Noticing the young master's gaze, Wen Luo slightly inclined his head and gently advised, "They are right. You must see through those people's true faces. They might have ill intentions."

Yu Deng was perplexed: "?"

However, in the normal timeline, aren't these exact guys the ones who are always kissing him?

Aside from sometimes kissing him a bit too hard and occasionally causing a little pain when they messed with him, they were actually pretty decent in other aspects.

They could barely be considered obedient, well-behaved puppies.

He looked at one and then the other, unable to help asking, "Why are you... cursing yourselves?"

Ronald: "..."

Wen Luo: "."

Anders: "...?"

The three non-human beings fell into a long silence before finally understanding what was going on.

—The baby had come from another timeline and had already interacted with them from those other periods, which explained why the baby's attitude was so natural and affectionate.

There was no one else; it was just themselves.

But thinking about it this way, they were, at best... a thing of the past.

The moment they realized Yu Deng's affection stemmed from some unknown version of themselves in some obscure corner, and that these rival competitors had seemingly already succeeded, they felt even more annoyed.

So the future version of themselves had been living such a happy life—just how much advantage had they taken of the baby?!

Yu Deng had no idea these guys were feeling jealous of themselves. He scratched at his shoulder blades and frowned delicately, "My back feels a little itchy."

Could it be that his little wings were growing back out again?

Yu Deng kept this posture for only a short while before his arm grew sore, so he simply turned around, presenting his back to the men.

Under their burning gazes, Yu Deng pulled his clothes down slightly, immediately exposing the snowy expanse of skin around his shoulder blades to their view.

The souls of the male non-human beings were practically hooked away.

Yu Deng petulantly ordered them, "It's itchy, scratch it for me. I don't want to move."

The wolf pup dazedly wanted to reach out with his tongue to lick, only to be pushed away by Ronald with a dark expression.

In the bedroom, the snarls of a wolf suddenly rang out, accompanied by the impatient whir of vampire bat wings.

"Don't fight!" Yu Deng reprimanded them with displeasure. "You said you'd listen to me... hurry up and help me first."

The room grew quiet once more. Meeting Yu Deng's innocent gaze, the men realized that the slow-witted little vampire completely lacked their anxiety and vexation.

The Vampire Prince silently reached out to massage Yu Deng's left shoulder, while Wen Luo unassumingly occupied the other side. The wolf pup, a step too late, simply sprawled across Yu Deng's lap, licking and nuzzling him.

The scene was once again bizarrely and silently harmonious.

"Why are you guys looking so dejected?"

Yu Deng looked at their gloomy and depressed expressions, his tone light. "Anyway, when I open my eyes again, won't I still be seeing you?"

...

The normal timeline of the dungeon.

The shaking of the ancient castle grew increasingly violent, and the NPCs became more and more restless. The players participating in the special game finished their tasks and were utterly shocked to see the castle's transformation the moment they came out.

They had merely completed a side quest, yet the world had turned upside down? Which high-tier player was showing off their skills?!

[Dungeon data corruption detected... Dungeon entering abnormal state... Parameters adjusting...]

The players looked at each other in dismay and soon received the dungeon broadcast.

[Ding. Attention players: Players who have completed four or more games are considered to have met the dungeon clearance requirements and will be forcibly evacuated from the dungeon in ten minutes.]

[Players who have triggered hidden side quests may choose to remain in the dungeon at their own risk.]

[If any players fail to meet the conditions for leaving the dungeon, they may choose to survive in the feral castle for one day, after which they will be considered cleared, or they may choose to vie for other players' clearance quotas.]

The electronic voice of the final broadcast faded. Little Gao and Fatty, who had just emerged from the game and happened to meet the clearance requirements, hadn't even had time to celebrate before they froze in shock.

Damn it! Did the last option mean they could kill each other? The dungeon was up to no good again!

They grew alert. There were only five players left alive in the dungeon now, two of whom had triggered hidden tasks, leaving just one more...

Swish—!

A sharp, concealed weapon flew in from afar, locking onto Fatty's throat.

Fatty whipped his head around and saw that the person attacking him from the shadows was a player disguised as a Vampire Duke. Fatty had accidentally seen him before; this player had even harassed the little vampire master and was clearly no good.

"Hey, Fatty, don't just stand there, dodge!"

The hidden weapon was close at hand. Fatty dropped to the ground, but the weapon actually curved in mid-air, about to pierce him in the blink of an eye. Reflexively, Fatty used his most precious mirror prop.

Bang! The player playing the duke was caught off guard and struck down by his own hidden weapon, quickly losing his breath.

[Ding, ten minutes are up. Players who have met the clearance requirements will now be teleported.]

Until the two players were teleported out of the dungeon, they never found out where the big shot causing all this commotion was—Yu Deng was still stuck in the past timeline and hadn't returned yet.

...

The top floor of the castle.

The reverse-retrocession magic array had already been drawn.

Ronald could clearly feel the changes in the power within his body, and Wen Luo and Anders sensed subtle changes as well.

They knew that Yu Deng was making changes in the past.

Naturally, they also felt a subtle resonance when their past selves interacted with Yu Deng.

Presumably, once Yu Deng returned to the correct timeline, the extra memories from the past would become complete and clear.

"Is this it?"

Qin Jun walked through the half-collapsed wall, standing unflinchingly before the several bosses.

His coat was somewhat disheveled from the battle, and in his hand he held a brilliant golden gemstone just obtained from the side quest, along with a tracking and positioning prop purchased from the system store.

"Mmm."

The Vampire Prince snapped out of his thoughts, nodded faintly, and placed the gemstone in the center of the magic array.

This was the key to activating the reverse-retrocession magic, yet it could only be acquired by someone who had infiltrated the castle.

The prince's expression was unfathomable. "Thank you for helping my little vampire find the array catalyst."

"No need to thank me. He is the person I cherish most, and this is what I should do for him," Qin Jun said coldly. "Besides, I will be able to see him again in the future, and we will be even closer."

...Though that was merely his guess.

The non-human beings in the room almost couldn't hold back from attacking, but the magic array had already been activated, so they忍ed and waited in silence. On the ground, the light of the magic array grew increasingly intense, and the crow squatting on the windowsill let out a hoarse caw.

The golden light swirled like a vortex. As the crow's cawing stopped, a slender figure appeared within the vortex of light.

It was Yu Deng, returning from the past.

The memories of the non-human beings spending time with Yu Deng in the past also became clear as he returned.

The joy of recovering what was lost overwhelmed their emotions.

"Baby, you're back."

In the center of the magic array, Yu Deng suffered from dizziness once again. He forced his eyes open, his small face lacking color: "Uncomfortable..."

Immediately, four men eagerly crowded around.

The black-haired butler closest to him seized the opportunity to catch him in his arms. The other men dared not compete while the little vampire was feeling unwell, and could only regretfully hover nearby, giving him ingratiating massages.

Yu Deng took a moment to recover before opening his eyes again.

The castle was evidently plunged into chaos, with cracks running across the walls everywhere. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the smashed coffin, only to find that it had inexplicably restored itself to its original state.

Dizzily, Yu Deng lifted his head, his voice soft and light: "Actually, I still don't quite understand..."

The amount of information was simply too overwhelming; his thoughts were spinning. Moreover, some things were not entirely clear to the men from the past.

He looked at the men before him: "Explain it to me clearly again."

No one could resist Yu Deng when he acted coquettishly.

The Vampire Prince glanced at Qin Jun, who was guarding Yu Deng's side, and considering the gemstone, chose not to expel him, simply treating him as if he didn't exist.

He sorted the information concisely and began to describe it to Yu Deng.

"Baby already knows that the crystal contained power, which initially helped us increase our strength. But later on, it no longer directly increased our power; instead, it transformed the castle, lured humans to come and seize the crystal, and prompted us as to whether sacrifices existed."

Sacrifices? Weren't those what the NPCs called the players?

As the prince paused, Wen Luo picked up the thread.

"Little master, do you know why humans were called sacrifices?"

Yu Deng struggled to keep up with the train of thought: "Those humans could... enhance you?"

"Yes, hunting these humans within the castle's perimeter can enhance our power," the black-haired butler stated.

One only needed to kill a fragile human to become stronger, so everyone began looking forward to finding more such humans.

Under the crystal's guidance, they learned that these sacrifices appeared once every three years, and the power gained from killing them could only last for three years, which naturally made the banquet interval three years.

The power obtained this way was like an addiction, enticing one to plunge into the abyss, repeating over and over, sinking deeper and deeper, impossible to break.

Even centuries later, long after the Holy See had declined, they remained obsessed with this so-called revenge carnival.

Yu Deng's eyes widened as he said blankly, "Doing this... they aren't even within the normal scope of non-humans anymore, are they?"

Just thinking about it felt terrifying...

Anders finally found an opportunity to speak and agreed, "Baby is so smart. This kind of power has side effects. Most non-humans have lost their sanity and are no different from monsters."

[Holy shit, the complete worldview background is actually like this! It's utterly chilling, oh my god.]

[As expected of a new ending! The previous castle dungeon didn't have this plot, right?]

[No, the Vampire Prince, the butler, and the werewolf leader had never appeared before. The previous castle game didn't have such a complex setting either; it was just a regular game where you complete three games and leave.]

[I'm guessing the current hidden plot is either due to the difficulty mode or Dengdeng-老婆 (wife), and I'm leaning toward the latter.]

Yu Deng's head was spinning: "Then... why not stop holding the banquets?"

Hearing this, the Vampire Prince gave a light sigh: "Baby might laugh at me, but the truth is, even as the prince, I could not stop the banquets from happening."